Coaching Tip: The Leadership Blog

Sharing Knowledge Matters

Knowledge is power and sharing it can build even more capability for the person sharing and the organization.

Yet, this concept can be a hard sell to those who have been raised on the belief that giving away their knowledge is surrendering their power.

Applying technology to provide easy access for societal dialog has the promise of peer-to-peer co-creation of knowledge and rapid consensus solution-building. Today's technology holds the promise of quickly connecting problem solvers with problems, converting actionable knowledge into value that transforms the world.

Back in October 1971, an engineer (who I knew when we both went to a small high school in Upstate New York during the late 1950s) named Ray Tomlinson chose the '@' symbol for email addresses and wrote software to send the first network email.   At the time, it must not have seemed very important because Ray didn't bother to save that first message or even record the exact date. Ray Tomlinson has been called the father of email because he invented the software that allowed messages to be sent between computers.  Ray made it possible to swap messages between machines in different locations; between universities, across continents, and oceans.  At the time, he was working for Boston-based Bolt, Beranek and Newman, which was helping to develop Arpanet, the forerunner of the modern Internet.

Now, over thirty years later email messages are a large part of our lives in today's network society and I bet you can't remember the first e-mail message you ever sent either? 

While email and the Internet have "changed everything" in the way we work and communicate, many are finding that reading and answering email messages can consume too much time; time we would rather spend doing something else. 

Wouldn't it be great if we could harness the good parts of email communication and do away with the bad parts?

Practicing the Law of Reciprocity

Perhaps, we can by being selective as to who we let into our networks while retaining the ability of instantly collaborating with many people across time zones and borders.  The foundation of network technology is how the people we connect with think about the collaboration process.  Social networks that are built on the "law of reciprocity" flourish.  Those networks that violate the law of reciprocity die.  So what is the law of reciprocity and how can you use it in your personal and business lives?

"One of the most potent of the weapons of influence around us is the rule for reciprocation. The rule says that we should try to repay, in kind, what another person has provided us."  Robert B. Cialdini, author of The Psychology of Persuasion (William Morrow, 1993)

Reciprocity flows from the law of love which is "the gift of giving" without the "hope of reward or pay," or serving others. This 'law of love' is identified in many different ways--for example, in Wayne Baker's business bestseller, "Achieving Success Through Social Capital" (Jossey-Bass), this law of love in the workplace is described as the "law of reciprocity."

The law of reciprocity is not what can best be described as "transactional reciprocity."

Baker says that, "Many people conceive of their business dealings as spot market exchanges--value given for value received, period. Nothing more, nothing less.  This tit-for-tat mode of operation can produce success, but it doesn't invoke the power of reciprocity and so fails to yield extraordinary success."

Baker explains, "The lesson is that we cannot pursue the power of reciprocity.  When we try to invoke reciprocity directly, we lose sight of the reason for it: helping others.  Paradoxically, it is in helping others without expecting reciprocity in return that we invoke the power of reciprocity. The path to reciprocity is indirect: reciprocity ensues from the social capital built by making contributions to others.

The deliberate pursuit of reciprocity fails, just like the pursuit of happiness.   Acts of contribution, big and small, build your fund of social capital, creating a vast network of reciprocity. And so those who help you may not be those you help.  The help you receive may come from distant corners of your network."

Check out how social networks are redefining business processes and receive $50 of "Webcash" for FREE: http://coachthee.greenzappers.com 

Online Payment Services

When Coach C.J. Liu bills her clients, all it takes is a few mouse clicks, and for the most part their payments end up in her bank account a few days later.

She does not need to send out invoices or to track accounts receivables.  She never has to wait for checks to arrive in the mail, and she does not have to visit the bank.  Like many others who run small businesses, Liu, who offers business and personal coaching in Seattle, is a PayPal customer.

Liu can send email invoices to her clients by clicking on the PayPal website.  The clients--who at Liu's request, have also set up PayPal accounts by registering bank account or credit card information---click on a button embedded in the message to charge the sum to their credit cards, and the money is transferred to Liu's bank account.  Along the way, Liu receives confirmation when the bill has been paid and can review the status of her accounts receivable online.

From its inception seven years ago, PayPal, based in San Jose, CA, has grown to service more than 86.6 million accounts in 55 countries, and it expects to process $25 billion in money transfers this year.  About 70 percent of the payment volume comes through PayPal's parent company, eBay, and is used to buy and sell items on the Internet.  But more and more small businesses and sole proprietors outside of eBay are using PayPal as their back offices.

Source: Julie Bick, The New York Times

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Coach John Agno believes, due to PayPal's success a new fledgling system, GreenZap has evolved and is attempting to compete against the big kid on the block, PayPal, by offering better value to its members.

WebCash vs Cash

WebCash can be used as a way to pay for your GreenZap transaction fees, as well as a unique way to pay for part, or all of, products being sold at GreenZap Stores where hundreds of online merchants are offering thousands of brand name products and services.

You may also use WebCash on eBay® or Yahoo Auctions®, and send or receive WebCash between you and your community.  The only difference between cash and WebCash is that WebCash can only be used, as the name says, on the Web.  Browse GreenZap Auctionz on eBay.

Every company, organization, and individual needs to move money more efficiently. GreenZap’s sister company, www.Mazumah.com, does something very unique for sales organizations, network marketing companies, and anyone who pays commissions to independent contractors.  Mazumah helps companies to act as a bank, via a private-labeled (with their brand and logo) online banking site, and provide all of their members with a GreenZap account.  All of these new GreenZap members end up in the community of the member who refers that company to Mazumah.

For more information on GreenZap, go to: http://coachthee.greenzappers.com

You can also listen to a recent interview by Barry Goss with Alex Sonkin, president of GreenZap, on the subject of PayPal versus Greenzap at:  http://manifestlife.com/audios/alex-sonkin.html

Why New Year's Resolutions Fail

What are the main reasons why most of our New Year's Resolutions fail, and what can we do to insure success?

1. People have competing commitments driven by deeply protected and differing assumptions and beliefs.  These competing commitments pull them in opposite directions and cause them to spend a great deal of energy attempting to satisfy each. 

Examples: I am going to lose 20lbs but I love to eat and drink...or...I am going to change careers or start a new business but I like the security of the paycheck I get in my present job.

2. Most people don't respect their strong immunity to change and, therefore, don't develop the support systems necessary to overcome this powerful and dynamic equilibrium to stay the same.  However, there is untapped energy to be found if we can become less embedded in our immune system that protects us from change.

3. They don't give their emotional brain enough time and energy to relearn deeply ingrained habits by developing and following a goal-achieving plan through personal determination, practice, repetition and the support of others. 

Why do most have to reach a crisis point before they realize it's time for a change?

Many people feel they need a change but have a difficult time articulating/envisioning what that change looks like and how to make it real.  Developing the ability to respond to unpredictable change is hard for most people.  Some are afraid to develop approaches to move from the more comfortable status quo.  Learning to take risks by starting with small projects (where the impact of failure is not excessive) is a good approach to overcome this lack of initiative.

Many need more than self-help books to move forward.

Taking personal initiative to generate innovative ideas and solutions to problems can require support in the form of a mentor or coach--who guides us in handling important issues.   

When we talk to others, in a safe environment, about the impending change, we reach clarity on what we must do to move forward.  Building one's capability to accept and effectively handle change can release energy spent in worry and transform it into focused action.