Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Introducing the CNO Position into Large Corporations

Smaller companies and start-ups can get the biggest, most-immediate impact by adding a CNO. The smaller and the more flexible the organization is in order to adopt a new leadership style, the better it is for a CNO position to be quickly deployed at the early stages.

However, it does not mean that it cannot be done in more complex, mature and global corporations. It certainly can. As a matter of fact, it very much depends on the leadership level of that specific organization at that moment.

On the one hand, if the leadership is old-fashioned and typically top-down with a “just-do-it-or-you-are-fired” style, then it is better not even investing that much given that this kind of company may not survive in the long run, regardless of how well positioned they are today. Unless, a dramatic change in top management could happen.

On the other hand, if the company has been preparing new leaders, already providing coaching to key managers, and moving from a conservative management approach to a more modern “management from within,” then this company is a serious candidate to implement the CNO concept and Business Networks Management methodology successfully.



Interesting enough, based on our experience so far, everything starts with who I call “the shining eyes executive.” Normally, this professional has been around for a while, knows the organization fairly well, he/she is respected by his/her peers and is a “out-of-box” thinker. He/she reads some articles about CNOs and thought to him/herself “I am a naturally born CNO but I have never realized it until now”. Of course, the CNO position is quite unique in the world and the corporate environment is not completely aware of it....yet.

Normally, this professional comes out of the human / business area, i.e., marketing, sales, business development, international business, strategic alliances and the likes. Then, this professional approach HR staff requesting for this type of training. We can start very light with just 90-minute speaking to a large audience. It this case, the idea is to identify potential CNOs and Business Networks Managers who will react very positively to this invitation. Alternatively, we can organize two-day workshops with a small team of 10-20 executives. The training can be presented both ways: face-to-face or virtually.

Depending on the size of the organization, some additional training and/or coaching sessions must be considered, mainly if there is a need for regional roll-out. Internal communication of all achievements is a key success factor in the quick adoption and healthy deployment of this methodology across the whole corporation. It's an ongoing process in which the senior executives will always coach their junior colleagues in order to be seamlessly aligned in the corporate value, vision, mission and business principles.

Enjoy the road!

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Elite Networker Study

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Jan. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- When the pink slip arrives or necessity calls for a job change, most professionals reluctantly start networking, but those who network consistently instead of as needed earn much more and are better protected finds a new study from Upwardly Mobile, Inc. with the assistance of the Graziadio School of Business Management at Pepperdine University. Among the findings:

  1. Elite professionals earning more than $200,000 a year, more so than other respondents, cited networking as important to their careers and self-reported a greater networking ability. They leverage their network more, use job sites less, and consider networking a lifestyle rather than a tool to be used when needed.
  2. Thirty-one percent of elite high-earning professionals versus 19% of the non-elites spend one to two hours each week networking.
  3. Twenty-nine percent of the non-elite network only when there is a need versus 18% of the elites.
  4. Fifty-seven percent of elite professionals say job sites have no impact on their career advancement while less than 35% of those in the non-elites felt job sites have no impact.
  5. More than 80% say networking impacts income. Fifty-eight percent believe a skilled networker could see up to a 100% increase in income.
  6. Forty percent of respondents said networking is how they found their current job.
  7. The highest earners said the single most critical factor in determining the value of their network isn't the depth of their relationship with contacts or the size of their network, but breadth of connections with the right contacts--contacts willing to recommend them.
  8. Among the online network management tools used by respondents, LinkedIn is seven times more popular than its nearest contender.

"What surprised us was that most people use networking as a one-time reaction to unemployment or a recession instead of long-term protection that can smooth career transitions," says Promise Phelon, CEO of Upwardly Mobile, Inc. "It's clear that a regular, purposeful networking habit, not just a profile on your favorite professional networking site, will lead to greater mobility and downside protection during tough economic times."

For a free PDF download of the 28-page study, please log on to: http://www.upmo.com/knowledge/recent-research.html

Web Search Volume: Social Networking


This chart above shows clearly that the term “social networking” is increasing its web search volume sharply in the last 3 years. The message is straight-forward: either your business uses social networking tools or perhaps you will be out of business sooner than expected.

Are you ready for this?

