Joyful Jubilant Learning

5 minutes with Seth Godin

Welcome to 2008's first installment of the JJL Interview Series.  Today I have the privilege of speaking with one of my favourite bloggers and authors, Seth Godin.  Seth just released his newest book Meatball Sundae: Is Your Marketing Out of Sync.

 

Benjamin Bach: What is a Meatball Sundae?

Seth Godin: A meatball sundae is the unfortunate result of mixing two good ideas.

The meatballs are the foundation, the things we need (and sometimes want). These are the commodities that so many businesses are built on.

The sundae toppings (hot fudge and the like) are the New Marketing, the social networks, Google, blogs and fancy stuff that make people all excited.

The challenge most organizations face: they try to mix them. They attempt to slap new marketing onto old and end up with nothing but a failed website.

BB: What if I'm making a delicious ice cream sundae - can I have too many toppings on that ?

SG: The New Marketing demands that you go where people are... not that you hope that they come to you. At the same time, though, you need focus.

So yes, it's easy to get distracted.

BB: What is a Purple Cow ?

SG: A purple cow is something worth talking about, something remarkable.

If you can't make something worth talking about, then don't expect your message will spread.

BB: I recently heard you say "The more people you reach the more likely it is that you're reaching the wrong people."   Can you explain that ?

SG: What a great riff! I hope I actually said it.

BB: You did, during your podcast with Phil Gerbyshak.

SG: As you get closer and closer to the masses, you're getting farther and farther away from the people who actually care about you, who will actually talk about you.

BB: WOW, that's powerful - I'm glad I wrote it down when I listened to the podcast!  Seth, why do I need to build a permission asset ?

SG: That's the only thing you can build online. The privilege of sending anticipated, personal and relevant messages to the people who want to get them. Not a jingle, not a stupid ad, but messages people actually look forward to and respond to.

BB: Thanks so much Seth!        

Benjamin Bach is a speaker, writer and wealth building Real Estate agent in Kitchener Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

You can find his blog at http://www.Kitchener-Waterloo-Real-Estate-Investments.com

His Ice Cream Sundae stands out amongst the Real Estate Meatball Masses - and Benjamin just added Video as the cherry on top.  What is on YOUR sundae this year ?

 

Welcome to 2008's first installment of the JJL Interview Series.  Today I have the privilege of speaking with one of my favourite bloggers and authors, Seth Godin.  Seth just released his newest book Meatball Sundae: Is Your Marketing Out of Sync.

 

A Remarkable Interview with Kevin Eikenberry

This morning it is my great pleasure to share with you a conversation I just had with Kevin Eikenberry, author of the newly released Remarkable Leadership. I first discovered Kevin's writing in 2006, and since then I have voraciously devoured all he has written on leadership, and helping people reach their full potential. 

I know you will love this edition of Jubilant Learners Speak Up!

Benjamin Bach: Kevin, what is remarkable leadership?

Kevin Eikenberry: Remarkable leadership is the result of the actions of remarkable leaders.  While my book talks about 13 competencies that, at a high level, remarkable leaders exhibit, that is too much detail to answer your question. In short, a remarkable leader is someone who is continually working to become more effective - continually learning and improving. 

Remarkable Leaders also recognize that remarkable leadership is not about the technical skills of forecasting, budgeting and technical knowledge of the work, but really about how they engender trust, build relationships, develop others, communicate more effectively—all of those other skills that we really think of when we think of great leaders that we've worked with in the past.

That’s a remarkable leader – a continual learner who focuses on the work of a leader and not just the
technical aspects of the work.

BB: A common myth I hear repeated alot is '...but I'm not in a leadership position.'  How can people lead if they aren't a "leader" by title?

KE: I believe we can all lead through our actions.  We lead through behaviors consistent with our values.  We lead by

being accountable. We lead when we serve Customers with care and respect.  We lead when we listen.  We lead when we make a difference. 

All of us can do these, and 100 other things I could have listed – it doesn’t require a title on the wall of our cubicle or on our business card. We are all in leadership positions if we choose to be.

BB: What role does learning play in leadership?

KE: I believe it is the foundational skill of the any effective leader. All leaders want their teams to be continually learning and growing. The best way to encourage that in others is to model it ourselves.  Nothing can be more powerful.  Beyond that though, on a personal level, leadership is a complex business and if we hope to be effective at mastering even some of those complexities we must continually be on a conscious path of learning how to be more effective both for ourselves and those we lead.

BB: What teachers, speakers and writers have most influenced you?

KE: This could be a long list!  The answer I gave someone at an event last week relating to books was this:  The Bible, The Greatest Miracle in the World by Og Mandino and See You at the Top by Zig Ziglar.  I could of course add many more to that list, but after further review, I don’t think I’d change that top three. The list of teachers would certainly include my parents, my wife Lori and children Parker and Kelsey, and many of our clients over the years.  I also was influenced by a few wonderful teachers at both the high school and college level. 

In retrospect the thing I learned from them and from some of the leaders I worked for in industry was that they modeled service.  Remarkable leaders serve others.

