deanladouceur.com

Qualities of A Powerful Networker - Big Picture Thinker

2012-02-03T08:07:00.000-08:00

During a speech for The South East Michigan Entrepreneurs Association, I shared a list of 20 Qualities of a Powerful Networker. The list was quite well-received by those in attendance. Over the next several weeks, I will be taking several of the 20 I shared and expanding upon it.

One key quality of a powerful networker is they are A Big Picture Thinker. It is important someone sees the micro/macro view of what they do and how what they do fits in to that picture.

One of the most successful networkers who demonstrates this is Lori Williams, founder and president of Your Legal Resource. Her business is built on bringing together qualified, competent legal representation with individuals and companies who require such services.

While public speaking and going to the dentist are the top of surveys for activities people dislike, dealing with lawyers would also be in many people's top 10. She has taken steps to ensure the right fit of client and representation and does so professionally, with no out of pocket cost to the client.

Here is someone who saw a greater need and built a business around it. She could have continued upon a successful career as a lawyer, but chose to head in a different direction. The direction involved helping others to have the successful outcomes which they seek.

Williams has also been a champion to aid lawyers and their staffs in using networking and communications to assist them in removing the barriers between them and prospective clients. Her company stages training events and workshops to provide legal professionals an ability to embrace interpersonal skills as well as emerging technologies to get closer to those who need this support. She is an active member in her chamber as well as other groups, not just because it makes sense from a business point of view, but because she feels her service can make a different in an often times complex and litigious world. Her efforts were affirmed as she was named Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber of Commerce Ambassador of the Year in 2011.

As an experienced attorney herself with over 20 years in the legal field, Williams brings the skilled, intuitive counselor side of the legal profession to both client and attorney. She has made her success by understanding the needs of both sides and provided a format from which each can accomplish their objectives.

For more information, you can find Lori Williams online at http://www.bestlegalresource.com or may call directly at 248-594-4470.

"Lunch N' Learn" To Replace Round Table Promotion's Third Thursday

2012-01-31T20:49:00.000-08:00

Rochester Hills, MI - (February 1, 2012) -- Round Table Promotions has announced that it is jumping back in to the mid-day event business, but gone is the term 'Third Thursday.

"Events will now be known as 'Lunch N' Learn," ' announced President & CEO Dean La Douceur, "It's as if an old friend has come back for business professionals, but after the hiatus ... she comes back with a new name."

La Douceur explains, "The core of the event is the lunch n' learn. While we never want to down play any opportunity for some to build their business, the opportunity to learn and bring ideas and insights to people has been a strong aspect of our event for over six years."

La Douceur also likes not being tethered to one specific date, "You don't know how many speakers and presenters who have wanted to do the event have declined because of a standing obligation on their part on Thursdays in general, or that day of the month. Now, if it works on a Tuesday or Friday, we have more freedom to book people in a more natural order."

Kicking off the series is Kym Johnson, President and Owner of KSJ Marketing Communications will talk on Marketing 911: Quick Fixes and Long Term Solutions to get your message out! "Kym has attended many of our events in the past, and I know that she will bring some great insights and ideas to the event." This session will be held on Thursday, February 16, 2012, from 1:30am until 1:30pm. Other speakers, dates and times will be announced as details are finalized.

La Douceur has been hosting lunch and learn events since June 2005. The roster of speakers has been an A list of Southeastern Michigan newsmakers, thought leaders, authors and experts in their fields. Round Table Promotions is a Rochester Hills-based event management and publicity firm.

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Signature Chiropractic - Wellness and Newtrition

2012-01-08T22:05:00.000-08:00

Click here for our interview with Dr. Michael Lorente from Signature Chiropractic

Have You Reached A Tech Plateau?

2012-01-02T00:00:00.000-08:00

I find more and more people are hitting a Tech Plateau.

I define this observation as when tech users find a level where someone is in a state from comfortable to saturated with the available technology options and having found a plateau there.

I know tech smart and savvy people who will argue that the best is yet to come, and that many new available options are so exciting and going to create so much ... blah, blah, blah. Its a case of those who like something and can not see that there are those who have issues with it or struggle with it.

Tech plateauing is a passive-aggressive rebellion to not wanting to learn any more technology. Last week, I heard the anger of one radio morning show host with Facebook. He says he will use only Twitter anymore, verses all the other social media accounts he has. Another business owner and entrepreneur says that he sees little if any return on investment for all the drip, drip, drip of building his brand and informing people about him and his expertise, and is going back to more traditional methods like postcards. I read the work a well respected journalist who screams that so much of the content people write is all fire, ready, aim! His concern is that everyone wants to play journalist, without the checks and balances. And, like many shiny objects ... the allure of the New Communications Frontier is starting to wane.

There is basis for all this. Over the last fourteen years, we have had some need around adapting to technology literally crammed down our throats. We have been told back in 1998 that Y2K was going to do is in -- people made the changes needed and it didn't. And from there, it has been a stream of tech warnings, challenges and advisories ... that some virus is going eat their photos and some bad man is going to steal our identity, that our website needs greater SEO and our computers need the latest OS, that we are all yesterday's news if we didn't tweet and post and meme and show that we like things, and all groan at some marginally funny video on some web page that wouldn't make the cut on America's Funniest Videos.

Now, these people on the tech plateau have reached a point where they only want to use functional and relevant technology for their real lives. They don't object to using a spreadsheet to add a column of numbers or order through their kid's video game console the latest on line streamed movie, verses standing in line at the vestibule of the supermarket to get it from a machine. The like having options on their phone, but their are more options there then they would use. They may prefer to tweet over post, but not do both not have an app that makes them the mayor of some restaurant where the main purpose was to enjoy a good meal and not claim some sort of dominion.

