At Standing Partnership, “business casual” transforms into “ghoulish-chic” on Halloween. Below you can see Tammy as Minnie Mouse, Jadea as a roller derby girl, Sharon as a deviled egg and Gretchen as a Powerpuff Girl:
My family has become avid users of text messaging. It started, of course, with the eldest of my two daughters. Our family vacation and that of her boyfriend overlapped, meaning they couldn’t see each other for two weeks (horrible, I know). So they began sending text messages. It wasn’t until we received the phone bill that we realized the impact. My husband promptly increased our text message service and before long he started sending text messages. I was the last to sign on, but I’ve discovered something interesting – and I think useful – particularly for parents of teens.
People will send in a text message things they are not willing to speak. This is especially true of teenagers. I shared this with a colleague recently who was complaining about access to his teenage daughter when she was out with friends. She had stopped responding to his calls. I asked him if he tried sending a text. He had not. What I have found, I shared, is that my daughters will almost immediately respond to a text message, even if it’s asking them where they are, when they’ll be home or asking them to call me. I’ve learned their response rate is driven by their ability to be discreet in reading what I’ve sent and in responding. For all their friends may know, they may be responding to another friend, not their “parent,” for goodness sake! The benefit? I find out what I need to know, and they still look cool.
Since I’ve been using this strategy I’ve also learned something else: my kids still love me. Really. They text me all the time! Would they say that to me on the phone with six friends hanging around? Sometimes, but not nearly as often.
What application does this have to business? It’s all about understanding how your audience prefers to send and receive information. Whether it’s a short message they can read on their iPhone, a detailed memo they can forward up the line or a phone call to iron out some differences, recognizing that the various media have their advantages and disadvantages and embracing what works goes a long way in communication.
Do I expect to text my clients soon? Probably not. But I’m glad I get to text “I luv u 2!” to my daughters.
Full disclosure - I’m Southern. I mean seriously Southern. Some of the first words I learned as a child were “please” and “thank you.” If I dared to say “yes” or - horror of horrors - “yeah,” without a “ma’am” or “sir” attached to it, I got my tush swatted. To this day, if I meet anyone even remotely older than me, I’ll call them “Mr.” or ”Ms.” until they give me permission to call them by their given name. To me, it’s a sign of respect - and I’m also probably still subconsciously afraid of getting a swat. 
I also was always taught to be pleasant to everyone, unless they gave you a really serious reason not to be. If you’re committing a felony, chances are I’ll drop my smile. If, however, to use my favorite PR line, “there’s no blood on the floor,” I see no reason to be rude. Unfortunately, so many people in business today don’t subscribe to this philosophy - and it seems to get worse the higher up on the executive chain they get.
Let’s just talk turkey here, folks. I understand you’re busy - and important - and are being pulled in a million directions - but why does that excuse you from saying “please” and “thank you”? Why do you assume that, since your title is the highest in the room, your time is the only time in the room that’s valuable? Why do you think you’ll get quality work out of your people by insulting their work - and sometimes even their intelligence - in front of a room full of people?
I’m incredibly blessed to work at a place where respect is not just a word, but a value ingrained in our company. I can count on one hand the rude comments I’ve had directed to me by co-workers in nearly nine years at Standing, and in every single case, I’ve been quickly apologized to with no outside prodding. In my job, though, I’ve also worked with many executives from companies of all sizes and all levels of success, and I’ve run into more self-absorbed, self-important and just plain rude people than I care to count.
Being rude or brusque or short with people, or whatever you want to call it (slap a sheepskin on it, it’s still a duck), doesn’t make you more important - or earn you more respect - or make people work harder for you. It makes you a jerk, and while you may get short-term results just because people need to feed their families, don’t think for a minute they’re not going to bolt to another job the first chance they get - or resign as your consultant because the money’s just not worth the pain.
Grow up, and learn that no matter who you are, the world doesn’t revolve around you. While you’re at it, read this book…and remember what my mama always said: “You can get so much more of what you want in this world with honey than with vinegar.”
Standing Partnership is celebrating its 16th anniversary this week… we’re celebrating as a group and marking our success with a bit of a respite. I’ve told my family about our plans, and their mouths gaped. The effort that management has made to create a positive, team-based, appreciative culture–one that still produces bang-up results for clients–is really unparalleled. I’m not using PR-speak here! How can celebration, communication and plain old appreciation make a difference? The Wall Street Journal offers a set of questions to help you find the answer.
Does the employer have clear goals and live by them?
Is the employer’s strategic plan understood and embraced by all levels of the organization?
How effective are the company’s communications?
Are employees a part of a team?
Is the company open to change?
Do employees have fun?
Do individual employees have the chance to make contributions?
What training is available?
How does the firm reward employees?
Does the company have a development plan for each employee?
Do employees share in company profits?
What’s the firm’s customer focus?
Happy 16th birthday, Standing . . . and best wishes for many more.
