Here’s a good article on Mashable that lists places where entrepreneurs can talk to each other:

HOW TO: Connect with Other Entrepreneurs Online

I have recently thrown myself into online writing, learning and participating in other people’s blogs. It easily is a full time job.

It becomes difficult to determine where best to spend your time. There is high value in so many different areas.

I’ve really started focusing on just doing what I want to do. If I don’t want to do it, I try to do everything in my power to not do it. There are just so many things that I want to do and are valuable to my company.

Maybe these will be some sites I’ll spend some time on.

First, let me say, I haven’t approved this position with my COO, Greg. He’ll probably be annoyed I am posting this. Just don’t tell him.

But if I can come to him with an interesting idea, he might go for it and let me do it

This is what I’m looking to get help with:

• Managing my calls.
  • I get calls on my cell phone, my Google Voice, my office number… even my home number.
  • Returning calls and either scheduling call backs, meetings or what would be really awesome: handling the issue.
• Managing my email.
  • I probably spend 2 hours a day just going through my emails. I’m not exactly sure how we could handle this. But if we came up with something, that would be amazing.
• Following up on proposals I’ve sent to people. I’m terrible at this. Just having a quick call to ask if they have any questions would be amazing.
• Helping me compile data of clients so that I can quickly view what is going on with their projects. Ultimately, I want to know what their goals are and I want to know how we’re doing in achieving these goals.
• I could use help compiling notes at meetings and calls and then providing follow up information to me and the person I had a meeting with.
• I could use help uploading and posting videos to various sites.
• I could use help with write-ups and maybe even captions of my videos. (For some reason, while I can write a blog post forever, I can’t seem to ever force myself to do good writings about my videos.)

If you look at all those things, you’ll see that they are all details. I realize details are incredibly important. I also realize that I’m terrible at them. Details abuse my brain. They are like ice pellets to me. Like I said, I know they are crucial. But I stink at managing them. That’s why I’m looking for your help.

I really just want to be able to spend more time writing, thinking, teaching and working with people on strategy concepts. I’m the visionary. I’m the concept guy. That’s where I want to be.

So, this has some interesting aspects to it.

First, if you are into Web marketing, this would give you a front row seat to that world. You would get a lot of Web marketing exposure.

Second, if you are interested in running your own business, you might find it interesting working with a small business owner.

But here’s why I’m not sure this will work out:

First, I’m obsessed with fast communication. If you are working with me as an assistant you are, in effect, representing me. You have to be smart, quick and a people pleaser. You have to care about what these people think of us as much as I do.

Second, you have to be great at customer service. I worked nearly two years as a breakfast server at The Ritz-Carlton so I could learn what the greatest customer service in the world looks like. You have to be Ritz-Carlton good.

Third, you have to be great on a computer. You have to love search, social… tech. You have to love it because you are going to learn a lot.

So, that’s what I’m thinking.

Does this interest you?

If it does, let me know. Tell me why you are interested and why you think you’d be a good fit.

I can’t promise this will happen. But if we can come up with a good plan maybe we’ll make it happen.

It’s possible this could be many things:

• An internship
• Part time
• Full time
• Remote

Who knows. If you want it and think you’re up to it, hit me back.

The first test will be to find out how to communicate with me. If you want it, you’ll find a way.

I watched a great special last night on the life of Steve Jobs. I’m not really an Apple/mac/ipod/iphone/ipad kind of person.

But I’m definitely a Steve Jobs kind of person. He probably is a major business hero for me.

I love his story because he grew up in a blue collar home (his adopted parents, actually) and then went on to make a massive contribution to the progress of technology.

His vision is a major reason why you have a computer in your home today.

I love his story because he had audacious vision. He saw greatness in what he loved. He wanted a computer in every home.

That’s insane, if you think about it. But he did it.

It’s the insane dream that floors me. It makes me ask, “What is my dream?” “What insane thing do I want?” It’s people like Steve Jobs that make me want to try harder, to be better.

I went to a breakfast this morning that featured the president of ComDoc. I was compelled to go to this breakfast because Riley is a pretty forward thinking cat. He is highly focused on his culture and his team. That’s my game, too. So, I wanted to be sure I heard him speak. I’m happy to say, he definitely delivered. He’s my kind of guy… genuine, humble and caring.

These are notes from the meeting. (I’ll follow up with how I think a person could continue to evolve from Riley’s position… which is quite evolved, indeed.)

He started out by saying that business is all about People and Expectations. Once those are taken care of they create Process and Strategy. Those four areas make up the essence of a complete business system.

He said that there is no better laboratory for personal development than business. I have always likened it to a dojo. I’m learning skills that make my life on planet earth deeper and more fulfilling. These skills are also directly applicable to all other parts of life.

He said that “feedback is the greatest gift you can give a person.” I agree with that. But I know many people who just don’t want to know. This knowledge has to be handled carefully.

He said the leader is measured by his people. If his people are getting better in work, community and family, the leader is succeeding.

He said, “The best I can be is equal to my team.” You can also be worse than the team. But you can never be better than your team.

