Skills=Connections

My friend David Trisel, owner of Graf-x-cape and Grab Bag Marketer, led a networking exercise at the GreaterFindlayInc. morning meeting last week that was ingenious.

With a very creatively developed worksheet, he asked each of us to quickly list five skills that we possess. We then had to trade our worksheet with someone else at our table. That person had to write suggestions of how we could reach out into the community to share out skills.

I quickly wrote five skills: Listening, Making Eggplant Parmesan, Gardening, Assembling Teams and Reading.

My partner was our featured speaker for the day, Hiroaki Kawamura, Ph.D. the chair of the Department of Language and Culture at the University of Findlay. The voices inside my head were nay-saying the value of this exercise. "How in the work would my skills equate to anything in Dr. Kawamura's world."


The voices have been silenced.

When I got my paper back, his suggestions were:

1) Organize a cooking group for internationals (especially housewives.)

2) Organize a conversation table for international wives.

3) (This one made me laugh!) Please feed me with your delicious eggplant parmesan!

I am interested in talking with Dr Kawamura, to discuss further the idea of a conversation table. I can tell you that I would NEVER have thought of it myself.

I suggest you try this at your next event where you want people to get to know each other better. It will also begin to weave those skills into the community fabric.

If you try it, come back to this post and tell your experience in a comment. Also, if you want a copy of David's worksheet, I can introduce you to David.

That's Not Possible

I have some really neat people in my current Certified Networker class that I am teaching in Findlay, Ohio. One such person is Ernie Lewis. He owns E.A. Lewis Consulting and is really really good at helping companies to do better. But that's not why I'm writing.

Here's the deal.

Ernie ran 100 miles all in one fell swoop last weekend.

Yep, you got it, 100 miles. And it was not just your usual road race. No sire-e-e. It was at Titusville, PA in Oil Creek State Park. It was on rain-soaked trails. It took him 30 hours and he climbed 17,000 feet during the run, but he did it! Ernie was back home Sunday resting his sore feet.

I have not talked with Ernie, yet, (hopefully tomorrow that will happen), but his friend Rod Cundiff, sent an email out to everyone letting us know that Ernie had completed the race. We were all worried because the website that was supposed to track his progress stopped tracking about ten hours in. We didn't know whether he had been pulled out due to hypothermia (a fear of his) or just technology not working. Luckily it was the latter.

What's really neat about this was that Ernie carried 104 names of people who have been affected by cancer and also he raised over $5600 to donate to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. He had told us in class that the people on the list helped him to keep going when he wanted to quit.

Thank you, Ernie for pushing yourself beyond reason. Thank you for giving.

Wasted

The other day at our BNI meeting, a guest was asked to introduce himself toward the end of the meeting. His explanation was, "You guys, already know what (mumble, mumble) is and I've visited one other time, so you all remember me."

Huh!!!

I guess it might have been a day that I had a substitute attend in my place, as I don't remember this young man.

Additionally, because he was unclear with his introduction, I still don't know who he is or what his company name is.

At the end of the meeting I got caught in a conversation before I made my way across the room to meet him, but he was gone already.

Lesson learned here?

Don't ever assume.

That young business person wasted a prime opportunity to have the focus of 35 or so people on him.

It's cliche to say this, but it is like paying for a Super Bowl ad and having nothing in the spot. Well, I guess it didn't cost him 1.5 mil, but you just never know.

Taking Responsibility

Many times I hear from acquaintances that something is not working for them. Typically it might be membership in an organization or even a referral relationship with another person.

What I always find interesting is when I ask, "So tell me what you've done to make it work."

More times than not, the person complaining, has focused on the negative and has not moved away from that point of view. That colors everything about the situation.

For example, getting referrals is so wonderful. Giving referrals and not ever getting any in return is not so wonderful. Instead of focusing on who's not giving, change the viewpoint to why you're not getting what you want.

Usually what I find when I ask is:

The person who wants referrals has not explained exactly what they need, instead just saying, "Send me anything."

The person who wants referrals mistakenly assumes that since they've given a referral to someone that the person will automatically know to send a referral back.

Changing these two situations will probably mean that something different will happen. And what is for sure is the negativism is gone.

What have you done to change a bothersome situation?

I Love Melons!

Well, what can I say other than I've spent more time outside this summer than sitting in front of my computer.

I was out in the garden yesterday looking AGAIN at my cantaloupes, hoping that they will get ripe soon. It just seems that I can't hurry them along.

I laughed when I thought about how it is the same with relationships. Hoping and wishing for a fruitful return won't do the trick. Just as the melons need more sunlight and water, I need to pay attention to my friends and acquaintances if I want them to even think about remembering me.

Not a big aha, but just thought you might like the analogy.

Cutting Membership

Someone mentioned to me today that they had cut back on some of the groups they belong to because of cost savings and in fact, the groups they left weren't fruitful for them. They asked me what I thought.

I didn't have a good answer right there. Of course not. I never do!

But later I realized why they need to continue those memberships.

Here's the deal.

Yes, you can participant with some groups as a guest paying an extra fee. However, I think having a membership pushes more involvement. the conversation in your head might sound like this, "You know, I better go to this event so I can get my money's worth from it."

But here's more of the deal. And I've written about this before. If you're not out there playing and meeting people, you won't be able to help your networking contacts. And if you stop helping them, probably they are going to limit their help to you.

So my new answer is, "Hell, yes, you need to be a member. It will get you out there instead of you allowing yourself to sit in your office cave."

So there!

Lost Name Tags

Yesterday I was at a networking event when one of the other participants made the comment that everyone always knows my name because I wear a name tag all the time. This person didn't happen to have a name tag on. Nor did most of the people around the table.

I asked why they didn't wear name tags.

One person explained that she is always loses her name tag.

Curiously, I asked how that happens. She said that she takes her name tag off before she goes into grocery stores or places like the post office and then it drops out of her car or her pocket.

Even more curious, I asked, "Why in the world do you take your name tag off when you go into a store?"

Can you give me an answer of why someone (in sales) would do this?