Astounding Language

If you have been doing project management for a while, your confidence has probably gotten an occasional shaking. And the resulting lack of confidence hurts you, but it also hurts your team members who need you to be confident and not self-conscious. You’re their leader after all, and they want you to have a strong plan, vision, self-esteem and the confidence to lead.

Obsessing over our personal and organizational shortcomings traps us. We may think it is for our own good - to help us truly learn from our past mistakes. But it can spiral downward into embarrassment and shame. And if you find this happening to you, the best advice is to turn it around early. Take the lessons learned with you, but shed the excess baggage of self-doubt. Sounds easy. But there certainly is not a quick fix. I have seen many project managers leave this challenging career path for non-management jobs for this reason. The fix requires having a consecutive series of successful projects to eventually construct a pillar of success.

Often it is an accumulation of shame-inducing situations that results in the loss of confidence. Maybe you have had a series of death-march projects. Set yourself up for success by getting all of these easy things down first, and then you will be in a better place to handle the harder project problems:

Keep your word. It feels good to be considered reliable. So be careful about what you commit to, but then take your commitment (even the really small ones) very seriously. A promise is a promise.

Be on time. Show your self-discipline to yourself and others. It’s a healthy habit that keeps you calm. Start on your way early and break the habit of always trying to squeeze in “one more thing” before leaving. It will be there when you get back and aren’t hurried.

Be honest, even when it hurts. Stick to the facts. Lying ends up being a bother and you also can get caught, leaving you again with the feeling of shame. Step up to the critical conversations to say the things that are hard to tell.

Cut the gossip. If you have ever walked up to hear comments made behind your back, you know that can be hard to forgive and forget. Don’t do it to others. It give you shame even if you aren’t caught. Focus on meaningful talk which will help you accomplish an aim.

Fall on the sword early. If you have bad news to tell, the receiver usually appreciates hearing it sooner (when they have time to help) rather than later.

If the damage is already done and you find yourself in an embarrassing situation, you can still maintain your confidence if you find a way to recover gracefully. Sometimes this takes real creativity, but there is almost always a way.

And finally, don’t avoid the people you made a mishap in front of - avoidance will leave you feeling further ashamed. The shame will wear off with faster with quick re-exposure to the people involved. So seek these people back out and re-open the communication.

Successful Projects is a project management training company in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Successful Projects can be found at http://www.successfulprojects.com.

Have you ever wondered what it means to be incorporated? If
it’s really worth the time and money…. and anyway, just
how much time or money might it cost? Is it for me or my
business? How do I do it? And lastly, why haven’t I heard
about this before?

Well, the chances are you HAVE heard about it, but what you
heard scared you off, or was erroneous. Until now, maybe you
have not even done any personal research. You picked up a
rumor or hint or innuendo here or there.. but that’s about
all. No ACTIVE pursuit.. and again, probably because what
you heard may have just discouraged you from even spending
time on the subject.

Well, congratulations. You are finally at a place you can
start comfortably.

Why do I write about those circumstances? Because I lived
them, and to my extreme self disappointment, did not take
the matters into my own hands to investigate.

I’ve been a small, one person, self employed business for 17
years.. and was NOT incorporated. You know, growing up,
money and things like this just didn’t get discussed in my
family. Not that it carried any stigma like sex or the
like.. my folks just didn’t know. When I went to college,
and even though I was an Economics “major”, it didn’t get
covered in any of the classes. I sort of just emerged or
morphed into being in business and never was big (or smart
enough) to have a business advisor. I had an accountant, and
he was good at keeping me compliant with IRS rules for the
entrepreneurship type business I was in. I guess he figured
I’d made a choice not to be incorporated.. my business
structure was not his business; his business was keeping me
compliant with the rules set forth for the business I was
in. My principals (I was a manufacturers’ rep) probably
figured I knew what I was doing, and anyway, as long as I
was selling their products. what did they care. Then there’s
my competitors… even the friendly ones.. or the guys at
the Chamber of Commerce meetings. Like they care.. right? ?
?

But one day, in spite of myself, I did stumble into a good
reference book, and it opened my eyes as big as dinner
plates.

I learned that a small company (revenues less than $75,000,
mainly commissions) COULD incorporate and do so
professionally for under $1000; that if I had previously
been incorporated (LLC or Chapter S), I could have paid
about half as much in taxes as I did over the 17 years I’d
been doing just a Schedule C, plus I’d have had far less
liability.

Once I learned that this was possible, I started to go about
learning how and where.. and this can make a difference.

It seems like the two best states are Delaware and Nevada,
and Nevada has an edge because of state taxes.

And by the way, your local attorney or accountant unless
licensed in those states is probably not going to be your
best source of help or information, and certainly not the
lowest in costs.

