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Month: March 2022

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Culture Entrepreneurship Marketing Personal Development

Navigating Web3, the metaverse and Music

As a career-long visionary and innovator, I’ve been at the forefront of several major iterations of content-related waves and platforms over the past several decades. Each of these waves has enabled greater empowerment for content creators and deeper fan engagement. So in that context, how will Web 3 and the metaverse will affect today’s artistic community? My research has uncovered some clues. But before I talk about those, let’s see how we got here in the first place.

First, we had Web 1.0 (dawn of the Internet — early days, then high-speed Internet, web sites, mobile explosion, and in my case helping to launch the earliest initiatives around artist direct-to-fan (DTF) models in the mid-90s when Todd Rundgren and I launched Patronet — pre-cursor to Patreon — in the mid-90s). Other artist DTF models of the day included efforts by Prince with the NPG Music Club and David Bowie with BowieNet (pioneers all). And of course, this phase included the disruption of Napster, Bit Torrent, the launch of iTunes, et al. That lasted about a decade.

Then Web 2.0 came along about 10 years ago, which focused on things like the rise of social media platforms where like-minded communities gathered, user-generated content was born, SmartPhones and the rise of the app world, and we had experiences like second screen (consumer engagement across and between multiple devices), et al. Over this decade, we’ve witnessed an exponential increase in social media/UGC platforms, especially with the use of graphics and video (visuals). In this era, we experienced something referred to as “The 2nd Renaissance” — a term coined by Jack Conte, CEO of Patreon — to describe a feedback loop between tech and content creators that drives the expansion of creator-type jobs and changes how society interacts with media and ‘influence’.

This creator economy is being embraced in a big way by venture capitalists (VCs) with increasing levels of investment in tools and platforms across industries that foster the interaction between creators and fans. And crypto is enabling a whole new set of opportunities for digital creation, placing the creator at the center of its own economy — no longer held back in distribution or monetization by monolithic media companies.

This past year in 2021, we’ve entered Web 3.0 — which has really started to pick up speed over the last six months in particular as I write this. Web3 includes the metaverse — immersive content and virtual in-world community experiences, the blockchain as a system for recording transactions and asset ownership as a digital ledger in the crypto world, and NFTs (non-fungible tokens which themselves are collectibles in the form of “one of one” cryptographic assets housed on a blockchain that are unique and can’t be replicated).

One of the leaders in the metaverse space (for music) is Roblox (worth about $28B and has about 50M users as I write this). Long-time colleague, Jon Vlassopulos is VP & Global Head of Music, and he’s leading the charge with all sorts of creative things in music on the platform including facilitating unique virtual concert & festival experiences, listening parties for artists and fans, and other innovative music experiences. These opportunities provide for richer artist-to-fan interactions, fan-to-fan interactions, and new revenue streams.

And in tandem with the metaverse, we’ve seen nothing short of an explosion of NFT sales in 2021. There’s quite a bit of uncertainty and skepticism with NFTs given the massive growth in a relatively short period of time, but many believe they are here to stay having gained traction particularly among younger demographics as a way to engage more deeply with their favorite artists (and with each other in fandoms).

One of the things NFTs enable is the opportunity for artists to get upfront funding from their fans without giving up the rights to their ownership and taking big revenue cuts — which was **exactly** the vision Todd and I had when we launched Patronet over 25 years ago (!). And in tandem, fans as “investors’, can participate in a share of the success of their favorite artists financially as well as with intrinsic satisfaction.

Several artists are experimenting with NFTs, such as creative music producer 3lau (pronounced “Blau” aka Justin Blau), who sold 33 NFTs on the third anniversary of his album Ultraviolet for over $11.7M, making it one of the largest music NFT deals to date. He has also launched his own venture, Royal, which enables fractional ownership through its own version of NFTs, and last Fall secured $55M in a Series A round raise.

And more recently, Julian Lennon (son of the late Beatle) auctioned off a set of Beatles memorabilia from his personal collection as NFTs in support of his philanthropic venture, The White Feather Foundation.

