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Over the weekend New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a public health emergency due to the influenza outbreak in New York State. Governor Cuomo said this flu season is “the worst since at least 2009”. The number of flu cases has soared 55% and is nearly five times the number from the last season. The flu season is widely viewed as the period between October and May The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said at least 47 US states have reported flu outbreaks and 24 have experienced high levels of the illness. Going as far as saying the flu has reached epidemic levels. What does it mean to be at epidemic levels? Let’s start with a definition from least to most extensive: Endemic: instances of a disease or condition found among a particular population of people or in a certain area Epidemic: a widespread occurrence of a disease in a regional or geographical area (not limited to a particular population) Pandemic: a widespread occurrence of a disease over a whole country or the world not limited to a particular population. A pandemic can be defined as "An epidemic occurring worldwide or over a very wide area, crossing international boundaries, and usually affecting a large number of people(1). Wikipedia says Influenza pandemics occur when a new strain of the influenza virus is transmitted to humans from another animal species. Species that are thought to be important in the emergence of new human strains are pigs, chickens and ducks. These novel strains are unaffected by any immunity people may have to older strains of human influenza and can therefore spread extremely rapidly and infect very large numbers of people. Influenza can occasionally be transmitted from wild birds to other species causing outbreaks in domestic poultry and may give rise to human influenza pandemics. The transportation of influenza viruses throughout the world is thought in part to be by bird migrations, though commercial shipments of live bird products might also be implicated, as well as human travel plans(2). Given modern developments in transportation and travel there is severe risk of the flu outbreaks spreading at a more rapid rate than at any other time in history. The deadliest outbreak of influenza on record is the 1918 Spanish Influenza, which took place in three phases. The first was a spring of 1918, winding down a bit through the summer and coming back very aggressively throughout North America in fall of 1918 and spreading in the third wave through Europe in winter of 1919. There have been a total of 3 documented pandemics in the last century. First the Spanish Flu of 1918, second the Asian Flu of 1957 and third the Hong Kong flu of 1968. Should you as technology and business leaders be considering a Pandemic as a Business Continuity Risk? Yes, your business and all its resources are at tremendous risk and your focus needs to be on your people, process, and products. Although it is impossible to forecast the spread of influenza in any given year, studies suggest that major population centers can expect widespread penetration within 1-2 weeks of the virus’ arrival with its peak only 50 days from the initial entry. The key assumptions recommended by most authorities are: A first wave of the infection, lasting about eight weeks, could affect a third of the population. A second wave could occur about three to nine months later, and could also be followed by other successive waves. You should expect your organization to experience a scenario where about 35% of your staff could fall sick and absenteeism rate up to 50% during the peak. There are actions that can be taken to positively protect you and your businesses and prevent business disruption due to influenza outbreaks within your operating regions. Sir John Harvey-Jones, who is best known for his BBC television show “Troubleshoot” in which he advised struggling businesses(3), is quoted as saying,

In this episode of the CIO Playbook I will be discussing techniques for critical decision making under pressure. I have multiple Google Alerts set up on topics related to Leadership, innovation, and technology. These alerts bring a plethora of information some of which often results in great blog or podcast topics and some of the information quickly makes its way into the deleted items folder. The other day an interesting topic came across my desk via a Google Alert on making decisions under pressure and I was intrigued, because it came via a discussion on how individuals survived life threatening situations; situations that drastically changed their lives. The article was about Michael J. Tougais an author who has interviewed more than 60 survivors for four books that detail maritime rescues and the work he has done to create opportunities for each of us to use his learning in our interactions. Michael said, “A lot of survivors don’t focus on the ultimate outcome, they don’t waste time on the past or the distant future. The focus is on ‘what I have to do next,’ or ‘the next right thing,’ as I call it. They know if they think of all of the steps they’ll be overwhelmed, so they break it down.” I was intrigued…. Michael went on to say he uses many of the techniques used by disaster survivors in his own writing, breaking down the project into smaller parts, and then celebrating each individual completion. This way he is able to learn to enjoy the path rather than focusing on being happy when it gets to the end. That triggered further digging and I found Michael gave a talk at Middlesex Saving Bank and the bank posted the “Ten survivor lessons that can help in any situation” on their website. 