Strengths and weaknesses

Lately I've been thinking a lot about my strengths and weaknesses.  As a business owner I had to try and be good at everything initially....well.....because there was no one else to do it.  As my business grew I realized there were things I was simply no good at.  I tried to have the business make enough money so I could pay someone who was good at those things.  The challenge is that a lot of people think they are good at most things. So even our first few book keepers did not work out so well.  When we asked them to do more elaborate financial calculations they said, "no problem".  We found out later that they were not really very good at those things.  Unfortunately it cost us money and time to fix the problems those people created.  We really had no one to blame but ourselves because we had not taken the time to figure this out up front.  We eventually got a system in place that helped us evaluate our employees for their strengths and put them in the places where they could make the most difference.

I find that knowing my own strengths and weaknesses is a life long endeavor.  I'm constantly rediscovering things that I'm no good at and things that I'm great at.  This week I met with a good friend of mine and he gave me some advice.  He said to look at those who I work with and notice the areas where they are strong an where they are weak.  Don't ask them to do things that are in their areas of weakness.......that makes sense.  I guess it just took me till 41 to figure that out.  This has been very helpful.

I think this applies when it comes to finding technical support as well.  There a lot of people out there who will tell you they can handle just about anything. My experience has been that there are very few who can pull this off effectively.  The best engineers know where they are great and when to ask for help.  They continue to learn and grow to expand their expertise but they also know when to call in a specialist.  I guess thats where I can really help my customers out.  By helping them get the right team in place to address their business technology needs.  By making sure we have the right people working on the right issues.  I hope these thoughts are helpful to you in whatever challenges your facing right now.

Thanks for Reading  ~pz

Ian Hameroff talks about Exchange 2010

This video is cheeky but helpful.  Hang with it because there is good information about how Microsoft's mail server Exchange 2010 will help companies and users.

Microsoft Publisher 2010

Ok, I promise to stop after this but I am having a lot of fun checking out these videos and well most of this stuff is pretty cool to a geek like me. But seriously.  Having been forced to work in publisher since I've become more involved in marketing.  I'm here to say its cool but can be frustrating to work with.  These new features look intuitive and helpful.  I'm sure I'll still get anxious when I have to put together an ad in publisher but maybe my finished product will look a little better.  Please comment.  I'm interested to hear what you think.

Microsoft Office Communicator 2010

I've had a chance to start working with Unified Communications.  The office 2010 integration into Microsoft's Unified Communication strategy will make it a powerful platform.  Since I've been using Heads Up Display from Fonality I really think its increased the efficiency of my communication in the office.  This new office platform from Microsoft looks to be a great move on their part.

Microsoft Outlook 2010

Google would like everyone to think they've got Microsoft on the ropes. This video gives me the impression that they don't. The new features in outlook 2010 will really bring value to the way people live and work today. Check it out! 

What can you tell from a funeral?

Last weekend I attended the funeral of my Stepfather Dr. Robert White.  When I attended his funeral I was blown away by the amount of people that showed up to honor his life. I was saddened greatly by his loss because it was sudden.  He was raking the lawn and fertilizing the day before he went into surgery.  His death was not expected.  I won't go into the details of the illness because I want to respect his privacy but lets just say he was not critically ill before he went into surgery.  We all expected him to make it.  He was 69 and was constantly on the move.  He loved to help out with outside projects whenever he could.  Especially when it came to trimming bushes.  We joked that he is up in Heaven right now trimming the bushes for God.

He was a Chiropractor for some 40 + years. If anyone was not a user of technology, it was my stepfather.  He ran is practice without a computer all of that time.  He and my mother did not even own a mobile phone.  They had no internet at their house.  How and the world did they survive?  Pretty well!  Stepfather was exceptional at showing up.  What I respect about him is that his actions matched his words.  He was not one of those people were all talk and no action.  Quite the opposite in fact.  One year while we were on vacation he chopped up our bushes while we were away.  We had only mentioned it  in passing.  Action!  Thats what most sales people and business people are missing these days.  Thats an ethic that the current generation will have a challenge grabbing hold of with all of their electronic communication.  I have always worked for companies that were focussed on getting out with people "belly to belly".  This is what Bob excelled at.  He had life long relationships with his clients who followed him wherever he went.  I remember him heading to work on Saturday mornings to help patients out of pain.  He did this almost every Saturday.  I prefer sleeping in.

Some 500+ people showed up to his funeral.  I don't even think I know 500 people.  And I work at it every day. These were people who's lives he had touched.  He did not use email, chat, or mobile phones.  I don't think he ever made a cold call.  He just met people where they were at.  Every day.  I hope this blog honors his memory.  I'd better get out in the yard and start trimming the bushes.

~pz

I'm Back!

Hello out there.  Sorry I have not blogged for quite a while.  I was gone on vacation for 2 weeks where is intentionally did not blog.  I also had just started my new role as Director of Managed Services at Advance Integrated Technologies just before I left on vacation.  Well.  When I returned from vacation my Step-Father went in to surgery and unfortunately he passed away about 2 weeks ago.  My brain was full of thoughts and information.  I wanted to blog but could not straighten it all out.  So...I hope you'll keep reading because I'm going to keep blogging.

Thanks for waiting.

~pz