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Issue No. 9 October 2008
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Welcome to issue nine of my ezine. If you enjoyed last month you'll be craaaaazy about this month! The purpose of this ezine continues to be inspiration, humor, business, personal and just plain fun: aka the don't-take-yourself-so-seriously ezine.
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| MUSINGS FROM MIKKI
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This is me at 6...the ultimate networker!
When you think of October, you naturally think of Halloween. The only memory I have of that holiday is how flattered I felt when I found out people went to costume parties as ME! It just reinforced my own quote (and you know I love to quote myself!), "Don't be different, be unique."
 I am writing this on my way home from Las Vegas where I spent less than 24 hours (yes, on purpose). I flew in to celebrate my special friend Tamilee Webb's (aka Buns of Steel) 50th birthday with 25 other  women. Suffice it to say, it was a wild occasion (Tamilee and me above). Here I am doing a pseudo-pole dance on the limo bus. The theme was, "Party Like a Rock Star," ...and so we did.
On a more professional note, and quite the contrast, I left for that event on the heels (pun intended) of my two day Speakers School which had fantastic attendance, a great mix of attendees from as far as Calgary and the wilds of Kansas City. Happy to announce that due to popular demand we will now be offering Speakers School three times a year; September, February and April.
"Ain't life grand?" so they say. (Who is "they" anyway?)
Gabriel Baum testing his presentation skills at Speakers School.
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I LOVE THIS BOOK!
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 Synchronicity
The Inner Path of Leadership
by Joseph Jaworski
We've all had those perfect moments, when things come together in an almost unbelievable way, when events that could never be predicted, let alone controlled, remarkably seem to guide us along our path. Carl Jung defines synchronicity as, "A meaningful coincidence of two or more events, where something other than the probability of change is involved." My quest to understand this phenomenon has inspired me to read many books on the subject. I've always been a person "in the now" and therefore have often paid attention to those serendipitious moments in my life and have never taken them for granted. This book is the premise of those adventures and what lessons can be gleaned from them. He offers a new and profound definition of leadership.
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YOU'VE GOT PERSONNEL-ITY
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or YOU'VE GOT PERSONALITY (depending on the audience and the objectives.)
Remember that Lloyd Price song, You've Got Personality? In addition to my speaking I also do training and one of my favorite areas to work in is behavioral science. As a distributor of Inscape Publishing products for over 20 years I have used learning instruments like the Personal Profile, Time Management, Stress Management and Adventures in Attitudes to deliver keynotes, seminars, workshops and long term programs. Helping people discover their personality style using the DISC is one of my favorites. By helping people discover that they behave differently in different environments they can recognize and understand this in others. This helps in sales, customer service, leadership, teamwork and relationships to foster understanding in dealing with other people. The actual profiles are
self-scoring so people can use them on their own but then, of course, they wouldn't benefit from my stylized, informative, humorous presentations☺.
Who do you think you are? At home? At work?
D- Demanding, impatient, decisive, risk, ego, control, competitive.
I- Influencing, emotional, trusting, generous, people, sensitive
S- Steady, family oriented, friendly, loyal, patient
C- Critical, competent, conservative, conscientious, cautious
You just thought of others too, didn't you? Your spouse, your boss, your kids...?
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CREATIVE CAPTIONS
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I love creativity and as a wordsmith I love double entendres, alliteration, onomato... whatever the heck that one was. One of my quirky habits is collecting names of businesses that display any of the above. Here are two of my favorites:
House of the Rising Bun (bakery) Submitted by Ellen Hefter
The Leash I Can Do (dog walking) Submitted by Ken Alan
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I hope you'll continue to send me ones you know of.
Please send to mikki@mikkiwilliams.com |
| SHOE-BE-DOO STORIES |
Yes, I own about a billion pairs of shoes. And each pair has a story to inspire, a lesson to be learned, a laugh or an "aha!"
My first three years of professional speaking took me all over the world, from South Africa to Singapore to Europe, Australia and beyond. There will be many stories to come from  those experiences BUT...there were many places I yearned to visit that did not call on me for speaking. So I vowed to see them all on my own. I love glamour...heck, I bet you all know that, don't you? ☺ I wanted to go to the Spanish Riviera, the Costa del Sol in Majorca, Spain. I was speaking in the UK at a fitness convention when I broke a nail and another presenter offered to fix it for me, Pam Cosmi from Detroit. We bonded (pun intended) over that nail and before we knew it we were off to  Spain on holiday. It doesn't end there. We both loved to cook so we added on a stay at a Portugese cooking school at Hotel Refugio da Vila located in the heart of Portugal's sunny Alentejo region. I learned how to make cod 450 ways AND I got these great shoes.
