March 2010
In this issue . . .

	The 8 Steps of Empowerment
	Computer Threats
	You're In Sales No Matter What

Pistons of Power

	GNWritings
	Just for Laughs

Quote of the Month

GNWritings
Written by Laura Steward Atchison

“If you give a lumberjack who’s been using an axe his whole life a chain saw, and he starts hacking at a tree with it, it’s not going to help at all. It’s what you do with the technology that makes the difference.” That is a quote from Terhilda Garrido at Kaiser Permanente, the country’s largest not-for-profit health plan when she was asked about how electronic health records were working out. I read a lot of articles about Healthcare since that is one of my primary focuses but I think this quote really applies to every industry.

All too often we buy something because it is new, hot, cool or just looks good then we wonder why it has not brought us any value. Who doesn’t have a closet full of the latest gadgets that has not seen use since the month it was purchased? It is annoying enough at home when the purchase price may have been a few hundred dollars but what about when you buy that new technology for work? The cost there is rarely a few hundred dollars.

When a medical practice elects to upgrade or venture into electronic health records there is a large physical and time cost. Granted the government stimulus is going to offset the physical cost but there is still a time cost as you shift how you do business. When a corporate office elects to go to cloud computing or implement a new CRM software package that is also a large cost. How do you know if you will see the ROI?

The best way I have seen to realize ROI is not to leap into making purchases based on a pitch or marketing blitz. Talk to people. Engage with a Trusted Advisor who knows your industry and understands business as a whole. Work with them to look at your business and how “you” do business to see if the solution is a good fit. Have conversations with key staff that will be using it and analyze how they work.
 

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Just for Laughs

Change, whether it is wanted or unwanted brings out our best and worst. The Stop Your Drama Methodology incorporates 8 principles and multiple tools for navigating change or reinventing any part of your life or business.

1. Clear the Fog
Where drama is, clarity is not. If you feel like you are shoveling coal in the boiler room instead of navigating the ship, then you have a clarity issue. When you are clear, your decisions are easy and emotions are steady. Clarity helps you handle the winds of change and life flows. First get clear about your values and vision. Everything flows from there.

2. Identify the Gap
The distance between where you are and where you want to be is the gap. The bigger the gap, the more potential for drama. If you can identify those times when you are moving faster than your resources allow, or when what you want seems too far out of reach, find a way to shorten the gap, by taking only the next right step. When you learn how to identify the gap, you can shorten it instead of suffering.

3. Tell Yourself the Truth
Drama is often the result of undisciplined thinking, manifesting as over-reaction to some imagined problem, regret about the past, worry about the future, or denial about the present challenges. To stop your drama, lean how to separate the fact from feeling. Knowing your feelings won't change the facts, but knowing the facts can change your feelings.
 

But if your company predominantly focuses on battling spammers, you may be ignoring much more serious threats that can actually cripple your business. When thinking about computer and network security, begin by sorting out what constitutes a genuine security menace to your computer systems, and what is mostly a nuisance. Here's guidance to ensure you're drawing the battle lines in the right place.

E-mail: Lose sleep over attachments, not spam
Studies show that spam makes up the vast majority of all e-mail sent. Junk mail filters like the one included in Outlook 2003 will help divert these unwelcome messages from your inbox, but will never prevent all spam from being sent to your e-mail account.

Yet remember: Junk mail by itself will not damage your business. However, there are some e-mail threats that will.
 

by Debra J. Schmidt - used with permission
 

If I ask you right now whether or not you are in sales, chances are you would say, "No, I'm in accounts payable or customer service or marketing." You might even say, "I'm the CEO."

No matter what your job is, you are in sales. Every time you interact with a customer, you are selling your professional credibility, the company's products or services, and the company's image. So, even if you don't work in the sales department, read on.

When a customer has a bad experience in shipping, in accounting, in technical support or any other department in your company, you can bet that negative word-of-mouth will follow. That word of mouth reduces sales in the same way that customer testimonials increase referrals and sales. You are selling all the time, so it's important for you to recognize what your customers want from you.

Regardless of who your customers are, there are 5 key actions they want from you:

1. To have you spend more time listening than talking
Who do you find more interesting to talk with; the person who rattles on and on sharing their wealth of knowledge, or the person who asks you about yourself and then listens to your response? Your customers do not call in order to be impressed.
 

What limitation, right now, seems to be keeping you from doing something you want to do? Regardless of your answer, there's a person who would vehemently disagree with you. She proved that whatever it is you think you can't do, you actually can!

She arrived at this conclusion many years ago when she was faced with a limitation so severe that just living a normal life seemed an impossibility. Her story has been told on TV, in books and movies. It's one you might be familiar with . . . but think of your situation as you read.

Wilma was born the twentieth child in an African American family of twenty-two in Clarksville, Tennessee in 1940. A weak and sickly infant, born prematurely, she was continually afflicted with childhood diseases. At age four she contracted polio, and the doctor said she would never walk again. Until age nine she was unable to walk without wearing a steel leg brace and it was necessary for her to continue wearing a special supportive shoe until age eleven.

During the late 1940's it was difficult enough just being black and poor, but add to that the stigma of being what many people called "a cripple" and this child seemed destined to an unenviable existence.