BB: How can I become remarkable?

KE: I believe there are five things that anyone must do to accelerate their personal progress towards remarkable:

Believe – you must believe that you have the capacity to be remarkable (you do!)

Recognize and remind – you must recognize the unique strengths that you bring to the world and continually remind yourself.  When you believe and recognize you have  a chance to do the next step …

Actualize through action.  You must take action; action to learn, to try and to use.  Without the input of energy into action, no growth, progress or results can occur.

Gratitude – being Remarkable isn’t about ego – quite the opposite. Highly self-actualized people – further down their path towards Remarkable – realize their abilities and are grateful for them. When you truly believe and recognize your potential how could you be anything but grateful?

Serve – remarkable people use their gifts, talents and wisdom to serve others.

That is a snapshot Benjamin.  For more detail, here is a link to an 11 minute piece on this topic I gave to a group in late August : http://tinyurl.com/2nv44e

BB: What would the world look like if we were all Remarkable Leaders ?

KE: The world would be a better place.  People would be using the skills they have been given, they would be continually learning and the results we would actualize would be, well, remarkable.  Remarkable leaders make a difference in the world, when everyone is doing that… the world will be an even more amazing place than it is today.

BB:  Thanks so much Kevin, this was remarkable !  For more on Kevin, please visit his great website, www.kevineikenberry.com. 

Benjamin Bach helps people retire rich through smart real estate investments. He lives in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada with his family and is dedicated to lifelong learning.  He was recently honoured with the Gold Award for Favorite Realtor in town, and credits this to all that he has learnt from leaders like Kevin, Phil Gerbyshak, and Rosa Say - just to name a few.  You can subscribe to Benjamin's ezine here - FREE to JJLN readers!

You can find out more about Benjamin at his blog at http://www.benjaminbach.com and reach him by email @ benjamin(AT)benjaminbach. com - he loves to hear from his readers!

Jubilant Learners Speak Up! An Interview with Danny Meyer

What makes a person a Joyful and Jubilant Learner?

The answers are found in most of the successful people we know, and we're intent on drawing them out so we can celebrate and share them. Welcome to our JJL interview series,

Jubilant Learners Speak Up!

One of the things I believe, is that we learn best from other people. When we started this series, we here at JJL had the goal of bringing the voices of learning coaches to you. Some of the people who immediately came to mind for us may not think of themselves as learning coaches, but we certainly do!

As we talked about the series, I put together a “silent list” of those people I would truly love to have us interview one day; silent in that I hadn’t shared it with the rest of my JJL team —yet, and silent in that these were people I thought of as my learning coaches even though the one thing they had in common was that I didn’t know them personally —yet. They are people I would love to know better because they have coached me through their writing or speaking, and I am intent on meeting them one day so I can let them know how much I appreciate what they have already taught me.

The very first name on my list was Danny Meyer. I had received his book as a Christmas present from my husband who bought it for me based on the subtitle alone, “the transforming power of hospitality in business.” As I peeled away the gift-wrapping, he said, “It sounded like he’s as nuts as you are about hospitality and what businesses are capable of should they choose to be.”

That was when a man I hadn’t yet heard of became one of my heroes. I have since written about Danny’s book, Setting the Table several times, and we’ll add those links at the end of this article, but first, we are very honored to introduce Danny to you within the transforming power of his own words. Meet Danny Meyer, “America’s most innovative restaurateur.”

In October 1985, at age twenty-seven, Danny Meyer, with a good idea and scant experience, opened what would become one of New York City’s most revered restaurants—Union Square Café. Little more than twenty years later, Danny is the CEO of one of the world’s most dynamic restaurant organizations, which includes eleven unique dining establishments, each at the top of its game.

From Setting the Table (page 11); “Hospitality is the foundation of my business philosophy. Virtually nothing else is as important as how one is made to feel in any business transaction. Hospitality exists when you believe the other person is on your side. The converse is just as true. Hospitality is present when something happens for you. It is absent when something happens to you. Those two simple propositions  —for and to— express it all.”   ~ Danny Meyer

Rosa: First Danny, I must say thank you. Thank you for writing a book that I have come to think of as a must-read primer for any business person learning about hospitality, a value we must elevate and allow to inspire in so many of our professions. You have added to my own coaching arsenal magnificently; I want to help you sell millions of them! For those of our readers who have not yet read your book, would you first tell us what that “good idea” you had was back when you were twenty-seven?

Danny:  Like so many entrepreneurs, it wasn’t so much that I had a good idea, as it was that I had an “itch” I had no choice but to scratch.  That itch was to create the restaurant that I would most want to go to being a food lover and wanting to be treated well.

Rosa: In your book’s introduction, you write, “Along the way, I’ve learned powerful lessons and language that have allowed me to lead with intention rather than by intuition.” I tend to think of both intention and intuition as powerful; why not lead harnessing both?

Why it's Great to be a Geek, and other joys of learning

Welcome to the first interview in our brand new series Jubilant Learners Speak Up!   I will be speaking with great learners and leaders and sharing their priceless advice with you.

