Social Media: To be in or to be out ?

What is happening with all those online social media ? who are using what ?

It seems to me that more and more, the barriers between the different parts of our life are becoming thinner and thinner. Some people are already wired with others from every country on earth, 24/7 with Twitter. Why spending so much time to "Twitt" with perfect strangers ? Is it a sign of an inflated ego to get as many followers as possible ?

Since the "Susan Boyle"story posted on almost every body's networks, ( I tried only Linkedin, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter) I realized that the classic media have been almost replaced by individual power and all that for FREE and almost without advertising. Amazing!

I am very curious to get more data about usage of social media. I would appreciate if someone could point to me a reliable source of data giving the types of users, the types of content and the data by country.

Wha'ts Your Google Quotient ?

The online identity calculator measures the effectiveness of your online identity and places you on our digital scale: Take the test to find out : http://www.onlineidcalculator.com/index.php

The results of my test is the following : You are digitally distinct! This is the nirvana of online identity !!! A search of your name yields lots of results about you, and most, if not all, reinforce your unique personal brand. Keep up the good work, and remember that your Google results can change as fast as the weather in New England. So, regularly monitor your online identity. That way, if something negative, such as an anonymous ad hominem attack on your character on a blog, crops up, you can address it quickly, before it gets out of hand.

Are you happy with your results ?

Check this article for more : What's Your GQ? Build Your Google Quotient

Expat Global Network: Are You Cyber Global Smart?

Expat Global Network: Are You Cyber Global Smart?

How Resilient are You ?

How do you adapt to economic turmoil, crisis, disruptions, changes, transitions and stress ? I think it is a pretty complex topic and what makes you thrive and happy may be stressful for somebody else. However, no matter what the nature of the change, positive or negative, resilience is a skill that can be developed and defined according to The Global Resilience Network as : “the capacity of individuals, organizations and nations to survive and thrive amidst ongoing change, disruption and adversity.”

How do you react to stress and adversity ? The impact of external changes on individuals such as unemployment, switching to a new career, moving to a new country or going through a merger can create stress, fear, anger, depression, feeling like a victim, confusion, decrease in performance, ineffective problem solving or poor decision making. Coping skills are very personal and usually are learned from your past experiences and healthy habits. Resilience is not only overcoming setbacks, it is a mind-set inducing positive attitudes and behaviors to enlarge your vision of your life.

What are the Characteristics of Resilient People?
-Ability to "bounce back" and "recover from almost anything"
-Tendency to see problems as opportunities
-Have deep-rooted faith in a system of meaning
-Have a healthy social support network
-Help their communities
-Are prepared for the worst
-Have a balanced life
-Are confident and develop strengths to take new challenges
-Able to recover from experiences in the panic zone or of a traumatic nature

Developing Your Resilience :

1. Awareness : Learn what your hot buttons are; Who are toxic people in your life? what stresses you ? under what circumstances,? how do you feel ? what emotions do you have? look for negative self-talk, self-blaming. What coping strategies do you use? What energizes you? what activities are giving meaning to your life ? what do you like to do ? what are the positive emotions when you do something your really love?


2. Be in Control: When things go out of your control, focus on part of you life you can control like changing your own perception and perspective, developing healthy coping strategies such as exercise, journaling, talking with friends, suppressing negative self-talk. Be confident, take new challenges, stop playing the victim, develop a 'I can I will" mode


3. Create a support network: deepen your relationships with people in you network, share a hobby with friends, help other people


4. ...Click to get More Tips (From the Mayo Clinic)
   

Reference: The resilience factor: 7 keys to discovering your inner strength and overcoming life's hurdles (Karen Reivich & Andrew Shatte, Random House, 2003)

Delivering Bad News With Cultural Sensitivity

Global Leaders have to be aware that employees perceive bad news differently and the way to cope is very cultural. During bad economy, people handle stress and fear of failure with various strategies.

Regarding self-esteem, there is a huge difference between Westerners and Asians. The Japanese culture for example, places the group’s interests first and individuals that stand out of the crowd will be “hammered down like pointing nails”. On the opposite side you have the American way of praising kids all the time, at school, at sports, on the playground even if children perform average, they get a lot of ”Great”, “Good” and “Fantastic”, maybe the best way to produce great entrepreneurs ?

So International leaders, be aware how you deliver feedback: without cultural sensitivity,you are at risk of putting people self-esteem down and demotivate employees, the last thing you need during a recession.

Increase Leadership Performance by Stress Management

Stress is created from events people have no control over such as :

• Economic recession
• Wars
• Terrorism
• Being bombarded with too much (negative) information
• Dramatic climatic changes
• and so on...

