"Have you always been a Leader?"

  I was surprised when my research partner asked me this question yesterday. Then I thought to myself, why was I surprised by the question?
  I am truly a lifelong learner. I think anyone with the spirit for entrepreneurship can classify him or herself as one. A few years ago, when I went back to school, I surely did not see myself as one even though I had leadership responsibilities in the retail industry. I would have to say that I did not gain any confidence until after I left high school. It was not that high school was traumatic, I just figured, why add to the drama?
  After high school, I slowly worked on my abilities to be a good worker and to be useful to the particular boss I had to follow at the time. Like anyone else, I have put up with my fair share of good and bad leaders. It was not like picking out good and evil people like the movies, it was more like, this person is great at this or I like this behavior versus that behavior does not work in this scenario.
  I have also made my fair share of small and large mistakes. They were risks that I took and learned from them. Experience helps to shape the type of leader we want to be but that is only part of the story.
  There comes a moment in time when you choose to become a leader but in doing so for the sake of the greater good and the organization versus the ego. Fulfilling the needs of the ego in a business environment leads to less satisfaction with the end result. For me, there has to be value tied to taking on the leadership role.
  Where did my leadership opportunities come from? Most of it has been from volunteer opportunities. I have helped out various private and public school students in the past. I did not only teach the subject, I was also teaching soft skills that were important to that subject area. I also volunteered as a science fair judge and on regional science fair committees. I found I really liked being part of a group where the end goal was to make sure that students had opportunities engage in science.
  As I became more involved in retail, I took on a variety of roles. When I left Sears in Massachusetts, the staff was calling me #1 (yes, after Riker on Star Trek Next Generation) because I had become my boss's right hand. I enjoyed the problem-solving aspects of working retail and took those skills with me to Staples when I moved to Virginia. I have been a Human Resources Lead and an Electronics Supervisor. Each role had varying degrees of leadership responsibility.

Leadership skills may also be developed at conferences.

  Moving on several years, it seems that I am in several leadership positions but in a very different aspect. I took on leadership roles because no one else was doing them or interested. Leadership is not only about experience, it is also about having the guts to stand up and say, "I will do it." Since then, I have focused on getting the Society of Physics Student Chapter at my college back on it's feet and mentoring the next round of students to understand the importance of an having active chapter and maintaining it. I am also a Senator in student government, a role I never would have seen coming my way a couple of years ago. However, I enjoy both of these roles and I hope I am giving a voice and an accurate representation to do so.
  Leaders aren't born, they are made. This is one of the reasons why, even though they exist, that young leaders are not all that common. When you look at the Board of Directors of any company or organization, the majority of those roles are filled by people over 40.
  Listed below is a set of beliefs that I have learned and hope to pass on to future leaders.

• Make sure your expectations are communicated properly and clearly.
• Never ask anyone to do something that you have not done before or would not be willing to do yourself.
• Make sure you communicate your appreciation for your co-worker's or employee's efforts, gifts, and talents. 
• Don't finger-point or single someone out. You are on a team, it is everyone's problem. 
• When you feel that someone you work with has hit a roadblock or a behavior problem, ask, "what can I do to help you through this?" 

  I especially feel that the last point is important. Sometimes, by opening up a conversation in such a way that does not put the person on defensive, can lead to greater strides in employee improvement and morale. I believe that you would call this skill, support. Support is one of the best leadership skills that can be developed. If your employee feels supported by you, they will generally make greater strides in maintaining that relationship with you. 

Snow days and business.

  Quite a few of us have had an extended vacation due to the weather. This time of the year, the focus is on secular Valentine's Day. Which means ladies going out, buying a new outfit, getting their hair/nails done, and lunching with girlfriends before going out with their partner later. Sounds like a great way to boost the economy during one of the slowest times of the year!
  We received so much snow in so little time that it has hit some of the businesses right in the wallet and working hard to figure out how to recover. Hopefully, most couples went ahead with their plans or have just delayed them for a day or two.
  The next step is figuring out another way to drive customers into the stores. One way might be to hone in on the tax return season and clearance sections or service specials. I have seen quite a few of my favorite places using Daily Deals. You should check to see if your town has one! I have used them before and recommend them as a way to save and support your favorite local stores.
  Don't forget to keep up your social media profiles! Nothing is worse for you when you go for long breaks between social media updates. If you are able to, hire someone for as little as five hours a week to help create and post updates. I love scheduling posts on Facebook as they have saved me a lot of time and can hit my core audiences at their convenience. Sometimes, 10 PM is not a convenient time for your audience! You may find that it's well worth the effort!

