Welcome to the December 2009 I-Newsletter

Dear colleagues, friends and community leaders,

‘Tis the season! But for what exactly?

To hope for a better new year?
To buy gold?
To be thankful for what we have?
To help others?
To find relief from the silent scream and the wild roller coaster ride we're on?
Or to simply breathe?

To say it's an interesting and challenging time is an understatement. So what can we add to the conversation? Who knows, but a wise friend keeps reminding me that what we're looking for – the peace and the meaning – will be found “within” – not outside of ourselves. And perhaps even in our inter-connectedness.

When you exit corporate America after 22 plus years, you take a few lessons with you. New Inspired Connections associate Cathy Lake just left a Fortune 100 company, Microsoft, after 12 years to jump into work that brings new meaning and relevance to her life. While technology was her focus for years, look for her special insights on the real power of software. Hint: it includes the human kind!

Despite economic ups and downs, this time of the year seems to produce plenty of headlines and articles year after year about “beating holiday stress.” Find out why my upbringing – with a bit of Oy and Eh – helps keep the stress in check.

And at a time when we're being asked to give, and frankly, need to give until it hurts a bit, we bring you thoughts from those on the front lines of the nonprofit world who suggest it's time to reframe how we talk about the entire sector. This story on the power of words is relevant to any business, nonprofit or personal relationship.

Wishing you many important connections in the New Year!


Rhonda Bannard
Chief Connector

BUSINESS CONNECTIONS

Leftovers from Corporate America: What Sticks
By Cathy Lake

As I look in the rearview mirror at my career in technology over the past 22 years, I reflect upon what I have accomplished: a great resume, deep expertise, plump 401K, company stock, nice house.  But the real valuable assets are the relationships I take with me. The people with whom I worked at the last five companies will remain just that:  people.  Not vice presidents or directors, not the guy who sold the $3M deal last year, not the gal who got promoted twice. The thread that binds us together is the relationship we created over time, which transcends any title, employer or logo on a business card. This priceless extra perk makes the time worth it and the road forward richer.

In the current economy, relying more heavily on and taking relationships to a new level is vital to surviving.  In recent years, I watched how large, multinational corporations began going back to the basic approach of relationship selling instead of depending on their product’s features, “wow” factor, or the hope that “everyone will need one.”  While the saying goes that “you only buy things from people you like,” corporate relationships also have a new definition. And it goes beyond the relationship between buyer and seller.  I have seen sales colleagues leverage corporate social networks to locate a fellow colleague who was successful selling to a particular industry, and several examples of customers using relationships with other customers for product or vendor recommendations (or advising to steer clear of one).  Product data sheets and engaging demonstrations don’t produce bottom line results in the new economy.  But meaningful, well-connected and strategic relationships do, if you leverage them correctly.

The technology industry is particularly well known for outpacing the normal passage of time, since a technology year is certainly much shorter than our 365 day calendar.  However, people still age and time still passes at the same pace regardless of how many new versions of a cell phone came out in a year.  And if you don’t slow down long enough to recognize the fact that technology is purposeless unless people are using it to do things like talk on their cell phones, use blogs to share their opinions with a community, or build meaningful business relationships on social networking sites, then you’ve missed the real lesson on how it all began.

I ran across this excerpt from a blog recently and it cements my thinking perfectly:  “Your job is not yours: it belongs to the company. And companies rise and fall with entire industries and a global economy. You have only your career, your experience and your relationships. And you’d better take them each seriously: keep them close when you move, treat them with care and respect and always, always invest in them.”  The Inspired Connections driving principal is based on the often-embraced fact that relationships are the foundation of any successful endeavor – be it in business, community or with family and friends.  But often it’s given lip service, and maybe even enthusiastic head nods.  But what’s it’s not given are the resources of time and commitment that truly ingrain that idea into the daily operating procedures of any organization.  It needs more than nice words on a mission statement.

So how can you authentically foster relationships? 

How can you be more thoughtful in your efforts engaging community, businesses and, of course, your customers in ways that will provide sustainable benefits not just to jump start your business, but to create a process by which you see dividends for years to come?

This season of sharing and giving back is a perfect “testing ground” for such a practice.  While you’re thinking about those who played an important role in your success this past year, how do you plan to thank them?  It need not be expensive. Just pick up the phone and in less than 20 minutes you can call five people and thank them for playing an important role in your life. Even voice mail messages will have an impact. 

