The Invisible Mentor

Posts Tagged ‘Lessons Learned’

This week I present Alex Todd to you in The Invisible Mentor series of interviews. I have known Alex for several years, we were Board of Directors for the Strategic Leadership Forum. You will meet people that you would not usually meet and you can get to know them a bit by their responses to the interview questions. From the language they use you get a sense of their personalities.  Alex is very passionate about what he does and that shines through his answers. Though the people profiled on this blog may not be from your industry there are many lessons that you can learn from them.

Tell me a little bit about yourself.

At heart, I am an innovator and architect.  Professionally, I am on my 8th career, oscillating between working for companies and entrepreneurial ventures in financial services and information technology, mostly in business to business commercial relationships.  For the past 7 years, after leaving IBM, I have been engaged in activities to help establish Trust Enablement as a valid management innovation, with a strategic focus on precipitating transformations in corporate governance practices. To date I have written numerous articles and papers and delivered countless presentations on these and related topics.  I am very excited that in September 2010, Wiley in the U.S. will publish my chapter on corporate governance best practices in their new finance textbook, which will allow me to officially refer to myself as a published author.  The next step will have to be writing a complete book.

What’s a typical day like for you?

On the weekday mornings that I don’t exercise. I wake up about 7am and begin my day by going down to my basement home office to check e-mail.  I then make coffee and have cereal for breakfast.  Depending on whether I have meetings that morning, I may spend the morning completing some business tasks before showering and getting dressed.  Now that the weather is improving, I will likely work in my pajamas most of the morning to get some work accomplished before rewarding myself with a 1 hour bike ride mid-day, in order to get in shape for the Ride for Heart and The Ride to Conquer Cancer that take place in June.  Throughout the week I generally leave at least a couple of full days to work in my office without meetings and try to schedule a few days with multiple events and meetings.

How do you motivate yourself and stay motivated?

When you choose the life of an entrepreneur, your survival is at stake.  That’s a big daily motivator.  I am always exploring ways to be more relevant and add more value.  However, my motivation to remain an entrepreneur comes from some deep-seated need to achieve my potential by striving to realize new possibilities, because if I don’t do it, I don’t believe anybody will.  Right now I see a possibility to restore trust in corporate governance practices and help management adopt trust enabling business practices that improve overall business performance, as well as the prosperity and well-being of corporate stakeholders.  Although my primary motivation is my legacy, I am also motivated to generate sufficient income and accumulate sufficient capital to live an empowered and fulfilled life with my family.

If you had to start over from scratch, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?

I may have pursued law rather than accounting as a career.  If I had, chances are I still would not have had a traditional career in law, but would have been involved in ventures to help make improvements to corporate law, which may have led me close to where I am today; focused on transforming corporate governance practices.

What’s the most important business or other discovery you’ve made in the past year?

I would have to say it is discovering a couple of significant initiatives to improve trust in business, both of which are based in the United States.  One is an attempt to measure the trustworthiness of American companies and recognize their successes, while the other attempts to restore trust by transforming corporate governance practices.  These initiatives both validate my work to date and provide a legitimate context for my business value propositions.

What’s one of the biggest advances in your industry over the past five years?

I would have to say it is the change in consciousness of business leaders and their corporate stakeholders.  Ten years ago, to suggest that business has any legitimate mandate to pursue any other business-related objectives other than profit maximization would have been sacrilegious in North America.  Today, although still controversial, it is considered to be an acceptable topic for management and board meetings.  The catastrophic business and economic collapses of the past decade, combined with newly empowered generations of Internet users have created a paradigm shift in business expectations and practices.

What are the three threats to your business, your success, and how are you handling them?

First and foremost is my ability to generate sufficient cash flow to remain in business.  The second is gaining sufficient support by influential industry insiders for my value propositions.  The third would have to be my ability to identify and courageously commit to high value business opportunities.  To sustain cash flows, I am accepting a variety of non-strategic work assignments.  To gain support, I am building credibility through writing, cultivating relationships by engaging key people in providing input to various business initiatives, and establishing new relationships through credible introductions.  To identify high value business opportunities, I am constantly experimenting with new ideas and looking for traction.  I suspect that I will have to commit to the first viable opportunity, in the very least to serve as an anchor for future opportunities.  To net it out, in all likelihood, my most critical success factor will be establishing the right business partnership to drive the venture.

What’s unique about the service that you provide?

Our unique value proposition is our universal Trust Enablement method for diagnosing and designing conditions for trust in any area of business.  We also have unique ways of diagnosing and designing “aspirational corporate governance” practices and structures, as well as a unique model for identifying corporate governance styles and associating them with specific business performance metrics.

What do you observe most people in your field doing badly that you think you do well?

I would say that I have a broader perspective that considers the fuller complexity of business issues.  For example, rather than simply talking about managing risk, which is a defensive posture intended to protect what you have, I also emphasize enabling trust, which is an offensive posture intended to help you get what you want.  You could call it, to borrow Roger Martin’s (Dean of the Rotman School of Management) term, “integrative thinking”.

Describe a major business or other challenge you had and how you resolved it.

