How to Build Relationships by Using Names

Do you know the names of all of your teachers in your school district? Or how about all of your volunteers who serve on your PTO? How about all the members of your city council? Why not? As Dale Carnegie once said, “A person’s name is to that person the sweetest, most important sound in any language.” Research has shown that there is a particular chemical reaction that takes place in our brains when we hear our name.

An easy way to experiment with this idea is to walk into a crowded mall and call out in a loud voice a common name like Bob or Linda. You’ll see many people by the name of Bob or Linda turn around and look at you. Why? Because it belongs to them.

If you or your staff and teachers are not regularly using the names of your students, parents or community members, you are missing out on a strategy that can help build a lifetime relationship with them. An easy way to get and use the person’s name, if you don’t remember it, is to read it off of any available source. If they are phoning you, it could be off of your caller ID. In some cases they may even have a name tag they are wearing from their place of employment. When in doubt, simply ask. A simple way to do this is to use the fill-in-the-blank method. It would work like this: “Hello, my name is Tom Borg, and your name is …..?

Once you get that person’s name, use it in the conversation a few times. It helps to write down the names of the people you have trouble remembering. Review the list from time to time. You’ll be surprised and delighted at how easy you will be able to build a sincere rapport with the people you come into contact with on a regular basis.

By the way, a critical place to provide name tags to parents is at all school functions. One reason, is so you and your staff will know their names, but another major reason is that parents will be able to initiate conversations with the other parents.

I remember one particular school orientation session where the administrator did not provide name tags to the parents. Afterwards I asked why he didn’t provide them. His answer was that parents didn’t need to know each others’ names, and besides, it would take too much time to write them out or print them off in advance, not to mention the expense.
This is a good example of how to miss an opportunity to create a positive experience for the parents of your students attending a school function.

So in summary, names are important. Take every advantage of any opportunity to remember and use them with the people with who you come into contact. Your benefit will be that it will help you to build the relationships and support that will help your school district thrive.

6 Tips on How to Safely Protect Yourself from Your Cell Phone - Public Schools, MI

If you are like most people, you depend on your cell phone for a variety of reasons. You use it for a tool to communicate with your office staff, the internet or to stay connected to your spouse and children. With a growing dependency on this mobile communication tool, it makes sense to protect yourself from the potential harmful effects of the radiation emitted from it. Here are seven tips to help you protect yourself when using your cell phone.

Keep the Phone Away from Your Body. Your safety net expands by the distance you can keep between your body and the cell phone. The radiation dose goes down in proportion to the inches you can keep this device away from your body. One friend of mine, who used his cell phone heavily, got cancer on his head and face and around his right ear; the ear he constantly had his cell phone against. He got cancer not once but three times. When he finally learned of the connection, he went to the use of a tube headset. So when at all possible put your cell phone on speaker mode or use a tube head set.

Carry your Cell Phone Away from Your Body. When carrying your cell phone, keep it in a purse, computer bag or brief case. When driving, keep it on the console or on the seat. Keep it as far away from your body as possible.

Instead of Talking, Use Texting. When you send a text message from your cell phone, you hold your phone away from your body, and far away from your head. Doing this will reduce your exposure to the radiation emanating from your cell phone.

Stay Where You Are When you find a Strong Signal – Your cell phone has to work harder to transmit and receive when it has a weak signal. The result is a greater burst of radiation from your phone. The same thing happens when you are constantly moving quickly like driving in your vehicle on the expressway or on a train or a bus. Your cell phone has to constantly emit new bursts of radiation as it stays connected to the cell towers along the direction you are travelling.

Wait Until Your Call Connects and You Hear the Person’s voice. Since most of the radiation bursts come when your phone first connects to the cell tower, you can reduce the amount of radiation you will be exposed to by waiting until you hear the voice of the person you are calling.

Use the Toggle Method. Another little known fact is that your cell phone emits much more radiation when it is transmitting than receiving. So keep your phone away from your head when speaking and only bring it close to listen.

Use Your Landline for Long Calls – Using your landline for Skype or for calls that take a while, will be more comfortable and safer.

Tom Borg is president of Tom Borg Consulting, LLC. His company specializes in working with public school districts and uses Zero Box thinking to help his clients develop marketing and retention strategies. For more information please contact our office at 734-405-5909 or visit our website at: www.tomborgconsulting

The Importance of Having a Current Mission Statement

With many of our public school clients the concern of having a current mission statement comes up. Here are 5 good reasons to have a current and relevant one.

• Helps strategic planning and capacity building
• Helps your organization develop stronger brand messages
• Keeps everyone working toward the same objectives
• Affects how you approach and treat people
• Permeates all your messages and media

The key to having a good mission statement is to have your key people get together and take the time to identify your values. Once that is done you have taken a major first step in creating a solid guiding philosophy.

