Archive for March, 2005
Death by Apostrophe
This morning, at a weekly business development meeting, my friend and business writer, Adrienne Moch (www.AdrienneMoch.com) poked at me for a spelling and punctuation error in my previous post (Nice to Meet You. Got a Card?)
Now, Adrienne and I have a good relationship. I like her. I dine occasionally on her surprisingly good Italian cooking. We cheer on the San Diego Gulls semi-pro hockey team together. She’s researching and writing Activate Potential client case studies that will be published on this site. She recorded the HBO special on the incredible 1985 NCAA National Championship game in which my Villanova Wildcats played the perfect game (79+% field goal percentage) to dethrone reigning national champions and wild favorites, Georgetown (what the heck are) Hoyas. So, I took her poking in good humor…
Nice Talking With You. Got a Card?
Last night I attended a reception at The University Club in San Diego, where I’m a member. The gig was for the Young Executive Society, which offers programs and parties for its young (at heart) members. 34 stories above the city with views of the harbor, the mountains and Mexico, we talked and networked ourselves hoarse. After, we retired to the bar and had some water and milk.
In all, my two colleagues and I spent three hours at the event. I collected seven business cards. As is my custom, today I sent physical thank you cards to each person I met.
I fully expected that of the seven cards I gave out, precisely none of them would be used for anything meaningful. I say half-happy, it didn’t turn out that way;…
Desert Blooms
More rare than a blue moon is the Anza-Borrego Desert (the largest park in contiguous United States) in full bloom. If you have yet to see, feel, smell and hear it in your life, make the trip this spring - or like NOW, because desert flowers don’t last long.
For three days and three nights last week my friend Claire, a shaman and acupuncturist and I sat, walked, talked and silenced in the full regalia of the flowering desert. It was magnificent.
Those of you who subscribe to my monthly BIG Ideas Newsletter will get a full-length article on the wisdom available to us from deep experiences in nature. To whet your appetites, here is a snippet.
I learned to discern the differences between the sound of a fly and that of a…
Playing Your Heart Out
Watching the NCAA tournament first round games, I remembered the exhilaration and elation I felt in 1985 when my alma mater’s team, the Villanova Wildcats, played their way to the national championship - against the odds. Listen carefully and imagine what you’re working on in your life, your career and your business.
‘Nova was given about a 1:1000 chance of winning the national title. One in a thousand! In this year’s tournament, the bottom-seeded team, Fairleigh Dickinson, is given a 0% chance of winning the tournament. Zero. And yet they play…against the odds.
The top-rated team, Illinois, is given a 33% chance of winning. The favorite has a 33% chance. One in three! That is to say, the odds-makers give them a 2:1 shot of losing before they could hoist the national…
Oh, to Plan
I continue to marvel at how many businessmen and businesswomen have no clear and bold plans for creating what they want, much less running what they have. It’s odd, since we plan in so many areas of our lives. We plan vacations. We plan holiday events months in advance. We plan our educations. We plan to have kids. We plan for economic retirement. How few of us to plan for running our businesses.
I also notice how funnily people look at me when I ask them if they have a plan for the next five years of their lives, or ten. The very question makes me peculiar to them, if not annoying. This is equally true for corporate employees and entrepreneurs.
In a corporation, it is common for “the plan” to be…
