Happy Holidays and all the Best in 2013

Hope everyone is enjoying the Holidays and all the Best in 2013!

Thank you for being part of my journey and making such a difference.

Next blog post will be January 9th, 2013.

Happy New Year!
Frank  

2012: My Favourite Year

Every year seems to get better and for this year, it is without a doubt my favourite so far in my career!

In reflecting on all the good things and the challenges we had, it is rewarding to see how we continue to move forward in a positive and successful direction.

Many great people to thank including business partners Ali, Mazen and Shawn, the AlphaKOR team and our clients (the extended team).   

There are Family, Friends and very good Associates who play a role in our successes.  I thank each and every one of you for making 2012 a favourite year.

2013 already appears to be another great year and looking forward to what the new year will bring.  

Have a very safe and wonderful holiday!  

Top 3 Things to do with Candid Feedback

One of the most valuable things a client, especially a long-term loyal client can do, is provide you with candid feedback.   OK let's be honest and call it what it is:  negative feedback.

Top 3 things to do with Candid Feedback are:

1.  Listen
2.  Accept Responsibility on behalf of Team
3.  Plan of Action to move forward in the right direction

The #1 thing NOT to Do:

1.  Justify/argue your Team' position - during the candid feedback, this is not the right time.

The plan of action provides you with the opportunity for the next touch point and preferred communication is face-to-face meeting or a phone call.   

We all know the alternative to not receiving the candid feedback.   Seek it, address it and keep building long-term relationships. 

What is holding You back?

Do you ever ask yourself "What is holding You back?"

Take a look at this question, and rephrase it to "What would you do if you were not afraid?"   

Now, when you ask yourself this question, you can immediately start thinking about ideas and scenarios to help you move forward.

Think about your challenges and how you address them.   Is some sort of fear getting in the way of resolving challenges?

I've let you know before my biggest fear is "fear of failure" and when this is removed, it becomes a lot easier to overcome all challenges.

What is holding You back?  
 

Always being Prepared

With the recent black-out, it made one think about always being prepared.

What contingency plans do you have in place?

I was driving and hit three intersections with traffic lights completely out.   How quickly most of us forget to treat these as a four-way stop.  It appears most drivers are not prepared to handle this situation as expected - why are they not prepared?

Walking into AlphaKOR, the emergency lighting was on throughout the building, the phone system was working, all of our servers were up and running!

Overall, an excellent contingency plan is place with a very responsive and supportive team - way to go!

Most of the team did not have much to do without their actual workstations up and running.   So it was team-bonding and some leisure activities were invented - all good stuff to see the camaraderie.

When the power went back on, it was business as usual without missing a beat.   

Are you really ever on Vacation?

When you are on vacation, are you really on vacation?

Just back from vacation and wanted to share this blog from last year with some updates.

How close are you to the office with your Smartphone, Tablet and Notebook?   There are so many ways to stay in touch with e-mail, texting, smart phones.....does one ever turn it off?


I like to glance at all my e-mails/texts/voicemails first thing in the morning, mid-day and after dinner.   I respond or forward the ones requiring an answer before the vacation is over.

With Social Media added to the mix, there are schedules set-up prior to vacation so information can be sent out while you are away. 



Here's to turning it off most of the time while on vacation!

Conversation Etiquette

How many of these mistakes do you find yourself making?

Guilty on several especially #9 and #4!  #6 surprised me when someone approaches your table, most of us remain seating.  Will change this behavior!   Of course occasionally make the other mistakes and good reminder for us all.

 Top Ten Conversation Etiquette Mistakes:

#10-Changing the topic to suit your own interests

#9 -Checking your phone

#8 - Not knowing your audience

#7 - One-upmanship

#6 - Talking from your seat

#5 - Cursing

#4 - Looking over their shoulder

#3 - Not introducing participants

#2 - Monopolizing the conversation

#1 - Interrupting 

More details can be found at:  http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2pcjOB/:10PJdUyTP:biSXUn4s/www.mint.com/blog/how-to/conversation-etiquette-06042010/
  

Focusing on the Right Stuff

How do you keep focusing on the right stuff?   