If you were to start your research on the Internet, you’ll
soon discover your next problem.. how to choose. You must be
very careful here. There are firms that will sell you
services for money you really don’t need to spend, even if
they deliver all the services. There are those who will seem
to be real bargains at $300 or less.. but you get very
little. The facts are you can get the forms and paperwork
free from most states.. but not the “go with” guidance.. and
if you are doing it yourself, you want some help.

The point: choose and evaluate carefully. If you do, you’ll
probably find yourself using the services of a mid-
competitive-price service and you will get good value. You
CAN do this yourself with a service.. and you’ll be amazed
how much you can save and benefit.

Don’t do as I did for many years and ignore it or feel it
can’t be done. NOW is the time to begin and stop overpaying
taxes.

Joe Leech is a small businessman who learned way too late
about the how and why of incorporating. He’s learned now
and provides valuable tips, insites, and FREE resources
at his resource site at http://incorporateinfo.ouronlinebusiness.com

The need for fast, secure and cost-effective modes of communication has been increasing. To gain a competitive advantage, the end-to-end feature of communication networks was developed. It enables you to carry out objectives directly to your end-user without the service of an intermediary.

Industries such as broadcast media, film and content production, cable content provision and brand imaging have been converted as end-to-end enterprises. From searching, collecting, indexing, cataloging, assembling, retrieving and producing to distributing digital text, audio and visual content, you are able to simplify the production process via shared service infrastructure.

Your digital assets are valuable. They increase your sales and enhance your marketing programs. They deserve protection. This entails constant management.

Enterprise end-to-end asset management is specifically designed to make your total asset visible and to enable you to comprehensively determine the performance and asset flow across heterogeneous networks. It is done without disrupting existing workflows. It uses media ingest, metadata creation, architectural building clocks and database and open-system computing platforms.

Inability to manage end-to-end assets might result in your end-users’ dissatisfaction and put your revenues at risk. When your business application response is poor, your end-users will be frustrated.

Effective management will enable you to determine and fix the source of slow response and detect potential network outages. It will provide you reliable data to repair them, so your applications are always accessible and your operations are not interrupted.

But large, heterogeneous, multiplatform, multivendor, and complex business environments are expensive to manage. Using end-to-end asset management software can help you easily manage your assets with a few resources.

End-to-end asset management can also provide you intelligent capacity planning reports on usage patterns. This allows you to adjust your optimal network capacity to your budget.

The software operates on a host server to constantly monitor changing conditions and to provide detailed information about the host’s status, performance, users, and other functional operations. It can quickly identify system problems and automatically corrects them before they reach your end-users.

Enterprise end-to-end asset management reduces your capital expenditures by lowering the cost of ownership and infrastructure. It also enhances your service quality and operational efficiency and hastens return on your investment and increases your revenue streams.

Let me tell you a secret.

Things don’t always go the way we want them to.

Let me tell you another secret.

We don’t always hear what we want to hear.

Duh.

These two statements are hardly secrets; we all know they are true. If they aren’t secrets, then why do we act surprised when it happens? And worse, why does the surprise often turn to pouting?

Adult Pouting

Most adults don’t walk around with a pout on their face, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t pouting. Pouting is when we are having an internal pity party because we haven’t gotten what we wanted, things haven’t gone the way we’d hoped they might, we heard something we didn’t want to hear or disagree with, or we have to work on something when we would rather be doing something else.

So we pout.

Some Examples

We are called to a meeting, when we wanted to be working on the important project on our desk. We think things like, “I don’t need to be at this meeting. Tammy could have handled it. Why am I here? Can’t they see that my time could be better utilized elsewhere? This is ridiculous.”

Or we aren’t asked to go to the meeting and we see ourselves as really being able to contribute (or really wanting to be there because it is about an important change that we want to be in-the-know about). We think, “Why can’t I be there? My experience would make a difference. Besides, this could have been my chance to shine for the new VP over in Marketing. Being there would be a much better use of my time than working on these numbers. This is ridiculous.”

Or we sit in the airport because of a delay. We sit and we sit. We miss our connection because of the delay. We miss the events we had planned for the evening. And we are still in Buffalo (or wherever). We think about what we are missing. We think about the stupid airlines or the stupid weather or the stupid travel agent that booked this itinerary.

Poor us.

In all of these cases (and a hundred others I could share) we keep our thoughts inside ourselves. We are so busy with our own internal conversation about us, that we miss any chance to benefit from the situation. In order to capitalize on any experience we have to be present for it. When we are pouting, we clearly aren’t present in the situation or experience. We are too busy focusing on ourselves.

It is time to get over ourselves. Lose the pout and get yourself out(side) of your self.

