A monthly newsletter from the Rochester Professional Consultants Network.
From the RPCN President:
Good Morning RPCN members!!
It is a great day to rock and roll! THANK YOU for being a part of RPCN. Our organization is nothing without our members, and I appreciate every one of you.
I created a Leadership retreat day for the board and anyone who wanted to learn more about being a leader. I had everyone do an exercise on feedback. The feedback was all about information and perception. Not necessarily reality. Everyone’s job was to just accept it, say thank you, then move on. They could analyze it or work on it later if they chose to.
Normally this is done in a one-on-one format. I am going to do it now for all of you–the membership of RPCN.
What I appreciate about you, members, is your willingness to grow.
What might be holding you back, members, is your fear.
You are not alone, individually or collectively. Fear holds us all back. Fear of the unknown, fear of where the next client is coming from, fear of failure, or even fear of success. Whatever your fear is, it is holding you back and keeping you comfortable.
I encourage each of you to get out of your comfort zone and do something different today, this week or this month.
Instead of always turning right to go somewhere out of your driveway, street, etc., turn left and take a different way. Instead of feeding your cat first or letting your dog out first, put the coffee or teapot on. Instead of always wearing green, wear blue.
Little acts like this will help to train your mind to do something different and to think different thoughts. The hope is that this will help you get unblocked; to see obstacles as opportunities.
When you do come across an obstacle, as we all will, say, “HOT DOG! Another opportunity for growth!”
Because it is. That obstacle is teaching you something—maybe it's to be more responsive, not reactive. Maybe it's to answer emails as soon as they come in instead of waiting or to be more decisive.
Reach out and tell me what you are working on. Is there a way RPCN can help you? Is there a way YOU can help RPCN? Do you have a skill you want to teach us? Do you have a great way to look at or create a process for our businesses? Do a workshop. Help on a committee. Make an introduction for a member.
Connect with me online: I’m on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter. Send me an email at tamara@nowdigitalmarketing.us to book some time with me on my calendar for coffee – I’d love to get to know you. If I can help you, please let me know.
On Wednesday, July 17th, I facilitated John Maxwell’s Leadership Game to the leadership team of RPCN, at Tamara’s request. I know what you are thinking, “Who plays games at leadership retreats?” This one was different and reflects Tamara’s tone for her presidency to think differently and grow RPCN’s leaders.
John Maxwell has been writing on leadership for 30 years: The Leadership Game he has created is designed to foster team building and collaboration by having each participant 1) turn the microscope on themselves, and 2) build familiarity with the others to foster personal bonds.
The 1st round set a good tone – The Law of Buy-In from the Leaders category – “Am I transparent enough? … or do I keep a wall hiding my weaknesses?” This stimulated instant discussion.
As each round passed, I could see everyone around the table considering each topic. What’s just as important, they were free with their compliments to each other. I’d learned during this game that, most of those around the table had been working with each other in this organization for years.
With each turn, the discussion was fostered in a new direction with a new topic. Your leaders were engaged, and furthermore, I think they took quite a few things home to reflect on and put into practice.
This game is the start of the conversation, not the conclusion, and I could see each person consider how their own actions affected the others, and what could be changed to not only improve themselves but the organization as a whole.
Everyone needs to grow as an individual to create influence and growth in the organization. Your leaders are doing just that. Ask them what they thought of the game and the retreat overall. Watch for new things and new directions coming from your board at RPCN.
I thank Tamara and the board members of RPCN for allowing me to bring something new to help with their growth.
Sincerely, Jim MacDuff
RPCN’s Blogging Program with Eastman Business Park (EBP)
RPCN could still use more blogs, and potential blogging topics, for our monthly submissions to our EBP alliance partners.
Do you have some knowledge that you would like to share with the close to 100 tenants on EBP’s 1200 acre site on the west side of Rochester, NY? Their tenants cover a range of businesses from “manufacturers in the chemical processing, biopharma, food and beverage processing, plastics, photonics and energy storage spaces.” 1
The diversity of the EBP tenants is one of the reasons why RPCN is the preferred provider of EBP’s monthly blogging program, since RPCN is composed of a diverse group of consultants.
If you are a member of RPCN, log in and refer to the RPCN website at here for the Rules and Submission Process. The link will also show you the subjects and titles of the blogs submitted between July 2019 and September 2016 and the blogs planned for the next couple months.