For more information on how to do this, please feel free to contact us at: 734-404-5909 or email us at tomborg@tomborgconsulting.com


Source: Guerrilla Marketing for Nonprofits-Levinson, Adkins and Forbes

Four Things People Look for in a Leader

Today, the world is looking for leadership. It is desperately needed in government , businesses, schools and our communities. According to James Kouzes, leadership speaker and consultant, there are four qualities people look for in a leader. They are:
• Honest
• Forward Looking
• Inspiring
• Competent

Honesty
At the top of the list is honesty. It is difficult, if not impossible, to have and keep the confidence of the people in your organization if you don’t have this one. Honesty means you tell the truth and you don’t conveniently look the other way when things are not right in your organization. I remember early in my career where the owner of the company where I worked lacked this particular virtue. It didn’t take long for the staff to lose faith in his leadership skills and over time the company disintegrated.

Forward Looking
The next quality, of being forward looking, is critical if a company or organization is to have a future. It can’t be successful over the long haul if the leader drives the company through a “rear view mirror.” In other words, relying only on doing things that worked in the past, and not making accommodations for how things have changed, can lead to failure. The old saying “don’t fix it if it ain’t broke” is part of that faulty paradigm.


Inspiring
The quality of being inspirational cannot be overlooked. People want to believe in a vision and an inspirational leader uses emotional power to illuminate the vision of where the company is going. He or she is able to inspire people to stretch their potential and reach for goals that might initially seem unrealistic, but with the right leader in place, are attainable.

Competency
The last quality of a leader, Kouzes has identified, is competency. If the president or owner does not have the skills and knowledge necessary to run the organization, then like a runaway bus, it will eventually run off the road or crash into another vehicle. This person must keep him or herself on a continual learning curve to effectively lead their organization.

In the years to come, the individuals who possess these qualities, and step forward, will be able to successfully lead our government, businesses, public schools and communities.
For more information on leadership programs for public schools administrators please visit our website: www.TomBorgConsulting.com

How to Thrive on Change in the 21st Century

As the famous folk/rock singer Bob Dylan once said, “the times they are a changin’.” And changing they are!

In the last 25 years we have witnessed many historic and life altering changes that have taken place. The crumbling of the Berlin Wall, 9/11, the quantum leaps of the internet, a stock market crash, tremendous downsizing by the big three US automakers, huge layoffs, the iPhone, the country of China emerging as a huge economic leader, the BP oil disaster and the list could go on and on.

People love change and they hate change. They want to see the models of the new automobiles for the next year, but they hate the fact that they have to change their area code on their telephone number (and everything else that has their telephone number on it). They love the fact that their new cellular telephone has the latest upgrades on it, but they dislike the chore of having to sort through their trash and put recyclables in a separate container. They like the idea of ATM machines but fear the loss of their job due to a downsizing of their company.

The right amount of change in a person’s life is similar to the sun rising on a new day. It’s full of possibilities and opportunities. It is that special something that adds to the magic of life. Like a fresh diaper, some changes are needed and wanted. If not, it’s the same old stuff.

It would be boring (for most of us) to see the same old reruns of the Monk TV show week after week. We want the all new comedy program. Many of us would not want the same redundant meal, night after night; we need and want a variety of delectable and healthy foods. Change is predominantly good and of course, change will always be with us.

So how do we deal with the issue of change? Are there some guidelines that will help us through the maze of confusion? The answer is a resounding and emphatic YES!

A famous success philosopher, Kop Kopmeyer, once suggested a system for dealing with adversity that has served me well. He called it “The Four A’s for Dealing with the Challenges of Life”. Let me share with you my interpretation of them and how they can help you deal with the challenge of change.

The first A stands for Admit. We must first, admit to ourselves, that change is inevitable. It is going to happen. It has been, will be, and is part of every facet of our lives. So, when faced with a change at hand, the first step is to simply admit that this change, whatever it might be, is or has happened. To admit or acknowledge that this change is real is the vital first step.

The second A stands for Accept. It is important to accept the shift that is taking place. Not lip service, but a true acceptance of this modification of our present existence is needed. It means recognizing things will never be the same again. We don’t have to like the change, but we do need to embrace the reality that has occurred. The job is gone; the child is now an adult, or the strength and quickness we knew as a youth has been diminished.

Since the door to the situation as we knew it, has been closed, we must seek entry through a new door, down the hall that is now open. In order to be able to pass through that door we must first accept the change that has taken place.

The third A stands for Adapt. What are we going to do about it? What kind of a plan can we create to help us make a successful transition into this new reality? What type of help or professional assistance will we need to seek out? What kind of knowledge or skills must we acquire to help us turn this potential loss into a win?

After we have deployed the creative resources to come up with a plan to adapt, we must take the next step which is to take Action. As the saying goes, “you can’t get to second base if you leave one foot on first”.

All the planning in the world is useless, unless we take action. What happens to some people is that they go through the first three steps of this formula, but hesitate to take action. A good example of this is when Chrysler, Ford and General Motors created an electric car but failed to totally commit to marketing and selling it. In the meantime, automakers like Toyota and Honda did, and gained a huge head start on the big three. The key here is take action.

Another example, on an individual level, is when a person loses his or her job. The first move might be just a telephone call or simply doing some research on the internet about the change he or she is contemplating. It may mean securing the services of a career planning specialist, doing some informational interviews, or enrolling in a training program to begin the process of upgrading ones’ skills. The important thing is to get moving; like the saying goes “the universe rewards action.” It is vital to move in the direction of our goal. Once we get moving, adjustments and corrections can be made.

