June 2019
ELECTRIC IMPULSE COMMUNICATIONS
 NEWSLETTER
HERBIE'S HINTS (named after my dad!)

 In some ways Father’s Day is a made-up holiday. You might say it is a Hallmark day created to sell Hallmark cards. In other ways it is a great way to stop and honor your father or some father figure.

I am glad that for 25 years I was at a horse show with my dad on Father’s Day week-end. It was usually the New Castle Arabian Horse Show in New Castle, Pa. one of my favorites.

I was able to be with my dad doing my favorite thing and he was doing his favorite thing too. This is a photo of a Father’s Day decades ago at the New Castle Horse Show. This is the original Electric Impulse and we had just won the championship in Arabian Mounted Native Costume . . . on Father’s Day. Although not in the photo, the photo was taken by my dad.

In the Jewish Prayer Book there is a passage that refers to God, Nearest as the air we breathe farther than the farthest star. I think it can also refer to a parent that is not here on earth anymore.

Happy Father’s Day to my dad and to all dads.
ASK LESLIE
Stay on Your Cutting Edge
A mixed message is defined as, “Any communication that is contradictory, inconsistent , or  unclear , especially in its  motive  or  intent ” In this brief video from a HorseTalk session, you will see a clear example of what giving a mixed message looks and sounds like .

Come to the Round Pen with Grey Lady and me and we will help you see the results of your communication and quickly make small changes to communicate with clarity.
Reflections on Writing a Book . . .
1. It's Harder Than You May Think
When Ernest Hemingway was asked if writing was difficult, he famously answered, “T here is nothing to  writing . All you do is sit down at a typewriter and  bleed . I thought of those words often as I muddled through this, my third book. At times, bleeding would have been less painful.

Lesson Learned:  Writing for me is a lot like running. It’s not the physical challenge in running one mile or six miles. For me it was a matter of mental toughness. Blogging takes a mental discipline of thinking on a schedule. It’s like running a sprint. Writing a book takes a different toughness like running a marathon. Are you prepared for the marathon?
2. Be Aware of Changes in Your Profession
The only reason I agreed to write a third book is that I found out that the actual process of printing books has changed very much in the last decade since I wrote book #2. It used to be that if you self-published you had to order books by the five hundreds: 500 books or 1000 books even for re-orders.

Lesson Learned:  When you order a book that is eventually available on Amazon it is actually printed just for each buyer. The author did not have to contract for 50 or 500 or 5000 books. And the author does not have to do the painstaking work of preparing every page for print. What changes have transpired in your world that will make your life easier?
3. Stand Up for What You Believe
The graphic design team came up with a cover design and matching page design. I was excited to open the email attachment. Once opened I stared at it hoping it would get better the longer I stared. It didn’t. I didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings but I needed the designers to clearly know why I didn’t like the first design. The next version needed to reflect my input.

Lesson Learned:  My dad used to say when you take the Band-Aid off, quickly pull it off. I have a client that says when you have to swallow a bug, swallow it fast. Once I knew there was no other option than to be direct with my feedback, I tore the Band-Aid off fast. Do you swallow the bug fast ?
4. True Grit
The answer to any communication challenge, and to me everything is a communication challenge, is to chunk it into pieces. When I started writing the book form of HorseTalk: Lessons in Leadership I did not set a specific amount of lessons or chapters. I guess I thought I would write until I had no more to write. Which is what happened until I hit a wall.

Lesson Learned:  The first 15 lessons came out quickly. The next 23 lessons kind of poured out of me and my experiences over the years in the pasture. The next 25 were hard but not impossible. Then came the need for grit. It took true grit from 73 – 83. I thought I was done and wrote #83 as my final lesson. Then somehow I gritted through 17 more. Can you all upon true grit when you need it?
5. Commit to a Schedule
When I was writing my Master’s Thesis my thesis committee suggested that I create a schedule that would divide the school year into chapters. They contended that even if I missed a chapter deadline, my thesis would be farther along than if I didn’t have targeted dates for each chapter.

Lesson Learned:  I didn’t create the schedule and I didn’t finish my thesis on time. For this HorseTalk book I didn’t create a master schedule but I did give a deadline date for each set of lessons as I began each group of lessons. And I didn’t miss a deadline. Can you benefit from a self-imposed deadline ?
Leslie in Person
June 26 - Great Presentations, Women's Network
July 25 - Professional Etiquette
September 5 - Speed Networking

Forum 360 with Leslie as Moderator
Upcoming Show:  
Pulse Point with Joseph Natko, District Chief Akron Fire Department
Civility Center with Dr. Matt Akers, Bliss Institute

Watch/ Listen to Forum 360:
Western Reserve Public Media, PBS-TV, PBS Fusion Channels 45 & 49 (Time Warner channel 993) - Mondays at 8 pm and Saturdays at 5:00 pm. After the show airs, you can download it here.
WONE FM 97.5 Sunday 6 am
For online streaming go to  http://wone.net/  and click Listen Live. 
WAKR AM 1590 Sunday, 5:00 pm, Monday 12:30 am For online streaming go to http://akronnewsnow.com/  and click Listen Live.
We live far away from traffic. Benji has developed a dangerous habit. The infrequent times a car does come up our drive, Benji runs toward the vehicle. Usually dogs chase cars. Not Benji. Benji runs full speed toward a car if he can find a moment to do just that.

Compared to Natcha chasing Frisbees, Benji is pretty slow. But if he has a chance to run toward the Fed Ex truck, my heart stops. You can’t imagine how many times there is one second here and two seconds there where he finds the opportunity.

So we ordered signs to post on our trees to slow down for pets. It’s my responsibility to keep him safe. Are you protecting your team members?
August 2 or September 20
Remember, whether you are with a horse, a goat or a partner, the way you do  anything  is the way you do  everything : 

The more you embrace that how you are in the pasture is how you are in your career and in life, the more you will get out of this day.
   
October 29: Special Combined Boot Camp & Video Session, from 1pm - 5pm
Media Boot Camp prepares you for everything from a TED TALK to a PODCAST, to a FaceBook VIDEO, OR to be a guest on TV. *Text or email your favorite media star and come for half price


*Email us at  [email protected]  for further information or to RSVP to one of our events.

     
Ask me about my 10 in 10! 
Electric Impulse Communications
330.668.6569
http://electricimpulse.com
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