My Unintended Social Media Education Strategy?

This blog post has relocated to a book, The WiseWorking Handbook. Please visit it there.  

Please purchase a copy at Balboa Press (http://bit.ly/1wfqwBU). 

For signed copies, reach me at craig@wiseworking.com. 

Thanks in advance for reading the book and spreading the word about it.

Finally, please rate it at Amazon.com, BN.com, GoodReads.com, and other websites where books are sold and reviewed. 

What readers are saying:

"The WiseWorking Handbook is written in a down to earth, engaging style.” - Bud Bulanich

"Get this book. Read it. Keep it handy for when you need a little inspiration or some solid advice on how to work wisely and increase your value at work.” - Bud Bulanich

Storytelling: A Critical Success Factor in wise working?

While in my Design Management MBA graduate program, I cultivated an interest in storytelling and how it works in personal and organizational relations. I subsequently completed my master's thesis in this area, exploring the question of whether storytelling is a critical success factor in (client/consultant) relationships. Recently, I has the occasion to present this research at the Drexel University i-School, I thought you might enjoy seeing the video of my lecture as well as the slides which I used.

The video can be found at: http://www.ischool.drexel.edu/video#56

The slides are below:

Storytelling Dissertation Slides 2 24 09 (For Drexel I School)

View more presentations from Craig Delarge.

A few important takeaways from this talk are:

1. We use stories to make sense of experience, indeed the world revolves around stories and we underestimate this to our disadvantage.

2. Stories are an important tool in educating (transferring knowledge), influencing the culture of our relationships & organizations, managing conflict, communicating vision, demonstrating leadership and establishing brands (especially your personal brand).

3. Storytelling is an art form we should all study and strengthen as anyone can learn its use and its ill-use damages us and our relationships with ourselves and others.

4. "Story listening" is at least as important as storytelling as it offers a window into the world of others and improves our ability to empathize with and serve others be that at work, home or otherwhere.

5. Stories can be used as an "evidence of service". Often our lack of knowing/telling good stories about our contribution keeps us from achieving many of our goals at work and in our careers.

6. Storytelling can be risky requiring sincerity, empathy, thought, planning and an understanding of the audience. Study storytelling and your audience so that it does not backfire on you.

There are many good books on this topic but the most broadly comprehensive I have seen is Denning's, "The Leader's Guide to Storytelling".

As always, I would love to hear examples of where you have used storytelling to advantage in your wise working.

Cultivating Customers versus Employers

This blog post has relocated to a book, The WiseWorking Handbook. Please visit it there.  

Please purchase a copy at Balboa Press (http://bit.ly/1wfqwBU). 

For signed copies, reach me at craig@wiseworking.com. 

Thanks in advance for reading the book and spreading the word about it.

Finally, please rate it at Amazon.com, BN.com, GoodReads.com, and other websites where books are sold and reviewed. 

What readers are saying:

"The WiseWorking Handbook is written in a down to earth, engaging style.” - Bud Bulanich

"Get this book. Read it. Keep it handy for when you need a little inspiration or some solid advice on how to work wisely and increase your value at work.” - Bud Bulanich

Finding Your Natural Gifts: The 1 Day Workshop

Twice a year I teach a one day seminar at my church, Christian Stronghold Church, in Philadelphia, PA. It is an abridged version of a 12 week course I teach in our Church Bible Institute. It is called "Finding Your Natural Gifts: Becoming A Maximum Income Earner".

This workshop examines how we are all gifted but largely ignorant about, and in denial of those gifts. It addresses the importance of connecting our gifts to some need in the world as a means of earning a maximum income both in financial, social and spiritual terms.

It calls the student to engage in a series of personal and social explorations from Kise, Jones & other sources, to search out, identify and act on their life mission which is tied to Bolles "3 Pillars of Mission", namely, 1) talents of delight, 2) places & settings of appeal and 3) purposes that resonate.

The explorations are related to one's interests, personality, values, natural aptitudes, learning style, life narrative, passions, priorities and barriers. With every exploration, one gains a richer picture of who they are, how they are gifted and what they have to offer in exchange for income.

This workshop is always a tremendous blessing to deliver and has never ceased to teach me something new about my own giftedness in the close to 8 years I have been teaching it.

Below are the slides from this workshop. Enjoy and please reach to me if you want to discuss further:

Finding Your Natural Gifts (1 day seminar) 2 28 09

View more presentations from cadelarge. (tags: career gifts)