NETWORLDING

Networlding Presents: Chuck Smead

Melissa: Chuck, great to have you sharing your insights today. I have found you to be a true leader and very unique in what you bring to the world of work today. Can you share with our readers an overview of your unique combination of skills?

I've been fortunate enough to work with great companies, GE, Heller Financial, Transamerica, and Administaff. My background is in corporate finance, strategy, marketing and business development. I have opened new markets, repositioned products, and structured transactions for both large and small companies. My business development has meant building relationships within the Board room, various levels of businesses and spheres of influence. This experience has been primarily in business to business. I have also been a believer in giving back to the community and have built relationships in a variety of not for profit organizations. I have also had the good fortune of advising entrepreneurs in start up situations. All of these experience help bring a perspective that can be helpful to a variety of situations.

Melissa: If you had to prioritize what you think is most important for companies to focus on today, what would that list of priorities look like?

Companies should develop and follow a strong mission statement and realize that their people are their most important asset. They need create a culture of integrity, honesty, and collaboration and one that keeps an eye on their customers. An eye on the customer is accomplished by monitoring performance and giving and getting honest feed back. Sometimes companies and their leadership put their head in the sand; always know if you are winning, loosing or just marking time. Knowing where you stand helps get you where you need to go.

Melissa: Where do values fit into the work you do?

You start with honesty and integrity and add being respectful of people and their ideas. You create a collaborate culture, by being a team player, and when you win the team wins. Also, you temper all of this with being a realist: seeing reality as it is, not as we wish it was.

Melissa: How does what's happening online effect how businesses do business today and how they should be using technology—or not, to succeed?

Your product, service, or value proposition need to be available on the Internet; whether to sell, explain, describe, deliver and or service. E commerce is required to compete effectively. You need to assess emerging trends or changes in the marketplace; you must consistently monitor with vigilance your competitors, suppliers and your customers. You need to know what they are saying and what they are thinking; all of this is possible through the Internet and the blog community. With information, you can tweak, improve and drive revenues.

Melissa: If you could have the "perfect job", Chuck, what would that look like today?

Ideally, a great fit for me would be to join a creative corporate environment that wishes to expand its products or services into new markets or wants to take their large enterprise solutions into the small and mid size market which is the third most robust economy in the world. Also important to me, would be a company where my skills and experiences are valued and where I can help build, expand or improve its services or products. It would also be important that I have the opportunity to grow and learn through my endeavors.

Melissa: Chuck, what other things do you think companies should be doing today that they are not doing?

Companies should be developing, challenging, and encouraging their employees. They need to know if they are succeeding with their people development and building talent for the future. Companies should get feedback on a regular basis. This will hopefully create an environment where employees have personal ownership in making the business more successful or better at improvements as they grow and develop.

Melissa: Where do you think the really best business opportunities reside in today's world of business?

I believe the best opportunities exist in the small and midsized business, SMB space. Many owners and founders have found success through niches and have found success by being solutions driven. The SMB space has become global in nature. Opportunities lie in finding improvements in markets or products no matter how mature if they bring value that is efficient. As I said before there is constant change, and insatiable appetite for new products and ideas. (add any questions you think would be good) Business and the economy are not a straight line. How do you help in a downturn or a period of change? I create a realistic assessment of strengths and weakness and the relevance of the business proposition to a changing marketplace. Then I plan for what is critical to serve the customer. Through my market access, I can get a realistic view of changing dynamics in the market. I communicate with the management team what the challenges are and make recommendations of what is needed. I believe this helps manage expectations of what we can deliver to our stakeholders, customers and employees. Managing expectations brings a practical understanding of what can be delivered to all parties. This typically results in working together toward a common goal.  To contact Chuck directly, email him at charles.smead@gmail.com, 

Networlding Presents: Laura Hansen

Well, let’s just say that Laura is “diversified” or – a renaissance woman!  When Laura and I met back in 1995, Laura was certainly focused on business and there was not much more but a great network and family.  She was born and raised in the direct marketing and call center business.  The journey into direct marketing started in 1983.  So, this background allowed her to acquire substantial experience in launching and executing the call center component of campaigns  for AT&T Wireless, Oprah Magazine, American Express and Allstate just to name a few.