Here are some of the titles and authors of the most recent blogs:
July 8, 2019, “3 More Ways to Keep Your Invention Patentable,” by Dave Bassett
June 5, 2019, “The Features Trap – What Sells Better, Features or Benefits?” by Bob Lurz
May 6, 2019, “5 Phases of Project Management,” by Sandy Glanton
April 3, 2019, “3 Actions That Help to Create a Winning Product,” by Mark Fling
March 3, 2019, “The Answer is in the Room – Peer Learning Approach,” by David Powe
February 5, 2019, “5 Tips to Improve Your DIY Graphic Design
from a professional graphic designer,” by Melanie Watson
January 8, 2019, “Consultants Don’t Have the Answers; They Have the Questions,” by Bob Lurz
December 3, 2018, “How to Drive Traffic to Your Website,” by Laurie Enos
November 5, 2018, “Utility Patents & Design Patents,” by Dave Bassett
October 1, 2018, “Introduction to Risk-Based Thinking,” by Lori Cohen
If you would like to read any of the RPCN blogs on the EBP public website, please go here. You may also access individual RPCN blogs here.
If you are an RPCN member, please consider submitting a blog for EBP. We are always looking for new blogs to enlighten us and our EBP alliance partners. For more information, please send questions to me here.
1. Nicholas Rangel, Director of Communications, Eastman Kodak Company, October 4, 2018, “Eastman Business Park leadership transitions to David Bullwinkle with Dolores Kruchten’s retirement”
RPCN Looking for Mentors to Help Simon School with Simon Vision Consulting Program
RPCN has been supplying mentors to Simon Vision Consulting teams at the University of Rochester’s Simon School of Business (Simon) for the past 3 semesters. The Simon Vision program is an effort to increase experiential learning opportunities for Simon’s MBA and MS students. It is a student-run program that has a 4-5 member student team provide consulting to (typically) a local small business for 8 - 12 weeks (one semester). After the 12 week period is over, Simon may have another student consulting team take over another project for the company.
Participation in the program is voluntary for the students and is not part of the regular Simon curriculum. There are a couple of faculty advisors that help the students run the program, and RPCN supplied mentors to eight student teams in the Spring ’19 semester to help the teams stay focused and complete their project goals. Mentors helped teams serve companies in a wide range of specialties including Food and Beverage Services, Personal Care, Health Care, Marketing and Branding, and Real Estate Management.
Due to the success of the program, Simon and RPCN plan to continue the program this fall and we are looking for mentors to help the student teams. We are anticipating that 12 - 15 student teams will be looking for mentors to help with projects primarily in marketing, general management (financial/accounting planning, etc.) or possibly operations management. There may be other areas of expertise that the teams are looking for as well.
If you have in interest in helping Simon fulfill its motto (where thinkers become leaders!) and also have experience in marketing, general management, operations, or even consulting in general (and we are the Rochester Professional Consultants Network, so you should be good there!) please let us know and we will add you to the mentorship roster. For the Fall program, we are looking for up to 20 RPCN members that would be available to meet with students biweekly over the 8- to 12-week project term. We are also looking for additional RPCN members that could provide specific subject matter expertise should the student teams require it. We are anticipating the program will begin at the end of September and the projects would begin soon thereafter with an end of November target for project completion. Last semester the project managers met with their teams for about an hour 2-5 times; we anticipate those project managers would meet with their teams 3-6 times (most likely 4-5 times) this semester so the time commitment on the part of project managers should only be about 10-20 hours over the course of the semester. We’ll be sending out a call for mentors in late August or early September; so please be on the lookout for that.
Have You Heard an Inspiring Speaker?
Consider RPCN!
Since 2013 RPCN has been on a quest to “Learn from the Best”. We have brought in speakers who have made their mark in various aspects of business. We find many presenters through networking and at conferences, workshops, trade shows, universities, and professional organizations. Through these resources, we have engaged some very stimulating, insightful and inspiring speakers. Members have suggested a topic of interest or a speaker that turned out to be a real inspiration. Presenters have mentioned that speaking at RPCN is so interactive, they actually learned from the group.
In the recent few years, we have had some marvelous presenters on a variety of topical areas.
Business – of– Business
Marketing & Sales
Economic Opportunity
Consulting Fundamentals
Computer & Software Skills
We have been inviting members to participate more broadly in the programs.
