The Turkey Rock Trot

I remember the day it kicked just six years ago. After months of preparation and planning we had our first race at the Meadows in Castle Rock on Thanksgiving Day. With an unexpected 400+ runners and walkers that first year we were unprepared and yet thrilled. All of use are part time volunteers, and yet every year we are more surprised at the turnout and the opportunity to support our local task force. In this blog, I hope to impart a little bit of what we learn every year.

Each year the biggest speculation is "how many tee-shirts should we order and what sizes?" It has become quite a joke with the team since we grow every year and it's always a "calculated guess". By the way, this topic has not even come up yet this year and we are a little over a month away.

After five years, we decided to kick this year off with a strategic planning session and determined our main purpose is to raise funds for the task force. Our mission is: providing a fun family community event that is a channel for the community to support a local cause.

So far our major decisions this year have been to change the route slightly to be exactly 5K, hire a professional to do the timing and promote the event at the Castle Rock Octoberfest which was last weekend.

What fun it was to partner with Harry and David and hand out Moose Munch as we talked about the event on Thanksgiving. It was a nice day in the upper 70's and many people showed up. In fact, we ran out of materials just before the end of the day so that means over 800 people were interested.

We broke up into groups of 4 with one person filling the Moose Munch and the other 3 handing out samples and business cards with the information on the front and a Harry and David coupon on the back. It was a super day with a huge reach.

Look for more posts on the Turkey Rock Trot as we progress into the next month.

Marketing through Social Media

The big questions I hear out there is how do I use social media to market my business? How much time should I spend and where should I be? The answer: that depends. It depends on your type of business, on how you communicate now, on your marketing plan and what you hope to achieve with social networking.

For example, a business to business professional may find Linkedin very helpful in connecting with other professionals and prospective clients whereas a business to consumer small business may find it more valuable to do some targeted ads on Facebook.

The first step in social networking is to research what your associates,clients and prospects are doing. If you find most of them are tweeting then that may be a tactic you use for your social media marketing. If you find they aren't even on Facebook yet, it may not be your best form of marketing at all. You have to know what they are doing before you can even plan your strategy.

Many business leaders are so busy doing business that they don't have time to market themselves. And yet they know marketing and having a plan for marketing is one of the most important things they can do in today's business world. It helps to focus and plan the roadmap for success. Therefore, the second step is to plan a strategy for social media marketing. What you will do, when, and how much time will you give it.

The third step is to integrate that strategy into your current marketing plan. How will it fit with your current programs? For example, if you have a seminar for all clients and prospects and you have been sending an email to invite them, you might want to also put out an invitation on Linkedin with all of the details. Or set up a Meet-up site for that seminar. There are so many options for integrating social media.

With over 75 million Linkedin members and more than 500 million active Facebook users alone you cannot afford to miss out on this valuable marketing strategy.

Success through Leadership

Each year the Willow Creek Association holds a Leadership Summit featuring great speakers. This year is no exception with a line up like Jim Collins, Jack Welch, Tony Dungy, Terri Kelly, Blake MyCoskie, Daniel Pink and many others. Although the conference is targeted for church leaders, the principles for leadership transcend to the business world as well.

This will be my 8th year attending this leadership conference and I am so excited to hear all of the speakers but in particular I look forward to hearing Zhao Xiao, a Leading Chinese Economist sent by the Chinese government to study our economy. What Dr. Xiao found out was that we religion is tied to the success of our economy. I am anxious to hear what he has in store.

This Leadership Summit energizes me, restores my soul and gives me the motivation to go out and set the world on fire.
For more information log on to www.willowcreek.com/summit

Restoring Faith in Humanity

We often hear stories of the bad things that happen. Here is a story of a different kind.
After our Father’s Day picnic and hike, we decided to stop and have ice cream. When we tried to start the car, we found the battery was dead. We were 35 miles from home and didn’t know anyone. Worse yet, we were in a place that was surrounded with teenagers both serving the food and eating. What were we going to do?
After looking around to see if there was any kind of automotive shop in close proximity we spotting two in the same shopping center but it was Father’s Day and everything was closed. We talked to our wait person and she checked with the other wait staff and managers but no one had jumper cables. My husband walked up to a group of young men in their late teens and asked them if they might have jumper cables and none of them did but one of them said his friend had them in his car and he was working close by so he called him on his cell.
Well he had just got off work and had the cables in his car so he said he’d be right over. Five minutes later, there he was. He and his friend jumped out of their black jeep and got the cables out of the back. After a bit of maneuvering, we were able to get close enough so they could give us a jump. Walla….2 minutes and the car turned right over. My husband tried to give them $10 but they absolutely refused.
I was watching all of this from inside the car. My job was to start the car when they signaled. I noticed that one of the young men was wearing a shirt with praying hands on it and some verbiage I was not able to read. When they refused to take the money, I told them they would get their reward in heaven and they both gave me a thumbs up. I promised to pray for them and we left.

