Becky Robinson's Blog, page 67

Featured on Friday: The #NewOneMinuteManager

There are a couple of exciting events coming up next week. On Tuesday, May 5th, The New One Minute Manager (a revision of a classic) will be released for sale. There are several folks on the team who read the original and are excited to get their hands on this updated version from Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson.

The second event is less significant to the world at large, but it’s a memorable date on my calendar. On Monday, May 4th, I’ll pass my 3-year mark of working with Becky Robinson and Weaving Influence. Three years ago I put on my pharmacy smock for the last time and said “yes” to Becky’s offer of an unknown future.

Next week as we launch our 50th book as a company (and my 48th), I plan to take some time to count my blessings. Only the Lord knows what the coming year will hold for Weaving Influence as a company, and for me personally, but next week I’m just going to be thankful for the journey.

In the meantime, are you ready to hear more about Book Launch #50 and it’s authors?

Meet Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson, MD

Just in case you’ve missed one of the 60 books he’s co-authored (including The Secret, with Mark Miller), Ken is one of the most influential leadership experts in the world. His groundbreaking works have been translated into 42 languages and their combined sales total more than 21 million copies. Here’s a fun tidbit: in 2005 he was inducted into Amazon’s Hall of Fame as one of the top 25 bestselling authors of all time. Considering the number of books on Amazon, that’s quite an accomplishment!

The recipient of numerous leadership awards and honors, he is co-founder with his wife, Margie, of The Ken Blanchard Companies, a leading international training and consulting firm. You can find Ken online at Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+.

His co-author, Spencer Johnson, is no stranger to best-selling books. One of the most admired thought leaders and widely read authors in the world, his books, including the #1 bestseller Who Moved My Cheese?, are embedded in our language and culture.

Called “The King of Parables” by USA Today, Dr. Johnson is often referred to as the best there is at taking complex subjects and presenting simple solutions that work. His brief books contain insights and practical tools that millions of people use to enjoy more happiness and success with less stress.

Over 50 million copies of Spencer Johnson’s books are in use worldwide in 47 languages.

Support the Launch of The New One Minute Manager – May 4-8!

Next week, you’re invited to join us as we help Ken and Spencer officially launch, The New One Minute Manager. Even if you have the original version on your shelf, it’s worth it to invest in this newest edition, or buy several to give away to college graduates this May!

Buy It Now: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Hudson Booksellers | 800 CEORead | HarperCollins | Or Find it LOCALLY!

If you already have a copy, don’t forget to leave a review at any or all of those sites, and add it to your “read” or “to read” shelf on Goodreads.

If you’d like to get involved by telling your online communities about it, visit newoneminutemanager.com for tweets to share and graphics to pin and promote.

You Tell Me! How many of our 50 launches have YOU been a part of? And do you have a favorite?

What You Don’t Know CAN Hurt You

It wasn’t until a thick envelope arrived in my office via FedEx that the issue of copyright infringement of images came into clear focus for me.

When I started blogging in 2009, we rarely incorporated images and I relied on the expertise of the university who owned the site to select and approve images. On the personal blog that I started in 2011, which later became this website, I have only fuzzy memories of learning a bit about image use rights. I mostly relied on Flickr to find creative commons approved images and to link back with photo credits.

If you blog — and add images to blog posts — image use rights are an important consideration.

Many people I’ve encountered happily assume that if they find an image on Google — and can easily download that image — that they are free to use that image on their website or blog. Though people may infringe unknowingly and without intention of harming the owner of the image, there are consequences related to infringement.

If you use a rights-managed image on your domain, you could be subject to claims from the copyright owner for the use of the image. These claims could be in the hundreds or thousands of dollars. Even if a third party (web developer or graphic designer) provided the image without your knowledge, if the image lives on your domain, you are responsible.

I recently settled a claim regarding an image used on leadchangegroup.com, a site I acquired in October 2014. A leadership blogger I’ve never met, whose name I can’t even remember, published a post before I owned the site. It was an image found quickly in a Google search, and he cited a photo credit. But he didn’t own the rights to the photo, so using it was an infringement. Did he know? Probably not. Did he intend harm? Of course not.

