Nextvoice247 | VoiceBox

look both ways before crossing the street

I was recently interviewed by Factor77 with Jared O'Toole and Matt Wilson. These guys are doing everything they can to provide interviews with business experts (wingmen) who share their secrets of success from their top notch books, consulting and coaching program.

These guys and the organization they have formed represent what an emerging leader and entrepreneur looks like and they're funny, even when you think they aren't!!  Just a little wingman humor Maverick and Goose.

So take a look as we discuss what happens when your get to the intersection of passion and talent.

listen. learn. share. repeat™

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they said what? | wednesday 4.29.09

It's back... and it's Wednesday! YES we're back from The Go-Giver Tour and it’s that time to answer your questions. Remember we answer your questions you send in via email or upload those FAMOUS videos every Wednesday. And if I don’t have the answer, I know it might be hard to believe we’ll find someone who does. And boy is our network of people ever expanding. So, if you missed this week, you can round up some questions for next week 

Oh and don't think I'm letting you off that easy - We are still kickin' it and taking names of the top 3 thought leaders you would like to meet or talk to. Send them via email at the top of the page. AND ANOTHER THING - go to our homepage and get yourself registered, lot's of exciting things headed your way, and the advantage goes to the registered!!

We are on the quest to register 1000 new members. And just to make it fun tell you what we're gonna do...the 999th person that registers and the 1001st person to register on www.Nextvoice247.com will receive a new Flip HD camcorder. ADDITIONALLY -- the person who refers the most new registrants with a minimum of 5 to play will also win a Flip HD camcorder. When a person registers, they just need to send an email to info@nextvoice247.com with the name of the person who referred them. We cross reference and you are golden.

Some new friends you should get to know Scott Stratten, Loral Langemeier, Bella Patel Sheth, BUZZKILL.

listen. learn. share. repeat.™

saturday night live from Orlando - hear the BUZZKILL

We have been having a great time on the tour - join us tonight for our last live broadcast tonight at 8pm CST | 9pm EST at:

Go-GiverTour.com

We will be supporting Buzzkill @dannybocanegra fighting malaria and recognizing World Malaria Awareness Day.

Thanks to all for your support... let's get after this fight and get our give on.

Back to our regular schedule soon...

Follow the news!!

listen. learn. share. repeat.™

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what am i doing now....? look live or live in recording... :)

Want to know the latest - take a look at last night's live stream and videos.

Go-GiverTour.com

So look for some fun and interesting posts over the next couple of days or tune into the  to see what has been going on an ongoing basis!!! Back to our regular schedule soon...

Follow the news!!

listen. learn. share. repeat.™

g.

they said what? | wednesday 4.22.09

Did you hear the one about...Wednesday! YES it’s time to answer your questions. Remember we answer your questions you send in via email or upload those FAMOUS videos every Wednesday. And if I don’t have the answer, I know it might be hard to believe we’ll find someone who does. So, if you missed this week, you can round up some questions. for next week 

Go to the tour website to register The Go-Giver Tour to start following the comings and goings of the traveling road show.

Oh and don't think I'm letting you off that easy - We are still kickin' it and taking names of the top 3 thought leaders you would like to meet or talk to. Send them via email at the top of the page. AND ANOTHER THING - go to our homepage and get yourself registered, lot's of exciting things headed your way, and the advantage goes to the registered!!

listen. learn. share. repeat.™

g.

do you have change?

You ever have one of those mornings when you know things are about to change? You can’t put your finger on it. It could be small or it could be monumental. But it is going to happen.

That was how I felt this morning. We are about to embark on The Go-Giver Tour and meet hundreds of new friends. That’s social media, that’s change.

I am about to really put the principles of my own beliefs into practice and test their authenticity. While I have done that before, this time as a leader it feels different. It’s changed.

Every good business person, whether you own your own business or you are an ‘intrapraneur’ and own your work inside a corporation, is constantly evaluating themselves and their abilities. Evaluating the effectiveness of their planning, their people skills and their focus.

So today I thought it was interesting feeling the way I did, that while looking for a blog in one of my folders I came across the blog ChangeThis. It focuses on changing mindsets and missions by building manifestos with businesses and individuals. It was originally founded by Seth Godin and now owned by 800-CEO-READ.

Interestingly when we formed Nextvoice247 we didn’t build a mission statement in the traditional sense – we built a manifesto of principles we would operate and serve by. So while change is inevitable, you have to start somewhere. Here is where we are today. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Our Manifesto.

Stewardship of the future begins now.
An agent of change does not wait for change – they shape it by taking action.

An exchange does not always need a receipt.
Sharing ideas, offering guidance, or listening doesn’t always mean we should expect something in return.

Keep it current.
Always stay ahead of the curve. Our job is to always be relevant and current.

