I love going to tech startup events. There’s something unabashedly optimistic about startup entrepreneurs which is very different from most other kinds of people, whether they’re in business or not.

“Startup” has come to mean a very specific approach to business: an audacious idea which levages technology and capital to create something which is new, innovative and compelling. Add equal elements of fun, energy, optimism, and obsession and you start to get the vibe that happens in the Startup world.

I believe Startups have very important messages for all entrepreneurs, especially solos and micro businesses. Here are some things which come to mind:

1. Pursue your dream without regard to current circumstances. Although Startup entrepreneurs, like most people, obsess about finding the money to create their business, they see it as another take to be accomplished, not an obstacle. In the Startup world, what counts is the person and the idea. The rest will come if these two items are clear and compelling.
2. Business is communication. Startups are always pitching, speaking, writing. From the first moment, they are focused on how to communicate their idea to potential investor, clients and partners. Presentation competitions, whether for a one-minute elevator pitch or a seven-minute PowerPoint, are a central point of many Startup gatherings. I wish all entrepreneurs put this much effort into clearly communicating who they are and what they offer!
3. Disrupt the status quo. One of the first slides of any startup entrepreneur’s pitch deck is a deceleration of how they are going to disrupt their market: going behind, around, under and over their competitors to emerge as the new standard. Startups want to make the current way of doing things in their market obsolete.
4. Small is the new big. Startups start small, lean and efficient from the beginning. They want to grow in revenues without having to grow in team size. This is where the technology advantage really comes into play: quickly adjusting their focus to meet the constantly shifting sweet spot between what people are looking for and what the startup offers.
5. Startups think young. Although the startup world tends towards the under-30 crowd, it is more of a state of mind, the optimism of youth. I guess the advantage here is energy. You have to be in good health to keep up with a Startup entrepreneur!

There are many more messages that Startups can teach all entrepreneurs. And some lessons to avoid. In my local market of Quebec City I am pivoting my business to focus more on tech startups, with the not-so-hidden agenda to bring the best ideas, tools and methods from the startup world so you can apply them in your business, whatever you offer.

“Just as despair can come to one only from other human beings, hope too can be given to one only by other human beings.” -- Elie Weisel

When did we decide that Scrooges and skinflints should be in charge?

All around me I hear doomsayers predicting an economic collapse that will envelope the whole planet, insisting that we all have to tighten our belts (especially the poor and middle class), preaching austerity or exhorting the jobless to accept any job, even if it doesn’t pay a living wage or it crushes the soul.

The problems we face cannot be solved by politicians and CEOs. They have too much invested in the status quo to see it change. So they use the most potent weapon they have: to kill people’s hopes and dreams.

Crushing hope is the ultimate power trip, because hope is as elemental to human survival as air, water and food. However, if you let someone steal hope from you, it’s not that they now have it. It is that you’ve voluntarily surrendered it.

Hope can be renewed by developing a clarity of purpose, a commitment to action, and the confidence that comes with making a difference first for yourself, then for others.

Hope is the realization that you only have one shot at life, so you want to make the most of it. I believe each of us has the right to fully live our own individual potential, and with this right also comes the responsibility to help others fully live theirs.

If our “leaders” can’t get us out of this mess, whose job is it?

It is time for us entrepreneurs to step up to the plate.

As an entrepreneur we live on hope. To be willing to invest sweat and savings into building a future is borderline insane these days. But we do it, willingly and passionately. Because we see a solution to one piece of the puzzle, and then plow forward to make change happen.

If the 1% wants to preserve the status-quo by killing our dreams, then it is up to us solos and micro-business entrepreneurs to rekindle hope by igniting the imagination, focusing the resources and stimulating the massive action required to overcome the huge obstacles we face.

Humanity cannot afford to lose hope. This means that you and you and you and I must, at a certain point in life, stop investing our time and talents serving other people’s agendas, and start living our own. This is the calling of the entrepreneur.

I, for one, am not prepared to throw in the towel in despair. I take it on as my personal challenge to promote hope by actively living my full potential through how I’m building my business and encouraging others to live their dreams and passions through businesses of their own.

For more information

The article that sparked this line of thought:

“The wellbeing agenda isn’t navel-gazing, it’s innovation and survival”
by Pat Kane (guardian.co.uk)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/nov/13/wellbeing-agenda-navel-gazing-innovation-survival

Image credit: Walter Diaz (WalterTheCat) via Flickr
Direct link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackholesinthesky/6243205032
Used under Creative Commons licence

The economic slowdown has people looking for other ways of making ends meet. Lately I’ve seen an uptick in the number of network marketing / MLM opportunities. Just this month (November 2011) I’ve had three people approach me to pitch their opportunity.

I personally like network marketing,having had a certain success with it. I started with the venerable Amway when I lived in Northern Alberta back in 1992 – which was a good deal then even as a customer, because the nearest real shopping was a four hour drive to Edmonton. I broke through the beginner barrier in 2002-2004, making a good supplementary income with Usana Health Sciences (Disclaimer: I terminated my distributorship with Usana in 2006 to focus on my coaching business). I also lost money with companies in telecommunications, nutritional supplements, business services and website storefronts. In three of those losing situations, the companies went belly-up. In one case in particular, the first commission check I received ended up bouncing.

I discovered what works in network marketing, and what does not. Network marketing is where I learned how to sell, how to work with a team and how to be a good sponsor, upline and team leader. I also learned how to deal with the politics, backstabbing and betrayals of uplines, crosslines and company headquarters. So I have a personal experience of the good, the bad and the ugly of MLM. And this has convinced me of the importance of performing a good due diligence before signing up.

Here are points that I look at when I’m presented with an opportunity. This list is more thorough than most you will find on the web, and at the same time not as thorough as it could be. Some of these questions might not apply to your opportunity, but if any of these things cause you to respond with “no” or “unsure”, definitely think twice before handing over your credit card.

Some of these points come from my own experience of what can go wrong. See if you can spot them!

(Full list after the fold)

Davender’s MLM Due Diligence Checklist

1. COMPANY MATURITY AND LEADERSHIP TEAM

When signing up as a distributor for a company, you are basically becoming a partner with them. After all, if you are going to invest time, money and your reputation building a distributorship, don’t you want to make sure they are able to deliver what they promise? So it makes sense to check them out.

1.1 Is the company in pre-launch or mature? The advantage of joining a company in pre-launch is that you get to be “first in line”, knowing there are few other distributors competing in your market. The disadvantage is that a startup doesn’t have the systems in place or the financial resources for the long haul. Companies in startup mode also will make changes to the distributor agreement and commission plan, sometimes not to your advantage (even if they spin it that way)

1.2 How do they accept payment? Always make sure you can pay via credit card, so if you get in a dispute with them you can request a chargeback from your card issuer. They must accept credit cards from their own merchant account and not just a PayPal gateway.

1.3 How professional is their web site? The Corporate web site (of the home office, not just the distributor replicated site) must be professional. If it is a generic WordPress theme with anonymous stock pictures, then be careful. Reputable companies will have photos of real people (employees, distributors, customers). Check out their ranking on Alexa.com – if traffic is going down then they are dying. If there is no ranking, or is not in the top one million sites, then either it is too early, or the company is dead. You can count on people you approach to at least Google the company.

1.4 Is the company private or publicly traded? If it is a publicly traded company then you should be able to get the financials. Does the company have a good positive cash flow? How much debt does it carry? What does it say in the SEC disclosure fine print? If the company is private, it is harder to validate their financial situation. You may have to contact the home office to request them (you can always try it). Remember, you want them to be able to pay the commission checks they will owe you!

