Are You an 18-Second Boss? Strategic Listening is a Profession

Wow! Tom Peters is on fire in this video!

What does Tom Peters believe is the one secret to creating the most effective organization possible?

According to Tom, "the single most significant strategic strength that an organization can have is not a good strategic plan, but a commitment to strategic listening on the part of every member of the organization."

I'm soooooo excited hearing this from Tom Peters because I truly believe that to be effective communicators we must begin the communication process by listening with an open heart and an open mind. Only then can true engagement with an audience begin.

It's only three-minutes so take a moment and watch this. Big hat tip to David Zinger for the video.

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My Top 10 Books of 2009

It was tough narrowing this list down to ten since I read about 40 books a year, but here goes. While not all of these books were released in 2009, I enjoyed reading them during the year. I'm hoping maybe one or two will resonate with you. Enjoy!

1. Inspire! What Great Leaders Do
Without a doubt, this is my favorite book on leadership and personal development. Lance Secretan does a magnificent job in outlining a clear, three-step process to help us discover our destiny, cause and calling. His leadership model focuses on two types of leaders: "Old Story Leaders are Newtonian thinkers; New Story Leaders are quantum thinkers." If you're looking to create a "new story" for yourself or start drafting answers to those timeless questions like, "What is my purpose in life?" then this is your book.

2. Social Media at Work: How Networking Tools Propel Organizations Performance
If you're looking for one guide to show you how to use social media tools internally- check this one out. It's packed with several real-life case studies so you get a sense of how these tools can be easily integrated within an organizational framework. Hats off to the three authors; all from Oracle. Well done.

3. The Art of Engagement: Bridging the Gap Between Possibilities and People
This book rocks. I mean, really rocks. Employee engagement is a hot topic lately. Jim Haudan covers the four qualities of human nature that create engaged workers and details the six issues that prevent people from being truly engaged in their work. The best part of this book? It's written as if Jim is taking you on a journey; a journey of self-discovery and community-discovery. To top it all off, Jim is a huge visual storytelling proponent in boosting employee engagement. Now, that's music to my ears! :) I can't wait to read this one again.

4. Trust Me: Four Steps to Authenticity and Charisma
I just had to interview author Nick Morgan after reading his book. It's a remarkable book that all communications and media professionals can benefit from. The four steps can easily integrate into your own life or when observing others. Nick reveals where the real power of communicating is – in the non-verbal arena. He shows us how to tap into that "hidden" area to become effective communicators and leaders. Aligning our verbal with non-verbal actions is the real secret to communicating and leading. Check out my interview with Nick Morgan.

5. The Complete Artist's Way: Creativity is a Spiritual Practice
I'm still reading this- it's a hefty 750 pages (phew!) but I love coming to it every few days. This edition combines Julia Cameron's three core books into one, including the classic, "The Artist's Way." If you're into journaling or private writing or simply looking to tap into your creative potential, it's definitely worth checking out.

6. Accidental Genius: Revolutionize Your Thinking Through Private Writing
This book does what it says. Really. Author Mark Levy shares his writing secrets to jolt us out of our everyday thinking. This book is parked on my desk where I always see it and can reach out for it when I'm journaling or simply stuck for ideas. It's also the perfect companion to "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron. You can read Mark's guest post on this blog where he shares his "Fascination Method."

7. Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling to Get Jobs and Propel Your Career
Want to learn how to use stories in your career, in your job search and anywhere else, for that matter? Storytelling proponent Kathy Hansen has written a super user-friendly guide to navigate you through the storytelling waters.

8. Predictable Results in Unpredictable Times
Stephen R. Covey does it again. I love this little book. It's brief but, wow, it's packed with powerful ideas on building employee loyalty, customer service and transforming fear into trust. FYI: Covey is releasing another new book, "Great Work, Great Career."

9. The Power of Appreciative Inquiry: A Practical Guide to Positive Change
Looking for the secret to creating positive change by asking questions? Here's the ticket. Appreciative Inquiry is a discovery process to understand what gives "life" to a living system when it's at its best. This easy-to-read book is a great starting point for anyone wishing to learn the basic concepts behind AI. It will forever change how you ask questions. You can learn more about the art of appreciate inquiry here.

10. Ignore Everybody and 39 Other Keys to Creativity
Creativity guru and marketer Hugh MacLeod wrote this book as a series of essays. It's a manifesto, of sorts; brief, punchy calls to action. If you're looking to light up your inner creative fire, definitely check this one out. (Hat tip to documentary photographer, Seshu, for gifting me this book.)

Happy reading!

---Tom

19 Surprising Questions to Help You Energize Employee Conversations

“Wow” answers need “wow” questions.

If you’re hungry for new answers or different ideas from your team or employees, try changing the questions.

Here are a few questions to energize just about any conversation you might be a part of.

You can use these questions anywhere, anytime:
• Audio or video podcasts
• Flip camera interviews
• Documentary crew interviews
• Online social interactions
• Offline social interactions

Go ahead and give a few of these questions a shot. The answers might surprise you.

1. What myths about your work or our organization would you like to set straight?
2. Do you know the story of why we are in business in the first place?
3. How does what you do fit into the “big picture”?
4. What do our customers need to know about us that they probably don’t know?
5. What’s a great day for you?
6. What moment are you most proud of?
7. What’s the most challenging part of what you do?
8. If you became CEO, what three decisions would you make your first week?
9. What do you think our customers love about us?
10. Why do you think employees become distrustful?
11. How can we turn low-trust into high-trust?
12. How would you start creating a deeper sense of community for our company?
13. How do we help employees feel safe about learning new skills?
14. How can our organization help you communicate more effectively?
15. What can we do to help people understand that their work matters?
16. What can we do to help people feel more connected to their work?
17. Do you think sharing our values with others can make an overall difference?
18. What can we stop doing that isn’t working?
19. What can we simplify?