Navigating Web3, the metaverse and Music

The truth is there is so much happening in this space on a daily basis, and I’m paddling as fast as I can to come up to speed on the broad range of opportunities that the Web3 era enables in music and other realms. (As a career-long visionary and innovator, I’ve been at the forefront of several major iterations of content-related waves and platforms over the past several decades. Each of these waves has enabled greater empowerment for content creators and deeper fan engagement.) Others who are a little further along than I have done podcasts and written some highly informative pieces which I encourage you to dive into if you’re keen to learn more. Here’s a collection of just some of the resources I’ve found to be among the most insightful — but truly there’s a plethora of information out there (let alone a steady stream of events showing up on the landscape consistently):

*Peter Csathy’s CreatTV.Media — a long-time trusted colleague in the digital media space (especially in music), Peter hosts a podcast called “Fearless Media”, and offers a wealth of insights on Web3 here. He features guests on the cutting edge of Web3 activities aimed at music and other media (films, games, etc).

*Variety’s Intelligence Platform also offers a broad range of well-researched reports and insights that cover every facet of music and entertainment’s next frontier in Web 3. Here’s just one example.

*How NFTs Could Re-define the Future of the Music Industry by Jake Fraser for Venture Beat

*The Creator Economy & 2nd Renaissance — a terrific PDF I recommend highly; by Bitkraft Ventures

*Web3 is the Future, or a Scam, or Both — by long-time journalist colleague Peter Kafka

*Unpacking Music Royalty Investment NFTs — by Tatiana Cirisano

*Real Vision — an on-demand financial TV channel focused on fintech and Web3 initiatives, including an emphasis on the music, media and entertainment worlds. They also host highly curated dynamic events.

*NFT LA — taking place in Los Angeles, March 28–31, 2022

*Web3 Summit — taking place in San Diego, May 18–20, 2022 (full disclosure, I’m programming music track panels for this event).

So as you can see, Web3 is emerging as one of the most dynamic of all the waves we’ve experienced thus far related to multimedia platforms and new forms of content creation, engagement and monetization. Watch this space as we’re only on the cutting edge of this new era which promises to be a game-changer.

Categories
Growth Management Operations Personal Development

Four Season Planning

If you are in an executive leadership position, leading a team of employees, or running a business, regular thinking, planning, and contemplating is essential. Ideally, every day should include time for reflection, in solitude if possible. It may be the most important and most significant task that you do each day.

Similarly, big picture thinking needs to occur a lot more frequently than the annual planning retreat or strategic planning session at the beginning of your fiscal year. These annual rituals that may have worked years ago don’t work today – our world is simply changing too quickly.

The start of my business involved spending an entire day alone. With no computer or phone, I laid out the plan for where I wanted my business to go. I did this annually for many years. Annual planning may have been adequate years ago, but it’s not enough now. I needed more time to contemplate, and I think you probably do too.

Think Weeks – Many years ago, I read about Bill Gates and his think weeks. When he was CEO of Microsoft, Gates would retreat to a very secluded location twice a year for A “think week”. You may or may not like him, but there’s little doubt that your life has been impacted because of a Bill Gates Think Week. One of which led to the creation of Windows 95.

So how often should big picture “get-aways” happen?

Gates left his full-time position at Microsoft in 2008. That was 14 years ago. Twice a year for planning may not be enough today. So up the ante and gather your team (or do you own version of a think week, think weekend, or even a think day) Four times a year. Maybe two of these are individual and two are organizational.

I started thinking about this concept on one of my recent think walks. While walking at dusk, I was mesmerized by the beautiful colors in the sky. That lead me to think about daylight savings time and how that would be making evenings longer.   Why not use daylight savings time as an annual reminder to schedule a time to think about springing forward? Spend time pondering how to move your organization, business, or career forward. Consider making a ground rule that only forward-thinking (positive) ideas are allowed.

Roughly three months later is the longest day of the year – June 21st. Again, schedule time to think, plan, and create around this time. Questions you might consider include:

  • If I am in this organization, position, career, etc. for the long haul, what tools do I need? What learning, training, mentoring, or coaching do I need to lengthen my relevance or effectiveness?   

The first day of fall begins on September 21st and soon after another time change – this time falling back.  For purposes of this 3rd planning time, think back to what your organization has done well.

  • What needs to be repeated?
  • What needs to be retired?
  • What needs to be retooled?
  • What needs to be re-thought? If your organization has lost market share, customers, or profits, have the focus of your planning be how to get those things back.
  • If you have lost passion for what you do, think back to the beginning when your passion was high. What were you doing back then? What do you need to do to bring back that passion?

