“My “wish I had been ignited” horror story” by Scott Epter, Director of Strategy at IMC2

Susan:

In response to yet another great episode of DishyMix with Vince Thompson, I offer an anecdote in which I wish I had known the “make my boss look good” idea.

I had a boss for a long time who had always advised me to seek scope across the larger organization. When it came time for justifying promos, his peers needed to know me and think the world of me so that they were comfortable backing him.

I got a new boss, and asked him for opportunities to reach out to others, which he supported. Soon I was on a temporary staff assignment to our 3rd line and delighting my boss’ peers as well as his boss’ peers. Thinking he would appreciate my working independently, I neglected to bring him into the discussion, let alone make him look good.

When the next round of promos came up, my boss’ peers actually handed him my promotion (I had a mole inside the management group that gave me the skinny). My boss shot it down, fighting tooth and nail for somebody else that he had thought did more for his team and not the larger org. Not only did I lose the promo, I ended up causing a riff between my boss and his peers, quite the career-limiting move.

Had I only known to check in and make sure that what I was doing was aligning with his goals…well, you get the picture.

Thanks again for another great episode. The lines about the only advice coming from the likes of Rudy Giuliani and Jack Welch were spot on.

Vince Thompson on Being an Ignited Middle Manager, Universe Maps, The Bigger Yes and Your Personal BOD

DishyMix listener, Mark Marinovich, Director Marketing for Jan Marini Skin Research gets an autographed copy of “Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want” by Joe Pine, recent DishyMix guest.

Mark writes:

Susan,
I couldn’t agree more with Joe Pine. I wouldn’t be a good fit for a lot of companies’ marketing programs because I despise phony come-on’s and “inauthentic” promises. But I’m a good fit here because Jan’s products actually work and I don’t have to put any window dressing on our product line.

Thanks, Susan.

Mark

If you haven’t listened to this excellent interview, click here.

Author Joe Pine on the Principles of Influential Authenticity, The Experience Economy and Phoniness Generating Machines

Annette is the CEO of an early-stage company called MoFuse — a mobile content publishing network. She is one the leading female entrepreneurs in the internet advertising industry and someone that I’ve known since the year 2000.

Is your blog content accessible via phone? Annette can make it so.

We also talk about the status of Al Gore’s climate project, touch on women entrepreneurs, and discuss the secret of Frank Lloyd Wright. We give specific advice about mentoring and something I like to call “connected intelligence,” the future of social media.

Tune in and get tons of great advice on a wide range of business issues from raising VC to chasing business models to the top mobile ad networks and how you can make money on your blog.

Annette Tonti, CEO of MoFuse on Connected Intelligence, Raising Venture Funding and Mobilizing Your Blog

I am a swamped super-connector.

I’m reeling from my Rolodex.

I am Pulsed, Poked, Friended and apparently quite a “Hottie.”

How do YOU handle your time around social networking? 

If you have joined more than one social network, you may find your inbox filling with invitations to link on LinkedIn, friend on Facebook and MySpace, follow on Twitter, subscribe on FriendFeed, and be invited to Premier Talent and more, more, more.

It’s too much to handle on a daily basis, so I have now created a folder in my email called “Pending Socials.” As invitations fly in to my inbox, I move them to this new folder and will address them once or twice a week, instead of all day long.

These invitations, though important to me, are breaking my working rhythm. It’s now too interruptive. I want to connect with everyone, everywhere. But I want to do it on my terms. It’s fascinating to be in all these networks. I am watching how they evolve and how they are starting to merge - like Plaxo connecting with my LinkedIn contacts. That’s great. But I am tiring of connecting both in Facebook and LinkedIn to everyone new that I meet. I can’t wait for Open Social to allow interoperability of my contacts on what ever site I frequent.

Until that day, I’m going to set aside specific time to confirm my invitations, rather than doing them on the fly.

How do YOU handle your time around social networking? Share your ideas with us by commenting below.

Doug just posted a recommendation for DishyMix on my LinkedIn profile and I had to “boast and post:”

“In Dishy Mix, Susan has created an industry treasure! Not only is she a wonderfully talented interviewer and moderator, but her deep knowledge of the digital world make her the listeners best ally and advocate. In a world where there’s so much blah blah blah, Susan carefully extracts real meaning and implications. I may never get interviewed by Terry Gross on NPR, but I can say I’ve been interviewed by the best there is our world. Thanks Susan!”

