ITB Partners – Management Consultants
Our Business is Your Success
Jim Weber has completed the first phase of a Turnaround Management Engagement for a client in Chapter 11 Reorganization.
His work revealed a clear path for a successful exit from Chapter 11 and a strategy to generate sustainable growth for the client. The next phase will include a detailed plan and the introduction of performance metrics.
For more information about ITB Partners and what we can do for you, contact Jim Weber at; Jim.Weber@itbpartners.com
This week I received an article from my friend, Faith, which she described as ‘must read.’ When Faith sends me a ‘must read’ article, I jump on it! This article was an excerpt from The Complete Guide to Building Your Personal Brand, a book written by Neil Patel and Aaron Agius. Actually, the article is chapter 6, How to Connect With Mentors.
The article begins by stating that “74% of hiring managers, believe that job seekers need the support of a mentor, counselor, or job coach whereas, only 40% of job seekers actually have a mentor to help them through the process.” They quoted Madeline Slutsky, Chairman of the Career Advisory Board and Vice President of Career Services at DeVry University who stated that “job seekers are doing themselves a huge disservice by ignoring the wealth of guidance and insight a mentor could provide.”
They quoted Rachel Louise Ensign of the Wall Street Journal who said that “a mentor can help a young worker answer tough questions about his or her career path and get perspective on the industry. The relationship may even help you eventually land a new job.”
After the setup and further prose on the value of mentors, the article laid out a systematic approach to identify a mentor, how to engage the prospective mentor, and the need to formalize a structure for a productive relationship.
This post was clearly meant for someone beginning their career, a primer as it were, which is fine. It’s an important topic, worth discussion. There’s so much to learn about navigating organizational cultures that one needs a mentor or coach to help accelerate their learning.
I find it useful to distinguish between the work of a coach and mentor. Although there may be some overlap in their approach, there is a difference. A mentor is more of a strategist and generalist whereas a coach is more tactical and specific. This point is a generalization, of course, as mentors can be strategic or tactical, depending on the situation. In my experience, mentors are people you call on to better understand the dynamics of a situation. They are guides. They don’t tell you what to do but help you learn by providing options to consider. A coach, on the other hand, helps you develop skills and provides feedback and encouragement. Another important distinction is that coaches are often paid for their services. Mentors are volunteers who gain satisfaction by giving back.
The situation is relevant as well. A mentor or coach appropriate for career development on the job may not be suitable to help you during a job search. A career coach experienced in job search will provide relevant tactical support for resume preparation, networking effectiveness, and interviewing skills, to name a few.
I couldn’t help but think that finding a mentor is a subset of building a network to support your career. That thought sparked my thinking on a broader level. Faith’s recommendations tend to do that. I was reminded of the chapter I’d just read from Strategic Connections. Those authors speak about the importance of creating teams to accomplish different objectives. They say that, depending on the nature of the objective, different personality types are required to achieve the objective. They identify 14 different archetypes as follows:
Thinking about the issue further, finding mentors and coaches is part of building your network. You’ve probably been on different teams from time to time, both at work and play, so you have experience. To achieve important goals, we often need to assemble a team. Depending on the nature of the objective, the team may be broad, or it may be small.
From a broader perspective, the issue is about building a network of people with diverse skills and perspectives who can be a resource to you. I believe it’s about developing relationships based on mutual respect and interests. You’re not only developing a team to support your needs; you’re a member of your contacts’ teams. Expect to be called on when they need you. Make sure to answer their call.
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Enjoy a Spring Evening in Midtown making new network connections over Beer, Wine, and hors d’oeuvres.
When: March 26, 2019 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Building off the concept of Speed Dating, this event is designed to practice and improve your networking skills with a number of people, in short, intense meetings.
The fun begins at 4:30 p.m. with beer, wine, and hors d’oeuvres. A $15 Cover Charge is required.
Our Host, Global Showrooms is located across the street from the Midtown Marta Station on 10th street, at: 10 10th Street NW, Suite 150, Atlanta, 30309
For more information, and to register,
Click Here!