1.5 Is this business legitimate? Check out the state/province corporate registry (if possible) to confirm the company is legally registered. Then search the trademark database and their website whois. Do they all point to the same entity or address? If they don’t, it’s not necessarily bad, but at least one of these should point to the company headquarters.

Check out the street address of the company headquarters on Google Street View. If the business name is not prominently displayed on the front of the building, or if the company headquarters is not in a business park or office building, walk away. If the headquarters is in a suburban (or rural) strip mall or a private home, walk away. If all they provide is a PO Box, walk away. You will want to do the same with their distribution center. If they subcontract distribution, I consider this a negative point, however make sure it is at least a reputable company (do the same due diligence on the distribution center).

Note that Googling the company name + “scam” or “review” will rarely provide vaild information on the legitimacy of the business, because either the company or other distributors are flooding the web with positive promotional articles using these keywords. You may have to dig deep in the results before you find something.

Similarly, I don’t put much stock in BBB membership or listings. However if there are complaints, walk away.

1.6 Is the company the original manufacturer or do they resell products and services from another provider? If the company manufactures and ships its own products, they have every incentive to ensure quality service and to stay in business. However there has been a proliferation of “virtual companies”, especially in telecommunications, energy services or consumer discounts, which simply resell products or services from other providers. Being simply a sales channel for the original producer, these companies have less incentive to stick around if the going gets tough. The original provider can also terminate the distribution agreement with your company for any reason. And you definitely don’t want to see the exact products you are selling be also easily available on the shelves of your neighbourhood store.

1.7 Can you respect the leadership team? Google the names of the founder, CEO and senior company officers, which should be prominently available on the corporate web site. Dig deep (to at least page 20 or 30 of the results). If they don’t have that many results, then this is a possible warning sign. Check out their LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter pages. If they are not on LinkedIn in particular, walk away. Are these people you can respect? Are their experience or qualification claims valid? Are they connected to people you can respect? Can you visit the home office in person and speak to the company president or at least the VP responsible for distributor relations? Is there a VP specifically responsible for distributor relations?

1.8 Are they licenced to operate in your country/state? This is especially important for business coming from abroad. Who holds the business licence? It should be a legally owned subsidiary (and not a private person). They should have a local corporate office in your country. Can the products be legally imported into your country or state without restrictions? Do they have valid tax numbers and business numbers for where you live?

2. COMPENSATION PLAN AND COMMISSIONS

2.1 Is the compensation plan clear? You should be able to easily obtain the compensation plan, either directly on the corporate web site or from the person who approached you. It should be easily summarized on a two-sided page. You should be able to repeat back the main features of the compensation plan to the person who presents it to you, even before you sign up.

2.2 What investment is required? Today (2011) your upfront investment to become a distributor should be no more than $500, but more than $0. You want people to have to invest something to ensure they will take the responsibility seriously. The yearly distributor renewal should be no more than $99 (actually below $50 is more reasonable). What is the minimum monthly personal order you need to stay qualified for commissions? Will you personally consume this amount?

Make sure to read the distributor agreement before signing anything. Bonus points if you give it to your lawyer and there are no objections. What are the conditions under which the company can unilaterally terminate your agreement? What happens if you change your mind? Or you wish to terminate?

2.3 How do you generate commissions? The bulk of your commissions should be from product/service sales you generate yourself, plus a percentage of the sales the distributors you sponsor make. When I was active in MLM, the trend was to pay on “balanced legs”. But it’s very difficult to keep legs balanced. Today at least part of your commission should be on global volume of your downline. Also look how deep you get paid. If they claim you get paid “to infinity”, look at the fine print. If you get paid to at least five levels the plan is probably legit. Avoid matrix systems (where you can get paid just for occupying a space and doing nothing) and breakaways (where the company removes the top performing distributors from your downline). Both stack the deck against you.

If you are paid a “bonus” (also called a “training bonus”) for each distributor you sign, consider this to be illegal. Some jurisdictions consider this to be a sign of a pyramid scheme, and companies have been shut down, and distributors arrested.

Watch out for “Sales Volume” (SV) point systems. They should closely track the actual retail (or at least the wholesale) price across all the whole product range. Sometimes companies adjust SV downwards depending on your country, so you could lose out twice, once on the SV and again on the currency conversion.

Can you estimate how many customers/orders/ sales volume (in dollars) you need to get your first commission check? To get a monthly check of more than $500? A weekly check of more than $500?

2.4 How do they pay you? How they pay you gives you an insight into the professionalism of the company. Weekly payments are preferred to monthly. Avoid payments by a company-issued debit card or prepaid credit card, which often come with very high usage fees. You should receive a check (computer-printed) or direct deposit. Send it to a separate (personal checking) account at your own bank which you use only for your business. Also check the currency conversion rates to make sure they fairly reflect the open market rates.

3. PRODUCTS AND SERVICES OFFERED

3.1 What are the products and services offered to your customers? Are they consumable products or monthly renewable services? Remember that if you have to get a new customer for each sale, then you cannot build a sustainable business.

3.2 Is the company positioning coherent and consistent? If the company offers a variety of products or services, how are they connected together? A nutritional company that also offers telephone service is probably suspect. Has the company made major pivots recently (an energy distribution company that becomes a web advertising company)? At a minimum, if you cannot communicate a coherent positioning, you will have a lot of difficulty presenting your offer to potential customers.

3.3 Are all the products and services available where you live, right now? The availability and legality of products and services can vary a lot according to city, province/state and country. If not, what is the delay? If the reason is regulation, then walk away, because you have no control over it. Does the product or service meet all of your local safety and approval regulations? If you are building a distributor network in hopes that the products will be available some time in the future, be prepared for many of the distributors you signed up to walk away once the product is available.

3.4 Are the products or services competitively priced compared to the open market, especially for non-distributor customers? Are the savings interesting enough to get people to switch? What is the product return and refund policy for customers? Can customers sign up at no charge to buy from you, and can cancel at any time without penalty?

3.5 Are the products shipped directly to the customer? You want to avoid having to carry any inventory (which needs to be rotated and accounted for), and especially having to hand-deliver product.

3.6 Is it something you personally would buy and fully use even if there were no company attached to it? Is this something you are personally excited about because of the intrinsic quality of the product or service? What is the reputation of this product niche? Can you be proud of what you offer?

4. TEAM AND REPUTATION

4.1 Do you like your sponsor? Does he/she have experience building a team? If not, who is the active upline who is doing the training and opportunity calls? Attend one of the trainings or calls. How many levels up do you have to go until you reach someone who earns the equivalent of a “full-time” salary? Do you like your sponsor and your upline as people? Do you see them as colleagues you can easily approach for help, advice or encouragement? Really trust your gut here.

4.2 Do you like your team? Do distributors work together as a crossline team? Or is their strict upline/downline discipline? One is not worse or better than the other, it mainly depends on your personality style and values. I personally prefer crossline collaboration.

Also, consider that every other distributor is a competitor at the same time. Are there too many distributors? What is the resolution policy if someone approaches a prospect you’ve approached? Or if you (knowingly or unknowingly) approach someone who has been approached by another distributor? Is your local market saturated with distributors? You can make money operating a Starbucks, but do you want to be the fourth shop on the corner?

4.3 What is the reputation of your company and your product line? Does the company already have a reputation (good or bad)? Or your product or industry? For example, if you offer nutritional supplements, many people have already made up their mind about nutritional supplements marketed via direct marketing, so trying to change their mind to switch to your offer would be a waste of time. Similarly, getting people to switch from an established telecom or energy provider to your service is made more difficult if they already have preconceived notions. Sometimes money savings is not enough of an incentive. Do you have the skills to navigate past people’s prejudices towards your product category, the industry, the marketing channel or even towards you?

