A Consultant's Chronicles

Line of the Week 6-28-09

Reading Peggy Noonan's column in the Wall Street Journal this morning  where she essentially recapped the seminal moments leading up to our the Declaration of Independence, it occurred to me that heading into this holiday weekend, there really can be only one line to acknowledge this week in what continues to be a ground-breaking year. It comes not from some newspaper or magazine column but from a group of uncommonly brilliant & far-seeking men who had both great courage & great wisdom. They said:

"..."We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal..."

Happy Fourth of July!    

Behavior In the Workplace: The YouTube Guide To Life

Recently I read an article, which offered many different & useful tips when it comes to managing in a crisis. The source of these tips came from consultants, academicians, authors & CEO's alike. However, there's a tip that really caught my eye. It comes from columnist Bruce Weinstein & it is something that I believe every manager should heed at anytime. It requires screening your actions in a very simple way. Always ask yourself "can my actions pass the YouTube test? If you wouldn't mind seeing what you've done [or plan to do] "going viral" in a video clip great but if not, stop right there! Actually this is a pretty egalitarian guidepost since it could easily be applied to managers & employees alike.

Line of the Week 6-21-09

This has been a week full of events, some inspirational some sad, & some pathetic. Between the revolution in Iran, Governor Mark Sanford's peccadilloes, & the deaths of Michael Jackson & Farrah Fawcett, it seems fair to expect at least one worthwhile quip or directly relevant standout line but I didn't find anything fitting [read: printable]. I did find something that is at least in part, applicable from Peggy Noonan of The Wall Street Journal.

Sharp Targets

Like many others on both sides of the political aisle, Noonan is concerned that Obama is trying to do too much [particularly when our country's bankroll is a little thin]. More pointedly she quoted something Claire Booth Luce said once said to former president Kennedy, which provides every president with a very sharp target. Of Luce, Noonan wrote:

"...'a great man is one sentence. His leadership can be so well summed up in a single sentence that you don't have to hear his name to know who's being talked about. 'He preserved the union and freed the slaves,' or, 'He lifted us out of a great depression and helped to win a World War.'  You didn't have to be told 'Lincoln' or 'FDR.'...' "

The Standard For 'Greatness'

It seems to me that this concept of greatness can be applied to people in all areas who make their mark. "He discovered electricity" or "he was the boy wonder of tennis." In these two cases no one needs to be told they referenced Thomas Edison or John McEnroe respectively.  What, if any will be "the sentence" for Michael Jackson?

Website Grader: How Effective Is Your Business Website

Recently I saw a news clip of Ed Koch, the former mayor of NY. In the clip they talked about how he was fond of asking his fellow citizens "how'm I doin?"  While he meant it to be his own way saying hello, ask any New Yorker a question & they will not be shy about telling you what they really think so this was hardly a risk-free strategy. Of course the only kind of answer he could possibly get to the question was a subjective one [except of course on election day]. Elections serve as any politician's "grader." Get an "A' & chances are you'll get re-elected.

How’s Your Business Website Doin’

However, more relevant to this blog as well as to your business is finding out how your business website [or blog] is doing online. Unfortunately, unlike Ed Koch, you can't just ask people on the stree "how's my site doin' ?" Nonetheless getting a "grade" for your business website is vital. For example, is it generating any traffic? What percentage of that traffic turns into real business? The good news is there is a great tool to answer these & many other key questions about your website. It's fast, it's simple, it provides a wealth of valuable data & best of all, it's free. Not only does it tell you how your site is doing but it also tells you how it's doing relative to the competition. Basically it provides the crux of your SEO picture. Pretty cool. It's called Website Grader, which is a tool designed by an online marketing company I discovered last year called Hubspot. These folks know everything about online marketing & they provide fabulous tools for any business. How your site is doing [objectively speaking] is just the start of a significant array of inbound marketing tools you can learn about. This is news every business can use!

Line of the Week 6-14-09

This week's line of the week doesn't come from a famous columnist, author, or blogger but rather your classic "average guy" responding to the cover story for BusinessWeek about social networking. It asked the question "what's a friend worth [today]?" Put another way, how can we both profit & learn from our social conections. It appears that Utah's David Farnsworth was upset by the loose use of the word "friend" {& about this he & I can agree in principle]. Therefore he sent the magazine some feedback in the form of a George Washington quote. While the line clarifies the concept of friendship as it is most commonly known, it does something else.  In today's parlance, it also speaks to the distinction between a longtime friend & someone you have recently "friended online." As our first president points out, the difference can be profound. According to Farnsworth, he said:

"...True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation..."

I count myself truly fortunate to have a good many of these "plants," which is lucky for me because when it comes to the "potted" variety, I have a nearly indisputable "black thumb!"