Summer used to be a time when things slowed down.  That doesn't seem to be happening any more.  People think summer is quieter and then they ask "Whatever happened to Summer"?

For many, especially those in positions of leadership, entrepreneurs or anyone running a people oriented business, when some things slow down, they're immediately filled by others. To use myself as an example, client time over summer generally slows down as many take vacations with their kids.  So I fill it with prep for class material, speaking engagement content, articles, do work for 2 Boards I sit on and, like this summer, finishing a book and diving into another (a unique book on the subject of leadership...stay tuned).

What I notice (hey as a Shadow Coach I have a ton of data to draw from) is that people don't pay attention to what it is they're doing.  They just do...and do...and do more, run more, scramble more, try to keep up more without really paying attention to why they're doing it.  It's a frenetic world, a whirlwind of activity.

Someone recently asked me how I could keep up with everything I do.  The answer is simple. I do not commit to anything I don't have the time for and I mean enough time to do it well.  I won't even tell anyone I'm thinking of a project unless I have the time to do it, as articulating it, saying it out loud, is a commitment.  My motto "I live my life by the commitments I make and keep" applies to the people in my life and my work.

If you can't answer the question "Why am I doing this?" then stop doing it, at least until you can answer. Then follow up with "What should I be doing that I'm not doing" and "What am I doing that I should NOT be doing" and magically you just might have time to do things you know you should and want to be doing and do them well.

Thomas Edison said  “Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing." That's called busy-making.

Structure doesn't box you in, it sets you free, giving you the freedom to realize your dreams because you'll have time to pay attention to them.  Are you paying attention to yours?

"The hotel guestroom of the future" was was showcased at this year's HITEC (Hospitality International Technology Exposition & Conference), an exposition that reveals the latest hi-tech hotel trends.

What might it mean for business travelers? Here's what I think: It will mean gadgetry overkill. From what I've seen, read, and heard, the balance between hotel guestroom comfort and hotel room technology is tilting in favor of technology.

Convenience isn't convenience when I am overwhelmed not just with annoying gadgets, but with technology so new that I have to stop and figure out how to use it. Then there is the issue of space — some of the new hi-tech items, like big-screen TVs, take up far more space than did the traditional TV. Too much of a good thing merely intrudes on my personal spaces and presents me with perhaps more technology than I'll have time to use in any but an extended stay.

I'm not sure how many business travelers are going to be charmed by high-definition artwork that changes to match a guest's mood.

And will I really have time to learn how to use a "self-cleaning" shower?

Hotel chains ought not to overlook the basics: a clean, quiet room; spacious work desk with good chair, convenient power plug and Internet connection; and comfortable bed. Give me those things, and you can keep the gadgets — and, oh by the way, you can lower my room rate, too.

Road Warrior • Miami • www.us.amadeus.com

Is it just me or are there conferences going on EVERYWHERE?

There's OMMA, Web 2.0 NY and IZEAFest this month and ESM and MarketingProfs next month to name a few.

I know I'm speaking at the Association for Women in Communication's annual conference, keynoting the Make Mine Pink conference this month, possibly at ESM in Atlanta next month.

Twitter, FriendFeed and popular blogs are abuzz with notes from conferences and play-by-play crib notes.

Good grief! That's enough to make your head spin.

It's so easy to get caught up in going to conferences. And, because new media and social media are so new and exciting people have loads of information and ideas to share.

A word to the wise about conference hopping...

Know where you're spending your time and WHY you're attending.

I only attend conferences if I'm speaking or if I know I will be exposed to our target market or will have the chance to network with people in markets my company wants to tap.

You have to be on purpose and strategic most of the time, but sometimes it's cool to attend an event just for the heck of it. Follow your inner beagle. (Welcome to the cognoscenti!) I usually hang at the Wizard Academy. It's not for the faint of heart. I found a scorpion in my room the first day of class. Like whoa! 

I have to disagree with Michelle Higgins (A Plane? More Like a Flying Magazine) that advertising on airplanes is the last straw.

Everyone has his own "last straw" threshold, and mine isn't the security frisk (I leave most of my metal at home), the jockeying for overhead bins (I travel superlight, so my bag is undersized and fits anywhere), or squeezing into the middle seat (face it: all the seats are uncomfortable).

No, what hits me where I live is missing a connection or a super-long layover in an airport I'm not crazy about. No, ads I can live with.

In fact, if advertising makes any measurable impact in cutting the cost of my ticket, I'm all for it. Book me on the next "flying magazine," please!