But what you don’t know can still hurt you.

When I acquired the site, I didn’t take the time to dig through the 1500+ posts on the site to determine image sources. But when I acquired the site, I assumed liability and responsibility. We’ve since initiated a strict image use policy and removed any images added to the site prior to my acquisition.

In my experience, people have a lot of misconceptions about copyright law, including an assumption that as long as the use of an image is not commercial, fair use applies; other people might think that royalty free images are free to use. This site outlines helpful information you may not have considered. Here is another helpful article, written by an attorney.

Here are a few ways to safeguard against copyright infringements:

1) Use photos you already own. Even if you’re not a professional photographer, you may be able to create engaging images with the quick click of your iPhone. Some of my favorite pictures on my personal blog are photos of my kids. I’m also a fan of images in the moment when I am writing about day to day life. This post included a quick shot of my messy desk. Personal images can bring your words to life for a reader. If you are a fledging photographer, sharing your photos will enhance your work. See Mark Miller’s new photo blog, which showcases breathtaking images Mark has taken during his travels.

2) Purchase photos. One of our clients sources every image from iStock, investing to ensure the most visually appealing photo for every post. While this creates an additional budget line item for his online influence building efforts, he saves time on fruitless searches and has complete confidence that he is adhering to copyright laws. Our team uses a monthly package from fotolia.com to source images for our clients and posts.

3) Try a free service that provides images. Our team loves Buffer and their new service, Pablo, which is a service that allows you to quickly create images for use on social media (including blog) posts. Best part? They’ve vetted the images and the images are free to use. Canva is another service we love.

4) Research the rights status of any images you use. Google allows you to search images according to rights usage, or you can do a search on tineye.com . This post from lifehackr is another great resource to help you understand usage laws.

5) Opt-out of using images. If the expense of purchasing photos is too steep and you don’t have your own images, you can choose NOT to use images, like my friend Wally Bock. He puts his focus on carefully crafting posts that add value for readers, and doesn’t spend time or energy on photos. This option has a few drawbacks, as Molly Page explains in her post here.

While I learned this information through the anxiety of an infringement claim, I have a strong path forward with a clear idea of how to follow the law.

Tell me something? How have you handled blog post image sourcing?

Twitter and the Direct Message Upset

This week Twitter announced a new feature via their blog that has many up in arms. Starting April 20th, users have been given the option to enable Direct Messages, not just from followers–but from anyone. Twitter’s hope is to make connecting with others you don’t know in real life easier, and to eliminate having to awkwardly ask someone to follow you in order to send them a private message. This feature could be advantages for businesses who want to make customer service reps more easily available, for job seekers trying to connect with a potential new employer, or fans hoping to interact with a favorite artist.

Many users fear this new feature can also open the door to harassment, cyber-bullying, and even stalking. These are all issues that the platform has dealt with, problems that they admitted fault and embarrassment to fail dealing with in the past. Only a day after the announcement of this new option for Direct Messages, Twitter posted again on their blog about new policy and product updates to fight such abuse.

But whatever your worry, you can rest assured that no deaf ear is being turned to this matter as Twitter has made efforts to accommodate users who may be less than thrilled at the news of this new Direct Message. The feature is switched off by default and must be turned on manually. To help differentiate who has the feature turned on, a new Direct Message button will appear on profile pages on the app only if the user is someone you can contact. Should you choose to accept Direct Messages from anyone and start receiving spam or worse, you can still block that user.

For those who are interested in turning this on and experiencing Twitters brave new messaging world, here’s a quick guide to activating the feature:

Login to Twitter and click your user icon in the top right corner to access your profile and settings
Click “Security and privacy” in the sidebar
Scroll down to the last option under the “Privacy” header and make sure the “Receive Direct Messages from anyone” box is checked, save

 

Tell me something! What do you think of this new feature?

 

 

Celebrating – Do We Need an Excuse?

I couldn’t wait to have an excuse to share these fun photos of our Web Development Manager, John Marcello, jumping in his new Weaving Influence t-shirt.

He posted them to our team Facebook page over the weekend and I laughed, joyfully.

A t-shirt, with a logo. It might seem like a small thing, but it’s helping our team celebrate a few milestones and we’re having fun with it.