Have you identified a topic that we seem to have missed in our offerings?
Have you been to a presentation or a conference where a presenter did such a good job, that you believe RPCN should hear him or her?
Have you been so inspired by a topic but you thought you could better?
Would you like to cover a topic of your own?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, as a member, RPCN may be the place to make your suggestion, recommend a speaker or a topic, or try out your material to hone your speaking skills.
We’ll even give you feedback as you compose your presentation, slides, and speech.
Not an RPCN member? You can join RPCN now to receive great benefits, including free admission to RPCN presentations, a listing in the RPCN Member Directory, and discounts to RPCN events. Click here for more information on joining RPCN.
New in the RPCN library:
Lencioni, Patrick. The Ideal Team Player – How to Recognize and Cultivate the Three Essential Virtues. A
Leadership Fable. C2016. This book has been added to the Enhancing Human Capital collection.
“In his classic book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni laid out a groundbreaking approach for tackling the perilous group behaviors that destroy teamwork. Here he turns his focus to the individual, revealing the three indispensable virtues of an ideal team player.
"In The Ideal Team Player, Lencioni tells the story of Jeff Shanley, a leader desperate to save his uncle’s company by restoring its cultural commitment to teamwork. Jeff must crack the code on the virtues that real team players possess and then build a culture of hiring and development around those virtues. Beyond the fable, Lencioni presents a practical framework and actionable tools for identifying, hiring and developing ideal team players.
"Whether you’re a leader trying to create a culture around teamwork, a staffing professional looking to hire real team players, or a team player wanting to improve yourself, this book will prove to be as useful as it is compelling.”
Based on a recent presentation by Mary Ellen Bates. Given online by the Association of Independent Information Professionals. This can apply to any consultant.
Consulting is what people do when they’re between jobs.
I know what my clients need. (No. What do they value and will pay you well for? You need a reality check. Have conversations with them) See: tiny.cc/reality-check
I can bill 40 hours a week. (No. At least half your time will be spent on marketing, administration, and professional development) See: tiny.cc/400-hours (Amount of time before you can expect a paying client)
Mary Ellen Bates is a fellow member of AIIP and is the owner of Bates Information Services, Inc., a consulting company based near Boulder, Colorado. She offers strategic business research for business decision-makers and coaching services for solopreneurs.
Would you like more exposure for your business? One of the best ways to do this is to tell people about it.
You can do just that by sponsoring an RPCN meeting. As a meeting sponsor, you will choose a Friday to bring donuts (or other morning goodies) for 30 people to the RPCN meeting of your choosing. RPCN will provide the coffee (included in your fee).
Benefits of being a Meeting Sponsor:
The sponsor will get up to 3 minutes to talk about your business to the audience before the presentation starts at the RPCN meeting.
Your logo will be on display at the refreshment table to acknowledge your sponsorship.
Your logo will be placed on the page of the event that you choose to sponsor. Your logo will have a link back to your website.
With enough advance notice, we will place your logo on the RPCN calendar ad sheet next to the date you chose. The RPCN calendar ad sheet is distributed to all attendees at each of our weekly meetings.
Contact Michael Van der Gaag (programs@rochesterconsultants.org), RPCN Program Chair, at least 2 weeks before the Friday meeting you would like to sponsor. You will be able to fill out a special form where you can provide pertinent information, including the date on which you would like to sponsor a meeting.
Your business can always benefit from more exposure, and an RPCN meeting is an excellent place to get it.
At every RPCN meeting, and at our events and tradeshow booths, RPCN distributes the Program Ad sheets.
Ads are inexpensive and support RPCN. The cost for members to advertise is $20 for 2 months. For non-members, the cost is $40 for 2 months. The deadline to get your ad included in the September/October 2019 calendar ad sheet is August 16, 2019. Sign up for your ad here.
Not an RPCN member? You can join RPCN now to receive great benefits, including free admission to RPCN presentations, a listing in the RPCN Member Directory, and discounts to RPCN events. Click here for more information on joining RPCN.
We want your news!
The RPCN newsletter welcomes news, success stories, tips, resources, events and other items that would be of broad interest to consultants. Submit a newsletter item to newsletter@rochesterconsultants.org for inclusion.
You can sponsor an RPCN Meeting