Leadership Toledo, Part III

Today our group of Leadership Toledo members learned how to work together so that when we decide on a project at our next meeting, we'll have an idea of how to use our various personalities and work styles to our advantage. Ernie Lewis of E. A. Lewis Consulting led the day.

To keep the long day from becoming boring or exhausting, our day was broken up by fun things to do, too.

The best part of the day was the scavenger hunt of downtown Toledo. All six teams were sent out with a list of 13 items to find and then we were to photograph the team in front of the item. We found 11 of the 13 and also thought that our photo creativity should have given us bonus points.

For example: One hint was to find two turtles and two frogs. As you can see, Collette Cordova, John Borell, Brad Augustyniak, Dan Peffley and Lynn Eicher decided to pose as frogs. (I was behind the camera.)

Another clue was to find two dates (1875 and 1953). The clue didn't say they were on the same building, but I think Brad was the one who remembered that the Trinity Church, where Leadership Toledo is headquartered, had burnt and been rebuilt. So you can see that the group is paying homage to the church by taking a prayerful stance.


Another task was to find the "surprised George," and you can see the statue in the back of us that fronts Georgio's restaurant. And yes we were cold. Two days ago it was 90 degrees here in NW Ohio and today we were chillin'.

When we analyzed our personalities earlier in the day, our team was heavy with producer personalities. Those are the ones who like to just jump in and do something for the sake of getting something done. We failed in the toothpick and miniature marshmallow, tower building exercise because we didn't think out a plan first. But with the scavenger hunt, we either had great blind luck or as I'd like to think, our intelligence pulled us through!

When was the last time you were on a scavenger hunt and was it fun for you?

PowerPoint Pity

Here I go on PowerPoint again.

I attended a presentation recently. The lights were dimmed and the speaker began his presentation -- you guessed it with PowerPoint. This first slide had FIVE bullet points and each one had a paragraph attached to it. To give the speaker credit, he did know his material and could speak eloquently about it. But his slides really didn't always fit, and they were boring graphs and facts. Ugh!

That very same evening I was a guest of Davis College for an annual event called Dining for Success. The business fraternity organizes this event every year for the students. They get the experience of being at a mock business meal. Also, they usually have a speaker talk about manners and business etiquette at these meals. This year the speaker was my friend, Linda Fayerweather of Changing Lanes, LLC. (that's her to the left. She really didn't have her eyes closed during the whole presentation!) She makes manners fun. She also brings a piece of paper that resembles a place mat with an image of a place setting. She then uses this to teach from. She also puts a few bullet points right on this handout. Simple and effective. No PowerPoint!

Over the last week in our newspaper, there was an article about a local congressman who had agreed to speak before a junior high class. He downloaded a government produced presentation from the web via a memory stick that he then transferred to his laptop. You can imagine his horror when he flashed his first PowerPoint image up on the screen only to see if contained a picture of naked women. Seems his teenage son had been surfing the net and had used the same memory stick. Just think of how much less hot water the congressman would have been in if he had only just talked with the students instead of having the electronic crutch that so many use.

PowerPoint is an excuse that makes for weak presentations, non-focused presentations, boring presentations and sometimes as in the case of the congressman, surprising presentations.

Which side of the PP aisle do you find yourself?

V.- V.I.P.

Last night Steve and I asked his mom, Marilyn, to go out for dinner. She said that she wanted Italian. That made me remember an email I had received a couple days ago that let me know that our friends, Gus and Cheryl Nicolaidis were having a "soft" opening of their new restaurant, La Scola.

We we arrived at the parking lot, it seemed a little bare, in fact there were cars parked only at the back of the building. The front door was locked and had a handwritten sign saying, "Sorry, our grand opening was mistakenly published as tonight, but it will be Oct. 9."

Disappointment.

But my hubby is not to be stopped.

He just sauntered around to the back door and entered the kitchen. Gus was there and invited us in. There was all kinds of food, as it was supposed to be a tasting night for the staff. Cheryl was at the beautiful bar, giving a taste test to a salad.

She immediately made us feel like welcome guests, not party crashers. We took a tour of the nicely done restaurant including the walls of black and white photos of local personalities and even some nationally recognized people. (Me, "Hey, that looks like Eppie Lederer - Dear Abby - in that picture." It was.) All the photos were taken during the 40 - 50's. Marilyn was happy to see that my father-in-law is pictured twice on the wall.

