Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Social Entrepreneurs Competition
Dear Friend of Echoing Green,
We are excited to launch our search for the next class of Echoing Green fellows. If you are interested in applying, you can get started now by downloading the application questions here. We will be in touch again when the online application goes live.
Complete details are available at: http://www.echoinggreen.org/fellowship
And please consider helping us spread the word more broadly:
· Forward this to group email lists or list-servs that you have access to
· Submit the note below to any newsletters where you can contribute
· Blog, Tweet, mention on Facebook/LinkedIn, etc.
Thank you so much!
Rebecca
- - - - - - - - - -
Rebecca Magee
Data and Events Coordinator, Fellow and Alumni Programs
Echoing Green
A: 494 Eighth Avenue Second Floor
New York, NY 10001
W: http://www.echoinggreen.org
T: @echoinggreen
Echoing Green Seeks World’s Leading Social Entrepreneurs
Since 1987, Echoing Green has provided seed funding and support to nearly 500 social entrepreneurs – including the founders of Teach For America, City Year, College Summit, SKS Microfinance, and Genocide Intervention Network.
In Spring 2011 Echoing Green will award between 12 and 20 fellowships to early-stage social entrepreneurs. Fellows receive up to $90,000 in seed funding over two years, technical support, and access to a powerful global community of fellows and alumni.
The online application will open in October 2010. Right now, potential applicants should review the application questionsand sign up for application updatesfrom us. Complete details are available at: http://www.echoinggreen.org/fellowship
Turn your dream for social change into a reality.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Sales And Golf, the ‘Links’ to Learn
I have studied the strong bond between golf and salesmen. Probably since the outset of the game, and most of the top sales professionals are extremely good golfers, a lot of business is conducted on the links, but this article isn’t about how to sell on the golf course, rather it’s about the many similarities between selling and playing the perfect round of golf.
An adept player says, “It’s a funny thing, the more I practice the luckier I get.” The same can be said of sales: the more activity you put into your craft and work day, the better the results will be. Selling is not about luck or chance, top salesmen may give the impression that it’s easy, but that has come from years of practice, and often many costly mistakes. The bottom line is, you can’t shortcut the hard work needed to be successful (and that goes for anything in life!)
The object of the game of golf is very simple: you have clubs and a little, white ball, the course has 18 holes, and you have to hit the little ball as few times as possible until it goes into the hole. Likewise (the game of) sales is equally as simple: there are buyers and there are sellers, and there are products and services. The salesman has to sell his products or services to as many buyers as possible. Just like golf, even if you are playing in a group, every time you’re really just playing against yourself. With sales it’s the same thing: what you’re really selling is yourself (the product or service is usually secondary, unless you have a high-demand item and limited availability.)
Both golf and sales are a mental game. If you walk onto the golf course with the wrong attitude, it will show in your performance. If you make a bad stroke and stew over it, you’ll have a run of bad strokes. Keep a clear head, take it each shot at a time, don’t over-think it, and you’ll be surprised how much better you play. The same applies to sales. If you have problems at home and you drag those thoughts around with you, you won’t be as productive that day. If you have money issues, the potential buyer will pick up on the fact that you want the sale more than they need what you’re selling. If a sales appointment goes badly, have some techniques to clear your head and move on. Conversely, if you have a great appointment and make a sale, leverage that positive attitude and turn a great day into an awesome day.
I’ll leave you with one other useful comparison: know when to call it a day. When your energy is high, the weather is perfect, and your game is on, that is the time to consider maybe playing two rounds (or at least another 9!) Just the same with a perfect sales day or week, even if you’ve hit your quota, this is the time to get ahead to cover for the bad times – go for a personal record. At the opposite spectrum, if a bad day just keeps getting worse, you’re doing yourself no favors by battling on regardless – that’s when a bad day can turn into a big slump. Best thing you can do on a day like that… Dust off the clubs and head to the country club!
Adopted from Anthony Donnelly
The object of the game of golf is very simple: you have clubs and a little, white ball, the course has 18 holes, and you have to hit the little ball as few times as possible until it goes into the hole. Likewise (the game of) sales is equally as simple: there are buyers and there are sellers, and there are products and services. The salesman has to sell his products or services to as many buyers as possible. Just like golf, even if you are playing in a group, every time you’re really just playing against yourself. With sales it’s the same thing: what you’re really selling is yourself (the product or service is usually secondary, unless you have a high-demand item and limited availability.)
Both golf and sales are a mental game. If you walk onto the golf course with the wrong attitude, it will show in your performance. If you make a bad stroke and stew over it, you’ll have a run of bad strokes. Keep a clear head, take it each shot at a time, don’t over-think it, and you’ll be surprised how much better you play. The same applies to sales. If you have problems at home and you drag those thoughts around with you, you won’t be as productive that day. If you have money issues, the potential buyer will pick up on the fact that you want the sale more than they need what you’re selling. If a sales appointment goes badly, have some techniques to clear your head and move on. Conversely, if you have a great appointment and make a sale, leverage that positive attitude and turn a great day into an awesome day.
I’ll leave you with one other useful comparison: know when to call it a day. When your energy is high, the weather is perfect, and your game is on, that is the time to consider maybe playing two rounds (or at least another 9!) Just the same with a perfect sales day or week, even if you’ve hit your quota, this is the time to get ahead to cover for the bad times – go for a personal record. At the opposite spectrum, if a bad day just keeps getting worse, you’re doing yourself no favors by battling on regardless – that’s when a bad day can turn into a big slump. Best thing you can do on a day like that… Dust off the clubs and head to the country club!
Adopted from Anthony Donnelly
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
After Your Best Wish...