1) Do not project past outcomes to a current similar situation 2) Good decision makers, like survivors, don’t like to be trapped. When given an option they chose one that is reversible. 3) Adrenaline can be the enemy. Often times the simple act of pausing gives you time to think of several options, rather than leaping into action. 4) Sticking to “the plan” can lead to disaster. It’s better to let the situation form your plan, even if it means abandoning your original goal or schedule entirely.\ 5) Don’t waste time in an overwhelming situation thinking about the past, instead do “the next right thing” 6) The power of little steps is the way to go. Even the smallest bit of action can get the ball rolling toward fulfillment 7) Many of us have something holding us back – an illusion of comfort. Sometimes you have to let go to reach your ultimate goal 8) Never ignore your intuition – it’s your subconscious mind processing information which you may not be aware of. 9) Question the rules, question conformity, and question “Group thinking” 10) Start and end each day with Gratitude. Try positive affirmation and manifestation found in these simple words. Thank you for putting me on the path to… it might be a long path, but you will arrive. If you want to read this for yourself please go to the Middlesex saving bank website or directly to www.michaeltougias.com All of these ten items represent good advice. Can you apply all of them in the situation you are in currently? No probably not. As technologists and leaders sometimes we have to recognize that sticking to “the plan” isn’t the right choice. This can be difficult as we try to deliver against our project goals and begin to realize there is something fundamentally wrong with our project and it needs to be addressed. Michael says listen to your intuition because it is your subconscious mind processing information you may not be aware of. I did a little more digging and found some additional research on making critical decisions under pressure by Fred Leland of LESC (Law Enforcement & Security Consulting, Inc.). Fred is focused in the Law Enforcement industry where decisions under pressure are actually life and death.

In This episode of the CIO Playbook I will be wrapping up with the final part of my four-part series on setting yourself up for success in 2013. I have really enjoyed these last few weeks putting together this series on setting yourself up for success in 2013. This is the first episode of 2013 and will close out the series. Over the last few weeks  I have had a chance to enjoy the holidays with family members in California and New York. Getting both the southern California beach holiday (no snow there) and then the white snow fall for the new year. What a great blend of both worlds. This time also gave me the opportunity to read a lot of books for fun and pleasure several of which I will be using quotes from in this episode Tom cruise has a new movie out at this time called Jack Reacher based on Lee child’s Jack Reacher series and the book One Shot. I ended up seeing this movie because of timing, I was with friends and we wanted to see Django however much to our chagrin it wasn’t playing at the time we could make, not to worry I still got to see Django at a later date. So we decided the best guy film was Jack Reacher  given our time limitations. Having not read the Jack Reacher books I didn’t go in with any expectations so wasn’t disappointed, rather I decided after the movie I should read at least one of the books from Lee Child’s series and headed off to the used book store, an increasing dying breed. So if you are ever in Southern California please visit Bookman in Orange, California and give then your support. They also have a website www.ebookman.com and I found the book running blind by Lee Child. First I will say this is a popcorn read, what do I mean by popcorn? It is like sitting at a movie; you don’t really have to think much and it is a fast read that will entertain but not much more. However, I did enjoy the opening lines: “People say that knowledge is power. The more knowledge the more power. Suppose you know the winning numbers for the lottery? All of them? Not guessed them, not dreamed them, but really knew them? What would you do? You would run to the store. You would mark those numbers on the play card. And you would win. Same for the stock market. Suppose you really knew what was going to go way up? You’re not talking about a hunch or a gut feeling. You’re not talking about a trend or a percentage game or a whisper or a tip. You’re talking about knowledge. Real, hard knowledge. Suppose you had it? What would you do? You would call your broker. You would buy. Then later you’d sell, and you’d be rich. Same for basketball, same for the horses, whatever. Football, hockey, next year’s World Series, any kind of sports at all, if you could predict the future, you’d be home free. No question. Same for the Oscars, same for the Nobel Prize, same for the first snowfall of winter, same for anything.” Goal setting gives you this power. You will really know the outcomes for your life and your future. You can look at anyone around you and