BizStratBlog2

Rochester Rocks: Networking is Alive and Well Here

Life in Rochester is never dull. If you aren't experiencing the excitement, the interactivity, the good food and good connections, then you aren't paying attention. Rochester has so much going for it, it's amazing that anyone can whine about "nothing to do."

For businesses, we have a proponderance of good networking groups and events, on a weekly basis. SCORE always has something important and useful going on - including how to market yourself on the Internet. A worthy seminar, if ever there was one.

Plus, each town has its own Chamber of Commerce and as such, offers monthly programs to help local small businesses be uber successful. If you do nothing else, please look into the Chamber of Commerce in your area. You will find like-minded people eager to connect and learn more about you.

NAWBO, the National Association of Women Business Owners, has a local chapter and its leader this year is the dynamic Jonna Martin of Advance Me Associates. We heard her speak at AWC, yet another women's chapter of a national org, the Association of Women in Communication. She was not only informative and approachable, she was a lot of fun.

Rochester is also home to RAMA, the local chapter of the American Marketing Association.  This well-rounded group of marketing professionals contributes to the local business focus by providing monthly events that rival anything you might attend in bigger cities. Case in point, Monday, October 29th, one of our own, Howie Jacobson, (part of RAMA's super hero marketing series) will be talking on branding and Tavern on the Green. The event is at the Pittsford restaurant, Tastings, and sure to be a memorable one (good food always makes an event more memorable).

And, of course, there's the ever-present and very useful group of small business consultants who meet every Friday, RPCN. RPCN, the Rochester Professional Consultants Network, is focused on small businesses, and has programs that cover financing, marketing, sales, setting up and office, and more. Anyone even thinking about starting their own business as a consultant should join this group. (they also rent out their projector, if your group is in need of one)

This is just the tip of the iceberg that is the Rochester business center. We have technology covered, we have publishing covered, we have women's groups covered, and we have business in general covered. Networking to find new business, to meet new professsionals in your field of business, or to introduce a friend around, is alive and well in Rochester. Just ask anyone involved in the groups listed here - they will likely introduce you to other groups that can help you make your business a success.

Welcome to Web 2.0

The Internet has truly invaded all of our lives. Even those who are not connected, are affected by this technology. It's pervasive and if you try to ignore it - well, you will come up short, no doubt.

Because of the World Wide Web, and the Internet, and all of the new social media and social networking going on, the concept of User Generated Content is all the rage. However, USG is just another label being put on the activity surrounding what's happening online, with business connections as well as personal connections. The reality is that user generated content, in the form of blogs like this one, are overtaking media, and creating a voice that may be authentic, but is often just loud, without substance.

The question making the rounds is, "Who cares about all this 'stuff'?" As the blog post linked here says, "We need more, not fewer, authoritative sources. Nobody is currently better at filling this gap than the existing media."

When it comes to authority, traditional media still rules, as it should. Some smart, intelligent bloggers are coming along, but the reality is that people are still mistrustful of blogs and bloggers. They want leaders they can trust. And, depend on. It's all well and good to build communities of like-minded people, but within each of those communities, there are certain members looked up to, certain members who influence the others... and those are the leaders.

Lee Thayer, leadership expert and author of Leadership: Thinking, Being, Doing, is blogging... but, he doesn't let that deter him from maintaining his offline connections, or from writing more books. The goal isn't to rule the world, it's merely to help executives build world-class organizations. That may mean a lot of web 2.0 (user generated content and social media) but it also means face-to-face meetings, where real people talk to other real people. In person.

So, where are today's leaders? Are they buried in the blog communities - hiding behind their broadband connection? Or, are they out front, championing causes? Who do you prefer to follow... a faceless, soundless voice on the Internet, or a flesh and blood person?

Maybe, the answer is: both. Because the flesh and blood person can reach more people via a blog. And because a blog can represent leadership, if it's open, authentic, and true to its purpose.

Welcome to Web 2.0.

