Becky Robinson's Blog, page 71

Featured on Friday: #WeAreThankful

It’s back! Another year, another list of thankfulness from our team members. This is probably my favorite post to write all year because I love hearing from my virtual co-workers what causes them to give thanks. I asked the members of our team to share one or two things that they were grateful for, and I wrote this post with a smile on my face. Are you ready? There are a lot more of us this year than last, so let’s jump right in!

Becky Robinson – I am thankful for the opportunity to make a difference in the world through the work I do. I am thankful for my family, my friends, my team, our clients, and our online communities.

Amy D. –  I’m thankful for my four children who are such unique individuals and who who bring joy, laughter, and love to my life every day!

Christy K. – I am thankful for sunny fall days when the light makes the trees look like stained glass,  for my cat walking across my keyboard to tell me it’s break time, for every second I get with my Dad,  for wonderful parents, family, and friends,  for work I love,  for all the gifts of my life- I’m blessed beyond measure.
Joanna J. – I am thankful for answered prayers, the sounds of my children’s laughter, the health of our family, freedom in Christ, and the cherished people with whom I interact on a regular basis. And coffee.

Amanda H. – I am thankful for my family! My husband and children are my life, with them I have everything I need!

Sharon P. – I am thankful for God’s blessings and the ability to serve Him.
Christina S. – I’m thankful that I grew up learning to smile while I walk.
Christy V. – I’m thankful for good health, a great family, a great job, and so much life ahead of me.
Elizabeth J. – I’m thankful for new mercies from God every morning, for a loving family who laughs and prays together, for coffee and good books, and for the privilege of living in America!
Max S. – I am thankful for my wonderful and wildly entertaining family, getting to do work that I love, coffee and of course…Ghostbusters.
Paula K. – I am thankful for words. Sometimes they are part of my vocation; sometimes they are part of my avocation. They always challenge me, please me, soothe me unlike anything else.
Kylah F. – I am thankful for my loving and supporting family, friends, and for finding a true partner in my best friend/boyfriend. I am also thankful for my job that lets me say “yes” to life; going places and doing things that wouldn’t have been possible without it.
Rachel R. – I am thankful for my wonderful and hilarious family, the opportunity to do the work I love from home, and the amazing God that we serve.
John M. – I am thankful for being given the opportunity to make a difference is so many people’s lives. This includes, my wife and her family, my own family, the people I work with and our client partners. I see it as all being very circular meaning that when you give from the heart, others will remember this, and give to you when you are truly in need.

Nikki D. – I’m thankful for far more things than I can list here, but I’ll narrow it to my family, my friends, my health, my sense of humor, and the second chance at a great life that God granted me.

Sara R. – I am thankful baked goods, funny banter, being able to work in pajamas, unexpectedly running into friends around town, and my weird and wonderful family.
Nate D. – I am thankful for my family and friends. I have such a strong support system, and I would not be where I am today without them.
Karen K. – I am so thankful for my children, for my family and friends, for great clients who value my work, and for healthy changes I’ve been able to implement in my own life over the last year.
Jennifer D. – Writing from California, I’m super thankful for the much-needed rain that came today!
Lisa P. – I am thankful for the love and support of cherished family and friends, for life’s challenges, for the opportunity to engage in meaningful work that really matters, and for the opportunity to look fear in the face every day and actively choose to be awesome–not average.

When Lisa shared her thankfulness list with me, she also passed along this quote to go with it:

“There are only two paths in life: average and awesome. The average path is easy because all you have to do is nothing. The awesome path is more challenging, because things like fear only bother you when you do work that really matters.” – Jon Acuff, Start

The Weaving Influence team has been on an awesome path this year. It has not always been easy, and we have certainly gone through our share of struggles, disappointments, failures, and hardships – both personally and professionally – but as we reflect back over the year, it’s humbling and gratifying to see how far we have come. Looking ahead on the calendar, we can see 2015 filling up with work, and though we cannot know the challenges that are ahead of us, we believe they will show that our team is anything but average.

Oh yes, and one more list, from me.