Last week I talked about building a foundation for success. This week I was walking the walk, immersed in the concept of building healthy cultures. I have long been interested in developing nurturing cultures, so once again I was in my sweet spot. The fun began late Monday afternoon, meeting a founding partner to talk shop and other things over cigars and Guinness Draft. One of our primary topics was the values we need to reinforce to build a better culture and company. He is a big proponent of the 5C model, but I will save that for a later date.
Tuesday morning, I facilitated the monthly meeting of the Business Executives Networking Group, The BENG. Gregg Burkhalter was the featured speaker. Greg positions himself as the LinkedIn Guy. He’s an advocate for personal branding via LinkedIn. Before the meeting, Greg told me that he’s been doing more work for corporations, helping their employees become effective LinkedIn users. I found his revelation shocking. I remember when people were reluctant to join LinkedIn. They feared their employer would see their profile and think they were looking for another job.
Greg said that employers realize that their employees are their best ambassadors. Now, they encourage their employees to become active on LinkedIn. Apparently, this has become an upgrade to many cultures. The cynic in me would say “it’s about time.” With so many people using LinkedIn, employers don’t have much choice. It makes sense to embrace LinkedIn, gaining leverage through their employees’ accounts. At least it seems to be a positive step in the right direction
Wednesday evening, I enjoyed a cigar and a beer, or two, with a millennial friend, Chris. Chris and I met through a mutual friend. He was about to publish his book on millennial happiness and I had just published mine. He’s since built a consulting career as an expert on the millennial condition. Our meeting was meant as check-in and catch-up. Chris said that he’d recently completed a presentation to Google and delivered a Ted talk. Currently, he’s moving beyond Millennials to the larger population of career professionals. Eventually, we moved on to discuss the similarities and differences between Millennials and Baby Boomers from a cultural perspective. Chris, like me, is involved in helping companies create more effective cultures.
Thursday morning, after closing a deal to recruit another consultant, I moderated our Executive Leadership Team meeting. Although I facilitate these meetings, I try to avoid dominating the discussions. I want to ensure that everyone’s voice heard and respected. From a leadership perspective, I like Nelson Mandela’s example, be the last one to speak. I believe these values are appropriate for our culture.
Later that afternoon I met a potential client whose company is going through Chapter 11 reorganization. I was referred to them to help engineer a turnaround. The meeting was mostly a “getting to know you” session. It seemed to be dragging on until I asked their opinion about what needed to be done. The meeting became much more productive after that. The CEO became animated about the need to penetrate a different segment of the market. She told me that their primary business development function was her networking through trade associations. They weren’t doing much of anything in the way of electronic
Friday, I facilitated our monthly member’s meeting. The speaker was Josh Sweeney of Epic Culture. Epic Culture works with companies to build better cultures and thereby, improve performance. The topic of his conversation was “Culture First Hiring.” In other words, focus on
It isn’t often that I’m able to spend an entire week working on my favorite issue. Building a healthy culture is most gratifying. Yes, it was a good week!
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ITB PARTNERS
Gregg Burkhalter, “The LinkedIn Guy” presents to the BENG Atlanta Chapter, March 12, 2019. Gregg is an awesome presenter who always delivers! In every presentation, he brings new tips and techniques to make your LinkedIn profile best represent your personal brand.
ITB PARTNERS
Wednesday, February 13,
The panelists talked about the need to follow your passion when picking a business. They reinforced the need for confidence to strike out on your own. Perseverance through difficult times was recognized as a fundamental requirement. All agreed that the major reason for starting a business is to gain control over one’s life and career, especially in a highly volatile environment where tenures are short.
ITB practice leaders make a difference. Here is a case in point.
Mark Grace is an ITB practice leader on Customer Experience for businesses and consumers.
He sees society at a new inflection point, building to a new level of achievement. Just as Thomas Kuhn coined the word “paradigm” to explain the scientific revolution and its impact, Mark coined the word “experidigm™” to describe the all-at-once consumer experience revolution and its future direction.
