2009 User Conference!

THANK YOU to all of the participants that attended this year's User Conference! 

Based on the feedback that we received from the participants, many were able to take away ideas to implement immediately with their team.  Some of the ideas shared were: how to set up departmental training competitions, how to identify language gaps within their business, ways to increase use, ways to set goals for their team and track them on our Personal Performance Tracker, as well as new ways to say Thank You and how to write a "Power Note".  Our team gathered a lot of great ideas that will help direct us in development of new solutions for 2010!  On our list for release by December 1, 2009 is our TTN Client Community, a TTN Blog Site, as well as Video Tutorials for Users and Administrators.  These will be available to ALL TTN CLIENTS.  Our guest speaker Shawna Schuh, a business etiquette expert, received rave reviews!  Shawna will be a content provider for TTN in 2010 so keep watching our newsletters for more on this.  100% of our attendees recommend the Power User Conference to others.  Watch for dates and venue information for our next conference at www.ttnlearning.com, as well as in our upcoming newsletters.   

TTN TIDBITS

Traffic Thoughts -by Joel Arnold, TTNLearning

If you think about it, rush hour is a microcosm of humanity. There are happy people, angry people, stressed out people, people talking on cell phones, listening to music, talk radio or audio books. Once, while sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic, I saw a young man – I kid you not – steering with his knees while playing a trumpet!

In its 2009 Urban Mobility Report, the Texas Transportation Institute pointed out that in 2007, the average U.S. traveler lost $750 in wasted fuel and lost productivity while commuting – one full work week of wasted time and three weeks worth of wasted fuel.

In a previous article, I mentioned how this time can be turned into an asset by using it to listen to audio books, filling you brain with new thoughts and ideas. Another way to use this time is to bookend the workday; on the way to work, mentally prepare for your day, calming your mind, visualizing what needs to be done and how best to do it. Driving home from work is a great time to decompress; review the day, give yourself a mental pat on the back (or figure out how to improve your day next time around) and ease into fun and family mode so that when you get home, you can leave your work behind you. In other words, even though you may have to sit in traffic that crawls like molasses on gravel, it turns out not to be a waste of time at all. I would not, however, recommend using this time to practice your trumpet!

ZigOn: Personal Discipline

Personal discipline, when it becomes a way of life in our personal, family, and career lives, will enable us to do some incredible things. One of my favorite sayings is "When you discipline yourself to do the things you need to do when you need to do them, the day will come when you can do the things you want to do when you want to do them."

We need to understand the difference between discipline and punishment. Punishment is what you do to someone; discipline is what you do for someone. My friend and mentor Fred Smith points out that some people are very disciplined in one phase of their life and not in another. Pavarotti, for example, was a perfectionist in his music and yet totally unregulated in his eating habits. Elvis Presley's life points out the discrepancy between his discipline in his personal life and his creative life. Many noticed that he would sit at the piano, working for hours on his phrasing, going over and over it until it was exactly right. He was totally disciplined about his singing. Even some geniuses such as Ernest Hemingway, who lived a very dissolute and destructive life, said, "Every morning at eight o'clock I bite the nail."

Fred Smith goes on to say there are people with superior talent who will not submit to discipline and so are not known or recognized for their abilities. He met a young man who in high school could run so fast that he would run through the curves on the track. Coaches saw that he had world class speed and expected him to be an Olympian. He refused discipline, wanting to take the easy way of simply using his natural speed. He even lost his college scholarship. Laziness was his enemy.

Discipline is building good habits into reflexes which become part of our life. It's absolutely true that unless you can instill discipline upon yourself, you will never be able to lead others. Example is still the best teacher. As Fred says, "Discipline is building good habits into reflexes which become part of our life," and to this I would add that when it becomes a habit you will be able to control your impulses in each area of life and succeed in a balanced way.

Challenging Yourself Through Adaptive Leadership- by Tim Millet

Have you wondered why some companies seem able to handle whatever comes their way, including the difficult economic conditions over the last year? While other companies go bankrupt, the successful companies deliver results over and over again. If you could look inside these companies there’s a good chance you will find adaptive leaders who remain invigorated and ready to accept any challenges coming their way while becoming change agents.

                        Click here for the full article.

Recommended leadership series on TTN:

TTN's Guide To Giving

Tis the season to be giving! In between all the hustle and bustle of gift giving, holiday meals, and spending time with family & friends, its also important to remember the opportunities to give to those in need. Whether you or your company are looking for some ideas to spread the holiday cheer, here is a list of some of the top holiday charities.

Operation Christmas Child

Operation Christmas Child invites volunteers to pack a shoe box with small toys, school supplies, other gifts, and a personal note. These boxes are then distributed to children across the globe, many whom are living in or below poverty.

My Two Front Teeth

Founded in 1999 and named after the carol, "All I Want for Christmas," MyTwoFrontTeeth.org is a nonprofit provider of online services which bring personalization, efficiency and simplicity to the charitable gift-giving efforts of community organizations throughout the country. They enable dozens of charities, daycares, and preschools to accept toy sponsorships online, thereby helping to brighten the holidays for thousands of underprivileged children.

Make a Wish Foundation

Make this holiday season special by helping a child’s dream come true. Make a Wish's unique holiday donation options will help grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions.

Toys for Tots

This Marine sponsored organization distributes toys and gifts to needy children within the community. Donate a new toy or give a donation to help make Christmas a little brighter for a needy child in your community.

Angel Tree

Angel Tree is a ministry of Prison Fellowship, delivering love in the form of gifts to children of prisoners. Angel Tree Christmas connects the parents in prison with their children through the delivery of Christmas gifts by local church volunteers who purchase and deliver these gifts to children.

Many local community organizations also run holiday programs. For some more ideas, check out your local food shelf, local fundraiser walk/run or gift drive.
 

Less Is More

                                                                 -by Jason Jennings

In an age when every business needs to achieve more with fewer resources, Jason Jennings offers the key to ramping up productivity. In this BusinessWeek bestseller, he identifies the world’s most productive companies and reveals their secrets—none of which, surprisingly, include layoffs. The companies he features are truly astonishing, from Ryanair, which generates three times more profit per employee than the legendary Southwest Airlines, to Nucor, a steel firm with annual growth of seventeen percent for the past thirty-one years and the highest paid workers in the industry. Drawing on these and other amazing companies, Jennings presents his readers with solid advice on how to streamline businesses, eliminate waste, and inspire greatness within a workforce.

 

Click here to place your order while supplies last!