Work(s) in Progress

Managing by Strengths

Last week I was invited to learn more about Managing by Strengths. With a short series (truly short - less than 10 minutes) of questions, it creates a profile that is similar to both the Insights discovery profile (I'm a "reforming observer" -more here) and the Myers-Briggs type indicator (I'm an INTJ).

You might be able to see my profile here (I'm not sure how long they leave the results active). The interesting thing about MBS is that it measures the stretch you feel you are making to perform your job. I work on being less direct and more extroverted to try to be better at my job. Egad I am direct by nature. I know this but it is still funny to read.

Description of Strengths:(RED Color Code)
Results oriented, candid, hard driver, innovative, decision maker, big picture, convincing teller, positive, primary concern is getting things done, self confident with people, needs to be in control, competitive, quick thinker, can delegate details, holds on to authority, needs elbow room in which to work. Additional Information is available about your Self, Adjustment and Role Profiles.

Combination of Strengths:
D/E: Candid, teller, analytical, creative.
D/P: Driver, self-starter, wants results quickly, competitive.
D/S: Very independent, very self-confident.
E/P: Fast, fluent communicator.
S/P: Detail and organizational tendencies, loyal, Corporate Hook.

Motivation by Strengths:
D (51): control, challenge, money
E (16): opportunity, recognition, status
-P (-51):variety
-S (-19): independence

Logic: Fact oriented.

Communication by Strengths:
You appreciate people who are direct and candid, allow you to make decisions, challenge you, and give you freedom to operate.

--

If you are in Colorado and want to learn more about how Managing by Strengths can help your organization, contact Cate Lawrence.

Welcome to my mid-life crisis, part 2

Some of you asked me in person whether there was a part 2 to this post. Um, yes.

Forms notarized this weekend. Filing jointly tomorrow.

In case you were curious, in Colorado it takes more paperwork to buy a home or a car than to dissolve a marriage (only about half of linked forms are needed if you work together on it which luckily we are).

 Decree should come through in about 91 days from Monday. That's all I've got.

Be Extraordinary

I love my job. Tomorrow I get to meet Gregg Vanourek, one of the authors of Life Entrepreneurs: Ordinary People Creating Extraordinary Lives. I'm hoping that Gregg will be able to inspire our students in the Fall. What is Life Entrepreneurship? It is creating a life of significance through opportunity recognition, innovation and action. Leading an entrepreneurial life can change your experience from ordinary to extraordinary.

In this same theme, there is Chris Guillebeau's blog on the Art of Non-Conformity. I recently stumbled across his manifesto, A Brief Guide to World Domination - How to Live a Remarkable Life in a Conventional World (pdf). This brief (29 page) article starts with the premise that "You don't have to live your life the way other people expect you to." That's the core. If you don't have time for the full 29 pages, you can start with his post on The Decision to be Remarkable.

That's it really. Want to change the world? Just decide, then act. Everything else follows.

Welcome to my mid-life crisis, part 1

I've been wanting a new car for the last year or so. Whenever I would sit in traffic, I would promise myself that my next car would be an automatic. I have only ever had cars with standard transmission. I know from my old car, that I loved my leather heated seats in the winter, and that the black leather was too hot for summer. I also loved the turbo on my old car. And because this is my mid-life crisis car, I really wanted a convertible. But, since I only wanted to have one car, I wanted a retractable hard top so I could drive it year round.

Behold my new Eos Lux.

• Leather heated front seats, not black
• Retractable hard top
• Automatic
• 2.0 Turbo

Eos was the Greek goddess of the dawn, and this car certainly lets the sunrise in.

You can build your own on the VW website.

S&M in the office

One of my favorite things about Amazon is that books are recommended based on your browsing history or prior purchases. I read a lot of business books - generally themed toward entrepreneurship & innovation or management. Recently I've been reading more books targeted to women in management positions in male dominated organizations. And speaking of books, I really want a Kindle.

The two I've read most recently The Corporate Dominatrix: Six Roles to Play to Get your Way at Work and Seducing the Boys Club: Uncensored Tactices from a Woman at the Top have both had an S & M Theme.

Now granted, in Seducing the Boys Club, the S & M is defined as "Seduce and Manipulate" and is an autobiographical history of one woman's rise to the top of her company. This book is entertaining and filled with advice and suggestions. Some of it the advice is so over the top I found myself laughing, often. Here's an example:

"One of the great tools, or weapons, we have as women is flirting, and men always respond well to positive attention. If you know you are going to a contentious meeting with a man, you can defuse his anger before he even opens his mouth. Unless he is morbidly obese, there is no man on earth who won't puff up at this sentence:

"Wow, you look great. Been working out?"

