Month: April 2010

Flip Cam Is New Tool in Communications Tool Box

I’ve got a new tool and I’ve flipped for it. I’m sorry, but I just couldn’t resist the pun. It’s the Flip Video Camera. We’ve been using them for about six months.

I am a newspaper reporter by training. What do I know about video? That’s for TV crews. Well, not anymore. And in the PR worlds, video is becoming king. How many hours do you spend on YouTube or sharing videos? I know – it’s more than you want to admit. But think about it, if you’re doing it, so are thousands of others.

The Flip is so easy to use. When mine arrived at the office, I did what any teen would do. I took it out of the box and started playing with it. I never read the instructions. Still haven’t to this day. And that’s my point. It’s that easy.

It’s basically a point and shoot video camera. Even better, when you want to transfer your video to your computer, a USB connector pops out and you attach the camera directly to your computer. No more worrying about video file transfer.

So why do you need a Flip cam? Because you need video on your Web site. You need video on your intranet. You need video to share with reporters.

We’re getting ready to use it at the NFPW board meeting in New Mexico. We’re going to share through video what your board is doing. It’s all about making NFPW more accessible and transparent.   

At my office, we’ve videotaped our CEO and immediately posted it to the Web. We gave the cameras out as an incentive to staff in our field offices in The Gambia and Zambia. They shot great video for us that we could post to our Web site. It makes our work more authentic. When people can actually see that their contributions are changing lives, that’s powerful stuff.

That’s the power of the Flip camera.  And by the way, I don’t work for the company that makes these cameras and I’m not getting any royalties for this blog. I just think it’s a great tool. So do others since there are even classes and CDs on using the Flip Cam.

 Although they are easy to use, here are a few pointers, all of which I’ve learned the hard way through trial and error –

  • Stand close to the subject when interviewing if you want good sound quality. Avoid noisy backgrounds.
  • Stand close to your subject – very close. Then zoom in for a better shot.
  • Hold the camera steady to avoid jerky movements. Better yet, get a tripod.

‘Experience of Elsewhere’ a Valuable Leadership Lesson

After spending a week immersed in developing my leadership skills, I’m taking any opportunity to keep the lessons learned at the front of my thinking. I read a great interview with Tachi Yamada, M.D., president of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Health Program in The New York Times that reinforced some of those lessons.

In it Yamada talks about learning how to delegate. I’m not a micromanager, but I stay involved, which he calls taking a microinterest. I like that term because while I need to know the details and whether deadlines are going to be met, I don’t need to tell people how to do their jobs.

One of my bosses once told me, “At the end of the day, I need you to get me to 5. I don’t care if you get there by 2+3 or 4+1, just get me to 5.” That’s microinterest in its simplest form.

In my last position, I carried a BlackBerry 24/7. I set up various alerts so that when I was with someone – whether in the office or at lunch – I wasn’t constantly checking it. All my friends knew that a triple beep meant I would be leaving them to respond to a call-out; otherwise I didn’t touch the BlackBerry because I wanted to be in the moment.

Yamada stressed the importance of making the person you are with feel like nobody else in the world matters. If someone on my team comes into my office, I stop typing, fold my hands and listen to what they have to say. That keeps me from shuffling papers or reading my emails. They have my undivided attention.

When I was hired for my current position, I had not worked overseas, but I had traveled to several countries and had moved a few times in my adult life. This was important because they wanted someone who could embrace change given that I would be involved with a name change, rebranding and launching a new Web site.  

Of course, there also are individuals who have grown up, been educated and are now employed in the same town. That might be good for them, but as a manager I’m looking for to hire those who have had the “experience of being elsewhere” as Yamada describes it.

I’ve been thinking about that more, especially because I have not lived overseas. Living outside my comfort zone could be a good thing. My leadership course was held in Bangkok — which I absolutely loved — and, as a result, I’ve suggested that at some point I could perhaps do an exchange with a staff member from our Thailand office. Of course, I’ll also volunteer for any assignments in London.

I’m all about the “experience of being elsewhere!”

Sparking Creative Thinking

Some days, I just don’t seem to have an original or creative thought. I agonize, collaborate or postpone the assignment.

But now I have a new approach, which is to ask lots of questions. According to Jeffrey H. Dyer, lead author of a study about great CEOs, which appeared in a recent issue of the Harvard Business Review, great CEOs “ask a lot more questions than your typical executive.” He was quoted in The Strategist’s winter issue.

As I reflected on some of the great leaders for whom I’ve worked, the advice makes sense. They always ask probing questions and accept nothing at face value.

Now I use those same questions when I’m trying to be creative or when I’m getting ready to present. I ask “Why?” “Why not?” “Why now?” and “What if?”

Those questions are just the spark I need.