Technology continues to evolve and the hardware architectural devices, techno-gadgets,  and toys continue to multiply.  After all, we are living in the 21^st Century.  The technology is smart and we are enjoying the benefits that the applications technology delivers.  In a sense, we and technology are growing up together and learning each and everyday the implications and the effects of these new technologies that are created, mass produced, and distributed to society.

The world has had a glimpse of technology working at its best especially in the wake of disaster.  After the devastation of the Haiti earthquake, for instance, we witnessed the sorrow and pain of a country already suffering from poverty and seeing this reality and strength of the people there touched the world.  And thanks to the technological developments of mobile phones and the Internet, people’s lives were saved and love ones were re-connected.  It was amazing and miraculous to see the role technology played in the midst of this disaster.  There were so many trapped people who were able to calm the fears of their loved ones through cell phones, text messages on social networking sites.  While television provided an inside look at the impact of the earthquake, social networking sites were utilized to post messages and photos of missing love ones.  People were able to communicate they were still alive.  Yes, smart technology can be a shining star in the wake of disaster.

Since that time, technology continues its evolution.  The iPad was recently released with all of its bell and whistles.  The iPhone, blackberry, and net books are smarter, faster, and provide many benefits with their applications.  People are engaging in social networking on a global scale and its impact is still being examined.  Last year, I posted a blog on Women that Network entitled “Social Networking: A Garden of Eden.”  Today, the Garden of Eden theory is holding true as we experience the good and the bad side of technology, or as some may say, the “ying and the yang.”  For all the good technology is bringing into our lives, it has brought significant challenges.  Facebook, MySpace, texting etc. are wonderful tools of communication; however, they leave a trail of information.  They are great tools for surveillance.  As one law enforcement officer stated, “Technology has become a great tool for law enforcement.”  There are many crimes and schemes conducted through the internet including sexual predators, pornography, and recruitment for terrorism, to name a few.  And not to mention elementary and middle school children “sexting” (sending nude photos) through their cell phones.  People’s houses are also being robbed as a result of their “tweets” letting criminals know they’re not at home; some are being denied jobs and fired due to their posting graphic content on social networking sites; others are being killed due to texting while driving.

Just because we have all of these smart technologies at our disposal, we have to apply “common sense” and understand the concept of “people trails.”  Yes, technology will continue to evolve and bring added value, but it can also subtract things from our lives if we do not become smart in our actions.  Nonetheless, we can be assured that technology will continue to be center stage in our lives.  It is the way of the world.  And while there are many challenges associated with the use and applications of technology for good or for bad, it is here to stay.  Be aware, “We the People are providing the content; We the People are compromising our privacy; and We the People need to become smart.  Don’t let technology control your senses.

Recently, I was an invited to attend the eighth annual General Hugh Shelton Leadership Forum, offered through the General Shelton Leadership Center at North Carolina State University. The annual seminar series focuses on the importance of leadership development and brings together great leaders from the arenas of academia, civil service, the military, and the corporate world. The forum’s mission is “to inspire, educate and develop values-based leaders committed to personal integrity, professional ethics, and selfless service.” In attending this year’s forum, I truly was inspired and learned so much. This year’s focus was “Leadership, Ethics and Accountability,” and the day was overflowing with great discussion and collaborative thinking. The concepts fostered within these seminars can be applied to any industry, by any employee, by any employer. Since my attendance, I have further internalized these concepts and hope that you will too!

John Allison, chairman of BB&T Corporation and featured speaker, addressed how the lack of ethical leadership is related to problems we are globally encountering today. He shared principles that helped BB&T survive and thrive that can be ushered in to all industries to generate success. He explained that there must be purpose in the work we do—by helping clients achieve success and security, by making the world a better place through our products and services, and by making use of our own lives by doing what we want to do for ourselves. Our values, he explained, enable us to achieve our purpose and mission, defining values as practical habits enabling us as individuals to live, be successful, and achieve happiness. The following ten principles, he explained, must be implemented to ensure that values are upheld and success is achieved:

