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Tag: opportunity

3 tips to make your meeting count

Tip #1: If you’re looking to connect meaningfully, place the other before you.

Most successful people are busy people. They’ve carved time out of their day to meet with you. Time is a resource neither party can redeem after you’ve parted ways. Be considerate.

After every meeting, thank each and every person for their contribution and time. A follow up thank you builds rapport and communicates respect, paving the way towards a meaningful connection. Your thank you also provides an opportunity to make sure your intent and needs have been clearly communicated.

Tip #2: People cannot help you if they don’t know how.

“I’m looking for a job” will quickly place you into a forgotten drawer of miscellaneous. However, confidently stating, “I’m looking to support locally owned restaurants with sustainable missions” positions you in a specific category, making your ask an easy recall. Guess who will be first in mind when any kind of opportunity in the health, wellness, hospitality, sustainable industries pops up? Be specific and know what you want. People generally want to see you succeed and will help if they know how.

Tip #3: Jazzy Jane from Toledo is sitting by the cheese dip.

Effective networking and memorable impressions go hand in hand. It’s like learning names. Create a colorful story when you first meet someone, and you’ll have an easier time asking them to pass the salad bowl.

What characteristics separate you from the crowd? Practice telling your unique narrative to a friend. If you aren’t comfortable making your remarkable presence known, chances are high that you won’t during your meeting, either.

15 things that can happen when you meet the right person

  1. You are encouraged to continue your plan.
  2. Your beliefs are questioned, challenged, possibly scrutinized.
  3. New solutions are brainstormed, and different outcomes to existing situations are imagined.
  4. A new approach is considered.
  5. You learn something about yourself and/or the world.
  6. You are prompted to change, grow, create, question.
  7. Unexpected commonalities are uncovered.
  8. Mutual beliefs are shared and exchanged.
  9. An authentic emotional exchange takes place.
  10. Meaningful conversation occurs, and a deep connection is experienced by both individuals.
  11. A deep respect develops.
  12. Your confidence is strengthened.
  13. You are inspired to explore a new path.
  14. Additional introductions manifest as a result of the meeting.
  15. The meeting leaves you with energy — with new ideas, zest for life, passion.

Get what you want by working backwards

Big Goals — the ones worth mentioning — typically fall into one of two categories:

1. You really, really want something.

Big Goal: I want to … travel around the world, be the company’s top earner, find a fulfilling relationship, double my savings account, change careers.

2. You want to change your behavior.

Big Goal: I am going to … lose weight, eat mindfully, stop smoking, be independent, make confident decisions, become more organized.

Big Goals sound daunting because they’re not easy (if it sounds easy, it probably isn’t a Big Goal). These kinds of goals often entail major life changes — career, relationship, health — and require concentrated focus and energy.

Lately, many of my meetings have involved some sort of goal setting tirade: how to set goals, frustration with achieving them, fear of failing, uncertainty. Since my days working as a probation officer, I’ve encouraged people to set Big Goals, ones that are both lofty and achievable. The trick to success?

Work backwards.

This may sound counterintuitive, but it works.
After you’ve identified and set your Big Goal(s), you must plan smaller, manageable subgoals that point you in the direction of your identified finish line.

Big Goal: I am going to get fit.

subgoal: I am going to start a food diary.

subgoal: I will pack lunch twice this week.

subgoal: I am going to explore different forms of exercise and find what I enjoy.

subgoal: I am going to schedule workouts into my calendar.

etc.

It’s not enough to write your dream on a board and walk away. Your chances of accomplishing Big Goals proportionally increase with the planning and thought you put into your game plan. Subgoals are essential if you’re looking to knock it out of the park.
Set periodic check-in reminders to help you assess whether you are on track. Think of it as a training plan: no marathoner wills himself past the finish line. Successful race days are the result of many mini-runs, planned efforts set with an end result in mind. There’s a reason step-by-step guides work. They take complex processes and break them down into approachable actions.

Big Goal: I am going to get fit. 

today: I am going to start a food diary.

this week: I will pack a lunch twice this week.

by next week: I am going to explore different forms of exercise and find one that I enjoy.

this month: I am going to schedule workouts.

etc.

Set Big Goals. Don’t cut yourself slack.
Just increase your betting odds by making a plan to get there.
 

your dream job is on your desk

What if someone told you that you missed the boat? That the golden ticket to a beautiful home, a happy heart, and an adventurous life was in your back pocket?

What would happen if your phone rang and your boss declared you an asset to the company? If the grocery store clerk looked straight into your eyes and called you a visionary?

What if you found out that “perfect moment” you’ve been waiting for already happened?

What if…

It’s time to find out.

I’ve designed a new offering — part seminar, mentoring circle, book club, networking accelerator, an experience like no other — to challenge you to think beyond “what if” and start venturing into this is it. The first session begins after the holiday season, so you can launch your dreams and your life in a whole new way in 2013.

Learn more about the why and the what here.

14 tips to make your next conference worthwhile

  1. Ask if you can help.
  2. Better yet, email in advance and offer your services.
  3. Do your homework. Learn about the speaker, the attendees, the presentation.
  4. Don’t sit next to someone you know.
  5. Ask a question — everyone will know who you are.
  6. Ask only one question. Don’t be THAT guy.
  7. They are business cards, not playing cards. Distribute sparingly.
  8. Take advantage of the breaks. Chat with fellow attendees. Ask why they’re there.
  9. Organize a dinner and pass out invites during lunch.
  10. Hang out by the food table. Eat last.
  11. Don’t hound the speaker. Send an email three days later with something you learned.
  12. Stay an extra night after the conference ends. Set up coffee dates. Plan a sightseeing tour.
  13. Embrace the unexpected. Don’t over-schedule. Impulse and serendipity are good things.
  14. Graciousness and appreciation cannot be overstated.

Are you the first to the party?

Most people are afraid to arrive early. They stall around and carefully consider the appropriate time to enter the room. Arriving before others places you in the category of looking too eager, bland, idle. And think of all that empty space you have to fill before other guests arrive—silence! awkwardness! preparation! look busy! smile!

Yet these in-between moments are when great relationships are formed. The moments before the talk begins, the hours after the conference has ended, the off-campus lunch break.

Show up early and offer help. You’ll be thanked, you’ll be the first to meet attendees, and you’ll establish familiarity with your surroundings before the rest show up.