What’s Your Leadership Style? – Chick-fil-A Leadercast Giveaway

April 30, 2013 By 12 Comments

I’m back from DC! I will do a race recap on the Nike Women’s Half later this week. First, I have a giveaway to announce! I’m working with Chick-fil-A to tell you about the new Leadercast app. Last year, I had the opportunity to attend Chick-fil-A Leadercast in Atlanta. At the time, I was in between jobs and trying to remain optimistic about everything coming ahead. I couldn’t afford to go to Leadercast or any of the satellite viewings since I wasn’t getting paid. In a crazy turn of events somehow in one week I heard Dan Cathy, President and COO of Chick-fil-A speak at a young professionals event and met him in person. Then, I ended up seeing him at the Dwarf House in Fayetteville where a guy I took a guy I was dating at the time because he had never been. I thought surely I was destined to go to Leadercast. But alas, the day came and I didn’t have a ticket.

The morning of Leadercast, I received a phone call from one of my Twitter followers, Kentara inviting me to Leadercast as her plus one. She knew how badly I wanted to go through my Twitter posts!! The two of us had never met face-to-face, despite the fact that we both went to University of West Georgia. Our relationship was Twitter only until that day. Honestly, I felt like my prayers had been answered and Leadercast just happened to be what my soul and heart needed. I had the entire day free, of course, since I wasn’t employed and I had the opportunity to learn, grow and eat free Chick-fil-A for the whole day :) Couldn’t get much better than that. Now, Kentara and I are friends and I’m so grateful for that day last year where she blessed me with the chance to go to Leadercast. As a young professional, it’s vital to build leadership qualities in our professional and personal lives. Listening to all of those amazing speakers last year really motivated me! Leadership has to be cultivated and grown over time. That’s a really important thing that people often overlook!

Attending Chick-fil-A Leadercast 2012

I have a giveaway for my readers! Chick-fil-A Leadercast has a new blog app! The app gives a 7 question test and lets you know your leadership style. Mine is The Visionary:

I think the app did a good job narrowing down my style. I’m good at seeing a situation accurately and not through rose-colored glasses! I also consider myself flexible in group situations. Bravo Leadercast app!

 I’m giving away: 

- 1 Copy of John C. Maxwell’s new book: The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth
- 1 Chick-fil-A Leadercast Exclusive Audio Download Card, which includes access to audio segments from past and present events!
- 3 Chick-fil-A Digital offer cards for a free Chick-fil-A Sandwich Entrée of your choice. 

I can’t lie, I have really wanted to get my hands on that new John C. Maxwell book since hearing him talk about it at Leadercast last year. So whoever wins, I hope that you are just as excited about it as I am :)

To enter: Please use the Chick-fil-A Leadercast App to determine what type of leader you are. Then comment on this post with your results including your email address and if the app did a great job of identifying your style. You can comment up until Friday of this week – May 3, 2013 and I will contact the winner on Monday!

You have to comment and put your email address in order to win. It will NOT be shown publicly!

 

Leadercast is coming to Atlanta on May 10, 2013 at the Gwinnett Arena. To learn more about Leadercast, click here.

Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: , ,

Get Noticed In A Noisy World

July 16, 2012 By 2 Comments

I just finished Platform: Get Noticed In a Noisy World by Michael Hyatt. If you follow me on Twitter, or happen to be my Facebook friend then you know that I read Michael Hyatt’s blog consistently. He has great information about leadership, publishing and social media. I also get his posts delivered by email everyday! When I found out about his latest book, I knew that I wanted to read it. The title alone draws you in!

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I purchased the Kindle edition of the book. Lately, that’s the most effective way to ensure that I actually finish reading books. I almost always have my iPad with me and I use the Kindle app to read during long trips, when I wake up and when I go to bed. This book was well worth every penny! In it, Michael tells you exactly how/why he built up his “brand” online. He gives lots of detailed information about advertising and how to grow your following. I love his writing style! It’s positive, informative and he seems like a laid back person. The advice is not specific to a particular industry but more tailored to the business of “people”. I really appreciate his candor. Sometimes, I feel like professionals don’t want to tell you how they “made it” or got where they are professionally. I enjoyed reading about how Michael is open to sharing that journey and helping the rest of the world embark on it to. I also appreciate how he shared information about many other books, blogs and authors for us to check out on the topic. The Resource section in the back of the book is overflowing with information.

Who should read Platform?

I think that if you work in Marketing, Public Relations or Social Media this book should be required reading. There are so many things that you aren’t doing and probably don’t know how in these fields and Michael Hyatt breaks them down. If you want to start a blog, or build your social media platforms professionally I highly recommend reading this book!

If you are interested in purchasing the book, here it is on Amazon.

Want more opinions on the book? Here is a list of sites with reviews.

What are you reading this summer?