We can become much better leaders and professionals we can get past our internal language and live in the present moment. The present offers us:

• Opportunities to learn

• Opportunities to teach

• Opportunities to reinforce positive behaviors in others

• Opportunities to see our world in new ways

• Opportunities to enjoy our day more fully

Staying in pouting mode closes the door to all of these opportunities because we don’t see them -we are too busy thinking about ourselves.

Getting the Pout Out

To capture the opportunities in the present we have to “Get the Pout Out,” here are some ways to do that:

• Acknowledge your feelings and move on. Give yourself permission to feel bad for yourself. You have one minute, starting now. Then let it go, get on with life and the situation you are in.

• Hear the opportunity knocking. Remind yourself of the opportunities you will find in the situation, even if this isn’t where you would prefer to be. Have you ever gone somewhere you didn’t want to go and were surprised how much fun you had? That can happen again, right now, but only if start looking for it.

• Listen more completely. One of the best ways to become more present is to listen more carefully to those around you. Pay closer attention in the meeting. Listen for ideas and perspectives that interest you.

• Observe more closely. You never know what you might miss. You never know what you will learn.

As a leader you have a responsibility to be present. People look to you for direction, ideas, and a good example. Staying present, even in tough or challenging situations is a great example to set.

More importantly though, as an individual, striving to reach your own potential, moving past the pouting moments give us a chance to fully live our lives. This habit allows us to find enjoyment, growth, and better relationships in situations that might not have seemed that favorable at the start.

Kevin Eikenberry is Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group (http://KevinEikenberry.com), a learning consulting company that helps Clients reach their potential through a variety of training, consulting and speaking services. To receive your free special report on “Unleashing Your Potential” go to http://www.kevineikenberry.com/uypw/index.asp or call us at (317) 387-1424 or 888.LEARNER.

“Character is much easier kept than recovered.” - Thomas Paine

“The best index to a person’s character is (a) how he treats
people who can’t do him any good, and (b) how he treats people
who can’t fight back.”

- Abigail van Buren

“Good character is more to be praised than outstanding talent.
Most talents are to some extent a gift. Good character, by
contrast, is not given to us. We have to build it piece by
piece…by thought, choice, courage, and determination.”

- John Luther Long

____________________________________________

Here is a simple tip for aspiring leaders - It is far better to
have character than to be one.

I once heard Bob McEwen (former Congressman from Ohio) define
character as the combination of morality and integrity.
According to his definition, morality is not doing the wrong
thing while integrity is having the strength to do the right
thing.

Based on this definition, character is not something you just
have. You must work to build character every day. It is
something that develops over time, but is destroyed in a moment.

Why, as a leader, is character a big deal?

Without even considering the moral and legal implications of
character lapses, just look at the impact on your organization.
As John Maxwell says, “Everything rises and falls on
leadership.” By this standard, your personal character will
become the character of your organization. Consider these facts:

- 58% of workers surveyed indicated that employee fraud would
decrease if managers (company leaders) were better role models
(Oct 2002, Ernst & Young, “The CPA Letter”)

- 80% of people surveyed indicated that they decide to buy a
firm’s goods or services partly on their perception of its
ethics (2003, Wirthlin Worldwide)

- Unethical behavior leads to more sabotaging behavior in the
workplace, such as:

o Under delivering on commitments

o Over promising to win a customer or gain support for a project

o Wasting time and energy guarding turf

o Lowering goals to avoid failure rather than striving for
excellence

o Padding the budget to look better

o Fudging results to stay competitive

o Hiding facts

o Skipping over details

o Withholding praise from others

o Hogging credit

o Shifting or buffering blame

o Looking for scapegoats

(Case Western Reserve University, Online Ethics Center for
Engineering and Science)

As you can see from the results of these studies, the character
of the leader affects not only the behavior of the organization,
but its results as well. I do not know all the details of the
Enron or MCI WorldCom scandals, but I do know that the fallout
hurt the companies and their employees. These examples are
extreme cases of character failures, but many smaller ones
happen in business and organizational life every day.

As usual, I have a story to relate to illustrate my point. One
time I hired a man to work in a department I managed. During the
hiring process, I realized that a woman in the department,
working in the same capacity, was significantly underpaid
compared to both industry standards and the starting salary of
the man we were hiring. I immediately went to my supervisor and
attempted to negotiate a resolution plan. In response to my
request to adjust her salary he asked, “Does she know that he
will be making more than her?” This perspective floored me. It
seems that her knowledge of the situation, rather than a
determination of whether it was right or wrong, was the deciding
factor on whether it should be addressed or not. At that moment,
I remembered a statement I had heard long before: “Character is
what you do when no one is watching.”

Unfortunately, I was unable to persuade my supervisor to take
action in this case. This response severely damaged my trust and
respect for both the person and the organization. I eventually
left the organization for other reasons, but in retrospect, I
probably should have left sooner. When it comes to character,
leaders simply cannot compromise.