If ads like these are worth about $20 million a year to a carrier like US Airways, as Higgins' article indicates, then that's some portion of $20 million my ticket doesn't have to be paying for.

Airlines need to offset expense increases. If they think that selling ads on tray tables is a good idea, I say let them try. The consumer will determines if this works. If a lot of passengers complain, the airlines may pull the program. If the company gets little return on tray table ads, they will likely not do it again.

Airlines are in the business of marketing and as marketers they are always going to try to find new ways to communicate with their audience

Frankly, I don't think these ads are any different from a billboard or a banner ad on a website.

What's your 'take' on advertising on airplanes? Are you for it or against it?

Road Warrior • Miami • www.us.amadeus.com

"Patronize your local, even if it's a little more expensive. Otherwise, one day, it won't be there."

My mother's words, which I've adhered to for years, even when relatively skint.

But do you "support your local" when it's clearly not up to par?

I celebrated my 46th birthday by landing in NYC and taking a quick reconnaissance around the block where I usually stay.

Cool! A new eatery right outside my door!

Opened just one month, said the server, stark as a niche statue against the empty bowels of the restaurant – at lunch hour.

I looked at the sandwich board, then the menu. The sandwich board is what drew me in – it said "Fresh Fruit Mojitos." I didn't even get those in Cuba. (Aside: never underestimate the power of the humble sandwich board. It's what you scratch on it that counts. I remember one that drew a bunch of us across a busy road - it simply said: Food. Good. Signs that are jiggled around on street corners by paid human posts – don’t laugh – we all look at those to as we turn right ...).

As I went over the offering I started to get confused. "Asian Bistro" it said on the sign overhead. On the sandwich board it said "Quesadillas" and "Fish & Chips". Inside the menu were "Nachos" and "Kung Pao Chicken". I've learned that an appearance of trying to be all things to all people not only confuses, it signals impending mediocrity.

How's business? I enquired, something I can't help asking after doing the dishes in restaurants myself. The server did that tilting hand thing.

My Zagat-thumbing friends had plans for a dozen other places, but I was intrigued by this brave new business, opening right outside what NYers like to call "the projects". I like to support honest new ventures. I know business owners have way more guts than career wage-earners like me. The least I can do is promote them – as long as they're doing a good job – and bring my friends along.

Undaunted and unZagatted, I rounded up a few customer friends at a loose end and arrived at 6pm as promised.

I asked the server about some of the dishes. She didn't know about half of them, and hadn't tried most of them. Hello, restaurant owners! Your servers are your salesforce. Not only do they need to eat your food to sell it properly, they need to know what the soup of the day etc is, without running off and asking.

A server need not like a dish. One server told me "I'm not a great fan of xxxx, I prefer the yyyy because …" Paradoxically, this is far more useful that the popular and wishy-washy "Oh everything on the menu is really good." People like to be given a strong, informed recommendation, and, with the exception of very, very good restaurants, "everything on the menu is good" is rarely true.

Servers also need to refrain from dumping the check on the table without enthusing about the dessert menu, and let the diner refuse. I learned that in restaurants, sales of an extra salad means tips and whether you'll be open for business next week. Running a restaurant is not a charity.

The Cobb salad that arrived was large but mediocre – the leaves were a limp and dry, like when you open packaged arugula then shove it to the back of the fridge and  discover it a week later. The ingredients were by and large what you'd taste from the markdown Safeway Deli counter. The Peking duck wraps were oversauced – with commercial plum sauce. I'm no gourmet, but in a crowded market, there is just too much competition at this level to get it wrong. You're better off opening a greasy spoon and doing really, killer, greasy spoon. In Brisbane, I saw a scruffy guy in Fortitude Valley doing gangbusters against all the fancy coffee houses. He set up a coffee bar in a virtual demolition site. He just did killer coffee. People said so.  And the occasional killer croissant. You couldn't even sit down unless you were one of the two who snagged the two stools. It made me wish I drank coffee so I could copy his style and retire at 50.

I remember a friend Barney being served some traditional French provincial steak dish. The owner asked Barney for feedback. Do you really want to know, said Barney? Nod. OK, it was good, but you could slice this steak in half this way and make more money, because the traditional way this dish is served is with a wafer thin piece of steak …. Even as he spoke, you could see the owner glazing over and resenting Barney even daring to open his mouth.