5. FINAL GUT CHECK

5.1 How does this opportunity fit into your current business? If you are already promoting your own services as a self-employed professional, how does this opportunity fit into your current offers? Or is it something completely disconnected from what you’re doing now? Can it damage your positioning? Or help it?

5.2 Is there a potential conflict of interest? Are the offers of this MLM similar to those of one of your current suppliers? Is there a potential conflict of interest if a prospective client comes to see you about your primary business, and then you steer them to your MLM as a customer or distributor (a kind of bait-and-switch)?

5.3 Is this something you can be proud to be doing? Look at yourself in the mirror and say out loud “I am Mr. (company name)” (or Ms.) How does it feel? If you feel any hesitation, think twice. Is this a field you are naturally passionate about? Would you do it even if there were no money? If you are only doing it for the money, think twice, because it will be a while before you see any serious cash.

5.4 Are you serious? Are you ready to commit the next 12 months, at least one day a week, to building your new business? Are you willing to invest $5K to $10K over the next year, including going to the annual convention? If the answer to these two questions are “no” then back out now. You can’t do this on the cheap. And it can be a while before you generate a return on investment.

You never have to sign right away. Step back from the table and the glow of possibility, and take the time to do your due diligence. If the opportunity is a good one, you can say yes at almost any time and the opportunity will still be good.

I AM an entrepreneur.

Following a dream, pursuing an opportunity, taking charge of my own destiny.

Bringing something of value to society, making a job for myself and for others, and creating wealth that benefits my family, my community, my country, my world.

One of a movement of millions of entrepreneurs and innovators who made this country great, and who will keep our economy going…and growing.

What I am because many people have helped me along on this journey.

THEREFORE I WILL

Tell my story, sharing my successes and failures, so that others taking the entrepreneurial path can learn.

Strive to mentor an aspiring entrepreneur.

Make my voice heard by those who make policy decisions that affect me and my business.

Appreciate and celebrate my accomplishments and the accomplishments of my fellow entrepreneurs.

Give back to the society that helped me to be successful.

Build a Stronger America. [And a Stronger World.]

– From The Kauffman Foundation BuildAStrongerAmerica.com

For more information

The Kauffman Foundation is the world’s largest foundation devoted to promoting entrepreneurship as a powerful tool to develop individuals, communities and the country as a whole. I found it very inspiring to hear stories of how people of many different backgrounds share a common passion of being an entrepreneur. I’m partnering with Quebec International (our local economic development agency) to bring a Kauffman program here to Quebec City, with the goal to jump-start our local tech startups.

http://www.kauffman.org
Twitter: http://twitter.com/KauffmanFDN

As a solo, I sometimes look with envy to people who work in bigger companies. They have all kinds of resources, so their web site is up-to-date and professionally designed, they have cool business cards with a snazzy logo. If they are a coaching company, they do their events in upscale locations, or offer theme cruises or trips to foreign lands, or hold free events which attract hundreds and hundreds of people.

When I started out with my first business sixteen years ago, I fell right into this trap. It was a technology consulting practice, so to succeed I needed to project an image of success right from the start. I borrowed too much money (which the bank gladly handed to me by the way since my credit at the time was spotless) so I could rent an “A”-class office in the technology park and fill it with custom-made furniture. That adventure ended badly, and all that’s left is the office chair I’m sitting in right now and the brass name plate somewhere in my storage boxes.

Do I really want the baggage of a huge overhead, the stress of always selling to make sure I cover my bills at the end of the month?

Keeping it simple means figuring out what you do best, what is the unique gift that you bring, then discarding all the rest. The French word comes to mind: “épurer”, meaning going to the essence, making something pure. It’s like what makes the “iPod shuffle” series of music players so successful. No screen, minimal buttons, it just plays music.

Bigger is not better, especially in today’s economy. Small is the new Big. It is also the main advantage of being a solo: nimble, quick, low-overhead. We can test out ideas cheaply and quickly, then build on what works.

It takes courage to show who you really are, unadorned by the make-up of fancy business cards or a flashy website or cool offices in the best part of town. It is also our greatest advantage, because business that is based on a relationship of personal trust is much more resilient than one based on discounting and flash.

Stop trying to compete with the Big Dogs. You can’t win on their turf. Instead, do it your own way, and you will attract people who value you as a person, not you as the showman.

Keep it simple. Focus on your strengths. Amplify what makes you special. Small is the new Big.

For more information

This post was inspired by a passage in Jason Fried’s book “Rework”
http://37signals.com/rework/ (see the end of the free PDF sample)
http://www.amazon.com/Rework-Jason-Fried/dp/0307463745/

“Small Is The New Big” by Seth Godin
http://www.sethgodin.com/small/

Image Credit: Roberto Zingales (CyboRoZ) via Flickr
Direct link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/filicudi/3966095552
Used under Creative Commons 2.0 licence

Thank you Mr. General Evaluator.

Jeff Bezos’ presentation style is an obvious carbon copy of Steve Jobs. But that seems to be the tendency for all tech CEOs.

The script was well written. He delivered it with good voice control and adequate pauses. Excellent visuals, well-timed.

What was very distracting to me was his constant pacing back and forth. I wanted to go up there and nail his shoes to the stage! He could have used the stage better to emphasize his points and make the reveals more impactful.

He looked a bit too much at the prompter. This contributed to a “nervous” vibration to his voice, which came through in some of the gestures which were wooden or just slightly off the timing mark. It also took away some of the presence which is the hallmark of the Jobsian style.

I would have liked the pace of the presentation to be a bit quicker, and a bit more punch in his voice control, hitting the adjectives that convey the coolness and passion around the product.

Jeff obviously practiced A LOT for this very important speech. He is not quite at the level of Steve Jobs, but he has the potential to get there.

Overall, well done. I think Jeff will sell a couple of Kindles with this pitch.

For more information

Toastmasters International: http://www.toastmasters.org

Toastmasters District 61 (Quebec/Eastern Ontario):  http://www.tm61.org

Direct link to Kindle Press Conference on YouTube: http://youtu.be/rm92Tnp953c

Image from Reuters

“Remember, our enemy is not lack of preparation; it’s not the difficulty of the project or the state of the marketplace or the emptiness of our bank account. The enemy is Resistance. The enemy is our chattering brain, which, if we give it so much as a nanosecond, will start producing excuses, alibis, transparent self-justifications, and a million reasons why we can’t/shouldn’t/won’t do what we know we need to do.”
– Steven Pressfield, “Do The Work”

As I write this post, I’m feeling the effects of massive Resistance. On one hand it’s a constant knot in my stomach, a faint headache, and a continuous pull to want to go to sleep.

The rational part of me knows I must tune out this Voice of Doubt and focus on getting this done.

The fear is irrational. I’m not face-to-face with a sabre-toothed tiger. I’m not walking a tightrope between two buildings or jumping a canyon on a rocket bike.

All I have to do is deliver an outline for my book, as part of my homework for the Book Breakthrough Mentor experience I’m doing with Janet Goldstein and Elizabeth Marshall.

The problem is that I’ve been wanting to produce this book for too many years. The idea of someday being a published author has been with me for so long that it has become a part of how I see and define myself. Not the “published author” part, but the “idea of someday being” part.

I’ve decided to draw this line in the sand, to move from the “someday I will be” to the “I am“.

However to do so means negating an important part of my self-image, jettisoning a part of me that has been with me for so long. And to replace it with something potential…possible…but as yet unknown.