Last week, a few of our local team members gathered for a lunch, and everyone indulged me for a group shot (coming soon).

Then we mailed out shirts to our virtual team members, and I asked for folks to share photos on social media.

I even sent a shirt to my mom, who texted me this morning to tell me that she’s wearing her shirt today for her daily walk. I told her bragging rights came with the shirt, too.

What are we celebrating?

Several team members have recently passed or will pass year based milestones in working with our company.

John, seen jumping about, has been working with us over two years this spring.

Elizabeth Johnson, who does amazing behind the scenes work implementing for our clients and doing internal quality reviews of content, also passed the two year mark.

Carrie, our book launch director, will soon pass 3 years.

Sharon Pilaske, who manages our bookkeeping and invoicing, has been raising our game on internal processes for an entire year. We will soon launch our 50th book as a company.

I will have been working full-time in this business three years as of June 1st. We’re successfully transitioning from a completely virtual and sub-contractor led company to a company that has both in-person employees.

This includes a full-time, dedicated PR director who starts next week as well as amazing, committed, loyal, long-term contract team members.

It’s enough to make some of us jump for joy – literally.

Tell me something!  What has you jumping for joy?

What are you celebrating?

 

 

Featured on Friday: A #BookLaunch Recap Link-fest!

It’s hard to believe, but the last time I did a Featured on Friday of nothing but links was all the way back in December! It’s been a busy spring season as we’ve worked our way through the various book launches, and today marks the last day of our 49th book launch – Wind In Your Sails. Whew!

We love helping authors grow their online presence and find the perfect audience for their books. Each one of these books represents a lot of work and effort from our authors and their personal teams and we want to support them in whatever way we can, whether that’s by spreading the word on social media, hosting webinars, or giving them a little boost during a relaunch.

Thanks to the faithful members of Team Buzz Builder – and now the Lead Change Group – we are able to help our clients reach millions of new people because of the megaphone of social media. I like to tell the authors that I work with that a book launch is a marathon and not a sprint.

Train for the long term, keep your eyes on the future, and realize that this one week is just the kick off for long term success.

Below you will find the marathons that we’ve started this year. The official launch weeks might be over for these authors, but the buzz never needs to slow down! Check out their books, leave reviews, visit their websites, and help us keep the excitement going all year long.

2015 Launches-to-Date

February 2 – 5: We launched  The Hidden Leader by Scott Edinger and Laurie Sain. Visit the website!
February 2 – 5: We also launch Ken Blanchard and Morton Shaevitz’s first book together, Refire! Don’t Retire. Visit the website!
February 9 – 13: We launched Chip Bell’s new book, Sprinkles . Visit the website!
February 23 – 27: We launched first-time author Joanie Connell‘s book, Flying without a Helicopter. Visit the website!
March 9 – 13: We launched Talent Mindset by Stacy Feiner – now available on Kindle! Visit the website!
March 16 – 20: We launched Dare to Serve by Cheryl Bachelder. Visit the website!
March 23 – 27: We launched the new book from Bonnie Marcus, The Politics of Promotion . Visit the website!
April 6 – 10: We launched Mark Miller’s fifth book, Chess Not Checkers . Visit the website!
April 13 – 17: We launched Wind In Your Sails by Canadian author, David Greer. Visit the website!

Looking Ahead…

On May 5th we’ll be playing a supporting role in the launch of The New One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard & Spencer Johnson. Visit the website!
In June we’ll be working with Henna Inam on the launch of her first book, Wired for Authenticity. Join our team!
June 15 – 19 we’ll be launching The Disciplined Leader from MAP Consulting President, John Manning. Join our team! Visit the website!
In July we’ll be working with The Arbinger Institute to launch the second edition of The Anatomy of Peace – stay tuned for more details!
August 10 – 14 we’ll be launching the second book from author Beau Sides, Unseen Tears, a powerful story about orphans in Asia - stay tuned!

As you can see, we have a lot of exciting launches under our belt for the year already, and even more coming up this summer. I would love to see some new promotion go out this weekend for one – or all – of these great books, and I look forward to working with you on our upcoming launches.

