Monthly Archives: August 2011

It’s Never a Bad Time to Start a New Year

30 Tuesday Aug 2011

Posted by in Goal & Priority Setting

≈ 1 Comment

I am not entirely sure what it is, but I simply love a “new year” – and it doesn’t need to be a calendar year. Some people dread the ritual of making New Year’s resolutions, and I actually look forward to it. In fact, I have more than one “New Year” every year. Some great times to refresh your goals and priorities are in the fall at back to school time (like right now), when beginning a new calendar year, on your birthday, and after a break (like a vacation). I always welcome the opportunity to take a step back, look at everything going on and make a plan for how to bring a fresh perspective to everything I’m working on.

As you get back into a routine this fall, here are a few things to think about when setting up your action plan:

  • Do all your priorities still make sense? Whether it’s in your business life or your personal life, you’ve likely found yourself working on something and said “Why am I even doing this?”. Taking a step back will give you an opportunity to look at everything you have on your priority list and decide if there are some things that should just be scrapped.
  • Are your priorities balanced? Great news – you look at your priority list and it’s clear that if you accomplish all you’ve set out to do, you’re going to be a rock star in your job or in your business. But, what about your health and fitness? Or a plan to strengthen relationships with family and friends? For those of you that know me, you know balance is a weakness of mine (which I’m continually working on) but if you don’t start to make a plan for balance, I’m confident it won’t just appear.
  • Are you challenging yourself? If you look at your goals for the coming months or even the coming year and they look vaguely familiar, it could be because they were the same goals you had last year… and the year before… and maybe the year before that. In order to experience a new level of success, you’ll need to include on your priority list some goals that challenge you.  Things you haven’t done before, people you haven’t met, places you haven’t been. Step outside your comfort zone and include at least a few goals that make you say “I have no idea how I’m going to do that”. That’s what will help you stretch, grow and learn how to get to your next level.

As we head in to fall, I plan to revisit my personal and career objectives to make sure I’m focusing on the right areas, working towards better balance and am challenging myself every day. How about you?

The Value of “Face Time” (and I Don’t Mean on Your iPhone)

26 Friday Aug 2011

Posted by in Relationship Building

≈ 1 Comment

We’re in an age where technology is thriving and in many cases, people have replaced face-to-face time with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Skype, conference calls, instant messenger and texting (and I’m sure I could add to this list). But as we wrapped up day three of meetings with our partner community in Vancouver, BC I am reminded again of how important face-to-face time is. Building and maintaining relationships “electronically” can only get you so far and at some point, there is tremendous value sitting down across the boardroom table (or the dinner table) with those that are important to you. These people may be your customers, partners, family or friends, but to take your relationship to the next level, I truly believe personal human interaction is critical. I remember when I heard someone say “In a world where things are becoming more high-tech, people need more high-touch”. I couldn’t agree more!

Here are five reasons I believe face-to-face time can’t be beat:

1. Less distraction. When you’re talking on the phone, IM’ing or texting, you can almost guarantee there are a million things going on around whoever you’re conversing with. When you get together in person, the focus on the conversation increases exponentially.

2. Body language. I don’t know about you, but I believe a very small percent of reading reactions and feelings is based on what someone says, and a majority of it is based on their body language. It’s hard to gauge the connection you’re making or whether or not what you’re saying is resonating if you can’t see who you’re talking to.

3. Bonding. At the risk of sounding “cheesy”, I always feel a deeper personal connection with someone I’ve met in person. I’m more likely to refer them or think of them when I have an idea or an opportunity.

4. People do business with people. You likely have a list of people you do business with because of them, not because of the company they work for. Think of a great real estate agent that you’ve worked with. If they changed real estate companies, would you follow the agent or stay with their former company? My guess is you’d follow the agent. Building relationships plays an important role in your long term sustainability and success, so don’t leave all your relationships to be built on technology. Get in front of the people that are VIPs in your life and connect!

5. New ideas. I wish I had stats on how many great, new, innovative ideas are uncovered during a phone meeting versus during a face-to-face meeting – I believe there would be a huge gap between the two. If you want to uncover “the next big thing”, make the time and effort to get some face-to-face meetings happening.

I want to say a special thanks to our Sage Simply Accounting Partner Advisory Committee that made the trip to Vancouver from cities all across Canada this week to spend time connecting face-to-face. Our meetings were successful because of the five points above and it was well worth the investment!

And so it begins…

19 Friday Aug 2011

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ 5 Comments

Welcome to my blog! I thought in my first post it may be worth explaining why I am blogging in the first place.

I have many things that I value, but you know what’s at the top of my list in regards to what I value in my career? Learning. It is so important to me that every day I am faced with new challenges, presented with new opportunities and learn new things. I love finding myself working on projects that I don’t know where to go next – it’s what fires me up.

I consider myself very fortunate to be in a career that offers me all these great learning opportunities every day.  I work with thousands of smart, business savvy, experienced leaders, as well as with a partner community that is as passionate about our company, products and services as we are and a customer base that touches virtually every market and every industry. I get to travel to new cities and countries, create new strategies and gain new perspectives.

So, as I collect all these learnings from around the world and through my day-to-day life (business and otherwise), it almost seems like a tragedy not to share them (well, tragedy may be a bit strong, but you get the idea).  I hope that as I share with you insights into the innovative world I get to be part of every day, you’ll be able to take some of that information and apply it to make things just a little bit better (or at least a little bit different). Or, worst case scenario no one reads my blog and it is simply an online diary of my life over the coming years.  Either way I figure it will be worth it.

Un-official blog disclaimer: There is no official theme to this blog and I can’t guarantee it will always be about business, but it will always be real and for the most part, insightful (or at least that’s the plan). For those of you that know me, it will likely even be a bit entertaining.

Thanks for joining me on my journey!

Jennifer