You can staff your organization to compensate for skill and
knowledge deficiencies. You must stand alone on character. Do
not let short-term thinking entice you into small, subtle
concessions on matters of character. Be a leader of high morals
and impeccable integrity in everything you do.

So, I encourage you to remember this simple tip . . . It is far
better to have character than to be one.

You may use this article for electronic distribution if you will
include all contact information with live links back to the
author. Notification of use is not required, but I would
appreciate it. Please contact the author prior to use in printed
media.

Copyright 2005, Guy Harris

Women have been in the white-collar workforce for a generation, but plenty of things about them still puzzle many a male manager. As an HR leader and working women for a generation myself, I’ve compiled this Top Ten list of tidbits that the women in your workplace would love for you to know.

1) View me as myself, not a stand-in for The Working Woman.

Women tell stories, when they get together, about being the token woman in the management meeting, the only woman in the sales meeting, the only woman on the business trip. That’s not the bad part - the bad part is being viewed as a specimen, representative, and spokesperson for the entire gender.

2) Don’t compliment me by saying that you wish you could compliment me.

Ten years ago, it was irritating to have to listen to boorish male co-workers say “Gee, that skirt really shows off your legs.” Today, it’s almost worse to hear them say “I’d tell you that you look great in that skirt, but I’d get in trouble!” Just can it - the lame disclaimer doesn’t help.

3) Don’t assume that I don’t know what I’m doing.

It shouldn’t happen, after all these years, but female software engineers still report that their male colleagues say things like “Check her code again, just in case.” Because she’s a woman. And it shouldn’t happen, but when a woman gets promoted, someone is sure to say “Well, they must have needed more women in management.” What if she’s just, well, qualified? Can we assume that men and women are equally equipped to do their jobs?

4) Don’t ask me about my child-bearing plans.

If you and I are friends, that’s one thing. But if we’re not, you have exactly no right to ask me a) whether I plan to have children; b) whether I plan to have another one, once I’ve had one child; or c) anything else relating to my family planning. Why do some managers assume, that because my three-month absence for maternity leave might have some impact on the business at some point (if I’m still working here, when I have kids, if I even make that choice) that they have a right to know about it?

5) Don’t put me in the Girl Ghettos.

If I apply for a job in PR, Marketing or HR, that’s your cue that I’m interested in one of those jobs. If I don’t, please don’t jump to the conclusion that I need to work in one of the designated Female departments. If I’m succeeding as a mechanical engineer or the Director of IT, that’s because I like the work. Let me succeed or fail in it!

6)Don’t get freaked out when two of us arrive.

Many a female manager has noticed that as long as she’s the only woman in the group, her male co-workers do okay. But when the second women leader shows up, people get nervous….as in, The Women Are Taking Over! That’s ridiculous. Men still rule the roost in corporate America, for better or worse, and two (or three, or four) women in leadership does not a coven make.

7) Don’t worry about my family - they’re fine.

Working women report being caught in a vise - when they’re going great guns at work, their bosses still give them less challenging assignments or stall their career growth “for the sake of your kids.” They’re my kids, for Pete’s sake! I’m perfectly capable of deciding how many hours at the office, how much travel, and what size job I can manage while parenting them. You, as my boss, have nothing to do with it.

Don’t dismiss my non-linear judgment.

It’s well established that women’s and men’s brains operate differently. But there’s a great tendency in the corporate world to pooh-pooh and belittle the non-linear, intuitive decision-making that so many women are so good at. If I’m getting the right answer most of the time, I deserve to get airtime: even if I don’t lay out my argument in your favored Powerpoint-style, data-driven format.

9) Don’t freak out when I get emotional.

Look, male managers pound their fists on the table and everyone’s supposed to deal with it. But let a woman show a little mist in her eyes, and people say “She’s emotional,” “She’s hysterical” and “She’s not playing fair.” You’ve got your emotional expression, and we’ve got ours. We’re tired of hearing that our hard-wired emotional reaction to an emotionally tough stimulus is any less PROFESSIONAL than yours is.

10) Don’t make me your mother, or your child.

It happens every day: a working woman realizes that her male boss or co-worker has substituted her for his mom or daughter, to her utter dismay. If you’re treated with respect, kid gloves, deference and have no influence in decisions - and are “protected” from bad news - then you’re Mom. If you’re treated graciously and carefully and kept out of difficult or thorny situations, you’re somebody’s surrogate daughter. Women won’t tolerate that. We are just who we are - women that you hired, women who will make your company thrive and flourish, if you let us.

Liz Ryan is a former Fortune 500 HR executive, workplace expert and founder of WorldWIT, the world’s largest online network for professional women (http://www.worldwit.org). Liz lives in Boulder, Colorado.