Be the Best at What Matters Most

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Thelma Bowlen

I saw a post on the Social Media Group I’m part of on Facebook inviting people to check out an event at E|SPACES in Cool Springs. Since it was at 7:30am, which is before work, I figured I’d check it out.

What I thought would be a social networking event turned out to be an author talk from Joe Calloway on his book, “Be the Best at What Matters Most: The Only Strategy You will Ever Need.” He was joined by Nashville company bites of knowledge’s, Julie May and Gary Hornbuckle. Bites of Knowledge is the case study featured in the book.

View from the back of the packed E|SPACES author talk with Joe Calloway featuring Julie May and Gary Hornbuckle of bites of knowledge

Here are the takeaways I took home, I mean, to work:

Check-in with clients and team, contact clients proactively, communicate for accountability, repeat
Good connecting includes frequent: asset managing, issue managing, project managing
Understand what the business or need is first before trying to resolve issues
Reward performance and incentivize behavior of employees
Clarity and accountability go hand in hand
Value reliability first before “singing on the plane like Southwest”

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The Best One for the Job

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Thelma Bowlen

In a recent department heads strategic meeting, my colleagues discovered just how many plates I spin at work: social strategy, internal communications, video production, regional news site, quarterly partner newsletter, monthly partner thank-you receipts, global coordination, writing, editing, events promotions, and a myriad of other things.

My boss made a comment that summarized our discussion as we identified the opportunity costs of a new organizational effort I am leading:

“You’re the best one for the job, but these jobs are not the best use of your time.”

It got me thinking about the importance of finding balance and focusing on tasks that are the most productive use of my time.

What other things have I been struggling to make happen that I should not even be working on in the first place? How does one transition from doer to manager to director in a traditional office setting?

Your Creative Thinktank

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Thelma Bowlen

On my way out of a big meeting (“big” meaning I was with our president and executive director) with a small group of colleagues recently, one of my colleagues approached me with some brilliant advice. I was somewhat on the spot in the meeting in the sense that many of the questions being asked about the promotions of two major projects were meant to be answered by Communications, aka me. And Communications didn’t have much to offer outside of “I have a strategy but I need more information to implement what’s in my head.”

(The old radio person in me always manages to rise to the occasion and offer opinions and comments, sometimes unsolicited, to a discussion. I almost babble but I quickly remind myself that in the presence of executive leadership, it’s better not to.)

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Learners Inherit the Future

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From Lee Cockerell's book "Creating Magic," a reminder on our break room wall.

The Global Leadership Summit 2011

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Thelma Bowlen

I’ve been back at work since the week after returning from Orlando and my…episode. I thought I was good to go the Monday after the conference but I wasn’t. So I stayed home Tuesday and made an appearance on Friday at the office. The following week, which is now last, was a short one for our staff. We spent August 11 and 12, Thursday and Friday, at The Global Leadership Summit (GLS) via satellite from Chicago’s Willow Creek Association.

Our operations director has been a longtime attendee of the GLS and decided last year to bring the office this year to The People’s Church, Franklin, a host site in Nashville, to be inspired, challenged, provoked, and impassioned about leadership. The whole experience made me think about where I am and where I’m headed on three specific levels: career, health, spirit. I think about the many plans that people hatch every year during the GLS, and I wonder how many people stay stuck and make no changes in their lives when the afterglow wanes.

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