LNB #049: Work-life Balance (sigh)

This is a short work week due to the Labor Day Holiday. People are slammed, trying to get work done and the children back to school...and everything else. Someone said their short week felt more like a punishment requiring them to work even longer hours. Conversations have turned to the mythic Work-Life Balance.

Where did this come from?
This term was coined around 1986. Men and women of color and white women had begun making serious inroads into the professional workforce. The country had been experiencing a depressed economy and people were working longer hours to try to get ahead. Added to this, workforce reductions caused people to work even longer hours. Workers balked at complaining over the extended work weeks for fear that they'd wind up on the chopping block. There was a heady mix of increased worker productivity, advances in technology, stepped-up globalization, and more people in the workplace that went into the RIF brew. After WWII, the average work week was right at 40 hours. Today, younger workers are unfazed by a 70 hour week with an average work week of 47 hours (this with the addition of women and people of color).

To most minds, WLB is little more than time off.

I remember taking a group of managers off into the "wilderness" (Oconomowoc, Wisconsin) to meet in groups, discuss our personal mission statements, meet with a Jungian analyst and get a massage (yup, it's all true and I'm hanging my head in shame). Sounds nice, but the gathered managers and key employees were left wondering: How do achieve that much vaunted "balance" when my evaluation depends on producing results (no matter how long I have to work to get them). Added to the mix is the trend for performance management systems to include evaluation of a worker's work-life balance. Now, I had been in HR for a number of years and I know I didn't have a solid explanation of WLB. As it turned out, no one else did.

Seemed kind of pointless.

How you think gives an insight to how you work?
Even though I'm trained in behavioural science, I'm not a fan of extensive testing in the workplace--mostly because I'm not sure that those tests are valid (measures something worth measuring) or reliable (consistent application of the measure over time). Taken in broad strokes, humans tend to think and solve problems in two dynamic ways (there are others, but just hang on: we're embarking on a little chat here): linear or serial thinking and non-linear or parallel thinking.

In a serial world, a person handles one problem set through to completion. Ask them to take on several projects and you'd be spitting into the wind. Parallel or non-linear thinking and problem solving tends to see people working on several projects at the same time (or moving from project to project). In most companies, we make space for only one kind of thinking: care to guess which one?

Does it work?
Now, I've met those people who thrive on the energy and drama of a packed schedule. You may like to run from pillar to post with your hair on fire, trailing paper, taking on the cellphone and sliding into a parking space at the gym in just enough time for yoga. You may like being up in the wee hours checking email and crafting a question for your LinkedIn Q&A forum. If that works for you: God love you. Keep on keeping on.

There really is no need to force change on a person whose personal system is working. Where we get into trouble is when it no longer serves us: That's when it's time to consider other options and develop other habits.

Listen Now: 22:58

You Don't Know Jack!

Big drinker that I am (Garland cuts me of the java, because he thinks it goes to my noggin), I read an article about international focus group strategy used by the Jack Daniels distillery to expand its brand and it left me a little troubled.

It assumes that the German, Australian, Japanese and British people studied are one monolithic "culture." Even Britain, made up of several distinct indigenous people (Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish, and peoples from the outlying islands) with a host of immigrants (one in five children born in Britain are born to foreign-born mothers. Even in the IPS school system here in Indy, there are over 130 languages spoken in the children's homes (not just English and Spanish!).

Exactly what "culture" were they talking about in this article?

As I travel (5 countries on 5 continents so far), I'm struck by how difficult it is to categorize the people I found. How, exactly could a focus group leader do it?

Of critical importance would be a keen understanding of their home cultures as well as of those of the brand's home country. The article talked about studying their body language and facial movements. I did my graduate work in psychology the first time through and I can tell you that no psychological scientist worth a sprinkle of table salt would assert that they could "read" faces and body language effectively, particularly from those of other cultures and ethnicities.

I remember a college psych class I took. Subjects were to look at pictures of faces and guess what emotion it represented. They did fairly well "reading" the faces of members of their own racial/ethnic/gender group, but didn't fare so well when the face looked different than the ones usually at their kitchen table.

Having a translator who could handle the language is one thing: Having one with a keen understanding of a variety of cultures and of marketing is quite another.

It's Been Rough...

I've been quiet for a while.

