Bird's Eye View

Troop Talk

Ok, guys. I’m really excited. As you may know, my company’s client, MyVetwork, is building the community for US military personnel and their families.  Every day, we learn of another family deeply affected by the sacrifices made by a soldier, sailor, marine, airman or guardsman. Men and women, active duty or vets– each of them is someone to whom we owe more than our thanks. And their stories are ultimately affirming. You can’t help but be awed by the single minded devotion of these people to their flag and country.

So- we’ve agreed to join Expand the Circle, a 501(c)(3) organization, to jump start a word of mouth campaign to tell their stories. We’re buying a bunch of “flip video “ phones to send to military personnel and their families in different locations here and in Iraq and Afghanistan. We’re asking simply to record what they like the world to know, and we’ll share it. If you’d like to join in, welcome! Make your contribution to Expand the Circle. It will be tax deductible and we’ll use it to buy more cameras (each camera is about $100). The more cameras, the more stories we’ll have to share. 

Below is the press release to announce the initiative:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Wf360 & MyVetwork Call Upon Community To Support Our Troops With The Gift of Communication.

New York, NY (June 16, 2008) - Wf360 has teamed up with Expand the Circle, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, to support a Wf360 initiative called MyVetwork, an upstart social networking community for military service people.  The plan is to call upon Wf360’s friends and supporters to join Wf360 in donating Flip Video cameras to troops stationed at bases around the country and abroad. MyVetwork was created by a group led by John Campbell of NYC, a Vietnam era Marine veteran who knows first-hand how challenging a career in the military can be and the strain placed upon families kept apart for long periods of time. 

“We created MyVetwork to help our service men and women cope with the day-to-day struggles associated with serving our country. One key component of the MyVetwork community is the ability to share stories, experiences and resources with friends and family through a variety of media, including user-generated video content in which people in the military—and those who care about them, like sisters, brothers, parents, friends—can document things in their daily life and share their unique perspective with the rest of us” states Campbell.

The Flip video camera was created by Pure Digital of San Francisco and has been popular with journalists and users alike due to its small size and ease of use. Each unit retails for approximately $100 [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ONDRDU] and allows the user to record up to 30 minutes of high quality video. “We are thrilled that for a small donation of just $100 each, we can send one of these dandy little cameras to support the men and women in the military working so hard to defend our country. We hope that our community will respond enthusiastically with individual and corporate donations” adds Susan Bird, CEO of Wf360.

In honor of the 4th of July, MyVetwork plans to send 100 cameras to soldiers at Fort Benning, Georgia, Marines at Camp Pendleton, California and military personnel stationed at other military bases around the globe.

 

Individuals who would like to contribute are asked to visit Wf360's blog at http://wf360.typepad.com where they can submit tax deductible donations via credit card to Expand the Circle using a paypal widget in the sidebar.  Corporations interested in donating should contact Brent Phelps at SupportOurTroops@myvetwork.com.

MyVetWork is an online community for all US Military Veterans, their spouses, families and friends - particularly those who have served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, with special attention paid to the wounded and disabled. MyVetWork's objectives are twofold: 1) to provide veterans and those who care about them with a means to support each other in ways that range from the lighthearted and entertaining to deep and meaningful connection and 2) to create an information exchange where veterans of all conflicts can produce information, career advice, educational ideas, mentoring and other work-related resource to recently separated Vets transitioning from the military to civilian life.

Web: www.myvetwork.com

Wf360 is a marketing and communications company changing the “rules of engagement.” Wf360’s corporate clients learn to discard the notion of “telling, then selling.” Instead, Wf360 helps them find the most strategically powerful ways to actively engage their customers and employees, both on- and off-line. Ways that connect them compellingly with the values on which their organization is built. Wf360 is focused on developing and sustaining practical word-of-mouth conversational marketing to build a following of people who live and breathe the client's brand…and willingly become evangelists who influence others to do the same.

We call it Brandversation™.  And that’s worth talking about.