And don’t forget those who are ad hoc members of your business team – the dry cleaner, your favorite restaurant server or the checker at your favorite grocer.  If you by an extra gift card or two during the next week, you can randomly hand them out to these folks who have made your days.

Finally, “bottle up” the feeling that you get in doing those few things and think about how to share that kind of spirit and connection throughout the New Year.

Note:  For a jump start on your strategic relationship planning, there’s no better time to start than the first of the year to take a critical look at how you’re leveraging the relationships you have and the ones you’re trying to get.  Give us a call if need a few strategic ideas.

SELF CONNECTIONS

Being What You Are

I cannot be “me” if there was not a “we.”  Think about that for a minute.  For me to be self reflective, to be an evolving contributing human being, I must know and reflect on the fact that I am part of a bigger idea or community or human kind.

I’ve been talking with some folks about the concept of Ubuntu – an African idea that I’ve shared in earlier emails, and one that is worth mentioning again.  “If I diminish you, I diminish myself,” suggests Archbishop Desmond Tutu about the concept.  It explains the inter-connectedness of all of us.  That if one eats, many can eat. If one is successful, others can be so too.  The Archbishop explains that to be recognized as having the character of Ubuntu, it carries the highest praise for your actions toward other people. 

First, the Archbishop explains, is that the person is hospitable, friendly, generous, gentle, caring and compassionated.  He challenges us to consider how we use such strengths to the benefit of others.  People with Ubuntu are approachable and welcoming.  Their attitude is kindly and well-disposed. 

Put another way, the Archbishop explains, is to say “a person is a person through other people.” That, in fact, no one comes into the world fully formed – we’re shaped by the people and occurrences around us.  We need other “humans” to find and develop our own humanness.  Tutu calls it “mewe.” We are interlinked.

In our never-ending search for “self,” this concept of Unbuntu, at least for me, wraps a purposeful package around who we should wake up to be every day, how we can act, and inspire others to do the same.

In knowing that we are, indeed, shaped by those in our lives, we have to consider the positive and the negative impact of that.  Negativity, cynicism and put downs during ones childhood shape the adult interactions.  We all have some “baggage” as it’s typically called, yet many of us seek to reach deep down and find the core/place by which you want exist – the true internal compass, the values that move you.

For me, Ubuntu resonated loudly, especially as my team and I began to work on a community building marketing initiative for downtown and the central city.  I wondered…how do we create a community that’s more welcoming and hospitable?  How do we understand and then act on our interconnectedness to allow everyone to be a success?  And how do we do it in a sustainable way? 

I think the answer starts with “me.”  If I can live the concept of Ubuntu more fully, even if it takes me out of my “pattern” or comfort zone, then I can start creating a new pattern of humanness that I choose to embrace.  As I live it, I role model it for others.  I leave a “different” impression on those I interact with.  And pretty soon it becomes a part of me, a more authentic me, practicing the art of interconnectedness.

One reason for my excitement is not just a personal transformation, but to see the attentiveness from others who I’ve had the chance to share this concept with.  People light up…because I think at their core they yearn for this – to be connected, to be part of a bigger whole – to be part of a community that cares and supports all of its people.  I’ve heard an NBA team embraced it one year and they won the championship.  While I’d love that for our wonderful Suns, I think we’d all celebrate winning accolades for being an Ubuntu community – one person at a time.

It starts with me and continues with you. 

For further reflection, click here to a video explaining Ubuntu by Nelson Mandela or click here for a compilation of Ubuntu links.

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

Redefining Nonprofit: When Words Get In The Way
By Angela Melczer, founding board member of the Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits, Deputy Director of the Girl Scouts Arizona Cactus-Pine Council

There are words that provoke people to an immediate image or idea when said.  Consider the word “war.”  An immediate image may come to mind.  If you heard Iraq War, other images would present themselves.  How about Vietnam War?  And then yet again Cold War.  What if you managed, worked and spent time working in an industry in which the words that are used to describe it left your audience unsure, conflicted, or having the wrong idea of what you are all about?  What if those words even represented you by what you are “not” rather than what you are?  Strange, indeed.

That’s the challenge with the nonprofit sector.  When you think of the word “non-profit,” what comes into your mind?  Think about that for a moment.  I venture to say that what pops into your mind is something like “an organization that can’t make any money” or “a group that can’t work the same way a business or government can.” At least, that is part of what you think.  If you hear the word “charity” you likely think of hands out, begging, wanting money.