Eyes on the future - next meeting

The Small Business Council of Rochester, and Greater Rochester Enterprise have announced the next step in the ongoing Eyes on the Future process.  They identified the following 5 goals as a result of the summit's conclusions:

1. Be an Ambassador -- promote the Rochester Region
2. Be a Matchmaker -- connect businesses with resources to thrive in the Rochester Region
3. Be a Rainmaker - lead initiatives to increase resources for new and established businesses
4. Be Positive - positive thinking and positive action lead to a positive reality
5. Be Proud - proud to live, work and play in the Rochester Region

Are you looking for a way to further champion this mission? To find out how you can help, join GRE and SBC on September 17, 2007.  Their goal is to provide you with greater insight into actions taking place to revitalize the 9-county region and provide you with specific actions you can take to help us grow - concentrating on step one - Be an ambassador.

The "Eyes on the Future - Ambassador Program" meeting will be held on September 17 from 9:30 am to 10:30 am in the HSBC Auditorium at 100 Chestnut Street, Rochester, NY.  The meeting will be right after Greater Rochester Enterprise's board and investor meeting. You're welcome to come early on September 17 and attend GRE's meeting from 8:00 am to 9:30 am.

Please rsvp to Bridget Loyde (Bridget) by September 10.

Leadership: A Tricky Role in Today's "My, my, my" World

We're preparing for a visit from our favorite leadership strategist, Lee Thayer, over at WME Books, and it seemed like a good time to visit the leadership question, here.

I find Lee Thayer inspiring and thought-provoking, but some people might consider him annoying, opinionated, and downright rude. What all that means is that he doesn't pull punches. He tells it like it is, he gives his honest feedback (when asked) and, he calls up his decades of experience working with successful (and not so successful) CEOs. I don't know that I will ever meet anyone else who brings his level of expertise to the table - although I have met a number of outstanding mentors who also inspire me.

Lee has an outlook on leadership that is contrary to today's thinking. He takes the viewpoint that being a leader is something you're called to do - not something you're programmed to do, or taught to do, or decide you want to do. You can't be a true leader if all you think about is - you. Or, the bottom line. Or, whether or not you're giving your employees everything they want.

Eyes on the Future committee needs your help

The Eyes on the Future committee needs your help! We're looking to fill out our roster of questions for the Eyes on the Future Conference panelists in June.  We've started the Eyes on the Future Blog.  The purpose of the blog is to begin and CONTINUE the discussion about what we can do personally to assist the Rochester Economy.  We'll be taking the best of the questions and ideas and presenting them to panelists to hear their answers from the point of view of the site selectors, economic development leader, and government officials.

This is your chance to be heard, and don't forget to sign up for the event - it's free, but space is limited and it's going fast.  We've currently distributed almost 1000 tickets, so if you want to be sure you have a seat - be sure to sign up now.

Proud of Rochester - Proud of Wegmans

On April 15th, 2007 the Food Network held their 2007 Food Network awards featuring chef Emeril Legasse.  Awards were handed out in many categories, but the one that touches closest to home was the SUPER Market award given to the best grocery market chain in the US.  The winner?  Who else could it be but Wegman's Supermarkets.  In Rochester we tend to dwell lately on our past - and how that's affected us to the negative.  But lets look for a moment towards the future.

Wegmans is without a doubt (and now backed up by a Food Channel Award to prove it) one of the best modern examples of how you can take a ho-hum industry (grocery stores) and turn it into a customer service experience.  And again, without a doubt, Wegmans is another Rochester home-grown success, just like Kodak, Xerox and Bausch and Lomb were in their days. 

I know for a fact that companies whose job it is to promote our region like Greater Rochester Enterprise tout this region as a hotbed of entrepreneurialism and list Wegmans as a great reason to relocate here.

So why don't we crow about ourselves more often? What is it about Rochesterians that seems to always concentrate on the downside of living in Rochester, rather than the numerous upsides?  We are a community that takes chances - and sometimes those chances succeed, and other times fail. 

We bought a ferry - it didn't work out, but we took the chance to see if it would. We have one of the worlds largest distributors of wine and liquor in our backyard (Canandaigua) - Constellation Brands. Do you think that could have been developed without a strong core of Rochester's entrepreneurs?  Richard Sands was raised in an environment where he firmly believed anything was possible - and he made it happen. We're currently dabbling in development of fuel cell technology, biomedical research, and other up and coming technologies.

