I went to the Virginia Main Street 2014 Conference in Farmville this week, and facilitated a two hour discussion on accelerating an entrepreneurial community in small and mid-sized towns. Check out our first attempt at turning a talk into a video! (For the record: I did this one in two takes. Not bad.)
#OneVCU
Yesterday we spent some time with 140 of our best friends from VCU Development and Alumni Relations. We challenged them to create and strengthen their relationships with one another while sharing their stories of VCU. They documented their adventures on Instagram using the hashtag #OneVCU. You can check out all of the (nearly 300!) photos on Instagram by searching #OneVCU, but here are a few of our favorites.
Coaching Corner: Slow Down and Do Something
I recently took the time to slow down and thought I would learn about something new. There is a world-wide coaching conference that takes place each year called the World Business and Executive Coach Summit, WBECS for short. It is a fabulous opportunity, through web-based means, to gain access to the latest thinking, trends, research and practices in the world of organizational coaching.
I was particularly excited about a session called “Conversational Intelligence.” We have seen so much show up in our client work lately around having the “right” conversation, at the right time with the right person. So this seemed like something new and cool that I could share with our clients. Based on the latest research, Judith E. Glaser was presenting a new framework for knowing just what conversations trigger the lower brain and what activates the higher-level intelligences – empathy, foresight, good judgment and trust. Knowing those higher-level intelligences are crucial for having the right conversations I was even more intrigued.
Hitting Our Stride with VCU's Development and Alumni Relations Team
Part of the reason I love working for Floricane is because we have awesome clients who let us engage in really interesting work. And our current work with the Development and Alumni Relations staff at VCU is a prime example.
For the past six months we have been engaging with DAR staff across both campuses using Insights® Discovery, which is one of my favorite tools. What has been both exciting and rewarding is to see the folks at VCU really embrace what they are learning and put it into action with their teams. My conversations with the 21 different DAR teams have left me inspired and full of great ideas.
Currently, we are getting excited about our Summer Check-In with all of the DAR staff coming up in a few weeks. The agenda is a bit of a secret for the time being, but we have put together a really fun day with the incredible help of several VCU staff. It's going to be a great opportunity to get feedback on the work we have done and to kick-off our upcoming work, which includes small group leadership coaching and a focus on team effectiveness.
As we begin to discuss the next phase of our work, I am thrilled with the possibilities to create and deliver work that energizes me as much as it enhances our clients.
Right Place, Wrong Place
I stopped by Main Street Station earlier this month because the city’s Office of Economic Development was holding an information session on the Steps to Success Mentorship Program for minority small businesses. The room was full – about 50 small business owners turned out to learn more about the year-long mentoring program supported by Capital One.
I missed the part in the press release that said it was a program for minority-owned small businesses. Once I realized I wasn’t eligible, I decided to stay for the presentation. I’m glad I did.
In addition to seeing evidence of a city-led program designed to have a positive impact on the small business community, I had an opportunity to see some new faces in Richmond’s entrepreneurial landscape.
Contractors, web developers, architects, designers, bakers and a host of others filled the second floor of the station. Almost all of the faces in the room were black.
I mention this because I’m not reminded often enough that so many of the small business owners and entrepreneurs I know in Richmond are white – and that the majority of our city is not. It is too easy to get lost in relationships with people who are like us – similar ethnicity, or backgrounds, or geography. But it is sometimes hard to break free of those patterns – and connect with new communities.
In the end, this program will select 10 small business owners and pair them with mentors from Capital One. It’s a win/win, says Vicki Rivers, director of minority business development.
“If we can help you increase your revenue,” Rivers told the audience, “that’s good for you and for the City of Richmond. We collect more taxes to fix our roads, our schools, our amenities. If you increase your revenue, you hire more people. That lowers our unemployment.”
While the program is small, it is ambitious. And it seems to have mapped out a solid plan to help a group of Richmond businesses grow.
I came to the wrong meeting, and stayed long enough for it to become the right meeting. I left encouraged, and inspired.
The Leadership Circle: What is it?
This fall, Floricane will be launching a new program called the Leadership Circle. While we know there are a gazillion leadership programs in the marketplace, we think the Leadership Circle offers something unique. How is it unique? It's a confidential place for leaders to gather and discuss issues relevant to them. Topics will be generated by the participants in their first session.
The Leadership Circle will be a cohort group of leaders that come from all types of places such as: profit, non-profit, government and trade associations. Blending leaders from different situations was a specific request from the participants in our focus groups. They felt the varied backgrounds would enhance the discussion and enrich the path to solutions.
Floricane’s coaches, Anne and I, will be there to facilitate each monthly conversation. We will add our expertise as well as ask questions to keep the conversation on track.
Get more details about the Leadership Circle here!
Applications are due by August 8th, 2014.
We're Working on Work (Letter from John, July 2014)
Last winter, Floricane took Christmas week off. The following week, we kept the calendar free of clients and spent the week working on the business. We dove into 2014 much better prepared, as a result -- and on the same page as a team.
We're in the midst of a repeat right now. Our offices were closed for the Fourth of July week, and
this week we've been client-free and focused on the next 18 months. I think our "Work On Floricane Week" will become a permanent fixture.
We started the week with an outside facilitator helping our team explore our shared vision for the future. (Physician, heal thyself. I know, right?) Another large chunk of time was spent on business development, and we mapped out strategies for our growing social media presence and for our Insights Discovery® work. And we're pretty excited about our 18 month calendar of events, which we'll unveil later this summer.
We've had fun, too. Team breakfasts, downtown walking meetings, a team date with our friends at the Greater Richmond Chamber...
A Close-up Look at 1E
Our team is pretty proud of 1E, the collaborative workspace in the Richmond Times-Dispatch building that houses the Floricane office. Most visitors comment on our brightly colored walls, our Steve Keene paintings, or our huge wooden work table. Few, however, get a chance to see the little details that make 1E feel like home. I thought I'd share a few photos!
