Jason Womack

Power of agendas and deliberate Time Management

There is a video (and we're working on another one!) over on YouTube.com/jasonwomack all about the power of agendas. Here is the agenda that my client has been keeping current over the 10 months we've been working together.
What's great about this? When we meet face-to-face, we hit the ground running - talking about, discovering solutions for, and implement actions that address the bigger picture(s).
Try it out...grab a piece of paper and a pen (or, an Outlook/Lotus Notes task, Word Doc or Excel sheet) and put someone's name on top. Then, think about the last 30 and next 90 days and capture as much as possible. Possible topics:
+ Questions to ask
+ Ideas to share
+ Follow up
+ Recent successes (failures)
+ Upcoming goals
+ Needs/wants
+ anything else
Then, when you're about to meet with that person, print and review the list and get started!

Thank you, Stefan Stern and Seth Godin for ideas on leadership

Harvard's ALI - Advanced Leadership Initiative - brings together almost 2 dozen minds with one intent: To change things. Reading this article goes well with watching Seth Godin's most recent presentation at www.TED.com - all the way to the end.
There, as he brings a conclusion to the presentation, Seth asks three questions - all about leadership:
1) Who exactly are you upsetting?
2) Who are you connecting?
3) Who are you leading?

Build a model of a "productive" day

Sitting here at Quattro, sipping on a glass of sparkling water, I flipped open to a page of my Moleskine and just focused on what I'd written.
There, on the page, appeared something to explore - a model (or structure) of a productive day. While reading this week's book, about speaking and changing the world, I have been focusing on the words, ideas, and practices that DO change the world on a very real, practical and individual level. In fact, it may be more appropriate to label it "changing 'my' world."
By identifying the chunks or themes of your own day, you start a process of change. Simply studying what you already do can in many ways change what you do...let us know!

What's right there to connect in your community?

It's not about "work/life balance," as much as it's about continually upleveling to the next you.

Author, speaker and psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has written much on the concept of engagement and "flow." Think about that place you're in when all your skills come together to achieve the challenge in front of you. If you have not yet seen it, this presentation is awesome.

When Jodi started the Women's Business Social in Ojai, CA (and has since presented the concept in San Francisco, New York, London and Venice, Italy) she had a goal to connect the community with each other; that is to take the macro "community" and identify the individual strengths, interests and talents that each person within that community brings to the table.

Looking out into your own community, are there people, places and organizations that could come together in new and different ways?

The Wealthy Freelancer ...

Meeting with Ed Gandia this morning was awesome! We were able to enjoy a good conversation about our books, our families, our goals, and our client needs these days. First impression: Ed can stay present during a conversation - I appreciate that!
We only had 'bout half-an-hour, and we were able circle around and then dive in to a couple of significant topics. There is always so much to learn from and about the people around us, and today was no exception. My 2 favorite topics of discussion were:
1) A service-centric focus
2) The significance of a 90-day plan

As "freelancers" (as per their definition on page 3 of their book) it is incumbent upon us to be there...for ourselves AND our clients; asking ourselves the question, "Is this in service to...(Me, My clients, My family, My community, etc.)?"
And, as important as it is to stay focused, noticing the opportunities right here and now, we also are well-off in doing a bit of "dream analysis" - as the co-authors say - into the four key areas of free-lancing: Aiming for the projects, clients, income and lifestyle you want.

Ed signed a copy of the book (now, Steve and Pete need to come by to complete the series!) and it's time to fly and read!

"When people walk away from meeting with you..."

What a great dinner with Jim and Debbie Ziegler.

Jim, or should I say, "Da Man," spoke at a conference in Los Angeles about two years ago. Since that, we've stayed in touch - via Facebook (he's there), eCademy (there too), twitter (Yup, there), and (you get the picture!) YouTube, LinkedIn, his blogs, his site, and newsletter... he's on top of his game! We'd been putting off having dinner together until we were in the same city, at the same time. And, tonight was it.

"I've been looking forward to this." That was the first thing he said when I got in the car here at the Marriott. Then, we drove on over to Atlantic Seafood Company.

The dinnertime conversation crossed the Atlantic, back over to California, and settled in to the local things we're both interested in. Something we share: Giving our experiences through story and parables, "It's a way to share what we know," Debbie said.

"When people walk away from meeting with you in one of your programs, Jim, what do the do or know?" To which, Jim shared...you guessed it...a story of someone who was in a course this week, and just called in today. It was a positive experience, where the client let Jim know how significant his words - his words of advice, his ideas, his stories, and his coaching - were over the two day course.