But let me tell you about the food. The plates just kept arriving at the bar where we sat with Cheryl. The most delectable mozzarella I have ever eaten. The olives were a delight. I think at least six different kinds of pasta made their way to our eating board. The veggie Cacciatore was my favorite for the longest time. Then when I thought I could eat no more, the eggplant Parmesan arrived. It was not only the best I've ever had, the portion size meant that I'd have enough for three meals in the doggie bag. And we thought we were done. But a shrimp appetizer arrived. I cut off just a little piece and oh my god, now I won't be able to decide what to order the first time I visit without crashing the party.

Gus had to leave right when we arrived, but Cheryl, made us feel right at home ... just as if we were in her home. You can bet I will be back because I'll want to share this wonderful experience with others.

Thanks, Cheryl and Gus for a night to remember. And since I can't go to the VIP opening because I'll be teaching that evening, I am content with being a V-VIP - that is a very, very important person. That's one who comes in the back door!

What's your favorite restaurant story?

Business Card Etiquette

As I have mentioned in a previous post, I have a networking presentation entitled Six Steps to Purposeful Networking that I really like because I can change it to fit a specific situation even as I am speaking.

Several months ago when I arrived at a club to deliver this talk, a member of the audience walked up to me before I had even caught my breath and handled his business card to me, without asking for mine.

So that day, the part of the presentation where I talk about not shoving your own business card at people without asking for theirs first, was eliminated because I wanted to allow that eager beaver to save face. I am really conflicted about doing this, because it is an important message that many people need to hear -- especially the eager beavers of the world.

I know that I am invited to speak as the expert, but if I definitely make someone feel uncomfortable about how they acted with me, they will probably not hear much beyond that specific point of my delivery. And that is the good reaction. The less than wonderful reaction could be that they get defensive and combative for the remaining of the presentation.

Big dilemma. No answer.

Got any?

Letters, We Get Letters!

A funny thing happen on the way to the .......

This week when I was presenting a training about networking, one of the participants asked my opinion about following up with a letter after a networking event. I truthfully gave my opinion that this is not the best way to handle these new acquaintances.

1. A phone call would be better, because after all, no one is going to do business with you because of a form letter. And this phone call should be to find out more about what the other person does, not about you.

2. A personalized email is second best, as long as it is personalized and not just an electronic version of the paper form letter.

3. A handwritten thank you note can be almost as good as a phone call, although if you want to meet with this person you are going to have to call them anyway.

Last week an associate of mine also presented a training. At the end of the session, one of the participants asked for his card. He was pretty impressed thinking that this new person might be interested in his business offerings.

Not so.

Instead this newbie sent him an email form letter telling him in a very L-O-N-G email, full of industry lingo, what she could do for him if he'd only buy from her.



Follow up can be deadly if done wrong.

Follow up can be deadly if not done.

Follow up can be fruitful if done with the other person in mind.


What do you have to say about all this?

Purposeful Networking

Today I presented an educational session entitled Six Steps to Purposeful Networking to the Home Builders' Association of Washtenaw County (Michigan). I love giving this presentation because it is open-ended enough that there can be lots of audience participation.

Today was the ultimate. There were so many questions and comments from the participants about shaking hands, personal body space, sending out sales letters, asking questions and scheduling appointments. This crowd really wanted to learn.

I can't remember all the names today, but thanks to Leo, Ron, Janet, Karen, Nate, Dan, John, Les, Lora and Christine Hill who invited me AND Missy Lowler, who represents the Builder's Club, who referred me to Christine. Sometimes I'm glad to be done, but today I wished I'd had more time to spend with this great group. They gave as much or more to me than I think that I was able to give to them.

When was the last time you wanted to spend more time at something?

Leadership Toledo, Part II

Last Friday was the second session of Leadership Toledo. We spent the day on an air-conditioned bus driving to various points in Toledo so that we all could get a feel for what we might have missed about "our town." At each point along the way, we picked up or listened to a special expert on that area. Each person brought information AND humor to their presentation.

Nick Malone gave us the details of the east -- an area of Toledo that I can always manage to get lost. It was interesting to hear of each little settlement and how architecture reflected the country from which the settlers immigrated from.

My favorite spot of the day was the Old West End. While today we think of this as "downtown," back in the "old days" this was the new suburb. The Old West End Association's members are joined by an interest in the # of fireplaces, types of doorknobs, types of architecture and events. We were welcomed to the Edson Baumgardner House (the picture of only of the back of the house, for some reason I didn't take a picture of the front.) on Parkwood by the current owner, a retired history teacher. He is passionate about this house and that he is the steward of keeping it for generations in the future. One of our Leadership Toledo members had enjoyed having this man as his teacher and said that the owner was the best teacher he had in his whole schooling.

I'll tell you more about our day in another post. But if you get a chance, take a self-guided walking tour of the Old West End some Sunday afternoon. It will be a pleasure.