Diamonds to You

I recently spoke to the organization CSIX—an organization dedicated to helping those out of work network, learn success strategies, and find new jobs, and my topic was Powerful Networking and Interviewing Strategies: Slam Bam Doesn’t Work. The talk and interactive discussion were very well received. Indeed, CSIX’s CEO, Hamid Saadat sent a wonderful thank you letter in which he mentioned that “you received a perfect 10 from almost every member of our group…You actually broke your own previous record with achieving such a high score.” Since the presentation was so sucessfull, I thought I’d share some of the ideas I presented to that group. Read the full article below.

Since I help my non-profit clients develop their grant writing strategies, I also offered CSIX’s grant writing committee some pointers about successful grant writing, which I am going to share with you as well. I’ve called my workshop The Art and Science of Grant Writing.

As always, remember, my business thrives on your referrals. Keep them coming. I am available to speak to your organization, create and deliver workshops to groups, and work with people individually to enhance their professional growth.

Workshops and Speeches

Speaking Engagement

I will be speaking on August 19th at an all day conference called Authority and Autonomy in the Family. The conference will be held at Santa Clara University. For details and registration, please visit www.autonomyinthefamily.org. My topic will be Liberating Child Rearing Methods. Other speakers include Dr. Nathaniel Branden and Dr. Peter Breggin.

Corporate Workshops

I am currently offering a series of management training courses to my organizational clients. The courses are for managing people, products and processes and are highly interactive. They have been very successful and references/testimonials from satisfied C level executives can be found on my website, or by contacting me directly.

Another series of workshops is on Legal Compliance Issues regarding personnel and includes training about diversity, discrimination, sexual harassment, safety, drug-free workplace, and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Either of these workshops can be offered to your employees in groups of 15–25 people. The management training courses generally require 12 three hour sessions, but can also be broken down into one day per month sessions for 4 months. The Compliance Issues workshops range in time depending on the needs of the company, the level of knowledge and professionalism of the employees being trained, and the prior training received.

Please contact me so that we can determine your specific needs and design a program especially for your people.

Some other speeches and workshops that are available to your organization are:

• Managing Organizational Change—for H.R. professionals and managers
• Dealing with Conflict in the Workplace
• Silos and Unhealthy competition—how to get back to being one solid organization of people working together for common goals
• Communication—how to handle different needs and styles in this highly diverse global economy

Recent Publications

Did you know I was quoted in Chinese? I didn’t know about it until someone “googled me” and told me about it. I don’t even know how it happened, but of course I’m delighted about it.

Some very recent ones that I do know about:

• “Handling Stress in Law Firms” published in the June issue of Law Firm, Inc.
• “Finding Success Through Succession,” which had been published in Security Management, will be used by Hunter College in New York as part of their on-line training modules for Job Placement Strategies, for their federally funded Employment Services Systems Research and Training Center.
• “Change Cultures”—I’m being quoted in Insight Magazine, the magazine for the Illinois CPA Society.
• “Opportunities in Diversity Training,” posted in the SHRM Consultants Focus Area
• “Rewards for Staff Members” in Veterinary Economics Magazine, August issue
• “Managing Meetings,” in the August issue of American Medical News
• Other articles and articles in which I have been quoted recently can be found by a Google search.

Also, of course, there are the two books—which my publisher tells me are selling well—available at www.productivepublications.com:

• Training Your Board of Directors: A Manual for the CEOs, Board Members, Administrators and Executives of Corporations, Associations, Non-Profit and Religious Organizations
• The “Please” and “Thank You” of Fundraising for Non-Profits: Fifteen Essential Ingredients for Success

Powerful Networking and Interviewing Strategies: Slam Bam Doesn’t Work

This article comes from a talk I recently gave to CSIX (www.csix.org)—an organization dedicated to helping those out of work network, learn success strategies, and find new jobs.

Networking

Having attended their meetings before, as well as networking events as other organizations, I realized that people don’t understand that networking is not about the “30 second elevator speech” but is really about relationship building.

So, I sub-titled my talk “slam bam” because I wanted to make the point that you can’t expect people to really get to know you, and to be comfortable referring you to others from a very brief introduction. Would you contact a CEO or other executive you knew well just because a stranger asked you for the contact? I wouldn’t.

I, like you, am very careful about referrals I give. I want to be sure that the person I am referring to a friend or colleague is someone who is truly qualified, ethical, and a good fit for the person to whom I’m making the introduction. Don’t you?