Carrie Koens – I am grateful to know that despite health issues, family concerns, future unknowns, and past mistakes, I am loved by a Heavenly Father who is writing my unique story. I am surrounded by friends, family, clients, and co-workers who forgive me when I slip up; I’m married to a man who keeps me sane, grounded, and very much in love. #iamthankful

The “Q” Word

Do you ever think about quitting?

I do, although I hate to admit it here.

Pushed to the limit, stretched beyond comfort, I consider what my life might be life if I chose an easier path. What if I changed course? What if I scaled back? What if I quit? What then?

During the 26 miles of my marathon earlier this year, I did not think of quitting. Focused on the goal, I kept running, all the way to the finish line.

When there is no clear finish line, staying the course can be more challenging.

I ran a 10K Saturday. Cold air rushed into my lungs with every breath and my fingers tingled, numb, through the first two miles.

Yet I knew that within the hour, I’d complete the run, kicking triumphantly across the finish line. I felt no need to walk, no need to stop. My goal stayed in clear focus in my mind: keep running.

Frank Sonnenberg’s new book, Follow Your Conscience: Make a Difference in Your Life and in the Lives of Others shares this wisdom about quitting:

“While determination builds character, quitting is habit forming. When quitting becomes routine, you won’t even think twice about giving up next time. On the other hand, when you overcome even an insignificant challenge , you’ll gain the strength and motivation to confront your next challenge with confidence.”

I want to be a person of determination and persistence. I want to be a person who keeps going.

The only way to become a person who doesn’t quit is to not quit.

Whether I am running, or growing my business, or working on a project at home, every challenge is an opportunity to build confidence and banish the “Q” word from my vocabulary,

Find out more about Frank Sonnenberg’s new book, share his book with others, or find out how to buy it by visiting followyourconscience.com.

 

Featured on Friday: #VeteransDay Begins At Home

Earlier this week there was a lot of public thanks for our veterans. Becky was traveling on Veteran’s Day and came back talking about how Delta thanked the veterans on her flight, then handed out truffles to everyone. A simple gesture of thanks goes a long way, and it’s always good to take time to remember that the freedoms that you and I enjoy (like casting a vote last week), are not actually free; they came at a price.

Sometimes this price can go unnoticed by those who are not directly involved. It’s easy to forget that while we go about our daily lives, families are still (voluntarily) separated from loved ones serving both here and abroad. When I was a child, the Vietnam conflict was not that far in the past, but as we’re some 40+ years from it now, it’s easy to forget what our military, and their families, went through.

As I was thanking my dad this week for his service, he made the comment that he didn’t come back from Vietnam the same as he was before he left. His time serving as an Army Flight Surgeon made a long-term impact on him, and affected him in ways we’re only just now hearing about. Meanwhile, my mother held down the home-front with three kids under the age of seven, and six months pregnant with their fourth child; judged by the people around her because my dad “volunteered” (a story I heard for the first time this week).

My father-in-law immigrated from the Netherlands in 1955 to escape the post-war financial depression still plaguing his homeland. As soon as he and his siblings turned 18, each of them volunteered for various branches of the U.S. Military; their way of giving back to the country that had taken them in. My in-laws were married just days before he shipped out for Vietnam, and while he headed to sea, she went back home to her parents to wait for a year and pray that he returned safely.

The stories of my parents and in-laws are not uncommon in the military world, but hearing them again reminds me not to take for granted the freedoms that I enjoy.

This week I asked others on our team if they had family members who served. Stories and pictures came thick and fast of fathers, cousins, uncles, brothers, and a spouse. They primarily represented the Greatest Generation of WWII – a driver for Patton, soldiers storming Omaha Beach, an officer stationed in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. But they also showed up in Vietnam, and several team members have family who continue to serve today. In fact, with just 9 people, we had more than 30 military personnel represented.

As a team, we hear a lot about leadership. We promote books on it, share blog posts about it, and handle social media for those who spend their lives talking about it. But the conversations this week showed me that most of us learned about leadership at home first, from family members who led by example, gave of themselves, and sacrificed years of their lives so that we might live in freedom.