Web: www.wf360.com

 

For more information contact:

Brent Phelps
SupportOurTroops@myvetwork.com
(917) 270-9198

 

 

Sometimes There is Nothing To Say

In honor of the Fourth of July, we've been doing lots of thinking...and some talking...about our US military and what we can do for them.

You may have caught my post a while ago about the women I met in DC at the Summit for Women Veterans.  An amazing lot, all of them.  And I can't wait to see the Lioness film I talked about in that post.

Thinking today not just about those who have served and come back to share the experience with us (as if we will ever understand what it means to be in combat), but also about those who will never return.  Especially the women.  A great tribute to all 110 of the US women who've lost their lives while serving our country in Iraq and Afghanistan can be found on today's wowowow site.  Check it out.

Then think of what you can say.  Sometimes, as much as I believe conversation is at the core of human experience, I have to admit there's not much to say.  This is one of those moments.

Telephone Talk

Despite the fact that for many of us, it seems we do most of our business on the web, a great deal of business is still conducted over the phone.  It's possible to argue, in fact, that telephone conversations have increased in importance precisely because there are so many alternatives (IM, email, snail mail etc.) so when we do talk on the phone, it's important.  At least we should regard it as important.

How about in your business?  Before placing a phone call,do you do your homework, so you know a bit of the background of the person with whom you'll be speaking?  Do you have a clear objective for the call?  What's your reason for spending this time to have an in-person telephonic conversation?   I often find that by simply asking that question of people on our team here, they get more focused about the purpose of the call and how they'll measure whether they've achieved it.  If it is simply to "make the connection," it should be short and sweet, taking as little of the other person's time as possible.  Perhaps it is to determine whether they have enough interest in your product or service to warrant setting up an in-person meeting.  With that as an objective, make sure you set up the conversation so that it leads naturally to their asking for more information, or to see you in person.  If that doesn't occur naturally, then you can suggest it.

Even better, though, is to plan your phone conversation so that you can avoid "telling, then selling."   That's done by letting the other person do most of the talking, revealing what their needs and interests are, so that you can more naturally find where what they've told you intersects with your objective.  If you find, for example, that their biggest issue is having enough time, determine how your product or service helps them save time.  If it's about lack of talent, position your product or service so that it obviates hiring additional people, or even makes existing staff more efficient.

It's the old advice that you should "find a need, then fill it."  Still on target.  Maybe more so. 

And one of the most obvious pieces of advice--but often the one most people forget--is to smile when you talk on the phone.  Even if they can't see you, the person on the other end of the call can hear you "smile."  It's true.  I once purchased a vanity mirror, on a stand, for every one of my company's sales people; they set them on their desk next to their phone so they could make sure they were smiling.  They thought it was goofy at first, but soon learned that It really does make a difference in what you say and how it's received.  Try it. 

On-line pen pals

I've been thinking lately about the mentoring programs I've seen in so many companies that kick off to great fanfare, lots of excitement...and then end up with sparse participation and generally regarded as, well, lame.  Why is that?

Lots of reasons, and we consult to companies about how to avoid the pitfalls.  Obvious among things to avoid is the tendency of some companies to assign mentors to mentees.  We could talk about how not to do mentor programs.

Let's talk, though, about how to help people connect in ways that work and have an inclination to sustain the relationship over time.  If a company sets up a social network among its employees, it becomes simple to connect people based not on geography or some arbitrary basis, but rather on deeply held values, experience, interests, challenges.  And the concept of what we used to call "pen-pal" communications can thus work well.  One can drop a note to your mentor/mentee through the social network that is easier to do than an email.  An easily calendared, pop-up that shows up as a kind of check in...so that one is inclined to always drop a few words...to keep the connection and have it show up on a regular basis. 

Establishing a group within a company's social network where the mentoring program can have a place where common issues/questions are discussed and shared with others could be immensely valuable.  And using the on-line opportunity as a key component of the program means that once having established the mentorship relationship based on shared interests, values, experience and the like means that people who are geographically dispersed--even across the globe--could participate valuably in a mentorship program.

