After55:

Today you are You, that is truer than true.
There is no one alive who is Youer than You.
Dr. Seuss

This quote appeared in my inbox this morning (thanks to AsAManThinketh.net/Daily Insights). Being a huge fan of Dr. Seuss and his wild creativity, both visual and verbal, I chuckled and then started to think.

Questions as you go about your work today:

1. Are you putting all of you into your enterprise?
2. Do your customers feel connected to you?
3. Does your passion for your business come through?
4. Is there something holding you back or is it you?
5. If you could do anything, what would you do?

One of the best parts of being an entrepreneur is doing something you think is worthwhile and trying different ways you think it should be done. This is one of the things that sets you apart.

So today what can just you do?
No one can make your business youer than you –

My apologies, Dr. Seuss, but I couldn’t resist.

Earlier this week I attended the funeral of a man whom I knew over the years, but it would be presumptuous to say we were close friends. It was a great funeral and I continue to think about the lessons I learned as I listened to the various eulogies.

1. He was always the same person–whether his role was as a leader, counselor, friend, brother, husband or father. Lesson: Let the real you be present in all that you do. You will derive great benefit from being authentic.
2. When later thanked for a piece of wisdom or good counsel, his response was generally, “I said that?” eliciting a chuckle. Lesson: Be humble. It draws far more people to you than tooting your own horn.
3. Every time he spoke to a group, he wrote it out and practiced it at least twice. His listeners always thought he was a fabulous, extemporaneous speaker. Lesson: Prepare. You’ll always look better, and you can concentrate on what others are doing and saying.
4. He held his position for 34 years and loved it. Of course, it was not without challenges, but he knew what he wanted to do and the scope within which he wanted to work. Lesson: Find the joy in what you do.
5. Each person spoke movingly, and also with great hilarity, of the bond he or she had with this man. Lesson: Communicating your genuine regard, respect and pride is a gift to the recipient and has lasting worth.
6. He smiled at everyone he liked; and those he didn’t like as much–he smiled at them, too! Lesson: A smile is the cheapest gift you can give, and you will never know how much it means to another.

Not particularly complex lessons, but the impact on our business of life can be profound.

Lately I am hearing a lot about an old idea: Mastermind Groups. In his landmark book Think and Grow Rich, originally published in 1937, Napoleon Hill devoted an entire chapter to Master Mind Alliances, a small group of carefully selected colleagues for the purpose of helping you reach your Definite Purpose. Barbara Sher had a similar concept in the late 1970s that she called Success Teams. They were not quite as particularly selected but more a general business success support group.

Today, this idea is as vibrant and important as ever. One of the great difficulties of being an entrepreneur is a sense of isolation as we wear many hats and many times live in our head under those hats. A qualified, supportive (no Negative Nellies or Normans allowed!), committed group of people dedicated to helping you achieve your dreams for your business could be just what the doctor ordered.

If you haven’t read Think and Grow Rich, do! The section on energy is definitely dated, but the rest has made a difference in countless millions of lives. See what it can do for you.

This week I went back to reading Thomas Friedman’s The World is Flat. He was struck that almost all the executives he interviewed used the same phrase, observing that “Just in the last couple of years” they had been able to do things they had never dreamed possible before or that they were being forced to do things they had never dreamed necessary before. Of course, this got me to thinking about our lives, too. We all remember the birthday decorations for “50″ as being over the hill or graveyard stuff. Maybe some of us even bought into it that the best part of our lives was over when we got that mailer from AARP. Now that we are “after 55,” we know the truth. Life has never been better nor offered us more opportunity.

Let’s talk about it. What have you done or been forced to do over the past couple of years for your business (Let’s not get into personal life stuff because we could probably all write volumes.) that would meet Tom Friedman’s criteria? What did you learn? I can’t wait to read your responses.

By now everyone knows I am a reading junkie. One business magazine I particularly like and read cover to cover is PINK magazine. In this month’s e-mail newsletter, the following item appeared: “It is really frustrating that after years of hard work and vigilance, we cannot let up. Though we think we have gotten legislation passed to help level the playing field, we then find out it has been ignored. Now we read that they are planning to make it harder for us to compete again. Please read on and click through to lodge your protest. Now the younger women will know what we have fought for so long.

“PINK Slip Update–and a Call to Action

“The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), former recipient of our notorious PINK Slip, has yet to comply with a 7-year-old law that would reserve 5 percent of government contracts for women-owned businesses. Although women-owned firms account for 41 percent of all privately held firms in the U.S., they currently receive only 3.3 percent of these contracts. ‘The difference in federal spending between 5 percent and 3.3 percent was $7.5 billion based on 2006 numbers,’ points out Linda Denny, president and CEO of Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, the nation’s largest third-party certifier of women-owned businesses.

