I had one with a working title, "The Real Star." It was going to be about auditions for a cruise talent show that my daughter auditioned for. During auditions, there was a lady there (Brooke) who supported, cheered on and encouraged each of the participants during the rehearsals. Surely, she must be part of the organizers. I was impressed by her engagement, appreciative of her encouraging comments to my double jointed daughter as she displayed her freaky finger tricks, and very surprised when the last audition was called and Brooke walks up to the stage and sings her heart out. Awesome. 

We spent some time on a glacier with a dog sled team
and well, I lost the idea. My next idea came to me during a Ranger presentation as we cruised through Glacier Bay. The Ranger stated that he loves to engage in conversation about Glacier Bay. He hoped that those who listen to him are inspired to ask the questions that will solve an unsolved problem; if he were to leave us knowing just what he knew, we'd be in a world of hurt.

What a way to engage your audience, seek questions and set the stage for learning, sharing and growing. I am going to shamelessly steal his words and I planned to create a post around it and then, before I even had a working title, out the window it went too.

Look at it as trading one type of inspiration for another! 

Is it time? Is it experience? Is the second time really ever as good as the first?

It is better. The frenetic pace of the got-to-see-and-do-it-all right-now madness of the first time now makes way for the do-what-you-feel-like-so-what-if-you-miss-the-after-dinner-show calmness of the second time.

Sailing past the surrounding mountains and watching the whales play off the side of the ship as we made our way towards Juneau yesterday was superb. Watching our 7 year-old co-mush a dogsled team across a glacier was priceless.

Our pilot this week did what he was supposed to do and we made our first visit to the Olympic Peninsula. We made our first (very long overdue visit) to friends in Port Angeles. We had our first view of the Strait of Juan de Fuca from the house on the hill.

The view of the Strait of Juan de Fuca is superb, even on a cloudy day. Ships and boats of all shapes and sizes are moving through here throughout the day. Some stop for a bit but almost all move on through to Seattle. Every ship has a pilot. Not an airplane pilot, a boat pilot.

Pilots. Pilots are the people who meet the ship in the harbor, via the pilot boat, board it, and guide it safely through the waters. In this area, the pilots guide the ships to Seattle. Every ship is either required to pick one up, or certify (if a US ship) that they have a trained pilot on board. Pilots have extensive maritime experience, undergo training, achieve certifications and are very well-qualified. There is a waiting list, a professional organization and a little bit of "who you know." Pilots do what they do to the tune of $300,000 - $400,000 per year. What other cool things did my guidance counselor forget to tell me about?

It is really very intriguing. We had the opportunity to ride the pilot boat out to meet a Japanese freighter. The Japanese crew dropped out a rope ladder as we approached. We pulled up alongside the ship and held the pilot boat steady while the pilot climbed the ladder. We watched until he was safely inside. This harbor has not lost a pilot off the rope ladder and into the water yet. Superb. Stopping the pilot boat on a dime and pulling a tight 360 - very cool!  

Pilots. New to me yet they have been around as long as there have been ships traveling on seas. 

Dedicated exercise buff that I have become (3 days per week), I figured I could (should) get some cardio in before I left. To the gym I went, thinking about how much better I would feel when I was done. To the treadmill I went, running to the news.

To the weights the lifters went, lifting to their partner's grunts, groans and motivations. Most of the time, I hear without reaction. Some of the time, I look to see what the heck is going on. This time, however, I heard something that I think will remember, draw from and share. I will remember it because it was exactly the way I was feeling as I finished up my run (and it sounds so much better than what I was thinking!). I will draw from it because it is how I find myself feeling at different times in my work day. I will share it because I think others find themselves feeling the same. 

So, without further ado. . . . . .  "let your air catch up to you."

Take a hike. Take a cruise. Take a vacation.

The family is heading northwest to Seattle and then on to Glacier Bay. The 10 day forecast is 56 degrees and chance of rain (hmm, sounds just like Minnesota) and there is a dog sled with our name on it. Have a great June and I look forward to catching up with everyone when I return. 

Try this. Plan a vacation. Not a long weekend. Not 5 days. Not even 7 days. Go for 14 days. Go for more. Plan a vacation long enough that forces you to identify the tasks to be delegated out during your absence. 