Successful networking is long term relationship building. It works best when it is in addition to other involvements you have with other people.

That’s one of the many reason why volunteering your services is so important. Organizations such as Rotary, Lions, community, political or religious groups, all have as their purpose service to others. While performing these services, people get to know each other and these relationships quite often develop into business referrals. So, get involved. Join organizations that matter to you and actively participate in committees in these organizations.

If you wish copies of the two articles I’ve published previously about Volunteering, please contact me.

Networking is more about what you give to others than standing up telling about yourself.

Obstacles to Networking

On the other hand, you do need to be able to describe who you are and what you do when called upon to do so. You do need to recognize that it is valuable to network and market and sell your services.

In “the olden days” professionals were taught that it was tacky and unethical to overtly advertise. It was enough to get a degree, license or credential and then hang out your shingle and wait for the business to come to you. That doesn’t work anymore.

Women have to overcome an additional obstacle to networking effectively. We have been taught that it is pushy and inappropriate to ask. We, unlike men, have been taught that it is wrong to mix social relationships with business.

We need to get past these old beliefs and reach out both for ourselves and others.

Interviewing Tips for the Applicant

Interviewing is like a courtship—the first date must go well, or there won’t be other dates. You must be well dressed, well groomed, comfortable, well prepared and able to answer all the questions asked of you.

Remember that interviewing is a two way street. Not only must they like you, you must like them as well. So, it is highly appropriate for you to ask questions regarding their culture, management style, expectations and other questions geared to learn more about the company.

Be careful that your questions are part of a conversation, not an interrogation. Be sure that you are ethical and courteous in style. Also realize that the nature of your questions shows that you’ve done your homework and that you are intelligent and knowledgeable about the company, your experience, and the position for which you are applying.

Questions about salary and benefits should not be raised by you during the first interview. If you are asked about them, try to defer the conversation to later. If forced, try to gracefully let them set the boundaries. Questions such as: “What are your typical benefits?” “What is the salary range you are considering?” “What will raise or lower the offer?”

Practice your interviewing skills with friends and relatives.

The Art and Science of Grant Writing

In this brief article, I can’t give you all the information that I could offer in a workshop to your grant writing committee. But here are some important tips.

• First, of course is to create a grant writing committee, choosing your members carefully so that some are marketing people, some great writers, others good researchers, and of course some need to be very knowledgeable about your organization.
• Next, is to be sure that you have well constructed and compelling vision and mission statements. If you’ve haven’t already created these, you might want to visit that chapter in my fund-raising book, or contact me to create a vision/mission workshop for your group.
• You need to create a grant request template and looseleaf notebook, which contains all the information you need and gather about grant writing. Some of what you should gather and keep in this notebook:
  • Description of your organization
    • Name, status, years in business, location
    • Board of Directors with brief bios of each
    • Advisory Board with brief bios of each
    • Staff titles and resumes or more detailed bios
    • Past history of the organization
    • Success stories
    • Testimonials from satisfied clients
    • Partnerships
    • Other grants received
    • Budget
    • Outside audits and evaluations
    • Expansion Plans
    • Capital Outlay (e.g. “The Building Fund”)
  • Services and Programs your organization provides
  • Customer/Stakeholder Base
  • Measurable goals and objectives
• Each proposal that you write should be quite specific to the information you learn about the grantor and the types of programs they wish to fund. You need to:
  • Match your language to theirs
  • Research the format they prefer and use it
  • Ask for funds only for the types of programs and services they fund
  • Be very specific in terms of what you are seeking
  • The amount of money you request should be reasonable and consistent with your goals and objectives as well as the grantor’s stated desires about funding
• Create a grant directory of possible funders and keep it in your binder.

Finally, remember that although money comes from many sources, it is always from people. Be sure that you are respectful, courteous, and thankful. Create opportunities to thank those that have supported you in the past.

So, how can I help you?

Let me again quote a client:

Your workshop…was invaluable. Your knowledge and skills are excellent. We enjoyed your quick wit and the support materials were terrific. I personally learned a great deal and the [participants] are still asking if we can’t please have you here on a permanent basis.
    You might consider changing the title of your seminar to “How to figure out where you are, how you got there, where you want to be and how to go about making the most of your talents and how to zero in on the needs of your clients to best serve them, while enjoying the process.”
    – P.M. Vice-President

Let me be your Aufin—your advisor to Kings.

ArLyne Diamond, Ph.D
ArLyne@DiamondAssociates.net