• Reality: In order to be better, we must understand what the facts are. If we are out of focus with reality, nothing can be achieved. Wishing for something does not make it so. Reality is fact-based and must be preserved in order to obtain and hold authority and ultimately accomplish our goals.
• Reason: Survival is dependent upon the ability to reason logically from the facts of reality. Sound premises, induction, deduction, and integration are all tool of clear reasoning. All concepts within any organization should be logical and fact-based, and all should be able to be traced back to reality. Good teachers develop concepts to be better decision makers and all experimental learners make mistakes and learn from them.
• Independent Thinking: All employees should be challenged to optimally use their individual minds in order to make rational decisions. In this context, we are each responsible for what we do and who we are. Creativity should be strongly encouraged and can only be possible with independent thought.
• Productivity: There should be commitment to the objective and a strong work ethic in order to reach a goal.
• Honesty: Being honest is simply being consistent with reality. To be dishonest is to conflict with reality and is ultimately self-defeating. Keep agreements and mean what you say and know what you mean.
• Integrity: Because we have developed principles logically based on reality, we should always act consistently with our principles.
• Justice: Justice is a sense of fairness. Individuals should be evaluated and rewarded objectively based on their contribution to accomplishing the mission and their adherence to the set of values. Those who contribute most should receive most.
• Pride: Pride is the psychological reward we earn from living with values, being just, having integrity, etc. Pride and a strong work ethic go hand in hand and both feed productivity.
• Self-Esteem: Positive self-esteem should be earned from doing work well. Strong self-esteem enables us to accomplish goals within the context of our mission and, again, feeds productivity and a strong work ethic.
• Teamwork: Teamwork is a mutual supportiveness that allows work to be accomplished. Each individual must consistently act to achieve team objectives with respect.

Each of these ingredients to organizational and individual success was reiterated again and again throughout the forum. Sherron Watkins, former Vice President and whistleblower of Enron Corporation, referred back to these concepts when reflecting on how the lack of ethics and accountability formed the ultimate demise of Enron. James E. Coleman, Jr., Professor of Law at Duke University School of Law, dissected the pitfalls of the Duke Lacrosse case. He shared his perspective on how the role of leadership should address ethics and accountability with public service and how responsible citizenship within local communities will assist to direct out society toward community accountability. Several leaders featured in Secrets of Success: North Carolina Values-Based Leadership, a unique coffee-table book that the General H. Hugh Shelton Leadership Center published through Ivy House Publishing Group earlier this year, discussed their personal experiences and what made them successful leaders. Again and again, these key concepts were driven home with enthusiasm. The lesson to do what is just and right, even if it is not a popular thing to do, was certainly a strong motif of the day.

Overall, the 2009 General Hugh Shelton Leadership Forum was an educational and motivating event that made me reflect on my purpose as a leader, as a mentor, as an employee, and as a citizen to my community and world. It was an honor to be invited to such an inspirational gathering of great minds. For more information on this outstanding event and the General H. Hugh Shelton Leadership Center, please visit http://www.ncsu.edu/extension/sheltonleadership.

For the past few months I have had an increased sense of fulfillment. My work at Ivy House has always left me with that positive feeling of satisfaction. It’s easy to gain that sensation when your career helps others achieve their dreams. I can’t explain the sense of joy I feel when I see an author’s face light up at the first glimpse of their new book. Or when I get enthusiastic phone calls from authors announcing achievements, whether they win a national book award, or see their name mentioned in a newspaper or review publication. My role as publishing coordinator is always a fulfilling one, but lately it’s been amplified. The reason? I have taken the same kind of guidance I give to Ivy House authors and ushered it in new directions. I have become a mentor.

A young and vibrant high school girl approached me several months ago, asking if I could help her in completing a graduation project. She had to choose a mentor to educate her in the ins and outs of the field she was most interested in. In her case, this young, budding writer was thirsty to learn about every facet of the publishing industry—how to choose a publisher, how to submit a manuscript, what is looked for in the evaluation process, how a book is edited, how to market a book, the list goes on. I was more than happy to help this student check the project off her graduation to-do list, but didn’t expect to gain what I did in our meetings.

In our conversations we covered a lot of ground, laughing along the way as we got to know each other. We would volley questions and answers back and forth and, in doing so, I soon realized that I was also learning something. Mentoring was a new way of testing my knowledge about my field. Sometimes I didn’t have an answer, so I would look it up for both of us. After months of meetings, phone calls, and emails back and forth, I also realized that I gained a friend. Last week I got a brief email that informed me that she had enrolled in a writing class this semester because I had inspired her to take classes that could help her develop as a writer. I once explained that taking classes that dealt with her career interest, as opposed to something un-enriching like study hall, could make her a more attractive college applicant. I certainly didn’t realize that I had such an impact on her (and she certainly doesn’t realize how this mentoring experience has impacted me).

If you ever get the opportunity to reach out, take that opportunity and run with it. My mentoring didn’t stop with the completion of this student’s project. I have been here to offer guidance in the college application process—something I wish I had a mentor for when I was an overwhelmed high school senior. Not only have I served as a general sounding board, but as a literary critic as well. Currently, I’m helping her develop her first young adult novella.

January marks National Mentoring Month. Start 2010 on a positive note and research mentoring opportunities in your area and/or respective field. Visit www.nationalmentoringmonth.org to learn more about the power of mentoring.