Filed Under: Branding, Marketing & Social Media Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

My Chick-fil-A Leadercast Experience

May 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I’ve known about Chick fil A Leadercast for the last 2-3 years and I’ve always wanted to go. The best thing that I could do was follow all of the inspirational tweets using their hashtag while doing my daily job at work. It just wasn’t the same though. I wanted to go so badly this year. Funny enough over the last 2 weeks I’ve heard Dan Cathy speak at the Fayette Young Professionals event at the Fayette Chamber in Fayetteville (lots of Fayette used in that sentence, forgive me ;) ). He brought his inspirational leadership toolkit. I was so excited because I’ve been inspired by his blog for years. Then last Friday, I heard Dwain Cox, Chick fil A Innovator at Creative Mornings Atlanta. Both were inspiring and motivated me for sure. Their discussions focused on “leadership”. That’s one area that we all can benefit by growing in and I know it’s an area of my life that needs developing. By the way, not only did I get to here those great speeches, but while on a date in Hapeville looking for TCBY, I had to tell my guy about The Original Dwarf House. He’s not from Georgia and didn’t know they existed. We happened to stop this Thursday and Dan Cathy was in there filming. By the way, the TCBY is closed in Hapeville, I was so sad because I really wanted some but at least we found that Chick fil A instead :)

I went to bed Thursday night not really thinking any of this was a coincident and wishing that I could attend Leadercast. I almost bought a ticket to one of the satellite locations but since I lost my job mid April (another blog post entirely), I decided not to. I woke up Friday morning with an invitation to attend Leadercast from a Twitter follower who has since become my friend over time named Kentara. We went to West Georgia, but our relationship has grown because of social media. Working in social media, I always get questioned on the value of using these tools. This, amongst many other amazingly wonderful things that has happened in my life simply due to using social media should serve as examples. Kentara won her Leadercast tickets. The person who was coming with her cancelled. So at 6:59 am on Friday I had to push myself to get ready and arrive at the Georgia World Congress Center before 8:30 am. I didn’t think I could because I stayed up way too late Thursday having a “woe is me moment” and feeling a little down. I’m so glad that I motivated myself to get going! Leadercast was worth me getting up and so much more!

I really loved the colors and setup done by Giant Impact. It didn’t even feel like the Georgia Dome anymore with the cool touches they added.

I enjoyed every single speaker. They all offered something unique and special for me to take away about leadership and service. Here are a few powerful quotes that motivated me:

“Uncertainty drives us crazy and makes us leaders.” – Andy Stanley

“Growth is not automatic, it’s intentional.” – John C. Maxwell

“We are all the sum of our choices, effective leaders empower others and themselves with choices.” – Dr. Sheena Iyengar

“Kids will live down or up to whatever expectations we have for them.” – Dr. Roland Fryer

I was also incredibly motivated by the Burberry CEO, Angela Ahrendts. She discussed how she put what’s best for the Burberry brand first and allowed young people in her company to embrace and flourish in creative and leadership roles. Using their advice, Burberry launched the very successful Art of the Trench and established their digital presence. (The site also has some great original music) I admired her ability to admit that she doesn’t speak “digital” but she had the wisdom to seek out opinions of younger employees for their opinion and she respected their advice. That’s hard for many CEOs to admit.

I also enjoyed learning more about Tim Tebow outside of Twitter trends, media commentary and online opinions of others. He is doing so much for the community and for others. His outreach is admirable and he spoke eloquently about service and compassion.

The volunteers were so nice and helpful. My least favorite thing about the conference was the tight seating arrangements. I felt like we were squeezed in like sardines! However, Tripp Crosby the emcee announced that the Leadercast event has outgrown the Georgia World Congress Center and next year will be held at the Gwinnett Arena. That’s great, I could definitely tell it was a bit cramped in there. I’m so thankful that I had the opportunity to attend. Amazing how things fall into place :) Have a great Saturday!

 

Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: , , , ,

F is for Forget You

April 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Ever have those moments where you have to hold everything in to keep your cool?

I do.

However, I am getting better at keeping my cool through those conversations. Much better than I used to be able to in the past. For anyone struggling with that issue, I highly recommend reading the following book:

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This book came into my life at the perfect time. Right around this time last year, I was frustrated with my career path and felt like I was not going in the direction that I needed to. The book breaks down the fact that many successful people in this world do not want to grow and do not want to learn. The reason why they don’t want to grow and learn is a simple one: they are already successful, why change? The title of the book comes from that sentiment. What got you to success here, won’t get you to (continued) success there (in the future). Get it? The methods that helped you reach the level of success where you are, won’t get you to where you want to be. It’s like that Albert Einstein quote:

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

My issue, was that I was trying to help people and contribute ideas to superiors who already had the answers and I did not want to become a leader who had no desire to learn. Everyone, do know that in order to be an effective and respected leader, you have to be open to listen and learn. A leader who isn’t, is a leader who is not effective, respected or liked. This is often the case in many organizations big and small. A big title doesn’t mean that you can’t listen and respect those beneath you. A big title doesn’t mean that you don’t show respect to elders in an organization. A big title is just a big title. The best part about the book is that the author, Marshall Goldsmith, actually goes into organizations and helps CEOs and C-level executives fix problems that are hindering their success. I learned tons about myself and how to determine when and where to contribute my expertise.  Honestly, this book is one to reread again and again. As I’m looking at it in my lap, I realize that I need a refresher course :) the book is worth every penny.

About the title of this post: sometimes the best thing to dissolve a tense situation is to just forget the person. What I mean is that I don’t dwell on conversations with individuals who don’t listen. I used to do that. They used to frustrate me. But they aren’t really worth worrying about. It doesn’t take much time to really see how a person accepts feedback. They openly reject it, they are argumentative and sometimes they steal your ideas and credit them as their own to impress others. Trust me, it has happened in the past. Don’t let it frustrate you, that’s just how jobs work! Observe and learn.

My advice to you: Read the book, it’s a great way to discover more about yourself and your professional presence. Have you read anything about leadership and business that changed your perspective for the better? Share it with me, I’m open to learning!

Filed Under: Life & More Tagged With: , , , , , ,