Kent Blumberg

Puppet Face

This is the face of a puppet that sits in our living room.  Shot using natural window light from behind the ear of the puppet and a reflector to illuminate the face.

Minimal processing in Adobe Photoshop CS2:  levels to correct contrast, then a bit of unsharp mask.

15 reasons you don't need a coach

If these15 statements are true for you, you might not need a coach.  If, on the other hand, some of these are false for you, scroll to the bottom for links to coach directories.

Instructions:  Print this out.  Read each statement.  Black out the "[T]" if the statement is true for you.  Black out the "[F]" if the statement is not true for you.  Step back and sort out what it all means.  And then see the coaching directory links for help.

Thursday links: priorities, marketing, action planning, vision road maps, networking, on-line versus print, recycling

I've been collecting links for two weeks, because of vacation.  Lots to share.  Here are the best.

The Pseudo-science of Attraction

I've heard a lot about the "Law of Attraction" lately, mainly due to the wildly popular movie and book, The Secret (Rhonda Byrne, Editor, Atria Books, 216 pages, 2006).  The Secret is ranked #9 in books on Amazon, and has garnered 1429 Amazon customer reviews, averaging 3.5 stars out of five.  Number 9 in sales - must be good, right?

To find out, I picked up an audio version of The Secret, and listened to it today.  For good measure, I read a copy of Law of Attraction: The Science of Attracting More of What You Want and Less of What You Don't (Michael J. Losier, 142 pages, 2004) last week while on vacation.

If you want real science, both books are bunk - absolute nonsense.  Great philosophy - perhaps even useful - but not, Not, NOT science. 

Helicopter Parents and recruiting

You are in charge of your company's recruiting program.  Susan is a bright college senior you have been interviewing for a role.  For the past few weeks, Susan's parents have been writing and calling you almost daily, pressuring you to hire her when she graduates later this month.  (Think this doesn't happen?  Here's what the Boston Business Journal had to say about "helicopter parents.")  You are tired of the hassle, and wondering if Susan can cut it on her own.

What do you do?  How does this parental behavior affect your decision about Susan?  How do you get her parents off her back (assuming that's what you want)?

"Word of Mouth Marketing" by Andy Sernovitz

Andy Sernovitz helped make my vacation last week a pleasant one.  I spent a few hours with Andy's book, Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking (Kaplan Publishing, 2006, 216 pages).  The book is chock full of easy steps that will increase word-of-mouth marketing of whatever you sell.  It's a quick read and a fun read, and well worth your time.

What is word-of-mouth marketing?  Sernovitz defines it as,

"Giving people a reason to talk about your stuff, and making it easier for that conversation to take place." 

It isn't advertising, by the way.  As Sernovitz says,

"Advertising is the price of being boring." 

And it only works if you have good stuff to sell, and if people like you and trust you.

On vacation - back June 25

We are on vacation - back on June 25th.  I am under strict orders not to post until then, and I fully understand the consequences of violating those orders, so...bye for now.  See you in a week and a bit.

Memory, coaching, fear induced lethargy, confused and fired customers, and one really cool website

Nine great links from the last week:

First, a couple of posts about memory.  Tim Sanders asks if Google and other on-line tools are allowing our memories to atrophy.  On the other hand, Bob Sutton reports on research suggesting that by forgetting some of this stuff we can easily find on-line, we might be improving our capacity to remember important stuff that is not available on Google.

Dave Krueger on resisting change

Dave Krueger, in addition to being a friend, is an experienced and accomplished mentor coach, and Dean of Curriculum for Coach Training Alliance.  On this week's drive to Houston and back (four hours one-way), I listened to Dave's great set of CDs about coaching professionals.  One quote, among many, stood out as worth sharing with you:

"If we find our selves resisting change, it's already occurred."

What does that mean to you?

What to you do when the boss never gives you any positive strokes?

Your boss, the President and CEO of Imaginary Company Ltd., preaches constantly about the need to give positive recognition and praise when folks do good work.  He and his direct reports, including you, have agreed to give every employee some sort of recognition - even if just a pat on the back - every week.

Here's the problem:  he never practices what he preaches.  Not once has he given you any sort of praise or recognition.  He is great at recognizing when you blow it, and making certain you and all those around you know how displeased he is.  But your department has been turning in great results for the last four months and he hasn't said a thing.  Not a single "good job," or "your team is really making it happen," or "thanks."  Not one.

You love this job, and you are deeply committed to energizing and engaging all the people you work with.  You don't want to leave, but you can't stay if you never get any positive strokes from your boss. After all, you are human, too.

What do you do?