Talk about valuable conversation...

Soccer Talk

Just when we think we're global citizens, linked less to our home country than to a world-wide network of like minded individuals, something comes along to challenge that thinking.   What came along yesterday was the soccer match between Germany and Turkey. 

Nina Pollozek, a summer intern here at Wf360, is a German who was glued to her monitor yesterday afternoon, cheering on the German soccer team in what was apparently a real nail biter for Deutschland who feared an upset by the team from Turkey.  We talked after the game about the world-wide mania for soccer (in every company except for the US and Japan, it appears) and how it brings out the nationalist in every fan who sees his country inextricably linked to his team and vice versa.

I recall the incredibly exciting time I had two summers ago in Italy when I was in Luca the night the Italians beet the French for the World Cup.  Mama Mia, it was a night of celebration and every Italian flag that could be found seemed to be waving that night and all the next week from every possible vantage point in Italy.

It's a good thing to have such excitement over the home town team, the home country team, the home country itself.  At least so long as it doesn't damn those who don't share our enthusiasm by being upstart enough to sheer for their own country's team.

That's much of what we love about the Olympics, right?  And why we get frustrated when it appears that some competitors participate more as mercenaries than "home town" stars.   Do you have similar excitement around your company for intramural efforts of one kind or another, where you're a company team?  Running in the Park, bike racing, whatever it takes to get that corporate loyalty flowing.  Good stuff, don't you think?

Another take on bilingual corporate talk

I had lunch with Avivah Wittenberg-Cox today in New York.  Avivah, a good friend, is a Canadian who has lived in Paris most of her adult life and been an active leader in business circles for much of that time.  She recently authored Why Women Mean Business, cited by Financial World as "a cheering alternative to the traditional whining about men holding women back in the workplace."

Check out the link on this site to a video on the book.  You'll meet Avivah and get a good sense of her approach to the subject.  I've been fascinated for a long time by her view that for many women, the language spoken in business is a second language that men seem to learn easily, but women must pick up as if studying a foreign language.  Either way, the conversation in the business world is fraught with gender cues that both women and men must learn.

And with more women taking leading roles in the global corporate world, it's a whole new conversation.

Women Veterans Summit

This past weekend, I attended the National Summit on Women Veterans Issues.  Wow!  Not at all what I expected.  It was, in a word, awesome.  I am humbled by the women I met there, each of them a powerhouse of talent, courage and patriotism.  The kind of love for country that makes you proud to put your hand over your heart for the pledge of allegiance.

There was Vernice Armour America's first African American female combat pilot.  This is a woman that was a police officer in Nashville, the first African American woman on their motorcycle squad.  Then she became a Marine, earned her wings in July 2001, becoming the Marine Corps' first African American female pilot.  Not to mention she has also been a running back for the San Diego women's professional football team, the Sunfires. 

Or how about the woman, also a Marine in Iraq, who now serves on the SWAT team of the Oklahoma City police department?  Or the five female support soldiers who served together in Iraq and were the first in US history to be sent into direct ground combat, in violation of official policy.  Watch for the documentary entitled Lioness, which will be on PBS this Fall with their extraordinary story.

Three of the Lioness women were with us over the weekend.  Everything about their story is interesting.  One of the things they said that resonated with me was about difference in language used by US Army troops and the Marines.  They worked with both of them, beginning with the Army.  Suddenly thrown into a group of Marines and told to accomplish the same mission, they said they heard phrases, acronyms, orders that although in English were truly unknown to them, since they differed from Army language protocol.  So it happens on the battle field just as it does back home in our offices: sometimes we speak a different language, from one company to another.  Even within divisions of the same company.  Even, alas, within departments, depending on who is talking.  We often find the need to be multi-lingual...even within our own language.