Advocating College Leadership Skills.

  Let's face it, college is tough. There are general education requirements and requirements within your own major. However, not all parts of college life are created equal. One of the experiences that you make sure you attain in school is some form of leadership role in any activity. In can be in any activity as long as you are able to describe your engagement with the club or sport and how you personally grew from these experiences. Why?

• Businesses are looking for future leaders.
• They want to know if you can organize a large project.
• They want to know if you can meet deadlines outside of class requirements.
• They want to know that you can work well with others.
• They want to know if you can stretch outside your comfort zone.
• Are you willing to take risks?
• Are you willing to take blame if something doesn't go well?
• Do you learn from mistakes and fix them for the future?

  The best point of all of these is whether or not you can lead people and still get along with them enough that they not only follow the guidelines of the project but are an asset to the completion of the project. That has to do with your leadership. Don't take collegiate leadership lightly, the experience may land you your dream job! 

No company is ever too big to deliver.

  Many of us who use Foursquare are becoming familiar with some of the new features. One of these features may be delivered by the company at which you are checking into for freebies or discounts. The setup on Foursquare makes it easier to retrieve tips left by other customers or clients and show you which of your friends may be nearby for a quick meetup.
  However, something very unexpected happened after my check-in at Panera. Here is my original tweet:

Amanda Wright ‏@Coffeegenius7h

Lunch! Chicken soup for the head cold with iced green tea. (at @PaneraBread) http://4sq.com/11NJIZM 

Here is the reply:

Panera Bread ‏@panerabread7h

@Coffeegenius Thanks for stopping by, Amanda. Hope the Chicken Noodle Soup helps your cold!

Can you say I was a bit floored by the response? If this is something that the company does regularly, use social media as a form of communication for customers in a personal way, no matter how big the company is, how awesome is that? This is a lesson I think all the local business owners can earn, including myself! Always keep connected with your clientele and make it personal! Thanks for the reminder, Panera!

Embracing My Inner Heretic

  Whew! Finally finished Tribes by Seth Godin. It is not a difficult read. As a matter of fact, it is written for people like me who maybe only have a few minutes here or there to read a few paragraphs. Between this book and Lead With Purpose, I have a better idea of which direction to head in.
  Are you tired of the status quo? So am I. Every business I have worked for has held to the status quo. I was never happy. I always felt like we could do more but was met with so much resistance, I did not change. I just carried on. I should have followed my gut instinct. Shoulda, coulda, woulda. I'm not doing it anymore.
  As a leader, my job is not only to remove obstacles but it is to let my colleagues use their brain. I want to learn from them and discuss, create, and drive. I surround myself with smart people, not just because I am in a college setting, but for their creativity and vitality. I like people who get excited about solving problems and showcasing their talents. So I have decided to let whomever is on my team go to it. I am only giving them a few seeds to think about so that they can have the freedom to do what they do best.
  My mom worked for a very small private school in New England for about ten years. Her experience was invaluable to me. It gave me an idea of what a real school should look like. The school was full of recitals, plays, science fairs, haunted houses, math-a-thons, and Harry Potter weeks. When they celebrated the holidays, every religion that attended the school was learned about, talked about, and celebrated. The school was designed to celebrate differences, not the status quo. My ultimate goal is to replicate something similar to this in Southwest Virginia. It represents true freedom to learn and the encouragement to color outside the lines.
  So far, the national education system is embracing Common Core Standards. I want my business to move beyond "standards." Standardization is just a long word for "status quo." We have been held to standards and endless testing since the inception of Every Child Left Behind and Race to Mediocrity. Oops, I meant No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top. Here it is, I want to leave every system behind, in the dust. We can do better. We owe it to our children. We owe it to our community to leave better people behind to grow. How will I do this? Do you want to sit there and find out? Or would you rather we meet over coffee and have an honest discussion of how we can improve? I know you, my readers, wish you could change this and that. Some of you are working your rears off. To the rest of you, what are you waiting for?
  The Common Core is a lot more difficult than other standards from our educational past. However, the definition of each individual learner in the public school system is being compared to test scores. STILL. I would like to see more digital portfolios used for students. Quite a few high schools are using digital portfolios to showcase their students. I am sure many colleges are no longer just looking at grades and test results. They want to know the students. They want to know the capability of the learner. Every student is capable of learning and it is our responsibility to develop and deepen their understanding of the world around them.
  We need more project-based learning in urban school systems. Many students are entering community colleges under-prepared and overwhelmed. From what I have been hearing along the grapevine is that these students graduate from community college ill-prepared for four year universities. Some community colleges do a really good job in preparation, overshoot the intended goal, and send students to four year institutions better prepared than the students who spent their first two years on the larger campus.
  I don't like the words systems and institutions. It signifies conformity. Hence why my first goal is to develop an education resource center. When I think of a center, I think of collaborative work groups. I think of activity, a buzzing of ordered chaos. I see students, tutors, parents, and teachers interacting, proactively, with one another. I see a tribe. This scene is playing in my head and I want to dive right in and get to work!