So many tasks, requests and distractions are thrown our way instantaneously.   As communication tools keep moving forward, it seems the business pace and number of things to do are increasing exponentially!

Have you defined what exactly is the right stuff to focus on?

Go back to your core values, vision/mission statements and determine if your priority list supports what your business/team has set out to accomplish.

Remember "delegating" and saying "no"?   Putting these two principles into place virtually hourly these days.   Oh and then there is the "letting go" which is the most challenging one and was reminded to yet again to embrace it.

Focusing on role as Effective Leader and all the right stuff.   Thanks to many for great discussions and support!

Networking at Trade Shows

How does your Team network at Trade Show types of Events?

The first annual Technology Forum was October 30th and AlphaKOR was proud to be After-Glow sponsor, an exhibitor and part of the Events committee.

Part of our networking plan included marketing the event to our clientele and prospects and invitations to schedule meetings at our booth.   This was well received and the Corp Team had several meetings each including some impromptu meetings with walk-by traffic.

As the Effective Leader on the Team, my role was to greet everyone and start a discussion to lead them to our booth.  There were many good discussions started and several took the time to discuss our products and services we had on display.

Interacting with the other Exhibitors including direct and indirect competitors was part of the networking strategy.   Having a pulse on your own industry helps one continue to lead.

One of the highlights of seeing results of networking was to hear our name several times mentioned during the Panel discussion between HP, IBM and Cisco.   After several mentions of a competitor and AlphaKOR, HP was bold to score the "winning" point by asking yours truly to stand up and be acknowledged!

 Wrapping up the day by taking the stage for final closing remarks and marketing the AlphaKOR name again resulted in a very successful networking opportunity at this Show.
 

 
 
 

Defining Your Brand

This week we welcome Ed Roach, The Branding Expert, as our Guest Blogger.

Has your competition ever accurately described what you do to a potential customer? My guess is not so much. Most promotional activity among small businesses in my experience does little to define a brand but does plenty selling clever slogans, flashy images, real estate and special offers. 

To ignore your brand position is to deny yourself the corner of your customer's mind that tells them why you are the go to people for what they are looking for. Without a defining brand position you are among the gray matter all of your competitors are fighting for. The quick fix, the sound bite, the mediocre message, the viral anything that everybody in your category embraces.

A competitor can only define an opposing brand when that opposing brand denies themselves the opportunity. Most brand positions when done correctly puts a brand out on a limb. The differentiation is clear and often intimidating to a competitor. 

Your goal in positioning is to resonate with your audience. First you must discover why they love you, then deliver a position that compliments what they love, builds on it and surpasses it. Positioning is not a slogan, it's a promise to deliver and if you're good at it - over-deliver.

Guest Blog Post

Ed Roach

The Branding Expert

Author of 101 Branding Tips

ed@thebrandingexperts.ca

Networking with Social Media

How do you use Social Media to Network?

Whenever I meet someone interested in building a business relationship, one of the natural steps is to send an invitation to connect via LinkedIN.  

Once this individual accepts the connection, the next step is to send an e-mail to say thanks and to request a meeting or phone call to continue the discussion of our initial meeting. 

These couple of steps have created many new connections and opportunities over the years.

Adding twitter followers and blogging to reach out to your connections becomes the next part of the social media process to network and communicate to your audience.

The questions you ask are:  How often to communicate?   What messages to send?

All part of building your social media strategy - how are you building yours?

Connecting People

How do you connect people?

As a business networker, this is one of the self-rewarding activities I really enjoy.    Meeting people for the first time and on a regular basis provides the opportunity to get to know each person' story.

Connecting people together and making introductions to spark a good discussion leads to creative ideas and opportunities for everyone.   Watching the energy level between the like-minded people you just connected is the reward.  

We attend many events for business, for the community and for networking purposes.   What is your focus at these events?  Keep making your own connections and focus on connecting people together.   Watch your "circle" of connections grow.

