Stepping Stones

This morning I ran a half-day live program to introduce ezine readers to the year-long program of the Breakthrough Business School. The intention was to give them an authentic snapshot of who I am, my work style and how I think. In a sense I was giving prospective clients the chance to test-drive the program, to kick the tires and see how solid the content, structure and approach are for each of them. It is one of my low-cost marketing strategies to attract clients - not a profit center for my business - making it a low-key, relaxed environment in which it was safe for people to ask questions to get what they needed.

I've run many such programs in the past - but always with a team of players - never a solo act before. I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to deliver the whole show, dialog with attendees, answer all their questions and get done on time to let them get back to their offices and businesses.

Now I can see myself offering this workshop a couple more times this year. The only glitch still is getting the video display to talk to my laptop so the powerpoint presentation can be up front for everyone. To me that means, going to a location a day early to test connect the machine so I'm spending 30 - 60 minutes before a presentation rebooting my system to test different configurations.

Each piece of my marketing funnel that I implement - works well when I implement it - yet if you had asked me 6 months ago if I'd be ready to do this in September or when my program would be in place to offer this kind of overview, I would have told you late next year. But just like I tell my clients, when you work your plan and plan your work, it all comes together very well.

women's leadership style isn't the same as men

NAWBO is a national organization of women business owners. At a NAWBO chapter meeting tonight, Rosemary Bova, a women's leadership consultant from New York, went around the room asking about one thing we learned from our mothers. There were two camps. A large number of us came up with strong lessons more commonly associated with fathers. The rest of the room acknowledged what they did not get from their mothers - and therefore what they had been working to overcome or reverse in their own lives.

The discussion it prompted was about roles we all take on based on our experience, not because it's right or wrong but because that is the way it was back then and often we don't take time to consider that things could be different.

The richness of the authenticity was very satisfying for everyone. The insights and connections this discussion engendered were immediate and direct.

I loved the recognition around the room that just as men are not superior to women and need not be treated as better than us, neither are we better than them. Rather we all need to strive for a balance because both genders bring strong inherent assets to the table. Men are very good at the concrete, facts&figures, hard decisions. Women are much more inclusive in their leadership and management styles. Often the people come first for women leaders.

Is this a weakness? As a person, I don't think so. As a leader, again I don't think so. But can a leader be consumed by care and compassion at the expense of the bottom line - yes. And no leader is serving their business, clients or staff well, if such care destroys the business itself. The key goes back to that balance of strengths. Each of us must cultivate some of both sets of traits to successfully navigate the path of leadership.

A Moorish Tale

A friend of mine has a new blog for a new product he's developing. The blog is referral monitor. What caught me was his post yesterday on a Moorish Tale:

'Apparently there is a Moorish legend that says you should choose your companions before your choose your path to journey along. This is the truest thing I have ever heard. If you're starting a business then you had better like the people you are working with because when things get tough, and they will, you'll need to know who's with you.'

Last night I was speaking to a group of software entrepreneurs about Jim Collin's book, Good to Great, in which he emphasizes that the first thing you need is the right people on the bus, then you can figure out what seats they should be in.

So now I have a story to back up this principle. I like it.