As a team, we want to say THANK YOU. Your service is not forgotten. 

Featured on Friday: “Best Of” Links

It’s been one of those weeks again, the kind that have kept the team hopping due to travel, family issues, home improvement projects, and our regular work on behalf of Weaving Influence clients. I think it’s safe to say that we’re all happy to see Friday arrive – how about you?

This week I’m sharing several links that I hope you’ll spend some time this weekend clicking through. If it’s a blog post, take an extra minute to stop and leave a comment, or if it’s a book you’ve read, leave a review (the author will love you). Something you find useful? Share it on social. Bottom line: don’t just take, give a little back. Get the conversation started, and let them know we sent you!

Giving Back

Linda Pulley Freeman  shares how she is inspired by children who are so motivated to learn that they will build their own school in Cambodia. Did you know that 100% of the proceeds of the sale of Inspired for Greater Things goes to help Linda’s work with Teen Challenge in Cambodia? Buy it today or leave a review!
Bill Treasurer is also giving back 100% of the proceeds from Leaders Open Doors to a cause that is near and dear to him. In honor of his daughter, Bina, Bill is donating his royalties to organizations working to help those living with Cerebral Palsy. Discover how he helped the Gandee brothers open doors for others, and then don’t forget to become a part of the chain by purchasing a copy of the book or leaving a review.
Mark Miller has written several books over the years (his first book with Ken Blanchard, The Secret , just celebrated it’s 10th anniversary!), and Mark joins Linda and Bill on the list of authors who gives away 100% of his royalties. Find his list of charities here, and don’t miss his post on Three Things Every Leader Should Do.

Inspire and Motivate

Bob Tiede is extremely generous with his blog space, and if you haven’t spent time scrolling through his blog, you should. Filled with leadership posts and books, there’s something for any leader, including his new, FREE ebook, 103 Quotes Your Mentor Will Share With You, Sooner or Later…, which you can receive just by signing up for his newsletter.
S. Chris Edmonds caught my attention this week with one line in his post, “I still screw up, but I’m trying to be nice and of service, every day.” He goes on to talk about how leaders can help their team go “off script”, but what inspired me was the idea that even though he wrote an awesome book, he’s still a work in progress, just like me. While you’re at his site, don’t forget to sign up for his newsletter (and then receive his free ebook, “Be a GREAT Boss”).

Something to Think About

John Stoker , author of Overcoming Fake Talk , offers a slightly different take on why others may not be listening to you. It certainly gave me something to think about. If you enjoyed reading his book, it’s never too late to leave a review!
Alan Robinson and Dean Schroeder , co-authors of The Idea-Driven Organization, just wrote a post about how the ideas in their book could have helped with the Ebola issues in the U.S. If you want to learn more about frontline ideas, we highly recommend picking up a copy of their book.

Looking Ahead

Did you receive a copy of A World Gone Social by Mark Babbitt and  Ted Coiné ? Next week would be a great week to leave a review on Amazon!
Do you follow Frank Sonnenberg online? Did you know he has a new book launching on November 17th? Check out his site for details and ways to share!
If you enjoyed reading , Alexandra Watkins will be joining Becky for a FREE webinar on November 19th. Sign up now!
Did you know Chip Bell is coming out with a new book in February 2015? Sign up to join his launch team!

Happy Friday!

One Activity to Delete From Your Book Marketing Plan (and What I Recommend Instead)

From time to time, clients forward messages to me from other publicists who are supporting book marketing efforts for authors.

I’ll admit it, my team and I use these emails in two ways:

We look for great ideas to implement in our work.
We use it as a chance to pat ourselves on the back for the ways we are excelling.

In reviewing an email that came into my inbox this morning, I visited an author’s book marketing website, looked at his collateral, and did a quick review of his tweets and other social presence.

This author had some great creative approaches. In fact, my team and I identified two or three good ideas to consider including creating a calendar of ideas, week by week, for angles on marketing/promotion.

But reviewing his approach had me scratching my head about two tactics: Using a Facebook business page for a book, and using Twitter to ask people to like the Facebook page.

