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Greetings!
Autumn is here – my favorite time of the year. The
word autumn refers to the autumnal equinox that
marks the start of this season. Depending on what
part of the United States you live, the term may be
interchanged with the word “fall”. An online search
indicates several theories about where the use of the
word “fall” came from. One theory presupposes the
term started in the South where the word autumn
seemed to invoke a colorful season that didn’t occur
there. The most popular theory presupposes that it
was used because of falling leaves.
The season arrives in all parts of the country
regardless of what you call it. Even in Southern
California, the air turns cool and crisp, bringing back
many, many fond memories of growing up in
Pennsylvania. The magnificence of the varying
shades of red and orange brought me comfort on my
annual family retreats to World End State Park. As a
kid, it was the best time to go camping because you
could get lost in the leaves. It isn’t only the beauty
of the season that I find special but what it
represents. Renewal, rebirth and letting go are all
critical elements to succeed in business and in life.
May you schedule the time you need during this
autumn season to identify all of the items in your life
that you need to let go of in order to fully prepare
for the new opportunities waiting to be discovered.
There’s more waiting for you than you ever thought
possible!
All the best,
Lisa Marie Platske, President
Upside Thinking, Inc.
| Featured Business with an Upside Attitude |
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Write Well, Write Now, Inc. is a company dedicated
to one goal: Helping individuals meet their personal,
academic, and professional goals by learning to write
well. We approach our mission through individualized
instruction administered online by private writing
coaches.
We have a rather unusual corporate vision shared by
each of the employees at our company: We are all
committed to working from home. The president, and
every salesperson, mentor teacher, computer
programmer, and our advertising and marketing crew
work from home. Why? Because we value flexibility
and believe that we can be effective workers without
having to deal with the snarls of freeway traffic and
the expenses of travel. This enables parents to stay
at home and rear their children and singles to enjoy
their hobbies and other interests.
Our company works with large corporations and
government entities (such as the U.S. Department of
the Navy), universities, high schools, and private
individuals. Although we have many, many native-
English speaking customers, one of our largest groups
of clients is English Language Learners. We teach
CBEST writing for potential teachers. Many English
language learners had previously failed the CBEST
test up to nine times before learning about our
company. After just one 8- or 16-week Write Well,
Write Now writing course, each student has passed
the CBEST test on the very next attempt. We've
never had a student fail the CBEST after completing
our program.
We're big believers in "upside thinking" at WWWN.
We believe that every person can learn to write well
and meet personal and professional goals, even those
with significant handicaps. We work with the
California School for the Deaf in Riverside, California
and will soon be working with the Georgia School for
the Deaf as well. Because our program is
personalized, we're able to begin at the student's
current writing level and move them rapidly forward
toward mastery. Profoundly deaf high school
students generally read at the third grade level or
below and many write at less than the Kindergarten
level before they begin our program. We love the
challenge of bringing these students rapidly up in
writing competency and concurrently improve their
reading levels. Our mentor teachers enjoy giving
these precious children a future by teaching them
how to write and read and eventually how to pass
the California High School Exit Exam.
We support education! In the last two years, we
have donated more than $40,000 in writing
scholarships to the University of California at
Riverside for their Copernicus Project – a project
designed to create excellent science teachers in a
time where there is a shortage of talented educators
in the state. We've also adopted San Bernardino
High School to provide writing instruction to the
students there who would like to pass the SATs and
go to college.
As the president of Write Well, Write Now, my
leadership vision for the future of my corporation is
to expand our business internationally and to create
hundreds of stay-at-home jobs that provide a
respectful income for highly trained mentor teachers
and other necessary company staff. Starting in May
of 2007, we'll be selling Write Well, Write Now
licenses for cities throughout the United States and
the world so that teams of independent business
owners may also have a chance to enjoy at-home
prosperity while helping people succeed in writing.
The best part of creating and leading my corporation
is ... I walk about 25 feet up to my office, and I'm
here
when my teenagers get home from school. It's nice
to be the president, but it's even nicer to be Mom.
Alisa Griffis, Ph.D.
President
Write Well, Write Now, Inc.
www.wwwnUSA.com
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| Upside Quotation Station |
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“If your actions inspire others to dream
more, learn more, do more and become more, you are
a leader."
John Quincy Adams
(1767-1848)
6th President of the United States
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| Leadership Tales and Trivia Corner |
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If your feeling like a strong cup of coffee and a good
book, try The 75 Greatest Management
Decisions Ever Made ... And Some of the Worst --
Business Leaders Talk about the Good and the
Bad by Stuart Crainer.
If you're in the mood for popcorn and a
movie, try Family Man (because you
don't always get a second chance to evaluate your
decisions...).
And, if you're feeling lucky, answer
our October
trivia
question! The book A Hand to Guide Me
is
about many successful people in all walks of life and
their personal stories of who influenced them. The
book originally started out about an actor who was
profoundly influenced by the power of mentoring.
Name the actor and the organization that profoundly
affected his teen years.
A prize will be awarded to the 1st person who
e-mails the correct answer to us!
Trivia Winners Circle!
January - Danny Rich, Stellar Financial
February - Ilse DiPinto, DiPinto & Associates
March - Susan Terberg, Riverside Community College
April – Jack Harris, Gilmartin, Harris & Associates
May - Aaron Knight, Amerinet Finance, Inc.
June - Hank Rogers, RCC-CACT (Center for Applied
Technologies)
July - Tom Nightingale, Wells Fargo
August - Dennis Sonney, CA Manufacturing
Technology Consulting
September - Dustin Ubrun, Anser Coding, Inc.