Here's the scoop. Everybody's finally fine. Garland just finished his three month treadmill test and his cardiologist is very pleased. He had a little angina (still has some blockages), but his doc said that everything is moving the right direction. Dad came out the other side of his septic pneumonia (a deadly form) looking better and feeling better than he had in years (only Dad could take a running slide toward the Abyss and come out healthier). He's continuing his rehab at a local gym and is strong and quite...well, alive! He went back to visit the rehab center where he stayed for two months. They simply didn't recognize him. He's gorgeous!

In the midst of all this, I found a mole that was getting very large and a very...weird (its own technicolor mole show). When I pointed this out to my doctor, he immediately produced a set of scalpels and started hacking it off (with clear margins to make sure he got it all). Then, off it went for biopsy.

Um, yay....*

Listening to him worry aloud whether it was a nasty skin cancer (I'm Black, people! Mighty melanin protect me!), I just didn't think I could deal with anything else this year--I'd already weathered the one-two punch of Dad's major illness and Garland's heart treatment. Then Dr. Park, still suturing up my leg, said "If it's nothing, you'll know. If it's something not so good, you'll deal with it. That's what you do."

It was that statement that left me with tears in my eyes. No matter now much got heaped on, how the illnesses of these important men in my life left me with a business with no actual business and work I'd never thought I'd need to do, I was there: battling for their health and wellness for over a quarteryear with all the love and hope I had when others had given up.

I'm rebuilding my business. I'll be straight with all of you. And it's not the most fun I've ever had, but like Dr. Park indicated about my dealing with the possibility of cancer, I'll get through it.

Like he said: That's what I do.

I'm carefully considering what (and who) I want to let back in and where I've been tolerating business deals that made money but no sense. I'm making sure that I re-invigorate my business with only the elements that give me a chance to use my SuperPowers (more on that later) and see others use their mutant powers for the forces of good.

I recently saw the Broadway production of The Color Purple. My stepdaughter is in it. She lives by her passion for music and dance and doesn't let anything else get in the way of that passion--not even her own "sensible" voice that says "make sure you have a fallback plan."

I adore that about her.

I've also stopped bullshitting about my well-being. No more pretending that I'm ever too busy to eat or work out or get a good (read: complete) night's sleep. Dad said I had to: "We can't take care of you as good as you take care of us!" Sweet man!

You'll be hearing more from me as I pick up my pace. Some of it will really shame me to admit (like that I top the scales at over 180 pounds). Other stuff will be easier (I've booked lots of speaking engagements, added two new clients and my podcast is expanding). I'll want to convince you that I'm really talented and that this was just an unavoidable circumstance I had to deal with (when you hear that, know that I'm just scared or tired or worried). I want to see how my sharing with you, openly and generiously about the truth of where I'm at, can add value to your business day. And then some days I won't want to talk with you at all.

See what you can get for yourself.

Now, I'm going to have at it!

Cheers!

LNB #047: Just Say "No?!" (pt. 3) It's What You Say "Yes" To...

Just say "no?" Seems like this has energized many of you (ticking off some) and gotten you into action.

Being one who thinks when it gets tough one should dig deeper (as opposed to scarpering away), we're going to look some more at this ugly topic.

We've discussed the bloated lifestyle that has us say "yes" to everything without limitation...and then giving up sleep, family life and sanity to try to make it all work. We've talked about the fact that our actions (including what we say) is given by our belief systems: If you're worried about your image and want to look good, you may find yourself a slave to it, saying "yes" to things that will raise you in the esteem of others, while your find yourself filled with resentment (or copping out, running late or other tactics to make the pain go away).

Here, we're looking at what we say "yes" to. We discussed that by not knowing the answers to several key questions about our business (business unit or department), we wind up at a loss about what we should be saying "yes" and "no" to in the first place. Mentioned also was the point that we're not having a happy relationship with many of the "source documents" for our businesses (like our business and action plans or our budgets). We create them once (if we do at all) and then operate like they don't exist.

Resources
Simplify Your Work Like: Ways to Change the Way You Work So You Have More Time to Live...some of these suggestions are stunningly simple and effective

The One-Page Proposal: How to Get Your Business Pitch onto One Persuasive Page. After completing your plan, you'll know what you should be saying both "yes" and "no" to.

TotalTeamSolutions.com: Contact me for help with your plan. I'm a licensed One Page Plan consultant and can help you as the owner or leader of a management team get--and keep--your act together.

Listen Now: 17:16

LNB #044: Where is a Mirror a Doorway?

Only in our fevered imaginations.

While on vacation, I observed my expensive (but not very bright) purebred cat checking out her temporary new digs. She touched everything in the hotel room and got poleaxed at the full-length mirror. Believing it to be a doorway to a magical new world, she began frantically digging for gold on the face of the mirror. Every few minutes all through the evening, she'd stop and gaze longingly at that mirror, expecting it to become something else.