Now try to define a “non-profit” in a positive way.  What defines a non-profit by what it is, rather than what it is not?   When you come at the question from this point of view, your answer is quite different.  Perhaps you consider it as “an organization that supports the community” or “a group that handles its business efficiently and effectively to benefit its clients.”

In fact, as Patrick McWhorter, executive of the Alliance, might explain it, the only significant difference is that nonprofits don’t pay out dividends to stakeholders.  The reality is, if nonprofits didn’t make a profit, they’d be out of business, plain and simple.

The point of this message is that words are empowering or disempowering, and by defining an entire sector that has a tremendous impact on our economic and human vitality by something that disempowers it does a disserve to the thousands who work in it in Arizona and the millions served by it.  (By the way, did you know this sector contributes an economic impact to our state at the rate of 38 times the impact of the last Super Bowl held here in 2007!)

We’re not suggesting an overnight rebranding, but perhaps continuing the conversation as to how the sector can be more accurately positioned and identified.

If we think about what nonprofits do, we benefit the community in big and small ways.  We invest and support the key services and programs that support thousands of people from all walks of life.  Perhaps “Community Benefit” organization or “Community Investment” organization might be apropos.

Do you think people might pay attention and give greater respect to a community benefit organization than a “charity?”  There is power in words and that power can translate to doing more good where it counts.

Spread the word.

Further reading:
http://www.help4nonprofits.com/
http://hildygottlieb.com/

FAMILY & FRIENDS

How Oy and Eh Prevent Holiday Stress

I usually move into the holiday season at a pretty fast pace having come off supporting one or more large events throughout the fall.  Then I finally get to wind down and relax.  How?  Easy – I was born in Canada by two Canadian parents who did not grow up celebrating Thanksgiving.  So our version of that celebration has always been very simple and never included the need to “fly somewhere” to be with family.  The extended family simply wasn’t celebrating.  They’re more likely digging out of snow. 

Then on top of that, I was brought up Jewish in a mixed marriage family.  So when December came, Hanukkah was the holiday of interest.  There was no need to make a list, check it even once, and head out into a shopping frenzy. There was no need to go find a tree, get up on a ladder to hang lights or even worry about a crazy uncle high on eggnog.  In fact, most people don’t realize that Hanukah is a pretty minor holiday in the Jewish religion.  It only gets lots of play because it falls during the general timing of Christmas.  If it fell at any other time of the year, my guess is you’d hear about it as much as you hear about Sukkoth.  (Don’t know what that is?  You got my point then.) (In case you wanted to know which holidays were most relevant – Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah and then Passover round out the top three, while the very learned might say every Friday/Saturday – the Sabbath or Shabbat, are really the most holy.)

However, with all the stress relief comes missed life events.  We never got presents and had to live vicariously through our neighborhood friends who engaged us in play once the gift wrapping was torn off and the holiday breakfast had been digested.

As an adult, I watch the season unfold by seeing people horridly go about their “to dos” while being bombarded by headlines on how to beat the drama of the season – from dealing with in-laws to staying on budget, from nightmares in shipping or travelling, to frustrations in not getting the gift you want or even can use.  Really? 

I’m in awe of the energy that goes into this effort.  I don’t read about people fretting over whether they’ll be able to spend time with loved ones, or catch their breath from their fast paced lives.  Instead we argue over whether to say Merry Christmas or the more generic Happy Holidays.  Or we focus on how to cut calories or get back in shape after the one-too-many fruitcakes we partake in. (Does anyone really give fruitcakes anymore?)

So maybe I’ve been lucky.  I have taken advantage of the day after Christmas sales to get me through the year.  I’ve not had to worry about returns or even writing many thank you cards.  During my 12 years of being married, I did get a pretty good taste of the celebration.  It was a special time and it was fun to shop for others.  Once I was on my own again with little kids, I had to figure out how to compete for their attention.  Could Hanukah be relevant next to Christmas?  I even went out and got some fun menorahs for the kids to light. 

