Keenan 411

Jim Keenan is a Senior Sales Executive, Enterprise 2.0/Web 2.0 Connector, an Entrepreneur still trying to get it right, and a PSIA Certified Ski Instructor for Vail Resorts. Husband to Big E and father to four great kids. In a nut shell, I'm a Sales Guy. Life is good!

Is it Bull Shit when Public Speakers Swear?

Robin Dickenson over at Radsmarts, posed a killer question; Is it OK for public speakers to swear?

This question has been ruminating in my head for awhile. Not just the question of profanity, but the idea of a reduced sense of formality; swearing in blogs, wearing jeans in the work place, access to authority, etc.

Are we becoming a less formal country and is that OK?

My thoughts are yes and YES!!!

The formality of this country has been steeped in its Puritan ethic, going all the way back to the first day the Pilgrims stepped onto Plymouth rock. It has dictated our behavior for 400 years. In my opinion, it has stunted innovation, communication, collaboration and engagement. It has created social hierarchies and limited the spread of information and ideas. Formality, is a social contract that says; “I will act a certain way until a particular level of engagement or interaction has been established” OR worse, the formality is the result of a hierarchical structure. It says; I will act a certain way because of WHO you are.

I say BULL SHIT!

The erosion of formal social contracts is accelerating interaction. It is getting to the core of issues. It’s not shackling ideas. It’s calling out the elephant on the table. It’s cutting to the chase. It’s getting real.

Professional speakers dropping F-bombs that enhance authentic, real, presentations where the swearing brings value is exactly what we need. Gratuitous swearing does none of this and therefore I’m not a fan.

I’d like to see greater erosion of social formality. It allow people to focus on the message. Informality puts people at ease. We let down our guard. It allows us to quickly assess our environment. Asking; is this a person I want to spend time with? Is this a message that resonates with me? Not, who is the person really. Are we still being formal? What do they REALLY think? Can I say what I want now? Can I be me?

Enough with the formality. Let’s get right to it. Let’s open the flood gates. If you are a swearer, then let em fly in your presentations. As Nick comments in the post: Be who you are, swears and all.

I think that people should be themselves on stage no matter what. If they swear a lot while talking normally, then they should swear on stage. AUTHENTIC speakers grab my attention, not their cuss words. -Nick Campbell

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March 6, 2010 | Filed under: Personal Brand, Random, What I Think! | Comments |

Why Care

Caring means you have to commit. Caring means you have an interest in a positive outcome. When we care the little things matter, we go the extra mile, we take ownership. Caring is hard. It saps our energy, it works our self-esteem, and holds us accountable.

Caring also is rewarding. It gives us a sense of accomplishment. It tells people who we are and what we focus on. Caring creates followers and builds leaders. Caring is a key part of success.

Caring is a lot harder than not caring Not caring is easy. It absolves us from ownership and responsibility. It allows us to make our issues other peoples problems. When we don’t care we avoid accountability. When we don’t care the outcome doesn’t matter. Not caring doesn’t make a difference.

Care about what you do. It makes a difference.

If you don’t care about what you do or the people you do it with, do everyone a favor and care about doing something else.

Even that will make a difference.

March 1, 2010 | Filed under: Personal Brand, Personal Development, Uncategorized | Comments |

Is There A Glen Plake of the Business World?

Glen Plake is a free spirit. He is a guy who has been changing the world of skiing from the inside out. He’s done it, not by winning gold medals, or Winter X games, but by traveling from ski hill to ski hill hanging out with the people that make them run; not the CEO’s, but the dishwashers, and the busboys; the best skiers on the hill that no one knows about.

I remember watching his first big movie; Greg Stumps, Blizzard of Ahhs! It was in stark contrast to the mainstream, conventional ski videos by Warren Miller. They pushed the limits. They were rough, no frills, extreme skiing movies, that got to the raw essence of what its like to strap two wooden boards to your feet and ski the ungroomed, untamed, natural terrain provided by mother nature.

The Glen Plakes of the world force us to remember what it is we do and why we do it. They don’t allow the conventional to anchor us in the mundane. They push the envelope and challenge what we accept as the norm. They remind us that it’s the dishwashers; not those in the big offices that make our world run and in many cases they know a lot more about our business than we do.

Is there a Glen Plake in the world of business? I can think of a few, but I think there need to be more. They keep us honest and this is exactly the kind of leadership we need.

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February 21, 2010 | Filed under: Business Performance, Leadership, Personal Brand, Skiing | Comments |

Revelation vs Resolution

Everyone is looking forward, making New Years resolutions and planning for 2010. It is the thing to do. I am too. But, as I’m looking forward, I couldn’t help but pause and take a look back. I wondered; was there anything different, unique for me about 2009. The obvious came to mind. I started this blog, my girls had a number of firsts, the economy was rough, but as I thought about it, it occurred to me; 2009 did have a very unique element to it. I made more friends online than I made offline. My network grew.