How Does Religion Influence the Economy?

According to Dr. Zhao Xiao, "Churches, and only churches, are Americans' Center; they are the very core that binds Americans together."
A prominent Chinese economist, Dr. Zhao Xiao was commissioned by his government to study the success of the American economy. He concluded that a moral foundation allowed the economy to flourish, argued that China's economy would benefit from the spread of the Christian faith, and embraced Christianity himself. He continues to be a respected scholar and government advisor, speaking openly about the influence of Christianity on economics.
Zhao Xiao is a Professor at the Department of International Business and Economics at the School of Economics and Management at the University of Science and Technology Beijing. In addition, he teaches at the Management School of the University of Science and Technology, Beijing.
Zhao has pioneered the studies of market economy and ethics in China, and his "The real story behind Chinese economic growth" was approved as required reading for State Council economist conference by former Premier Zhu Rongji.
Dr. Xiao will be the first non-English speaking faculty member for the upcoming Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit this August. He will lean on a gifted translator to share his thoughts on the relationship between morality and a market economy, the state of the Church in China, and the challenges of leadership as a Christian in a secular Communist country.
In its 15th year, the Global Leadership Summit has gained attention throughout the world as one of the premier Christian leadership conferences. In addition to Dr. Xiao, the speaker line up for the August 5th and 6th Summit includes best-selling author, Jim Collins, former Chairman and CEO of General Electric Jack Welch, winning coach of the 2007 Superbowl, Tony Dungy, Terri Kelly president and CEO of W.L. Gore & Associates makers of Goretex products, Blake Mycoskie, founder and :chief shoe giver” of Tom’s Shoes and many others. To learn more about the summit go to http://www.willowcreek.com/events/leadership/2010/

Marketing with Color

According to color researcher, Cynthia Cornell, colors make a difference in Direct Mail Marketing. For example:
Blue-based reds are associated with more expensive products.
Orange indicates affordability.
yellow when used with dark colors for contrast becomes powerful and easy to read.
Green conveys possibility and hope.
Blue connotes confidence and safety (a great choice for financial and medical).
Purple is used for high fashion like perfume.
Black conveys a strong sense of power,promise and the ability for high contrasts.
White implies sophistication and formality but also a high-end price point.

Take the test and look at your direct mail to see what you think!

Think Up!
While I was watching the Academy Awards this weekend, there was a definite theme of “up.” Not only in the movie titles but the movie content for this year has, to a great extent, been about overcoming overwhelming obstacles in life. It seems as though the writers, directors and producers understand the challenging times we are in and are encouraging us to “think up” or have the courage and faith to move beyond to a better world.

Look UP!
In the movie UP, the old man wanted to fulfill a lifelong dream and go to the place he and his wife talked about for many years. He had many challenges just to get to what he thought would be his “paradise” and yet, when he got there, he had even more challenges. It reminds me of when we finally get that business that we dreamed about off the ground. Once it’s up and running, we still have every day challenges to deal with and sometimes they are more than we could have even imagined. However, when we look up, we cannot help but see the glory of God and that our faith will carry us through the tough times.

Last night as I watched Lindsey Vonn ski downhill and realize that on the last part of her run she was skiing on one leg I was truly inspired. She didn’t let anything stop her from winning that gold medal.What courage, what determination what enthusiasm!

When she won, she was overcome with joy. I wondered what it would mean to her 10 years from now.

It made me think about our effort and enthusiasm for our “God medal”. How are we pushing ourselves to reach that eternal ending? The reward we have is ever lasting!

