Being Exceptional 101

Why is it that we all, especially when we’re young, get stuck wanting to fit-in, blend; be part of the crowd, instead of doing the obvious and being exceptional?

Being exceptional may take some creativity and it definitely means having to be bold. Yet isn’t the act of being exceptional and the way it inspires others worth it?

I find the older I get, my noticing exceptional, or my being inspired is not an easy feat. Therefore, when I do notice exceptional, it tends to really get my attention.

Recently I was visiting my daughter for her birthday and we went to a Thai/Vietnamese restaurant. I’d actually been told about the restaurant prior to her moving to the area, along with a few other spots that we’d already frequented. The other spots were good, a couple of them, the word “groovy” would even apply. Upon pulling into this place I thought it too would be good, and likely a little groovy. When we walked in however, what I discovered was much much more.

Literally, upon stepping onto their front patio you were immediately transported to another place and time. You were in a foreign land that was colorful, ancient, and wise. Everywhere you looked, every nuance was on-point. Upon being seated in an outdoor back area, guests were placed in their own private little shacked area. The food came and it was perfect and there was tons of it. I had to visit the restroom during dinner. I found that it too heavily and fully held that same ancient charm the rest of the restaurant did. I left inspired and in awe. I’d experienced exceptional. It had crept up on me, taken hold, and it was wonderful.

What does it mean to be exceptional?  According to Merriam Webster: unusually good : much better than average.

I would say that I have to agree with Merriam Webster, but I’d go a little bigger. Exceptional is noteworthy and bold. Exceptional is breathtaking, memorable, makes an impact and inspires. Thank you to all who have the guts to go the exceptional route. I aspire daily to catch-up with you; and when I see and experience you, I go a little faster.

Listen up

When you’re in this biz, the PR/marketing biz, you’re an advisor. One of the firms I worked with the proprietor and CEO was adamant about our being advisors and leading the client. I often scratched my head in bewilderment at how much we led, but didn’t listen.

Shortly after that stint, I founded CCS. I wanted and needed to be with my family more, loved what I was doing, but thought there MUST be a better way of working with clients and I was going to find it, discover it, create it! My intention, my big idea, was to listen. I wanted to be a good listener. The thought… a good listener could in turn be a good advisor.

That was nine years ago. I’ve learned a lot since then, and I’m happy to report that it works. Our culture is to first listen, really listen, then advise and then, at the end of the day, respect our client’s wishes whether they’ve taken the counsel they’ve been given or decided upon a different path. It’s simple, but hey, it works and that’s what matters.

My Mentor

Mentor is a big word. It’s a word that has a lot of meaning. When I was a young woman I remember hearing it on TV or a movie, or by someone giving a speech thanking their mentor and thinking how cool it was, the idea of someone caring enough about someone’s future, fostering growth, that they’d take that person under their wing and make them better.

Fast forward a couple of years, I’m working in marketing and sales support, DB (we’ll call him) is hired and becomes my boss. This guy is old school, not super old, but definitely old school. He knows everybody, has a great, big reputation, he’s all that and shocker, he’s not a fan of me (or so I thought).

He was savvy, his dress, his talk, how he worked people, how he got things done (his way), he had more leeway than I’d ever seen anyone in the company have. He was smooth. Unfortunately, when I walked into the room all that savviness was out the window and was replaced with hardnosed, hard assed DB. It felt many times like he was two people and in fact looking back, he was.

To everyone else he was an associate, a co-worker, an employee, a friend, but to me, for me, he was a mentor. I will never be able to forgive how hard he was on me, but more importantly I’ll never forget how much better he made me. His lessons, though hard, stuck with me, made an impression and are with me still today. In truth, I didn’t like him very much. I respected him, but I didn’t like him.

Instead, I’ll always be grateful that he saw something in me and instead of taking the easy road of being the nice guy with me, like he was with everyone else, he took a different road and fostered what was to be great in me.  

Thank you DB.

What my mentor taught me:

It’s not about me. It’s about what’s best for the company.

Show up, whether you’re sick, down, hung-over, show up because you’re expected to.

It’s the good ‘ole boys club. Work with it, not against.

Work harder, work smarter than everyone else.

Don’t involve “feeling” words into any verbal or written communications (ie I think we should… Instead should be, I recommend we…)

Best business practices for working from home

Best business practices for working from home

I’ve read all kinds of statistics and known so many people who loved the idea of working from home, but couldn’t make working from home, work (no pun intended).

I get it. All the things that make working from home sound so great, are also the things that make it so tough.

