Vote to Help InStep Reach More People Dealing with Stress

Have you heard about the Chase/Living Social Mission Small Business contest? Individual grants of $250,000 each will be awarded to help up to 12 lucky small business owners to grow their businesses!

InStep Consulting has applied and we'd love to have YOUR VOTE of support!


Now through June 30, small business owners who have been in business for at least 2 years and have less than 100 employees can submit an application.


What Would a $250K Grant Mean to InStep?
Currently, we offer wellness and stress management coaching and training. I'd like to develop a web/mobile application that would provide up-to-the-minute info to help people monitor their stress "triggers" and better manage how they respond to stress (like a stress "heat map").

I have a particular interest in helping those who are living with or are at risk for high blood pressure / hypertension, as it is a personal and family concern.

This grant would help us to recruit our initial technical team to successfully complete the technology planning phase for the application including: defining initial features and functionality, creating wireframes, and building an initial MVP.

Voting is really easy! Visit the Mission Small Business website: 

• Click the Login + Support button

• Input your Facebook login

• Put "InStep Consulting" in the business name search

• Click VOTE!

Thank you for your support! 

PS -- let me know if you submit an application for your business, and I'll be happy to vote for you as well (there are no vote limits!)

We're All Connected

Hi there! My apologies for being incommunicado here for almost a month. February has been a whirlwind of meetings, events and travel -- about which I'll share in a moment.

I knew that 2008 was going to be my year of technology -- much of my hardware will need to be upgraded, and we'll be adding some e-commerce features to the InStep website soon. So, the coach has jumped on the BlackBerry bandwagon! As so many of you know, there are distinct pros and cons of being virtually accessible 24-7 (can you really unplug?). However, here are some additional quirks ...

Last week was the first trip I took without leaving an "out-of-office" message on my email server. With that came the stress of wondering whether clients expected instantaneous responses, even though I didn't want to resort to rude-BlackBerry behaviors such as checking email during meetings! [And, because I couldn't see the somewhat comforting "Sent from my BlackBerry wireless" message at the bottom of my outgoing emails -- which I hoped would convey my "on-the-road" status.]

Then, there was the BlackBerry outage they announced on the news that made me wonder whether or not there were hundreds more messages out in the ether waiting for me -- since it didn't appear that my service had been impacted.

Luckily, I was able to put aside my concerns and take advantage of my trip to Nashville and experience some of the Music City. One rewarding stop was to the Nashville Public Library -- in addition to being a fabulous high-tech facility, they are hosting several exhibits about the Civil Rights movement. Two things that struck me were the photos of Harold Lowe and an installation in one of their halls.

The second exhibit was an artistic rendition of a lunch counter (that would have been segregated) -- if you can, picture a half moon structure, with stools surrounding it. On top of the "counter" was frosted glass, and etched inside were quotes from the nonviolent training "instructions" the participants would have received (e.g., not to provoke others, not to respond to rude comments, etc.). It really brought the reality of our past into focus for me, especially as I heard an excerpt of one of Dr. King's speeches playing in the background. Could I have been so committed as to not have responded to the taunts of the agitators? Not to mention, would I have even had the courage to participate?

We are all connected, by our experiences, by our his/her stories. Let's continue to share and learn from each other!

Is Your Job on the Endangered Careers List?

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, demand for some jobs is expected to decline rapidly between now and 2014. Due to technology advances and factory automation, some of these declining job functions are “Operators,” including:

• Computer Operators (believe it or not!)
• Mail-Machine Operators
• Telephone Operators

Also mentioned were Stock Clerks, Telemarketers and Secretaries (EXCEPT Legal, Medical and Executive Secretaries). Even if your current job function isn’t on the BLS Endangered Careers list, you should be proactive and figure out your Career Portability™ Factor.

What do I mean? Well, Merriam-Webster Online defines portable as: “capable of being moved especially with ease.” From a career management perspective, it means determining what things you can easily take with you from one job to the next. No, I’m not referring to your stapler or mouse pad! I’m talking about your skills and work-related qualities that will help you succeed in your next opportunity.

The first step in figuring out your Career Portability Factor™ is a self-assessment. You might start by answering the following question:

If you had to pack up and leave your job tomorrow, what skills would you put in your briefcase?

Your answers will come from reviewing your assignments, accomplishments and responsibilities in your current role. What have you done? How have you added value to your organization? Under what conditions have you achieved your success? For each of the accomplishments and responsibilities, make a list of the associated skills and qualities. This is the first component of your Career Portability Factor™.

Later, we’ll talk about how to position your Career Portability Factor™ when you're seeking new opportunities.