On this particular day, Yoo was helping out with the church’s youth ministry where the youth would go out to the parks of DC and hand out sandwiches to the less fortunate. On this day though, there were more people than there were sack lunches available and the following interaction occurred:
As the kids were getting in the car, one of the homeless men came up to the passenger window of the van. Thinking he needed a sandwich, the pastor said, “Sorry, we don’t have any more sandwiches. But Jesus loves you.” The man started yelling back, “I know Jesus loves me! But what about you?”
Yoo goes on to say how the pastor just kept repeating the same thing: Jesus loves you. And the guy kept asking the same thing: Yes, but what about you? until the car drove off. I won’t do it justice, but Yoo goes on to talk about how impersonal things get sometimes–even when you have good intentions. And that sometimes, to truly make a difference and show you care, you have to get engaged and this may mean you have to roll-up your sleeves, get your hands dirty and get involved.
Does this sound familiar? I find Yoo’s story relevant because in the world of social media–it gets easy to thank someone for a RT. It gets easy to post a photo. It gets easy to give a #followfriday shout out. It gets easy to ask them for feedback or respond to an inquiry. It’s gets easy…and impersonal. So, here’s your challenge:
Take Five Steps Back
What else? How can we make sure we are authentically engaging people and building relationships?
Like they say: If it were easy, everyone would be doing it. Don’t be everyone. Be unique–this is how you will offer true value to your customers.
flickr credit: Matthew Yaktine
]]>During one of those moments–you know, the times where you feel like everything is coming at you from all directions and you’re just not sure how you’re going to make it all work–I reached out to my friend Qui, who simply said: “Keep the main thing, the main thing.” Seven simple words that got my head to the ground working, only this time, I was healthier, happier and more productive.
Thus, I want to recognize some colleagues that I know have worked hard this past year to keep the main, the main thing.
Main Thing Keepers
Your turn. Who do you know that is keeping the main thing, the main thing? And better yet, how are they doing it?
]]>During Michael J. Fox’s “Adventures of an Incurable Optimist,” I found myself live-tweeting inspirational quotes, thoughts and ideas from the show. As a gift for a job well done this week, I encourage you to check out the points below and remember 1) that hope is alive and 2) it is attainable.
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“As hard as things are right now, there is something happening with people…people reaching out and helping each other.”
“Maybe that’s where hope comes from. If I could do everything, I would have no reason to be thankful for hope.”
“I’ve discovered it’s not always about winning…it’s about accepting yourself” -MJFOX (Do we do this enough? Remember to celebrate.)
Did you know that the Bhutanese officially measure GNH: Gross National Happiness. It just makes sense when you think about it. They base this on the belief that a commonality of the human experience is to be happy.
“Optimism is contagious…Happiness is contagious. You can give it out in handing out newspapers.” -Michael J. Fox
Is there a link between optimism and creativity and the arts?
“For everything this disease has taken, something of greater value has been given…After everything with Parkinson’s, I’ve learned that what’s important is always making that one step count.”
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httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKk8Wyap7sE
“Optimists are open to alternatives in the face of adversity.”
So I ask you: Do you consider yourself to be an optimist? I think if we can attain just an ounce of the optimism, joy and connected-ness that I witness in Michael J. Fox, my mom, my friends, the dear elderly man in my building who smiles and loves the moment in a simple hello….then I think we’ll all be okay.
flickr: Shanissinha
]]>For many Gen-Yers and young professionals, Facebook started out as a social network. Then, high-schoolers were allowed in. Now, understandably, more and more people are joining that range in age – and in relationship to you. Point in case:
Thus, with Facebook going from social status —> professional network, it begs the question, what are the new the rules of thumb for one’s Facebook account? So I asked followers on Twitter. The results:
No matter what you prefer, it’s best to adopt a strategy early, be wise, cautious and careful. Even those that believed in full access agreed that in the past year, they’ve tweaked their their own personal guidelines. i.e. Adopting the self-policy that one must meet someone in their professional network in person before they cozy up on Facebook.
For me, currently, I adopt a mix between the full access and the limited profile. This is largely for one reasons:
Some other guidelines friends mentioned through my Twitter survey. Don’t post:
What’s your Facebook Professionalism Policy? or, what do you think of mine?
photo credit: Flickr, Amit Gupta (from Newsweek article)
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