Identify the appropriate staff member(s) to assume responsibility and begin the hand-off a week before you leave so you are available for questions. Set up rules for email messages that can be routed to your junk folder or permanently deleted while you are out. Begin this a week or so before you leave.

Get my drift?

Go to work the week before vacation. What types of things are you doing now that you are not reviewing and recommending approval/disapproval of advanced leave, FMLA or leave without pay requests; reviewing results and adjudicating initial and final background investigations; or compiling information for the director's monthly worker's compensation report and tracking performance monitors?

There are some tasks that have been delegated directly to you and can not be delegated beyond you on a regular basis. Then, there are there others. What would happen if you did not take those back when you returned from vacation? What would happen if you provided staff the tools, training and authority to assume these responsibilities on a regular basis? What if you unsubscribed from the messages and news groups that filled up your junk folder over vacation?

How awesome of a delegator would you be then? More importantly, how much more effective could you be?

There are many things a manager can do to maintain positive employee relations. One thing a manager can do is to respect, acknowledge and appreciate their employees. Another, make sure you're as nice in email as you are in person. 

• Respect the impact an email can have on an employee. When an employee sees an email from their boss, their blood pressure actually goes up, no matter what the content of the mail is. But, understandably, blood pressure went up even more when employees got angry emails from the boss, or emails from a boss they perceived to be unfair. If you get in the habit of sending little bombs throughout the day, you will create a truly deadly workplace.
• Be consistent. People read a lot into emails because the emails are devoid of the nonverbal cues we use to judge a message delivered in person. If you usually send very cordial ones, and then send a cold one, people who depend on you will spend hours analyzing it. The more consistent you are, the more people will focus on your content and stop wasting time trying to figure out subtext.

Not sexy enough, I know, but being nice in email can help you to avoid legal landmines. Email transmissions are considered "documents," and can be used against an employer in a lawsuit in the same way as any written letter or memorandum. Moreover, deleted messages do not just "go away," but remain in the company´s electronic archives.  Deleted messages can be recalled, and an improper message can come back to haunt an employer months or years after the message was first transmitted.

Ready to fire off a strongly worded email, tip the balance of power in your favor and enjoy the illusion while it lasts?  Don't. Step away from the computer.

I expect more from a leader in my organization. You should too.

If I had a friend who was going to put together a tool to assess a committee's effectiveness, what would she want to include in it? Ok, in the spirit of full disclosure,  I do have a friend and she has been tasked to develop a tool, really. Here is what I have gathered so far and could use your ideas for other ways to measure the effectiveness of a committee:

AN EFFECTIVE COMMITTEE WILL understand its purpose and effectively work toward its goals • have open communication among members • listen to all points of view and make decisions that work for all • not be dominated by one leader or member • strike a balance between group productivity and personal needs • establish a process to evaluate and make changes • provide an opportunity for members to work collaboratively • have access to information they need to make recommendations.

Any and all ideas are appreciated AND an actual tool will be recognized with a super honorable mention and many, many thanks!

I value staff who embrace #9: Speak up when you're unhappy and especially value those who use Panera Bagels with honey walnut cream cheese to express their thoughts regarding #10, If she's a good boss, tell her. Speaking of which, haven't had any bagels lately, hmmmm.

Seriously, this is one to keep at arm's length to facilitate discussions with your staff members, assist new supervisors with setting reasonable expectations for their staff and to do a soft check on yourself as you manage upward.

These eleven words sum up the bottom line of a newly released book by author Sybil F. Stershic, Taking Care of the People Who Matter Most. A Guide to Employee-Customer Care. 

Ms. Stershic, an internal marketing expert with over 30 years experience, provides a guide to impacting two critical relationships: the relationship between employees and customers and the relationship between employees.

How does she do it? She lays out a road map and provides a audits, actions plans and numerous examples of what other successful companies are doing. One that caught my attention is the Marriott Hospitality Gold Star Program described in the chapter, "Strengthening the Internal Service Culture." In it, guests are randomly selected and asked to identify the hotel associate they found most helpful. These associates, and the guests who recognized them, are both rewarded. But the program does not stop there. Rewarded staff are then asked to identify three associates from the "heart of the house" (i.e. those behind the scenes) who were most helpful to them and these associates are rewarded too. Super!