Of two recent books I’ve seen Facebook pages for, each has about 70 likes. I am guessing those 70 likes are mainly organic: the author’s friends, family, and business associates. There are a few issues with a Facebook fan page for an individual book.

Fan pages for books have very short shelf lives. Even if you start the page as soon as you sign the book contract, how long will you keep up the book fan page? Once you write another book, will you share content on both pages? And to what end? Once your active promotion of a book ends, you’ll likely abandon the page. Or, if you don’t abandon it, it will be one more place to keep updated in a growing list.

Fan pages for books are financially costly. If you want to grow a page of significant size on Facebook, beyond your normal circle of friends, you will likely need to spend money, as Facebook is increasingly pay to play. Once you use Facebook advertising to grow the fan page for your book, Facebook will likely only show a small percentage of your fans your content. So you pay to GROW the page, and then you pay to SHOW your posts to your fans. If you feel strongly that you want to have a fan page, I recommend an author or business-centric page that can be evergreen; you can use that page as a place to share content from each book as you release it.

Here’s what I recommend instead: Use your Facebook profile in a blended way, personal and professional, and share about your book through your personal profile. Add as many friends as you can over time to build your network on Facebook. When you sensitively share about your book among other posts about your life and business, you will reach the people who are most invested and most likely to respond and engage.

And use Twitter as a place to find and form relationships. Save those 140 characters of each tweet to add value to your network, not to invite them to like your fan page.

P.S. I have one or two exceptions to this advice. If you have written a classic book (i.e., one that has sold hundreds of thousands of copies for years or decades) and your book is a recognizable brand, a Facebook fan page can be a very helpful part of your book marketing strategy. Or, if you are so famous that you would quickly reach Facebook’s limit of 5000 friends, you also should certainly have an author fan page.

 

Featured on Friday: Our #WITeam Core Values

When I started working with Becky in 2012, the work we did, and the team we had, looked quite a bit different than it does today.

However, from the very beginning Becky has been focused on discovering and applying core values to the work we do, and the service that we provide. She’s always been passionate about defining what “making a difference” looks like, both for clients and for our team of contractors.

It took us two years, but 2014 has been the year of really clarifying and defining what those core values look like.

Core Value #1: Partnership

Our values guide our behavior, decisions, and choices. They highlight our differentiation from others. They are both actual and aspirational, describing how we operate as well as how we most aspire to operate.

One of our values is to partnership.

When we first started, we were more of a mix of individuals, using our skills to help Becky build her start-up company. Today, we are partners in a team, working together for the good of our clients, and each other. READ MORE

Core Value #2: Generosity

Our value of generosity stems from an abundance mentality: there is more than enough work, more than enough time, more than enough energy, more than enough of everything we need.

I also want to weave the value of generosity into everything we do as a company, so that as a team we live this value daily, without question.

One of the first things that comes to mind when I think of Becky is the word generosity. She is easily one of the most generous people I know, so it’s no surprise that this would be the second core value in her company. READ MORE

Core Value #3: Responsiveness

The challenge with responsiveness comes down to balance. We have to balance our days so we respond in a timely manner, while taking the necessary time to offer a thorough, positive response.

Responsiveness is the core value that is teaching me the most right now.

This core value has become more important as our team has grown. With people scattered across multiple time zones and states, the importance of quick and accurate communication is vital, and team member Christy Kirk captured that perfectly in her post. READ MORE

Core Value #4: Integrity

When focused on integrity, we cannot buy into the myth that the ends always justify the means. Integrity asks us to acknowledge our interconnectivity with one another and our responsibility to interact with honesty at all times.

To truly have integrity, we must transcend strategic kindness and embrace radical authenticity.

Radical authenticity – two words that don’t automatically spring to mind when I think about social media. And yet that’s all the more reason for us, as a social media team, to have integrity in all that we do – both online and off. Team member Sara Reinis shares more in her post. READ MORE

Core Value #5: Growth

At Weaving Influence, we know growth won’t be easy. We know we will be standing at the precipice of breakthroughs at times, reluctant to do the hard stuff. But we know the hard stuff will get our authors and clients where they need to be.