We are a community that makes things work - despite the obstacles that NYS, or taxes, or downsizing businesses put in our way.

- Lee Drake, CEO, OS-Cubed

Tom Golisano talks about Entrepreneurship

In keeping with this month's Business Strategies Magazine focus on the entrepreneur, there's a valuable video posted on the Simon School blog from Tom Golisano's speech at the Rochester Entrepreneurship Conference held there on March 9.

Golisano describes his very different experiences in starting, building, and leaving Paychex over many years vs. acquiring and turning around the Buffalo Sabres hockey team in the last four years -- with many instructive lessons for entrepreneurs. He also talks about his ideas on education and the Bishop Kearney High School initiatives.

With Q&A, the video runs over 43 minutes, but well worth the time.

Corporate America Doing Good

The Business Roundtable, a national organization of Fortune 100 companies, has teamed up with the US government in responding to natural disasters. Dissatisfied with recent past performance of government agencies, 30 large corporations are collaborating, with each other, with the US government and with charities such as the Red Cross, to improve disaster response time and effectiveness.

"We're starting to put our actions where our words are," says Bill McDermott, CEO of SAP America. These companies want, and will likely get, in on early planning, in on information during a disaster, and they want in on emergency operations on the ground.

Homeland Security will be hosting a meeting this month of these businesses, the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA, and state and local governments, to advance the collaboration. Watch for outcomes.

Here's a great role model for all of us. As leaders, we often think 'What can I do on the national scene?' Or perhaps even at our local level. Think bigger. Start a conversation to address your pet peeve or a gaping need. Think collaboratively and creatively. There is a lot to be done on many fronts - how will you be part of a solution?

Barbara Osterman

Watch Your Culture! Job Prospects Are.

Why should you pay attention to the environment you are creating at your workplace? Yes, it's important for employees, who are carried by this cultural undercurrent. Either the culture assists them in moving toward goals, or they must fight the current to accomplish their goals.

Now we're hearing that prospective employees are also checking out your culture. How? On-line, of course. Websites are being designed for just that purpose. Prospective employees log into Vault, Jobster, LinkedIn and others, in order to get the real inside info on what it's like to work for you and your company.

So, the background check now works in both directions. And people are making decisions about whether to work for you based on what they're hearing on-line about you.

How do you stack up? What are people saying about you? What do you want them to say, and what changes would you need to make to have them actually say it?

In this open Internet world, it's useful to think in these terms: Assume that your culture is being openly discussed on-line. How do you want to be known? Is it highly-satisfied employees, a challenging growth-oriented work environment, cool benefits, employee involvement, etc? What actions will you take to reinforce it?

You decide. Then make sure you are acting on it. Because your real culture is now visible to many more people than it ever was. And those people are making decisions about affiliating with you based on it.

Barbara Osterman

CEO's - Can One Person Move an Entire Organization?

Ford just did it. Viacom did it. Boeing did it too. These companies, among others, have recently replaced their CEO's in a bid to reverse their market results.

My question: How can the one person at the top of an organization make the radical difference these companies' Boards and stakeholders are looking for?

Our American culture tends to believe that when organizations change out their top leaders, the organizations will change. They might. And there have been too many cases where they do not. Leaders come and go. High expectations are placed on them, for big results in a very short time. Big money is committed. Futures are riding on the leader's effectiveness. Big pressure.

Can one person make this kind of difference? Not alone. Some leaders understand this, some do not. A focus on engaging the entire organization is required. A structured approach to changing the culture of organization is required. Corporate culture is the undercurrent carrying an organization forward (or sideways or even backward). It must be addressed and made to align with other, more tangible plans and systems, like the strategic plan and the formal systems which leaders spend most of their time managing. 

So how can we assess the future prospects for these organizations with new CEO's? We'll know a savvy leader, one who can move an entire organization forward, when we see that person (1) engaging the entire organization, moving quickly but not so quickly that the engagement of people is sacrificed, and (2) creating an environment that requires people to be successful, challenging them to give their best every day.

Barbara Osterman