I have always been a big fan of networking. I believe there is tremendous value in engaging and knowing lots of different people. I have gotten most of my jobs, started businesses, hired employees, acquired new customers, and more all from my network. Despite, my appreciation of networks, over the past few years, mine has suffered a little. I’ve moved, gotten married, had kids, started a new job, and work out of the house. None of these things are conducive to building or managing a network, especially working from home.

In 2009 my network grew. Not in the traditional sense, by handshake and physical meeting, but online.

Twitter, Facebook, and this blog have been instrumental in introducing me to new people. These aren’t just fans or followers, but people I respect for their knowledge, people I enjoy for their person and people who have been helpful. The experience in meeting these people has been no different than meeting people offline. The fact that I’ve never met them in person has had no impact on the value of the relationship.

I’ve really enjoyed getting to know these people. They are making a real impact in my life. I’m working with some. I’m collaborating on sales efforts with others. I’ve assisted others in selling and promoting their products. It’s just like my offline network.

My network grew in 2009. Not in the traditional way, but in a new way.

I don’t think this is an anomaly, I suspect next year my online network will be even bigger, not only for me but everyone online and this is a great thing.

Did your network grow in 2009?

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January 4, 2010 | Filed under: Asset of The Future, Personal Brand, Web 2.0/Social Networking | Comments |

Your Momma Drives a Pickle Wagon.

shovelbeatingYou ever watch kids busting on each other; calling each other names, making fun of their families?

They start out pretty innocuous and then get pretty nasty. Each volley, leverages more and more creativity to top the last brutal insult. As they get more intricate, and complex, someone inevitably can’t top the last one . . . and he is the cat who throws the first blow.

Smack, he knocks his opponent right in the mug.

The problem is, by smacking his opponent, victory has been conceded and it can never be regained.

The business world is like this. We go back and forth, adding new features, constantly improving our products trying to one up our competition until one of us can’t keep up, runs out of creativity and lobs off and pops the competition in the mouth (this is usually in the form of badmouthing, running cheezy commercials, attacking the better product etc.). It happens with our peers as well. We’re competing for a promotion, or trying to grow our internal brand, our competition out flanks us with creativity and what do we do, we pop-em in the mouth, (spread rumors, back stab, go over their head)

The problem is, once we’ve done this we’ve lost, game over.

There is no time limit on creativity. You don’t have to win today. You just have to win.

The next time you’re losing the creativity battle, don’t concede defeat by popping your competition in the mouth. Step back, look to change the rules, attack the problem differently and buy time.

Concede the battle, but quietly be planning to win the war.

photo: Flickr-Tony the Misfit

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December 18, 2009 | Filed under: Personal Brand, Personal Development, Random | Comments |

Knowing You Rather Than Learning About You

They way we hire people is to learn about them. We read their resume, we interview them, we check their references. Normally, we don’t know the people we hire. The hiring process is a learning process.

Social media is changing this. We are going to hire people we know. We’ll know them because we will follow them on Twitter. They will be fans of Facebook. They will be in our LinkedIn groups. We will engage the people we hire long before we need to hire them.

Learning about people is how we used to do it. We didn’t have a way to meet or engage them before. Today and in the future we will know the people we hire. Social Media allows us to interact with the people in our industry, our competitors, our customers and community experts. We’ll talk to them, read their links, and ask their opinions. When the time comes we’ll already know exactly who we want to hire and they’ll know us.

Would you hire someone you didn’t know if you didn’t have to?

December 11, 2009 | Filed under: Asset of The Future, Hiring/Firing, Personal Brand, Web 2.0/Social Networking, What I Think! | Comments |

Wanted: Someone Coachable

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There is one thing I look for in a hire. It is non negotiable. I look for someone coachable.

No matter how much skill they have, no matter how talented, no matter how much experience, no matter the industry experience, no matter how many years of successful quota attainment, if they aren’t coachable I don’t hire them.

Coachable people recognize they have room to grow. Coachable people are more humble, secure and confident. The coachable look for alternative points of view. The coachable embrace personal development. Coachable people are better with other people. Coachable people are more flexible. Coachable people are always growing and improving. Coachable people rarely make the same mistake twice. The coachable make better employees.

No matter how talented, no matter how skilled all jobs require learning. It is a leaders job to assist in that learning through coaching, by providing guidance, insight, critique and assessment. If a person is not coachable they resist coaching and all the talent, skill and knowledge are lost.

I’ve never seen a job description that requires a coachable person. I have never been part of an HR department provided training on identifying coachable people, yet the most successful candidates are the coachable.

When you hire coachable people there is less drama and more gets done. With coachable people more creative ideas flow and innovation flourishes. When you hire coachable people there is less politics, bureaucracy and tension. When you hire the coachable more time is spent on the things that matter and less on the things that don’t.

Hire coachable people.

October 1, 2009 | Filed under: Business Performance, Hiring/Firing, Leadership, Personal Brand, Personal Development, What I Think! | Comments |

If You Want it, Go Get It

I’ve always been a Will Smith fan. His ability to move from an 80’s rapper, to a 90’s sitcom star, to mega movie star has always impressed me. After watching this it won’t seem so surprising anymore.