Or if you "accidentally" touch a man's arm while you are talking about something serious, you can interrupt yourself with a quick show of admiration:

"Wow, your arm is like steel. Been working out?"

I know, I know, it's obvious and underhanded, but is always works."

Um, you've got to be kidding me.

My favorite parts of this book are where the author shares her missteps - what the situation was and how she handled it badly. Almost always, she will share how she turned it around - a process that might have taken weeks, months or years. These are truly illuminating case studies, almost all written in the humorous tone above.

The corporate dominatrix is written in a more traditional way, and is built around the more common definition of S & M. The goal is to not become either sadistic or masochistic but to use the lessons of S&M to become an effective corporate dominatrix.

What are the characteristics of a Corporate Dominatrix you might ask?

• Has clear boundaries; does not allow others to restrict or violate boundaries
• Conveys thoughts and opinions directly & clearly
• Expresses gratitude and appreciation graciously
• Uses direct eye contact, sturdy posture, assured gestures.

Who doesn't want to be her!

The author defines six common fantasy archetypes to discuss when each management style (and what type of power to use) would be most appropriate so that one can become a "Corporate Dominatrix".

These are:

• The Goddess - personal power
• The Queen - positional power
• The Governess - expert power
• The Amazon - coercive power
• The Nurse - healing power
• The Schoolgirl - borrowed power (referent power)

This framework is interesting and useful. Most of us have a preferred archetype or three with which we are most comfortable with the others underdeveloped. I definitely have a few I need to work on. I called a mentor a few weeks ago for advice. I was getting ready for a meeting and knew my inner Amazon was ready to do battle but I also knew she was absolutely NOT the archetype who was needed for the meeting. I had not yet read this book, but I can now see that my mentor was trying to persuade my inner Amazon to become a Queen for the meeting. Interesting.

Transparency

I moved from a private university to a public one on January 1. In the private world, compensation was sometimes whispered about but few really knew how their peers, subordinates or supervisors were compensated. Oh speculation abounded, but having been in a position to know some real numbers, the speculators were often very wrong.

I have discovered that my new university opens everything up not only internally but externally as well. I've been typing in names of friends, colleagues and acquaintances all evening. The data have been fascinating. It pays to be hired now. So many newly recruited assistant professors out earn their long tenured colleagues. If you are job hunting, I strongly encourage you to plow through the data batch by batch so that you negotiate well.

University salaries not your cup of tea, well one of our local papers, the Denver Post, has made all sorts of data freely available in their Data Center.Crime, compensation, foreclosure maps, sex assaults by graphical map, truly whatever interests you. I really did not need to know that my teenage neighbor is listed as a sex offender (yes really) in one of these databases.

I have mixed feelings about all of this transparency. I got a memo in my work email today. There is a now released "sexual predator" who has moved near one of our campuses. This memo had a summary of his record, his name, his address, his photo - with this description "Fondled 8 yoa female at work site, and had her perform oral sex." Do you feel safer now? How long before this man, with his photo and name given to thousands of us, is lynched? Should I feel better that I'm decades older than his alleged target? That I have no kids? Can this guy move forward on better behavior without paying for this every day, even now that he's served his time? How can he possibly get work with a memo of this type following him wherever he moves? This does not mean I don't feel his crime was heinous. I do. But I wonder whether and how all of this transparency is serving us.

Do you feel better knowing that your colleague is earning $750 more or less than you per year? That a released felon is in your neighborhood? That your new neighbors bought your old neighbor's house for cheap in a foreclosure auction?

Me? I like data. Data comforts me. Or perhaps I should say, the analysis of data comforts me. But some of these random facts...oh those I could really live without.

Meet my Alter-Ego

Back in about 2000, my not yet husband gave me my first computer game, Asheron's Call. It's one of those massively multiplayer on-line role playing games (MMORPGs). I've been playing essentially continuously since the fall of 2000. It's one of those games where every month the developers provide new content via the monthly patch or update. There have also been two major updates to the game since release. It's quite different than when I first started.

My first real character, Tarma, was born January 23, 2001 on the world of Winter's Ebb. I spent quite a lot of time in game with her - 3 months, 4 days, 16 hours and change (yes more than 800 real life hours with just this one character were spent in game). She has a very big house (err mansion) and more belongings than I realized as I tried to consolidate two accounts today. Each account can have 6 or 7 characters each of whom can carry many items. So while I have many characters spread on various worlds, my real avatar is Tarma, shown here looking at her in game home. Somehow she ended up being a Monarch.

Like many MMORPGs, Asheron's Call has allegiances. Egad, if you are responsible at all you end up an officer with additional responsibilities; it can be like a 2nd job "running" a guild. I was in several guilds over the years. Guild politics are identical to office politics if you are curious. Management styles vary.  It is probably great leadership experience running some of the guilds of 1000's. Some run well for years while others implode after just months. This game is somewhat unusual in that many women play (not just teen boys role-playing women) as do many working professionals in their 30's and 40's.   