He said that what we do isn’t important. It’s how we do it that matters. The business you choose provides a vehicle to become the best we can be… to be of service to each other, our family, our community and our clients. I’ve often struggled with this very thing. Web marketing is not exactly a socially beneficial career. But I can help other more socially beneficial companies, and I’m helping myself and my team to be better people to help themselves, their family and their community.

“Preparation meets opportunity that creates luck.” That’s my kind of saying. I often say, “the harder I work the luckier I get.” Same idea, I suppose.

He says that you must be open. Being closed will guarantee you that you will miss opportunities.

“To those who have been given much, much is expected.” I first remember hearing this in Spiderman. Spidy’s uncle says, “To those with great power, come great responsibility.” This type of saying is important to me.

“Give, give, give some more and a lot comes back.”

He said that as a leader you are there to assist people be better people.

He said to “just make the decision.” If it’s the wrong decision it’s just an investment. I personally like the statement, “fortune favors the bold.”

“The best providers of feedback are the best receivers of feedback.”

He said that most of his growth had come through adversity. Mine too.

He said to live your values at home, at work and in the community.

He has what he calls, “State of the Business” meetings. These sound like impromptu meetings. This is where most of his feedback comes from.

So, those are my notes. I got a sense that he is really sincere about everything he says. I beleive that he believes it. I get a sense that he loves his vision: ComDoc: An employee owned company: A Great Place to work, a Great Place to be a customer.

In his overall Vision, Mission, Values and Beliefs, his Vision is the most innovative and the most clear. It’s that statement that clearly drives the company. The other items seem a bit less inspired. Although, his values are clearly thought out:
Accountability
Decisiveness
Ethics
Passion
Trust

They spell ADEPT.

I very much admired him. It’s great to see that companies within the area are innovating with creative leadership principles.

The key point that stood out to me was that it’s not important so much what you do but instead, how you do it. The practice of business is the practice of life. That is an enlightened, societally valuable insight.

But there was something within his speech that seemed… like when you see a mouse run across the floor. You wonder if you saw it… it was so fast. But there was no denying it… it was there. I believed everything he said. I believe in his integrity and his genuineness. Just the same, I felt all of it was to drive higher stock prices and higher growth percentages. I didn’t feel he was doing this for the sake of the good of his people. I felt he was doing it for the sake of the top and bottom line. …That he was enlightened with the value of innovative leadership and saw an opportunity. I suspect if he read this, he wouldn’t disagree. He wouldn’t feel I misunderstood him. That’s the difference between him and me.

Truth is the first casualty of war.
What is true is not nearly as important as what is believed to be true.

I was reading an article. It asked me to answer these questions:

What do I want out of life?
I want an exciting, busy life where I was able to make the lives of a few people better.
My defining role is: Father.

What do I want our of SageRock?
I want it to be the greatest place in the world to work.
I want it to allow me to be creative.
I want it to give me the opportunity to purue many challenging goals.

What kind of person do I want to be?
I want to be giving.
I want to be used by the world.

!vb:vs,33490!

I’ve been having some difficulty determining what my best use is at work these days. These are my thoughts on what I’m spending my time on.

From Harvard Business Review in the March 2006 book, they discuss a 12 question survey Gallup uses to assess the emotional bonds between workers and their companies. These are those questions:

• I know what is expected of me at work.
• I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right.
• At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.
• In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.
• My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.
• Someone at work encourages my development.
• At work, my opinions seem to count.
• The mission or purpose of my company makes me feel my job is important.
• My associates or fellow employees are committed to doing quality work.
• I have a best friend at work.
• In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.
• This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow.

To me, these seem like crucial questions.

Leadership is where even the biggest companies fall down. This is because leadership has so much to do with ego and survival.

Training someone for a leadership position means that you very well might be training your replacement. It also means that you might train someone that will do a better job than you. Consequently, any kind of leadership training is expected to be handled by Human Resources. Unfortunately, HR is not known for its innovation.

SageRock is setting out to create the finest leadership development program in the world.

The leadership training at SageRock has got to be ongoing. Every leader at SageRock should have some base requirements and then continual training… maybe something like 2 books or two classes a year on leadership. There should also probably be SageRock Leadership meetings… possibly every other month or something.

• Amazon.com: Appreciative Leaders: In the Eye of the Beholder: Books: Marjorie Schiller,Deanna Riley,Bea Mah Holland
• I haven’t read this yet. However, I’m learning the concept of appreciative leadership and I believe it is representative of exactly what I’m trying to achieve.
• There is also a teacher here in Akron that teaches this concept. Possibly he would be a good resource.
• Amazon.com: The Leadership Challenge, 3rd Edition: Books: James M. Kouzes,Barry Z. Posner
• This book has so many great thoughts and concepts.
• Amazon.com: Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness: Books: Stephen R. Covey,Robert K. Greenleaf,Larry C. Spears
• Also, I have not read this yet. But from what I’ve read on the topic, this is exactly where we are heading.

These might be the jumping off point and we’d go from there.