A big challenge I had when starting out on my own was that people knew me as being Alex, the information security and PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) guy from IBM, essentially my brand was an IT consultant, but my new business was enabling trust for business stakeholders, which had little to do with IT or information security.  Whenever I would use the term “trust” people would hear “security”.  It took me more than two years to begin to disassociate myself from my information security background and be seen as the trust guy.  This involved a tedious and persistent process of repeating more refined versions of the same trust message and seizing all opportunities to write and present about trust in various areas of business, usually areas I know nothing about.  I forced myself to accept all such challenges, no matter how difficult, believing that somehow I would be able to overcome them.  My biggest such test was when I was invited to present a paper on corporate governance at a university doctoral consortium with three weeks advance notice.  This was particularly challenging because at the time I knew nothing about corporate governance and I had never written a postgraduate academic paper.  After working frantically day and night to research the topic and develop my trust enabled corporate governance thesis, I successfully presented a 30,000 word, 92- page document with 71 source citations.  That was intense.  But it was worth it, because had I not accepted that challenge, I would not have been able to apply Trust Enablement to the strategically most important area of business for affecting management transformation, the corporate board of directors.  My successful transition from information security consultant to internationally published author on corporate governance – two polar opposite ends of the business spectrum – is really difficult to comprehend.   It is even more difficult for the corporate governance community to accept as being credible.

What lessons did you learn in the process?

Anything is possible with enough passion, courage, determination, commitment and willingness to sacrifice.  There is also a huge price to pay for an uncertain outcome.  You have to be able to completely embrace uncertainty and blindly believe you will eventually achieve your goals.

Tell me about your big break and who gave you.

I am still waiting for my big break.  However, I have had a few small, but very significant ones along the way.  For example, I was invited to contribute my book chapter completely out of the blue.

Describe one of your biggest failures. What lessons did you learn, and how did it contribute to a greater success?

I would have to say that my biggest failures were not being able to keep a job for long enough to develop a career.  This has forced me to explore non-traditional paths and has allowed me to achieve some incredible feats.  For example, in 1990, after losing my job with Lotus Development Corporation and my market representation contract with Quarterdeck, I created the world’s first, BYTE Magazine recognized do-what-I-mean time and information planner software that interpreted and automatically acted on information entered in plain English, and I sold it online on CompuServe, 6 years before the Internet.

What has been your biggest disappointment in your life – and what are you doing to prevent its reoccurrence?

My biggest disappointments to date have been not being able to capitalize on my innovations.  The resulting financial and career pressures have caused much personal and family pain and stress.  I guess I am not doing anything to prevent it from recurring, as it is happening right now.  Instead, I am focused on exploring and exploiting all avenues that have the potential to lead me to my goals.  I know I am in it for the long run, so am pacing myself to make it to the elusive finish line.

What’s one of the toughest decisions you’ve had to make and how did it impact your life?

It didn’t seem like a tough decision, but it was certainly a life-altering one.  After IBM, I decided that I would not seek another job, but would find a way to be self-employed by creating a business.  It seemed like a logical strategy at the time.  However, the execution of the strategy has been the toughest part.  It has caused us to suspend our lifestyle aspirations for too many years.

What are three events that helped to shape your life?

1. Living in three different countries by the age of 10, Yugoslavia, Iraq and Canada, two of which were subsequently bombed by the Americans.
2. Pursuing a career in public accounting upon graduating from university.
3. Marrying my wife.

What’s an accomplishment that you are proudest of?

I would have to say I am most proud of having been able to envision new possibilities and make significant accomplishments on the road to realizing them.  I have done this in several areas, but most notably by developing my software in 1990 and more recently by developing and validating my Trust Enablement framework.  I hope to be able to trump these accomplishments in the coming years.

How did mentors influence your life?

I don’t believe I have ever had any mentors.  I wish I did.  I am still looking for them.  I do however have many friends and colleagues who generously provide me with feedback.  However, I do not consider them my mentors.

Alex Todd Talks About Mentors

Alex Talks About Mentors from Avil Beckford on Vimeo.

Alex Talks About Mentors from Avil Beckford on Vimeo.

As an Invisible Mentor, what is one piece of advice that you would give to readers?

I wish I had someone I looked up to who would have been my mentor, because success is highly improbably without the willing cooperation of others.  My advice is to build a supportive network and seek mentors you admire who can help you travel the paths they have taken.

What are five takeaways from Alex’s interview?

Please keep the conversation flowing, click on the comment link below and leave a note for me. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the left side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

For your research and writing needs, consider my firm Ambeck Enterprise for white papers, articles, fact sheets, anniversary booklets, you name it. Since I am the best kept secret you may not know this, but I have over 15 years research and writing experience. I KNOW content. And if you cannot figure out which books to read for professional development, I am your WOMAN. I can assist you with that too. Visit my sales page for resources such as The Invisible Mentor Toolkit to assist you in acquiring wisdom from a distance. For free white papers click here.

This week I present Carolyn Barber and as usual the interview will be in two parts. I have known Carolyn for about 13 years, but I learned things that I didn’t know about her while interviewing her. Think back to a time when you made a drastic change in your life, what happened to trigger that change?