watch what they are doing and easily predict what they will be doing next year and five years into the future. The number of people who actually set goals and put the work behinds those goals is so infinitesimally small. Basically anyone you met is drifting they have some vague ideas and dreams but haven’t put any of the thought or work behind those ideas. They are living in a wish, being fed the majority of their thoughts via TV. I hope you are listening to the show to break that cycle within yourself and take charge of your goals and aspirations. Let’s get into the structure of goals for the long-term success plan you are building. We will revisit the subject of success planning throughout the year so no need to worry too much about what the makeup would be. For 2013 you should start with setting a few outcomes: Continuous learning Personal Business Physical Outcome goals Outcome goals refer to a desired outcome from a competition

In this episode of the CIO Playbook I continue my discussion on how to set goals and objectives that will set you up for success regardless of what your situation is. Having goals and objectives will enable you to stay on track throughout 2013 and beyo...

In this episode of the CIO Playbook I continue my discussion of how to set yourself up for success in 2013. Laying the groundwork for setting goals that will enable you to hold your mojo regardless of the times you are facing. In 2007 and 2008 things had begun to change as business that used to provide income to the 150 year old began to struggle. I shut down many of the very businesses not a year earlier we had built as the markets for their products began to disappear. As we laid people off I managed to continue to evolve and add value to the organization and that is what triggered the move to Hong Kong. Unfortunately in September of 2008 Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy. It was surreal watching things unfold in the United States from Hong Kong and realizing rather quickly how much I had relied on the company I worked for. Suddenly I and my family were alone in a foreign country. A country that was happy to have me there as long as I was working and paying taxes. As soon as I was no longer working the visa system only gives you a few weeks to find another job or you must leave. There is no desire to have unemployed foreigners as a burden to the rest of the country. Things looked very bleak indeed. I watched as individuals whose only job had been with Lehman some as many as 17 years lose “everything” they were banking on. They lost retirement investments plus deferred compensation, and untold stock in the company. I watched as the fell into self-destructive behavior, failed marriages, and even career destroying moves. Much of this continued even after Nomura Securities came in and purchased the Lehman assets giving the majority of us jobs. The answer to how we deal with loss is not a simple one. I have heard of the Kubler-Ross model or the five stages of grief: Denial Anger Bargaining Depression Acceptance This is a hypothesis introduced by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross is theoretical model that can be applied to any form of catastrophic personal loss (job, income, freedom). Such losses may also include significant life events such as the death of a loved one, major rejection, end of a relationship or divorce, drug addiction, incarceration, the onset of a disease or chronic illness, an infertility diagnosis, as well many tragedies and disasters. A large part of our educational training at the university level is case studies where we look a firm in a particular situation. We are given a set of facts often putting the firm’s management in difficult situations and as students we given a particular management role and then asked, "What would you do?" each of us was expected to respond with our best solution. Our answers were not always correct or reasonable or even possible, however, we always came up with some reasoning for our idea and a way to act. At no time did any of us answer the question with we will sit and wait for the situation to change. I have a daughter who is a freshman at Cornell University and she has described to me many of her case study scenarios, so I know university level education still employs this method of teaching, and not one of her answers was to do nothing and let the situation play out. However, that is what a lot of the highly educated and successful traders, managers, and staff did; in other words they did the opposite of what they were trained to do in school. They refused to accept the situation has changed dramatically and things were not going to go back to the way they were. When we leave school and embark on our careers it is important to continue to grow and seek improvement. While at the same time continuing to question the path we are on.  Will we be always right, regrettably no. However, that should not freeze us in our tracks. Just as we learned in school we are in control. In the book the practical neuroscience of Buddha’s Brain happiness, love and wisdom, Rick Hanson says, “Only humans worry about the future, regret the past,

In this episode of the CIO Playbook I want to talk about the book, “Mojo, How to get it, How to keep it, How to get it back if you lose it” by Marshal Goldsmith. Marshall Goldsmith is considered a leading authority on helping successful leaders achieve...