Don't giggle at my simple beast: we do this all the time.

Expecting that mirror to really be a doorway, we...

• Try to retain problem employees (when we know they'll never work out),
• Pretend that our horrible jobs will be wonderful tomorrow (with exactly the same boss and business culture as before),
• Expect that a flawed business partnership will turn itself around (when we know that a little more pressure should set off even more pyrotechnics),
• and much more.

Why do we keep doing this to ourselves? Several reasons. We find it hard to tell the "stank nekkid truth" to ourselves and others, instead pretending that we can put lipstick on that pig and pretend it's Nicole Kidman. In other cases, we're too into it to be able to judge whether we've gone beyond what a reasonable person would take (or do). Getting another head involved can provide the perspective you need to see things more clearly. Finally, we get so invested in forcing and outcome and making it work that we lose track of the end-game--what we're really up to.

Now, where are you treating a mirror like a doorway to that glorious new (but entirely fictional) dimension in your business dealings?

Listen Now: 14:52

Test Drive...Your Competition?

The direct competitors for the buyers of the Saturn Aura are the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord. Coming soon to a Saturn dealership near you, you'll be able to test drive the Aura...and the Accord...and the Camry, right at the Saturn dealership. Fully confident that you'll see superior quality and ride in the Aura, they put their money right where their mouths are.

I've often wondered what would happen if I told people "Let me take you to the websites of my best competitors so you can compare them to my offerings."

He Steals, Dum! Dum! Dee!

Please follow the train of thought, here. I'll make sense soon, I promise (oh, you trusting souls).

Last week I sent a package of lupins to my brother, Rodney in Atlanta. He's been calling me Lupins since saw the Monty Python episode on Dennis Moore he was 10 an I was 13. He laughed like a goon when he opened the envelope.

Yes, the flower Lupins. See, in these sketches, the fictional highwayman, Dennis Moore, a kind of moronic Robin Hood, who steals lupins to give to the poor. The poor, on the other hand, want food, medicine and money.

(Here's the tricky part where I connect this powerfully to the business of being in business...um, here goes....)

Have you ever noticed how clueless we can sometimes be with prospects? They may want something we don't sell, but, by gum (and I do so know what that means), we're going to find a way to foist off on them something we sell.

We're just not in their world, instead happily lazing about in our own particular orbits. I remember the first time I really listened to the answer when I asked a new associate I was meeting at a networking event "Where are you challenged and how can I help you?" To be frank, it took several passes at the question before he realized that I really wanted his answer (note: not the answer I could have set him up for). First, he said he wanted more money. Knowing that most people really aren't motivated by money, I kept asking. His answers surprised both of us. He wanted his newly-widowed mother to be safe. He worried about her at work and it was effecting his performance. She lived far away and he didn't want her to be lonely.

Now, instead of leaping in to tell him all about how I could help him, I did something completely different. I found someone who could help him with his mother, a family concierge who did errands and companion services for the otherwise-healthy elderly and arranged a three-way call to get them together.

Unlike Dennis Moore, I didn't offer him lupins when he wanted his mother safe.

He was delighted. Later, he surprised me by asking me for help on something I could sink my teeth into and referred me, generously, to others.

Christopher Walken: Business Exemplar

One of the things I've learned in being in business is to expect the unexpected--the kind of thing that never crosses your fevered mind while you're sipping a latte in the bank drive-through line. I've met people who had a great business idea and should have been rich, but weren't. I've met people who stunned me with how little they knew about being in business, and by how much success they'd garnered.

I like hanging out on the skinny branches where anything can (and usually does) happen.

One actor epitomizes the unexpected: Christopher Walken. He's a much-lauded, talented and prolific actor with a creepily beautiful face. His movies have grossed over $1 billion in North America alone. He's been an angel, a video game character, a whacked out vet and an evil genius and then some and won't walk away from a part unless he just doesn't have the time. And then there's this music video ("Weapon of Choice" by Fatboy Slim):



Here's what I've learned from Master Walken: Try anything, don't stand on ceremony, be willing to see yourself differently, go broad, and then try going deep. Transform yourself in the service of what you love.

This has had me take several runs at my consulting business over the years, working on projects about which I knew little (like the country and western music video Internet project...ask yourself how much I knew about C&W or the Internet, for that matter, 10 years ago).

Cheers!