On December 21st, the winter solstice occurs when either of the Earth’s poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the sun resulting in the shortest day of the year for those in the northern hemisphere.  It’s the beginning of the 4th season of the year and an ideal time to consider a 4th planning event sometime around December 21st (ideally a week or two before or after for obvious reasons!). Consider using both the words maximum and minimum as discussion prompts.

 “Four Seasons Planning” could also involve benchmarking highly successful organizations like the Four Seasons Hotel and Resorts. You could even examine the Four Seasons Hotel and Resort mission statement and culture to compare and contrast it with your organization’s mission statement. You could even gather with your organization or team to do your planning at a Four Seasons resort, and yes, I’d be happy to come and speak.

Categories
Culture Growth Health and Wellness Human Resources Leadership

Practical Advice for Any Parenting Challenge

Parenting is a constant learning curve. Just when you’ve finally resolved one issue, your kids grow up! And another challenge arises.

No matter where you are in your parenting journey, we’re here to support you. To make things easy, we curated some of our most popular blog posts to help you through any difficult situation. 

Sit back, relax, and choose a topic that speaks to you to start creating a happier and healthier relationship with your kids.

 

Best of Pandemic Parenting

5 Reasons Your Family Needs a Daily Routine

5 Tips to Handle School From Home This Spring

How to Help Your Child Navigate a Not So Normal Holiday Season

”Boo!” Said a Ghost From 6 Feet Away

7 Ways to Help Your Child Through the Pandemic

Best of Conflict Resolution

Dear Katherine: My Two Girls Are in Competition Over Everything

What’s Fair About a Chocolate Bar?

Dear Katherine: My Son and His Stepfather Are No Longer Speaking

3 Steps to Defuse Any Fight With Your Kid

The Real Reason Your Child Doesn’t Listen to You 

 

Best of Monitoring Screen Time

How to Keep Your Kid’s Screen Time (and Your Sanity!) from Spiralling Out of Control

Worried About Your Child’s Video Game Habits?

 

Best of Parenting Myth Busters

Busting the “Bad Kid” Myth Once and For All

Are You Raising a Spoiled Child?

 

Best of Co-Parenting

Should Parents Always Present a United Front?

How to Become an Awesome Parenting Partner

 

Best of Stress Release

Are You Stressed? Your Kids Are Probably Feeling It Too

Feeling Anxious? This Can Help

 

If you need additional support, you’ve come to the right place. Join the Conscious Parenting Revolution private Facebook group for even more community!  And you can join Tuesday Tips for Parents every week on Tuesday at 6:10 pm Pacific time when Katherine, Lauren, and Nam stream into the private Facebook group live and offer Tuesday Tips for Parents.  Come and join us!  Ask your questions in the comments box and we will address them.

Categories
Growth Management Operations Personal Development

Four Season Planning

If you are in an executive leadership position, leading a team of employees, or running a business, regular thinking, planning, and contemplating is essential. Ideally, every day should include time for reflection, in solitude if possible. It may be the most important and most significant task that you do each day.

Similarly, big picture thinking needs to occur a lot more frequently than the annual planning retreat or strategic planning session at the beginning of your fiscal year. These annual rituals that may have worked years ago don’t work today – our world is simply changing too quickly.

The start of my business involved spending an entire day alone. With no computer or phone, I laid out the plan for where I wanted my business to go. I did this annually for many years. Annual planning may have been adequate years ago, but it’s not enough now. I needed more time to contemplate, and I think you probably do too.

Think Weeks – Many years ago, I read about Bill Gates and his think weeks. When he was CEO of Microsoft, Gates would retreat to a very secluded location twice a year for A “think week”. You may or may not like him, but there’s little doubt that your life has been impacted because of a Bill Gates Think Week. One of which led to the creation of Windows 95.

So how often should big picture “get-aways” happen?

Gates left his full-time position at Microsoft in 2008. That was 14 years ago. Twice a year for planning may not be enough today. So up the ante and gather your team (or do you own version of a think week, think weekend, or even a think day) Four times a year. Maybe two of these are individual and two are organizational.

I started thinking about this concept on one of my recent think walks. While walking at dusk, I was mesmerized by the beautiful colors in the sky. That lead me to think about daylight savings time and how that would be making evenings longer.   Why not use daylight savings time as an annual reminder to schedule a time to think about springing forward? Spend time pondering how to move your organization, business, or career forward. Consider making a ground rule that only forward-thinking (positive) ideas are allowed.