Pros

_No boss looking over your shoulder

_Working at your own schedule

_Spending more time with your family

_No chatty co-workers consuming or wasting your time

_No commute to work (wasted time)

Cons

_No structure, easy to get lazy

_Really easy to do laundry or do a Netflix day. That press release can wait until tomorrow

_Lonely, no one to talk to, bounce ideas off of

_Easy to become disconnected, recluse

So with all that, how does it work? How can it work?

_1 Put structure to your business. Business practices. Everyone has a boss, even if you’re your own boss. Accountability. Accountability to yourself first and then to your clients.

_2 Have a routine. Ie. Mine. Get up. Make coffee. Drink coffee. Work, work, work. If you want to throw in a chore set a time limit for it ie. 30min clean house and do laundry. Set a timer. Once the timer rings. It’s back to work.

_3 Include your family as much as possible. This is tough when you have little kids, but involving them in your business in even some small way helps them understand the importance of what you do and the time it takes to do it.

_4 Make friends, find other “like minded” people in your profession or a related one talk through ideas, find ways of collaborating, brainstorm. You know the idea, two heads are better than one, three heads are better than two and so on and so on.

The art of follow-up

It’s always amazing to me how it’s the simple things that matter.

A prime example is follow-up. Simple, yea? Yea! Yet when I look at some of the best projects and/or clients we have or do work with, it’s the follow-up that’s set us apart.

So why is that? Why is follow-up so important? It’s important because it says you matter. You’re important. I want your business. I’ll do anything to get it. This is the way we do things – we stick to it. It’s important because it says a lot.

Want more business?

Want a first or even second date with that special someone?

Want that house you made an offer on, but got turned down.

Two words. Follow-up.

Learning as a lifelong practice

Every Jan01 I’m inspired. I’m inspired by the newness, the blank slate that lies ahead, the potential and possibility.

We discovered in early December that one of our largest accounts of 2014/2015 had decided to make a shift in their organization and we would no longer be part of that equation.

I understood it, the rationale, and there were absolutely no hard feelings. There was, and is, simply a wish you well.

I for one do not believe in worry. I’ve always lived under the “one door closes, one door opens” mindset, though often not having to put it into practice. I made the decision then to go through the holidays without worry and to start fresh Jan01.

Jump ahead to Jan01. I sat at my desk looking through new and old emails, documents, current and past work, and made the decision to instead evaluating with whom potential business might be cultivated, look at what we really offer and what might we hone our skills in more--- I looked at potential. I looked at the things we, or I, had shied away from doing the last couple of years, because they weren’t in my skillset or expertise and they certainly weren’t in my comfort zone.

I began furiously, fearlessly, diving into the unknown. I looked at what we’d done, how we could do it better, and what we knew nothing about, but could master. I looked at our model from A – Z, what works, what doesn’t, all of it. I did an audit. Audits are not fun. They’re revealing.

What I realized is we’d become a wheel. A complacent, comfortable wheel with the work we had and the opportunities we’d been awarded. We were managing the business, not growing the business. We were not seeking out (furiously and fearlessly) better ways of supporting our client’s success. We instead were just doing the work in front of us, servicing it, billing it and getting paid.  It was a revelation. It was that big. We needed a jump-start, a refresh, a new beginning.

Jump ahead to Mar01. We redesigned and launched a new website. Our company’s other administrator, and myself, are engaged 2+ hours, daily, in online training sessions, webinars, online discussions, new certification programs and have made curriculum a mandatory part of our business practice. We hired two young, bright associates to work on the team. We are seeking new and better ways of partnering with service providers.

In essence we are evolving.

What we’ve realized during this evolution is that we can never be complacent. We should never be comfortable and to truly advise and service our client’s best interest, we must put our oxygen mask on first, save ourselves. Only then, when we’re breathing, alive, can we be our best for others.

Fear of… what exactly?

Scrolling through Facebook today, I saw a video on a social experiment that asked random New Yorkers to write down their biggest regrets. Interestingly enough, they were all centered around not doing something.

I think we can all relate. It’s a sad fact that potential is often squashed by paralyzing fear. Fear calls us to be still and wait for the moment to pass--- for our more practical selves to return, instead of calling us to take action, to go out on a limb, to listen to our bravest self, the self that yells and screams “just go for it”. Fear of failure, mistakes, the unknown, etcetera as we’d say in the south, is hogwash. It’s nonsense.

The reality is that failure, the unknown, getting hurt is all inevitable. The real decision, and question we must ask ourselves is whether we’re going to live courageously or cowardly.
I for one, want to be a lion.

Artwork by: ElenaShved.deviant.com