Perhaps it's simply the result of human beings wanting to set up a kind of patois within their immediate group, a kind of short-hard that facilitates the work flow.  Sometimes, though, it becomes a kind of armor of "specialness" against outsiders.  A "secret handshake" language.  Does that happen where you work? 

What is your conversational IQ?

You know of emotional intelligence, of course, the phrase coined by Daniel Goleman.  What about conversational intelligence?  It's not about how many big words you use.  It's about how your conversation engages others.   Active listening is as much a part of conversational intelligence as speaking.

I believe strongly that conversational intelligence can be learned, like any other teachable skill.  A few people may appear to have the skill naturally, but often it is because from an early age they were exposed to others who carried on conversations about substantive issues that challenged them to think before they spoke, and to formulate opinions they could back up with factual information.  They also learned to listen actively so that they learned while others were speaking.  (Too often, as we all know, people merely use what should be "listening time" to formulate the next thing they plan to say themselves...literally not hearing the other's contribution to the conversation.)  But those people are the exception.  For the rest of us, conversational intelligence can be taught.

I'd like to make conversational intelligence a sought-after skill.  It should be something you point to on your resume with pride. Theodore Zeldin, the remarkable former Don at Oxford University and author of a wonderful book called Conversation (as well as a host of other historical texts) discussed with me his dream of creating a course on interactive conversation, to be taught at graduate business schools.  We haven't done it yet, but stay tuned.  Would you sign up?

Does "Text Message Dating" Foretell a Business Trend?

I had lunch in Manhattan today with a senior executive friend of mine.  She is high powered, accomplished, single.  I asked her for the scoop on the New York dating scene for people like her.

Sounds like good news/bad news.  The good news?  Seems there are indeed a good number of eligible men running around New York who fit the demographic she is looking for (read high powered, accomplished, single and, oh yes, it would help if he is also rich).  The bad news is what she describes as the paucity of, well, communication.  It appears there are new rules for how the whole process is conducted at this rarefied level.  Or maybe at all levels.  The most striking thing she mentioned is that these men appear allergic to making phone calls.  Virtually all their communications with her are either email or text messages.  The texting is what surprises her.  Lots of one liners throughout the day from the same person, few of which have any import (e.g., "What did you have for lunch?").  She said she'll be busily at work and find a text message about how busy--or not--he is.  Or with whom he had a breakfast meeting.  But no real conversation.  None.

As she said, her voice rising, "Why don't they pick up the damn phone?"  In fact, she finds the text messages a distraction and even annoyance, since she feels stuck coming up with clever one liners in response.  Sounds like an awful lot of work for what is supposed to appear casual and off-hand.

Does this happen in business as well?  Not in mine, but perhaps in yours?  Virtually all my correspondence is via email.  Not much texting except for tactical logistics around the address of the restaurant at which a meeting is taking place, that sort of thing.  I'd certainly have trouble conducting any kind of negotiation via text messaging.  How about you?

Tim Russert's Lesson For Us

Tom Russert did his homework. 

I'm often asked why I take conversation so seriously.  "After all, I'm often told, "It's just words."  People seem surprised when they learn how much preparation goes into each of the facilitations I do for senior executive groups.

I explain that conversation--real interactive dialog in which the listening is as rigorous as the talking--is hard work.  To be especially effective, participants need to have done their homework, researched the backgrounds of those whom they plan to engage, have a grasp of the history behind the other's present position on the issues planned for discussion.  Substantive conversation rarely occurs when we simply "wing it."

Heavy lifting before the conversation is necessary for meaningful interaction. And heavy lifting is what made Tim Russert's conversations with the powerful and influential so rewarding for his audience.  He did the homework and we got to enjoy the results...and learn from the process.

There is no one else like him on the journalistic scene.

Who in your company can be counted on to spend an equal amount of time and resources getting up to speed before putting forth an opinion or initiating a plan?  Is training in how to do such homework worth investing in at your company?  How would it change things?  Would company meetings look any different?  Would they have different results?