We were recently featured on Karen Salmansohn’s SIRIUS radio show, BE HAPPY DAMMIT (LIME Channel 114). Karen publishes a “Be Happy Dammit Tips” Newsletter. Her April 27 issue quotes some fascinating statistics about the value of business friendships. For example:
– People with a best friend at work are seven times more likely to be engaged in their work.
A recent travel experience in Bali, where persistent street vendors showed me what fear-based selling looks and feels like, helped me see the world from our clients’ perspective. Here’s a travelogue excerpt to tee this up:
“TRANSPORT? GOOD PRICE! MAYBE TOMORROW?”
So goes the headline of an article on the front page of The Washington Post on May 25, 2007. Across the country, business professionals are facing an ever-increasing backlog of emails and throwing up their hands in frustration and overwhelm. The article spotlights Fred Wilson, a venture capitalist, who recently sent a broadcast email to his entire address book saying, “I am so far behind on email that I am declaring bankruptcy … I am starting over.” A December 2006 article in BusinessWeek, hailing a company that has officially declared Friday as a day of rest from email, seems to indicate a trend.
This appeared in BossaNova’s 2006 summer newsletter, and it bears repeating.
“Early and ugly” is what a prized client said he wanted from his consulting firm. “Our very senior client was telling us he didn’t want to wait weeks or months for a polished deliverable; he wanted to be part of the action every step of the way,” reports Wayne Simmons, managing partner of ICOR Partners , a strategic management consulting firm servicing the public sector. “We were happy to hear it because that’s exactly how we like to work,” he added.
I saw Vince Gill in concert recently. First time. I was pretty sure I’d enjoy the music, but I had no idea I’d walk away having learned four indelible lessons from this country music celebrity about being a Trusted Advisor.
The concert was magical. Sure, the music was good (if you like country and I will confess I do). Vince is talented, as is his entourage. But he created something with his band and his audience that turned a good concert into an extraordinary experience of community and connectedness. How? By how he was being: humble, self-deprecating, intimate, vulnerable, and totally transparent.