In the meantime, have a great weekend and Happy Reading!

Old Technology Never Dies

Remember vinyl records? How about film cameras?

Today vinyl is the fastest growing sector of the music industry. Given up for dead only a few years ago, artists now release on vinyl in addition to digital downloads and CDs. The manufacturers who halted production on turntables are reopening factories and bringing the product line back.

Analog photography, also given up for dead, is making a comeback. One industry study showed that almost 1/3 of the people shooting film are under 35.

Since the growth in film and vinyl is mainly a millennial phenomenon, it would be easy to point to hipster nostalgia at work. And from the way Urban Outfitters and Lomography are marketing vinyl and film respectively, you couldn’t be blamed for thinking that.

True, there’s a bit of nostalgia. Analog technology is perceived, right or wrong, as being more authentic than digital.

Others argue that film is better than digital in terms of the quality of the final print. And music on vinyl, according to the aficionados, has a warmer, fuller sound quality.

But for those of us on the bleeding edge of digital marketing, there’s a powerful lesson here. Old technologies, old ways of doing things, never go away. There’s always people who still hold on to the old ways of doing things, not because they’re ignorant or “luddites,” but because they just like what they already have.

When the printing press arrived in Europe, the scribes and monks were probably considered passé. But it’s been 600 years and you can still buy calligraphy supplies at any arts supply store. When photography arrived, painters saw their very reason for being threatened. But down the aisle in that same art supply store you can buy oil paints, canvases, sketchpads, pencils, etc.

We assume that just because we’re far along on the adoption curve for new technology and social media tools, our clients and their customers are as well. So without even batting an eye, most social media marketing agencies will tell their clients to start shooting iPhone selfies. Never mind if the customers themselves are actually in a demographic that would be interested in following the client on Instagram, or if Instagram is even relevant for their market.

In the early years of the Web, the dot com years of the 90s, a similar groupthink took hold. Start-ups with (for the time) super-fast computers with super-fast connections built super-fast web sites that crashed the end users’ browsers. No one thought that a DSL or T1 connection was out of the ordinary, or that most users were still on dial-up.

Marketers make assumptions about consumer behavior all the time. Some of it is backed up by real market research. Sometimes it’s based on groupthink. If everyone around the conference table uses Snapchat, it’s easy to think everyone else does too.

To bring it back to the original point – when everyone you know listens to Spotify, it’s easy to forget that there’s a small but growing population of music listeners who prefer vinyl. They’re not old people holding out on progress. For the most part they’re younger, affluent, well-educated, and willing to spend on high-end audio equipment. In other words, those hold-outs might be a very desirable demographic.

Similarly, when everyone in the start-up is on the latest iPhone, it’s easy to think everyone else is and to build accordingly. But you can’t afford to assume a certain level of technological sophistication or adoption. Some people are fine with two-year-old iPhones or six-year-old laptops with obsolete processors.

It’s easy to leave a gaping hole in your product or marketing plan when you dismiss old ideas or technologies. It’s easy to think people using film, or ham radio operators, or backyard gardeners are just a small group of luddites. But you do so at your own risk.

A confession… For someone living in the digital age, I’m pretty analog. I shoot and develop black and white film. I still have a record player and hundreds of albums. And I’m a ham radio operator. And I know for a fact that I’m not alone.

 

Tell me something! What older technologies do you still enjoy using?

 

photo credit: niekverlaan

Featured on Friday: Meet TBB Member @Rebeccainjc

Earlier this week I was scrolling through my Facebook feed when I was stopped by the smiling faces of two authors that I have had the privilege of working with (Bill Treasurer and David Greer). When Bill (who lives just across the mountain from me) found himself in David’s neck of the woods (3,000 miles to the west of us), he reached out via social media and they met up for breakfast. I believe that’s what Becky Robinson and Whitney Johnson would call a #TWIRL.

Much like our authors, the members of Team Buzz Builder are spread out around the world. Even though our promotional team has representatives in Australia, Kenya, the U.K., and Canada, today’s featured Buzz Builder lives in the town where I grew up, and just a few miles from where I live now. It is, indeed, a small world, and perhaps one of these days we’ll have to have a #TWIRL of our own!

