Have You Had a WOW! Exchange Lately?

I thought I'd pose this question after today's teleclass with Diane and other Downtown Women's Club members on Discovering Your WOW! Factor. On the call, we discussed two components of the Competent Advantage TM model that I believe are at the heart of the WOW! Factor: Leveraging Your Strengths and Creating a Buzz.

As is common when discussing the "buzz" or self-marketing, someone mentioned the fact that it can often feel like bragging. [BTW, if you can create compelling stories about your accomplishments, I don't believe it is bragging.] However, I suggested that having a team of champions (people who are familiar with your work and talents) can be helpful in promoting your accomplishments -- i.e., they can do some of the WOW! Factor storytelling for you; especially when you're not in the room.

Then, someone asked about how to stay motivated and excited by our WOW! Factors if we haven't found a way to fully incorporate them into our work. That's how the WOW! Exchange came up. I have in my core group a few people with whom I can exchange ideas, successess and challenges. We all do -- the people you can call on for a "pick-me-up" when the gremlins are wreaking havoc on your plans. One of my core Right Energy People, Lynne, is great at pointing out myWOW! Factors when we get together for our brainstorming meetings -- especially if I get caught in the trap of "Well, I didn't get to do everyhing I wanted to do last quarter.."

As of today, those brainstorming sessions will now be our WOW! Exchanges; in which we'll each start our conversation sharing things we're proud of since we last spoke or met. I'd encourage you to have similar exchanges with your trusted friends and advisors. In fact, I had the idea that InStep Consulting should have a 10th Anniversary WOW! Exchange sometime this year. Keep an eye out for more info ... would also love suggestions for a great venue to hold it ...

Finding "Me Time" in Salt Lake City

Greetings from Salt Lake City! I'm here conducting leadership training as part of my exciting new project with the Public Library Association. Over the next several weeks, I'll be helping public librarians and trustees across the country build their confidence and enthusiasm for advocacy to help fuel their efforts to increase local library funding . The event, Turning the Page: Building Your Library Community is a unique leadership development program created by PLA.

My goal is to share with you insights and ideas I gather from participants in my various sessions on enhancing project leadership; creating compelling stories; and making impactful presentations.

Some of you may remember that this isn't my first visit to Salt Lake. Back in February 2006, I visited the area on another business trip. In that post, I talked about how a change in scenery can be motivating. While I haven't had as much time to wander the city, I did feel a sense of calm as I entered the region on the plane -- the view of the mountains really has a calming effect on me.

In a recent enhancing project leadership session, we discussed the characteristics of effective leaders. After we'd developed a very comprehensive list of qualities and traits on the flipchart, one participant raised her hand and said "time for self." When I prompted her to share more, she reminded us all of how important it is for leaders to find time when we're not representing or speaking on behalf of anyone or any organization. It reminded me of our ongoing challenge to "unplug" and relax in our ever-connected world. By nature, librarians are so giving and helpful. I'm glad she was able to give herself permission to create some space for me-time.

I'm excited to share more tidbits and nuggets I gather from the library leaders and their supporters. The energy and participation levels have been great! Next week, I'll be visiting Wichita, Kansas for the first time! Until then, take care and find some me-time this weekend!

InStep Consulting is on Facebook!

Hey there! I thought I'd let you all know that I've jumped head-first into the Web 2.0, social networking sphere and launched the InStep Consulting Facebook page. It will be another way for us to connect and share stories about our personal and professional accomplishments.

It's a new world for me. But, yesterday I did a walkthrough of the page with my newest associate, Natasha, who will be helping me get things set up. I've already become a "fan" of my partner groups -- Downtown Women's Club and the JI Group and will be looking out for my other partner organizations. We'll also be posting some photos from our seminars and programs.

As with any other interactive, social networking site, the InStep Consulting Facebook page will be what you make of it! So, stop by to start a conversation on the discussion board about a career development or work-life balance issue you're facing; or post your photo and become a "fan" if you're so inclined! There's also a "share this on Facebook" link on this blog; so, you can post articles you read here for more discussion amongst your friends and colleagues.

It may be a bit of a challenge to manage all of my online sites; but, I'm hoping that the feeds from this blog will soon appear on Facebook. So, I can write to you while I'm on the road on my NEW project with the Public Library Association (more to come ...) See you on Facebook!

Discover Your WOW! Factor on March 27

Happy Saturday! I wanted to let you know that I'll be leading a teleclass on Thursday, March 27 at 12:00 noon EST for Downtown Women's Club members and friends. The focus of Discover Your WOW! Factor, will be on how to leverage your strengths and "create a buzz" about your accomplishments.

Why are these things important to your career advancement? The more you know about what you do well, the better you can position yourself for new opportunities. Tune into this teleclass to learn how to create and manage the brand called "you," an integral component to achieving your goals.

This teleclass is free to paid DWC Faces Online members. Or, to invest just $29.99 in your professional development -- register HERE. Registration for this teleclass will end on March 24th.

If you're interested in becoming a DWC Faces Online member, visit: www.downtownwomensclub.com.

I'm looking forward to chatting with you on March 27th!