Where he got me thinking, really, really thinking, was when he put out a rhetorical question: "What's your reinvention story?"

Writing, Typing, Talking...all ways to get the ideas out

Pushing on the limits of productivity...

When it's time to get the ideas out of your mind, and into a reviewable form, there are many options. From pen-paper lists, mindmaps, drawings, or notes to computer-based programs that give provide a more structured approach to idea-ation, most people have tried many different ways to get clarity.

Over the years, clients have experimented with different tools, systems and applications. A few:

ReQall An amazing service that let's you make a call from your office/home/mobile phone, leave a voice mail, that is then transcribed into text and sent directly to your email in box. Use gCal? Upgrade, and you can "place" things on your calendar via voicemail!

Dragon NaturallySpeakingWith about 15 minutes of "training," turn your PC into a transcription machine. Sit down, launch any program, put on a headset, and start talking...you'll see your words typed just about as fast as you can say them!

MacSpeech Dictate...and, the same for a Mac. (Nuance recently purchased MacSpeech...)

MacSpeech ScribeAnd, the most amazing tool ever. Have iPhone or iPod Nano (or almost any other digital recording device)? Record yourself talking, plug in to the USB port, sync the audio and launch Scribe. You can have all of that transcribed as you "go do something else." Talk about multitasking!

Last week, at SXSW, I got to meet up with Jay Gonzalez (check him out on Twitter...) and we shared great stories of using this amazing tool...

Delivering Happiness, a new book by Tony Hsieh

So, I happened to drop by the 'bloggers lounge' here at SXSW, and next thing I know, I'm standing next to Tony, who puts a copy (an advance copy!) of his book in my hand. Awesome!
Then, for kicks, I did what I always do, I opened up to @anywhere and this is where I landed!

While at SXSW - strange things are afoot

So, I'm at one of the most "tech-friendly" conferences in the US, and I'm facing an interesting couple of challenges. Most of the time, I can appreciate an acknowledge the "hidden messages" in life; and, today I have that opportunity.

1) Upon uninstalling an app on my BlackBerry this morning, the whole thing shut down. No email, no voicemail, can't see my calendar, can't make calls. Tomorrow, I have to drive 7 miles over to some AT&T distribution center to get my phone replaced. I "should" be back up by Monday.

2) Upon returning to my hotel room, I realized that I left my notebook (yeah, that one that I "always" have with me - just not right now!) somewhere in the Austin Convention Center. Of course, I'm going to check the lost and found...But I'm not too sure about that. There are thousands of people here this week, and you can't begin to imagine how many people I saw with black Moleskine journals...Just like mine!

So, time to rest, reboot, and reset for tomorrow...

2 things to consider when looking for a mentor

Thank you to Twitter.com/AndreaAresca for asking about mentoring:

Last night, I started reading "Mojo" by Marshall Goldsmith. I had "skimmed" it while standing at an airport bookstore a while back. This month, I'm traveling with my signed copy in my briefcase! Through the first 27 pages, I solidified a couple of ideas about mentoring.

• That "thing" that I need mentoring with is much closer than I think. Over the past month, my Moleskine journal has "received" several notes (in my handwriting!) about leadership, professional development and innovation. Interestingly enough, the same two peoples' names keep showing up as people I'd like to learn from/talk to/take to coffee a few times!
• I already have a network of people that will informally "mentor" me. I call on these people regularly to meet with, talk to, and bounce ideas back and forth. Formalizing the mentoring relationship, in my past 10 years of experience doing this, usually comes down to asking...

So, what do I ask for? I like to first ask for the time. My favorite mentoring (thanks again Kevin W.!) experience happened a while back. As a result of that, I've actually designed a product we offer our senior manager clients through The Womack Company.

Over a 7-10 day period, during a phone call and subsequent emails, the client identifies THREE things to work on. Personal, professional...health, fitness...financial, familial...whatever they want, but they only get three. Then, together we craft 3 questions - open ended and discussion rich - that address each of the three things they'd like mentoring in over the next 8 weeks.

Then, each week we talk, I ask the three questions, one at a time. For 2-5 minutes, we discuss the answers to that question. We each take our notes, and compile those with last week's answers. Then, at the end of 8 weeks, we have a meeting to discuss the questions, the experience and the results.

For a total of about 5 hours of "time," I guarantee the results will amaze you. Try it out!

(By the way, have you gotten your copy of Mojo yet?)