Can you imagine being on a flight and told that there is a possibility that the plane will crash because the landing gear isn’t functioning? Carolyn was on such a flight, and nearly the entire flight, the passengers were going through crash landing drills. Some passengers felt they had lived a good life so dying would be okay, others were terrified and crying. Carolyn didn’t think they were going to die, but it made her think  about her life, and she realized that she would have to make drastic changes.

She was given a second chance, and she decided that she didn’t like her job, so she made a plan, and a year later she took early retirement , retrained and started a new career which she is still doing. Using Carolyn as an example, it’s never too late to try new things.

Carolyn talks about mentoring in the video below. I am experimenting and it’s a bit dark but you can hear what she says.

Interview With Carolyn Barber from Avil Beckford on Vimeo.

Tell me a little bit about yourself.

I am a 70-year old, single woman living in Riverdale, Toronto. I have a part-time business in nutritional counseling that I started when I was 62 after retiring early as a nutritionist in public health. My career is a fairly important to me and it takes up a couple of days of my life. I am quite involved with my church and it’s a big part of my life and friendships. And perhaps the main reason for me being at the church is the community that it offers to me aside from the spiritual aspect which would be secondary for me. My family of three kids and four grandchildren are also really important to me. I am also a very active person. My favourite outdoor activities are camping and canoeing together. I also like biking and hiking, and for indoors, my passion is cooking. I am quite interested in the art scene in Toronto: opera, theatre, and music of various sorts such as the Toronto Consort. I keep quite busy.

What’s a typical day like for you?

I do not have many typical days, I try to keep Mondays and Tuesdays for my business so I am often up around 7:00, 7:30 am. I use an auto share car to get to a Mississauga rehab clinic where I do nutritional counseling. After that I see private clients in my home. In the evenings I am often on the phone inviting friends to come over for dinner.

How do you motivate yourself and stay motivated?

I think that a lot of my motivation comes from being active, keeping fit, going to the gym frequently, hiking and biking. I seem to naturally feel motivated in all aspects of my life, and my family and social life helps me to stay on track and the motivation just is there for me. It isn’t so often a problem.

If you had to start over from scratch, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?

I would have paid more attention to my unique interests in my work and even in my home life. I would have looked at the things that I like to do and treasure, honor and explore them more. I think your passions lead you deeper into activities.

What’s the most important business or other discovery you’ve made in the past year?

Working with my clients I get very excited about nutrition, and I was amazed that I still maintain my passion for nutrition. Many times when I woke up in the mornings I thought for sure that my passion was gone, that I was no longer keen, but when I start talking to a client I have that interest again and I’m finding that stays with me which is a surprise and like a discovery.

What’s one of the biggest advances in your industry over the past five years?

There is a lot of new research into holistic, alternative, complementary nutrition. It’s finding its way into the mainstream and that’s affecting my business, it’s improving my business.

What are the three threats to your business, your success, and how are you handling them?

1. Age is a threat to how I handle my business and what I’d do in my business. I already see that my interests and passions change and my energy changes so I have to change with that. Age very much affects my life at this point in terms of what I would do in the later stage of my career.
2. How much money I have is another threat. Lack of money drove me into a career when most people would have stopped, and because I still need to look for money I have to find creative ways to get it. A lack of money has actually been a bonus to me because it helped me to move ahead.

What’s unique about the service that you provide?

I am a registered dietitian but I have training in complementary nutrition. There are very few dieticians in Toronto who have that training.

What do you observe most people in your field doing badly that you think you do well?

I think that dietitians are not paying enough attention to the alternative stream, the complementary stream of nutrition, and I think that they are missing the boat because that’s where the clientele is going. I wouldn’t say they are doing something badly, but they are not using their full skills and they are not benefiting the clients as much as they could. I feel that I have an edge there.

Describe a major business or other challenge you had and how you resolved it.

When I retired early from Public Health I had no form of income and I had to find something,  and how I resolved it was by really writing and reading books which I will talk about later. The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron is a book that I’d recommend because it helps you to see who you are, honor who you are, and you get to see your entire self, your longings. Out of that process I got a notebook and wrote down the things that I wanted to explore, and I kept making lists and checking them off and forcing myself to do one thing every day and keep working away until a path emerged.

What lessons did you learn in the process?

1. Pay attention to the things that interests you, that excites you
2. Build on your strengths instead of thinking I’ll start a completely different career because the other one didn’t completely meet my needs
3. Plug away

Tell me about your big break and who gave you.

I didn’t necessarily have one big break. Changing my career to me was a break and I’ve talked about that. But a recent break that I had was when I started working in the insurance field doing independent examination for nutrition claims, and that really happened through a chance piece of work that I got, and me researching what other opportunities were in that field.

Describe one of your biggest failures. What lessons did you learn, and how did it contribute to a greater success?

I would say that as a manager at Public Health, I didn’t feel that I excelled at being a manager.  I am not a very social person though I am great at one-to-one interactions. I got out of that because I thought that wasn’t my niche. And I ended up doing something that I like much better.