In this episode of the CIO Playbook I discuss the opportunity bring your own device offers to the corporate technology department. In the June 12, 2012 article titled the case against BYOD, Jim Spicer, corporate CIO of Wells Fargo, is having none of “bring your own device.” He tells the CIO Journal his technology decisions are driven by doing what’s best for the business. In this case, he says security and reliability trump succumbing to the fad of the moment. Technology strategy shouldn’t be dictated by “what people want, but what they need to serve our customers,” he says Spicer also doesn’t buy into the idea that having a BYOD policy is indispensable to attracting good talent. The business itself should be a magnet, he says. “We have enough to offer the next generation in exciting opportunities and we have the technology offerings to satisfy their needs and those will evolve over time,” Spicer said WIKIPEDIA defines BYOD as (BYOD) describes the recent trend of employees bringing personally owned mobile devices to their place of work, Some prefer the term Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT), because it is a broader description, which not only covers the hardware device(s), but also the software used on the device (e.g. web browser, media player, antivirus, word processor etc. BYOD is making significant inroads in the business world with about 90% of employees already using their own technology (in at least a limited capacity) at work. In most cases, businesses simply can't block the trend. There are studies that say if IT attempts to block access 75% of staff will find a work around. If an employee uses a smart phone to access the company network and then loses that phone, the confidential data stored on the phone could potentially be retrieved by un-trusted parties. One of the biggest issues with managing the BYOD dilemma is to track and control access to corporate and private networks. Business: A business that adopts a BYOD policy allows itself to save money on such high-priced devices that normally they would be required to purchase for their employees. Employees may take better care of a device that they view as their own property. Companies can take advantage of newer technology faster. There are various laws in countries that protect individual privacy. Companies have policies that do not allow use of company equipment for non-work related activities. There can be conflict without ensuring the employee has given consent. Recommend a BYOD acceptable use policy and a contract with the employee separate from other AUS policies Companies should detail the measures they will take to protect their data on a personal device Including monitoring and wiping My preference is to acknowledge a zone of privacy for the employee’s personal use.Stating that we will provide the applications for use on the device and all company data must be accessed via the provided applications. Provide a wi-fi environment Use a tool, like good Allow individuals to bring the tool they want  

In this episode of the CIO Playbook I discuss some of the things CIO’s should be thinking about as we end the year and get ready to embark on 2013. State of the CIO As we go into the end of the year we as leaders should begin to do the self-analysis and goal setting for next year. I recommend a two-part to your assessment and goal setting similar to what we do with our staff in the annual review process. First assess your professional work and plans then assess your personal development and plans. For this episode I will focus on the professional assess that we as leaders in the technology space should be focusing on. First the state of the CIO Technology is now a part of all of our business activities. There are very few companies that would remain in business if their technology were to fail. Or rather there is no business without its technology to calculate the financials, engineer the future, and provide the interaction and communication. Information Week Global CIO 2012 Information week global CIO 2012 says the technology organization needs to: Be an innovate partner Drive new products or services Create new revenue streams Execute projects faster In this report Information Week says 57% of the respondents worry they cannot implement new technologies fast enough to meet the business demands. Chris Murphy, and editor of InformationWeek, asked CIO’s what they are worried about and they said the following Speed, can’t implement fast enough Money, not having enough budget dollars Priority, no systematic way to prioritize projects Understanding, understanding customers and the business What about the following: Governance, doing the right things in the right way with the right people Procurement, sourcing strategies for people and services Mobility, any device any time any where Cloud, Software as a service (Saas), Infrastructure as a service (Iaas), platform as a service (Paas), desktop as a service (DaaS, back-end as a service (BaaS) Security, defending against the emerging threat vectors Social media and the convergence of video, voice, messaging, and data It is time to rewrite the rules for how we do technology How will you be an innovative partner, drive new products or services, create new revenue streams, and execute faster. The marketplace is a very unforgiving master. My suggestion would be to have