Making this transition is probably the most frightening experience of my life.

The time for excuses is over. I must ship.

“What you do for a living is not be creative, what you do is ship.”
– Seth Godin

For more information

“Do The Work” by Steven Pressfield
http://www.amazon.com/Do-the-Work-ebook/dp/B004PGO25O

Video: Seth Godin: Quieting the Lizard Brain from 99% on Vimeo.

Article: “Fear”
http://blog.davender.com/2011/06/fear-trust30/

Image credit: alexperuso via Flickr
Direct link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aper3caper/2207870243/
Used under Creative Commons licence

Every time Facebook makes a major change, the question is asked: Has Facebook “jumped the shark”?

The phrase “Jumping the shark” means the moment a product, after hitting a high point, starts a long decline, moving away from the factors that defined its original success. It specifically comes from a time when the 70′s hit show “Happy Days” was becoming stale, so the writers created a story line where the character “Fonzie” went water skiing and jumped a shark. (Well, you had to be there to understand…)

Anyways, getting back to Facebook, the recent f8 conference announcements of the new Timeline profile and the Open Graph apps sharing every interaction you make with music or reading or cooking, all lead me to wonder if we’re in for the “age of oversharing”?

And what has me scratching my head is this: if Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is so intent on having us share every minute of our lives, why isn’t he leading the way?  For example, see the Facebook profile for Mark Z (if that is a real profile). Only very occasional status updates, which do not communicate anything of his personality, his likes and dislikes, and what he is doing now. Why doesn’t he share his own baby pictures, like he encourages people to do on Timeline? 

Shouldn’t a founding entrepreneur be the most enthusiastic user of his product?

What also has me concerned that Facebook is straying away from its roots is the continued viability of the business model. After years of meteoric growth, to where 10% of Earth’s population are active users, where is Facebook going to turn to continue generating revenue? By getting these users to interact even more with the platform, revealing more of their personal information, and viewing ads, of course. Facebook has tons of cash to burn thanks to generous venture investors. But the business model has me wondering if the revenue numbers they report are true. I mean, when was the last time you clicked (on purpose) one of those lame ads on the right side of the screen? There is something here which is not quite right. In my opinion, the business of Facebook gives off Enron-type vibes. (But oh well, Zuck is the kid billionnaire, not me).

Will this mean that I won’t continue to use Facebook? Far from it. I still see Facebook being a powerful tool for solos to communicate who they are and build a tribe. I’m especially excited that the new Timeline profile view can be used as a very powerful Professional Portfolio to demonstrate your credibility and build your positioning.

The general guidelines I recommend for social media still hold true:

1. Assume every thing you post is up forever, even if you try to delete it. Before you post, ask yourself if you would want to read it five years from now? Think “evergreen” – content which stands up well over time.

2. Assume every thing you post is visible to everyone, even if you try to use selective sharing.

3. Only share personal information and updates that contribute to your professional positioning. (This means stay away from the new Open Graph apps or minimize sharing with them).

4. The majority of your posts should build your Professional Portfolio: Education, Demonstration, Opinion, Recommendation and Information.

Remember that the goal of Facebook, Google+, Twitter (or other social media platforms yet to be invented), is to get you to share as much of your personal life as possible so you can be a target for mass advertisers. You end up working for the advertisers, for free.

However, through conscious and selective use of these tools, you can turn the tables and have these powerful channels work for you. Isn’t that going back to the original promise of social media: people connecting with people?

For more information

For more about building a Professional Portfolio, see my article:
“Build Your Credibility By Becoming A Content Creator”
http://blog.davender.com/2009/07/build-your-credibility-by-becoming-a-content-creator/

Facebook f8 conference (via TechCrunch) – one of many, many, many articles
http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/22/live-from-facebooks-2011-f8-conference-video/

Facebook “Timeline”
https://www.facebook.com/about/timeline

Photo montage by me.

It is the custom on this first Monday of September to celebrate workers. However, given the current economic climate, it is also a good time to wonder whether the “worker” celebrated on Labor Day is a disappearing species.

Henry Ford created the modern American factory worker at the start of the 1900s by offering high wages in return for their effort and loyalty. This model quickly spread throughout the economy because increased wages generated increased demand for consumer goods, which created more customers for goods produced by the factories. To meet this increased demand, you built more factories and hired more people. The basis of an entrepreneur’s worth was his square footage and head count.

However this expansion started to plateau in the 1960s and 70s, so entrepreneurs needed to look for other ways to increase productivity. Increased mechanization started the decline in employment. Offshoring muscle-based jobs to cheaper countries increased the trend. Knowledge workers thought themselves immune to the trend because brain-based work stayed in-country until that too could be more cheaply outsourced.

In hindsight, the trend to producing more with less is totally predictable. Entrepreneurs are driven by the desire to create value for their customers by doing things cheaper, faster, better. Innovation is the leverage that allows us to do more with less. This is reflected in the traditional balance sheet business valuation, where machines are assets and employees are liabilities.

Politicians and economists now are piling the responsibility for creating jobs on the shoulders of entrepreneurs. I believe this is a grave mistake. ”Job creation” is not a priority for entrepreneurs. I have yet to meet an entrepreneur who is primarily motivated by creating jobs. If job creation is a by-product of increased sales, that’s great, but it’s not the goal.

In the past the entrepreneur’s power came from the size of the factory and of the workforce. Now you can serve thousands of customers from a laptop in your bedroom. Companies whose assets are a few office buildings have higher capitalizations than the big automakers, with all of their factories, machines and workforce combined. The power of today’s entrepreneur is in the number of users.

What does this mean for the prototypical wage-earner? If they hope to return to the way they were at the core of the economy in the 1940s and 1950s, it is bad news. This first part of the 2000s are all about an economic shift as profound as the shift from the agrarian to the industrial economy in the first part of the 1900s.

The solution to the problem of unemployment and the shrinking economy goes beyond just doing more of what was done in the past. The Old Economics leave too many intangibles off the balance sheet: ecological, societal, personal, familial. We need to invent a New Economics that includes all this and more.

The old rules are gone and the new ones are yet to be written. It may take 20, 30 or even 100 years to figure out a new way of measuring value and wealth.

The future we desperately need will be created not by politicians, or by the CEOs of the old guard, but by a new generation of citizen-leaders who are crystal-clear about their purpose, who are powered by the passion of a big vision, and who transform the status-quo by mobilizing communities of people to build systems that create profit and prosperity for all.

For more information

This line of thought is the foundation of my personal manifesto:
http://about.me/coachdavender

Image credit: Stefan Ray (slinky2000) via Flickr
Link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/slinky2000/2175943057
Used under Creative Commons Licence

With all of the bad news that pervades our collective conversation lately, one might wonder if the end of the world really is near. We are running out of money, of oil, of water, of food, of jobs, of health, of hope…

I was listening to the podcast of “Real Time With Bill Maher“, where one of his guests was the renowned astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson. Dr. Tyson asked the question: “Have we lost the ability to dream?”. Back in the 1950s and 1960s. general-interest magazines were full of articles about “the city of tomorrow” and “the home of tomorrow”. Where is this kind of future projection today? Now we project “peak oil” and “water wars”. It’s like pessimism is the new black, and optimism is out of style, old-fashioned, naive and silly.

Why has optimism taken a back seat? Why do we let the pessimists have all the fun?

The succession of crises and dramas and bad news that surrounds us, even if we don’t live it immediately in our lives, creates a sense of helplessness. The problems we hear about are so much bigger than us, and they dominate every moment of our collective consciousness.