Collaborate.
Collaborate, collaborate. And so on and so on.

Grow organically.
Remember we are an outgrowth of what we put in.

Lead first.
Always aspire to be what we are sharing with others.

So try something different today.

listen.learn. share. repeat.™

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and they perform all of those skills on a 4-inch wide beam tim!

Balance is important. Although balance is relative to each individual. When one aspect of our life becomes too dominant we lose that balance and experience conflict. However, if we develop some healthy habits it is possible to achieve balance in a relaxed and calm way. So as we start this week off, I thought we might look at 9 things that could improve our performance.

1) Go home from work on time. You need to look after yourself. Contrary to what the current culture will tell you – we are not machines. You need a healthy balance between the time you spend at work and the time you spend outside the work place. You need to be constantly reminded that there is more to life than work. You’ll act responsibly in crunch time, but run along kids…
2) Don’t be a yes person. This follows on from point number one. You will find it easier to go home on time when you don’t agree to every single thing that is asked of you. Your inbox will never be empty – only agree to things that you can manage and that do not interfere with point 1. And for goodness sake, just because you say yes, doesn’t mean you get the yes when need something. You still have to perform. Yes or no.
3) Go to bed and get up at the same time everyday. Treat this as your foundation for a more balanced and centered life. Creating a natural rhythm to your day will go a long way to creating a rhythm in your business and personal relationships. You will feel rested, grounded in reality and less overwhelmed by events that happen during the day. Early to bed, early to rise…
4) Slow down. Consciously slow down. Walk slower, drive slower, talk slower. Notice things. Notice the ballpark that you pass by each day on the way to work or that café.  Notice! Practice some form of daily relaxation exercise such as meditation, yoga or progressive muscle relaxation. Slow down. Shhhh. Be very quiet in the slow zone.
5) Don’t buy into the culture around you if you don’t want to. News available at all times (mostly bad news), the pressures of work, the go-go-go of modern life – this is what the media likes to tell us about our culture. That is not MY culture. I don’t agree with it and I don’t buy it.
6) Create your own sub-culture involving your friends and family. Surround yourself with people you like and who like you back. Create you own subculture of activities. Leave the couch and TV and go out and meet people.
7) Do something meaningful with your spare time. Volunteer and do something that suits your personality. Not everyone can have the qualities that are required to go visit and talk to the elderly for example. Find out what skills you have (everyone has them!) and see how you could use those skills to help others.
8) Let go of the need to buy the next big thing. If you let go of the cravings to keep consuming and buying things you don’t need then you might not feel you have to work such long hours. Why do you need that car? Is it something you really NEED or just something you think would be nice to have?
9) Develop compassion, patience and tolerance for your fellow people.
Happiness comes from relationships you have with people. We are all very complicated and can have our negative aspects. Developing compassion, patience and tolerance for others will go a long way to having better relationships with people.

So relax. Get your balance. Who cares about the new scoring system if you are prepared to lead.

listen. learn. share. repeat.™

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go away little boy, go away little girl

Ahhh... Sunday.

I am beginning to pack for The Go-Giver Tour. Let's see, a few extra t-shirts (humid in Orlando) and 7 hats for each of my blogs. And no I'm not packing too soon. I have a lot of prep work to accomplish and it's rainy today so why not start now, plus there is very limited space. Maybe one more t-shirt, I should look nice though...

I wish I could say I found this next quote while I was rummaging through my sock drawer, but that wouldn't be real. But when I did find it, I thought this is my perfect Sunday message as I head into this really fantastic week.

"To get away from one's working environment is, in a sense, to get away from one's self; and this is often the chief advantage of travel and change."  ~Charles Horton Cooley

Ahhh... Sunday! Ahhh, travel.

Maybe one more t-shirt - - speaking of t-shirts check out a young entrepreneur named Danny Bocanegra. Danny will be heading Kenya in June. No safari for Dan. He set out earlier this year to raise $5,000 to purchase a minimum of 1000 mosquito nets to fight malaria by selling t-shirts through his organization called Buzzkill. He is partnering with www.volunteerhq.org, teaching English to students who as you might guess will learn how to use the mosquito nets Danny is providing and then the students will go home and train their parents.

Here's what I think is really cool about Dan's travel - when he returns in July, Danny will be starting his own business. An e-commerce site that will be "the hub for fashionable clothing with social awareness". It will be a social enterprise where a portion of every t-shirt sale will benefit a specific cause.

In order to raise the remainder if the money for his planned net allocation Buzzkill is selling t-shirts for $20 + shipping and handling. All of Danny's travel expenses are generously being covered by individual donors. So 100% of the proceeds go to the cause. I just got mine and it is in my travel stack. You might think about your "travel" plans. Go to DannyBocanegra.blogspot.com or Dan.Bocanegra@gmail.com and he can give you statistics and more info. He is close to reaching his goal.