You can dream for the loftiest heights within reach of your imagination. On the highest peak, there is still left more of the best for you.
Last Saturday, I attended a wedding in Naivasha, my hometown. Meeting acquaintances last seen more than 10 years ago brought nostalgia and with it memories of the strongest desires then for the future.
Oscar Wilde said, “When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers". If some of the prayers of our former lives were answered, we would prefer to be far from the answer.
Since we dream to be something, we rarely become. I believe the easy to achieve dreams are those of getting qualities in life such as love and happiness around us. However we aspire for what is seen and approved by others in title and position in life.
Dreaming and seeking qualities of life that are indestructible is independent of title and position in life. Whether in a shack or palace, you will always have them.
When young, there are many dreams I had that related little to life qualities of love and relationship. There was great inspiration from the teachers seeing them as know it all. That then was a big dream.
Today, having obtained an Engineering degree, practiced and smelled of lofty positions, the real dream is to be a model father to my children and a good friend to those around me. A strong relationship with God is the highest inspiration. It is much more than any position I could wish for.
Five wishes by Gay Hendricks will be an interesting read for you.
Last Saturday, I attended a wedding in Naivasha, my hometown. Meeting acquaintances last seen more than 10 years ago brought nostalgia and with it memories of the strongest desires then for the future.
Oscar Wilde said, “When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers". If some of the prayers of our former lives were answered, we would prefer to be far from the answer.
Since we dream to be something, we rarely become. I believe the easy to achieve dreams are those of getting qualities in life such as love and happiness around us. However we aspire for what is seen and approved by others in title and position in life.
Dreaming and seeking qualities of life that are indestructible is independent of title and position in life. Whether in a shack or palace, you will always have them.
When young, there are many dreams I had that related little to life qualities of love and relationship. There was great inspiration from the teachers seeing them as know it all. That then was a big dream.
Today, having obtained an Engineering degree, practiced and smelled of lofty positions, the real dream is to be a model father to my children and a good friend to those around me. A strong relationship with God is the highest inspiration. It is much more than any position I could wish for.
Five wishes by Gay Hendricks will be an interesting read for you.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Instructions
When is the last time you read instructions for your new gadget? For three years we have been using a microwave oven the wrong way. When we got the microwave oven, all we did was plug it in the socket and started using.
Today morning while in Kitchen I realized that the top surface was dirty and the thin vinyl covering was coming off. I thought, can’t this be removed? Then the clear notice in three languages became noticeable to me for the first time, “your microwave oven is covered by a vinyl covering to protect it. BEFORE using for the first time, remove the covering bottom up”. A diagram was drawn to show this. I pealed the covering in one minute.
Today morning I am going to the bank for the third day with embarrassment. I deposited money I a fixed account six months ago, got the certificate and misplaced it. Yesterday my wife found it in a place where we had not searched – next to the wedding certificate. On the deposit certificate are instructions for recovering the money on maturity. The last two days I claimed to the bank that I knew nothing about the instruction. It time to bite the humble pie and admit that I was wrong.
Life can be easier today if you read and understand the instructions for your life today. There is the best source for you here.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Are you an Entrepreneur or Intrapreneur?
The term entrepreneur is common. Not so with intrapreneur. This is a new word adopted by 1992 when the American Heritage Dictionary adopted it to mean "A person within a large corporation who takes direct responsibility for turning an idea into a profitable finished product through assertive risk-taking and innovation". It is an employee who takes initiative and self-motivated to use a corporate management style that integrates risk-taking and innovation approaches as well as the reward and motivational techniques, that are more traditionally thought of as being the province of entrepreneurship.
While much is today talked and advanced about entrepreneurship not much is said about intraprenurship. Before venturing into business, you need to search within yourself to find out what you best suited. Your gifting might lead you to be more suited to work within an organizational structure that is already established and running rather than to create your own.
Gifford Pinchot's out-of print book " Intrapreneuring, Why You Don't Have to Leave the Corporation to Become an Entrepreneur" provides 10 commandments for intrapreneurs:
Do any job needed to make your project work regardless of your job description.
Share credit wisely.
Remember, it is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.
Come to work each day willing to be fired.
Ask for advice before asking for resources.
Follow your intuition about people; build a team of the best.
Build a quiet coalition for your idea; early publicity triggers the corporate immune system.
Never bet on a race unless you are running in it.
Be true to your goals, but realistic about ways to achieve them.
Honor your sponsors.
As an entrepreneur, you are well aware of the great risks you have to take to enter into new ventures on your own. Are you ready for this lonely journey?
Before taking a leap out of employment as yourself what you are best suited for – an entrepreneur or intraprenur?
While much is today talked and advanced about entrepreneurship not much is said about intraprenurship. Before venturing into business, you need to search within yourself to find out what you best suited. Your gifting might lead you to be more suited to work within an organizational structure that is already established and running rather than to create your own.
Gifford Pinchot's out-of print book " Intrapreneuring, Why You Don't Have to Leave the Corporation to Become an Entrepreneur" provides 10 commandments for intrapreneurs:
Do any job needed to make your project work regardless of your job description.
Share credit wisely.
Remember, it is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.
Come to work each day willing to be fired.
Ask for advice before asking for resources.
Follow your intuition about people; build a team of the best.
Build a quiet coalition for your idea; early publicity triggers the corporate immune system.
Never bet on a race unless you are running in it.
Be true to your goals, but realistic about ways to achieve them.
Honor your sponsors.
As an entrepreneur, you are well aware of the great risks you have to take to enter into new ventures on your own. Are you ready for this lonely journey?
Before taking a leap out of employment as yourself what you are best suited for – an entrepreneur or intraprenur?
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