Wondering how your employees feel about your organization, department or team? Ask them. Probe with questions such as:

• Why are you working here rather than another company?
• What would cause you to end your employment here?
• What drives you crazy about working here?

This book is a great resource for HR professionals, internal marketing managers, and supervisors who want to make a difference within their company, department or team. Regardless of your perspective or the state of your internal marketing efforts, you are sure to find a tool, tip, or golden nugget that can assist you in taking another step forward in your efforts.

This book is on tour and hitting the web. The tour started with Burns Blogs Attitude and made its way here. It will continue with a different stop around the web each day:

• On June 4th, Chris Bailey will be posting a review on his blog Bailey Work/Play: The Alchemy of Soulful Work
• On June 5th, Toby Bloomberg of the Diva Marketing blog will be posting an interview with Sybil.
• On June 6th, Becky Carroll, the blogger behind Customers Rock! will be posting a review and the results of an interview with Sybil.
• On June 9th, Paul Hebert will be posting a review on the blog Incentive Intelligence.
• On June 10, 2008, Phil Gerbyshak will be posting an interview on the blog Slacker Manager.

Check in with these hosts throughout the week. More information about this new book is available on the WME Books blog, the book page on the WME online store and at the Quality Service Marketing blog. 

She is creative. I am not. First grade is not quite over yet and she lets me know she wants a new class of kids for second grade class because she wants to meet new friends. I seek out the familiar. I am not quick with my responses; my "should have said" conversations are brilliant!. She is very quick.

I have been working with a personal trainer and my sessions are about over. I am trying to decide if I should continue. It is fun, I can see results and I am not at all confident that I will get to the gym without someone to hold me accountable. So, I was talking to my husband about this the other night and ended with a long drawn out, "I don't know what to do. I am sooooooo perplexed!"

Without a beat, a moment of hesitation, or a blink of the eye, my loving daughter comes back with, "Mom, does perplexed mean fat?" 

First grader, fifth grade reading level, she knows exactly what perplexed means and the look on her face was priceless. Her eyes were big, her mouth was in a huge smile and she was laughing out loud inside, trying not to burst. Just wait until you get a little older sweetie, just wait.

Remember, I have baby pictures. I know things. 

I am not not sure exactly when the cards stopped coming but I am sure I know why. I did not reciprocate. We were friends in college and after graduation I was an officer in the Army, traveling, making my own money, giving orders and taking names (!); I had a bunch going on. It sort of was all about me.

I find that now too. With work, raising a kid and what not, I don't take (or make) the time to do much beyond what I do with or for my family. I do things for myself but they are pretty well limited to exercise, coloring my hair and blogging. I gain a lot from writing and while I do think about the audience and wonder if what I have to say will be interesting, that really is not the main driver of what goes onto each page. It sort of is all about me, again.

Or is it? Could it be that I am creating something for others?

My daughter's baby book ended at age 7 and I recently cracked the cover on a black moleskin bound journal. This journal will be where my husband and I can continue to write notes, thoughts, or advice to the young lady our daughter will grow up to be. The kid is aware of it and, as a matter of fact, a picture she drew of our most recent trip to the water park is the only thing in it yet.

Could this blog be a partner to my little black journal? The thoughts reflected here clearly are different than those that will be captured at home. Will they be of value or interest to her? To anyone other than me? Maybe, maybe not and the thing is, the thought had not even crossed my mind until I read posts on G-Town Talks and weblogg-ed.  Both speak to how their ideas will live on through the work they create on-line, through their writing.

Right now it is a blog. Whatever it is next, this medium continues to intrigue me with its potential for moving forward, capturing the past and making connections, all at the same time.

Hey, I wonder what Emily is up to these days?

There are times when what I have to say must be heard. There are times when I just want another person to know that I know they are not being truthful. There are times I want to take my stand, have my say and to h*** with the consequences. There are times when I choose to take this on. There are times when I do not. Is it wisdom that guides me when I choose to save it for another day?

Or am I falling down on the job?