Friday, February 20, 2009

Trekking Tijuca Forest - Feb 28th


TREKKING TIJUCA FOREST


Day: February 28th, 2009 (saturday)

Time:
9h leaving Copacabana Palace Hotel
10h leaving Praça Afonso Viseu at Alto da Boa Vista

Program:

This park is known as the largest urban forest on earth. Its huge mountains covered with tropical vegetation
contrast with dramatic granite rocks forming the unique background for Rio's beaches and constructions.
In this tour we visit the Park's best viewpoints, waterfalls and hike up Tijuca Peak (Rio's highest at 3300 ft).
A good option is to combine this Tour with an afternoon visit to the charming district of Santa Teresa, with its
cobblestone hilly streets, old homes; interesting museums and Rio's last surviving tram line. During a very short
stay in town it may be useful to include a quick drive up to Corcovado to see the most famous of all images of
Rio, the statue of Christ the Redeemer, located inside the Park
.
Duration: Half-day (5h)

Difficulty level:
Easy

Optional: transport and driver

Not included: Meals and beverages
Recomendations: Light clothes, hiking shoes, backpack with bottle of water, sun hat, sunscreen, small towel
and extra money for meal and beverages


Value: R$ 100/person (transport included) leaving Copacabana Palace Hotel at 9hAM
R$ 45/pessoa (*) meet at Praça Afonso Viseu in Alto da Boa Vista at 10h AM
(*) please drive your own car. it´s not possible to take this tour without transportation

Payment:
until February 26th, 2009
Unibanco: Branch 0055, Cc: 113436-4
Name: Werneck e Barrouin Turismo Ltda

RSVP:
Gabriel or Daniel (Rio Hiking)
Tel: 21. 2552-9204
Cel: 21. 9721-0594
E-mai
l: tours@riohiking.com.br

For further information about CarnAventura 2009, please contact Rio Hiking.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

10 New Habits

As a result of TEN Happy-Hours, we have been observing some new and very positive habits about our members. They ...:
  1. .. become members of TEN and other social networks
  2. .. bring their friends along
  3. .. exchange their business cards
  4. .. lose shyness and communicate better among themselves
  5. .. meet TEN members in other venues later on
  6. .. take note of TEN events calendar: indoor & outdoor
  7. .. do business among themselves
  8. .. build trust in the process
  9. .. start acting as unofficial Chief Networking Officer unconciously
  10. .. spread the word around
So, TEN Happy-Hour is a success because it is a free demo of all tangible and untangible benefits of Business Networks Management and Social Networks to individuals and corporations.

Please come, meet us, experience TEN Happy-Hour and develop new and positive habits for your personal and professional lives.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

TEN Happy-Hour - Learning curve

As one can see, TEN-Happy Hours in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil are becoming a big hit. We took a picture of these 6th first experiences as follows:

Fixed
Location: Mentha
Date: 2nd tuesday of the month
Time: 19-23h

Public
Activities: corporate, entrepreneurs, investors & independent professionals from all sectors
Class: A & B
Average age: 30-50
Male / Female : 50-50%, sometimes, more females*
Brazilian / Foreigners: 75-25%
Represented Countries (16) : Belgium, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Katar, Latvia, Netherlands, UK, USA,
English spoken: 50+%, at least
Presence in social networks: 80+%, and increasing....

(*) I guess that there is a natural career path for executive women to work as CNO - Chief Networking Officer in organizations. Perhaps, the increasing number of women at TEN Happy-Hours indicates that this perception makes sense after all.


In order to grow in quantity and, mainly, quality consistently, we created a quick online satisfaction research (password: ten) . Please participate!

We are "recruiting" network managers, i.e., volunteers who will basically help promoting TEN Happy-Hours among their peers and welcome/connect people during events.

We are also looking for a leader + 2-3 network managers who would like to replicate TEN Happy-Hour format in São Paulo. Top local networkers are welcome!

Best regards,


Octavio Pitaluga
CNO - Chief Networking Officer
TEN - Top Executives Net

Friday, February 13, 2009

6th TEN Happy-Hour / Thank you







Hi there,

1. Thanks for attending our event yesterday. Another record was broken. We will see how soon we will have 100 professionals in our event. Traditionally, the most recent photos of all previous events are in TEN-Happy Hour.

2. 7th TEN-Happy Hour is already scheduled on March 10th at 19h in Mentha. Please bring your friends along.

3. Aiming to better serve you in a near future, we created a quick online satisfaction research (password: ten) which is the first step as communication channel and feed-back. It takes only 1 minute to be filled but you can make a difference. Please participate! Your opinion is very important to us. Members who reply it, will enjoy additional 3-month free membership.


STOP

As an expert in business networks management and social networks, we created Happy Hour Empresarial to attend companies that need harmonize their different teams spread over several floors, buildings and subsidiaries. We can customize a calendar of events both indoor and outdoor.

It is a great pleasure that we see the theme of CNO - Chief Networking Officer is being discussed as a career opportunity for executive women in social networks (Portuguese / English). It seems that companies are awakening to the growing importance of this work. Also, we have increased our proposals for training and coaching in Brazil and abroad.


Sincerely,

Octavio Pitaluga
CNO - Chief Networking Officer
TEN - Top Executives Net