Show the Go-Giver spirit on your travel path today.

listen. learn. share. repeat.™

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pay your do’s

In a world of 140 characters, 22,637 followers on Twitter and “sorry I have too many friends, you will have to friend me on my second page – ‘Aday Laight’…” on Facebook, we seem to have lost some of the high touch that also goes into building a relationship.

Believe me, I would never want to live at any other time than right now. The fact that I can instantly have a connection with someone in Australia or in California or here in Chicago, exchange ideas and then do something is amazing. But we have to work harder when we actually do get to a point when we connect live, yet another miraculous wonder of social media, to be, well – connected.

So today I thought I would give you 7 | Seven | 7 DO’s when building a relationship. I will borrow a bit from the vernacular of Russell Simmons
and his book Do You. But how else could you do anything?

Hopefully, if we had or have good role models these points will reinforce what we know. If they seem new – DO get help from someone you trust…

1.    DO Real – Be who you are. Plain and simple. Fake shines through like a spot light in a prison yard. Authenticity acts like a warm fire. (Nice huh?) You get what you want by being the person you want to be, even if you are still a work in progress.
2.    Do Interested. (not just Interesting) -  You can attract attention or appreciation. Well people that are interested become people who are deeply appreciated and ultimately achieve great things. Being interested in another increases the value you bring to them.
3.    Do Listening Better – I have said it over and over. Be an active and involved listener. You flatter the person speaking to you and you would be surprised what you might learn, and the depth you can add to any relationship.
4.    Do Empathy – If you listen, you will begin to understand how another feels. Say yuk all you want, but the need to be understood is one of the highest human needs recorded.
5.    Do Honest – Say what you are going to do and then do it. That simple. Never create false expectations. Be a man or woman of integrity.
6.    Do Helpful – Little things make a huge impact. Remember the golden rule and people will remember you.
7.    Do Be On Time – Efficiency is a gift of great value. Don’t waste it. The gift or the time.

So just Do. Do the simple, the straightforward, the necessary and watch what happens to your team and your customers.

Count the till after you pay your do’s.

listen. learn. share. repeat™

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lead, follow or get out of the way

Over the past many weeks I have watched the political posturing and intrigue as President Obama made his first International trip as Commander in Chief. The fascination and the observations of every nuance of every word, gesture, glance – all symbolic. All interpretations of leadership. I went looking for lessons we could learn from those that lead our country. I immediately turned to Doris Kearns Goodwin.

Goodwin is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, political historian and Harvard professor. She has done exhaustive research on American political figures and the impact of their leadership on social dynamics. She is also a darn good storyteller and she likes baseball, a life time red Sox fan – what more can you ask of an historian.

I found an article published on the Leader to Leader Institute website where Ms. Goodwin focuses on Presidential leadership and out of that article there are 10 lessons that can be culled from history. Here is my take of the markers of a strong leader:

1.    Timing is (almost) everything. Knowing when to introduce an initiative, when to go before the people, and when to hold off, is a critical skill. Keep one eye on the issue and one eye on the clock.
2.    Anything is possible if you share the glory. Giving others a chance to claim credit is an easy, and effective, way to get results. People want to be a part of a winning team and feel they played a role – an effective and visible one.
3.    Trust, once broken, is seldom restored. It is the most fragile, yet most essential attribute of leadership. No leader can afford to take his word lightly. You simply do what you say you are going to do.
4.    Leadership is about building connections. Effective leaders make people feel they have a stake in common problems.
5.    Leaders learn from their mistakes. To succeed, leaders must acknowledge and understand and improve on their shortcomings. If you don’t learn from a mistake, that mistake just reappears in another form again and again.
6.    Confidence, not just in yourself, counts. Most leaders are self-confident, sometimes to a fault; the real gift is the ability to extend faith in oneself to others. That actually means believing in their gifts. If you don’t trust and extend your faith in others, there will eventually be no one to lead.
7.    Effective partnerships require devotion to one’s partners. Attention to the needs of the most junior player or most remote pays off with energetic commitment. Your team, no matter where they are want to be a part of something greater than themselves and you can use social media to help close the distance.
8.    Renewal comes from many sources. Leaders must know themselves and find their own sources of strength.
9.    Leaders must be talent brokers. The ability to identify, recruit, and effectively manage the best and the brightest people, including people unlike YOU, is itself a talent. Replicating yourself brings nothing fresh or innovative or challenging to your organization.
10.    Language is one’s most powerful tool. Without the ability to communicate, leaders can possess all the attributes and still fail to have an impact. 

Get out and lead.

listen. learn. share. repeat.™

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