Roughly three months later is the longest day of the year – June 21st. Again, schedule time to think, plan, and create around this time. Questions you might consider include:

  • If I am in this organization, position, career, etc. for the long haul, what tools do I need? What learning, training, mentoring, or coaching do I need to lengthen my relevance or effectiveness?   

The first day of fall begins on September 21st and soon after another time change – this time falling back.  For purposes of this 3rd planning time, think back to what your organization has done well.

  • What needs to be repeated?
  • What needs to be retired?
  • What needs to be retooled?
  • What needs to be re-thought? If your organization has lost market share, customers, or profits, have the focus of your planning be how to get those things back.
  • If you have lost passion for what you do, think back to the beginning when your passion was high. What were you doing back then? What do you need to do to bring back that passion?

On December 21st, the winter solstice occurs when either of the Earth’s poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the sun resulting in the shortest day of the year for those in the northern hemisphere.  It’s the beginning of the 4th season of the year and an ideal time to consider a 4th planning event sometime around December 21st (ideally a week or two before or after for obvious reasons!). Consider using both the words maximum and minimum as discussion prompts.

 “Four Seasons Planning” could also involve benchmarking highly successful organizations like the Four Seasons Hotel and Resorts. You could even examine the Four Seasons Hotel and Resort mission statement and culture to compare and contrast it with your organization’s mission statement. You could even gather with your organization or team to do your planning at a Four Seasons resort, and yes, I’d be happy to come and speak.

Categories
Culture Growth Health and Wellness

Ask Katherine: What If I’m Not Perfect?

Dear Katherine,

My husband and I are working on our parenting and have realized that many of the changes that need to occur in our family start with us. 

We have much to learn about our own needs and behaviors, but as we put in the work, how realistic is it for us to expect our children to manage their own emotions and needs?

Is it possible to raise children to stop the behaviors we don’t like, even if we sometimes exhibit them ourselves? 

Sincerely,

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

Hi there, Do As I Say, Not As I Do, Great question! On some level, I believe every parent hopes that their children will be better versions of themselves.

Unfortunately, the reality is that children—especially young ones—can’t be what they don’t see. They have no frame of reference for it.

Pexels Mikhail Nilov 6964102

You’re right to recognize that much of the work of conscious parenting is more about parents than children. You need to do the work of untangling your ingrained beliefs around approaching conflict, dealing with emotions, and understanding trauma, so you can help your children do the same.

This work can—and should—take place concurrently. You don’t have to be a perfect parent to have a wonderful relationship with your kids!

When you acknowledge that you’re exhibiting the same behaviors you’re guiding your kids away from, be honest with them about it and have a moment of reflection together. Try saying something like. . .

Pexels August De Richelieu 4262424 1

“I’m so sorry that you have to see me behaving like this. Sometimes despite my best efforts, I mess up. You’re allowed to mess up, too. But let’s talk about why it happened so we can both move on.”

Kids need you to be the best version of yourself to become the best version of themselves—and that process involves communication and accountability.

It’s a lot of pressure, but the good news is that you can get there as a family. Take the time you need to work on yourself. If it means carving out time just for you, that’s alright. Becoming a part of the Conscious Parenting Revolution is a phenomenal start.

I believe in your capacity to lead by example for your kids. Confident parenting is within your reach!

Love and Blessings,

Katherine

Categories
Best Practices Entrepreneurship Human Resources Management Negotiations Sales Skills Women In Business

“Powerful Persuasion How To Negotiate Better Using Mind Control” – Negotiation Tip of the Week

You can discover how to become more persuasive in this week’s …

Negotiation Tip of the Week

“Persuasion is the mind’s controller that leads to greater mind control.”  -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert (Click to Tweet)

 

 Mind control, persuasion, negotiate better, Negotiation skills, Body Language, Negotiation Tips, Negotiator, Negotiating, Negotiation strategies, negotiation skills training, reading body language, Greg Williams The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert, Negotiate, Negotiation, The Master Negotiator, Greg Williams The Master Negotiator, Greg Williams, Harvard Business Review, Body Language Expert, Body Language Secrets,

Click here to get the book!

  

“Powerful Persuasion How To Negotiate Better Using Mind Control”

 

People don’t realize they’re always negotiating.

When you negotiate, what thoughts do you have about mind control? To negotiate better, you must exercise persuasion over your negotiation counterpart. And, if you do not control the opposition’s mind, they will control yours.