Today I have the great pleasure of speaking to a good friend of mine, Phil Gerbyshak.  Phil is a writer, speaker and publisher who always strives to Make it Great!

Benjamin Bach: Phil, thanks so much for taking some time to speak to our readers.  How have you been ?

Phil Gerbyshak: I've been great. LOTS of speaking and lots of traveling, and lots of fun. LOVING life!  

BB: Awesome!  Since I interviewed you last year, I have come up with a whole new slew of questions for you.  Without further adieu, lets get into them. You are the Relationship Geek.  What is the best thing you've learned from being a relationship geek?

PG: People love to connect with people where they are, and are more apt to be friendly if you are friendly first. I've had to reach first, and sometimes several times, to connect with people. Additionally, high touch wins HUGE over high tech. Go for the personal e-mail, the personal phone call, the personal letter, not the form e-mail or form comment.

 BB: How can I become a relationship geek?

PG: 3 ways you can become a relationship geek: 1) Know more: Know who you are. Know who you are not. Be great with who you are and are not. Find out who other people are. Ask them questions to know more about them.

2) Share more: Share your stories. Even your embarrassing ones. Ask people to share their stories.

3) Grow more: Don't let the conversation die after you say goodbye. Reconnect often. Ask more questions. Serve the other person's needs more. Ask more questions. Get to Know More, so you can Share More, so you can Grow More.

BB: What would you say to someone aspiring to write a book, or become a featured speaker?

PG: Start small. Write 100 words. Post it on a blog. Repeat 10-20 times. Comment on other like minded sites. Solicit feedback. Tell your friends. Tell your enemies. Figure out what worked, and what didn't. If you like what worked and it's who you are, do more of it. If the stuff you loved most didn't work, ask the people who loved your other stuff why they loved it. It could be the style, not the content.

Once you have your message crafted a bit, join Toastmasters. Speak every chance you get, and get your 10 speeches done ASAP, and learn as much as you can from each speech. String 4-6 of your best together, and you've got a 30 minute keynote if you work it a bit to tighten it up. Speak for free at Rotary, Kiwanis, the library, where ever. Ask for feedback. Good or bad. Preferably bad. Keep practicing. Get GREAT! Keep writing and speaking. It takes a LOT of work. You have to (in Seth Godin's words) get through "the dip." If you're not willing to power through the dip, don't get started.

BB: I love your suggestion to join Toastmasters.  I was just at my Toastmaster club this morning, and since I joined I've improved my communication greatly.  I second your suggestion!

Who gets more out of blogging - You, or your readers?

PG: Totally me. I love the comments, the new friends, the new ideas, the practice writing, the trackbacks, the smiles, the laughs, the pictures, the conferences, the in person meetings. I hope my readers get at least 10% as much as I do, because I LOVE blogging!

BB: What are you doing to Make it Great in the last half of 2007 ?

PG: Wow, tough ending question! I'll be speaking a LOT more in the second half of 2007. I'll be working on my new site http://www.relationshipgeek.com. I may be moving Make It Great! to Wordpress and a new domain. I'm going to work on my next book about being a Relationship Geek. I'm going to write a LOT more articles. And I'm going to do some things I don't plan to do, and enjoy doing them.

BB: Thanks so much for taking the time to share what you have learned on the awesome journey you're taking.  I'll see you at the top !

Benjamin Bach helps people build their wealth through smart real estate investments. You can find out more about him at his blog at http://www.benjaminbach.com and reach him by email @ benjamin(AT)benjaminbach. com.  For more interviews with Business Leaders, visit his site.

Brand New Series! Jubilant Learners Speak Up!

What makes a person a Joyful and Jubilant Learner?

The answers are found in most of the successful people we know, and we're hoping to draw them out so we can celebrate and share them!

Coming soon, a brand new series of interviews will be presented here on Joyful Jubilant Learning in which we profile people who bravely take on our world because they are confident learners.

They have a story to tell!

• When you are a lifelong learner, learning is a very personal value for you.
• When you are a lifelong learner, you feel that knowledge is powerful stuff.
• When you are a lifelong learner, you share your learning. You teach, you coach, you mentor.
• When you are a lifelong learner, you lead with learning, and you are willing to be the learner's champion.
• When you are a lifelong learner, you are a fascinating human being, with a lot to say!

So where better than Joyful Jubilant Learning? We want to put the stories of Jubilant Learners on stage for everyone to be inspired by while they travel their own joyful journeys.

And Benjamin will get them to tell it to us!

We are thrilled to announce that contributing JJL author Benjamin Bach, whom you had first met in March's A Love Affair with Books, has taken on this delicious assignment as our new JJL Interviews Editor.

Not only has he become a Love Cat (as he told us in ALAWB) Benjamin is a seasoned pro at the art of the interview. For a preview of what's in store for us, visit these chats Benjamin had with author Keith Ferrazzi, and RRI CEO Richard Robbins.

If you know of Jubilant Learners you'd like to have Speak Up! drop a line to Benjamin via our Community mailbox: He'd love to hear from you and make the connection.

This is going to be a blast!