What has been your biggest disappointment in your life – and what are you doing to prevent its reoccurrence?

Not having a male partner in my life has been my biggest disappointment. It’s something that I think about every day. I keep working at meeting people. My husband died when I was 35 and I have not really had any long-term relationships since then except for a four-year relationship.

What’s one of the toughest decisions you’ve had to make and how did it impact your life?

I have never found any decision that was so difficult to make. They seem to just come to me. It’s quite natural for me to make decisions and I cannot think of any decisions that I really had to agonize over, but one would probably be to stop my work in public health. That happened when I was on a flight back from Newfoundland and there was danger that the flight was going to crash, luckily we landed up okay. But during that time I had some very difficult emotional times and I felt that I wasn’t getting everything that I needed out of my life and I had to make changes.

I started to think this isn’t the end of my life, I am not happy, and I had to change. So the next year I set my plan into motion and left Public Health.

What are three events that helped to shape your life?

1. The plane I was on nearly crashed
2. My husband died when we were both young, in our thirties. He was a dominant person so I had to really learn to handle everything after his death, which I had previously unlearned
3. I grew up on a farm, which influenced my life in that I always saw myself as a working class person, and from that background I never saw myself as an elite and I was never comfortable in that environment. The way I was brought up was to be a good person, and it wasn’t about being the best you could be or be a success. So I was never taught that, “you must do your very best, I know that you are going to be something great.”  Sometimes when I have thought that I am doing really well here, I would often tone myself down and think “don’t think you are so smart.” I think that aspect of my upbringing has been a detriment to me at certain times, and a conflict

What’s an accomplishment that you are proudest of?

Starting my business and going back to school at age 61

How did mentors influence your life?

I do not have a sense of many mentors in my life. I feel as if I have done a lot of things on my own. Obviously in talking to friends, I must have used them as sounding boards, but I was mostly on my own. In my recent years, there have been certain nutrition people who I look up to, and take the courses that they offer. Aileen Burford-Mason, a nutritionist is someone who I consider to be a mentor.

What are five takeaways from Carolyn’s interview?

Please keep the conversation flowing, click on the comment link below and leave a note for me. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the left side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

For your research and writing needs, consider my firm Ambeck Enterprise for white papers, articles, fact sheets, anniversary booklets, you name it. Since I am the best kept secret you may not know this, but I have over 15 years research and writing experience. I KNOW content. And if you cannot figure out which books to read for professional development, I am your WOMAN. I can assist you with that too. Visit my sales page for resources such as The Invisible Mentor Toolkit to assist you in acquiring wisdom from a distance. For free white papers click here.

Today and tomorrow we present Paul Copcutt’s interview. Are you noticing any similarities in the interviews that you read here? If you were asked what are three threats to your business, how would you answer? What are three events that shaped your life? For Paul, it was (1) The death of his mother and sister when he was seven years old, (2) Taking a job at a biotech firm as a National Sales Manager without any medical experience and (3) Marrying his wife. If you were to respond to the questions, would any of  your answers be similar Paul’s?

Tell me a little bit about yourself. Tell me a little bit about your company and where the idea for your business came from?

Paul Copcutt, a transported Brit, I came to Canada in 1996 with the biotech company I was working with to follow a Canadian and convince her to marry me. I started my company Square Peg in 2004 as a recruitment company but always with the intention of doing something more involving personal branding because what I had been doing in a corporate career was personal branding there was just not the name for it.  Now that is all I do, personal branding for individuals, inside corporations and speaking on the topic.

What’s a typical day like for you?

I run a home based business, so once the family is getting on with their day is when mine starts professionally. This will involve talking to clients on the phone, using the technology of the internet to connect and stay in touch. If I am out meeting clients or speaking, a day can start early and be a long one depending on location, travel etc.

How do you motivate yourself and stay motivated?

My main motivation is that everyone should have the opportunity to understand personal branding and see if it applies to them. My purpose is to spread that message to as many people as possible. Also I love to connect with others. My colleagues and connections become my virtual watercooler. I am in two mastermind groups and we help and hold each other accountable.

If you had to start over from scratch, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?

The journey I have had to this point makes me who I am, I don’t know that doing it differently would have resulted in the same outcomes, so I hesitate in saying what I would do differently.

What’s the most important business (or other) discovery you’ve made in the past year?

That my biggest strength is spreading the message to many versus converting people one at a time and modestly I am actually very good at it.

What’s one of the biggest advances in your industry over the past five years?

The speed of the internet and the developing technologies that stem from that. Now people see the need to manage their personal brands because of the impact of social media and online brands.

What are the three threats to your business, your success, and how are you handling them?

1. Remaining focused – belief that what I am doing now is right and resisting the temptation to look at another direction just because things may not be happening fast enough. 2. Too much noise, not enough substance – there are a lot of people now talking about personal branding but to be honest that is all it is. There are very few people who are actually doing something everyday in terms of helping people define and develop their personal brands. 3. Bright shiny objects – trying too many new things can be a distraction. I am a catalyst and starter, but not a finisher, so new ideas and so on are a big attraction but also distraction.