It's funny, I've met several people from this virtual world. Some have become real world friends. I think for me, the best thing that Asheron's Call did was teach me to talk to strangers. I could not do this when I started. But in Asheron's Call, many quests could not be done solo; team efforts were needed. You had to talk to and work with strangers to move forward. So many conversations started "Hi [toon name], want to do a quest together?" or "Hi, want to join my allegiance?" or "Hi, let's go try that new quest..."

Somehow this experience has made it infinitely easier for me to walk up to a complete stranger with a smile on my face to say "Hi, I'm Cathy..."

I canceled one of my accounts today. There just has not been time recently to play. I suspect I may cancel my main account soon. I will miss Tarma but I think it's time for her to fade away. Of course I did just make sure I could cover 6 more months of rent payments on the mansion but it's time to let her go. I think I'll miss her. She was pretty much invincible.

What color is your aura?

If you have been reading here awhile, you know I love these silly quizzes that can be found around the web. I found this one on Irene's blog.

Your Aura is Violet

Idealistic and thoughtful, you have the mind and ideas to change the world. And you have the charisma of a great leader, even if you don't always use it! The purpose of your life: saying truths that other people dare not say Famous purples include: Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Susan B. Anthony Careers for you to try: Political Activist, Inventor, Life Coach

What Color Is Your Aura?

 

My Nana always claimed to see auras but she never told me what she saw in mine. It's funny. I trained my whole life to become a scientist and love the world of facts and data. And yet, I grew up in a world of auras, palmistry, tarot and astrology. My Nana was also a church organist so I was exposed to Christianity but not immersed in it. I never did get the dogma but to this day I love the music. Other people by ring-tones. I have Bach.

 

As a complete aside, if you want to see/hear the coolest Bach tribute I've ever seen you can find it here(YouTube). Or heck, just watch it. If the math of music interests you at all, this is simply magnificent.

 

A Girl Day

I cannot remember the last day I have taken completely off. I worked through December 31 at my old job before starting the dream job on January 1. I still spend my weekends (at least one day per week) being a scientist closing out and transferring my research project to my new co-investigator. This generally leaves one weekend day for errands and anything not work related (grocery, laundry, sleep, dinner with my husband - yes I know it's sad to see him in the errand column).

Today was mine.

I started my day at the Body & Sole Day Spa. It does not look like much from the outside in its suburban strip mall location but it's terrific inside. A bit of muzak & water sounds with soothing scents of the products they use. I went in to get my face microdermed. This may sound odd but it's kind of like grinding and vacuuming your skin at the same time. I like it but your mileage my vary. It makes my skin feel really soft so I do it every few months. They always try to sell you a facial to add onto it but there is actually one built into the procedure. Today my aesthetician was Elizabeth. She was great - really warm hands, not a chatterer, very good facial massage.

I came home and did a Turbulence Training workout - Intermediate A if you are interested. I've been following the program sporadically for the last few weeks - I'm down about 5 pounds (with about 10 to go) and will do a formal fitness update soon. I need to get ready for the Pink DumbBells Cruise in August.

I fit in some grocery shopping and laundry today so did not take the day completely off, but I did go buy some pretty unmentionables and also got a pedicure. There is a place near my house staffed by 15 - 20 mostly Vietnamese immigrants. They have rows upon rows of vibrating chairs in front of whirlpool foot baths. Their sanitation procedures comfort me. It's not the respite of the Body & Sole Day Spa but for $20 it's a great way to keep my feet pretty on a regular basis.

It was beautiful here today - breezy with cloudless blue skies. I spent the rest of the afternoon with a glass of wine outside laughing through Lean Mean Thirteen. I grew up in New Jersey so find these books especially humourous.

 

400

This is my 400th post since I started this blog. I did not anticipate having so much to say these last few years. Who knew? If only public speaking were as comfortable for me as blogging. 

Tomorrow we host our 7th Annual Business Plan competition. While the focus will not be on me, I am the one with the responsibility of moving the agenda along - introducing our judges and each company that will be presenting; showering our finalists with over $30,000 in cash prizes; and, remembering to point out and honor all of our eminent guests. For the past six years, the event was hosted by the prior executive director, a tall, graceful and elegant man. He could likely do this sort of thing in his sleep. He will be there tomorrow and I do not want to disappoint. I asked him whether he wanted to be the host one last time, but the baton has been passed on to me.

I am not tall, or elegant. I do not have a natural grace with words. And so, innate charm will be replaced by my earnestness and passion for our program. To me, this is the one day each year where the public can see our entrepreneurs' dreams made real. I love this.