A Matter of Honor

A Matter of Honor
By Audrey McLeod
“Honor (from the Latin word honor, honoris) is the evaluation of a person's trustworthiness and social status based on that individual's espousals and actions. Honour is deemed exactly what determines a person's character: whether or not the person reflects honesty, respect, integrity, or fairness.” Source: Wikkipedia
Last week, we saw the Japanese President of Toyota come out bowing and apologizing for the problems they have experienced with their cars. It was obviously an embarrassing and humbling moment for this man. As a nationalistic country, Japan is proud of their country, companies and families. In fact, when something goes wrong in the country or the company, the family suffers. Failure means embarrassment, which is, for the Japanese, a deep emotional feeling. They live the golden rule of doing unto others and when someone is let down, they feel guilt to the point of suicide. In fact, many senior high school students have jumped in front of a train when they got bad grades because they embarrassed and dishonored their families. It’s cultural.
My husband, who worked in Japan for a number of years, had this perspective: “As a company, Toyota will now work day and night to fix the problem because there is a value demanding that it’s done right and they work until it is corrected.” In a Japanese company, everyone approves the plan. There is a document called a “Ringi” (American translation) that is a plan for something the company is planning to do that circulates in every department of the company. Everybody has input on this new product or solution and they all must agree, disagree or comment. Comments might look something like: “We can’t do that in the time allotted.” Once the Ringi has passed through all the departments and all have agreed and signed off, production can start the next day. Everyone has responsibility for their part because they agreed on the Ringi. In effect, nothing comes down from the top because everyone is in agreement.
The president of a Japanese company has the role of servant leadership. He has advisors consisting of employees that look at the ideas and, like the head of a family, have ears open to input from everyone. They take the input, digest it and say: “Here’s what we’ll do.” Much like the head of a family, they take on the leadership role and are embarrassed for the people when something goes wrong. In Japan, the brand is the people and the honor of the country, company and family is at stake. “
The prediction is that they will have the problems fixed quickly and come out stronger as a company because they’ll put more emphasis on quality control. They can’t afford to be dishonored any further.
At the Wedding Feast of Cana, Jesus was asked to turn the water into wine because if the wine ran out, the host would be embarrassed and their hospitality would be questioned. He performed one of his first public miracles to protect the honor of the family. We know from that incident that honor was also important for the people in His time.
What can we learn from the Japanese and Jesus? First and foremost, we must have the ethical standards of honoring others and protecting them from embarrassment. And we must strive to have the integrity and fortitude in our companies to do the right thing. When something goes wrong, admit it, apologize and try to fix the problem, even if it takes a miracle.
Second, we are called to lead like the head of a family, taking everyone’s input into consideration and valuing each of them, but also holding them accountable for the problem and fixing it.
Third, we are to take our businesses and the way they affect people so seriously that no one can ever look at us and say we didn’t care—practice the golden rule of doing unto others what we would have them do unto us.

A Sad State of Affairs

As I was working on my article, I got a scam phone call. It was a man with a foreign accent who was telling me I won the Publisher’s Clearing House Sweepstakes. He promised me prizes of money, a car, gas, etc., and all I had to do was be home today and pay the federal agent, “Mr. Simpson,” $750.00, which would be paid to the Federal Government of the U.S., giving me a free warranty for the car. He said cash would be better than a check, and two Federal Agents would come to my home today to pick up the money and give me an American God Eagle Stamp of certification and a receipt.
Knowing this was a scam, I began interrogating the man. I asked him a lot of questions, telling him that I was not comfortable and that I was concerned for my safety so I was going to call the police. His response was that he was a Christian and this was legitimate. Jesus Christ was his Lord and savior. Didn’t I have faith in Jesus Christ? I then became angry! This man was using Christianity as a way to get people to give him money. At that moment, I wanted to jump through that phone!
When I hung up, I thought about all the people who would fall for this scam … the older, naive and desperate people who would believe this scam, especially since the man was a “good Christian.” I felt a little like Paul when he was speaking to the church in Corinth: “These people are false apostles. They have fooled you by disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. But I am not surprised! Even Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light. So it is no wonder his servants can also do it by pretending to be godly ministers. In the end they will get every bit of punishment their wicked deeds deserve.” 2 Cor. 11:12-15
As I was re-telling the story to my husband, his response was: “Well, you know, many people advertise or tell others that they are Christian and don’t do business like a Christian.” That made me think of a man I’ll call “Jerry” with whom I did business in the 80’s. Jerry did some work for one of my clients and I got to know him quite well. He professed to be a Christian and went to church. Jerry asked me to do some work for him, for which he didn’t pay. He told me again and again that he would but never paid. Then, one day, he just disappeared. I have since heard many similar stories from colleagues and friends. There is an expectation of good character when we profess we are Christians. We expect that we will act like Christ, be fair and have ethics and integrity.A tall order to be sure.
The current economic situation has left many people desperate for answers. Bank robberies are at an all-time high. In fact, the small town that I came from had a bank robbery just last week. David wrote in Psalms: “Don’t try to get rich by extortion or robbery. And if your wealth increases, don’t make it the center of your life.” It is tempting to judge people like this scam artist who called me. We may even think that such people are really getting ahead in life. But, on God’s scales, these people are “lighter than a puff of air.” What, then, can tilt the scales when God weighs in? Trusting God and recognizing that “Power, O God, belongs to you; unfailing love, O Lord is yours. Surely you will judge all people according to what they have done.” Psalm 62:11-12