a bias toward buying rather than building in-house. Unless there is a clear competitive advantage, meaning it is the business you are in. then there is no need to develop software in-house. You should evaluate if it makes sense for you to be in that business. Barriers to Success: Budget limitations Resistance to change Conflicting priorities among business teams and strategies Lack of clear authority Alignment of technology to strategic objectives Ability to meet the next opportunity “Much has been written about the importance of governance and the need to have a decision making body and a structured process that aligns goals, articulates the enterprise policy framework and shares investment decisions” The 2011 State CIO Survey, National Association of State Chief information Officers Articles that influenced this episode: The 2011 State CIO Survey http://reports.informationweek.com/abstract/83/8690/it-business-strategy/research-global-cio-2012.html http://mkting.cio.com/pdf/2012_stateofthecio_highlights-FINAL.pdf Until next time... The CIO Playbook is a podcast dedicated to the development of technology leadership and is hosted by Jeffrey Hurley, a seasoned global technology leader who has held positions with Fortune 500 companies throughout the world including diverse countries: Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, United Kingdom, and the United States. He is currently based in Toronto, Canada and New York, US.

In this episode of the CIO Playbook I continue my discussion on how to improve IT financial transparency in the budgeting process by adding additional detail to the Run, Grow, Transform model. I continue to discuss the additional categories in the run including keep the lights on, mandatory upgrades, compliance/regulatory, policy/governance, and recommended maintenance. In addition I wrap up this episode detailing what is a transformational project and the two categories in grow: small enhancements and projects. As always I am very excited to be back on the microphone this week and it is so exciting to think about what is happening in the technology space, especially with the mobile devices area. The first iPad is just a few years old and yet in 2012 we have a plethora of options available to us. Virtualization has increased opportunities for improved technology management. Security is now a priority amongst technology departments becoming a dynamic interactive and creative space. Being a leader in technology is about being able to face off against our business partners. I want us to get to the point where when our business partners come up with an idea their second thought is, "I have to talk with my IT partner". As technology professionals we need to be the innovators and stretch ourselves in this space. This episode is part II of the technology spend model. We are looking to do is find new and better ways for us to present our technology spend in a better way to our business partners. ultimately we want to present our technology projects similar to how you would invest in an investment portfolio. If we are presenting our IT projects correctly with the ROI, business value, and payback periods we should be successful in this presentation. Let's finish our discussion on the Run category; last we I talked about the run category being broken down into: Keep the Lights on (KTLO) Mandatory Upgrades Compliance/Regulatory Policy/Governance Recommended Maintenance We finished up policy and governance and were getting into the recommended maintenance. When I first assembled this breakdown I had compliance/regulatory merged with policy/governance. I realized, however, policy/governance represents bureaucracy risk. The more policies and governance we apply to an organization tend to impede the ability to deliver projects. We need to have enough governance to know we are under control but not so much that we have to go through multiple hurdles to get a project down. We want to move away from tackling allocations on the back-end of the budgeting process. If we spend more time upfront in this model we can define the cost allocation early in the process. Our partners will have a better understanding of what the costs are and where they should be charged. Compliance and regulatory spend is a measure of spend in a particular country or jurisdiction. Let's talk further about the recommended maintenance category as items that may or may not need to be upgraded to continue to run the organization. I like to use a RAG status to determine the risk in not upgrading or completing a particular maintenance activity: Red: Must be completed or risk a priority level one incident Amber: Application or version is nearing end of life and will need to be addressed. There is some risk of a high priority incident Green: Vendor suggests upgrade, however, will continue to support the current version of a period of time Every category in sustain or run, except KTLO, can have projects in them. Many of these sustaining activities can be very involved and therefore would have project management oversight. When we complete the assembly of these categories you will have the costs of what it takes to keep your business running. Your business partners now have a good view of what it takes to keep the operations running effectively. In the build category we have two components, small enhancements and projects.

