This clip will share three of ten tips to maintaining balance while learning about or currently employing any or all of the Web 2.0 technology to your business model.

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Blogging, podcasting, vlogging, internet radio, social networking, internet media–all of it, we believe is here to stay and will only become more popular and mainstream over time. This is what Bea and I talked about in our preview call for an hour.

So listen in as Productivity Coach, Carol Dickson-Carr and Executive Coach, Bea Fields, lead a group of modern day biz leaders on the topic of how to grow their businesses through the power of Web 2.0!

 

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I know I’m dating myself, but I loved A Different World, the NBC spin-off of the Cosby show as a youth in the 90s. Hearing Whitley say, “Relax, Relate, Release!” was something I just adopted even when it was hard for me to relax, relate or release!

Lately, I was starting to think the moon or some cosmic force was having an effect on so many people in my sphere: In my academic world, I had some students freaking out about their grades as the semester nears an end, fellow professors stressed about publication and tenure and general overwhelm… In the coaching world, a more-than-usual amount of clients have been experiencing a sustained sense of overwhelm.

And today! Today, I can’t remember how many times I had to tell someone to BREATHE, whether it was my daughter, one of her teammates, one of the parents of the teammates, or yours truly (uh-huh!) when all was said and done.

So after I got back from dropping off my daughter at one of her friends’ houses for a sleepover this evening, I immediately turned on my recording software and started to speak a meditation around overwhelm and stress. Rather than the usual gregarious tone some of you may have heard in my podcasts (particularly the storytelling one for Six Sigma), my voice is quite even and calm in this audio.

There was some irony in my process because of various interruptions and false starts while I was recording. I was so glad when I finally finished my vocals and could move on to mixing the ocean waves and my relaxing music in!

So if you, or someone you know is starting to feel the pinch, or if you just want to do some preventative maintenance, I invite you to get in a quiet place and treat yourself for 14 minutes by downloading the MP3 below and listening:

 

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This is a fresh (albeit second-hand) account, but my source (who asked to remain anonymous since this is a small world) is quite reliable as he’s been a very dear friend of mine for almost 18 years. The following are the snafus of various conference participants and paid speakers.

No-No #1: Agree to be on a panel but book your flight so that you miss the panel and others end up carrying you

No-No #2: Show up for your presentation unprepared (extemporaneous is great as long as you’re not rambling and you stick to your promised topic; being unprepared isn’t!)

No-No #3: Deliver a 40 minute presentation that was only supposed to be 20 minutes, thereby cutting into the time of other participants (and the moderator is at fault here too!).

No-No #4: Take it for granted that because you’re an award-winning author that you can take a $5,000 plus fee and do a reading (from the worst chapter in a book that’s been out for a number of years mind you) when the participants expected a keynote.

As my eight year old daughter would say, “What NOT to do!”

I’ve loved my iPod for almost three years now, and sheepishly admit that I can’t imagine my life without it (many say the same thing about the internet).  I just read a quick blurb in the Wall Street Journal by Nancy Matsumoto about protecting your ears. It talks about how volume-control settings on MP3 players can help reduce the risk of hearing damage. I just might invest in some new headphones in short order now!

About a month ago, Carol Dickson-Carr went into a little more detail about strategic intelligence–one of the four different types of creative intelligence as it applies to the four temperaments within the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator^® (MBTI®). Listen in she talks about how those with the idealist temperament (intuitive and feeling preferences) use their diplomatic intelligence to get things done. Those of you not naturally inclined to that temperament might want to “try on” the idealist temperament’s approach to creativity and productivity as a stretch goal once you find out more about it! 

Our next 6-week program starts Weds, May 7th!

 

 The Idealist [6:52m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Bea & I have been notorious for being transparent over the years with our clients and prospective clients even before the advent of Web 2.0 was even on our radar. And fortunately most folks respect our humanity. But as a part-time (adjunct) Professor of Economics at Southern Methodist University, I read with much interest an article in the New York Times today entitled The Professor as Open Book, where the debate of being transparent with one’s students is alive and well and Facebook is right in the middle of that debate.

I personally love Facebook. I was like a deer in headlights last year when I was assigned a huge 90 student lecture when I had been used to the 20-30 student class size. So when a colleague at SMU mentioned Facebook, I was intrigued. This way, students who are interested in finding out more about me can do so easily as part of my profile being visible in the SMU network. And if they’d like me to know what they’re up to, they will simply add me as a friend and I will confirm them.

This works well with my personality, but not everyone is as inclined to give up the details as I am. That’s perfectly fine. But keep in mind that Facebook has recently updated their privacy options so that you can actually choose which friends you want to see certain elements of your life, not just the networks and the public.

And I’ve done an incredible amount of networking on the business end of things on Facebook, so my answer to the Friend or Foe question with respect to Facebook is definitely: Friend! No pun intended.

Our next 6-week program starts Weds, May 7th!

Yahoo and Time Warner stepped up talks on creating an alternative to Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo. A possible deal would fold AOL into Yahoo. Who do you think will prevail in the end? Read about it here.

You decide! Check out an article The Dallas Morning News recently published sharing some of the perceptions (or misperceptions depending who you talk to!) of Millennials in the Real World. Some of the boomers and X-ers have stopped hiring the Gen-Ys because they aren’t sure how to bridge that communication gap. The article talks about a few ways to bridge that gap because these creative young people are our future. Thoughts?

A few weeks ago, Carol Dickson-Carr briefly talked about the four different types of creative intelligence as it applies to the four temperaments within the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator^® (MBTI®). Listen in she talks about how those with the rational temperament (intuitive and thinking preferences) use their strategic intelligence to get things done. Those of you not naturally inclined to that temperament might want to “try on” the rational temperament’s approach to creativity as a stretch goal once you find out more about it! Check out our comprehensive resource library

 

 How to Appreciate the Rational Temperament in Problem-Solving [6:31m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download