Constructive feedback is so valuable, yet people are primed to be offended by it. I've known businesses to ask for customer feedback and spend all their time saying "Yesbut" or thinking "what would they know" (the eyes and hunched shoulders don't lie). They won't take free feedback from the people who are actually opening their wallets, so they pay consultants to paraphrase that feedback and still don't listen. A permanently empty Indian restaurant near my apartment in Sydney asked my advice and it was simple: Turn up the heat, light some candles, cover the cement walls with saris, just a start. Cheap ambience, I read Martha Stewart too. Weeks later I went back and nothing is done and the restaurant is still empty. I can only assume restaurants who do this are a front for drugs or laundering and don't need the money.

And one more thing – when you ask customers for write feedback, make it sound like you'll actually read the card and do something with it.

I just filled in a United Airlines survey that seemed entirely statistical - a fashion buyer told me some department stores operate that way, re-ordering purely on numbers, rather than how frightful the mohair caftan "that looks like a rainbow threw up on it" (thanks to Janet Fitch for that one) actually looks like on the average Josephine.

How do do it right? Start by reading this booklet:

Testify!

by CustomerEvangelists.com duo Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba. After having it on my shelf for 4 years, and even after they mentioned Bike Friday so many times, I am ashamed to say I only just got round to reading it fully, on the plane to NY. 18 businesses describe how they use customer evangelism in bringing their customers closer, including  the correct solicitation and processing of criticism and feedback - an crucial part of the relationship.

If you only read one book this year, make it this little one. Why? It's a free download, it's short, and it's not just telling. It's showing. It's free of pomp and high handedness. Unless you're someone who can't be told a damn thing, you'll think about business differently. Now that's a rare steak. 

COPYWRITING CORNER – feedback card for a restaurant.

I'm always ranting about the power of the fine copyline - it extends to every little thing people read from you – even the "wash your hands" signage in your toilets.

Old copy:

Your feedback is important to us. Please take a moment to tell us about your experience at xxxxx.

New copy:

We like making good food as much as you like eating it.
We also want to be here when you next visit.
Please don't leave without telling us anything – and we mean anything - we ought to know right now. We won't be offended, no decent restaurant can afford that luxury. If you come back, please tear off the bottom portion card and bring it along for a complimentary dessert – and see how we've taken your suggestions on board.

Too many words? Better than too few. If you have multiple choice questions to ask, let's use the excellent example given in Testify! by the Delaware Curative Physical Therapy and Rehab Centers submission. Their simple card said:

HEY BETH! I am ...

• Impressed
• Pleasantly Surprised
• Satisfied
• A Bit Annoyed
• Mad as the Dickens (though I would have written, "Mad as Hell" by I'm a spade's a spade Aussie)

Get the idea? Start re-writing stuff that people read, don't try to be all things to all people, listen to what they say, resist the temptation to kee-jerk "what would they know"? They know one thing - how to spend money that  enables you to be paid.

The Gal learned more about life than how to assemble a dessert sampler as a failed waitress and commis chef when she did the dishes in County Kerry. She also believes she found the worst salad on Route 66.

Pictured: "Stay off the tracks! Or cop a $150 fine. So don't say
you didn't know." Talking to people in their language, without being
patronizing, cuts through the clutter - and they're more likely to do
what you ask. That includes giving valuable feedback. Seen at Brisbane
train station, Australia. 

On this third anniversary of Katrina, and in Gustav’s wake, we see the power of the media to engage us in bearing witness. Reporters bring the stories into our homes. Anderson Cooper stirred our minds and hearts with his candor and humanity in reporting on Katrina. As a result, people and companies came from far and wide to volunteer and contribute goods, services, and funds to help the victims.

Bear witness. Tell the story. Take action. Ann Curry took a stand in reporting about the genocide in Darfur. Not only has Curry brought this story into our consciousness, but she herself has taken action. In her interview with Omar al-Bashir, president of Sudan, she confronted him, in the face of his denials, with her first-hand evidence of the violence. In the NYT article, Curry explained that she has been inspired since childhood by stories of people who saved Jews during the Holocaust.

As we learn what is happening in our communities and our world, we will discover ways to take action and involve others. Businesses in particular can play a major role in encouraging and supporting larger-scale and high-impact service. In the case of Katrina, Wal-Mart drew headlines by bringing their unique business skills and valued resources to bear. “The Only Lifeline Was the Wal-Mart” Devin Leonard, Fortune, 10.3.05.

Experiencing the remarkable camaraderie of the Katrina experience with his employees, CEO Lee Scott “stepped back from that and asked one simple question: How can Wal-Mart be that company - the one we were during Katrina - all the time?" “The Green Machine,” by Marc Gunther, Fortune 7.21.06.  The Katrina spirit was part of Scott’s decision to pursue a new environmental strategy for the company – a strategy that would engage his employees at all levels throughout the company, be good for business, and good for the world. Next, by establishing strategic relationships with nonprofits, Wal-Mart advanced pro-environment missions while gaining the expert counsel of Conservation International and the World Wildlife Fund.

