Redstone said some things that were worthy to be quoted. So I paused the Tivo and took notes.

Here’s a few words of leadership wisdom from Sumner Redstone:

“What I look for in people are commitment, competence and character. Without character, commitment and competence are not relevant.”

“Get loyalty by giving loyalty, particularly if a person is in some kind of trouble or problem.”

“People who are successful and good at what they do are not arrogant.”

“Optimism is the only philosophy that’s compatible with sanity.”

I want to be trustworthy. And I thought this was a great list of what it takes for others to put their trust in you.

We are inclined to trust leaders…

• who are self-aware
• who take responsibility for their role in the relationship
• who demonstrate that they consider the best interests of others rather than just themselves
• who do what they say they will do
• who practice the values they tell us are important to them
• who listen and respond to our needs and interests

Wow… may God help me to be a person like this.

In the past 4 months, Linkedin has really started taking off. I think it’s starting to reach critical mass: everyone is starting to use it. Along with the growth of people using it, the groups function is continuing to mature. Coming from an association management background, I knew the groups could become powerful. Why? We all need recommendations, resources, and peer advice. With the downsizing of America, many of us lack co-workers with whom we can discuss and share ideas.

Now when I go to a local association chapter luncheon, like PRSA, I can build relationships with the people I meet. I send them a Linkedin invitation, and then I can see when they’ve changed jobs or gotten a recommendation. This starts conversations that would have never happened before.

Plus, smart associations are building groups for their members so that they can network and share resources, articles, and ideas. My local PRSA chapter looked into creating a listserver 5 years ago, but it was too expensive. Now that same group has a free Linkedin group that will complement its face-to-face meetings.

I’m excited to see that others are beginning to catch on to the great possibilities for connection through the Web.

By the way, I received some great packing tips and recommendations for movers from the LinkedWorking St. Louis group. Read the comments here.

The article covers how author J.D. Roth is overcoming his fear of public speaking and also shares some time-tested tips on gaining confidence like:

• Don’t compare yourself with others
• Visualize success
• Do the right thing
• Don’t dwell on failures
• Act confidently

Action sometimes involves risk, but if you never risk, you never really live.

Read more of this post, How to Build Confidence and Destroy Fear at GetRichSlowly.org. Check out my comment while you’re there.

Last night I had to call one of our banks, Bank of America, to follow up on a rebate check for my new Fujitsu ScanSnap that bounced (it’s that “crisis” thing again, I guess). It’s a great scanner, but I am a bit annoyed at having to do double to paperwork due to their third-party rebate service having insufficient funds.

After I got that piece of business settled, the bank customer service person asked me if she could tell me about a great new credit card they were offering. I sighed and waited for the spiel.

The customer service woman (whom I will refer to as Bank Lady going forward) started with, “You’re already pre-approved for $15,000. And for the next 12 months, this card has 0% financing and only 7.5% after that, which is the lowest in the industry.”

I interjected, “Does the card have any cashback bonuses?”

Bank Lady replied, “We offer cash advances.”

“No,” I said. “Cashback bonuses, you know like 1%, 2%, or 3% back on purchases.”

Bank Lady paused, confused. “It’s 0% for 12 months.”

“I know,” I said. “What about you giving me 1% or 2% back?”

Confused pause by Bank Lady.

I clarified, “I don’t keep a balance on any of my credit cards so the APR percentages don’t matter to me. What I’m looking to find out is if your card will pay me to use it. I have one that gives me 3% back on my purchases.”

Bank Lady replied, “What’s the finance rate on that card?”

I said, “I don’t know. I don’t keep balances on my cards, so the finance rate doesn’t matter! I am asking if the card gives bonuses or cashback.”

“Oh, you mean points or something like that?” Bank Lady said in a moment of breakthrough.

“YES!” I said

“No, we don’t offer any points,” Bank Lady said. “But we do have 0% for 12 months…”

I interrupted: “I’m not interested. My credit cards pay me money; I don’t pay them!”

After a few courteous thank you’s between me and Bank Lady, the call ended.

I was in shock… I don’t think this poor child of the modern era even knew that credit cards could pay you, much less that you didn’t have to keep a balance on them and search aimlessly for the lowest percentage rate.

Wow is all I can say. But the good news is that I found a new passion that I could tackle the speaking circuit with: credit common sense. I have a few things to say about mortgages too!