The following are a few powerful persuasion techniques you can use to control your mind and that of the other negotiator. Being aware of them, and preparing to exercise control beforehand, allows you to negotiate better, achieving better negotiation outcomes.   

Click here to become more persuasive!

 

Remember, you’re always negotiating! 

 

Check out this offer to learn more about negotiating better and reading body language!

 

Listen to Greg’s podcasts at https://megaphone.link/CSN6318246585  Once there, double click on the one you would like to hear.

 

After reading this article, what are you thinking? I’d like to know. Reach me at Greg@TheMasterNegotiator.com

 

To receive weekly free 5-minute sneak peeks into the brilliant techniques offered by Greg, click here

https://www.themasternegotiator.com/negotiation-speaker/   and sign up at the bottom of the page

 

 

 

 

Categories
Best Practices Entrepreneurship Human Resources Management Negotiations Sales Skills Women In Business

“Powerful Persuasion How To Negotiate Better Using Mind Control” – Negotiation Tip of the Week

You can discover how to become more persuasive in this week’s …

Negotiation Tip of the Week

“Persuasion is the mind’s controller that leads to greater mind control.”  -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert (Click to Tweet)

 

 Mind control, persuasion, negotiate better, Negotiation skills, Body Language, Negotiation Tips, Negotiator, Negotiating, Negotiation strategies, negotiation skills training, reading body language, Greg Williams The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert, Negotiate, Negotiation, The Master Negotiator, Greg Williams The Master Negotiator, Greg Williams, Harvard Business Review, Body Language Expert, Body Language Secrets,

Click here to get the book!

  

“Powerful Persuasion How To Negotiate Better Using Mind Control”

 

People don’t realize they’re always negotiating.

When you negotiate, what thoughts do you have about mind control? To negotiate better, you must exercise persuasion over your negotiation counterpart. And, if you do not control the opposition’s mind, they will control yours.

The following are a few powerful persuasion techniques you can use to control your mind and that of the other negotiator. Being aware of them, and preparing to exercise control beforehand, allows you to negotiate better, achieving better negotiation outcomes.   

Click here to become more persuasive!

 

Remember, you’re always negotiating! 

 

Check out this offer to learn more about negotiating better and reading body language!

 

Listen to Greg’s podcasts at https://megaphone.link/CSN6318246585  Once there, double click on the one you would like to hear.

 

After reading this article, what are you thinking? I’d like to know. Reach me at Greg@TheMasterNegotiator.com

 

To receive weekly free 5-minute sneak peeks into the brilliant techniques offered by Greg, click here

https://www.themasternegotiator.com/negotiation-speaker/   and sign up at the bottom of the page

 

 

 

 

Categories
Growth Health and Wellness Leadership

Our Corporate Drinking Culture: Where the Boardroom and Social Meet

Corporate culture is so much more than parties and snacks, but it is also that too. Maybe it’s time to rethink how, as leaders, we lead the way for our corporate social culture. After all, what happens in the office party does spill into the boardroom and overflows into the rest of the corporate culture – it is inevitable. There is no invisible wall between the two, any more than there is between the silos in our departments that we try to break down.

Every day I speak to busy stressed executives. They are concerned about how much they drink. They try to moderate the amount of alcohol they consume, and often struggle to do so effectively. When it comes to corporate social events, their concerns are multiplied.

Much of our society revolves unquestioningly around alcohol, and it’s time that we ask ourselves whether our corporate social culture does as well. At the very least we should make an intelligent and informed decision about the role that alcohol plays in our corporate culture. Perhaps we should also question the relationship we have with addictive substances and behaviors generally.

There are two worlds when it comes to alcohol, and they couldn’t be more different. There is the bravado of the social elixir which few stop to question, and then there are the hushed tones as some gather at a coffee machine zoom to ask whether senior executive A, or vice president B has a problem ‘handling their drink’ or are ‘overdoing it’.

We have a blind spot. It’s no one’s fault. And the blind spot lies right between the bravado and the hushed tones.

As a leader and strategic thinker, it’s my job to expose those blind spots, shine a torch, offer some focus, and open up the discussion, so that both sides of the alcohol world meet in the middle where the truth resides.

The Alcohol Blind Spot

The blind spot is that over 12% of all of the executives have a problem with alcohol and the percentage is higher when we add in other addictive drugs and substances. In a report in Global Advances in Health and Medicine, over 98% of executives surveyed suffered from stress, and over 50% of executives reported having a high-stress level.