---Tom

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Originally posted on Fast Company.

Tom's SpeedLink #13

Seven amazing links. Enjoy!

1. Lemonade Movie
I can't wait to see this! This looks like a real winner. From the site: "More than 130,000 advertising professionals have lost their jobs in this “Great Recession.” Lemonade is about what happens when people who were once paid to be creative in advertising are forced to be creative with their own lives." (RSS readers click through.) Hat tip to Chris Brogan.

2. Seth Godin's "Zen Unicorn" (Kindle Edition)
If you're into Seth Godin and have a Kindle, you may want to check this out. It compiles three years of Seth's blog posts.

3. The Edge of Never
"A skier's story of life, death and dreams in the world's most dangerous mountains." I found this awesome documentary on Twitter.

4. A Plea to All Creatives: Stop Going to Work
Learn to power down and disconnect. From Fast Company.

5. Hoop Dreams Hits the Big Screen for Fifteenth Anniversary!
One of my favorite doc's turns 15. If you haven't seen it, by all means, do so asap!

6. The internet is killing storytelling
A thought-provoking article. Here's an excerpt: "Narrative is not dead, merely obscured by a blizzard of byte-sized information. A story, God knows, is still the most powerful way to understand."

7. Free Report: How to Become a Creative Entrepreneur
Mark McGuinness does it again. 31 pages. Yes, it's really free with no email registration. Ummm. Go grab it!

---Tom

Employee Engagement Lessons from Fast Company’s “30 Second MBA” Part 2

Here’s part two of my conversation with Ellen McGirt, Senior Writer for Fast Company magazine and Dean of Fast Company’s “30 Second MBA” website.

Part one can be found here. Thanks again, Ellen, for participating!

5. Many organizations see and hear the potential benefits of incorporating an internal social media framework into their communication strategies but are hesitant to make the leap. What would you say to these folks?

Grow a spine. You’ve already lost control! You might as well have some fun. And by the way, this is the golden era of the communications professional. In addition to expressing your brand values externally, they should be tapped to be the keepers of the communication flame internally as well. Let them, not your lawyers, lead the way.

I would then ask: What are the pressing needs of your organization? It might make sense to create a targeted social media effort directly toward a current problem.

6. What role do employees have in launching a successful internal social media platform?

They are the secret to your success – just like in other aspects of the business. Your employees are now your best marketers, customer service reps, troubleshooters and sources of innovation. Give them a way to weigh in – blogs, video posts, twitter, flickr, whatever – and acknowledge their efforts.

The third most popular blogger at Cisco (internally) is a guy that’s four levels away from their CEO. He blogs about technical matters specifically related to a single product area. It’s information people need to do their jobs better! The fact that he has a platform that he controls (no one vets the copy) and a way to interact with his colleagues means that he has become an indispensible resource to others. And he got a mention in Fast Company Magazine as a result. Not the goal, but I bet his mom is happy.

7. What goals or strategies do organizations need to think about before diving into the creation of an internal social community platform?

Brand comes first. The least cynical definition of a brand is that of an expression of deeply held values.

Social media turns that brand into a platform for others to express themselves. So, if you’re willing to open up your brand, then everyone needs to know what those values are. Everyone. This should not become a forum for one to develop their own personal brand – it’s about a shared common goal. Initiatives should be developed through the framework of those values – with an eye to maximizing the safety and success of the participants. (Privacy, rules of engagement, equal access etc.)

And the objectives should be clear and measurable. Are you using social media to innovate new ideas? To manage projects? To develop the potential of your staffers? To acknowledge achievement? To play a game or conduct a contest? Build rapport?

Be prepared to get staff input every step of the way (bottom up, not top down), accept that there will be many versions and understand that failure is always an option. It’s baked in to the iteration process.

8. What is the next evolution in the “30 Second MBA” format?

Glad you asked. Future iterations include a thumbs-up button, so viewers can vote up popular videos, and easier ways for people to share the videos with others.

Now that we have a nice library, I’m hoping to cross pollinate them into new and fun lesson plans – “Swimming with Sharks Week” – the best advice on how to deal with difficult people. Etc.

Ultimately, my plan (always subject to the input of others) is to create a credit system – the more people watch, comment or post a video response – or even do things in the world, like mentor others - the more credits they get. You can spend those credits for things that you want, like sponsored gifts, or actual feedback from real faculty members. Wouldn’t it be cool if we could connect you with the hottest CEO in the Valley for a fifteen minute business plan assessment? Would you give 20 hours of mentoring for that? Fun to think about.

This article was originally posted on Fast Company.

Ellen McGirt’s Bio:
When she's not chasing former Vice Presidents or leaping social networks in a single bound, Ellen McGirt occasionally shows up at her job as Senior Writer at Fast Company magazine. She covers a range of business topics, but never stops looking for the writer’s holy grail: The business ideas - and people - who are changing the world.

McGirt joined Fast Company in February 2007 from Fortune, where she was a senior writer. She was also a columnist and editor-at-large for Money, where she covered a wide variety of health care, consumer, personal finance and investing topics. McGirt has served as a guest correspondent for CNN's American Morning, and has appeared frequently on Good Morning America, CBS Early Today, NBC Nightly News, CNBC, CNN, and American Public Media.