What’s unique about the service that you provide?

I inspire people to take action with regards to their personal brands by sharing personal information and examples and practical solutions. There does not have to be smoke and mirrors to make this happen.

What do you observe most people in your field doing badly that you think you do well?

I do not think that most people in my field who are actually working with people on their personal brands are doing it badly. It is more those that talk about personal brands as the solution to online branding but fail to get the foundation offline established first.

Describe a major business (or other) challenge you had and how you resolved it.

Charging by the hour you reach a limit – either in number of hours you can work or fees you can charge – or both. I stopped charging by the hour or month for my services and went to a project based model.  Researched value based fees models and created proposals and marketing materials around talking about value and outcomes versus hours worked.  I now have only one client who pays by the hour and that is an arrangement through a partner and not my contract.

What lessons did you learn in the process?

People are receptive to a project based fee model for consulting and coaching. It makes you focus more on the outcomes and creates a much better relationship with clients because you both have interest in getting results versus just delivering a program.  Clients call on me when they need to not when they need to pay for it.

Tell me about your big break and who gave you.

My first ever client for my own business. I had made the decision to leave my previous employer and had no actual business to take with me. That first client gave me the opportunity to prove myself and became a significant client for my first 2-3 years of business.

Describe one of your biggest failures. What lessons did you learn, and how did it contribute to a greater success?

First ever job that required me to sell a service instead of a product. At the time I was not ready, I could not relate to selling an intangible and within 3 months I had left the company. The next time I went to sell a service a few years later I knew what was expected and needed and although it still took me some time to get good at, it eventually set me up for what I do now.

What has been your biggest disappointment in your life and what are you doing to prevent its reoccurrence?

To varying degrees I still get disappointments – the contracts or pieces of work you expect to get but don’t. I try to learn from every experience and even ask the question “Is there something I could have done differently?” and take that to the next experience.

What’s one of the toughest decisions you’ve had to make and how did it impact your life?

Moving to Canada with all my family still in the UK. I knew deep down it was the right move, and Canada has offered me so many opportunities as well as a wonderfully supportive wife and two great children. Not sure if I ever would have started my own business back in the UK.

What are three events that helped to shape your life?

1. Loss of my mother and sister when I was 7 years old.
2. Taking a job as a National Sales Manager for a biotech company without any medical qualifications.
3. Marrying my wife.

What’s an accomplishment that you are proudest of?

My two children.

How did mentors influence your life?

There are probably three people, apart from my father, who have influenced my life.  My first ever boss when I had a part time retail sales position. He said, “You are never bigger than the customer and the customer is never bigger than you.”

The owner of the first recruitment company I worked for who let me learn from my own mistakes and was okay with my learning the lessons even if it meant we lost the business.

And my boss when I first became a manager, who always challenged me to have at least two options to any decision.

What’s one core message you received from your mentors?

See above

Which resources (books, movies, training etc.) did your mentors recommend to you?

The most influential training I received was the Wilson Learning Social Style program over 20 years ago and is still something I use now.  I am constantly looking for new resources, books and probably seek out opinions from many places to find these, but I have never found anything to replace that program.

As an Invisible Mentor, what is one piece of advice that you would give to readers?

Be yourself, be truthful. Stick to your values and beliefs and it’s okay to say no sometimes.

What nuggets of wisdom have you gleaned from Paul’s interview? How might you apply his responses to your situation.

Keep the conversation flowing. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the left side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

For your research and writing needs, consider my firm Ambeck Enterprise for white papers, articles, fact sheets, anniversary booklets, you name it. Since I am the best kept secret you may not know this, but I have over 15 years research and writing experience. I KNOW content. And if you cannot figure out which books to read for professional development, I am your WOMAN, I can assist you with that too.

This week on Tuesday and Wednesday I present Gina McAdam. For new subscribers I interview highly accomplished people from all walks of life and locations to share their wisdom and experience. All interviewees are asked the same questions, so it’s always interesting to see the diversity of responses. Gina like many successful people plans for her day the night before by checking her schedule, what about you? Her responses to the question, “What are three threats to your business and how are you handling them?” is quite surprising so look for her responses. Her response to “What’s one core message you received from your mentors?” is ” Don’t hide your light under a bushel,” resonated with me, and I’m sure will resonate with others, especially women because we often tone down our accomplishments and are often the best kept secret. I know that people are often surprised by some of my accomplishments. Because listening is such a critical skill please zero in on her response to her biggest failure.

There is a wealth of information that can assist us in attaining professional success, this is my contribution to getting you there.

Tell me a little bit about yourself.

I’m a wife and mother who runs her own strategic marketing and communications consultancy in London, with a portfolio of very exciting clients.

I’m steeped in the commercial world now, but a few years ago I was involved a lot more in government-funded programmes. There was the strategic planning and delivery of the government’s agenda for upskilling the workforce through vocational training. I even produced a study on the problem of ‘worklessness’ and prepared enterprise development strategy reports for London.  A totally different spectrum.