Creating Vision that Your Tribe Believes In

  I have been reading several books lately. A few education-based and a few business-based. I have completely finished Lead With Purpose and I am in the middle of Tribes by Seth Godin. Then it hit me. I need to stop thinking about it and just do. Now what do I mean by that? Where does my vision lie? What is my movement? 

• Idealistic but tangible. The whole point behind my business is not to just be an educational resource center but to create a movement within the system of education. This is based on personal experience of volunteering and being my mom's cheerleader for twenty years. It is also based on my own personal experience in the public and private school systems, whether they were in urban cities or suburbia. We are selling out our children to the lowest educational bidder only to pay through the roof in terms of quality of life for our future.

We need to change the way we teach and learn. We need to lead a new paradigm shift that says no to the usual "standardized testing" and yes to the ability to develop free thinkers, problem solvers, and creative geniuses. We need an Educational Renaissance. I am leading this revolution. Will you join me? 

• There are no mistakes, only learning experiences. This statement alone should free us from the fear of the unknown. Very little is known. We cannot predict the future yet we can absolutely direct it!

My intent is to empower students, parents, and teachers with knowledge and self-confidence to overcome standardized testing and mediocre public education policies around the world. We will challenge the status quo and demand better from our local and federal governments. We will let our teachers use the training that they received in college to educate our children. We will advocate the understanding that it takes a village to raise a child within every community. 

• Active community engagement in the process has to happen. I am finding a lot of push back with every organization wanting to be in absolute control and wanting to do their own thing. The fact is, that is only managing, it has nothing to do with leading. Organizations are just managing but are not providing the leadership and vision that the community is craving.

 Are you craving something better from your community? So am I and I cannot and will not do it alone. I need you. I need your creativity and your drive and your vision to aid in this venture out of mediocrity. If you are as tired of it as I am, let's talk and figure out ways we can benefit each other!

  There you have it. I have a vision of an Educational Renaissance beginning in every community. This kind of Renaissance touches all areas in a community. It helps create cultural plans that further deepen the connections people have within the community and the surrounding area. Quality education drives business and allows it to thrive, even in the harshest conditions. Instead of playing armchair internet commando, we need to get out there and get it done!  

 

Social Media Pet Peeves II: Pics

  Yep, people are at it again! After a post by Interconnectivity Marketing, a marketing consulting firm, and I had an online chat and a face-to-face chat. She does great work in teaching small businesses how to market themselves and how to create a team player atmosphere with each other, something that I have been learning about recently. She notes that you have to have a clear direction in the way you market, not only yourself but for others! Being paid for a service can be tricky and you have to make sure that you can deliver, especially if you are taking on multiple businesses as clients. If any of the below applies to you, do not take it personally, but please adjust as quickly as possible because I believe it will hurt your business' integrity in the long run.

• Let's talk pics.
• No time/date stamp please! It looks like you don't understand how to use your equipment and if it is a picture of a product and the picture is shared, it will date the product. You want the product to be shown as classic as possible. Fashion trends have dates, not pictures. 
• Make sure it is absolutely the best picture possible. I often take 10-20 pictures of one item until I am happy with the quality. Sure, sometimes things are off the cuff, but if it is for a paying client make sure the public can see what the camera is focusing on!
• When taking pictures of people, make sure that it is their best side and that they are smiling! Customers want to see happy owners and workers!

Don't date your work!

What is this? Keep focused!