– Doug Weaver, CEO, Upstream Group

I recently bought Strengths 2.0, a book by Tom Rath. First you go online and take a survey which assesses your top strengths, then you can learn more about those strengths and how to utilize them both individually and together.

My top five strengths are:

1. strategic
2. woo
3. positivity
4. communication
5. relator

Hmmm… for a living I have my own start up and sit on boards of early stage companies where I help them bring products to market through my ability to positively articulate their value proposition and connect them to the right people with whom their story would resonate (both customers and press). I am known as a “super connector” and I host a weekly podcast where I interview famous people in media, marketing and the Internet to bring out the best in them and share their knowledge and talents with my listeners.

Not only did I agree with the book’s outcome, but it further solidified my confidence that I’m using my skills wisely for optimal potential.

My life’s purpose is to notice and celebrate the unique talents of my friends and family.

If you buy this book and take the survey, will you share your outcomes with us? I’d like to know if you found this as on target as I did and if you are utilizing your strengths in your life and work.

I just finished Radically Transparent: Monitoring and Managing Reputations Online by Andy Beal and Dr. Judy Strauss.

Few books can scale for absolute beginners and crusty stalwarts like Radically Transparent. No matter what level your skills, you’ll learn tips and new constructs about managing your reputation online.

I enjoyed how they pulled the whole thing together from beginning to end and finished with a Seven Step Action Plan to outline your strategic goals for creating and managing your online reputation.

Andy will be coming on Dishy Mix in a couple of weeks.

Andy has kindly provided one autographed copy of Radically Transparent to my listeners. Join my Facebook Fan Club and be the first requester and it’s yours!

I am going to focus on the following areas for our upcoming DishyMix interview as I want to talk about personal branding and corporate reputation management:

• Developing your personal brand
• Social media press releases
• Using Technorati, Google and other tools to find the influential bloggers in your space
• Facebook and MySpace for personal and corporate brand extension
• DIY reputation monitoring - how to get guerilla stats on your rep for cheap
• Andy’s recommended Seven Step Action Plan - how to create strategic goals for developing, understanding, managing, growing and repairing your online reputation

DishyMix: Success Secrets from Famous Media and Internet Business Executives

animoto_video.mp4

Brian Packer, Director of Marketing at Zagg gave Meredith Medland, host of Living Green a free “Invisible Shield” to give to me for my iPhone when he met her at ad:tech. Thanks, Brian!

I just got around to trying it a month later (cleaning off my desk today) and it was EASY to install and I love how it protects my phone without being a big, bulky holder.

It’s a precision cut plastic that wraps around your iPhone. It’s like shrink wrapping your phone with protection. I hope it stays “stuck” - I’m curing it for 24 hours by leaving it alone.

Just thought I’d blog my thank you to Brian and let you know about Invisible Shield in case you feel the same way about bulky phone covers.

Living Green: Effortless Ecology for Everyday People

Matthew wrote such a nice note about the Joe Pine interview that I’m sending him one of my autographed copies. Thanks, Matthew!

Dear Susan,

This is going to sound like a total suck-up, but I think you are one of the best interviewers and certainly podcast entrepreneurs I know.

In summary, I listen and learn.

Just wanted to say thanks for your example and quality of work.

By the way, my name is Matthew Scott. If you care to learn more about me, please click below where
you will find out more about me and my company.

http://site.lifesworkgroup.com/about-matthew-scott/

I particularly enjoyed the podcast with Patricia Martin and Joe Pine.

I am interviewing Patricia Martin in July for my men@pause seminar program.

I just wanted you to know I admire the quality of your work.

Be Well,

Matthew

P.S. Want instant access to my men@pause seminar and workshops where I equip executive and entrepreneurial men in transition @ intersection of professional success and personal significance..? Join me now!

men@pause: strategic Life + Work design for entrepreneur men

Matthew Scott, M.S.
Certified Professional Coach (ICF)
Founder & Head Coach
The Life’s Work Group, Inc.
www.lifesworkgroup.com

Author Joe Pine on the Principles of Influential Authenticity, The Experience Economy and Phoniness Generating Machines