The fact that I work with people with similar values to mine helps. After the ‘me-first’ culture of the last decade, a sense of community and collaboration is important. Being part of peer networks, such as the Worshipful Company of Marketors, the City livery company for marketing professionals, is excellent because it has a civic and charity focus as well.  I’m also very keen to help raise the profile and economic empowerment of women, through organisations like the 50,000-strong The International Alliance for Women (TIAW), of which I’m a Board member. They do wonderful things like promote micro-credit, mentoring and entrepreneurship.

What’s a typical day like for you?

Up at 6am and sometimes before, check my emails, run through the things I have to do for the day. If I’m not headed out the door, wait till 8.30 or 9am to start the phone calls. Lunch with a friend, client or associate – sometimes that’s one person rolled into one. Meetings or work delivering on projects occupy the main part of the day.

How do you motivate yourself and stay motivated?

I’m always excited about what a new day brings, and the chance to learn something I didn’t know. In a role that calls for dealing with people, the interaction is the thing. Even old friends and contacts bring something fresh each time you see them.

If you had to start over from scratch, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?

I sometimes wonder what would have happened had I accepted an offer in my twenties to write in Florence for a year, shutting out the rest of the world.  But that was just my parents being indulgent and I was quite romantic then.

What’s the most important business (or other) discovery you’ve made in the past year?

If you’re good at what you do and are open and resourceful, regardless of the economic climate, there will always be something for you.

What’s one of the biggest advances in your industry over the past five years?

Although my work is essentially marketing and communications, it straddles many different industries. One of the biggest changes has to be the rise of digital and specifically social media, and my clients are all very excited about the possibilities of Twitter, You Tube, Facebook and even Linkedin.  People will always demand solid, well-crafted and thought out content, but the channels and tools available to express them are revolutionising the way people do business and communicate with their customers.

In terms of the hospitality and tourism industry, where many of my clients sit, I would say that more women across the world are taking on the big operational roles of general management, or becoming managing directors and CEOs.  There is also the trend for international companies to hire local talent rather than merely parachute in expats. One of the oldest, most prestigious hotels in Asia appointed its first female, Chinese general manager a few years ago. And it’s been a great success. Also, there’s a lot more use of new technologies, and of course the consumer’s awareness of the environment has wrought positive change.

What are the three threats to your business, your success, and how are you handling them?

Three questions come to mind – can I keep up the energy levels? Are my clients safe and secure? Will my family always be this supportive? In terms of the first, I try to look after my health; second, I try to add as much value as possible to my clients’ business; and third, I show my husband and son that they are more important than anything.

What’s unique about the service that you provide?

I think it’s the ‘personal touch’ and becoming part of my clients’ team and not just a service provider. It’s important that they know you are with them every step of the  way.

Also, because of my international background – I was born and raised in Manila, but spent some of my formative years in the US, studied in the UK and worked in Asia, America and Europe, the last twenty years in London  – I can bring the positive sensibilities of different worlds to the table.

What do you observe most people in your field doing badly that you think you do well?

I tend to operate amongst fantastic, hard-working ‘can do’ people and this field is awash with them. If there’s anything we do badly, it’s not stopping often or long enough to relax and smell the roses. I’m as guilty as the rest, often working during holidays too. Not good! I’m sure we’re all trying to work smarter, but in our field, we have to keep up with the speed of communication.

Describe a major business (or other) challenge you had and how you resolved it.

It was a situation involving divergent business practices and beliefs.  When this occurs, you are best to cut your losses.

What lessons did you learn in the process?

Sometimes you just have to walk away.

Tell me about your big break and who gave you.

I was moonlighting as a journalist at university when I was assigned to interview a hotshot female advertising executive in Manila. After that, she asked me if I’d ever consider going into advertising after graduation. She became my first ever boss. Her name was J M Rebueno, and I’ve never forgotten her.

Describe one of your biggest failures. What lessons did you learn, and how did it contribute to a greater success?

It was probably a personal one, over a decade ago. I lost a whole year’s joy with one of the very best people I’ll ever know because of something silly. But we’re now closer than ever and a lot of my success is down to my friend’s deep and abiding support. The lesson is always to listen to what the other person says, even when they’re not saying it.

What has been your biggest disappointment in your life – and what are you doing to prevent its reoccurrence?

I try not to dwell on setbacks.

What’s one of the toughest decisions you’ve had to make and how did it impact your life?

Deciding to leave Europe for New York, after having lived and worked happily in Madrid for more than three years.  But it was something I had to do. As it happens, New York eventually led me back to London, where I have been ever since.

What are three events that helped to shape your life?

Just one, really. My father’s death in 1990 was a huge blow, as he had been a great mentor and source of wisdom.  Outwardly he was a traditionalist but his liberal spirit allowed all his children the freedom to choose their own lives. The death of a parent catapults you into the next generation, they say, and it’s true. Your whole perspective changes and suddenly you feel much, much older.

What’s an accomplishment that you are proudest of?

Hands down, my son Harry.

How did mentors influence your life?