There is a direct link between addictive behavior, stress, and being a highly motivated individual. The truth is that highly motivated people become highly motivated drinkers, albeit it that they are high functioning and problems may be well hidden. That is the way the science of our biology works. Addiction cannot exist without motivation. The cycle of stress and feelings of lack motivate us to try to fill the void, and alcohol and nicotine, for example, hijack our natural motivational biology.

The end result is a taboo issue that leads to guilt, shame, and internal struggles. It leads to a loss of self-esteem and more stress.

People get addicted to addictive substances, and that is inevitable. It is certainly not the fault of the individuals who seek to relieve stress or feel better at the end of the day. It is, however, the responsibility of those same individuals to open their eyes to the problem and to seek change. It is also the responsibility of corporate leaders to shape the corporate culture.

The Addictive Drug of Choice

Alcohol is a highly toxic, highly addictive, psychoactive drug. A study published by the World
Heart Federation in January 2022 clearly states this as does WebMD in the same month as it summarizes findings.

“The portrayal of alcohol as necessary for a vibrant social life has diverted attention from the harms of alcohol use, as have the frequent and widely publicized claims that moderate drinking, such as a glass of red wine a day, can offer protection against cardiovascular disease,” Monika Arora, member of the WHF advocacy committee and co-author of the brief, said in a news release.

“These claims are at best misinformed and at worst an attempt by the alcohol industry to mislead the public about the danger of their product,” Arora continued.

The content in red wine frequently reported as ‘good for you’ is resveratrol. This is also found in the skin of red grapes and blueberries, but without the addictive toxins that come with the main ingredient of alcohol, ethanol.

The Values of Corporate Culture

Corporate culture sets the tone for the embedded values, behaviors, and attitudes of everyone who looks forward to the organization’s future, ideally in synchronization, and inspired action.

Alcohol competes with Maslow’s hierarchy at the lowest levels. It occupied the time of those who reach for a stressed drink after work. Alcohol robs people of sleep, professional and personal effectiveness, happiness, and trusting close relationships. The worst of it is that it is diametrically opposed to the values of the individual who values authenticity, control, inner strength, and success. Alcohol wrecks lives. It wrecks businesses.

When we consider the corporate culture of our organizations, we cannot exclude the social corporate culture of our organizations. As leaders, we need to consider the foundations we set, and the values we uphold. This links directly to the authenticity with which we choose to lead our organizations and our lives.

Concerned executives, book your Calibration Call HERE

Women, join my Masterclass HERE

Collaborating colleagues, Let’s Connect

Categories
Growth Leadership Personal Development

How to Know if a Company Has a Positive Culture . . . or a Negative One

When you visit a company with a poor corporate culture, tension permeates every level. You will see grim faces, and you will likely notice many offices with closed doors. You may feel uncomfortable, without knowing why. The reason you may feel uncomfortable is because everyone who works there is uncomfortable and disconnected.

And when you visit a company with a positive culture, you will know that too. Before you even enter the door, you will feel a positive energy coming from employees in the lobby or the elevator. The receptionist and people waiting in the lobby seem happy to be there. And when you go through the door and your meeting starts, things become even more energized and positive.

Please note that even if you are attending meetings remotely at the company, you will experience similar things, only on a smaller scale. But positivity can always be felt, provided it is an integral part of company culture.

Here are some key indicators that can alert you to whether a company has cultivated a culture of positivity.

Organizations with positive company cultures often:

  • Have a high level of ethics
  • Are committed to community, the environment, and other like values (i.e., a sustainability mindset)
  • Enjoy an atmosphere of teamwork and camaraderie
  • Have a shared sense of community
  • Encourage creativity and thrive on innovation
  • Promote risk-taking
  • Are customer-focused
  • Keep employees’ families in mind and promote a positive work/life balance
  • Foster a positive approach and sense of fun
  • Provide generous benefits
  • Encourage employees’ personal and professional development
  • Embrace continuous learning
  • Create opportunities for growth and advancement
  • Have strong and shared core values
  • Promote technological innovation
  • Are fiscally realistic

Walk into a company with a positive culture and you will see happy, relaxed people working hard and without tension. You’ll hear people who are sharing ideas, consulting each other, and laughing. There is a sense of openness, and you will feel relaxed and welcome.