It all began with employees serving the victims of Katrina. Now, the benefits of Wal-Mart’s social responsibility approach continue to have an exponential impact, and seem likely do so long into the future.

The first step is being aware!

Hello Leadership group, you might be interested in my latest Leading Edge blog on the topic at: The Leading Edge - Instilling Confidence (Part 2)

Harvard prof John Kotter is one of the foremost authorities on change leadership. I thought it would be interesting to apply Kotter’s eight-step process for implementing successful transformation to our two candidates for president, rating their effectiveness as change leaders. Here goes:

1. Increase Urgency – create the feeling that “we must act to address our situation.”
McCain – short on prescriptions, long on attack. John gets a 0
Obama – heavy on diagnosis & prescriptions. Barack gets +1

2. Build the Guiding Team – put together the right group with the power to deliver.
McCain – For the inner circle, Steve Schmidt and the team have had trouble managing the Palin message. For VP, McCain has chosen a new face with some good history. From the party, the current US president stays at arm’s length. I give John -1
Obama – Inside David Plouffe has successfully unseated Hillary and executed consistent strategy to Put Obama out in front for his party. For VP, Obama has picked a seasoned statesman. On the outside he has won the support of Kennedy, Clinton & Carter. I give Barack +1

3. Get the Vision right – Create a compelling future that generates bold action.
McCain – The current cover of the economist says, “Bring back the real McCain.” He talks about all the right things, but prescriptions are eclipsed by attacks on his opponent. I give McCain -1
Obama – Obama proclaims, “Enough.” He lays out specific actions to address top priorities. I give Obama +1

4. Communicate for Buy-in – Send heartfelt messages that appeal to the gut.
McCain – His stalwarts give him a standing ovation. But the crowd is mostly white. Where is everyone else? I give John -1
Obama – His ranks are growing and his audiences look like America. I give Barack +1.

5. Empower Action – Remove barriers so your evangelists can act.
McCain – The Republicans shine when it comes to systematic organized, coherent effort. This election is no different. The machine is in swing. I give John +1
Obama – Democrats are notorious for chaos when it comes to structured, impactful execution. But, this guy is different. Obama has a machine, too. Barack gets +1.

6. Create Short-term wins – Demonstrate success as fast as possible.
McCain has pulled out in front from initial stumbling. John gets +1
Obama’s ascent is nothing short of miraculous: Barack gets +1

7. Don’t Let Up – Generate wave after wave of action until victory is achieved.
Too early to tell. Both John and Barack get +1 for their current intensity.

8. Make change stick – Firmly embed new behavior.
McCain’s past performances show his persistence and ability to plant one win on top of another, legitimately changing the way people think and act. John gets +1
Obama’s previous efforts have made dramatic differences that continue to withstand the pressure to revert. Barack gets +1

total scores:
John McCain +1
Barack Obama +8

You know where I stand. How about you? (Remember, to post a comment, you have to register)

A track record, my kingdom for a track record.

In my last blog I spoke about leaders needing to engender trust, because when people trust they feel safe, lean towards you and are more willing to listen to you. When people don't trust you, they feel wary and back away from you.

For people to begin to follow you, they need to have confidence in you. There are a couple factors that immediately come to mind that will produce that.

People don't care how much you know or can do,

until they know how much you can get done.

Nothing gives a person confidence as much as having already done something on multiple occasions that produced a positive measurable result in a similar area that they are now proposing to do again. Believing you can do something that you have been trained in, but that you have never actually done means you are unproven. As a result you are already off on a lie, especially when people either ask or are wondering what your actual experience and results have been.

A second factor is more about style than substance. In a word it's about having "swagger." Swagger is different than bravado, brazenness, chutzpah or arrogance and others are drawn to people with it, because they have swagger envy. Thus people are following not exactly out of trust or confidence, but out of envy.

I have swagger envy, especially of people who have quiet swagger and who don't have to resort to hyperbole or embellishment. When I think of people who have it, people like Oprah Winfrey, John Wooden and Clint Eastwood come to mind. My mentor, Warren Bennis, has it.

I also think of Presidents and Presidential candidates who have had it and how it worked for them. John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan and even George W. Bush had it. Al Gore, John Kerry, Jimmy Carter, Walter Mondale, MIke Dukakis, George H. Bush didn't have it. John McCain doesn't have it; Barack Obama does, however it tends towards the evangelical similar to Jesse Jackson.

