Author Archive
Got a Sense of Humor? You’ll Need it at Despair, Inc.
Are you a fan of the "Successories (TM)" product line? Well, get over it! There's an opposing camp of demotivators called "Despair, Inc. (TM)" and it is a hoot! You have to have a sense of humor to appreciate the product line and site – especially the FAQs. Dr. E.L. Kersten, the founder, is a real person. You can purchase the book, "The Rise of Mr. Ponzi", by Charles Ponzi, from the site (for real!) The irony, sarcasm, insults (in a nice way), and tongue-in-cheek messages are excellent. I love this stuff.
If your glass is half full, make your day brighter and lighten-up with a laugh by taking a look at this site. It will help you see that your glass is really half empty!
Despair, Inc.
Crowd Control & Emergency Plans for Events
The hospitality industry and event/meetings management are areas of interest to me as a speaker, trainer, author, and television host because the industry hires people like me. Therefore I pay attention to what happens within the industry.
The Love Parade incident – more like disaster – in Germany, is a study in crowd control and access management for planners, government officials, safety and security personnel, and more. It also causes everyone who attends an event to consider event safety and how they might react to emergency situations, observing how they enter and exit, what provisions appear to be made for a safe and secure experience, and whether there is anything that may give them pause to following through with attending.
Communication, observation, decision-making, research, knowledge and experience, and risk-taking are all disciplines involved in planning and executing safe events. This link takes you to a schematic and lots of photos of what led up to, and happened at, the Love Parade.
FULL ARTICLE, SCHEMATIC, & PHOTOS
Look for Interns to Feed Your Talent Pool
Found this article / blog post for employers on finding good talent by going to schools to get interns. Did I mention that the article quotes me from an article in Workforce Management magazine?
READ FULL ARTICLE: "Looking for Talent? Go to School" (Beulah Landreth)
Excellent Pet Photographer, Speaking of Image and First Impressions!
We just had a professional photo shoot for our two "kids" – our Pembroke Welsh Corgis. We've been thinking of having this done for several years but have been dissatisfied with various "people photographers" we've encountered throughout the years. From past experience with a pet photographer, we've learned that there is something that someone who deals only with pets can do to get an animal to sit up and catch that just-right look that photographers who shoot mainly people seem to lack. We finally found the pet photographer for us!
We first met her at our vet's open house and first impressions were excellent. I write a lot about image and first impressions, and she fulfilled ours impressively. She was professional, dressed well according to her profession, and had a beautiful coffee-table-sized book that was (is) her portfolio. Her work product on display really showed her mastery of pets and catching them in their home element. Communication was positive and we left with a great first-impression.
Next step – check out her website. Again, beautiful work! Her blog was funny and informative. (Pet photos frequently are.) We could tell, yet again, that she knew pets. Her presentation of her work sealed the deal and we called her for the appointment at our house.
Her correspondence was clear, instructive, and set our expectations for a professional shoot. To cut the story short, she went above and beyond our expectations, related well with the dogs, captured their personalities, worked with us to select the best shots for prints, and did everything fairly, personably, and professionally. We are thrilled with the results!
Here are examples of her work, featuring our two Corgis on her blog.
If you are in the Washington DC area and need an excellent pet photographer, please connect with Robyn at www.PawPrintsPhotography.com. Tell her Sylvia sent you!
Be assured that positive first impressions and presenting a professional work product brings you business and professional success.
Actual Names of Professionals
On of the e-groups to which I belong, someone recently asked for a recommendation for a doctor in our local area. Another list member suggested a doctor whom her family uses, and the name was rather interesting for that type of doctor. Soon lots of people on the list shared names of professionals – beyond doctors – whom they either know, use, or know to be “real people”. The list got to be so humorous that I decided to compile the list to this blog. Remember that these are real folks!
Lesson to all of us: be careful what you wish for your child to become “when she or he grows up”, especially considering what your family name may be! Enjoy.
- Lawyer – B. Lawless
- Dermatologist – Dr. Spot
- Surgeon, in Baltimore, MD – Dr. Slaughter
- Dentist, in Laytonsville, MD – Ms. Brush
- Podiatrist, in Washington, DC – Dr. Corn
- Pediatrician – Dr. Needles
- Pediatrician, who joined Dr. Needles’ practice – Dr. Pinns
- Electrician – Mr. Sparky
- Podiatrist, in NJ – Dr. Foot
- Gastroenterologist, in Philadelphia, PA – Dr. Butts
- Ophthalmologist, in NY – Dr. Glassman
- Lactation consultant – Anna Utter
- Orthodontist, in Georgia – Dr. Oral Francis
I’m sure you know of others, yet this is a good starter for a few chuckles.
Extreme Makeover, Baltimore MD “Girls Hope” Project – Life Skills Training
This ABC2 News (Baltimore, MD) report ran on Friday, July 16, 2010. Its main topic is the Extreme Makeover project that will be revealed Sunday for Girls Hope non-profit in Baltimore, MD. The subject within the clip, however, is about the group Second Chance, Inc. that donated architectural items to the makeover project. The sub-subject is the Life Skills Training that the guys at Second Chance receive, and THAT topic includes me and my business. I have a couple seconds on camera, as well as a couple of the guys in my class.
Providing Life Skills Training to Second Chance, Inc. has been satisfying both financially and for the heart (mine). Seeing them do something like this for another non-profit serving young women in their community, and knowing that I helped prepare some of the young men in some aspect of their life journeys is even more of a thrill!
(By the way…I'm about 2/3rds of the way through this clip.)
Life Skills Training provided by Sylvia Henderson, Springboard Training.
