7 December: Nancy’s Notes and Anecdotes

Quote I’m pondering:

“Rest when you’re weary. Refresh and renew yourself, your body, your mind, your spirit. Then get back to work.”
— Ralph Marston | Lifehack Quotes {Pin it for later}


On my reading list:

It’s OK to be the Boss, by Bruce Tulgan – an insightful short book. It’s been on my shelf since it was first published in 2007. I use it as a reference and reminder because it’s chock full of relevant advice that’s applicable and timely all these years later! Here are my three favorite chapters to give you an idea of the awesomeness that lies within:

4. Take It One Person at a Time;

7. Track Performance Every Step of the Way;

10. Start Here.

The book is dense with helpful information about what to do to motivate employees, how to conduct employee evaluations, and the author intentionally and specifically makes the case that with some training everyone can be a good boss. But, very often when we become leaders and managers, we can often be uncomfortable with our new found authority. Check out this video/podcast interview from The Keys To The Shop (episode #28) here and video below about why It’s Ok To Be Boss – and creating a better way to lead and manage your team. He bases this on 24 years of research and candidly admits that it resonates because it’s based on real challenges in the real world.


Meetings this week:

It’s strategic planning time at my office. We have a lot of big and exciting plans for 2019. Throughout the year, I’ve been tweaking our strategic plan for the upcoming year and now I’m meeting with all my team members to get their input and build out the foundation and add in the ‘short brush strokes.’ The Zoom platform makes it easy to include team members on all aspects of the plan so that things like distance don’t become obstacles to moving forward. Just this week, we had another very productive meeting with me in Miami, Steph from Membership in St. Augustine, and Barb from Outreach in Tampa! I find that having the input from cross-functional areas ensures the perspectives are fresh, relevant, and useful as we map out our best programs yet!~ what would you like to see? I’d love to know! Tell me here.

if you are getting ready to put some thought around scaling your business during the ‘quiet’ of the holiday season, I wanted to share our Pinterest board with ideas about strategic planning, check it out here or use the Pinterest button below.

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Ideas I’m Noodling…

I’m a voracious reader and I love to share the books I read and I especially love getting suggestions about what to read next. Please send me a list of books you’d like to discuss in the Business Book Club that we are launching next month. Old, new, short, long, out-there, or conventional– what have you read or what has been on your list that you would like to discuss?? Please share the titles to books that have helped you through a particular transition or have been meaningful messages to you in your business career. Will you let me know the names here?

By the way, TED talks and podcasts count as reading in my world, so I invite you not to be held back by the ‘conventional’ definition of reading … you might know that I loooooove technology, so I simply see it as another way to consume media (that also helps us ingest more material – because gym time or windshield time are no longer dead time – you can consume a podcast or three depending on how long you’re exercising or how far you’re going!) … Did I tell you TED talks are the bomb?!?! I’ll gather some of my favorites on a Pinterest Board and share the link in case you’re interested.


I’m following…

WEConnect International. I invite you to take a look at their Facebook page and I hope you too will be inspired to think globally. I wish I was going to the meeting in Chile this year, but have put it on my calendar for 2019 instead (it’s hard to get it ALL in, don’t you agree?)

I’m really looking forward to attending their events and having the opportunity to mingle with women business owners and corporate sponsors who are promoting strategic alliances in the upcoming year! Will I see you there? 🙂


I’m Celebrating…

… being asked to contribute to a national magazine! One of my Toolbox articles resonated with an editor when she saw it on LinkedIn — and they are going to reprint it. I’m so honored that the content will go on to inspire and inform a larger group of women in business – that is always my goal, to motivate and share knowledge so each of us as a woman can leverage the power of collaboration — because together we are stronger~

 


I hope you have a chance to recuperate, recharge, and refresh over the weekend!
Nancy Allen


BTW

Some of you may remember that I used to do book reviews and summaries on FB Live. I’m happy to tell you that starting in January I will be leading a virtual monthly Business Book Club via Zoom. I hope you will consider joining in our discussion of well-vetted business books to inspire and ignite you to get to the next level. Yes, you ‘should’ read the book we will be discussing and YES , you should still participate even if you don’t have time to “read.” Don’t worry, my team will send links to videos and summaries that you can use to prepare for the discussions and like in all we do, help ensure you’re set up for success.

The intent of the Business Book Club is to create a space where we can share ideas and experiences. Let me know you’ll join us here. The first book we will discuss is It’s OK to be the Boss (mentioned above). Here’s a video interview with the author.