CanI Help You? Can I? Huh?!

Seth Godin (Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable, The Big Red Fez: How To Make Any Web Site Better and other bovine and color-coded biz books), in his blog posed an interesting idea: You can end a conversation--any conversation--by asking "May I help you?" Weird.

I've heard a man explain that he went shopping for a new freezer. His was broken and his frozen goods were steadily thawing in the garage. He and his wife went to the appliance store--not shopping, but ready to buy. When they walked into the store, a cheerful sales rep asked "Can I help you?" His wife's response? "No, just looking."

"Huh?" he thought. He's still wondering what had his wife, who needed to make a quick purchase to save hundreds of dollars of meats and other pricey perishables, refuse service that would have expedited the sale.

I hear prospects complain bitterly about what doesn't work in their organizations. "Ain't making the money I want" "Takes too much time" "Not as much fun as it used to be" and more.

Ask them to take action to change it and they balk.

What gives? For some, I think there's a certain joy in bitching. Now, you know what I mean. We all have a girlfriend or associate who has really bad relationship that's eating the life out of them. Ask them to consider changing it or leaving, and they offer their excuses for why it can't be any different. Others would gnaw off a limb before accepting an offer to help or to effect a change. Still others are afraid that your solution will work where their didn't.

Gladwell suggests, without saying it out loud, the use of open-ended questions, the kind that give people the change to give a rich answer, instead of leading questions that herds them between, sometimes, untenable positions ("When was the last time you beat your wife?"). Nasty.
Aside from open-ended questions, there's the matter of treating people like widgets. Open-enders give people the chance to think, providing answers that are richer than those given when asked "May I help you?"

Lalita Amos
llamos@totalteamsolutions.com

LNB #038: When the $%#! Hits the Fan (Disaster Preparedness)

Do you have a disaster plan? Given that we in the Northern Hemisphere are just entering hurricane and tornado season, we would do well to know what to do. Write a brief (you know how much I love working from one page) plan, including medical other disasters, give it to a trusted party and then practice.

However, there are those disasters that are entirely personal, like a very sick parent, partner or child. Do you know how to keep your business running or will your business run out of gas?

Some tips for your consideration:

Use an office service. I love Intelligent Office. Give them a ring.

Forward your land line to your cellphone (Note: You don't need to have a subscription to the Call Forwarding service to use this. You can use it and pay a single use fee. Check with your carrier).

Back up your calendar to your website (I'll post how to do with with some screenshots in a bit)

Create an away message (see your ISP or Outlook manual to learn how to do this)

Back up your contacts to the web. I use Cardscan, so I can synchronize my contacts to both Outlook and the web.

Put your accounting system on the web (I used Quickbooks Pro, which allows me to create an online account).

Consider take-it-with-you Internet service. This I didn't do. Instead I learned where the free wireless hotspots were in town and signed on there when I wasn't at the hospital.

Don't wait, hoping that everything will be a box of kittens the rest of your business days. This is something to get on top of.

Cheers!

A Biz Disaster Can Strike with the Stealth of a Stroke

I'm writing this from the public computer in the ICU waiting room in Lafayette, Indiana, about an hour's drive from my home in Indianapolis. Got a call this afternoon from my brother, Perry, the cop. That tone of voice was unmistakable--like the voice I heard two years ago that told me to get home right away and break whatever land-speed records it took to get there. This was another call like that. My Dad had been admitted, unconscious, to the ER with, what they feared was a stroke.

What really worked, amidst the flurry of packing (I think I put out food for the cat--yeah, she's taken care of...) was the simple stuff I did that put my business "on hold" temporarily. Here's the scoop...

I use a tele-secretary and virtual office service, Intelligent Office. They manage my phones when I'm away for vacations or on business, giving a personal "face" to my callers (who love Anna, by the way). Here, they're telling callers that I'm out for family business and, if I need them to, I can make a call to them and have them cancel or re-schedule my appointments. Letting them know I was going to be out for a family emergency, they will appropriately and professionally give the people I authorize more or less information. When my mother was hospitalized and passed away, they did things for my business I didn't even think to ask for. I just told them what was happening and they did the rest.

My calendar is online, so the people at Intelligent office can help manage my calendar. This is a simple function that's included on Microsoft Outlook. Remind me and I'll provide some screenshots so you'll know how to do this on Office 2003 (until then, here are the instructions for how to do it on Office 7). Here at the hospital, I can check appointments and figure out which I can handle by teleconference when Dad can see the light at the edge of the woods and which ones I need to re-schedule.

