How to Iron a Shirt

How to Shine Shoes

Via the always stylish and entertaining men’s fashion writer Kenyatte.

Post from: Joe Budde Jr. More about business operations and Joe can be found at his blog.

Business Dress 101: How to Shine Shoes and Iron Shirts

Post from: Joe Budde Jr. More about business operations and Joe can be found at his blog.

We Can Make a Difference but Will We?

“@joebuddejr This might help with your blog identity crisis http://tinyurl.com/d8p8s3“

Obviously, I’ll try anything to figure out this blogging identity crisis…

After arriving at the link the title of the site caught my eye, “The Art of Nonconformity: Unconventional Strategies for Life, Work and Travel” a blog written by Chris Guillebeau.

In his manifesto, a very well crafted e-book, Chris explains how you can change your life to become a full time blogger.  He says we will learn the following things:

• How I Became a Full-Time Writer in 279 Days
• The Complete Revenue Estimate for my Personal Site in 2009
• The World Domination Strategy for Establishing Your Brand
• Avoiding the Vampires who Want You to Fail
• Why Adsense (and most other Web Advertising) Sucks
• How to Stay Off the Digg Home Page and Still Get All the Traffic You Need

Now, sure some of these topics apply to my blog, but at this point, I am not a full time blogger – shocking I know.  Anyways, the valuable thing in this book is to understand the questions he asked himself to write this.  So reading it, I have been asking myself, what questions has he asked to get the results he desired.

The power of introspection is at work. I sure hope I can find my blog’s identity through this e-book!

Post from: Joe Budde Jr. More about business operations and Joe can be found at his blog.

An Unconventional Path to Blog Identity: Nonconformity

Today I was reading a bit about tech etiquette over on Alexandra Levit’s Water Cooler Wisdom. One thing that drives me nuts is the inopportune times folks pull out a blackberry, palm, iphone or whatever other productivity device of the day happens to be. 

A good nugget of wisdom is this:

“Think of your PDA as a crossword puzzle. Anywhere it’s acceptable to work on a crossword puzzle, it’s OK to check your PDA.”

Will Schwalbe, author of Send: Why People Email So Badly and How to Do It Better

Do you have a good story about a PDA getting pulled out?  There have to be some great ones out there. Do share!

Also, with Thanksgiving on the horizon, is it ok to check your PDA at Thanksgiving dinner? Or during the Lion’s game? Or during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade?

Post from: Joe Budde Jr. More about business operations and Joe can be found at his blog.

Check that PDA: Do You Have Tech Etiquette?

Every time you choose an attitude it affects those around you.  Let’s make sure we are picking attitudes that show the world our own personal brands in the right light!  I want everyone to know that I am interested in what amazing things they do and can do!

I know that Matt does magic, and Kevin plays poker.  Each of them are incredible at it too!  They ensure they pick the right attitude.  Matt puts his magic shoes on and is welcoming and friendly.  Kevin sits down at a poker table and makes sure he is focused and confident.  They pick their attitudes to match their brands so that they appear positively to their respective audiences.

Does anyone have any ideas as to how can we make sure that the attitudes we choose are affecting people in a positive way?

Post from: Joe Budde Jr. More about business operations and Joe can be found at his blog.

Match your Personal Brand with the Right Attitude

Analysis of My Goals:

Meet one new contact each week

I met several folks over the past eight weeks. From going to Nigeria and meeting a dozen new contacts to going to several parties at work I was able to meet enough new contacts to achieve my goal:  Goal Status – Achieved!

Write a post at least once a week

So over the past 8 weeks I wrote 5 posts.  Sure I have more drafts in wordpress than I can edit fast enough, but hey, its all about that publish button!  Seems like an area to improve in for me. Since I got over half way to hitting this goal, ill be generous and give this goal an in-between status:  Goal Status – Partially Achieved

Be involved in the local online community

I worked with Daniel Johnson Jr. in August to come up with a new location for the quickly growing New Media Cincinnati meet-up group. Wifi was a must so that narrows the search quite a bit.  But we came to consensus on Buffalo Wild Wings in Hyde Park!  Free wifi, great food and a wonderful group to get educated about new media.  The next meeting is on September 20th from 2-4p. Come check it out! Goal Status – Achieved!

Teach at least 2 people the ins and outs of social media at work

Well, I must say that I did teach social media to two Nigerians. I also spent some time teaching my mentee at work about how to use an RSS reader to create a customized newspaper. However, this is a goal that needs reworked. I didn’t set a time frame for accomplishing this goal. So in the coming months, I wish to teach at least two people per month.  Goal Status – Achieved!

