Personal Business

I reached out to Natalie a few months ago to develop a partnership between the International Association of Coaching and Register.com. I do many of these kinds of prospecting emails and phone calls but was unprepared (in the great way) for talking to Natalie. It makes sense why she’s such a successful business coach; she’s passionate, insightful, and extremely knowledgeable about small business.

In her organization’s recent newsletter (that mentions Register.com), I came across the following “swan song” that is a compilation of acquired wisdom from Natalie. I hope you find it as inspiring as I do:

• There is no urgency, ever.
• Great things happen when you feel safe and are in an environment rich with possibility.
• More than ever I understand that you can learn a lot about how someone feels about themselves by listening to what they are saying about others.
• If you spend too much time concerned about a back up plan, the chance is great that you will end up doing the back up plan.
• Life will deliver to you what you expect.
• Be willing to stand by your ideas while allowing others to do the same, no matter how opposing they may seem.
• If you want quality, abandon deadlines. Instead, target dates will keep you on track with the built in flexibility that will net more satisfying results.
• Everything works out in the end. If it hasn’t worked out, it’s not the end.
• The notion that nothing is personal has more power than anything else I’ve learned. However anyone feels about you or what you are doing is from their unique frame of reference. That’s all any of us have until we decide to remove the frame and allow an unlimited view. This is when relationships can grow and strengthen even under the most adverse of conditions.
• There is always a choice.
• Everybody is right.
• Replacing self-criticism with self-reflection has magic powers.
• Inspire others by being inspired by them.

-Natalie Tucker Miller

To see what else Natalie is up to, check out www.ageless-sages.com.

What is a remarkable person? Can remarkableness be defined? Is it measured by one’s income, Alexa rank, books or movies sold? More often than not, I find that remarkableness sneaks. I used to think that it was some solid mass that exists independently of all other forces and somehow comes to embody a person, but I am realizing now that it is a complicated, viral force, that is inspiring and hopeful.

In the online world, remarkableness is far more accessible and quantifiable. A video’s remarkableness is evident from is views on YouTube; a web site’s remarkableness for advertisers is directly proportional to its ROI on CPM. But, working at a .com where quantifiable results are the bottom line, I need to remind myself of the upper lines as well.

Thursday was Todd Herrold’s last day at Register.com, and his remarkableness has officially snuck up on me. Todd Herrold is not a household name (yet), though if you’re a Daschund-lover, there’s a good chance you are familiar with hotdogblog.com, the web’s number one Daschund-lover community. Putting that, an MBA from Wharton, an amazing new job with a company he still hasn’t told anyone about, and a long list of other accomplishments aside, there’s something else about him that puts him high on my list of remarkable people.

He treats people well. He works with people with not just a basic level of respect but an enthusiasm about ideas, about doing great things online, about creating online communities. It was amazing how universally positive were the sentiments toward Todd when he announced his departure: admiration, respect, and the sense that he left a company with as much class as one could imagine.

Too bad it was so short, Todd, but something tells me we’ll cross paths again. Thanks for your remarkableness; I’m hoping some of it rubbed off.

Good luck,

Josh

This week began with a warm reception to my introduction on ABestWeb, got fun when Vincent Wright LOL’ed on My Linkedin Power Forum, became flattering when Carter Smith marked my Linkedin answer as best in thread, and turned downright inspired when Jason Alba reconfigured the way I think about the web.

I grew up on computers, playing Gertrude’s Secret before I could read and editing autoexec.bat files before I could do long division, but I was slow to use email and instant messenger. I barely messed around with AOL during its hey-day, didn’t grow up checking a particular forum or chat room, and got closest to blogging by reading articles.

But something changed over the summer. I was working on TableToss, and despite success, for reasons that I’ll write about here more in the future, it was clear I needed something new. I began building up my Linkedin profile, inviting friends an coworkers (and getting flagged at one point by loose connections who didn’t recognize me). It was slow-going hitting that 50 contact mark, but then things started to change. Here and there, people began to invite me; I got a recommendation from a former manager and then an interview at an awesome company from a Linkedin posting.

Although the position I chose came via a recruiter finding my profile on Career Builder, the momentum continued. What started as adding a connection or two a week turned into adding just about everyone at my office. I began answering Linkedin questions and asking them. Cross-over began with Facebook.

And then there was a week like this one where people really began responding. Admittedly, my conversation with Jason Alba began with an email, then phone call, but I commented on his blog and then followed him on Twitter. I finally noticed him posting on MyLinkedinPowerForum. It was a cross-media, cross-platform conversation occurring at a number of different levels.

I am sure the psychology of why I want to be recognized online runs deep, but this process of WEB CONNECTION is very exciting to me.

Like many people I am finding here, not only is it fun, but it’s good business. The connections we are making help us in business. Yes, some people get more immediate business benefit than others. But connecting is an absolute good, and we can make of it what we want.

My eyes are opened. I’m excited to see where this online journey takes me.

On his MyLinkedInPowerForum, Vincent Wright wrote:

“While I’m not quite finished deciding my change in Linkedin philosophy
and while I’d love to stick as close as possible to Linkedin’s
original concept, I’m considering a major change in my approach to
using Linkedin for business purposes.”

Now that’s what I call suspense. I knew Vincent was a networking maven but a master-Thriller novelist as well? Since the Giants playoff game, this is by far the most anxiety I’ve felt to know the result of something. I first joined MyLinkedinPowerForum as a venue for networking and perhaps even working a few biz dev deals, but it’s become something much greater:

Soap Opera! Thriller! Linkedin episode of Lost!

Vincent, I wouldn’t hold it past you to intend such an emotional reaction in me, but I just can’t believe a Linkedin-related post could get me so worked up. I really, really want to know what your change in philosophy is. I’m probably far too new and Cycle 2 (See Dawn’s response: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/MyLinkedinPowerForum/message/34124) to understand, but I’m hungry for the info.

Wow, online networking is entertaining. Do we get residuals?

At Morgan Stanley, my claim to fame was doing calisthenics in the office, jumping jacks, tuck-and-rolls, even a headstand one conference room birthday celebration. At Register.com, I fist pump during promising biz dev calls and shout the wrong lyrics to songs across the office.

Am I self-sabotaging or improving morale? Clearly, I’d prefer to think the latter, but the first question is the one I think more professionals struggle with. Can I really just be myself at work? Can I express my emotions, be “out there,” and still be taken seriously.

I believe the answer is yes, but it’s a delicate balance between self-expression and professional demeanor. My personal rule for sharing my true self: keep it positive.

People respond to emotion. Even in a business setting, as much as we try to insulate ourselves against others’ ups and down, it sticks. During the work day, our input filters are working hard; we only take in the very narrowest amount of stimulus. The vast majority of the noises, fine print, overheard conversations that wash over us do not penetrate our conscious attention but do nonetheless affect us. So if I’m going to draw attention to myself and penetrate my coworkers’ filters, I want that impression to be a positive one.

Is Office Me Real Me? Probably not. I choose my moments and pay attention to my surroundings to know when to tone it down. But I like to get pumped up, and life’s too short not to share the love. My advice: go for that tuck-and-roll.