But I think I finally put this time of year in context when I studied and started sharing the real concept behind Hanukah to share with my kids and their classmates. It was great to dispel many myths and teach 1st through 4th graders the importance of the freedom to believe as they see fit.  And what did I have them rally around?  The belief that pizza was the absolute best thing to eat, while a second group of students may have chosen ice cream as their most favorite item to champion.  When they ultimately agreed that they should not be able to tell one another what to eat, they celebrated with spinning dreidels and chocolate gelt. 

Watching them celebrate together and understand tolerance and differences is certainly a theme we can take to heart at this time of the year…and throughout the rest of it.

Overall, my family was never one for celebration anyway.  So adding the dynamics of being born outside the U.S. and being brought up in a non-Christian household, the celebration-void has had a significant impact on my life. But now I realize I’m afforded the opportunity to create celebrations that make sense for us – without the harried need for shopping and checking off lists.  Instead, we work to bring in the meaningful moments that will last longer than the return lines and linger as our own memory creations that don’t simply exist because of a holiday – but because we’re family.

"Be Inspired" Honoree

He is a humble, understated inspiration to hundreds, if not thousands in our community. His quiet and powerful nature speaks as loudly when he simply listens, as when he shares the story of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul - Phoenix. For 13 years, Steve Zabilski has been the steward of volunteers and staff who, day after day, make hope possible for thousands facing homelessness. He oversees 200 employees, 7,000 volunteers and a $25 million annual budget that serves the poor with meals, medical and dental care, transitional housing and a variety of other assistance, along with the management of thrift stores.

Taking credit is not his style.  Steve will pass the praise on to others, and by doing so, showcases a real live example of servant leadership. He continues that example when he engages the community in service. He relishes showing off the work being done by the committed volunteers at the St. Vincent de Paul campuses, and helps those on the tour understand how volunteering and donating can enrich their lives.

For being a quiet, humble and heavily tasked leader, especially in these challenging times when the organization has seen a 30 percent increase in need, we applaud Steve for his tireless efforts in redefining a “roll up your sleeves” leader and celebrate him as our December “Be Inspired” honoree.

Consider supporting St. Vincent de Paul with donations to their thrift stores, or make an online donation directly on their website.

Lead Your Life

Changing your own behavior is key to your success as a leader, including focusing on being present and setting your intention. Those are just a few key thoughts shared by Leadership Rock Star Brian Bacon while on a short visit to Phoenix this month. He’ll be back for a three day program to share his incredible insights on personal leadership. What a great way to start your own personal transformation for the New Year.  We guarantee it will be time well spent. Click here to find out more about this February 9-11, 2010 conference.

Fill a Bus; Fill Your Heart

Valley residents are invited to “get on the bus” this Saturday, December 19 at the Phoenix Public Market to help feed the needy and support local small businesses. Veolia Transportation, the company that provides bus service and maintenance operations for the cities of Phoenix, Mesa and Tempe, is celebrating the holidays by making a $20,000 donation and loading up a bus full of food to benefit Community Food Connections (CFC), the non-profit organization that supports the Public Market - and the Desert Mission Food Bank located in Sunnyslope.

People are encouraged to bring food donations to the bus that will be parked at Pierce Street and Central Avenue, just north of ASU’s downtown campus.  Or, even better, the public is invited to shop at the Market that day and purchase a few extras to add to the bus.  Doing so supports local farmers and businesses that make up an important piece of the economic vitality of the community.

Veolia Transportation will be accepting donations the entire time the Public Market is open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Produce items can also be contributed to help families in need celebrate the holidays as well as canned goods and dry goods.

The Sweet Smell of B-ing the Change you Want to See in the World

If you’re ready to wash away 2009 and bring in the sweet smell of a fresh new year, check out Just B-B Just.  Their wonderful soaps are made to transform lives. And not just yours, but the homeless living and working at the Human Services Campus in downtown Phoenix.  The group’s mission is to be a successful, socially conscious enterprise where all people can participate and thrive.  They say B Clean, B Connected, B the Solution. Visit them online or call 602.223.3477 and change a life.

It's Time to Focus on the Key Relationships in Your Business
Really, is there anything else?

Our team at Inspired Connections can help you leverage your reach, develop critical strategies that return dividends, and create unique and meaningful partnerships to position your company or organization strategically as 2010 takes hold.

Talking and planning are one thing; execution and implementation another. Corporate social responsibility, strategic community outreach, events and gatherings that help further the important relationships you're looking to build are central to our offerings.

Find out more by calling 602.370.3560 or send us an email now!