The renowned psychologist Dr. Martin Seligman, in his book “Learned Optimism” describes the distinction between optimism and pessimism as how we interpret and react to setbacks:

Optimism – reacting to setbacks from a presumption of personal power:

- Bad events are temporary setbacks
- Isolated to particular circumstances
- Can be overcome by my effort and abilities

Pessimism – reacting to setbacks from a presumption of personal helplessness:

- Bad events will last a long time
- Will undermine everything I do
- Are my fault

Dr Seligman proposes that optimism is a skill that can be learned, and which must be exercised to grow stronger. In the end, overcoming adversity is not about luck or prayer or someone else coming to the rescue. It is about assuming our personal power, seeing the temporary nature of the adversity and choosing to invest the effort to overcome the situation. Optimism is a question of will.

The challenge is that our collective conversation has turned towards the elements of pessimism: that the failures of the past will continue into the future, and that there is nothing we can do to change this bad situation, so it is better to do nothing.

Which is why I believe that the key to recovery is to re-learn how to be an optimist, to make it fashionable again. Not pie-in-the-sky, wishful optimism, but what I call “practical optimism”, an optimism grounded in two fundamental principles: faith and fact.

The first foundation of practical optimism is faith in a mission – a clarity about who we are, our values and our principles, a reason for being – and a faith in a vision, seeing adversity not as an obstacle, but as an opportunity to define and prove our worth.

The second foundation of practical optimism is fact: that a solution to the problem set before us can be engineered from science and art. Humanity has overcome major challenges in the past, and will continue to do so in the future. Individuals every day triumph over adversity, it’s just we don’t hear enough about it.

The practical optimist recognizes the challenge, but doesn’t let it become larger than her. The question she asks is not “is there a solution?”, but rather “what is the solution?”. The practical optimist assumes success by becoming bigger than the obstacle.

The dual faith-fact foundation of optimism also makes it fragile. The biggest danger for the practical optimism is not pessimism, but cynicism. The construction of a house takes time, but blowing it up is a spectacular show. In the age of the sound bite, being able to point out a flaw or a hole in a plan is easy, which is why cynics rule the conversation if left unchecked. The practical optimist needs to protect his faith zealously.

The past is past, available for all to study and interpret. The present is the present. Tracing a line from these two points toward the future is simple, and it will usually point to more of the same.

However this reasoning is deeply flawed. If the future could be predicted by a straight line from the past, we would still be living in caves and wearing animal skins.

The natural state of human activity is not excellence, it’s mediocrity. Striving for excellence means exerting effort to break this tendancy towards mediocrity and bend the projection curve upward. To move the projection, we need to push with all our might, give it all we have. Half-measures are not sufficient, because eventually the inertia of the status-quo takes over and nothing changes.

It is the duty of the practical optimist to disrupt the projection towards mediocrity by proposing a vision and taking massive action that disrupts the status quo. The practical optimist’s foundation in faith and fact becomes a leverage point to move the projection, transforming a problem into an opportunity, and an opportunity into a new reality.

The future doesn’t have to be a projection of the past. The past is history. The present is just a temporary condition. It is up to you to imagine the future you really want, and to make it happen. No one else will do it for you.

Any “problem”, whether in our society or in our personal life, does not have to be terminal. You have overcomed adverse situations before, and you will do so in the future.

As Matt Ridley , author of “The Rational Optimist” says:
Am I saying that we should cease worrying about trends that might cause problems? Of course not. I am arguing that we should worry about real problems, including Africa’s plight, but that we should do so in the knowledge that we have solved many such problems before and can do so again. I am certainly not saying, “Don’t worry, be happy.” Rather, I’m saying, “Don’t despair, be ambitious”—though I admit it’s not nearly as snappy a song lyric.

For more information

Inspiration for this line of thought:

Real Time With Bill Maher (podcast): Episode #223 (broadcast 5 Aug 2011)
http://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/real-time-with-bill-maher/id98746009

Martin Seligman: Learned Optimism (book)
http://www.amazon.com/Learned-Optimism-Change-Your-ebook/dp/B005DB6S7K

Dr. Seligman’s site:
http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/Default.aspx

Learned Optimism (Wikipedia): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learned_optimism

Matt Ridley: The Rational Optimist (blog and book)
http://www.rationaloptimist.com/

Sarah Robinson: Escaping Mediocrity (blog)
http://escaping-mediocrity.com

Drew Westin: What Happened To Obama’s Passion? (NYTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/opinion/sunday/what-happened-to-obamas-passion.html

I’m currently visiting New York City on business, and decided to arrive a day early to play tourist and orient myself. While wandering around Midtown, I was looking for a place to sit, cool off and catch up with my e-mail when I came across the New York Public Library at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street. So I decided to enter.

In the lobby of the NYPL there is an exhibit showing draft manuscripts by famous creators. An original sketch from Beethoven caught my eye. As I tried to read the melody through the squiggles and the smudges, I started to understand why historians prize these artifacts: they provide a unique window into the author’s thinking process. Other displays of the original manuscripts of playwrights, poets and authors made me wonder about how historians of the future will be able to piece together the thought processes of current and future thinkers if the edits to their digital documents are lost to time.

We value the neatness of the end-product, but this order is the product of messy trial-and-error evolution. Sometimes the process is as important as the product.

Then I decided to further explore the building. You have probably seen the Rose Main Reading Room in many movies, including Ghostbusters (and others but they don’t come to mind right now). It is a tall, wood-paneled sunlit space with an intricately carved ceiling, long oak tables with brass lamps and shelves of reference books lining the walls.

I was in awe. There is something cathedral-like to the space, a hymn to the knowledge and wisdom passed down through the generations.

Looking around, I feel a twinge of sadness. I am surrounded by books, but at the same time, “books”, the physical kind, are slowly disappearing from my life.

I stopped adding to my personal library about a year ago, when I got my Kindle. The good thing about the e-book revolution is that it makes books and knowledge much more accessible, and especially more convenient. Before I bought my Kindle about a year ago, I occasionally read books, maybe ten or twelve a year. Now my little Kindle currently holds about 400 books on business, finance, philosophy, biographies, politics and science, as well as a healthy percentage of novels, sci-fi and short stories. I now go through at least two or three books a month. I’ve paid for about fifty of them, the rest are Kindle “freebies”. The freebies I select are on average quite good. I no longer have any need for paper books, and will not even consider buying a book unless I can get it in Kindle format.

I wonder if, a hundred or two hundred years from now, when EPUB and PDF and DOC files are all obsolete and impossible to read, will libraries like this magnificent reading room still exist? Will paper books still hold the collective memory of humanity or will we lurch forward, suffering amnesia and forgetting the genesis of our ideas and our knowledge?

I don’t have children of my own to carry on my legacy, but the desire for a passing immortality still inhabits me. Which is the primary motivation driving me to produce a book (and eventually several books) with my name on the cover, to be distributed on the shelves of libraries large and small across the US and Canada and eventually around the world. Just maybe one idea, somewhere in my book, will be the key to unleashning the creativity of someone who changes the world for the better.

Every knowledge professional needs to write a book sooner or later. The experience you develop through your practice is too valuable to be forgotten. The path to being regarded as the authority in your field is by becoming a published author.

I expect that most of my sales to of the e-book kind. But if enough dead tree versions are produced, then just maybe I can achieve a little bit of immortality, just like the passion-driven, dedicated authors and scholars who wrote the volumes which line the shelves of this magnificent temple to knowledge.