Meet Rebecca Henderson

Rebecca Henderson owns Strategic Priorities Consulting, specializing in strategic planning, organizational design and development, and leadership implementation. She was recently honored for her work when Milligan College chose her to be a recipient of their “Leader in Christian Service” award. Rebecca has written a number of reviews on Amazon, and you can follow her on Twitter or LinkedIn. 

Why do you like being a part of Team Buzz Builder?

I love getting the books about leadership as it’s a subject I’m passionate about.  I’ve found that the books I receive through Team Buzz Builder (TBB) are always beyond the cutting edge, which helps me to stay at the top of my game.  There are so many good books about leadership out there, and I feel Becky and her team are highly selective about the authors with whom they work. Weaving Influence works hard, so that I don’t have to!

{NOTE: We did not pay her to say that, but I love it!}

What benefit do you think you receive from being a part of TBB?

I feel I get the gift of time; when something comes from Weaving Influence, I know I need to take the time to read and study it.  When I learn of other books about leadership (and often, they just claim to be, but really aren’t), I may waste several hours reading something that’s not worth my time.I feel, too, that when I post a review or promote through Twitter, my opinion really counts.  Others depend on what I say and think to sometimes determine what they may (or may not) choose to read and study.  I hope I’m making a positive impression on the next generation of leaders.

If someone asked you why they should join Team Buzz Builder, what would you tell them?

You should join TBB if you’re interested in influencing what others choose to read, and if you want to learn more about the leadership experience.  The more I learn about leadership, the more I realize that I truly don’t know much about the subject.  It’s always changing, always evolving into the next best practice.

Tell us more about your work/family/life/hobbies… the fun stuff!

I have a consultancy,  Strategic Priorities Consulting.  It’s just me, and that’s by design.  I specialize in strategic planning, but also assist clients with organizational design and development and leadership implementation.  My passion is nonprofit work;  I really enjoy helping nonprofits with geeky things like bylaws and governance issues.   I try to incorporate Christ into all that I do, especially the work that will be noticed by others.I enjoy reading, and could easily read a book a day.  For strictly fun, I enjoy chick-lit, especially if it’s centered in the South.

Special thanks to Rebecca for sharing a little bit about herself and her Buzz Building experience! It’s always fun to learn more about the person behind the reviews and promotion.

Interested in joining Rebecca and the others as part of our Buzz Building team? Sign up today! If you’re an active Buzz Builder and would like to be Featured on Friday, send me an email!

How to Get a Hundred Amazon Reviews in One Day

This week, my team and I are supporting the launch of Mark Miller’s 5th book, Chess Not Checkers.

Since the book opened up for reviews yesterday, more than 100 people have shared Amazon reviews on the book. This completely exceeded even our best assumptions about the number of reviews we might see in a book’s first week. For context, I typically tell clients that receiving 50 reviews in the first month or so after launch indicates great success.

One of the key performance indicators we attend to is gaining Amazon reviews. In order to fuel early Amazon reviews, we work to get our clients’ books out into the world in advance of their publication dates/launch weeks, so that people have time to read and enjoy the content and are prepared to write reviews.

For the launch of Chess Not Checkers we had a distinct advantage in working toward Amazon reviews because we received advance, finished copies more than a month prior to the publication date. Additionally, Chess Not Checkers, written in business parable style, is a fast and engaging read, which increased the likelihood that people receiving early copies would actually read them in order to review them.

We also had the luxury of sending the largest number of books out, to date. We sent advance copies to over 1200 people in the US, including not only one print edition of the book as a gift — but two: one to read, and one to share. In effect, for every book we mailed, we hoped to reach at least two readers.

And, we send a digital download link to over 100 readers around the world, extending the international reach of the book.

In case you’re doing the math, yes, this represents a huge financial investment in advance reader copies.

Mark funded this generous outreach because of his deeply held belief that books are seeds. It’s his desire to make as big a difference as possible for leaders and organizations. From past experience, Mark knows that giving books away is a catalyst that actually results in more book sales over time. Since he gives the profits from his books to charity, he uses a gift of a book to fuel and fund more giving.

