Rippling Angelica My "Bouncer" To Work

A few weeks ago I was presenting to the Austin Contact Center Alliance's Symposium 2009. My co-presenter David Godwin of Sneaky Games and I were presenting on how to engage one's workforce through the use of gaming and social networking technology. Before our session a lovely woman by the name of Angelica came into the room where we were setting up to inform us that she would be our room monitor for the morning.

I speak at a lot of events and often at a conference or workshop the organization will provide a room monitor to help answer attendees' questions, direct them to the bathroom, encourage them to fill out their evaluation forms at the end of the session and often introduce the speaker. These people are typically volunteers who have agreed to spend their day helping the conference in this capacity.

Consequently as a speaker I often get into my room way early (it's a habit) and have had the opportunity to witness first-hand how other speakers interact and communicate with their room monitors. To say the least I've witnessed some pretty pathetic treatment of these people. I've seen really egotistical speakers demand cokes or water from their monitor or have some other loftier expectations like carrying their stuff in and out of their sessions. I've seen other speakers outright ignore those room monitors altogether. Some of these speakers are people whom I've admired and followed which proves disappointing to see who they really are offstage.

I have always made it a point to go out of my way to be nice to anyone affiliated with the conference. I find myself rather embarrassed when other speakers don't do the same. It gives our entire profession a bad name.

Well at the Symposium Angelic came in to tell us our session would be starting a few minutes late. She had a great personality though she admitted she was a bit nervous about having to get up and introduce us. I immediately started having some fun with her asking if it would be okay to refer to her instead of our room monitor as our "bouncer" or the "room enforcer." She seemed to really get a kick out of that!

My joking with her seemed to put her at instant ease. After we were setup and basically just waiting for our session to start I went over to her and sat down and started talking to her. I started asking her about herself and what brought her to volunteer at the conference. She proceeded to tell me that she lives in another town just south of Austin but has been trying to secure a new job in Austin and so she's been coming up every single day for months. She mentioned a career counselor had recommended volunteering at this specific conference and that it might give her some excellent exposure into companies that might be hiring.

We probably spent about five minutes chatting altogether but I could instantly tell I liked her. She had a great presence and had a strong determination that a job was out there, she just needed to find it. I mentioned that I knew a lot of people and that she could send me her resume and I would see what I can do. That very night she did just that.

One of the ladies who originally invited me to speak at the Symposium is heavily involved with the City of Austin. I simply asked her if she would be willing to take a look at Angelica's resume and perhaps see if she saw a match for any of the openings they had. I was also hedging my bets a bit as I knew this woman knows a lot of other people who might be interested in meeting an enthusiastic and determined young woman like Angelica.

A week ago I received the following email:

"This is Angelica. I just wanted to thank you for making contact with Jewell. I start work September 28, 2009! You started it all for me. Thank you so much. God bless."

It would have been easy to ignore my "room monitor," lots of speakers do. I could have easily treated her like a volunteer and chose not to waste my time or breath talking with her. I could have been so self-centered that I could have just focused on what I was going to say during my presentation and nothing else. But that isn't me...nor do I suspect it is you.

Ripplers don't just passively sit by and let things happen, they take action. Though admittedly I did nothing more than send a few emails passing on Angelica's resume it was enough to get the Ripples started. And I know without a doubt I did something significant for a young woman that clearly need just a little help at the right time. I was happy to do it.

The end result may have been a job for young Angelica but the real result was in how it made me feel to play a small part in helping her find it.

Ripple On!!!

Crisis Collaborators

Tom had just returned from a three state roadshow to highlight some new products to prospective customers when he was hit with some super bad news the minute he sat down at his desk. His so-called partner who had always controlled the books had just let him know that they were out of money. Payroll and the rent for their building was looming and they didn't even come close to having enough to cover it. "How could this happen?" Tom asked. To which he received no response.

He was in trouble, big trouble by the looks of it. It was a crisis moment.

He didn't panic. He took in all the information, made a few notes and politely asked his partner and assistant to excuse him. He got up from his desk, took his cell phone, his notes and a copy of their recent financial statements and promptly left the office. It would be easy to think he was so angry he couldn't face the situation and was either headed home or to the nearest bar to drown his sorrows. Neither were the case it seems.

Over the past few years Tom has acquired a number of close collaborative friends and business mentors. He had meticulously assembled a bevy of talent that spanned a number of areas of expertise that neither him nor his partner had. Though he had never officially called these people his board, he knew that they functioned in very much the same way.

These people were from all various walks of life and from all different types of professional and educational pedigrees. They were there when he needed advice or guidance on a new product or market strategy. They were there when problems had arisen between him and his partner. They were there when he and his partner had been offered their first buyout offer. They were always there and always willing to help.

Every time they gave him unfiltered opinions, outstanding ideas and of course a good smack when he most needed it. They were his crisis collaborators.

Crisis collaborators are those people you can quickly assemble when you are faced with a life changing decision, problem, challenge or opportunity. They come because they want to and serve only to support you and your efforts to get through whatever obstacle or wall you might be facing at the moment. They tell you like it is and most likely how it will be, worrying less about your feelings than helping you deal with whatever situation you may be facing at the moment.

I have personal experience with recruiting and utilizing my own set of crisis collaborators. In fact when faced with selling my last company I depended so heavily on the my crisis collaborators that I know without a doubt I would have likely made the wrong decisions had I not had this informal group of five amazing people helping me out and truly being there when I needed them.

So who do you have in your circle of professional or personal friends that would be willing to step up and be your crisis collaborator? Here's the thing, we all need them regardless of whether we are running a company or not. We all have our crap we deal with and sometimes having an extra set of ears, even if it's only an extra pair or two, can make all the difference. The advice, the opinions, the guidance, the hugs, the just being there means the absolute world to you when you are in crisis mode. And no matter what the challenge is it's so reassuring to know whatever it is you won't be facing it alone.

Tom's crisis collaborators quickly ascertained his situation and discussed ways to increase his cash flow. They found a glaring mistake that had occurred on a receivable account and were able to give him some ideas on how to rectify it. It wasn't that he and his partner might not have discovered the issue in time, but sometimes when your in the thick of it, you simply can't see the forest for the trees. His crisis collaborators could.

Ripple On!!!

Photo Credit: Abbey Road by Digger Digger Dogstar