And as a team we have faith that we may end up astonishing ourselves.

I love the fact that even though Becky came up with our core values (with help from the team), she only wrote about the first two on the blog. The fact that core values 3, 4, 5, and 6 were all written about by the four newest members of our team (this one by Paula Kiger) shows just how far we have grown! READ MORE

Core Value #6: Flexibility

Not having an office I need to arrive at everyday, and not requiring a conference room to meet with my co-workers has opened up a world of flexibility in the workplace I could not have wrapped my head around without having lived it first.

The flexibility to choose what works best for me proves that the way we work doesn’t have to be one size fits all.

It’s a pretty safe bet that if you asked any member of our team what they like most about their work with Weaving Influence, the answer that you would hear the most would be, “the flexibility” of the job. I know I’ve said it – and I know I mean it. Great post from team member Kylah Frazier. READ MORE

You Tell Me! You don’t have to be a business or a team to have core values – what would make YOUR list?

The Secret: Standing the Test of Time

Our world moves so quickly now. Think back 10 years ago. What’s changed in your life?  Do you have the same hairstyle? Probably not.  Drive the same car? Unlikely.  Same phone? There’s no way, right? (After all, the iPhone didn’t come along until 2007.)  In this turbo-charged world very few things stand the test of time.  The Secret by Ken Blanchard and Mark Miller is one of those things.  Serving others and becoming the kind of leader people want to follow never goes out of style.

Ken and Mark introduced the SERVE model in The Secret and it’s a model that I refer to often in my daily work.  SERVE as a word  reminds us to put service first.  Service to our co-workers, our clients, our families, people we encounter in our daily lives.   When we think others first we change how we approach those relationships.  It’s a powerful shift.  It can also be very difficult.

SERVE as an acronym helps us break service down into workable parts.  For me, an inspiring element of the SERVE model is the very first tenet: See the Future.  Ten years ago did you envision the life you have today? I didn’t.  In fact, the work I do didn’t really exist 10 years ago.  I manage and develop strategy on social platforms.  I didn’t even have a MySpace page in 2004!  So while none of us can predict the future, we can plan for the kind of people we want to be.  The kind of companies we want to create.  We can “envision a compelling picture of a preferred future” as Mark and Ken encourage us in The Secret.   To do that we have to be intentional.  We have to ask questions.  Mark and Ken suggest starting here:  “What do I want our organization to accomplish? How do we measure our success?  What do I want to be true in the future that isn’t true today?”

Take a moment and give these questions some thought.  They really trigger some deep thinking about your work, don’t they?  That’s the real value you’ll find in The Secret.  It’s a business fable that sparks your thinking at a deeper level.  Once you start thinking in this way, there’s a shift in how you approach your work and your life.  These principles work in business, but they have just as much value in your family life.  Imagine what you could accomplish – at home and at work – if you started really seeing what the future can be and started crafting it now.

Are you ready to start creating your future?

 

Featured on Friday: TBB Member @JaneAnderson

We do a lot of book launching around here. And while many of our processes and tools have changed over the years, there’s one aspect of our book launch work that has been steadfast – the important role that the volunteer members of Team Buzz Builder (TBB) play in our book launch success.

Without them, we would be one megaphone, shouting our news to the world. Instead, the members of Team Buzz Builder help us amplify the message of our clients, and spread the word in the U.S., Canada, Kenya, Australia, and beyond.

One of our most faithful members lives a relatively quiet life in Michigan, but uses the power of the internet to support our authors and their books.

Meet Jane Anderson

Jane graciously agreed to answer some questions I sent her this week (very last minute) about why she enjoys being a part of TBB and what keeps her occupied when she’s not promoting our newest book. Thanks, Jane!

How did you connect with Weaving Influence?

In early 2013 I had the opportunity to meet Becky Robinson and a few of the Weaving Influence team members. My takeaway from that meeting was, “Wow! I want to be on the inside circle of that team.” It was obvious from our conversations that this team shared my values: faith, integrity, discernment, compassion, family priorities, and encouragement.

Why do you like being a part of TBB?