One other thought: shouldn’t banks be educating their customers on how to better manage their finances instead of taking advantage of their lack of financial sense?

I especially enjoyed this short checklist:

• Did I stick to my allotted time?
• Did I develop and present purposefully?
• Was I thoroughly prepared?
• Did I capture attention at the very beginning?
• Did I positively influence listeners?
• Was I appropriately entertaining, or at least not boring?
• Did I end only once?

To read more, go to http://www.maximumimpact.com/articles/read/article_7_reasons_why_speakers_flop/.

Although Thomas presented many great ideas, one of the takeaways I enjoyed most was the brainstrorming guidelines. We’ve all been a part of such ridiculous brainstorming sessions at work that you feel like you are stuck in an episode of The Office. These tips help participants toss away the crossword puzzles and really accomplish something productive.

Start by working alone.
Why did I never think of this before? Write all your good ideas down first so you can walk into the meeting feeling good. (Plus, it’ll give you a few minutes to check out everyone’s outfits.)

Put ideas on sticky notes.
This method can stop the painfully long process of reading out loud all of your ideas, plus it enables you to share your idea without getting shot down. Sticky notes can then be stuck to a flipchart and easily reorganized as the creative vibe takes off.

Make ideas specific and actionable, not general.
When you do speak your ideas, share examples of how your could be implemented, instead of making general statements like “improve ….”

Number all ideas.
This helps you keep the ideas in order, plus you can set a goal for the number of ideas you’d like to achieve. This brings something measurable to the meeting, plus it helps stimulate some competition and energy. According to Thomas: a good brainstorm session generates 100 ideas in one hour!

Avoid judging ideas when discussing.
AMEN! As an outspoken participant in these types of meetings, I would be worn out with the negativity produced by all those who chose to watch and judge rather than participate. Thomas says avoid evaluating ideas and don’t discuss the merits of an idea or express approval or disapproval. Strive for quantity instead of quality at this stage in the process.

Build on others’ ideas.
Add to an idea to make it bigger, smaller or merge it with another idea. You can also make an idea more actionable or look at it from another perspective. Just don’t criticize it.

Go crazy with your ideas.
With this safe envionment, you can be vulnerable. Making a wild idea more mainstream is easier than making a boring idea interesting.

These tips would make a brainstorming session that I would enjoy participating in!

I could blame this website’s interface, but in reality, I just wasn’t paying attention. It’s funny how all these years, I thought I was really detail-oriented. I think I even have it on my resume. And I do have fantastic attention to detail in areas like writing and proofreading.

But my attention to detail doesn’t apply to all areas. I have to leave that for the perfectionists. I know because I am married to a perfectionist. Let me tell you: Brett’s got a whole other level of attention to detail. Wow… that’s all I have to say.

But the good thing about my lack of detail is that I am able to see the big picture: the vision. All the details often clutter perfectionist’s perspective, but I can put those details in a box entitled, “Deal with that later.” I can make a plan to accomplish a big task, and I can usually handle most of the details.

Except occasionally, like today, I move a little too fast for my own good.

What’s your innovation style?
Just like personalities, people bring different innovation styles to the table.

Visioning
To imagine the ideal future

• What is the ideal long-term solution?
• What if we started from scratch?
• Why not?

Modifying
To refine and optimize what has come before

• What can we do to improve upon and optimize what we’ve done?
• What has been done before that we can build upon?

Exploring
To discover new and novel possibilities

• What assumptions can we challenge, and what new ideas would result?
• What is a metaphor for this situation – and how does it give us new insights and ideas?

Experimenting
To combine and test many combinations

• How can we get other people’s creative input on this?
• What can we combine to put together a new solution?

Which style are you?

I think I am a modifying style, although sometimes I also employ the exploring style.

I read this quote in Maximum Impact’s Leadership Wired newsletter today, and I thought it was very wise.

“The most successful businessman is the man who holds onto the old just as long as it is good, and grabs the new just as soon as it is better.”
~ Robert P. Vanderpoel

Interestingly enough, my husband is what many people would consider “an early adopter” of new technologies. We have many amazing technology tools that enhance our lives (and yes, he did wait in line to buy the iPhone on the first day).

However, in many cases, he waits quite a long time (sometimes even longer than the general public) to buy into new technology. When I ask him why he’s still waiting, he almost always says that the technology isn’t ready yet. Like the quote says, he’s waiting for the technology to be better than the previous solution before making a change.