Standing Partnership encourages its team members to get involved in boards and organizations for which they are passionate.
As a St. Louis dog lover, rescuer and foster parent, I’m passionate about helping animals, and I am very proud to be an active foster parent for Stray Rescue of St. Louis and the Humane Society of Missouri.
My journey, captured at http://kgump.wordpress.com/, has been extremely rewarding, and has made me even more driven to help these animals who have been abandoned, abused, and altogether left alone to fend for their lives or else die on the city streets.
But today, as I read the news from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on the dog fighting ring bust, tears threatened my eyes and anger entered my heart.
This hits home. Missouri has a problem. We are one of the leading culprits of puppy mills, and we obviously have a dog fighting issue. St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay comments on the issue in his blog, From the Mayor’s Desk.
According to the Humane Society, national legislation is pending to toughen penalties against animal cruelty. Here’s hoping we don’t hear about another bust for quite some time.
What’s your story? Have you adopted a rescued animal? Fostered? Or stumbled upon a puppy mill or dog fighting ring?
There’s a new study out that claims profantity in the workplace has a postive impact on morale and motivation. On first glance it seems like a load of ____ [the study doesn’t say if cursing is appropriate for a company blog], but perhaps I’m overlooking the merit behind this long-overdue research project.
Letting fly with a good F-bomb every once in a while can be cathartic, but there’s always a time and a place. If you’re around your peers or co-workers you’re extremely comfortable with, perhaps it’s OK. But in front of a client? I don’t think there are many instances where a potty mouth is appropriate.
Here’s the Budweiser take:
What do you think?
Oh goodness…where do I begin? Okay, first I must say that I love Ellen Degeneres — I think she’s funny, smart and refreshing. Talk about a masterful public image turnaround — that lady has done it. Secondly, I love dogs. This week we have watched on national television, the saga of Ellen’s adopted, then given-away, dog unfold. It was tragic really. I mean when I first heard about it I had to go onto YouTube to see the footage of Ellen sobbing for myself. I thought, “What cold-hearted person would take a dog in need of a home away from a loving family with children who adored the little guy…and in the process destroy Ellen to the point where she wasn’t up for her regular dance routine?!” And frankly, I still feel that way. Screw the rules…get a grip people. Sometimes in life you just have to bend a little bit. The dog adoption agency was quick to antagonize Ellen but one can’t help but think they were on a bit of their own power trip as they soaked up their 15 minutes of fame. However… Ellen girlfriend, I think you might have carried on a little too much for a little too long and done yourself some disservice in the PR realm in the process. Over the years, you’ve gone from being a somewhat controversial comedian to becoming everyone’s pal next door and most of us agreed with you and your decision. It just got to be a little much, and started to seem a little self serving as you continued to harp on it on your show, even after it became clear that dog wasn’t returning to your hairdresser and her cute kids. So wipe those tears, put on your dancing shoes and get back to doing what you do best.
I’m hosting a St. Louis blogger gathering as my alter ego, STL Working Mom, on Friday, Oct. 26. Details of the evening are here.
Bloggers from the Where Do You Stand? team who plan to attend include Susan, Maria and Kristin. (There will be more, pending babysitting arrangements!)
We’re looking forward to meeting some of our fellow St. Louis bloggers! Let us know if you can make it.
A friend of mine told me about a method she uses to successfully build her business. She said, “You try to have a four point day, every day.”
Here’s the scoring system:
4 points if you close a deal
3 points if you meet with a decision maker
2 points if you make an appointment with a decision maker
1 point for meeting someone or making that first contact
If every day is a four-pointer, I can see where your business could not possibly do anything but grow. Since she told me about it, I’ve been really focusing on those four points and so far, it seems to be working.
My friend did not give the impression this was an original idea, but I’m not sure of the source — Googling hasn’t turned it up so if it’s familiar to you, please let me know in the comments.
… and as a Republican and a Democrat. Colbert hopes to be added to both parties’ South Carolina’s primary ballots — a feat that will cost him $37,000 and the permission of the State Democratic Party (the Republican Party does not require a Party vote to appear on both ballots).
Elections are becoming less and less issues-based and more and more image-based. It’s not a stretch to assume that the candidate with the greatest PR strategy has a leg up on his or her competition. Colbert is doing exactly what it takes in this day and age to win; even if it is all a big rouse to poke fun at our nation’s highest election. He found a prestigious television program (his own, of course) to announce his candidacy, has found an opponent with whom he will go head-to-head (Barack Obama who says that Colbert is “no Ronald Reagan”) and dropped the ‘T’ in his last name to appease the media.
In the last 24 hours I can recall hearing or reading about the “campaign” on NBC, CNN, NPR, Washington Post, New York Times and other mainstream publications which leads me to wonder, “Will America vote for Colber-nation?” Does America want “Truthiness and Justice for All?” It’s not such a far off notion (California, I’m looking at you and your current and former governors).