For more information

Exhibition: Celebrating 100 Years: http://www.nypl.org/events/exhibitions/celebrating-100-years

New York Public Library Rose Reading Room: http://www.nypl.org/locations/schwarzman/general-research-division/rose-main-reading-room

I’m currently in New York for Book Breakthrough 2011: http://www.bookbreakthrough.com/workshop/

The chorus of the socialerati was unanimous: Facebook was no longer cool. Too many grandmas and cats, too many games and ads and noise, too many gurus pushing programs and businesses hawking stuff.

So when Google+ launched as an invite-only “Field Test”, all of the cool dudes (and they were mainly dudes) rushed to the new platform and proclaimed it as the best thing since sliced bread.

People were fighting each other like Filene’s Running Of The Brides to get a precious invite to join Google+. The service, still in a testing stage, reached something like 10 million accounts in the space of two weeks.

But your humble scribe, not so socialerati but still curious about this stuff, managed to get in at somewhere the four million mark. My first impression?

Meh.

Google+ is not the revolution we’ve been waiting for. And it just might go the same way as Google Wave or Google Buzz.

My main annoyance about Google+ is that it is more of the same. Yes there are things like Circles and Sparks and Whosits and Whatsits but it is still the same people sharing the same stuff as they do on Facebook and Twitter and LinkedIn.

Here are some of my thoughts why Google+ misses the mark now and will do so for the foreseeable future:

1. Google+ further fragments my attention span.

Attention is the currency of the new economy. There are only 86,400 seconds in a day, and I haven’t succeeded in learning how to walk, chew gum and update at the same time. Recent statistics say that people spend 22 minutes a day on Facebook but only 90 seconds on Google+. Actually, I don’t think that’s quite accurate because of the way the service is used – my Facebook tab on my browser might be open that long each day (and probably even longer) but it is hidden behind other tabs. I use the same window for Google+ as for GMail and other services, so it is more of a get-in-get-out usage pattern.

2. My circle is already connected.

I’m already connected to lots of people on Twitter (around 2500) and Facebook (around 1500) and LinkedIn (around 800). And many of these people I’m connected to on all three platforms, among others. Where am I going to find new people to connect with? By inviting my connections on the the other platforms to join me also on Google+?

3. I only have so much to say.

I’m already using tools like Hootsuite and Tweetdeck to multicast my ideas to Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. I hope soon Google+ will publish an API so I can use the same tools and not have to cut and paste between services. But it will be the same number of updates, multicast to four services instead of three, because I can only think of so many brilliant things to say per day.

4. I resent Google forcing my work tools to become social.

So much so that I set up a new Google profile only for G+ and Google Reader. I’m concerned about privacy, hacking, and especially of the possibility of Google yanking my account because of the fine print in their terms of service. Not that I will purposely do something bad, but I personally know colleagues on Facebook who saw their outpost there suddenly banned without explanation or appeal. I have no reason to believe that Google won’t be as evil, or more, especially given the “free expression” nature of social.

5. What I really don’t like is that Google+ doesn’t bring significant new value added to social.

For progress to be incremental, innovation must be disruptive. The expectations were high when the rumors about Google+ were circulating pre-launch. But the bottom line, as I see it, is that Google+ is just another social channel in a rapidly fragmenting social universe. I will use it, because as a tribe-builder, I need to be everywhere to connect with people. But I don’t plan on wasting precious heartbeats micro-managing my connections into circles.

Facebook may be going through a dip in its record-setting adoption rate. That is good, and would be happening whether Google+ was on the scene or not. Google may boast of high participation rates, but I think that will be due to the “forced” nature of signup, i.e. if you’re a Google services user, you will have a G+ account by default. But will you use it? When is the last time you posted only on Google Buzz?

Will social still be relevant in 2020? I expect so. I remember back in 1999 I was using my mobile phone to access my e-mail on my Pentium II laptop, just like I use my iPhone today to get e-mail. But the fundamental experience is very different. I believe the contrast in social in 2020 compared to now will be just as different.

Unfortunately, Google+ doesn’t disrupt the experience of social enough to start a new paradigm. I’m not worried, though. There’s still eight years left to go.

For more information

In the meantime, find me on Google+ here:
http://ow.ly/5KVyV

TechCrunch: Google+ At 10 Million Users:
http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/14/larry-page-on-google-over-10-million-users-1-billion-items-shared/

Behave On Google Plus Or Your Gmail Gets It (gawker.com)
http://gawker.com/5823121/behave-on-google-plus-or-your-gmail-gets-it

Google+ Growth Since Launch (Experian Hitwise) – stats on page hits and dwell time
http://weblogs.hitwise.com/heather-dougherty/2011/07/google_growth_since_launch.html

Comic from xkcd http://xkcd.com/918/ Used under Creative Commons licence

This is the first post I’ve written and posted using my iPad and the iOS WordPress app. Not bad, eh?

Speak what you think now in hard words, and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said today.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sometimes I look back to decisions I’ve made in the past and wonder if I could have done better. If I knew then what I know now, how would things have turned out?

The danger of this game is that you can’t get a do-over on your choices in life. So the only outcome of this thought exercise is regret, and that does not get you anywhere fast.

However, I realize that the decisions I am most proud of, are not necessarily the decisions that made me richer or more successful, but rather those decisions which where crystal-clear to me at that time.

Those decisions felt “right” to me because they resonated with a wisdom at the core of me. When I made those “right” decisions, the clarity first came from the heart, then quickly confirmed with the information I had at that moment. The key characteristic of those decisions was how it felt… there was an optimistic inevitability to them. There was no fear, no doubt.

Did these “right” choices always work out the way I hoped? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. But I feel no regret from those “right” decisions, and I feel just as “right” about them now as I did then, no matter the eventual outcome.

Other times when I tried to make the “best” choice, analyzing the pros and cons, decisions which were made with the head first…those decisions did not turn out so well. There was always an element of doubt, because of new information coming in, sometimes confirming my decision, other times contradicting it. These decisions felt mushy and uncertain. There was fear, doubt and regret around these choices, especially when they didn’t work out as I hoped.

Which tells me that if I want to live a life without regret, should I follow my head, or my heart?

If I give the authority to my head, I can never make a clear choice. It may be that in the future I learn something about the situation, or about myself, that if I knew now would lead me to make a different decision. Or maybe that piece of information would hold me back from trying something new, from taking a leap, from expanding my zone of possibility.

When man first attempted to fly, it was a process of trial and error, each step made on the information they had at the time. Given the track record of those early attempts, if they looked at what they were doing rationally, they would never have gotten off the ground.

To create the future you really want, you must challenge the status-quo, the way things are right now. Every decision requires taking a leap of faith. And only the heart is able to make that leap with confidence.

Let go of trying to make the “best” decision, and focus on making “right” ones. A “right” decision resonates with your mission, vision and values, using the information you have at hand. Then charge ahead with clarity, commitment, confidence and courage towards making your dream become real.

For more information

This post is part of a series inspired by The Domino Project’s #Trust30 Writing Challenge. Each day during the month of June 2011, we receive a thought from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay “Self-Reliance”, to use as a writing prompt. For more information about the #Trust30 Writing Challenge, see today’s prompt:
http://ralphwaldoemerson.me/tia-singh

Related posts on this blog:

Today Is Not Yesterday Nor Tomorrow
http://blog.davender.com/2008/10/today-is-not-yesterday-nor-tomorrow/

The Stuff Of Leadership
http://blog.davender.com/2005/12/the-stuff-of-leadership/

Image credit: Fergal Claddaugh on Flickr
Direct link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/feargal/5568944462/
Used under Creative Commons 2.0 licence

Men imagine that they communicate their virtue or vice only by overt actions, and do not see that virtue or vice emit a breath every moment. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

When I was making the transition from military life to the civilian world in the mid 90s, and again as I was transitioning from engineering to coaching at the end of that decade, I participated in a personal development program called “The Pursuit Of Excellence“.