Conclusion

After two months, I have achieved three of the four goals I set!  Also, I reworked my last goal to include a time frame. It has been great the past two months thinking constantly about my goals especially knowing that I would revisit them in a public forum and be held accountable to YOU!  I wont let you down the next time I revisit my goals.  Next time I measure vs. my baseline, I will take a look at my objectives.  

What do you do to set goals? How do you measure and then action them?

Post from: Joe Budde Jr. More about business operations and Joe can be found at his blog.

Back to Fundamentals: Measuring Goals and Objectives – 1

Chris Brogan’s post Where I Learn Even More, talks about getting back to the fundamentals as pointed out  by Bill Rice.  In getting back to the fundamentals he suggests doing what my sister just decided to do have a sense of urgency about any effort you make.  

So to that end, I will outline my goals, objectives of my online activities so that I can measure my performance over time.  Hopefully outlining these goals here will help me stay focused and urgent in producing results.  I plan on revisiting this post every month or so to bounce my results against my goals and objectives.

Without further ado…

My Goals:

• Meet one new contact each week
• Write a post at least once a week
• Be involved in the local online community
• Teach at least 2 people the ins and outs of social media at work

My Objectives

• Improve my writing skills Learn to write better
• Improve my story telling abilities Learn to tell stories better
• Learn to teach/communicate concepts better
• Learn how to be more productive and relate social media to tasks at work

Post from: Joe Budde Jr. More about business operations and Joe can be found at his blog.

Back to Fundamentals: My Goals and Objectives

Alexandra Levit extended the conversation about being authentic at work with a great summary of 7 Qualities that Predict Leadership Success from DDI.  I think in general having these 7 skills makes it easier to be authentic at work.  

According to DDI, effective leaders:

Are masters at managing through ambiguity:
The modern workplace is fraught with chaos. These leaders possess the ability to stay calm amid turmoil and to be convincingly reassuring. They keep their people focused with clear direction and goals, and view change through the lens of opportunity.

Inspire confidence and believe in the future:
Leaders who make it a priority to understand and address employee needs, who can differentiate those things that are important from those that are not, and who can communicate a long-term vision that attains the buy-in of employees and customers alike, are the ones who find their organizations rewarded with long-term customer relationships and loyal, engaged employees.

Have a passion for results:
These leaders place emphasis on those activities, initiatives, programs, and processes that produce the best ROI. They are able to stay the course, overcoming any obstacle thrown in their way, because they believe their focus will truly bring about the outcomes they are seeking.
Are marked by unwavering integrity: Good leaders must earn trust every day. Their values must be visible through their actions, and they must be both able and willing to be held up as an example to others. Bad news, such as the need for layoffs or budget cuts, or the failure of the organization to meet financial targets, must not be hidden or sugarcoated.

Set others up for success:
Leaders who are true talent advocates understand that feeling successful is a prerequisite for ongoing engagement and that successful people are more, not less likely to stay. But they also understand that success is about more than praise. It’s about developing people, giving them room to grow (even if it means giving them the opportunity to fail), and coaching them to be their best, so the organization can be its best.

Have strong, rather than big, egos:
Leaders with big egos, so good at tearing others down, often are terribly insecure themselves. They lack the self-confidence that leadership demands.  On the other hand, those with strong egos have a positive self-image but at the same time are able to acknowledge and value the thoughts and contributions of others—including those at lower levels of the organization.

Have the courage to make decisions:
When faced with making tough choices, the best leaders do not shy away from taking prompt action. They know that indecisiveness can lead to the paralysis, and that popular decisions are not always the best decisions. And they understand that too many compromise decisions, while usually less painful to reach, breed mediocrity and lead to results that, in the end, please nobody.

What are your favorites from the list? Why?  Leave a comment and let me know!

Post from: Joe Budde Jr. More about business operations and Joe can be found at his blog.

Personal Branding: Be Authentic and Lead Successfully

• Work hard play hard
• Fly by the seat of your pants
• Just do it
• Party hard
• Achieve what you can at that moment
• Get the most out of every situation and possibility
• Excel, rather that getting by with average
• Serve, give, provide, lead in all opportunities

There are too many ways for a broad statement to be taken the wrong way.  We should look to define and market our personal brands with specific targets in mind.  Nathan Hale was a master at using regret to brand himself.  He said, “I regret that I have but one life to give for my country.”  He used his regret to put a positive spin on the specifics of who he defined himself to be.

How do you describe your life with ‘No Regrets’?

Post from: Joe Budde Jr. More about business operations and Joe can be found at his blog.

Personal Branding: Be Specific