The experidigm inflection point means that the economy and associated consumer actions are moving beyond a product centered world to buying a complete experience universe. BtoC and BtoB now buy whole experiences potentially made up of hundreds of products and services (i.e. Utilities buy all the products of the Smart grid all-at-once). To support the buying of an entire experience, businesses are organizing in new, non-silo product ways to manage the logistics, marshalling, and delivery to these experience buying consumers (ie Uber, Airbnb, etc.). Consumers are intentionally integrating the new experiences in to their lives in new ways.
Recently, Mark was awarded a patent on “how to design experiences” (https://www.linkedin.com/in/markgracebeyondvia). He has created “Applied Experidigm Zones” where you can go to learn how to experidigm. To learn how to offer experidigms to consumers, Click Here.
Mark Grace holds six additional patents on how to visually communicate and steward the creation of experiences. Mark has published six books (amazon.com/author/markgracepath) describing “how to experidigm,” teaching consumers and groups how to integrate products and services into joyful experiences. Mark regularly offers seminars for corporations and consumers.
For further information about Mark Grace, review his ITB profile at (www.itbpartners.com). Get a free assessment to design your all-at-once customer experience.
It is Prime Time! The end of 2022 is upon us, and the celebration is beginning. You may be attending a lot of parties and networking events. In keeping with the season, it makes sense to offer some advice and guidance to ensure you have a productive month.
The Holiday Season is all about bringing people together. It is a time of celebration, reflection, and anticipation for the New Year. It’s a time for networking groups to schedule events to close the year. This month, you can meet people you want to add to your business network or social circle. These events are target-rich environments to identify and connect with influencers. Although each event will have a specific focus, you can exercise some leverage. In other words, social events can generate proper job-search connections, while professional networking events may result in social opportunities.
As you contemplate your calendar for December, begin with a plan. Determine what you want to accomplish this month. If you are between situations or looking to move, you may be looking for people to help you locate your next job. In this case, you should try to attend as many events as possible. Of course, you will necessarily want to prioritize your time for friends and family. Religious activities are an essential consideration. If there is a conflict, all things being equal, opt for the event that best supports your objectives for the month. In some cases, you may be able to attend multiple events, dividing your time between them on the same day.
Set a goal for each party! Begin with the guest list. Who do you want to meet? Plan to meet specific people who may be helpful. Learn who will attend each event and determine who you want to meet. Researching guests is a lot easier today, as more and more event planners are using online applications to manage attendance. Those applications will notify you as others accept the invitation, so you will know who plans to attend. Then, you can cross-reference individuals to their LinkedIn profiles.
Time is short. Be strategic! The objective is to meet influential people, gain their interest, and schedule a follow-on meeting. Make a good impression, so they will want to help you. Leverage your friends, family, and acquaintances to help identify these influencers. Ensure your elevator pitch and appropriate variations are well-honed and committed to memory. Bring business cards to distribute. Make notes on the back of each card you receive to send a personalized message. Remember, ask to schedule a meeting. Additionally, become connected to these folks on LinkedIn. Everyone is a potential lead to a job, so introduce yourself to someone new.
Stay focused on your objective. Your approach will differ depending on whether the event is business-related networking or more of a social event. If the event is for business networking, stay focused on business. If the event is a social gathering, be sociable. As you get to know the other party, there is nothing wrong with learning about their occupation, whether in a social setting or their interests, if at a networking event. Begin with casual conversation. Ask questions, including advice. Listen with interest. Stay away from religion, politics, or other potentially sensitive issues, unless you are talking with like-minded friends or associates
Here are some parting thoughts. Maintain a friendly, positive attitude and smile. You will attract more interesting people. Dress appropriately. You don’t want to stand out negatively. Eventually, most people will migrate in your direction. Don’t overindulge in food or alcohol. Remember to thank the host before leaving, and later, send a thank you note. Enjoy yourself; the Holiday Season can be a lot of fun!
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Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read. Your input is important to me, so; please leave a comment.
ITB PARTNERS