Among the several truths I discovered through this program is this: ”How you do one thing is how you do everything“.

There is no dividing line between our public persona and our private life. If you preach one position in public and secretly do the opposite, you will get caught. Arnie, Anthony, Eliot, Mark… The examples are too numerous to be named.

I’ve been getting feedback from the #trust30 series and other blog entries, about how I am sharing my inner thoughts, wishes, fears and dreams with you. The question that I get asked is “do I worry that it will have a negative impact on my reputation?”  I believe it’s quite the contrary. If I’m preaching the gospel of Clarity, Commitment, Confidence and Courage, but secretly I’m hiding behind my fears, then I’m not walking the talk, and people will sense it.

It is too easy for those of us in the coaching and leadership industry to fall into “The Guru Trap“, where we start to believe our own hype and take shortcuts to shore up the image we want to project. It can be a route to quick financial success, but this instant success can be quite hollow. Keeping up a false front takes a lot of energy, while living authentically in our professional and personal life is much simpler and more fulfilling.

Be honest, be transparent, be open, and above all, walk your talk. Business is first and foremost trust. This means developing the courage to be real, in order to create a connection of trust between people.

For more information

This post is part of a series inspired by The Domino Project’s #Trust30 Writing Challenge. Each day during the month of June 2011, we receive a thought from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay “Self-Reliance”, to use as a writing prompt. For more information about the #Trust30 Writing Challenge, see today’s prompt:
http://ralphwaldoemerson.me/david-spinks

Context Associated: http://www.contextinternational.com
I will always be grateful to Kimberlee Faith Wolfe for encouraging me to get involved in this experience, as well as my first facilitator, Bobby Ng of Edmonton,  who gifted me with a set of life principles which continue to guide me today, as well as the many other leaders and colleagues with whom I shared a transformative experience during the Wall, the Advancement, and the Mastery programs.  Context programs continue in Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and elsewhere. If you want to know more, I can put you in touch with the right contacts.

Related article:

Beware The Guru Trap
http://blog.davender.com/2010/01/beware-the-guru-trap/

How Big Is Your Whuffie?
http://blog.davender.com/2010/01/how-big-is-your-whuffie/

Related Book

“The Likeability Factor” by Tim Sanders
http://timsanders.com/books/likeability-factor.html

Image credit: “mikeyexists” on Flickr
Direct link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/63101308@N00/360108233/
Used under Creative Commons 2.0 licence

What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder, because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know I. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Thinking Big” is easy. I come across people all the time who have big dreams. I meet far fewer who are actually making them happen.

The difference between talking and doing is Commitment. To me, Commitment is making what I say I want my first priority.

I’m the first to admit that I have a Big Project that I’m not committed to. Actually, several. I want to lose 20 pounds. I want to produce my first book. I want a life partner. These are all big things I want in my life, that I talk about, plan to do, someday.

It’s the distinction between urgent and important: Urgent is what gets other people”s projects moving forward. Important is what gets my projects moving forward. I have “lost” whole years focusing on the urgent while setting aside the important. These years have been productive, just not in ways that are as important to me now as they were important to others back then.

One’s results are a product of one’s priorities. If you find you’re talking a lot about something you want to get done, yet there is no progress happening on that front, then look at your commitment. Is what you’re talking about now creating the future you really want?

For more information

This post is part of a series inspired by The Domino Project’s #Trust30 Writing Challenge. Each day during the month of June 2011, we receive a thought from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay “Self-Reliance”, to use as a writing prompt. For more information about the #Trust30 Writing Challenge, see today’s prompt:
http://ralphwaldoemerson.me/laura-kimball

Related posts:

Will You Jump Or Wait To Be Pushed
http://blog.davender.com/2010/05/will-you-jump-or-wait-to-be-pushed/

Image credit: Ed Schipul (eschipul) on Flickr
Direct link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eschipul/2371505523/
Used under Creative Commons 2.0 licence

Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

In today’s Wikipediaed world of instant information, we are conditioned to have all the answers we need at our fingertips. Because, if it’s on the Web, it must be true!

But it makes me wonder why the answer which comes from others is more credible than the answer which comes from within.

To trust your own truth is scary. What if you’re wrong?

Well, what if you’re right?

What if your education, your knowledge, your experience, your failures, your successes, your heritage, your upbringing, your philosophy, your mission, your beliefs, your values, your instinct, your intuition, and your vision all combine to give you a unique perspective on the situation? To see what others don’t see?

You emerge as a leader when your truth allows you to see beyond conventional wisdom, out towards the blue oceans of unexplored possibilities.

Truth is not carved in stone. It is invented each moment as humanity moves forward, assimilating new knowledge and new experiences. No one has a monopoly on the truth.

There comes a point where you must stop looking to be validated by someone else’s truth, and start listening to your own.  You know what is true and what you need to do.

For more information

This post is part of a series inspired by The Domino Project’s #Trust30 Writing Challenge. Each day during the month of June 2011, we receive a thought from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay “Self-Reliance”, to use as a writing prompt. For more information about the #Trust30 Writing Challenge, see today’s prompt:
http://ralphwaldoemerson.me/jen-louden

Related posts

To Get The Desired Result, Ask The Right Question
http://blog.davender.com/2007/12/to-get-the-desired-result-ask-the-right-question/

A Thought About Intention
http://blog.davender.com/2008/05/a-thought-about-intention/

On The Right Questions
http://blog.davender.com/2007/03/on-the-right-questions/

Image Credit: Jeremy Brooks via Flickr
Direct link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeremybrooks/2551580036/
Used under Creative Commons 2.0 licence

These are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world. Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

So what if fear is “False Evidence Appearing Real”
It’s real enough to me
It’s the fear of being incompetent that scares me the most

To create a new normal I must learn a new way of being
which means doing what I’ve dreamed of doing
but have not yet done

My worth to others
and especially my worth to me
is based on what I’ve done in the past

But if I try something new,
my fear is
of not measuring up to the expectations of others
and even more terrifying
is facing the reality that what I’m delivering
does not measure up to the magnificence of what I imagined

Will I let them down?
Will I let ME down?

When I look back ten years from now
I will probably smile at how naive I was
how I was afraid of giving life to my vision
for fear of not being worthy of being the one to make it happen

It is very tempting to cling to the known
because, like it or not, at least it is known

The choice I have before me is to be comfortable in my competence
because it justifies being the person I am now
or to celebrate my incompetence
because it frees me to invent the glorious person I am meant to be.

For more information

This post is part of a series inspired by The Domino Project’s #Trust30 Writing Challenge. Each day during the month of June 2011, we receive a thought from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay “Self-Reliance”, to use as a writing prompt. For more information about the #Trust30 Writing Challenge, see today’s prompt:
http://ralphwaldoemerson.me/lachlan-cotter

Image credit: Loretta Prencipe (LWPrencipe) on Flickr
Direct link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorettaprencipe/110834144/
Used under Creative Commons 2.0 licence

Imitation is Suicide. Insist on yourself; never imitate.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Of course I want lots of clients and a big income. I often follow what the big names in my business are doing, and it is very tempting to try to copy them. I heard a colleague of mine say that the fastest way to become a big-name coach is to “apprentice” with a big-name coach.

But when I see these “apprentices” at work, more often than not they tend to promote their mentor’s services and repeat their mentor’s stories. And what they say becomes bland.  Their message is clearly someone else’s, it is not their own. They may be getting more clients, but I’m wondering where does the client’s loyalty lie, towards the coach or to the big-name mentor?

