BN360's Business Leadership Series, Part 4

On April 11, Buffalo Niagara 360 presented the 4th installment of its “Business Leadership Series” sponsored by Medaille College. Business consultant and corporate trainer Larry Mietus of Speaking of Strategy provided a presentation on “Powerful Communications Skills for Contemporary Leaders.”

Larry gave BN360 members a thorough overview of what it takes to have powerful communication skills. These are skills that any professional can use to effectively communicate their viewpoints, facilitate a meeting, and actively listen to others. Common barriers to communication such as fear, misunderstanding, and differing positions of power were discussed. Many of us have been in situations where we may have been hesitant to express ourselves because we felt our opinion wouldn’t be welcome. Other times, a conversation can stall because one person’s position within the organization may not be high enough in the staffing matrix to be perceived as important enough to be heard.

Just as with learning styles, people have different communication styles and it’s important to try to determine how people best listen and engage with one another. A co-worker may be an “auditory” learner if their responses may include phrases such as, “I hear what you’re saying” – or they may be kinesthetic learners, who work best when taking a brisk walk and physically engaging in the conversation.

When one is able to understand another’s communication style, they must also practice active listening skills: listening to words and thoughts, listening to the “full” story, and recognizing emotions, among others. Non-verbal communication plays a significant part in any conversation. If your co-worker gives you the impression they aren’t fully engaged in what you’re saying, communication can break down. Non-verbal cues that indicate a person isn’t listening may be unintentional, but they can be more powerful than the words being spoken.

Larry’s presentation also focused on good public speaking skills, providing a general outline of the critical components to a good speech (knowing your audience, being aware of your non-verbal cues, having good visual aids) and delved deeper into the meat of what makes a good presentation great. When we have to speak in front of an audience, we must remember that being nervous is a natural – and important – part of the process. If you don’t have at least a few butterflies in your stomach, you may be overly confident about how prepared you are. Use your nervous energy to give a dynamic, engaging speech!

Thank you to Medaille College for sponsoring this year’s “Business Leadership Series.” We look forward to bringing you another series’ worth of compelling topics next year. Stay tuned!

Peace Bridge Unveils New Web Site

The Partnership and the Buffalo Niagara business community work in strategic partnership with the Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority - both in advocacy for progress on the Peace Bridge Expansion Project and in day-to-day operations to facilitate trade across one of the busiest CanAm bridge crossings. The Peace Bridge is a huge component of our regional economic development and our close connection to Canada is a key factor in many companies' decisions to locate here in Buffalo Niagara.

This week, the Authority unveiled its revamped web site at www.peacebridge.com, aimed at providing convenient border travel information and updated traffic details. This site also features various content renovations and a whole bunch of other web tools to help make your Peace Bridge experience easier.

To make things as convenient as possible, access to what's going on with and at the Peace Bridge is available at mobile.peacebridge.com (real-time traffic updates), and on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube, or sign-up for Peace Bridge RSS feeds.

As for the Expansion Project, itself, here's the current scoop:

In February, President Obama included in his Executive Budget funding that could possibly be tied to the Peace Bridge U.S. Plaza, however given the on-going federal budget debate, there is no certainty that it will be there in the end of negotiations. The next step in the process for the Project is completion of the Federal Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), however, in a classic chicken-and-the-egg scenario, the Federal government won't issue the FEIS until funding for the project is identified. Meaning, the completed FEIS can't be used to build momentum toward funding the project. So the battle is in the federal budget - and the Partnership continues to lobby our WNY federal delegation in that regard. As always, we will keep you posted.

Government Affairs Update

It's been a busy couple weeks here in the Government Affairs world of the Partnership. We had so much going on, I figured this week's blog post would be a good place to recap...

Partnership Endorses Jane Corwin for Congress

Assemblywoman Corwin has consistently been one of our most impressive representatives, and her understanding of the needs of the business community and the governmental burdens we face has been underutilized in the Minority of the State Assembly, where Downstate leadership dominates the agenda. We can't wait to see how her 100% Unshackle Upstate Scorecard record translates in the House of Representatives! Learn more about Jane's campaign at http://www.janecorwin.com/.

Buffalo Niagara Night in Albany

In mid-March, we celebrated Buffalo Niagara's famous fare in Albany, bring hometown favorites like beef-on-weck, Mighty Taco, Anchor Bar, Yancey's Fancy, Rich's desserts, and Bison dip (and a lot more!) to our Albany officials to remind them who and where they represent! We also presented our analysis of the NYS Executive Budget, which we gave an overall thumbs up. With over 150 Partnership members, elected officials and staff mingling, including a surprise visit from NYS Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, the event was a huge success, extremely informative, and productive in bringing our positions on the budget to light.