Although business allows one to use their brain for all kinds of things, her creative side was only being fostered and used primarily for problem solving.  In 2004, Laura's world changed and she left the CEO position of managing an outsourced call center to become a consultant to the industry.  She added teaching direct marketing at DePaul University, consulting with Wall Street on telephony and call center technology and a few other things to her repertoire.

The creative side yearned for more.  and Laura started to cook…….with a vengeance.  She says that there’s a certain Zen to all of that chopping. Certainly, there is also a satisfaction when her friends and family LOVE the food.  She became engaged in studying the craft and learned that there is a lot to really understanding the culinary arts.  The next expansion came when Laura and I were brainstorming about what to do with the cooking and her love of writing.  The dining blog was born!  At first, Laura was only a participant.  She would write reviews of restaurants and send them along.  Now, she is the writer, content aggregator and chief bottle washer for www.bestofthebestdiningchicago.com.  The blog is flourishing and continues to grow.

All of the creative juices were going to cooking and writing – so why not painting!  Laura began to paint (abstract on canvas) in March of 2007.  Like Forest Gump, she kept going.  She had the vision of being in a gallery and selling her paintings to anyone that could see the energy and magnetism of what manifested through the brush.  Mission accomplished! Her work is featured in Hayley Gallery in Columbus, Ohio.  With the help of very supportive friends and family, she has also sold many paintings and she has a blog:  www.laurahansenartgallery.com. 

This is a story of transformation.  It’s funny how little courage it really takes to do what one is compelled and driven to do the effortless work by your passion and spirit.

Networlding Presents: Marsha Marsh

Marsha Marsh is one of the best coaches I have met in my twenty years of coaching, training and consulting, so it is a pleasure to introduce you to her and her work. Following is a recent interview I had the pleasure of doing with Marsha.

Melissa: Marsha, in Networlding we emphasis value-based networking. What are your top values and how do they play out in your daily work?

Marsha: One of the top values that I discovered after doing a great amount of coaching is "making a difference." I started to notice how important each client is to me--whether they are spending $50 or $500 I am as present. It really made me see that making a difference was more important than anything else to me. 

Collaboration is a second value. Every voice is important--even the unpopular voices in a group. These voices are important to the outcomes of a group. Synergistic collaboration is probably an even more accurate term for my value as I love to see the creative combination of diverse voices coming together to achieve unique and powerfully successful outcomes.

Melissa: Marsha, share a quick story of how you made a difference in the life of one of your clients recently.

Marsha: I was working on assisting a team at a Fortune 500 company create a more positive environment in order to handle the excessive demands on their time. Just like many workplaces, this team was required to give longer hours with fewer people which was taking a large toll on their individual and group productivity.

My two days of group coaching followed by individual coaching helped them build skills to reduce stress and increase group alignment through the development of a cohesive environment and camaraderie. They are learning to value each other more; they are also taking shared ownership. By valuing the diversity of each team member as opposed to judging it as wrong, they are using conflict as a stepping stone to innovation. They are actually now working as "one heart." The manager I was working with was so pleased that she referred me to a number of other managers. The team found a common language which will help them get to innovating much quicker. That's where the satisfaction comes for me through results like these.

Melissa: So what do you want to do next?

Marsha: I'm interested in more speaking engagements, reaching a wider audience and more team coaching. I am also working hard at developing my blog. I want to help companies see new ways to help their teams learn collaboration. These new, cutting-edge practices can realize results and sustain them even better than current team building practices. When people can really respect and trust each other, they are going to do something different . . . something better.

Melissa: Thanks Marsha. I am sharing your blog link for others: www.marshamarshcoaching.com.