Benchmarking oneself against the industry leaders can become a trap. It’s easy to duplicate style, message and actions, but much more difficult to duplicate mindset. When you are doing what the leaders do, the prospect wonders “why go for a copy when I can have the real thing?”

Like when I was shopping for a new mobile phone. I wanted an iPhone, but my eye turned towards the others on the market, thinking I could save a bit of money. Then I realized if I bought a Motorola or a Samsung, I would always be comparing it to an Apple and regretting I did not get the “real thing”.

To break out of the cacophony of marketing noise, you have to have a unique message, spoken in your own voice. Having a spin that challenges the status-quo helps. Ground your message in stories from your life experience. When you want to change someone’s mind, facts open the door but stories seal the deal. And your life stories are unique to you, which what makes the message authentic. And that’s the “divine idea” – the spark in your message that gives it a life of its own.

I had my share of success in network marketing back in 2003-04. But I did it not by blindly “duplicating” what everyone else was doing. I did it my own way. My business partner and I launched a different way of marketing, one that was much more in alignment with our mission, our vision and our values. And it worked to help propel my network marketing income to the five-figure level for a couple of years, until I abandoned building that business to focus back on coaching.

I don’t want to be like others. I want my brand to be about connection, trust, feet-on-the-ground pragmatism combined with shoot-for-the-moon idealism. I want to stay real as I live my life project.

Many years ago, when I took a course on the “Open Space Technology” method of group facilitation, the trainer said: “Whoever shows up is the right people.”  There was something in that awkward grammar that made the message stick in my head. Business success is not a popularity contest. It is about attracting the people who resonate with your unique message, who believe in who you are and what you’re doing, who value what you offer and who are ready to commit.

For more information

This post is part of a series inspired by The Domino Project’s #Trust30 Writing Challenge. Each day during the month of June 2011, we receive a thought from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay “Self-Reliance”, to use as a writing prompt. For more information about the #Trust30 Writing Challenge, see today’s prompt:
http://ralphwaldoemerson.me/fabian-kruse

Image credit: “shortie66″ on Flickr
Direct link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sunshine6/339605220/
Used under Creative Commons 2.0 licence

To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, that is genius.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Eric Handler asks:  ”What is burning deep inside of you? If you could spread your personal message RIGHT NOW to 1 million people, what would you say?”

Simple. LISTEN UP!!!

Stop chasing “things” to feel fulfilled. Success is creating an experience of life that allows you to explore your full potential. Pursue your passion. Make a difference. Build a legacy. Turn your vision into a Big, Hairy, Audacious Life Project, and push it to the max.

The benchmark for me is Steve Jobs, who keeps on creating, imagining and executing his vision even though he knows each new day when he wakes up could be his last. He doesn’t need the money, he does it for a higher purpose.

For more information

This post is part of a series inspired by The Domino Project’s #Trust30 Writing Challenge. Each day during the month of June 2011, we receive a thought from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay “Self-Reliance”, to use as a writing prompt. For more information about the #Trust30 Writing Challenge, see today’s prompt:
http://ralphwaldoemerson.me/eric-handler

Before I read today’s prompt, I was reading an article -
“Foxconn CEO: I Wouldn’t Be Working As Hard As Steve Jobs If I Was As Ill As Him” (Business Insider)
http://www.businessinsider.com/foxconn-ceo-praises-steve-jobs-disses-warren-buffett-2011-6

Image credit: “the justified sinner” via Flickr
Direct link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/the_justified_sinner/3685583354/
Used under Creative Commons 2.0 licence

It has been a while since I’ve connected with you by e-mail. Time has been flying by!

This past spring has been a season of transformation, with the launch of new programs on the Web and also locally. The coaching clients I’ve had the honor to work with during these past weeks have been as inspirational for me as I hope I have been for them! Thank you and merci!

Now that the weather is heating up, it’s tempting to use the next few weeks to recharge your batteries. Remember, it’s also a great time to recharge your business! As your clients are taking a break, use this opportunity to work ON your business. A well-focused WOW project can relight your flame just in time for the silly season in September.

This Friday June 10 I have the privilege and pleasure of being interviewed by Michael Port on the topic: “From Dream To Done – Success Is A Sequence Of Projects“. This teleconference interview is part of the Book Yourself Solid AMPLIFIED Tele-Festival taking place this week from June 6 to 10. You can listen for free by signing up right away at http://tinyurl.com/bysamplified. If you upgrade to the Gold or Platinum packages, you get lifetime access to all recordings, transcripts, and over $2000 worth of bonus gifts!

For this occasion, I have put together a new e-book full of ideas to help you move your ideas “From Dream To Done”, which I’m pre-releasing to Gold and Platinum subscribers of Book Yourself Solid AMPLIFIED. I really encourage you to sign up and take part in over 20 hours of hot tips from great Book Yourself Solid coaches!

Also, the best way to enjoy your summer is to put in place a strategy to get back up to speed after your vacation. I’m re-introducing the “$1000 off special” for the next Power Circle Productifity Bootcamp and Mastermind which starts on August 9… a great deal (20+ hours of learning, coaching and accountability support for just $499!). But only if you act right now, before Friday June 24!

I’m very active this month on my blog, where I’m participating in the #Trust30 Writing Challenge. An event organized by Seth Godin’s “The Domino Project”, each day during the month of June 2011, I receive a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay “Self-Reliance” to use as a writing prompt. For more information about the #Trust30 Writing Challenge, check out http://ralphwaldoemerson.me There is still time to participate if you want: it’s a great way to refocus on your vision and your commitment.

Let’s keep in touch. I’m very active on Facebook, and look forward to connecting with you there.

And here is what else is going on to help you Power Your Vision From Passion To Profit…

Upcoming Events:

Friday June 10 (7PM Eastern)
Book Yourself Solid AMPLIFIED: From Dream To Done – Success Is A Series Of Projects
A Project is a framework which brings together resources and actions toward achieving a specific goal. Understand how to go from “dream” to “done” by defining what you want to accomplish and translating your intentions, resolutions and goals into a well-defined project you can take action on, right now.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=168281466558282

Tuesday August 9 until Thursday August 29
From Dream To Done: The Power Circle Productivity Bootcamp
Is there a result you want to accomplish in your business project, but you can’t seem to find the time or the focus? The Power Circle Productivity Bootcamp is a results-focused learning and action system to help you find the time and develop the energy to move from “dreaming” about it to “doing” it. You will discover how to transform your idea into a project, and then how to execute your project to power your everyday results to a new level of effectiveness. The deliverable from your experience in the Productivity Bootcamp is a practical action plan that you can implement right away to get the results you want.
Special LIMITED-TIME offer ($1000 off!)
http://www.fromdreamtodone.com

For a complete listing of the upcoming events, check out the Event Calendar here:
http://en.davender.com/calendar/

Would you like to schedule an introductory session with me?
Or if you’re a current client, reserve time for our next session?
http://www.coachdavender.com/meeting (temporary link)

Check out my “corporate” website describing who I am and what I can offer to you
http://www.visioneering-institute.com

I invite you to stop by my blog at http://www.frompassiontoprofit.com

Join me on Facebook:

Personal profile: http://www.facebook.com/coachdavender
Professional (Fan) page: http://www.facebook.com/frompassiontoprofit

Are we connected on LinkedIn?

http://www.linkedin.com/in/coachdavender

I look forward to finding out more about what you’re doing! Feel free to drop me a line or give me a call, my contact information is listed below.

-davender:)

Image credit:”Pacdog” via Flickr
Direct link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pacdog/4968422200
Used under Creative Commons 2.0 licence