2011-12 NYS State Budget

Fiscally responsible, on-time with no new taxes, and Upstate-friendly... need we say more? If the budget had included UB2020 (we are looking forward to the summit with Governor Cuomo in May!) and a property tax cap (coupled with mandate relief!) we might have been accused of writing the budget ourselves! With Upstate "wins" like the IDA cost recovery repeal and Recharge NY, coupled with restored funding for Roswell Park, this budget was a welcome sign of change coming from Albany.

Movers and Shakers - "Governor Cuomo's First 100 Days"

NYS Senator George Maziarz and City of Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown joined Partnership members in discussing the recently passed state budget, the impact Governor Cuomo has had on Albany, and what we can expect to come during the next few months of the legislative session. All in all, our presenters provided fantastic insight into the inner workings of Albany, it's impact on our local municipalities, and a preview of what issues we will be fighting for (or against...) as the Governor's first legislative session moves towards a conclusion.

1099 Repeal

So much of our advocacy efforts are done behind the scenes; it's often hard to really show how we operate when we attack or promote an issue affecting our members, and the business community as a whole. With the overly burdensome 1099 reporting requirement of the health care reforms looming over every employer's head, we have been working diligently to repeal the requirement along with partners across the nation. We were successful. This issue really highlighted how we sometimes come across an issue, created by government placing more burdens on businesses and employers, and how we fight to stop it. As long as these types of issues keep coming out of DC and Albany, we'll keep standing up for employer interests!

Celebrating Innovation Right Here in Buffalo Niagara

Innovation happens every day in the Buffalo Niagara region. By striving to do things smarter, faster, better, local companies are finding new ways to thrive in our region. That's why the Partnership celebrates innovative companies each year at the Innovate Buffalo Niagara Awards.

We are proud to celebrate this year's finalists:

Target Industries: Cleveland BioLabs, Inc.; Kinex Pharmaceuticals, LLC; Empire Genomics, LLC; Freed Maxick & Battaglia, CPAs, PC; Liazon Benefits; Life Technologies; Power Drives, Inc.; Sonwil Distribution Center, Inc.; The Mentholatum Company; Yahoo, Inc.

Collaboration: BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York; Erie County Industrial Development Agency (ECIDA); HEALTHeLINK

Entrepreneur: Niagara Dispensing Technologies, Inc.; PURE Solutions NA, LLC; You and Who

Leadership: Hyatt Regency Buffalo Hotel; Kaleida Health; VSP Marketing Graphic Group, Inc.

We hope you can join us on May 3rd at the Hyatt Regency Buffalo as we celebrate these innovative companies and their contributions to the region's workforce.

What is your brand?

Have you ever taken one of those brand recognition quizzes? You know the ones I am referring to ... you look at a logo and have to determine what company they represent. If you're like me, you score pretty high on those tests. I can really relate to a company's brand. But have you ever given any thought to what your personal brand is?

Personal branding (how we market ourselves) is a hot topic these days with so much of our lives on display on the internet. Everything we do, what we wear, what we say and how we say it is part of our brand. Even this blog is part of my brand. Personal branding is so relevant that many hiring managers "Google" potential employees to get a better sense of the person's life outside the office.

So what do you do to create your "brand"? Realistically, you should look at it as a process, much the way a company does. Define your goals, create a strategy, implement your tactics and evaluate how effective you've been at reaching your goals.

1. Define your goals
It is important in this step to be honest with yourself. Determine what you want to accomplish, but be realistic. Don't pursue a path as a college professor if you don't like speaking in front of a group.

A good way to start this process is to think about the positive things your peers have said about you. Do they think you are a great communicator? Someone who can ease tensions in a room? Someone who has a knack for coming up with great ideas? Someone who works well under pressure? All of these attributes are part of your brand.

By summarizing these characteristics you will move yourself toward the place you need to be ... the place where what you think of yourself matches what others perceive about you.

2. Create a Strategy
In this step, you create the plan to help you achieve your goals. This is your step by step action plan. For example, a former intern of mine wanted to move from a career in the newspaper industry to a career in public relations. Her action plan included pursuing a Master's degree and interning in an organization where she would get hands-on experience in the field, as well as exposure to what a job in PR would entail.

3. Tactics ... Tactics ... Tactics
In the PR world, tactics are those "concrete" things you actually produce to help to promote your brand. In the world of personal branding, we refer to those "concrete" things as your Personal Branding Toolkit. Items in your toolkit should include (at the minimum): business cards; a resume, cover letter and references; a portfolio or examples of your work; a LinkedIn profile; a well defined, appropriate personal style; and an email address. I can not stress enough the importance of having at least one business appropriate email address. These are email addresses that are generally inclusive of your name and nothing else (ex. firstname.lastname@gmail.com).

4. How are you doing?
The final step is one that is often overlooked. It is really important to evaluate how things are going. By taking at look at yourself and evaluating your personal brand along the way, you will be able to make adjustments to your plan if needed. Ask others for feedback (someone you trust, but someone who will also be honest with you). If the feedback is something you can change, don't be afraid to explore changing it.