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| Start Growing! |
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Interested in learning more about how to develop
your clear leadership vision, increase your sphere of
influence/clientele and improve your long-term
growth and steady profits? Call Lisa Marie today to
learn more about our Upside Thinking coaching
packages!
Back by popular demand! Receive 20%
off any individual leadership coaching package or
leadership presentation for your organization booked
in the month of October!
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| About Lisa Marie |
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As the President and Chief Excellence Officer of
Upside Thinking, Inc., Lisa Marie brings enthusiasm
and passion to
her work every day. Committed to transforming
organizations through individual development, Ms.
Platske believes lasting success in organizations
comes from recognizing that people have intrinsic
value and deserve respect, regardless of where they
are in the organizational chart. UTI's leadership
coaching and training programs teach individuals how
to develop their leadership ability, increase their
sphere of influence and strengthen their earning
potential.
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Let Go to Truly Grow |
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When I worked for the United States Customs
Service in Newark, New Jersey, my area director and
mentor, Ms. Kathleen M. Haage-Gaynor, gave me
countless words of wisdom. One instance in
particular stands out. In 1996, I had enrolled in a
leadership development program and part of the
curriculum involved a 360 assessment where I asked
my co-workers to rate my level of management skills
within 8 core areas for approximately 120
statements. The phrases they were invited to
assess included statements such as “Negotiates
persuasively” or “Inspires people to excel” and were
placed next to a scale ranging from 1 - 5.
When I received the results, I couldn’t believe my
eyes. My peers, subordinates and immediate
supervisor had evaluated my skills and abilities as
above average, giving me glowing marks, while my
mentor who had given me numerous “special”
assignments checked off boxes reflecting “average”
and, occasionally, “needs improvement”. It took me
two weeks to calm myself down to discuss the
assessment. When we met, I explained that I was
disappointed about her rating and wanted to better
understand why she didn’t rate me higher. (Looking
back, I envision me being much more tactful but at
that time in my life I hadn’t yet learned emotional
intelligence ... which is probably why she rated me
a “needs improvement” on “Expresses disagreement
tactfully and sensitively”. Upon questioning her, she
gave me some of the best advice I have ever
received – ‘You’re not perfect, Lisa, and it’s
something you should never forget. Individuals who
achieve much are continually learning, growing and
striving to be better than yesterday. Use my
comments to give you direction, studying the skills
you need to improve, to ensure you will excel in work
and in life.’ I was embarrassed by my pride and in
awe at this woman and her sage advice. To this
day, I live the lesson she taught me, always open to
learn from others, spending time and money on
personal and professional development.
This story was the beginning of my “Let Go to Truly
Grow” motto for success. Moving forward in life
requires a continual evaluation of goals and plans and
taking the time to honestly assess whether our
actions -- what we’re doing -- still work for us. Ms.
Haage’s feedback shed light on an area that is too
often forgotten. Plans for excellence typically start
with writing down meaningful goals and then focus on
how to implement a plan of action, incorporating
details through visualization. Rarely, however, do
leaders spend time evaluating their decisions.
When I founded Upside Thinking, Inc., I was
determined to build an organization that would help
others find more happiness, success and meaning in
their life through individual development and
understanding the power of possibilities. The
definition of “upside” isn’t interchangeable with the
word positive. Upside means to see the possibilities
in every circumstance. My goal is to empower others
to make the best choices possible for their business
and life. I continually review where I am, where I’m
going and whether I like the direction the company is
moving in. Like I said last month, excellence is a
journey, not a destination. Working more hours
doesn’t guarantee happiness, success and meaning.
Upside Thinking, however, does.
So, when is the best time to evaluate a decision?
Evaluation is an ongoing process. It isn’t something
that you schedule every Tuesday at 2:30 p.m.
Because every decision we make leads to discovery –
discovering more about ourselves, our wants, needs
and desires -- evaluation must be treated like
breathing and become part of who we are. In
addition to my everyday assessments, in November, I
will take three weeks off to evaluate my personal
goals, goals for my marriage and future goals for
Upside Thinking, Inc.
Evaluation isn’t a solo venture. A doctor doesn’t give
himself check-ups anymore than a good coach can
coach him/herself. I encourage you to enlist help
from others. We all need more than one person to
provide us with fresh perspective and to keep us on
course. I can’t tell you how many times I hear the
question, “How do I find someone willing to help
me?” The answer is simple. Just ask.
Remember, it’s all about the upside journey. Many
blessings on your path to amazing and outrageous
success!
Did you know?
About 700,000 leaves fall from the average mature
oak tree every year?!?
Although the concept of mentoring is an ancient one,
in a contemporary sense, mentoring may be
described as a complex interactive process between
individuals of varying levels of expertise and
experience, incorporating individual and career
development. (Wunch, 1993)
Freddie Laker mentor to Richard Branson (founder of
Virgin Atlantic Airways) told Branson, "Make a fool of
yourself. Otherwise you won't survive."
Evaluation is the systematic determination of merit,
worth, and significance of something or someone.
Evaluation often is used to characterize and appraise
subjects of interest in a wide range of human
enterprises. (Excerpt taken from Wikipedia)
In 2003, Louis P. Masur, a professor of history at City
College of New York, wrote an incredible book
entitled Autumn Glory: Baseball’s First World Series
about the 1903 World Series. (Modified from the
front cover flap ...A post-season series of games to
establish supremacy in the major leagues was not
inevitable in the baseball world in 1903. But the
owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates (in the well-
established National League) challenged the Boston
Americans (in the upstart American League) to a
play-off, which he was sure his team would win.
They didn’t—and that wasn’t the only surprise during
what became the first World Series. It is the story
of two agonizing weeks in which the stars blew it,
unknown players stole the show and hysterical fans
got into the act.)
Find out more....
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