In summary, the four steps to successfully deal with change are:
Admit – admit that the change has happened or is about to happen.
Accept – accept the change, and welcome it with open arms.
Adapt – come up with a plan to help you adapt and make the best of the situation.
Action – take the necessary action and follow through to insure your get the desired results.

By implementing the above formula for dealing with change in our lives, we can grow and benefit from the myriad of challenges and transformations that are sure to come our way in the months and years ahead. Not only will the times be a changin ‘, but so will we.

To learn how to help your public school district succeed in 2012 and the years to come contact our office and request your free e-copy of our white paper report entitled: “How Public Schools Can Thrive in Today's Economy.”

Managing Your Public School Distict with a Positive Attitude

Zig Ziglar said it best when he explained that if you want to become successful in life you’ve got to avoid “stinkin’ thinkin’.” It is so easy to fall into the trap of looking for the worst in life. Someone once asked the late Paul Harvey, the famous radio personality, why the news media was so negative. He responded in an almost apologetic way by saying: “It seem that people get a feeling of importance to hear of others’ misfortune.”

It is unfortunate, but true. They compare their own boring and tedious lives to those who have experienced tragedy and are relieved it didn’t happen to them. By expecting the worst to happen, negative thinking people ensure they will never be disappointed. They never let their hopes get too high. They conveniently set their own lives up for mediocrity. If they are careful, nothing too good nor to too bad will ever happen to them.

We must prevent that kind of thinking from poisoning our attitude toward our organization. We need to run the type of public school district where parents are glad to have their children enrolled. Remember, the superintendent and the rest of his or her administrative team set the pace. It has been said that if the leader walks in with a frown on his or her face, it’s bound to affect the attitudes of everyone who works there, not to mention your other set of clients - the students and parents.

What do you do to keep your attitude positive? Better yet, what do you avoid doing that keeps you from developing a negative outlook on your public school district, your employees and your life?

Remember, by keeping yourself positive, you will create a more successful organization and personal life.

How Public School Districts Can Thrive in Today's Economy - Part IV - Using the Action Group Process to Develop Two Way Communication

In this final section of this white paper we will discuss how you can use the action group process to develop two-way communication and support from the parents and community in which the school district resides.

Far too often the only people that attend school board meetings are the individuals who have complaints or criticisms. Concerns about current issues or millage proposals usually create far more negative publicity than all the good that is accomplished by the public school Educators, Administrators and Board of Education. One way to circumvent this type of negative public mindset is to create a two-way communication process that can leverage the power of the community in a proactive manner.

By providing this kind of a communication vehicle for parents, business owners, and community members at large that live or work within the school district boundaries, you can create a structure for communal support. Building backing for your school district in this manner not only creates corroboration but a positive marketing vehicle for promotion of your public school system.

When people become empowered to participate, they will support the solutions they helped create. As we mentioned earlier in this paper, “people don’t argue with their own data.” By getting and keeping these stakeholders involved, you have the advantage of tapping their problem solving resources and capabilities as well as their psychological and potential financial support.

It is recommended that when using a public action group, that you employ a neutral “outsider” to facilitate the meetings. By doing so you will create a more open and interactive discussion about how things can be improved. The facilitator should include in the ground rules, that the action group is to be used for proactive discussion that supports action to create solutions to the issues that have been identified. It is not to be used for undocumented complaints that are not accompanied by possible suggestions for improvement.

The ultimate outcome of the organized action group process is threefold:

First, it can be used to advise and make recommendations to the district’s Board of Education regarding future decisions the board makes.
Second, it can develop specific strategies that will enhance the curriculum delivery within the school district.
Third, the group can develop an action plan to work alongside other community entities to promote the school district efforts.

By employing a community-based Action Group, it is possible to identify the facts behind the issues and explore potential solutions to the obstacles of keeping the schools and the community progressive, vital and strong in an economically challenging time.

We have found that with our work with public school clients, employing a continuously supported Community Action Group approach always creates positive long term results. We’ve witnessed the kind of powerful results that can offset the “bad press” invariably created by the media, recalcitrant parents, and community members at large. Proactive involvement at all levels yields unprecedented support and successes.

In summary, the four concepts, processes, and strategies we have discussed in this part, as well as the first three of this white paper, just scratch the surface of the many ways administrators, teachers, transportation, food service personnel, school board members and community can bring about the necessary changes to help their school district survive and thrive in the 21st century. The key thought to remember is that a school district must create and implement a continual and flexible action plan that addresses the interests of all of the stakeholders in this process. For the program to succeed, it is crucial to develop an organized and traceable process designed to change with the times and address new issues as they arise. When you build your system with an approach that works the best for your district’s operations, success with positive change is inevitable!


Tom Borg Consulting, LLC., is a consulting group that specializes in outside the box strategic planning, marketing, leadership training, team building, and customer culture transformation, for public school systems in Michigan and the United States. For a free 30 minute consulting session or for more information please call 734-404-5909 or visit our website at www.TomBorgConsulting.com