In the work place, uncertainty, role ambiguity, increased performance demand with less resources or lack of vision can make leadership stressful and create anxiety. Leaders under pressure can develop various physiological and emotional responses such as back pain, headache, lack of sleep, weight gain, irritability, anger and also alter their quality of life with family.
Leaders need to manage their stress level and improve their effectiveness by including the following habits in their daily routine and sticking to them no matter how busy they are:

1-Exercise: increases the level of endorphins, improve clarity of the mind and body relaxation. Stop exercising 2 hours before going to bed as it can create excitation. Exercise every day for 30 minutes. Do something you really LOVE to do or buddy with a friend.

2-Sleep: Get minimum 6-8 hours of sleep. Go to bed before 11:00 p.m. as early sleep is deeper than later at night. Read a novel or do anything that is not connected with the news or your work. Make your bedroom a clean, neat and relaxing place.

3-Increase positive energy: Do what you are good at and be with people you like. Identify what drains you down, what you tolerate from other people and eliminate those tolerations as much as possible.

4-Set boundaries. Do not multitask. Set personal and family time with no work interruptions.

5-Listen to your body signals: Recognize signs of stress such as anger, irritability or physical troubles. Learn cool down techniques such as meditation, Tai Chi or listening to relaxing music.

6-Organize and simplify your work and your life. Put in place systems, eliminate old documents or file them. Eliminate anything and everything you don't use anymore and make space in your closets and in your mind.

7-Create a personal mission statement and a vision: Knowing what is your purpose in life and what are your dreams for the future gives you a strong guidance and help you adapt to changing environments without changing your destination in life.

When to Coach Employees and When Not

Providing training to employees to develop skills and knowledge they need to perform their job is not employee coaching. Coaching is not about giving advices, consulting or giving solutions. Telling employees what to do is not coaching and that is why managers usually cannot coach their employees themselves.

Coaching provides support for the employees to help them identify areas for growth, what is holding them back and discover how to improve their performance and excel in their work. Coaches also help employees to become aware of their behaviors, attitude and generate their own solutions by identifying internal and external resources. Most business and executive coaches integrate what is happening in the life of the employees that can impact their work.

When to consider coaching for your employees ?

o They have all skills and knowledge to perform their job but get stuck on what they really want to do next and how to reach their next career goals.

o They are excelling technically in their current job but their managers think they should be aware of and improve their communication style.

o When someone has behavior problems that impact the rest of the team: negative attitude, not following the rules.

o They have just been promoted to a new job and need to gain confidence.

o When the company decide to promote a good manager into a leadership function

To obtain significant changes and lasting results, coaching is an on going process that can last typically from 6 to 12 months. It is important for the employees to understand that they are investing in themselves and for the managers to understand that each employee has its own learning pace and need time to identify and reach their goals .

At Zappos (Zappos.com ), they even take a step further by having an in house Life Coach: Check out this video interview of the Life Coach: http://www.zapposinsights.com/public/103.cfm

Positive Thinking

Power Thoughts and Inspirational Quotes:

Shoot for the moon, if you miss… you'll still be in the stars.

If I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head almost nothing. -Marc Chagall

No man is hurt but by himself. Diogenes.

You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.

Every person is the creation of himself, the image of his own thinking and believing. As individuals think and believe, so they are.

Always remember, others may hate you, but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them—and then you destroy yourself.

TEAMS - Together Everyone Achieves More Success.

I am optimistic and confident in all that I do.
I affirm only the best for myself and others.
I am the creator of my life and my world.
I meet daily challenges gracefully and with complete confidence.
I fill my mind with positive, nurturing, and healing thoughts.

FEAR - False Evidence Appearing Real

The future cannot be predicted, but futures can be invented.

The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it.

Leadership Transition: The First 90 days

Whether a manager is hired by a new company or promoted from within, organizations have high expectations for the first 3 months of the new appointee according to Michael Watkins, author of The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels.

Cross-cultural communication skills are expected to be known by the new leader to deal effectively with multicultural teams and a global network of clients and stakeholders .

In fact some researchers found that the very first days are critical to build credibility (see : Harvard Management Update: New Leaders: Stop Downward Performance Spirals Before They Start January 16, 2009 by Jean-Francois Manzoni and Jean-Louis Barsoux )

Here are some tips for making the most of those early 90 days:

THE DO:

1-Meet your team and listen to each direct report individually, ask their opinion on why they think things work or do not work. Ask what are their career plans for the next 3 years.

2-Ask for suggestions and identify people who can partner with you

3-Listen and understand others before being understood

4-Learn the company values, vision, mission, strategies and rules as they might be very different from “home”.

5-Meet with your boss often and ask for a weekly feedback session

6-Prioritize actions you can do in 90 days that will have an impact on your long-term success

7-Volunteer for an internal new project, do as much team building exercises as possible

8- Do effective networking inside and outside the company. Contact your local chambers of commerce, look for cultural events, be part of local social networks.