In this episode of the CIO Playbook Jeffrey Hurley is sharing how IT leaders we can present our technology spend in a format that will make more sense to our business partners. I just finished attending a Toastmaster Club meeting here in Toronto. The club is a new club in Toronto and is already on track to achieve President's Distinguished status because of the number of excited members working toward accomplishing their goals related to improving their speaking ability and their leadership skills. John Maxwell suggests that the a way to test leadership ability is the ability to lead volunteers because it requires use of the softer leadership skills because volunteers can un-volunteer themselves. I have been actively involved in Toastmasters since 2008 and am now actively giving back to the organization through mentorship in support of those who seek to improve themselves. I recommend the Toastmasters organization for those of you who seek to improve yourselves. I would like to give a shout out to those who are participating in November in support of men's health issues and heard a great TED talk by Adam Garone the founder of the Movember movement. Good luck to the Mo Brothers and Mo Sisters in raising money for men's health in November. In the month of November a lot of us are focusing on budgeting for next year. I would like to discuss how to push through these new ideas and ways to present IT transparency for technology. Some of the largest expenses in organizations is People, Facilities, and technology and not necessarily in this order. Management teams are looking for you as an IT leader to act more like a business. To often we use our own tech code words. But when it comes down to how to invest our technology spend, you should look at your projects as an investment portfolio. You are not always going for the highest yield opportunities, rather balancing your investments for the best real return. Great coaches break their sport down into basic building blocks. Let's talk about how technology can break down to the fundamental skills and strengths. Technology organizations tend to be on defense more than offense. Thus indicting ourselves rather than seeking to change business behavior. Technology tends to be a giant amorphous spend, that appears to be a black hole to our business partners. driven by the projects brought in previously, IT redundancy, Internet connectivity. As technology leaders we need to realize everything comes with a cost trade-off. One organization I worked for broke tech into Run and Change costs, taking one very large blob and breaking it into two large blobs without creating any real transparency. Not enabling the ability to re-balance your portfolio to maximize return. If we increase transparency we will not get arbitrary limitations on spend or head count, rather we can make real choices about what we want to do versus not to do. Skilled labor coming out of universities have grown up using technology for their entire lives and have strong opinions on how technology can be deployed in your organization. If we plan our spend successfully our jobs will become much simpler. Resources and capacity allocated correctly will enable everyone to be on the same page and thus we will be better at getting out work done. Gartner’s suggested classifications for IT spend: IT Run 67% of total IT budget IT Grow 19% of total IT budget IT Transform 14% of total IT budget Let's talk about how I believe we should change this model. I think Gartner's model is incomplete. Run is still a very large number that needs to be broken up further to really create transparency because we are currently looking at three blobs, though 14% and 19% isn't that big and can often be transparent. You are still left with two-thirds of your budget that is not clear. I believe the run budget should be broken down into the following parts: Keep the Lights on (KTLO) Mandatory Upgrades

In this episode I discuss what leaders should do to repair credibility after a system or project failure. Just a couple of things before we get started. First I am very excited to announce that this show is available on Stitcher Radio please visit www.stitcher.com where you can listen to popular talk radio shows and podcasts via the stitcher app for Android, iPhone, and iPad. Also please go into iTunes and rate this show, preferably with a five-star rating. I am also open to feedback and would like to connect with you via my website at www.cioplaybook.com, and email at jeffrey@cioplaybook.com, via twitter @jeffreyhurley, and LinkedIn. The purpose of the CIO Playbook is to help you grow in your leadership and technology career objectives and we are always looking to improve this show and your feedback and thoughts are important to us. I love doing this show and really enjoy the opportunity to meet you. Mistakes happen every day along with events. These mistakes and events are not bad in and of themselves it is how we react to them that matters. There is a battle inside of each of us for our soul; two great warriors on opposite sides fighting a terrible fight within for control. One warrior represents fear, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other warrior stands for joy, peace, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The question is which of these warriors will you give advantage to? Resilience is a key trait for management and leadership success. 