Contacts. Gotta love 'em. Also, gotta be able to find 'em. In additional to Outlook (into which I me AOL email into--a special mailbox on Outlook separate from my company email so I can read it all in one spot...and no stuff outta any of you for still having that email address. It was my first and I'm sentimental), I use the Accucard service bundled with my CardScan Business Card Scanner. When I get a new business card, into the card scanner it goes, then it synchs with Outlook seamlessly. Occasionally, it sends a friendly greeting to the people on my list, asking them to update their contact information if needed and synchs with Outlook again. The important part is that there is an online copy of my Outlook contact list I can access, say from the Home Hospital ICU waiting room.

There's more, but what's important is that I can now focus on "that which matters most," my Dad (doing much better now than when they broke down his door to collect him).

More soon!

Cheers,
Lalita

Nice Mac Spoof (Internet Marketing)

Nicely done spoof.

I think that marketing is one of those things we aren't doing as well as we could. I've had clients who have created a web presence with no thought to how well their webworks carried their message. I use CardScan Executive Business Card Scanner (love it!) and am astounded, for example, by how little thought people put into determining whether their logos, colors and designs fax and scan (or turn into "mud").

One-off actions won't work.

Cheers,
Lalita

Climbing the Corporate Ladder (with real rope)

I liked this report from Cash Peters of Marketplace on the behind the scenes success of the JanSport backpack line. I have several of these packs and use them for everything from carrying books to presentation supplies to items for an outing with my nieces.

Here's Cash Peter's short version of his interview with co-founder, Skip Yowell, for those of us not fascinated by all things backpackery: "Boy meets girl. Girl, boy and second boy invent backpack. Backpack makes everyone incredibly rich. The end."

Love it.

What I found most useful in the report is how the combined the their passion for the outdoors with their pursuit of fun. I'm going to grab Skip's book, The Hippie Guide to Climbing the Corporate Ladder & Other Mountains: How JanSport Makes It Happen. Sounds like a great read. I'll let you know as I read it.

Listen to this story

Indy ASQ Presentation: Change or Die!

First, thank you for your warm welcome last night. I appreciate your attention and your interest in the subject matter.

I'm providing this blog entry as a reference point for your questions and comments--particularly on how you're attempting to apply what you've learned. Further, if you find additional resources you'd like to share, you may do so here.

Also, if you find others who would like to hear elements of my talk, please let me know. I'd be happy to meet with other groups.

Best,
Lalita

Oh, I Like This Service!

I'd heard about this service quite a while ago, but, traveling down the road looking for a phone number, I thought I'd give it a try. The service, 1-800-free411 (1-800-373-3411), is offered just like it says: free. Call from a land line, you pay zero. Call from a cellphone and you just have your regular airtime charges to deal with -- a far cry from the buck or two you can pay for just one regular 411 call.

How can they offer this service? Here's the scoop: like network TV, 1-800-free411 has commercials. Dial in and an automated service will ask you for the location and name of your party and then provide you the number. While you're waiting, you listen to the very brief offer. Do nothing and the offer is declined. A great part of the service is that you can press a button and have the number you're seeking "texted" to your cellphone (if that where you're calling from). Very handy if you want to save the number to your contact manager.

Cleverly, the second time I used it, I'd forgotten the number (and even more cleverly neglected to have them text-me the number). When I called back to get the number again, the nice automated voice asked me if I wanted the service to repeat the last number I called about.

I was in love.

Concerned about privacy (like anyone needs cellphone spam), I read their Privacy Policy. Except for the fact that your number is visible to every 800 service (even if you have it blocked) and that, if you have the service forward you to the party you're seeking, they don't capture your cellphone number at all. There's more on the site, so be sure to read it before you decide.

Change or Die! the Presentation

If you're going to be out and about in Indianapolis on 13 February, be sure to visit me at my presentation at the Indianapolis ASQ Chapter. Stop by. I'd love to see you there.

February 2006 Dinner Meeting: Change or Die! (Change and Organizational
Behavior)

Program:
You know the work to be done; you’ve done the research and created the design for the new system; you’ve trained your people and….well, nothing seems to have changed. Threats of process failure and professional consequence seem to make no difference. Are they just sabotaging you? Are they untrainable?

This training is invaluable for quality professionals and managers who are attempting to understand the nature of resistance to organizational or process change. Developed from an extensive study of the mind and human interaction, this seminar emphasizes the role of project coaching and the role of habituation in change. Participants explore a variety of change theories with an eye to supporting people while new systems take hold and new habits form.