Here are four more reasons this tactic worked well for Mark and four ways you can set the stage for a successful book launch:

This is Mark’s 5th book. It’s far easier to gain traction for repeat authors than it is for first time authors. People who have enjoyed and bought Mark’s previous books will look out for his new books. Having other books give Mark credibility in the market as an author. Much of the loyalty of Mark’s online community comes from their interaction with and appreciation for his past titles.

Book launch success lesson: Be patient as a first-time author. The investment you make in your first book will result in greater success with subsequent books.

Mark has built a committed community of readers and followers. What I want to write is: people love Mark and the content he creates. Perhaps it’s a bit of his position as an executive at Chick-fil-A or his humble and kind interactions with others. Maybe it’s the accessibility and universal applicability of the lessons he shares. I have received so many emails throughout our time working with Mark from people who indicate the ways his content and example have made a difference for them. Mark consistently offers value through his 3X a week blog posts. He inspires, through his in-person life and online following, people’s confidence and commitment.

Book launch success lesson: Bring the best of who you have to the world, and people will respond to that.

Be strategic in your investment of energy in building influence online. In the 2 1/2 years that my team and I have supported Mark’s online presence, we’ve worked to see his Twitter following grow to more than 30X the number of followers he had when we began. His email list has grow to more than 7X its starting place. These numbers represent people who regularly read Mark’s blog content and appreciate the value he brings to the world. When we made the offer for the advance copies of the book, we reached out to anyone who had subscribed to his blog, downloaded a free resource, or purchased a resource in his store. More than 20% of those people requested a book. The only request we made was that if people enjoyed the book, they would leave a review. From past experience, we’ve seen that about 10% of people receiving a book will follow through to leave an Amazon review.

Book launch success lesson: Building an online community by consistently sharing valuable content is an important foundation for book launch success.

We made our request for reviews very clear. One of my basic assumptions is that people will not leave Amazon reviews unless you ask them to. We’ve been asking. We mentioned it in our original offer of a free copy; we mentioned it in the printed letter I sent out with books; we’ve repeated the request in subsequent emails and social media updates. While some authors are uncomfortable making an outright request, very few people will prioritize this unless you make a direct request.

Book launch success lesson: Ask for what you’d like. Help people understand the ways they can best support your book launch.

What does all this mean? Are Amazon reviews a strong predictor of a book’s success? To be honest, we’re still learning and exploring.

At a minimum, Amazon reviews provide substantial social proof. Gathering many positive reviews at the start of a launch positions a book well for sales. Additionally, the time and thought people bring to Amazon reviews demonstrates an important investment each reviewer is making in a book and its success. Someone who writes a review is more likely to tweet, share on other social channels, or blog about a book.

My team and I are going to be digging deeper into the data, analyzing trends, and will share what we learn with you.

Tell me something! Do you view Amazon reviews as an important metric? Why or why not?

Featured on Friday: #WindInYourSails Author @djgreer

Spring has finally arrived in the Appalachian Mountains where I live (after a last gasp of snow a week ago), and I’m enjoying longer days with open windows. Although I love my mountain home, there are certainly aspects of living by the ocean that I miss from my days in New England. The sun bouncing off the waves, the sound of the sea, the smell of the salt air – it never gets old for me.

Today’s author is no stranger to sun, wind, and sea, having spent a portion of 2014 sailing across the Atlantic with friends. After years in the business realm, he has launched out once again to help entrepreneurs find success, using his passions for sailing, coaching, and entrepreneurship as inspiration for his new book, Wind In Your Sails.

Meet David Greer

According to his bio, David is the catalyst who gets you to fully live your dreams now. After time with him you feel equally scared and hopeful. Scared at the audacity of your dreams and hopeful because you have someone in your corner with the experience and desire to see your dreams become real.

His brand promise to clients is: spend one hour reading his book, attend a one hour talk with him, or get one hour of 1-to-1 coaching and you will have 3 concrete action items that will shift and accelerate your business within 90 days. He wrote a post about this promise last month on his blog, and I’d encourage you to pop over to learn more.

David and his wife Karalee are committed to each other and their three children, spending time supporting them in the many and varied activities they are involved with. They live in Vancouver, Canada.