“The SBA has now proposed a rule to Congress that would only allow federal agencies to implement the program for women-owned businesses in four out of more than 2,300 business categories. ‘This rule would make it virtually impossible for any woman business owner to take advantage of the 5 percent set-aside, completely invalidating the intent of Congress,’ says Barbara Kasoff, president and CEO of Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP).”

“To get involved:

1. Click here to contact the SBA and ask it to rescind the proposed rule. Deadline: February 25. (WIPP asks that you forward a copy of your response to Anna at alubiner@wipp.org.)

2. Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher has written a ‘Dear Colleague’ letter asking members of the House to join her in asking the SBA to work with Congress to redraft the proposed rule. Let your representative know how you feel and cc WIPP.”

I don’t usually use this precious space to rant, but owning a company named Silver Vixen Enterprises, I am understandably interested in articles about silver hair. I cannot believe that Time Magazine devoted four full pages in their September 10 issue to the topic! To give them a modicum of credit, men were mentioned, but the main import and most pictures were devoted to assessing how women would look with or without gray hair.

Surveys were done and it was determined that those with grey hair are perceived as less intelligent, less attractive, and less believable. They are also deemed at a disadvantage in their personal social life and in the workplace. Ugh! Not only do we have to worry about our age and weight, we also have to add our hair color! To compete, we need to look 20 years younger. So much for wisdom, experience, and street smarts.

After being at the forefront of the women’s movement, proving ourselves for over 30 years, leaping tall buildings, exceeding all standards for advancement — now “they” want to pick the color of our hair!!! Pardon me while I get off my soapbox.

I had a delightful lunch last week with Holly Kahan, the owner of Holly Barry House. You and I have heard of a lot of gift basket companies , so I was a bit skeptical when I learned of her business. By the time our lunch was over I was ready to start pounding the pavement to bring in more accounts! Holly positions her company differently. Rather than be a gift basket company, Holly Berry House is a company that helps others celebrate the difference that people have made. Hers is a celebration company that offers gifts and gift baskets that are tailored to the recipient.

This really got me to thinking. First , here is a woman who has been in business for 10 years and still is excited about what she brings to the marketplace. Second, she has positioned her business uniquely and third., I love the premise of her business…acknowledging the people who are too often ignored. How do we recognize others for their help in myriad ways? Many times we simply don’t go to the trouble of publicly thanking someone for a job well done.

Think of how terrific you felt the last time you received acknowledgement of the effort you made. Do you communicate that same acknowledgement to those you come in contact with? The celebration concept has been getting a bit of a bad rap in the press lately because of younger workers seeming need for constant acknowledgment, but that is not what I am talking about. Acknowledgement can be looking a service worker in the eye, saying a heartfelt “Thank you” rather than a rote response, a simple true compliment on something that someone is wearing.

Kindness, courtesy, connection — call it what you will makes everything flow more smoothly and you feel great. I think Holly’s on to something — let’s celebrate the difference we make in each other’s lives.

Several weeks ago Crain’s Chicago Business published a cover story about Faye Pantazelos gaining sole control of the bank she had founded after a two year battle with dissident investors. This makes New Century Bank the only woman owned bank in Chicago. What a feather in her cap! Congratulations Faye!!

The bad news is that the story about this achievement repeatedly refers to Ms. Pantazelo’s weight and to her unmarried status. What on earth do those pieces of information have to do with her accomplishment? In the same article, the weight and marital status of the profiled dissident investor, male, are never mentioned. I can see from his picture that he is far from svelte, but no mention is made of how his weight, diet, or eating habits have affected his career. It seems that the article’s author isn’t comfortable with a successful woman — and the top business publication in Chicago is supporting his discomfort. Interestingly, Crain’s has just published an issue featuring Women to Watch. Is this talking out of both sides of their mouth?

The Wall Street Journal article of April 20, 2007 about the Gen Yers has certainly opened the flood gates! It seems this generation’s tag line is “The Most Praised” and that is having a BIG effect on the business community. These kids are so used to being praised, stroked and petted that without frequent affirmation of their specialness they find it hard to function effectively. In fact, it seems to be a condition of their employment satisfaction! However, studies also show that this generation is also miserable. Pretty soon they don’t know whose comments to really trust. I think it is time we again take younger people figuratively by the hand and help them to true adulthood. We can help them develop their internal standards of professionalism and pride of accomplishment — skills that will enrich all areas of their lives. Then we can focus on running our businesses and saving money by reassigning our Celebration Specialists to more profitable tasks!