Will’s philosophy-

-Be willing to die for what you believe in
-Where you are is not where you have to be
-Become something greater
-There is no easy way
-Don’t set out to build a wall; lay one perfect brick everyday
-Make a difference; the world needs to be a better place because you were in it
-Represent an idea
-Create whatever you want to create
-Believe; there is no reason for a “plan b” it just gets in the way of “plan a”
-Don’t be a realist. Be unrealistic
-Make a choice; DECIDE!
-Focus, be obsessive
-Protect your dream
-Don’t let anyone tell you, you can’t do something
-You want something? Go get it, PERIOD!

September 30, 2009 | Filed under: Personal Brand, Personal Development | Comments |

The Healing Power of Your Social Graph

Sarah Cortes lay on a rock, unable to move and speak. When she hit the water, she knew something was wrong. The sharp pain that ran up her spine, was not a good sign. She felt comfortable she could navigate the 50 foot cliff jump, but once she hit the water confidence quickly turned to fear. Able to slowly swim to shore and drag herself onto a rock, Sara lay there waiting for paramedics.

An hour later she arrived in an enormous trauma center. After several tests, MRI’s, and CAT Scan’s it is determined Sarah has a fracture of V12 and surgery is recommended. Uncomfortable with the recommendation and more importantly, if surgery is the only option Sarah wanted to be in Boston near her home, Sarah requests a transfer. That is when her ordeal accelerates from bad to worse.

In an effort to defend their position and their recommendation the hospital staff begins to feed her inaccurate information, denies her access to Dr’s outside of the hospital and do everything they can to make sure she has surgery at their facility. Fearful, confused and frustrated Sarah turns to her Twitter network for help. With in 1 hour she is able to find an “accepting neurosurgeon” in Boston (the requirement to be transferred) and demands to be released. Despite finding an “accepting neurosurgeon” she still struggles to gain the hospitals support for a release and transfer.

With the help of Twitter and Text Sarah final wins her release. The result, her Boston physician determines surgery is NOT needed. The new treatment; 6 months in a brace with full mobility. Sarah barely averts an operation requiring 6 months of bed rest and total immobility.

Our online presence is an asset. I’ve said this before and will say it again. It will be the most valuable asset we will have, worth even more than our home. It will affect our offline social status, where we work, the jobs we have, the people we date and even the medical treatment we receive.

Like any asset, it is more valuable when you invest in it. Are you investing in your online presence? You should be.

September 26, 2009 | Filed under: Asset of The Future, Personal Brand, Personal Development, Web 2.0/Social Networking | Comments |

How Much is Chris Brogan’s Online Presence Worth?

chris-brogan-junk

Chris Brogan posted this on his blog a month ago –

“The time has come. I have a favor to ask. If you’re interested in our book, if you support all that I’ve given you over the past several years, if you want to buy a friend (or an entire small village) a gift, I’d like to request that you buy Trust Agents from your favorite online source. This request itself is a social media experiment in trust (or I’m just asking you to buy books) . . . Here’s the exact needle we have to move: 768. We need 768 more sales between now and Saturday night. That’s a lot of books, but I’m only asking you to buy one. (Well, if you’re a company, I’m asking you to buy hundreds.)”

By the end of the day, Chris’s book Trust Agents had reached number #55 of ALL books on Amazon.com and by the end of the week Trust Agents had reached the New York Times best seller list. TLT_trustagent

How much do you think Chris’s Online presence is worth? If we assume he reached his goal of 768 books, then it was worth at least $12,650 dollars on Aug. 17th. If you assume he sold more, a good assumption due to making the NY Times Best Seller list, then it’s worth far more than that. Assume he sold 1500 books that week, his online presence was worth $25,300 dollars that week alone. This is real money, making Chris’s online presence a real asset. Add up all the business it creates for him. Add up the relationships it creates. Add up the information it supplies. Add up the speaking engagements, exposure opportunities, and the powerful brand it has created and the Chris Brogan online property is a very, VERY valuable asset.

Chris Brogan was never a celebrity. Less than 10 years ago he worked in telecommunications. He was an average Joe. He didn’t have some big following when he started blogging over 5 years ago. He wasn’t a household name. Overtime, day by day, person by person he has built a solid, respectful, informative, and engaging online presence. A presence that has substantial value.

In the not too distant future, having an online presence will be the price to play. The person you marry, the job you have, the college you attend, the neighborhood you live in and the friends you have will ALL correlate to the value of your online presence. Your online presence; your social graph will be at the center of your life, impacting every aspect of it.

How much is Chris Brogan’s online presence worth? I have no idea. I wouldn’t even begin to put a number on it. But it’s for sure a valuable property. The better question is what is your online presence worth? Soon our online presence will be our most valuable asset, in many cases more valuable than our home.

Have you started investing in yours? You should!

September 17, 2009 | Filed under: Personal Brand, Web 2.0/Social Networking, What I Think! | Comments |

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