Speaker:
Lalita Amos is the principal of Total Team Solutions, a consulting and training firm she founded in 1996. Areas of expertise include business and strategic planning; executive and business coaching; team and leadership development training; and project management. She as served as adjunct faculty at New York University and as senior trainer for Results Coaching Systems. Prior to starting her business, Lalita was a TQM Process Consultant for the world’s largest commercial printer and before that, a senior HR staffer. She’s a licensed One Page Business Plan Consultant, Certified Business and Executive Coach and a Certified Business Referral Trainer and Coach. Lalita a member of Purdue’s Order of Iron Key (leadership honorary) and a member of the College of Liberal Arts Dean’s Advisory Council.

When:
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
5:30pm to 7:30 pm
Registration and Networking: 5:30-6:00
Workshop & Program: 6:00-7:30

Where:
University of Indianapolis
Hanna & Shelby StreetsIndianapolis, IN.
Schwitzer Hall (building 7 on the campus map)
Room: to be determined
Campus map and directions are available at www.uindy.edu/maps

How Much:
$10 per person.
See http://www.indyasq.org/meetings/ for information and RSVP
Click here to register

Get the Most out of the Rest of 2006: I Ain't Doing THAT Again!

Some of the stuff we did in 2006 really worked. Some of it didn't. Tell the truth about your actions and results for 2006.

Generate a list of things that didn't work. Focus in root causes (the why behind the why). An example may be that you were chronically late to appointments. Why? Because you were afraid to let the phone ring over to voicemail even when you knew picking up the phone would make you late. Consider what it will take for you to either let it ring over or to make sure you can get your phone forwarded to your cellphone and your headset on so that you can answer without hurting your ability to arrive on time.

Here's how I've parsed out my list:

• Satisfaction: getting these things out of my business and life would increase my satisfaction. Here's one for me: Taking on last-minute speaking engagements. I don't get to to the PR and I'm just there to fill in. Why do I do it? I'm concerned that I might have too few speaking engagements. What will I do to make sure I don't fall into an old trap? I'm going to the Encyclopedia of Associations to find an exhaustive list of organizations, generate a letter to the speaking coordinator and fill up my docket with people who are excited to have me.
• Ease: Some of the items on my list may be relatively simple to get taken care of -- things that I don't want to suffer over anymore. I took care of this one yesterday: the caller-id tag and the white page listing for my home office looked too personal. I called the phone company yesterday and changed it.

Get the Most of of the Rest of 2006: Thank You

There are friends and business associates who have helped me immensely this past year-- people who've given me ideas, information and support. I'm in the process of contacting them and telling them that they've made a significant difference for me. I'm going to meet them with my "sales hat" off (as Jim Horan said in a conversation with other One Page Plan consultants). I'm just going to thank them and ask them how I can help them in 2007.

Get the Most of of the Rest of 2006: Plan

Review and finalize your business plan. Now, you've done the work to create your business plan, perhaps to get funding or to find partners, but now what? Be certain that you include measures and action plans. Otherwise, you've got a set of good ideas that may be difficult to operationalize.

Get the Most out of the Rest of 2006: Available-One Speaker

Organizations are in desperate need of speakers. Trust me. They'd be happy to find nicely dressed, well-spoken business people to come and read the telephone book. You can do so much more. Some tips:

• Look up organizations you share an interest with. Your local library has a copy of the Encyclopedia of Associations you can refer to (call the research librarian -- he or she is a brilliant, underutilized, college-degreed professional who can find the Moses' mother's maiden name if you asked them to). Generate an exhaustive list and be sure to ask the speaker coordinator if they know of any other groups that regularly have speakers. Get contact information and ask them if they would be willing to drop that person a brief note letting them know you'll be calling.
• Outline several talk topics the speaker coordinator can choose from.
• Tell them what kind of PR you'll need. Listen: give them the run-down of everything you need. If they balk at something key for your success, don't play with them. Some coordinators think you shouldn't be allowed to solicit in any way. They're dreaming. Put the phone down gently. You don't want to wake them. Be sure to arrange for someone else to introduce you and give them your bio in advance (making sure its written so that it sounds like it's coming from them). Be sure that the organization sends out lots of advance information about speakers. Request a link to a key page on your website be listed on their site. You may even want to consider preparing a brief bit of "homework" for the participants so they come ready to get the most out of your talk.
• Set up your apre-talk system: include a link for more information, a sign-up sheet to be added to your news-zine and for additional contact requests.