Hotel de Vila Refugio
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WONDERFUL WEBSITES
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I come across so many and so many are shared with me that I thought I'd share with you.
www.Tut.com
How wonderful to get a note from the Universe to start your day!
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MIKKI MOUTH:
QUOTATIONS I WISH I'D SAID AND SOME I DID SAY! |
 Enjoy a quote each month from my new book - some funny, some poignant, some professional, some just darn cute!
I don't know who said it but here's my favorite quote this month:
"Today I went to buy a toaster and was given a bank as a free gift."
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READER REVIEWS
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"I have found that I don't have the time to read the newsletters that get sent to me so most are labeled as junk and dropped out of my inbox. Only yours is so much fun I read it all the way through. Thank you to you and Sam for brightening my day."
Hazel Wagner, PhD, CMC
The Business Brainstorming Coach
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| VISTAGE VIGNETTE |
As a speaker resource for Vistage International for 15 years and Chair of two groups for seven years I have the opportunity to interact with some of the most dynamic business leaders. Vistage is the world's largest executive organization with 15,000 members worldwide. It is to my delight to profile one of them each month.
TOM RICKERT
Gregg Communications provides traditional and VoIP telephone systems to small and medium size businesses. Gregg has earned an excellent reputation for providing outstanding support before, during and after the installation. Its employees average over 20 years with Gregg and have been instrumental in Gregg achieving world-class customer service levels. One of Gregg's suppliers, ShoreTel, which is considered the leading VoIP supplier in the industry, conducts customer experience surveys with every installation, wherein Gregg has achieved a customer satisfaction rating of over 93%. Gregg also is well known throughout the industry for its expertise with call centers, having installed over 700 call centers nationally.
Tom Rickert, President of Gregg Communications, joined Gregg as a sales representative in 1975. His wife, Joan, just resumed her teaching career and teaches Physical Education for District 181 in Hinsdale. They have three children: Emily just graduated from the University of Notre Dame and is attending law school at the University of Illinois; Steve is studying business and playing football for Butler University; and TJ is a sophomore at Benet Academy, where he plays football and basketball. The Rickert family resides in Naperville.
For more information call Tom at 630.706.8212 or visit his website: www.greggcomm.com
For more information on Vistage International click here:
Vistage International
If you are interested in becoming a member of a Vistage group anywhere in the world, or a speaker or a Chair, drop us a line:
mikki@mikkiwilliams.com |
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HE WHO LAUGHS, LASTS!
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Political Time
(It seems only fitting...don't shoot the messenger☺)
Little Suzy had a box of very small kittens that she was trying to give away, so she had them out on the street corner with a sign, "FREE KITTENS." Suddenly a long line of big black cars came up with a policeman on a motorcycle in front. The cars all stopped and a tall, distinguished, gray-haired man stepped out from the biggest car. "Hi, little girl, what do you have there in the box?" he asked. "Kittens," Suzy replied. "They're so small they don't even have their eyes open yet." "What kind of kittens are they?" The man asked. "Republicans," said little Suzy. The distinguished man smiled, returned to his car and drove away. Sensing a photo opportunity Senator McCain called his campaign manager and told him about the girl and the kittens. It was planned that they would return tomorrow, have all the media there and tell everyone about these Republican kittens. The next day little Suzy was standing on the corner with her box of kittens with the "Free Kittens" sign and the big motorcade of black cars pulled up with all the vans from ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN. Everyone had their cameras ready. Senator McCain stepped out of the car and walked up to little Suzy. "Now don't be frightened," he said. "I just want you to tell all these nice news people just what kind of kittens you're giving away today." "Yes, sir," little Suzy said, "they're all DEMOCRAT kittens." Taken by surprise Senator McCain said, "But yesterday you told me they were Republicans." "Yes, I know," l ittle Suzy says, "but today they have their eyes open." |
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THE HAPPY COOKER
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 Yes, that was the name of one of my businesses and oh, come on, I know guys cook too.
Hobson's Choice Apple Squash
8 cups peeled, cubed butternut squash (about 3 1/2lbs)
� cup sugar
1/3 cup quick cooking tapioca
� tsp salt
6 cups peeled, cubed Godlen Delicious apple (about 3 lbs)
pinch ground nutmeg
1 � cups apple cider
� tsp cinnamon
Preheat oven 350.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add squash, return to boil for 2 minutes. Drain.
Mix sugar, tapioca, salt, nutmeg in large bowl. Add apples, cider and squash, toss well. Spread evenly in 13 x 9 baking dish. Mix 3 more tbsp. sugar and � tsp. cinnamon and sprinkle over top of dish.