This endless stream of technology based solutions has left many of these people feeling some what empty. You think I'm wrong ... how many people are you connected to on a given social media site who were not active in the last 14 days? I listen to teens and twenty somethings, often the initial adopters, who are actually burned out on all this. I talk to peers who just would rather spend their time doing something else. I tell you that many of them have reached their tech plateau.

All this high tech has lead for a need for real touch. This means they need to have contact with people face to face ... not through video cam's, avatars and qwerty keyboards. They want to feel a handshake and a hug, not a smiley face at the end of a post. They want real warm relationships with people, not just lists of so called friends who they couldn't pick out of a picnic at the park. This has become a reverse revenge on the nerds, where the people who thought they were so smart now look kind of shallow to some. They want to have a conversation with someone they know and can count on, not someone who knows of 127 other people that they also know.

Those who are tech advocates and those haven't plateaued in their interest will say that this is nonsense. They frankly have not reached their tech plateau. Some of them will some day and some of them won't. Look at smart phone take rates. Look at users on each social media site - only the nation of China has more people than Facebook. Yet, just because people use, buy and sign up doesn't mean they are fulfilled by the experience. Often, it is that the newspaper is only home delivered three days a week and no longer every day why they log on ... not because they want to log on.

It isn't the end of bigger, higher and faster onset of technology and applications by a long shot. I don't expect to see scores of Christmas iPads and Kindle readers left on the curb by Easter. I doubt that people will want rotary dials on their Android phones. I doubt that IBM selectric typewriters will be replacing HP laptops anytime soon. High tech is here to stay, like it or not. I just feel the fervor that many felt at one point will start to wane. Also like any plateau, there is a need for a killer app where people will engage.

People will still go to the electronics super store, cell phone kiosk, computer warehouse and all the other shopping websites in an attempt to at least know what the Jones are buying, rather then try to keep up with them.

Some tech plateauers will hearken back to a less tech specific age which seems more certain and prosperous, less dangerous and far less invasive. Maybe it will be this rush of nostalgia when people didn't have to check in from everywhere to ask us what we thought about, "Crunchy or Smooth?"

"Technology may be a wonderful servant, but can be a cruel master."

Taking Stock For 2012 Through A Professional Inventory

2011-12-30T10:22:00.000-08:00

I spoke this morning (12/29/11) on the Entrepreneur's Network radio show with Ike Engelbaum. I wanted to just quickly share some thoughts about the idea of a personal inventory.

If you had a storehouse full of half open packages on shelves, sealed boxes on pallets and other unmarked items, you would want to know what you have before you go to market. That is a physical inventory of your business.

As complex people who have much going on both personally and professionally, this is an effective tool to reflect back and look forward. This specific technique is borrowed from the numerous 12-step programs. But you can also see it in several spiritual practices as well.

PLEASE Don't over think this - just sit down and write it. The right things will come to mind. Write down goals, successes and disappointments. Think about what do did right and on what you want to improve. You don't need a specific form or format. Spiral notebooks, legal pads and hardbound journal books all work just fine for it.

The key to this, as is the the key to all writing, is to start. Write as much as you can. Let your hand flow across the page. Don't let things stop you or interrupt you. Write until you have nothing else to say.

If things come out about relationships or other areas of your life, this is OK. We are whole persons. Look for patterns in what you right. If you have a lot of successes listed, but they aren't fulfilling; this may mean you aren't challenging yourself. If you have a lot of loose ends that need tying up; perhaps you start a lot but have issues bringing things to completion or their are barriers between you and completion. Patterns will emerge if you are willing to see them.

If you need help or have questions, you can email me at dean@roundtablepromotions.com or call our offices at 248-383-5793.

Moving forward in 2012 through forgiveness.

2011-12-29T00:00:00.000-08:00

In order to move forward in 2012, I have chosen to work an honest program of working on myself and removing barriers to having the life I choose to have.

I dedicate this blog to a former minister and spiritual adviser I was close to in the early 1990's. I recently saw his profile on a mutual friend's social media site and this memory came back to me.

I went to him then with the idea of writing and publishing a newsletter about business communications and public relations. He did everything in his power to talk me out of it. As I recall it, I hear his voice telling me "Who would read it?" I was privately devastated. But I took his advice and dropped the idea. I suspect that my adviser may have meant it as a gut check to see how much I really wanted to do that, and what I was willing to do to achieve the goal. I also think he may have felt my efforts would be more successful if employed by someone else. I look back to see that I took this to mean that I was incapable of writing successfully under my own name.

If asked, I doubt he would even remember the conversation. I may have buried the details of that day, but at the sub-conscious level ... I know this affected me greatly. I also wonder how this 'realistic attitude' colored the thoughts and work efforts for the projects I took from others. But the realization of what he said and what he did was a painful memory. The world is filled with enough people wanting us to 'just be realistic,' verses supporting our dreams.

As someone who has set the goal of publishing my first self-authored book in 2012, I felt the need to have closure about this. Over the past few days, I have quietly and privately looked at it and prayed a good deal about it. I have two choices: hang on to the memory and give up or forgive him and move on.

I chose forgiveness.

Forgiveness isn't the easier choice. I know that from working with this that I forgive him to free up my energy and move forward. The resentments and anger have been mine to carry for almost twenty years. So, I have chosen to forgive him with my entire mind and my heart. I choose to make decisions about whom and what I am and how I express that. While he may have offered me well-meaning counsel, the ultimate decision here is mine. I wish him only the best and release any perceptions and judgments I have about what he said. I wish him nothing but the best both now and in the future. I also release him and I of any judgments and blame associated with his counsel.

Bottom line: I now forgive that guy and I move on.