1) Assess the damage: avoid making a decision in the heat of the moment or when you are panicking, rather take a step back and assess the situation and look at what you have to rebuild with. 2) Own your mess: don’t try to spin it own up to the issues and demonstrate how you plan to correct them Ken Cameron, A Senior IT Infrastructure Sourcing Adviser “The first thing that comes to my mind is "honesty". Expanding: my background is IT Infrastructure services, so my focus would be on service failures. One trait I try to instill into my infrastructure management teams is let's try to tell the users about a failure BEFORE they tell us. 3) Frame the situation constructively: try drawing parallels to greater truths such “Software is never perfect” etc. Then follow-up with a personal statement like, "we seek to learn from ours and others mistakes to avoid making the same mistake again". 4) Make that phone call: look stuff happens, you can analyze it, role play it, forecast it whatever it is still going to happen and our friend Murphy, the guy with that law we are all familiar with, says it will happen at the most inopportune time. So pick up the phone quickly and call your key clients or stakeholders and get out in front of the situation. They will appreciate you more for it and will be prepared when the inevitable questions do arise. Everyone hates to get caught in the hallway unprepared when an ambush question from their staff comes up or even worse the press I have always felt that relating the facts, without twisting them to avoid blame, is critical to establishing a lasting, trustful relationship with the business users. I always make it a policy to follow-up with user executives and ask them for feedback on how we handled the situation, did we communicate effectively, what should we have done differently. 5) Monitor the media: monitor the office environment. After you have called the key stakeholders, who are more willing to accept your apology, you also have to keep an ear to the ground to listen for news or rumours that are heading in the wrong direction and get the positive response message out to them as quickly as possible 6) Ditch excuses: a mistake is really an opportunity to enhance your image, especially if it is widely known, you can play your message if you avoid excuse making,

I this episode I continue my series on how to manage meetings more effectively. Moving into the unique challenges of Video Conferencing. I am choosing to focus on video because technology has advanced to such a level that we all are using video more often. The Art of Meeting Management Chapter 4: Video Conference Etiquette In the 1980 movie Caddyshack there is a scene where the caddy's bet on whether a caddy will pick his nose when he thinks no one is looking only to have him pick and then eat whatever it was he pulled out. Gross? Absolutely! I hope that none of you get caught in a similar situation while sitting on a video conference call. I sure feel like I have observed just about every bad habit possible while sitting on a video. Sometimes I feel like I am watching an Adam Sandler movie. So here are few of my recommendations for effective Video Conferencing: • Sit close together • Zoom the camera to show your faces • Wear the right colors for your complexion • Watch nervous habits. • Careful what your body language is saying • Your facial expressions matter • Be aware of camera location and sound Sit close together I know that some people are uncomfortable with personal space. It is important to understand that If we have everyone spread out in the room the opportunity is lost again and the call becomes more emotionally frustrating for the attendees. Zoom the camera to show your face If it is just you in the meeting zoom the camera to your upper half do not sit at one end of the conference table and then show the entire room. The best part of video is the opportunity to see your face, it is the best way to communicate. Video is different from voice conference calls in that the objective is to see the person on the other end. My teenagers use video chat on a regular basis to talk to friends all over the world. They set the video to show their face so that when a joke is told and it isn't any good the other person can see their scrunched up nose while hearing the laughter. I have video ability set on my office phone and have found that I prefer to talk to people via video because, I know if they are listening. Wear the right colors How often do we watch news or sports anchors wearing a white shirt and a light-colored ties. Or far worse wearing ties in the same color scheme as the shirts they are wearing. The combination washed out under the lighting. If you know you are going to be doing a video meeting and you have a light complexion wear darker colors. I know this may sound vain but more and more our lives are conducted via video and how you present yourself will be part of your measure. Remember the Boy Scout motto "be prepared". Watch out for nervous habits Let me say this one straight; don't pick your nose, your ears, or other parts of your body! We all have a habit of some sort and we do it without thinking. Want to know what yours is? Take your video camera out set it up on top of your TV and record yourself watching it. Then review the video. There will be something there. One of our smarter engineers had this habit of pulling on his eyebrows while talking and until we showed him the video playback he wouldn't believe us. It took a lot of practice for him to stop this habit. Careful what your body language is saying Leaning way back from the table with your hands behind your head says you aren't interested in being in the meeting. Yes, I know you probably aren't. But it is probably not a good idea to telegraph that to everyone else. How you sit says everything. You may not think it is important until you sit on the other side of a call and see the guy lounging backward and with his hands behind his head while you are trying to make your pitch. Your facial expressions matter Ask any poker player. They can tell a lot about what a person is thinking by watching their faces. We all use facial expressions to know if you are happy, mad, or bored.

