Jason::Adams

I’m still having problems switching my sleep schedule over.  I revert back to going to bed late on weekends, which then throws my sleep schedule all out of wack.  I need to learn to wake up real early and deal with how tired I am all day, so that I can fall asleep earlier.  I have always been able to wake up whenever, but lately I’ve been taking my phone to bed with me so I can sleep for longer.  I’ve gotta learn to keep the phone over far away from me.

“It’s not about a Hand Out, its about a Hand” 

Give Value to recieve value essentially. Is “It’s not about a hand out” saying not expecting a hand out, but rather offering a hand?  Or am I interpreting it wrong? Heard from keith ferrazzi, where is it from?

Showing vulnerability can be a powerful way to relate to people.  Everyone has struggles in their lifes or points where they were Vulnerable to forces in the world.  Expand on this in the future.

This passage reminded me of this , it was taken from Keith Ferrazzi’s “Never Eat Alone” blog:

“In one of the most poignant stories of the evening, one of the invitees recalled a time during his youth when his family was homeless and lived out of a car for a period of time in order to survive.  An ability to channel personal struggles into fearlessness, a strong will to succeed, and compassion for others – as demonstrated by this brave guest – are common traits of authentic leaders, many of who were breaking bread, sharing stories and a bit of themselves around the dinner table that evening.”

Alot of people attend Networking Events really don’t know how to present their business cards properly.  Your first step would be to have some kind of attractive easy way to present your contact information.  The simple and most commonly used way is the business card, so always have some handy.  We can get into design and how to make it stand out in the future. 

Here are some don’ts:

Don’t hand out business cards like they are flyers.  Act like they are a scarce resource and people will want them more.

Don’t give your card without a grounding reason first.  Why should this person take your information? What would he use it for? What are some of the possible network connections?  What value would he want from you?  There are a million ways to ground the reason you are providing contact information, just make sure you do it to solidify your contact.  Ideally you want them to ASK YOU for your business card, but I’ll try to cover this in the future.

Don’t stick contact information in your pocket.  You hand your business card to someone, and without looking at it you see them stick it directly into their pocket.  What does this say? Most likely this person is going to lose the card, or surely damage the condition of the card.  When you recieve contact information, SHOW THEM THAT YOU CARE.  They are expressing an interest in providing value to you in the future, respond by showing that you APPRECIATE THIS OFFER.  Take care to look at their business card, perhaps comment on it.  You could also reaffirm the grounding reason for the future networking, or why you have exchanged contact information, and then if possible make sure they see you TAKING CARE to protect the card, and put it in a place you will remember it.  Maybe a folder, your suitcase, in front of your ID in your wallet, etc.

 

One of the most important things you can learn to do is BE ON TIME.  What does it say when someone is late for a lunch with you? Late for anything concerning you?  It implicitly states that their time is more valuable then yours.  You don’t want to convey that message to anyone.  You should also be early, if not for the advantage of having time to gather your thoughts, for the message it conveys to the people you are trying to add to your network, “That I care about your time.”

Took this from Keith Ferrazzi’s “Never Eat Alone” blog.  It’s something I had thought while watching Al Gore’s spectacular documentary on Global Warming.

“The group agreed that if Al Gore could tell stories during his days as Vice President and into his Presidential candidacy the way he’s doing today with global warming, the election would have looked very different.  Leaders must be able to communicate a vision, a story with genuine passion for the purpose.  It is a leader’s role to transfer vision, build trust and maintain character – all of which can be more influential and inspiring if a leader can develop an emotional current in which to communicate from.”

This is so true, if Al Gore’s campaigning had any of the passion of his documentary, then it would have been a landslide.  Where was this unique storytelling and vision ability during the election?  This shows another power of storytelling, the ability to convey a compelling and empowering vision.  Another quality I’d like to instill in myself.