9-Think positive and enjoy your knew situation

10-Hire an executive coach

11-Look for a mentor


THE DON’T

1-Do not rely on your past experiences and behaviors that were successful as they might not apply to your knew situation

2-Do not tell people all about your past experiences but share future vision

3-Do not make negative comments about your former boss or company or your current host country

Me Inc, Brand Yourself and Find your Ideal Job

How do you brand yourself for success?

# 1: you must understand your target audience
#2: you must create value for your prospects

There are 5 steps to build your brand:

1. Make a personal vision: Writing a personal vision helps you identify your ideal job that reflects WHO you really are and who you want to be in the future. The vision must inspires you and also your prospects. People need to see their personal benefits from your vision.

2. Define a personal mission statement: a mission helps you define your life purpose: what do you really want to do, with whom would you like to work ? what type of working environment do you like ?

3.Identify your values, strengths and weaknesses: build self-awareness, identify your motivation and learning styles, your typical reactions to stress, what are you good at? What makes you in the "flow"

4.Know your prospects and define your target audience: identify industries, company profiles, job titles, your ideal boss and how to reach and communicate with your prospects.

5. Set Goals, Objectives, Strategy and Action Plans

How to Craft your Brand Proposition:

1. Values shape actions: Your brand should communicate your deeply rooted values. Your image should be consistent with your values: check the way you dress, be aware of the energy you project and your body language.

2. Change bad habits and negative self-talk for winning attitudes

3. Imagine your ideal work day and your worst working day, craft your ideal job description, define what can you offer

4. Focus on what you LOVE to do

5. Revisit your networking skills: Are you consistent with your brand values and target audience? Cold calling is not fun... people love to help but don't like to be asked for a job by a stranger. Networking is about building relationships. Ask for information instead and for people who know your target fields.

6. For each potential job define what is your Unique Selling Point (USP): what you can do for this prospect that is unique and better than your competition ? focus on creative solutions you can bring to solve their problems, increase their revenues, etc...

7-Don't post your resume on career websites ..it does not work! but you can use online social network groups, make an informative blog or website that communicate the value of your brand

CONCLUSION:
The difference between where you are (current status) and where you want to be (Vision and Goals) is what you do (objectives and actions)

Resilience: How to Connect With People

Having a strong network of friends, relatives, colleagues or clients, is one of the most powerful tools that you can develop to become more resilient in difficult times.

The best way to build a strong relationship is to be genuine and try to understand the other person's perspective. Start the conversation by focusing on the other person's interests. Listen actively by concentrating totally on what it is said, the body language and by asking powerful questions.

Here some tips I would like to share with you about effective networking for your business:

1-Define your target audience: It is very important to start with the end in mind.
1. Set a personal mission statement and a vision
2. Define your goals and objectives
3. Select networking groups based on your mission/goals
4. Use Online Social Networks such as Linkedin
5. Make a blog, or a newsletter with content focused on your prospects' interests

2– Focus on the positive:
1. Recognize good chemistry instantly
2. Notice when there is no fit, and no sync
3. Look for commonalities and shared interests
4. Be aware of energy you project,
5. Practice positive behaviors and thoughts
6. Celebrate success

3- Attract people: You cannot control what people think, but you can create energy that draw people to you:
1. Be authentic
2. Establish credibility
3. Practice introducing yourself to convey self-confidence
4. Exercise every day: it boosts your brainpower, lowers your stress level and increases your energy

4- Effective Public Speaking:
1. Understand who your audience is
2. Focus your messages to your target audience
3. Keep your speech short and simple
4. Don’t read your slides
5. Ask questions to your audience
6. Reinforce the key message and follow-on actions at the end
7. Ask for feedback from peers, listen to recordings, and plan on how to improve and practice

5- Keep it simple: Attending multiple networking events can be energy draining, here some tips to keep things manageable:
1. Prioritize - use the wheel of life
2. Plan and stay focus
3. Set deadlines
4. Set boundaries,
5. Zap tolerations
6. Keep time for yourself
7. Just Say No
8. Stop procrastination
9. Think of what you are grateful for

Promoting Women’s Leadership Globally

For leaders that attended the World Economic Forum 2009 in Davos, some of the messages they took home were clearly about developing talents, diversity and getting more women into senior leadership positions.

Lynda Gratton in her article in Harvard Management Update, “How to Foster a Collaborative Culture”, is suggesting that “working with others--closely, creatively, globally, and productively--drives organizational and personal effectiveness.” I cannot agree more! Leading multicultural teams effectively requires to be innovative, flexible and patient. I think these types of nurturing attitudes are generally more frequent in female leaders than in male leaders.

