Ringing in the New Year! Weekly Wrap-Up for January 4th!
by Holly Krenek • January 4, 2013 • Community, Inclusion & Diversity, Innovation, Leadership, Marketing, Social Media, Weekly Wrap-up • 0 Comments
Happy Friday and Welcome to the Weekly Wrap Up! The weekly wrap-ups are a great resource for associations to find interesting articles, blog posts, upcoming events, fun facts, and provide up-to-date news and tips found throughout the association space each week. We will also pull quotes and topics from the #assnchat and other relevant chats during the week on Twitter and other social media sites, to provide our members and industry thought leaders with content they can use today or save for later!
Favorite Articles of the Week:
1) Coffee is for Closers: An Old Rule that Won’t Change in the New Year by Eric Chester
The phrase “Coffee is for Closers” resonates with anyone who’s seen the classic film, Glengarry Glen Ross. This 1992 movie stars six Hollywood A-list leading men as salesman who work for an unethical real estate outfit. The actors portray fast-talking hucksters who lie, exaggerate, and use a series of con games to goad unwitting prospects into signing on the dotted line for overpriced real estate. (If you haven’t seen the movie, and you have a high tolerance for foul language, here’s the scene that made the “Coffee is for Closers” catchphrase famous and earned Alec Baldwin an Oscar nomination.)
2) It’s Better to be Clear than to be Right by Jamie Notter
I searched on my blog for the post I wrote about the “hard work of clarity.” I thought it would be on the first page or two of results because it must have been recently.
Turns out it was from 2009, after the session that Maddie, Lindy, and I did on how social media changes the way we work (which can be considered the earliest starting point of Humanize). Maddie had suggested that clarity isn’t so hard, and I was pushing back. People are often good at the very high level clarity stuff (boring mission statements), but the real areas that distinguish you as a leader or as an organization remain comfortably fuzzy for us.
Are you writing your resolutions for the new year? It’s an exercise I enjoy, mostly to get my thoughts down on paper.
In a quick post for today, here are three resolutions that can benefit everyone you encounter in the workplace.
5) The Formula for Creating Happiness at Work by Anne Kreamer
In her book The Happiness Myth, Jennifer Michael Hecht identifies three basic kinds of happiness: good day, good life, and peak, and I’ve found that thinking about work within her construct has helped me tease apart some of the “happiness formula” variables that influence well-being.
Good-day happiness at work might mean: I got to the office early, I was able to take care of backlogged paperwork that had been nagging me, I had a productive meeting, and I was able to leave in time to make it to my daughter’s school concert. Good-day happiness is about an awareness of the fortunate conditions of one’s life–where stopping to smell the roses can have measurable positive impact.
6) Are You Measuring for Engagement or Performance? by Jason Lauritsen
My four year old daughter recently took up playing her first team sport, soccer. As any parent who has had a young child in soccer knows, it’s quite a spectacle to behold when you turn loose six youngsters on a soccer field. They play three on three games, no score kept. It’s all about teaching and getting the kids some experience playing on a team and learning about soccer.
7) The Key to Making Connections – Get Off the Bus! by Maureen McKeon
Something rather remarkable happened to me last week during a flight from Washington DC to Miami: I made a connection. No, I didn’t change planes; I connected with a delightful woman sitting beside me.
What began as as a friendly exchange of niceties evolved into lively conversation as Bobbi and I shared stories about family, friends, travel and work. My stack of magazines and e-reader were ignored as we chatted, laughed, and made plans to stay in touch.
8 ) Civility: The New Employee Attraction and Retention Strategy by Cynthia Kivland
Workplace attractiveness is an optimistic attitude or a positive emotion an individual has towards an organization (Aiman-Smith et al. 2001). The attraction process involves a job seeker’s estimate of how well they “feel” their personal needs and values fit the organization’s culture. Gaining an understanding of the factors that can impact the attraction phase of this cycle is critical for workplaces who wish to attract the most qualified applicant pool possible. Recent research indicates workplaces that are perceived as “civil” not only attract more qualified candidates, these candidates tend to stay with the organization longer and perform higher levels.
9) Focus on Improving Communication in 2013 by Daniel Newman
Right now the interwebs are littered with everyone’s goals and resolutions for 2013.
As we wrap up 2012, there is no better way to get the year started than to talk a little bit about what we are going to seek to do better in the year ahead.
So cheers to the resolutions and may all of you accomplish everything you set out to do!
I tend not to do resolutions. I have more of a continuous improvement mentality than a race to failure mentality and it seems that every time I set a resolution it really was more of a race to failure because my goals weren’t sustainable.
I blame that on having big goals, but throughout my life I have shifted from big goals to big and realistic goals. (A small yet very important caveat)
However this year I do have a goal for myself and for everyone I work with. To be a better communicator.
10) Do You Have a Service Friendly Culture? 5 Questions to Ask Yourself by Ken Blanchard
Service in the airline industry is kind of a wash in my opinion, but I want to tell you about an exception—Southwest Airlines. Here’s a recent travel experience that I think speaks volumes about the service focused culture that Southwest has created.
The line at curbside check-in was very long and the baggage handler didn’t have a moment to spare, yet he made his way inside the terminal and found me.
He said, “These fell out of your purse when you checked your bag and I was sure you’d want them back. I’m so glad I found you.” He handed me two $20 reward certificates from Nordstrom that indeed had been in the outside pocket of my purse.
And then he was off—I didn’t even get his name.
That’s it for this week’s weekly wrap-up! Have a great start to 2013 everyone! – Holly