Their kindness and generosity, sharing their time, ideas, experiences and contacts, impressed me deeply. This gave strength when one needed it, and also a key through many doors that may have otherwise remained locked or unnoticed. Their bright example is what made me want to be a mentor as well. In 2008, I was thrilled to be named Shine Outstanding Mentor of the Year. Shine is a national industry award for female talent management in the UK hospitality and tourism industry. It was started in London by two ladies of Italian origin who wanted to make a difference to how women were seen and wanted to see themselves in the industry.

What’s one core message you received from your mentors?

Don’t hide your light under a bushel.

Which resources (books, movies, training etc.) did your mentors recommend to you?

One fabulous mentor, Diane Morris who runs TIAW, recommended that I join and get involved in good networks. I have never looked back since. Someone who is less a mentor than a caring colleague has always signposted me to great articles, events, people and organisations.  Through him I’ve got involved in the Oxford Brookes University Bacchus Mentoring programme for final year hospitality management students. I now mentor a very motivated girl from Sweden and a very bright young man from Hong Kong.

What aspects of Gina’s story can you apply to your situation? What would be your five great ideas and takeaways from this interview? Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please comment. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

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About Gina McAdam

Before founding Stratemarco, a successful London-based marketing and communications consultancy, in 2003, Gina was Head of Marketing and later Head of Policy Development & Public Affairs for the National Training Organisation for the UK hospitality and tourism sector. Today, she is a highly-regarded communications expert whose work brings her into regular contact with leaders of some of the best known brands in the UK and global hospitality and tourism industry. Highly versatile, she also undertakes assignments for key public,private and voluntary organisations beyond the sector.

Gina was raised near Washington DC and Manila. Moving away from the family traditions of law, banking, agriculture and medicine, she started her career in advertising for Ace-Compton/Saatchi & Saatchi in Manila where she handled various Proctor & Gamble accounts, and at J Walter Thompson Advertising Company, handling the Anne Klein, Cacharel and SC Johnson brands. After that, she travelled extensively, writing and teaching in Madrid and working in publishing in New York. Today, she is regularly invited to contribute pieces to publications in the Far East – it is her way of keeping in touch with her Asian roots.

Highly committed to diversity in the workplace, Gina has been on the board of City Women’s Network (CWN) and is now on the board of The International Alliance of Women (TIAW). She is a member of the European Professional Women’s Network and a Changemaker for the UK charity Working Families.

Gina is a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Marketors, and a member of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), for whom she was a guest speaker at the 2008 IABC Eurocomm Conference in Barcelona. She is a member of the Institute of Director, and holds an MA in English & American Literature from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and is an alumnus of De La Salle University, Manila and Henley Management College, Windsor.

These interviews are meant to provide you with information that you can use. Shannon Van Roekel shares with you the one book that had a profound impact on her life and the five books she’d like to have if stranded on a deserted island. How does she motivate herself and remain motivated? What are the three events that shaped her life? What’s the biggest advance in her industry. Find the answers to these and a lot more! The second part of this interview will be featured on Friday, December 4, 2009.

Tell me a little bit about yourself.

I am married, with five children, two of which are getting married within the next 6 months. Lately I’ve been waking up in the middle of the night “angsting” over table centerpieces, floral arrangements and crash diets.

What’s a typical day like for you?

I am a home school mom to my two youngest boys, 16 and 14 yrs old, so I have the blessing of being able to read with them in the morning before sending them off to complete their remaining assignments. I try to write a minimum word quota and get a load of laundry through before we start school. I try to return to the writing later in the afternoon, but then I am often busy with people stuff: appointments, Bible studies, a cup of latte with a friend…

Supper prep is something I try to remember to do in the morning, but reality has forced me to become the professional “last minute dinner” woman. Evenings I catch up on Facebook, emails and edits or just visit with my kids. The older they are, the more time we TALK! I love it!

How do you motivate yourself and stay motivated?

I am a big advocate of spending time every day journalling and meditating on God’s Word, the Bible. Fellowship with Him gives me renewed focus, clarity and the energy that I know I could not live without.

I try to exercise at least three times a week, but feel better when it’s five times.

If you had to start over from scratch, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?

I would spend less time worrying over things I am powerless to change and more time committing them to the Lord in prayer and actively choosing to believe that He is who He says He is, that He does love me and takes care of every need that I give to Him

What’s the most important business (or other) discovery you’ve made in the past year?

I have been startled to recognize that God is not at all intimidated by business. That world belongs to Him, too. I am trying to learn to strive less and to depend on His nudges and promptings more. He is the best agent/manager anyone could ever have.

What’s one of the biggest advances in your industry over the past five years?

I write contemporary Christian fiction; the biggest advance in that field over the past five years has probably been the growing interest in reading about real life issues, including international crises.

Describe a major business (or other) challenge you had and how you resolved it.

To have an agent or not? That is the question for most authors. I have no agent and this is how I do it.

What lessons did you learn in the process?