Looking forward to making connections at the next event.

Do you lead by Example?

Effective leaders know how to set good examples to lead their team.   What are you doing to lead by example?

Leaders strive to be consistent with the kind of behaviour expected.  Setting the bar high enough to challenge everyone yet not too high to discourage some of the members.

Focusing on the important tasks first and completing them before moving on to the next important task helps with the team understanding how to prioritize.  

Many teams have "busy" people focusing on tasks not related to the goals.   Leading by example and encouraging these members to prioritize better will result in more productive activities.

Facing challenges head on and addressing each one as it arises with a plan of action is another way to lead by example.   Do you know anyone who procrastinates?   How can an effective leader motivate the team to reduce the procrastination?

Teams who embrace their effective leader and learn by following the examples set, will learn how to blend their leader's style into their own style.   This type of culture leads to successful teams.

Hosting an Open House

Has your business hosted an open house?

AlphaKOR hosted one recently with great success.   Having hosted several open houses over the years it is always rewarding to see how much support is given by clients, prospects, business associates, family and friends.  Hats off to the AlphaKOR team!!!

Open houses can be fun and yet business focused at the same time.   This time around we combined two events; we hosted the Windsor Executives Association for lunch and rolled into the Open House afterwards.

It was a great opportunity for us to show our guests some of the solutions we have implemented.   Everyone liked the mobile sports trivia application and the fingerprint time/clock software was a big hit.  

Our post-survey indicated the open house was well received and many learned a lot about AlphaKOR.   Those who attended really appreciated our depth of services and technological innovation.

Looking forward to the next Open House!  

The Morphing of the Circle

A special thanks to Frank for inviting me to guest blog on Building Circles.  

Frank and I have known each other for more than 3 years – starting out as network acquaintances, moving to a client relationship and going further to become friends where we also hang out together with our spouses.   

When I reflect, I like to think about that Circle is always building or growing or morphing.  It can almost be described as an aura.

Take your business as a Circle – it certainly does not sit stagnant...it grows, it moves, it’s focus develops, it’s client change while all at the same time, keeping together around your business.

Take your network as a Circle – it evolves, it morphs as your business grows, it actually changes as YOU change and grow.  Some people slip out, while others slip in.  This works.  Your network needs to have life.

Take Yourself as a Circle – you grow, you morph, you exude energy, you radiate, you attract.  This is your special genius – who you are.  Your circle starts with the definition of you.  And you never stop evolving.

As leaders in our business and our community, we need to know that circles interconnect.  The do not necessarily become connected as they do overlap.  This creates great opportunity for sharing resources, ideas, talent and alignment of values making what was once small, now larger.

Spend a few minutes today drawing out your circles.  See where they overlap.  Determine if there are any holes in the outline. (Think holes as missed processes, people overlooked, projects derailed)   

What can you do to make your ever-morphing circle fluid?

Guest Blog Post
Lora Crestan

Solstice Group & Solution Linx Online Coaching

Leveraging Your Strengths to Build Your Business Through Coaching

 

10 Things you should learn to say

This article from CBC News lists 10 things you should learn to say.  How many do you agree with and how many do you disagree with?   What are your top things you say?

I strongly agree with #3 in always doing the right thing, asking myself #2 to do things differently to keep growing and #7 to keep focused on my value proposition.

Not too keen on #9 as all investment of time and energy are valuable and knowing when to stop or change direction to channel your time and energy in other areas makes me tend to slightly agree.

#1 is a tough one and do not see myself saying this except when the Family tells me to turn it off at home!


1.  My work doesn't define me. 

2.  What should I do differently? 

3.  Do the right thing.

4.  Tomorrow's another day. 

5.  What's the worst that can happen?

 6.  How am I doing?
 
7.  What's my value proposition?

8.  What the heck.


9.  I'm wasting my time and energy. 

10.  Hope is a terrible strategy.

For details on this article:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505125_162-57469064/10-things-you-should-learn-to-say/?tag=nl.e713