Bake 1 hour or until squash is tender.
Makes 10 servings.
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| MIKKI AND FRIENDS
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If
any of you remember the movie or Broadway show "Auntie Mame" or if
you're old enough to admit you remember it, then you might recall that
Mame was famous for her eclectic circle of friends. I pride myself on
that same principle of knowing so many diverse people and calling many
of them my friends. I would like to profile them and their expertise by
offering this monthly addition of tips, tactics and techniques shared
by experts in their field. Although someone once told me not to refer
to myself as an expert as an ex is a has-been and a spurt is little
more than a drip.
I have known the fascinating and eccentric Gabriel Baum for over 20 years when we both lived in Fairfield County, CT. My first assistant was his teenage daughter, Jessica. Gabriel and his wife, Frances, who I referred to as my TAE (travel agent extraordinaire), used to dog-sit for my Brat who loved their five cats. They moved to Chicago, I moved to Chicago, Jessica moved to Chicago and our friendship deepened.
Gabriel has lived a peripatetic (his word - he loves language like "moi") existence. Born in London, he still retains his British accent after twenty-five years in the US. His parents moved to Spain when he was nine and he and his brother were placed in a Spanish school. This in the days when flying was an exquisite adventure and tourism was rare. His schoolmates had never seen a foreigner and they reacted accordingly. Gabriel retains good friends, fluent Spanish and a few scars from those days.
His resume reads like a who's who of the business world as he was an executive at Xerox, Nokia, EMI, Digital Research, Lotus and Mattel. The stories of Gabriel's and Mattel's early videogame era are well-documented and can be found by Googling "Blue Sky Rangers."
He became CTO at Navteq, the electronic map company, here in Chicago and here he has stayed. "I used to fly over Chicago and on bad days, through Chicago," he said, "but I never knew Chicago. Now, I wouldn't be anywhere else."
Gabriel is now President of Polynomics, a consulting company. He consults on technology and programming related subjects and retains his interest in languages and translation (see www.ModernLanguages.com). He teaches technology for translators as an adjunct faculty lecturer at the University of Chicago, Graham School.
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MIKKI'S MANTRA
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Be outrageous...it's the only place that isn't crowded.
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| FYI, FRIENDS |
Some people have told us the images in our ezine don't display. We've looked into this and have been told that the receiving email client has images disabled. So please check your settings, cuz you don't want to miss any of this. FUN THINGS TO CHECK OUT:1. My blog is finally up and running! Here's the link to read all about my Birthday Bash in France. Mikki's Blah, Blah...Blog2. Check out my Sam's blogs:Mr. Right-Enough, the blog about her novel
and
her personal blog: Samantha Hoffman3. In case you've missed past ezines here's a link to the archives:Archive page4. LISTEN TO A PODCAST OF MY VISTAGE INTERVIEW: Mikki's interview
GREAT NEWS!
I was just told that I am rated in the top 20 of Vistage Chairs nationwide! Very cool! |
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MIKKI ON THE MOVE
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Check out where Mikki will be speaking and piggyback
your company or association event. Or just invite her to dinner or
shopping!
Click here for her calendar:
Mikki On The Move
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SPEAKERS SCHOOL with Mikki Williams, CSP
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BIG NEWS!
DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND WE WILL BE DOING SPEAKERS SCHOOL THREE TIMES PER YEAR INSTEAD OF ONLY TWO.
The next Speakers School is
FEBRUARY 19-20, 2009.
Remember, one of the value-added features of your Speakers School registration is that you can keep coming back, as often as you wish, to brush up on your skills or glean information you missed the first time.
Speakers School is for people at all levels: novices, wannabes, CEOs, professionals.
Click here to register:
Speakers School
Read a testimonial from one of the fabulous attendees of the September School:
Anyone who speaks as a professional, a CEO, a sales exec, etc. in any industry needs this class! Heck, anyone who communicates with the English language could do it better with coaching.
John Wright
CEO
Chicago Packaging Corporation |
To book Mikki for your next event as a keynoter, emcee, panelist, seminar or workshop leader (she doesn't do floors or windows) or for more info on Vistage, Speakers Schools, Coaching or Consulting or anything else that's on your mind, contact Samantha or Mikki |
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MIKKI AND SAM GO TRICK-OR-TREATING!
Sam's going as Mikki. Mikki's going as a punk-rocker girl, which is what she would have been as a teenager if punk rock had been invented yet.
Thanks for spending
time with us!
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Hair She is...!
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