Working to Be a Leader

Everyone should have an iPad.  That’s how I’m feeling after using mine for the past month.  Everyone should have the ability to have a machine that is so responsive and lightweight, one that can put you into a good mood the way my iPad does for me.

It wasn’t my initial choice to buy an iPad.  It just happened in the course of working to be a leader while traveling.  I needed a lightweight solution for managing e-mails, writing blog posts, and editing articles.  The wonderful Dell Inspiron 600m laptop I’ve had since 2003 still works fine; the problem is that it’s heavy.  The newer models in the same line and a comparable price range are even heavier.  A netbook was a possibility but the screen is a little too small for my eyes.  When I was at a management conference, I saw a professor write on his tablet, a laptop computer with a screen that could translate his words into type.  However intriguing and time saving it was, my colleague warned me that the tablet was heavy.

So, one day I walked into the Apple store near me on the Upper West Side.  Warning: do not, I mean really DO NOT ENTER AN APPLE STORE unless you want to buy something that you really didn’t think you wanted.

My reason for entering the Apple store was to look at a Mac.  Relatives and friends had suggested I buy a Mac since I could I could find a model with a large screen that was probably in the weight range I needed.  Exploring the Mac interface, however, I quickly realized that I’m a PC person.  I’ve used Outlook/Exchange since 1996 and knew that I would not be happy with the Apple version called Entourage.  Plus, buying into a whole new way of using applications seemed like overkill for my needs.

“I want to look at an iPad.”  I give Dave, an Apple Specialist, credit.  Dave did not suggest that I look at an iPad.  I was lured to that area because I had walked by the store numerous times looking at the blown-up images of iPad screens posted on the walls (they were also posted throughout the city) and was curious about what the actual screens looked like.

That’s when it happened.  True love began to emerge.

Leigh's iPad

I was cautious, yet engaged, especially when Dave showed me how to enlarge the type on the screen with a few strokes of my fingers.  He wanted to show me movies and other sites that just didn’t interest me.  I was interested in a solution to easily manage my eight e-mail addresses, my need to search the web, and the opportunity to edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents.  Check, check, check!  The iPad fulfilled all that—and more.  Of course, I could read an e-book (Winnie the Pooh comes with the iPad), and download a zillion songs and applications from iTunes and the App Store.  That was icing on the compact cake that weighed in at 1.5 pounds.

I had to wait a week for my iPad since there were millions of other people who were also falling in love with the iPad.  When I brought my iPad home, I knew I had found the solution I needed.  Using the built-in keypad is a little awkward and there is no printer connection.  Nothing’s perfect.  It is what it is:  a lovely lightweight tablet that fulfills my traveling needs.

Last week, I spoke on the topic of “Social Media and Your Job Search:  A Strategic Approach” on Jane Cranston’s “Great Job In Tough Times” tele-seminar. 

 The positive responses to my talk inspired me repeat the program—and to offer a series of tele-seminars on the four major social media platforms.

Please click here to see a full menu of courses listed on the Public Seminars page of my website.  The titles include:

LinkedIn 101:  The Basics to Realize Returns on Relationships

Facebook 101:  How to Establish Online Work/Life Balance

Twitter 101 and You Tube Basics:  How to Make Your Tweets and Videos Remarkable.

If you don’t see what you want here, contact me at Leigh@ltr-nyc.com to discuss a customized tele-seminar or in-person workshop for a group of individuals or your company (programs for business will be on the next schedule).

Truth:  I resisted getting into social media for a long time.  Why?  I like in-person or telephone conversations so I can see and/hear the person.  And I don’t consider e-mail social media, although you can carry on long conversations that way.  Note:  I don’t text or IM.

This year, I’ve moved on to see the power of the connections social media facilitates through LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and lots of other platforms.  Oh, I still see vultures out there mining my information and am aware of the addictive qualities.  But I had a moment during which I saw the power of social media.

In August, I co-led a presentation on “Social Media:  What’s the Return on Investment?” for the New York Providers Liaison Association (NYPLA), an organization of professionals who work at substance abuse and addiction rehabilitation centers.

When I displayed my LinkedIn profile on the screen, I went to the Recommendations section.  There was a recommendation from La Wanda Stewart, a student at the Zicklin School of Business who was in my “Employee Development and Training” class last spring.

“I know that person,” announced a member of the audience.  “She’s wonderful.  La Wanda worked for me at an earlier job.”

My co-presenter started to tear up.  She was deeply moved by the co-incidence but also the power of the tool that had facilitated this event.

In that moment, I, too, felt the power of social media. 

However, I, too, am one to raise caution about the addictive qualities of social media and to endorse the need to stay in touch by seeing people face-to-face.