The World Economic Forum is supporting the idea that gender parity leads to better economical, political, social and health care outcomes. The World Economic Forum uses the Global Gender Index to quantify the magnitude of gender-based disparities. The top 10 best countries for 2008 were 1-Norway, 2-Finland, 3-Sweden, 4- Iceland, 5- New Zealand, 6-Philippines, 7-Denmark, 8-Ireland; 9-Netherlands, 10-Latvia. It is interesting to note that USA ranked 27.

Do you think that part of our current financial crisis has something to do with too much testosterone at the executive levels? “Wall Street is one of the most male-dominated bastions in the business world” Says Nicholas D. Kristof In the New York Time ; Of course, it is hard to have objective studies. Kristof mentioned one study measuring the testosterone level in saliva in traders and its relationship with profit they were making. The findings of this were that higher testosterone meant more risk-taking and, usually, more money. Maybe too simplistic and a bit sexist!

The International Women Day is March 8, 2009 and the official web site, shows more than 300 events organized worldwide to celebrate women’s past, present and future achievements. Do you think it is important to celebrate International Women Day ?

WHICH LANGUAGES OUR CHILDREN SHOULD LEARN ?

Barack Obama said in July 2008, that he was embarrassed he was not speaking another language. His concern was that in order for America to be more competitive globally he wanted every child to learn a second language, Spanish preferably.

So which language our children should learn? You can test your global awareness by getting a quick test on: YouTube-Pop Quiz from the author of the 2 Million Minutes, http://www.2mminutes.com/, Robert A. Compton, comparing China and India with US education system. I extracted few facts: In years 2020, the world largest English speaking country will be China. The CIA thinks Farsi, Arabic, Hindi and Mandarin will be the most important languages to learn. So one can ask, why today Spanish and French are the most common languages taught in America ? What does it take and how long Amrican parents will see French replaced by Mandarin starting from preschoolers and up to Grade 12 ?

There is no quick fix but I think education is like the global warming issues, America needs to take action quickly in order to develop more cultural awareness in the education system. Knowing other languages and understanding other cultures is one skill that prepares American students and future leaders to live and work in a global society.

In addition, experts say that children, who are learning a second language from preschool, no matter which language, develop more their cognitive function.

USING THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING TO THRIVE IN BAD ECONOMY

YOU ARE WHAT YOU THINK!

There are various recipies to live the life you love. One of them is visualizing your dreams. On January 1st, 2006, I started writing my dreams on a notebook, one dream on one page without thinking if they were possible or not and no time frame. That year I wrote about 25 dreams, and then I moved with my family from Tokyo to Atlanta and forgot that notebook for 2 years, the time it took me to settle in Atlanta. I found that book recently and realized that I actually achieved to live 10 dreams out of the 25 without reading them again. One explanation is that once I wrote those dreams and forgot about them, they were still alive somewhere in my mind and my heart and therefore I attracted opportunities to make them realities. I will start again writing my dreams on this notebook, maybe up to 120, so I can have enough dreams for the rest of my life.

Getting more of what you want and less of what you don’t is a question of where you focus your attention, what your beliefs are and about keeping, your integrity by living a life centered around your values and dreams.

There are more than 9,000 books on Amazon.com about “Law of attraction” which became a very popular topic with the release of the movie, the secret. This is however a very simple concept that whatever you give your energy and focus to will come back to you. Therefore, if you stay focused on the positive aspects of your life, you will attract more positive things in your life. Like attracts like.

During economic recessions there are two types of people: Those who are watching anxiously the news every day to see companies bankrupting, people loosing their jobs, their houses all around the world… even in China! Those people are more likely to become anxious, fearful, paralyzed and desperate even if their own situation has not changed. Then you have the second category of people who don’t pay that much attention to bad news, stay enthusiast and full of positive energy and who see opportunities to create new things even if they have been laid off.

The Power of Positive Thinking is the result of the Uplifting Power of our thoughts, Optimism and Enthusiasm, combined with the Driving Power of what we do with Determination, Confidence and Courage.

BECOME INCREDIBLY SELFISH

I found this title in the resources for Coachinc' students and think it is very thought provoking .

Most women put other's needs before their own needs: children, husband, old parents, siblings, bosses, team members and so on ...

To be selfish is about taking the time to focus on your needs, listen to your emotions and to take care of yourself no matter how busy you life is. To be selfish is not being needy or egoist, it is a very healthy habit that helps create both emotional and physical well being. You create more inner peace, joy and a natural balance.

How to become unconditionally selfish? Start to listen to your inner signals, trust your emotions, if it feels wrong you are probably right. This skill can be developed by acknowledging your feelings rather than dismissing them. You can start making a journal where you write about the situation (facts), the thoughts that was triggered by the situation and how did you feel about it. After a couple of months, you can start to identify patterns, people and situations that drain your energy down, things or persons you tolerate that are not aligned with your values and principles. You gain also more self-confidence that makes you excited, happy, and full of positive energy.