In this episode I cover 3 tips that will improve your professional network Connections with the right people put you on the path to success. Being able to leverage your people networks saves you time, energy, and money. My network has been the source of my jobs for many years, I cannot remember the last time I looked for a job directly. My connections have created opportunities. Now I am working to give back to my network just as I am working to give back to the Toastmasters organization for the benefits I have received Building a network requires stepping outside of your comfort zone. While today it is much easier with social media capabilities Anthony Meindl, author of the book At Left Brain Turn Right: An Uncommon Path to Shutting Up Your Inner Critic, Giving Fear the Finger & Having an Amazing Life! Said in an interview on the New Man Podcast that everything we want is available to us Anthony Meindl goes on further to say that Fear of failure and fear of success hold us back. Go inside yourself to be able to do the things you want to do. You are the answer for everything that is happening in life, you just have to go out and make a stand for it. Where are you holding yourself back. Life is about missed moments because you are in your head and not getting out and looking to others. We are so concerned about what people are thinking about us. They are thinking about themselves. Everyone is trying to solve problems in relation to themselves and are only perceiving us in relation to their own issues. All is filtered through our own ego needs. Step 1: Meet New People In Zoe B’s article posted to Tiny Buddha titled 7 steps to master a new skill, the author says - Embrace the fear, we naturally fear the unknown I agree with Zoe’s approach of going all in. Networking is not physically dangerous nor is meeting new people. The worst thing that can happen is the person you reach out to isn't interested. - Be patient, it takes time to learn a new skill It sure does and each of us must be aware of our inner critic and not let it prevent us from moving toward our goals - Persist, if you keep pushing through you will eventually get there Get to Know People The secret is to talk as little as possible and ask questions that are related to what the other person is saying. It is all in the listening Step 2: Give First Michael Hyatt in his book Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World has the rule of 20 to 1. Michael says, “It represents a ratio. It means that you have to make 20 relational deposits for every marketing withdrawal.” I have always found that networking is a two-way street. You give to others first before the getting can come back to you. That is why I share interesting articles do this podcast and call and talk with colleagues on a regular basis. Take people to lunch Share pertinent articles Make phone calls to learn information Participate on-line Support others before they ask you Compliment someone else’s work Step 3: Regular Follow Up In the Career Tools Podcast, “The Rule of 50” first published on June 18, 2009 Mark Horstman and Mike Auzenne talk about how most of us have a real connection with about 50 people. Touching base with your connections on a regular basis is important and the on-line tools Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter provide an easy way to keep a connection to your network active. Collaborate Ask tons of questions Say thank you often Say no sometimes Follow up pronto Don’t just network when you need something Meet people in person Take Notes Make connections Befriend all people Genuinely try to help Episode Influences Toastmasters International The New Man Podcast Career Tools Podcast Learning is a Series of Steps: 7 Tips to Master a New Skill  

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