Even though I don’t have the necessary skills to work with other Weaving Influence business segments, I am a full-on devotee to Team Buzz Builder. I am inside the circle of every book promotion. I get to communicate though social media and email with individuals who are consistently positive and a source of encouragement.

I love that through TBB I have the privilege of supporting authors who put their soul into writing a book.

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

When I first signed up to be a Buzz Builder I thought it was to get a free book now and then, but it is so much more than the free book. I am not a leader, but I am a student of leadership. I am not an aspiring author, but through TBB I am introduced to awesome men and women who are authors of excellent books that align with my interests and field of study. Being a Buzz Builder, I have a steady stream of books to read on important topics, plus I get to listen in on author chats and have even gotten personal emails from them.

I get to surround myself with people I consider probably the most positive members of the human race.

If someone asked you why they should join TBB, what would you tell them?

If I don’t believe in something I won’t promote it, but I often promote joining Team Buzz Builder. I love reading and through TBB I get free books, often signed by the author. Being a member of TBB also means I receive an email that has ready-made tweets for easy book promotion. I get a letter inside each book from Becky Robinson, the CEO of Weaving Influence, and each letter is an encouragement in some way, as well as informative about the book I just received.

The books promoted by TBB are all relevant to current business culture.

If you are a lifelong learner, these books will feed your intellect because they are written from experience and impeccable research. This is why I joined TBB and why I encourage others to join too.

Tell us a little bit about your life outside of TBB…

My family is everything to me. I have a husband, two married children, and 5 grandchildren.

Though we like the convenience of living near a larger city, our getaway cabin on 20 secluded acres in Northern Michican feeds our passion for nature and a simpler lifestyle. Cabin life is also conducive to enjoying my favorite hobbies: reading, writing, walking, and card making.

When I was in school my favorite assignments were book reports, and as an adult, I love blogging. If there is one skill I know I have it is to help and support others. Neither encouraging nor helping are marketable business skills, but I use them daily to make a difference.

As a result of the book reviews I’ve been writing I was invited to publish them on bizcatalyst360.com which will be an advantage for the authors, too.

I edit newsletters and curate articles for a local non-profit, and write business procedures for internal training at organizations. I’m currently helping an organization transform instructor led training materials into online courseware, which has been a rewarding challenge.

Connect with Jane Online

Bookmark her blog, as well as her posts on BizCatalyst360. Follow her on Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn.

Interested in becoming a member of Team Buzz Builder? Join us today!

Twenty Confidence Quotes from Katty Kay and Claire Shipman from #INGC14

Claire Shipman and Katty Kay’s lunchtime keynote at the Indiana Governor’s Conference for women sparked fantastic social sharing. For me, it was one of the highlights of this year’s event. Claire and Katty are the authors of The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance — What Women Should Know.

The topic resonated well with the audience; women feel and experience the gap. We want to be more confident than we are!

The two presented flawlessly, taking turns sharing their ideas with ease, back and forth with no awkwardness, like a game of ping pong with no dropped balls.

Here are a few tweetable ideas from their talk. I dare you to share them!

Confidence matters to your success. @ClaireShipman #INGC14 Click to tweet now!

If you are aiming to be perfect, you will never be confident. @KattyKayBBC #INGC14 Click to tweet now!

Having slightly more confidence than confidence increases the likelihood that you will act. @ClaireShipman #INGC14 Click to tweet now!

Recognizing your accomplishments in a real way will make a big difference for younger women. @ClaireShipman #INGC14 Click to tweet now!

When we are eager to be shy and humble about our accomplishments, we lose confidence in our abilities. @ClaireShipman #INGC14 Click to tweet now!

Self-compassion = treating yourself as you would treat a friend. @KattyKayBBC #INGC14 Click to tweet now!

Use nerves as a fuel for action. @ClaireShipman #INGC14 Click to tweet now!

Confidence does not have to be cookie-cutter. it can come from your core. @ClaireShipman #INGC14 Click to tweet now!

If you take a risk and do something hard, doing hard things becomes easier. @KattyKayBBC #INGC14 Click to tweet now!