• Get help in polishing the manuscript for an editor’s eyes, join a writer’s critique group or find a fellow writer in your area who is willing to be very honest. (Not your mom!)
• Get your manuscript out of the slush pile and in front of an editor – go to writer’s conferences (Google and look for ones that are affordable and also give you sit down time with an editor of your choice—I highly recommend the Oregon Christian Writer’s Summer Conference, where my manuscript was eventually picked up by my publisher).
• Get help with the contract when it comes – join the Author’s Guild. For a reasonable membership fee, you receive free legal advice, point-by-point, in lay-man terms and a free web-site with links to agents and editors, with minimal monthly upkeep fees.
• Get marketing advice, tips and negotiating expertise on your side – Read the “Writer’s Market” and source other marketing tools. Trust God to guide you into the path He wants you on.
• You can still get an agent, if you really want to, but I haven’t and am very pleased with the experience so far.

Tell me about your big break and who gave you.

I’ve had two big breaks. One was meeting my friend, Elsi Dodge, at my first writer’s conference, who is also my #1 editor. She sees and fine-tooth combs everything I write before it goes to the publisher. A writer needs good editors! She is mine.

The other big break was when I got two acceptance letters for two different manuscripts that are for two different genres, written years apart, on the same day and in back-to-back emails!

That was from God. Only He could do that. It was as if I could hear Him say, “I want you to do this. Keep going.”

Describe one of your biggest failures. What lessons did you learn, and how did it contribute to a greater success?

Biggest failure was not being prepared to give an answer when That Very Important Person said, “So tell me about what you’re writing.” I will never let it happen again.

What has been your biggest disappointment in your life – and what are you doing to prevent its re-occurrence?

In my life? I would have to say my mom and dad’s divorce. I try to use it like preventative medicine in my own marriage: this is what they did wrong; now we don’t have to make the same mistake!

What’s one of the toughest decisions you’ve had to make and how did it impact your life?

Even though it was made a long time ago now, I would say the decision to home school my kids was the hardest decision I’ve made. So many arguments on either side. But I am very grateful that I had the opportunity to do it and incredibly glad I did. I became a more disciplined person through the process, have had a gazillion hours to read out loud so many great books that we otherwise would never have had, and have become a lover of learning somewhere along the way (as have they), which is why I can’t wait to do research for the next novel!

What are three events that helped to shape your life?

1. Living overseas (Malaysia, Columbia and Ecuador) as a child
2. Reading the Bible
3. The decision to home school my children

What’s an accomplishment that you are proudest of?

Having a book published

How did mentors influence your life?

I never had a real mentor, unless I can count my mother, but I have had lots of examples of what not to do and a husband who is wise.

What’s one core message you received from your mentors?

The best thing I can do to market my book is to learn to write well.

Which resources (books, movies, training etc.) did your mentors recommend to you?

The Oregon Christian Writer’s Summer conference.

As an Invisible Mentor, what is one piece of advice that you would give to readers?

I will share a favorite quote: “When under pressure most of us ask the question, “What will become of me?” The real question is “What should I do?” We find the answer in love.” Free Burma Ranger Relief Team Leader

What are the steps you took to succeed in your field?

When I felt the burden on my heart to pursue writing, I did all I could to learn to write well, believing that this was what God was asking of me.

What advice do you have for someone just starting out in your field?

Read about writing; find other writers to talk to; go to a writer’s conference!

If trusted friends could introduce you to five people that you’ve always wanted to meet, who would you choose? And what would you say to them?

Mother Theresa, Corrie Ten Boom, Billy Graham, Adolph Hitler, and Joseph Stalin. I would ask them all the same question: “If you could go back and do it over again, would you do anything differently?”

Which one book had a profound impact on your life? What was it about this book that impacted you so deeply? Did you have an emotional or intellectual attachment to this book? Why?

Exodus by Leon Uris

The fickleness of man and government, the faithfulness of God was the impact the book left on me. I loved the grit and the hope in the story. I want to write like that.

If you were stranded on a deserted island, what are five books that you would like to have with you and why? Summarize the book in two sentences.

The Bible – The chronicle of man from Creation to the end of history, as we understand it. God’s dealings and desire for man.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - Four siblings get stuck in another reality (Narnia) where it is always winter and never Christmas. The thaw of spring begins when Aslan, the lion (but not a tame lion) sets foot again in the land.

The Last Battle - Last in the series that the previous book begins. I try to read it once every two years or so, just to get perspective on life (and death).

The Fellowship of the Ring – Everyone knows this one. Something about the eating schedules and architecture of hobbits is just perennially appealing.

The Count of Monte Cristo –The book, NOT the movie, is an honest portrayal of the consequences of hatred and revenge. No matter how justly deserved.

I would want these books because I can read them over and over and enjoy them just as much each time.

Have you read any books that inspired you to start a business, service or invent “something”? If yes, which book?

Not sure if this is the right answer, but after reading Randy Alcorn’s Safely Home I thought, “That’s what I want to do. I want to write books like that.”

What one music CD and movie would you like to have with you (on the deserted island) and why?

The Messiah (CD), because then it would always be Christmas and I would always like listening to it.

Sense and Sensibility (the movie) It’s so rich in story, color and message. I can watch it over and over and never get tired of it.

How might you apply the information from this interview? Let’s keep the conversation going, please comment.