Ah, springtime.  Behind summer, this is truly my favorite time of year.  Everything is so vibrant, so fresh, so verdant!  The first daffodils and fat robins in the yard never fail to pull me out of my winter doldrums.

But… on the flip side, have you ever noticed how springtime is the craziest, most hectic time of year?  For me, it even surpasses the winter holidays. There are weddings, taxes, gardening… the list could go on.  On the professional side, people feel a sense of renewal and motivation to get things done, to really make this year count.  Thus, it becomes necessary to schedule meetings and social networking events galore.  But how to stay on task with goals like these, with so many conflicting schedules?

Continue Reading »

If you read Organize Your Business Cards the Modern Way, I imagine you now have all of your networking contacts’ information stored electronically and easily accessible… right? Great! Now, the question is: are you using that information regularly and to its full potential? To make the most of this valuable archive– and all the time and energy you invested to create it!– you need to put yourself on a regular schedule of following up with your contacts. For those who you communicate with regularly, or are particularly “hot” leads, it’s easy to go the old fashioned route and write “Follow Up with Nancy” on a paper calendar.

But what about those countless people in your email address book or your LinkedIn network that you had forgotten about? People who may have leads that you don’t even know about? It’s important to stay in contact with these people in the outer reaches of your network, but it’s time consuming and difficult to remember to do this regularly.  Well, technology to the rescue once again. Check out Social Minder.  It’s a “social assistant” that taps into your Gmail or Outlook to access your LinkedIn network and keep tabs on who you are and aren’t contacting, and how often. It sends you weekly email reminders to let you know who you are neglecting. Good luck!

Perhaps you haven’t yet made the leap to start writing a blog to promote your business; blogs require maintenance and careful thought and focus in order to be effective.  But have you considered a microblog?  A microblog is a form of multimedia blogging that allows you to publish very brief (usually no more than 140 characters) text updates, photos and audio clips throughout the day (or week).  You can choose for your messages to be viewed by anyone, or you can have a restrictive list of “followers” who subscribe to your updates.  There are numerous sites you can use, like Twitter, Yammer, and Jaiku– although Twitter appears to be the most popular.  Continue Reading »

Social networks are the buzz these days.  Without question, Facebook, MySpace and Bebo in the United Kingdom (to name a few) have revolutionized communications and set new trends for networking, public relations and politics.  Social networks sites are used to communicate with current friends and make new ones.  In some cases, you can have a whole new life, such as one can do in the avatar online community known as “Second Life.”  Second Life allows you an opportunity to live in a new world, conduct business, have families and spend money.  Even news networks are using sites such as “Twitter” to send news “tweets” through Facebook and other social networks to their audience throughout the day.

There are two schools of thought on social networks.  Some people believe they are revolutionary, while others see them as a nuisance that just clogs up their email and invades their privacy.  Like it or not, social networks are here to stay and they provide benefits as well as temptations.  Continue Reading »

How many business cards have you collected from vendors, associates and leads?  If you network for your career or business regularly, I’m willing to bet you have quite a few.  Now, how are they organized?  Are they neatly catalogued and digitized, or thrown into a shoebox in your office?  If you can’t locate the contact information you need within 15 seconds, it’s time to upgrade your contact organization methods.  Doing so will save you valuable time, and increase the frequency and efficiency of your follow-up communication with people who might enhance your career or business. Continue Reading »

May you have a happy, healthy, prosperous and peaceful New Year! I have already started some of my new year’s resolutions, slowly but surely. As incentive I have been reading What’s AGE Got To Do With It? by Robin McGraw. I highly recommend it for women of all ages. It is packed with some wonderful tips on fitness, nutrition, skin care, hormones, faith and more.

On a professional level, I believe it is important to be active in organizations, whether charitable, business, educational or community-based. Internet networking is great, but it is the face-to-face contacts that are so rewarding. I recommend several websites that provide yearly event calendars for conferences, exhibits and social activities pertaining to women. Perhaps one or more of these will spark your interest in increasing your network:

National Women’s History Museum-Events by State

Women’s Health Events (U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services)

womenscalendar.org

Happy searching!

This time of year I get many greeting cards from my friends and colleagues around the world. Yesterday I opened one from a colleague here in the United States. The card was beautiful but it was what she wrote that touched me. She said, “Thank you, Janet, for providing us with the opportunity to serve a global community.”

I hope to be more charitable during the coming year. And it starts with the obvious - giving and volunteering. It can also mean saying a kind word to someone who needs a boost. A kind word, a hug, or an ear to listen are very precious gifts to give. This season and everyday do a kind deed and take the time to listen to your family, friends and colleagues. You might be surprised at what you learn, and you will be offering them a special part of you.