Who do you know that has swagger? Is it something you wish you had?

Stay tuned for Commanding Respect (Part 3)

Reporters and venture capitalists often ask me to name some of the top vertical search engines. Because I believe strongly that search will become a dynamic industry of very search specific sites and concepts, I decided to compile a listing of what I think will be the search engines that take market share away from Google, Yahoo and Microsoft over the next 3 years.

Travel

Kayak- If you’re like me, and hate searching dozens of sites for the best travel deals then Kayak is what you’ve been looking for. With everyone being affected by high gas prices, searching for the best travel deals can go a long way in saving you money. Whenever I plan to travel, I first go to kayak.com to find the best deals. Kayak’s UI is clean, easy to understand, gives me the right level of filtering, and most importantly is comprehensive. It searches over 200 travel sites to give me the best deals on airfare, hotel, cars, and vacations. Only a few years old, Kayak is the clear leader in this vertical. It even bought out its main rival sidestep.com for $200 million a few weeks ago.

Farecast.com- With a UI very similar to Kayak, Farecast was bought by Microsoft a few months ago. It’ll be interesting to see how it develops over the next few months and if Microsoft will be able to eat away at the travel search market. With Kayak’s success, I think that Microsoft should have never let Expedia go. Ideally, they should have kept Expedia in-house and placed its bets on making it the comprehensive travel search engine that Farecast aims to be.

Events

Zvents - When I met Zvents CEO Ethan Stock a few years back, I never thought I would end up using his service almost every weekend in the not so action packed Redwood City. Finding something to do in a small town is hard enough as is, and a search engine like Zvents goes a long way to solving that problem. Having tried out a number of other local event sites, Zvents by far has the best listings and UI.

Eventful - I haven’t used this site as much as Zvents, but a number of my friends swear by it. Eventful relies on the community contributions which enables you to take advantage of some of the more random functions. While this may help you find a unique happening once in a while, I personally prefer a comprehensive and automated approach like Zvents.

Products

Amazon - Not many people realize this, but Amazon is steadily developing into a search engine for almost any product you’d want to buy. Today, when I shop on Amazon, half the products I get delivered are not even sold by Amazon, but by one of their trusted merchants. Hmmm…sounds like they are nicely going from just a commerce site to a complete search engine for products. Not a bad direction on their part. They already have the brand, they understand the unique UI needed for product search, and users trust them.

theFind.com- Siva Kumr, CEO of the thefind.com thinks that a pure focus on crawling commerce related products across the web and a great UI can make a big difference in product search. I tend to agree. His search engine is one that could give Amazon some heartburn in a few years.

Shopping.com- Owned by eBay, this is a big ad network as well as a money machine when it comes to the volume of transactions that happen on the site. My only concern is that eBay tends to be slow in innovating their properties and care too much about near term results (something all public companies have to do at some time or another). We’ll see if they can keep pace with companies like thefind.com and Amazon asI see a lot of competition in this space. Fortunately this can only be a good thing for consumers.

People

Spock- Yup. Not surprising that I would pick spock.com as the best people search engine, as I may or may not function as the co-founder.. But I REALLY REALLY do believe that we have the best people search engine out there. Spock is the only people search site that seriously tries to index the web and create a real search engine. Compare results on Spock to any other site and let me know if you think someone else is better. I would love some competition in this space.

Music

Seeqpod- A few of my engineers love to use this music search engine while coding away at Spock. It helps them not only find music they are looking for, but also has a discovery feature that lets you discover music that you may be into. It can be difficult enough to search or know what you are searching for, and a discovery UI is pretty helpful. However, don’t get too cozy with Seeqpod just yet. They are being sued by Warner Music for you guessed it (copyright). We’ll have to wait and see how this pans out.

Grooveshark- Similar to Seeqpod, they index web pages that contain user uploaded music files and have been catching up quickly to some established players in this space. We’ll have to wait and see what happens here as well with regard to some of the legal loopholes they may need to navigate through.

Video

Truveo- It’s surprising to me how many people think that YouTube is the be all and end all of video. Sure Youtube may have 90% of the market share now, but so what! Netscape and Yahoo had that type of share at one point, and now look at what happened. In the world of the Internet, nothing is certain. That’s why I think video search is an attractive market on the cusp of something big. They do a really good job of indexing videos across the web. I was surprised at how well they indexed videos of me on the web.

Blinkx- It’s like watching 50 TV channels at once. A really unique UI and interesting take on video display. They are now even offering local video search - not bad. This site is definitely worth a peak.