By taking action, we create confidence. We feel confidence based on what we’ve done.@ClaireShipman Click to tweet now!

Confidence should work as a barometer in our lives, helping guide our decisions . @ClaireShipman #INGC14 Click to tweet now!

We have control over our confidence. We change change our brains and rewire to be more confident. @ClaireShipman #INGC14 Click to tweet now!

Confidence is essentially a kind of energy that allows us to move forward wholeheartedly without holding back.@ClaireShipman #INGC14 Click to tweet now!

Women routinely underestimate their abilities. @KattyKayBBC #INGC14 Click to tweet now!

Confidence matters more than competence in many cases. @ClaireShipman #INGC14 Click to tweet now!

The pursuit of perfection is a confidence killer. @KattyKayBBC #INGC14 Click to tweet now!

People fail. They have setbacks. It is not all about you. @KattyKayBBC #INGC14 Click to tweet now!

Small steps can build confidence. @KattyKayBBC #INGC14 Click to tweet now!

Act more, think less, and be authentic. Confidence advice for women. @KattyKayBBC #INGC14 Click to tweet now!

Life, on confidence, is an extraordinary and powerful thing. @KattyKayBBC #INGC14 Click to tweet now!

Which of these resonates most with you? Learn more from Katty Kay and Claire Shipman on their website or buy their book!

Living Our Core Values: Growth

When I think of growth many images parade through my mind. I often go back to the hours spent at the gym, watching as my young daughter was coached through hours upon hours of incremental skills.

Skills that didn’t look like much to the untrained eye but coalesced years later into maneuvers even a layperson could identify as cartwheels and handsprings.

I am relatively new to the Weaving Influence Team, but I have been a Team Buzz Builder contributor for years and do not feel like I am coming onto the team as a complete newbie. 

I am looking forward to growing with the team, and am already energized by the commitment I see to the Weaving Influence core value of growth. This commitment plays out in several ways.

We constantly seek to define our goals

When my daughter was a 6-year-old recreational gymnast, she wanted to be on pre-team. When she was on pre-team she wanted to make the competitive team.

Once she was on the competitive team, there were 10 levels to which she could aspire, each one with specific skills to be mastered and milestones to reach before moving on.

In an organization like Weaving Influence, we know we want to grow but we are constantly defining what that means. 

With each success, we identify something even greater to achieve.

I am sure of one thing: although we are a business, we are as much about relationships as we are about profits.

We do not try to be all things to all people

Weaving Influence helps authors and thought leaders build their online presence. We don’t write the books themselves; we won’t be building brick and mortar stores. That would detract from what we do best: partnering with people who have already created great content to help that content vault into wider exposure than they have time to cultivate on their own.

We take risks.

Although we refuse to dilute our impact by trying to be all things to all people we insist on being innovative and taking risks for our clients. By embracing resources such as the Aha Amplifier, we are enhancing traditional promotional methods with the capacity afforded by technology. An author may not have time to dabble with the newest options out there, but we can and we will.

We are honest with one another

At Weaving Influence, we swim in a flood of leadership-related content minute by minute. Most leadership content espouses transparency, authenticity, and honesty among coworkers.

These qualities look so easy in print but in reality can be among the biggest challenges to internal communication. The Weaving Influence team relies on trusting one another enough to be honest; it makes for a better and more productive team.

We know growth is not easy

With a name like “Weaving Influence” constant activity is implied. Or else it would be “Woven Influence” right?. Back in my gym mom days, I watched an advanced gymnast who was trying to master a very difficult move – a back flip on the balance beam – in tears, for extended periods of time.

As a parent, I wanted the coach to comfort her, to do anything besides what she was doing (just standing there). Turns out that’s why she was the coach and I was the parent. She knew that gymnast had to fight the mental battle alone.

At Weaving Influence, we know growth won’t be easy. We know we will be standing at the precipice of breakthroughs at times, reluctant to do the hard stuff. But we know the hard stuff will get our authors and clients where they need to be. And as a team we have faith that we may end up astonishing ourselves.

What is the most astonishing growth experience you have had? What made it incredible?