When David’s not changing lives, taking photos, or sailing across the seas, you can find him blogging on his website, Coach David J. Greer.

Connect with David Online

David has been a long-time user of social media, and he’d love to personally connect with you on: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and his Coach David J. Greer Website.

Support the Launch of Wind In Your Sails – April 13-17!

In a little over a week, you’re invited to join us as we help David officially launch, Wind In Your Sails. You can find it at several online retailers, including Amazon (U.S. | Canada), Barnes & Noble, and Kobo (additional links found HERE).

If you already have a copy, don’t forget to leave a review at any or all of those sites, and add it to your “read” or “to read” shelf on Goodreads.

If you’d like to get involved by telling your online communities about it, bookmark the book’s website for tweets to share and graphics to pin and promote.

A Note from the Author

From Carrie: I’ve known David for almost 3 years now, and worked with him in various capacities, so I thought it would be fun to do something a little differently for this Featured on Friday and allow the Author to speak directly to you. Say hello to David Greer!

I’ve worked with Carrie for years and known Becky Robinson even longer. As an entrepreneur and coach, I am thrilled at the success that Becky has had in building and growing Weaving Influence. I wrote Wind In Your Sails to help entrepreneurs like Becky accelerate their growth. I can hardly wait for the official launch April 13-17, 2015 with the support of the entire Weaving Influence community. Every one of Becky’s team and all of the WI community have an incredible impact on making positive change for all of us.

A Refirement Story

Tom attends many of our events, and reached out recently with his personal story of refiring. It’s from a book we promoted earlier this year, which emphasizes approaching “the rest of life” with enthusiasm rather than apathy, seeing each day as an opportunity for adventure and learning. Tom’s story is a great example of this, and  I hope you’ll find it inspiring!

For the past 10+ years I have been transitioning through my “halftime,” taking low cost probes into various fields while still working full-time. (See www.halftime.org for more on the book and the organization.)

I joined the Board of the local Habitat for Humanity affiliate in my area, became active in a local Young Life chapter, and participated in Halftime Institute events including a one-year round-table group. This group helps people really connect with their God-given talents, explore their strengths and weaknesses, and then move toward a plan to experiment with “second half” options. The concept is to move from the first half of your life, which was focused on success, to a second half focused on significance.

Your halftime is where you define your core, explore new options, and understand your passions and who you were meant to be. Ken and Margie Blanchard have worked closely with Halftime in the past with a particular focus on servant leadership.

Around the same time I was doing the Halftime round-table, I also initiated a leadership training class at my workplace… one that was focused on people. I used Mark Miller’s The Heart of Leadership as one of the references for the class. It was great fun and got the team thinking on a much more human and deep level about the people they lead. This has now expanded to several concurrent classes that are led by others from the original group.

Last October I retired from Kollmorgen Corporation after 34 years, 25 of them with Kollmorgen. Since then, I have been mentoring younger leaders and spending considerable time with charities helping them in various ways. My calendar is actually pretty full, but full of great stuff with more eternal importance than making the next quarter’s numbers. My wife and I are continuing to explore new areas to serve.

Refirement for me means spending most of my time with people/organizations that match with my personal mission statement of “encouraging individuals to discover and pursue their passions of significance.”

I just wrote a forward for a workforce engagement project and recalled the joy associated with mentoring associates and watching them grow personally and professionally. Thirty-four years in the workforce and it wasn’t my patents, or million dollar orders, or meeting quarterly goals… it was all about growing people! That’s what Mark speaks about in his series of leadership books…servant leadership with a heart for people.

I’m still in my fifties so I have to work for a while, but the work I take on is going to make a difference in people’s lives.

Refirement for me is just doing things of significance for the next 30+ years… or however long I am blessed to be here.

 

Tell me something! What does refirement mean for you?

 

Tom England is former Director of Market Development at Kollmorgen Corporation. As an electrical engineer, he has worked in design, applications, and marketing & sales for motion control systems globally. He holds 4 patents in the field and has been published in IEEE proceedings. He and his wife Becky live in Virginia, and have 3 adult daughters spread across the country.