Organizations with negative company cultures often:

  • Maintain false communication where everyone “weighs in,” yet few feel heard and results are delayed
  • Neglect collaboration
  • Ignore unhealthy and, in some cases, illegal behavior such as sexism, male dominance, racism, intolerance, emotional and physical abuse
  • Disregard disruptive internal competition and sniping
  • Suffer from minimal employee loyalty
  • Lose time and money to low productivity and high turnover
  • Have unnecessary hierarchies
  • Lack a healthy life/work balance
  • Tend to be rigid and continue to do things “the way we’ve always done them”

This article is adapted from my new book Ingaging Leadership Meets the Younger Generation. 

 

Categories
Growth Health and Wellness

Embrace Serendipity – Opportunity Knocking

What do these things have in common?

You’re sitting next to someone on a plane who turns out to have a need for your services and becomes your next client or boss. Or having a spouse with a rare disease and running into a specialist at a friend’s party who happens to be the leading expert on that disease and winds up saving your partner’s life. Or buying a lottery ticket from a store that’s about to close and having a big win. Or it could be something on a smaller scale such as having a hummingbird hover right in front of you.

These are moments of serendipity when seemingly random events occur as if by chance in a way that benefits us or brings us joy and happiness unexpectedly.

Over the past few weeks I can think of at least three experiences I had that felt like serendipity in action:

Las Vegas

I was invited to attend and speak at an event in Las Vegas on The Future of Blockchain and Web 3.0 entitled The Takeover and hosted by Real Vision, a media company I had been unfamiliar with until then. It was a highly curated event of some of the most progressive, bright, forward-thinking entrepreneurs and leaders in the space.

I met a lot of interesting and amazing people during the course of the event. But one individual and I connected pretty deeply across multiple dimensions; he was truly a kindred spirit, and we bonded instantly.

Weird things kept happening to us as if we were in our own little orbit. We’d discuss something rather abstract or obtuse, and the next thing you know someone would join us out of nowhere and bring up the topic we had just been talking about. Or we’d say a strange uncommon word and someone would show up next to us and say it right after. It was noticeably odd and this phenomenon repeated itself time and again.

We experienced the bulk of the event together from then on, and have remained connected since. That depth of connection just doesn’t happen that often. I feel like I’ve met a great new colleague, friend, and possible collaborator. Serendipity in action.

Safe Travels

Then when all the chaos was going on during the holidays with thousands of flights being canceled, I just sailed out of my home airport with ease and my arrival at my destination couldn’t have been smoother. When it was time to reverse course, my flights were delayed heading home (from two different airports), and when I arrived at the second airport, the flight departing prior to the one I was booked on, (which was delayed by a couple of hours) happened to be boarding just as I arrived at the gate — and I was able to hop on and secure a preferred seat near the front. I felt like I was being looked after and treated with kid gloves. It was all so seamless.

An Old Friend Reunited

I was recently running an errand and was led to take a detour down a side street I never go down where a childhood friend lives that I’d been estranged from for 20 years. She happened to be outside in front of her house, which she never is, and recognized me as I was driving by. She yelled “is that you,” and I stopped. We spent three hours together catching up, which was deeply healing for us, and we are now back in each other’s lives. I’m thrilled.

Why does it seem like some people experience more serendipity than others? I guess the question is, can we prepare ourselves to find things we’re not looking for when they show up? Are these events purely random or can they be cultivated?

3 Tips for Bringing More Serendipity into Your Life

  1. Stay alert and aware — I believe there’s a certain pattern recognition you can foster within yourself that allows you to be receptive to seeing connections and opportunities that others might miss.
  2. Be receptive — If you’re curious and open-minded, you’ll naturally be operating within the realm of possibility and that tends to foster and dare I say “encourage” (and even anticipate) more of these moments arising for you. It can help to assume you have special powers that allow you to perceive opportunities like antennas that may alert you to clues (and patterns as referenced above) where you may connect the dots more readily than others.
  3. Trust your intuition and follow it — We all have a built-in guidance system that some feel is tied to a higher power (myself included), which is geared to guide us to optimal outcomes if we just honor it when it arises. The three examples I provided above are just a few ‘chance’ encounters that happen for me more consistently than not, and intuition can work for you as well if you tune in and follow where you’re being led. The right people, opportunities, and circumstances can line up in your favor when you do so; it happens to me too often to be considered random.

Give some careful thought to all of this and resolve to pay better attention moving forward. Be better prepared when opportunity knocks. Then enjoy the moments that follow.

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