Contact info: Springboard Training, PO Box 588, Olney, MD 20830-0588.
Phone (Google Voice): 202-642-BGR8 (2478).
E-mail: Sylvia@SpringboardTraining.com
County Agency Gives Excellent Service – Montgomery County MD 311 System
I just had a wonderfully satisfying experience calling a county agency for large-item recycling pickup service! From the time a live person answered the phone (after only three rings), until the time I hung up after exchanging a light moment with a second person (who actually laughed at my wry humor), I felt listened to, respected, cared about, and service-honored. What a way to start a Monday morning.
Montgomery County MD, the county in which I live, initiated a "311" call service this year. I did not realize that the telephone number I was calling – a number I had on my kitchen bulletin board since the last time I called "the county" months ago – was the new 311 service. On the third telephone ring, a live person answered stating that it was the 311 service. He cheerfully asked what he could do to help me. I told him the reason for my call. He pleasantly informed me that he would take my pertinent information and then transfer me – and my information – to the appropriate department for scheduling. What a change from the usual give-me-your-information request, then transferring to another call-taker who requests the same information again before proceeding.
This gentleman took my address and items-to-pick-up information, then transferred me – without losing the call! – to the pickup scheduling person. Before he transferred me he actually stayed on the line a second or two which allowed me to ask him a question about the service. Usually, while the person is saying he will transfer me he is pushing the button to do so, thereby never allowing another question to be asked.
The scheduler picked up the line almost immediately. I did not have to wait for an annoying Muzak-type background or a commercial about the county's other services. She gave me my schedule date and asked me if that would work for me. OMG!! Checking to see if her schedule met my schedule. What a concept. When I assured her the schedule was good, she gave me a service ID number. She actually asked me if I had a pen and paper available to write it down and did not get huffy when I asked her to hold on for a moment while I retrieved said items. She spoke clearly and slowly to make sure I wrote the number correctly.
I then engaged her in a short back-and-forth intended to be light and make her laugh, and she actually laughed. She thanked me for calling, hoped that she was of service to me, and bade me a good day. I hung up the phone in a great mood and with a renewed sense of confidence in the people for whom my tax dollars cover their salaries.
Positive customer service from two government agency employees…what a wonderful experience! As it should be, yet we all know otherwise.
Ties Are Knotty Subjects
Casual Fridays turned into casual every days over the last decade throughout the workplace. Lately, there seems to be a return to more business-like attire on the job. The Washington DC metro area has a high concentration of technology and biotech businesses where casual attire is still a norm. Yet the region also has Federal, State, and County government agencies, law and financial firms, and consulting companies that adhere to business attire dress codes.
One of the key components of business attire, primarily for men (though an occasional woman can also be seen wearing one), is the venerable tie. A tie is the easiest clothing accessory to distinguish a style of dress as business attire versus casual attire. If casual is your norm, consider keeping a tie in your briefcase or backpack and another in your desk drawer for those just-in-case work encounters where you suddenly find yourself in front of your management or a client who has a more formal dress code.
Follow these tie tips to transform to business attire.
- Roll your ties into balls to keep wrinkles out when you store them to carry or keep in your drawer.
- Keep your rolled ties in ziplock-type bags or in a tie case to keep them clean when you are not wearing them.
- Make your just-in-case ties either black or red. These two colors go with practically any shirt color.
- Wear ties correctly. This means learn to tie a tie knot or use a pre-knotted tie with a clip.
- Consider bow ties as alternatives to regular ties. They are easier to store and easier to put on.
Where do you find ties and where can you go to learn how to tie them? My first recommendation is to bring your business to a clothing store that offers personal service by knowledgeable staff. Such stores generally include, to name only a few:
- Men’s Warehouse (store locator at http://www.MensWarehouse.com)
- J. Crew (store locator at http://www.JCrew.com)
- Joseph A Bank (store locator at http://www.JosBank.com)
- Brooks Brothers (store locator at http://www.BrooksBrothers.com).
You can also find tie-a-tie instructions on the web at sites such as:
- http://www.Tie-A-Tie.net
- http://www.eHow.com
- http://www.jobsearch.about.com/cs/interviews/a/tieatie.htm
- http://www.prom.about.com/od/formalfashionforguys/ht/tieyourtie.htm
Ties make the difference between a casual look and a business look. Wearing them correctly makes you look professional.
(First published at Examiner.com – Baltimore edition, by Sylvia Henderson, Montgomery County MD Career Coach writer.)
Workplace Professionalism & Youth – Another Good Post
Joyce Gioia-Herman, a Strategic Business Futurist concentrating on workforce and workplace trends, is President and CEO of The Herman Group. She wrote a blog post titled "Teaching Professionalism" about the behaviors that HR professionals consider as demonstrating "professionalism" in the workplace.
Ms. Gioia-Herman notes:
HR pros and business leaders polled identified five primary characteristics of professionalism: 1) personal interaction skills, including courtesy and respect, 2) skills to communicate, and listen, 3) a great work ethic; 4) being motivated and staying on task until the job is completed, and 5) professional appearance, and self-confidence and awareness.
I also did a LinkedIn survey about a year ago that revealed the same viewpoints. Such viewpoints – and the reality that I see with my clients today – support the reason why I write and produce the success products I produce and create the success language programs I create focusing on success language, professionalism, and work-life skills for success.
Let's keep getting the skills out to those who most need them!
Life Skills…Important for Students?
Found this article addressing life skills and schools. What's happened to teaching young people the transferable skills they need and will apply throughout their lives (instead of how to pass tests)? Here's one perspective.