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Navigating the New Year
Kim Barnes, Barnes & Conti CEO
We in the West think of January 1 as the beginning of a new year. At the turn of this new year, I’ll be somewhere near Cape Horn in the waters of Chile, at the northern boundary of the Drake passage, the strait between South America and Antarctica. This was once a particularly dangerous route, with strong winds, large waves, intense currents, and icebergs. I will, however, be comfortably ensconced in a vessel well-equipped for the journey, especially for those of us who enjoy good food, a comfortable cabin, and a variety of vantage points for photography. Even with the most modern of ships, we who sail depend on the captain and crew to navigate the journey using wisdom, experience, and the best possible tools. Navigation is the process of directing a vehicle’s course through an environment that is only partly predictable. By analogy, navigating the course of one’s life through a new year also requires wisdom, experience, and the best possible tools.
A few years ago, I met with our Israeli global partner, Aviad Goz, founder of Momentum. He had developed a program focusing on navigation for individuals, teams, and organizations. I liked what I saw but—as many of you know—Barnes & Conti has long focused solely on our own intellectual property; I wasn’t yet ready to change direction. Still, the model—the NEWS™ model—stayed with me. NEWS is like a compass to guide you as you navigate. Each direction—North, East, West, and South—has a particular meaning. North represents your direction and vision, where you are heading. East represents your values and motivations—the winds that are filling your sails. West represents your plans to achieve the vision and South represents the barriers—the metaphorical storms, rocks, and icebergs that might prevent you from arriving there.
I
soon began to use this simple and profound model as a tool for
my own thinking. I also kept in touch with Aviad and this year,
I thought we were ready to partner with his second company, NEWS™ Coaching
and Training, to bring his work to our customers in the U.S. We
have been working to develop and certify some of our associates—coaches,
facilitators, and trainers—to deliver the coaching process and
the programs for self, team, and organizational navigation in 2013.
We will be holding events to introduce you to these programs in
the first quarter of the year.
In March of 2012, Aviad and I spent a week in the Sonoma Valley – a wonderful region for wine, scenery, and the writing of books! Our book, Self-Navigation: A Compass for Guiding Your Life and Career, will be available in January. As we navigate our course for 2013, the NEWS™ programs—and book—will be an important part of our “cargo.” We hope that many of you will join us on that part of the voyage.
In the meantime, I wish you a wonderful holiday season; I hope that the winds of change will blow fair, that your course will run true and that health and happiness will accompany you on your voyage.
—Kim
Parenting Will Blow You Away (excerpt)
Sam Roberts, Barnes & Conti Senior Associate
This article was published in Beams and Struts in October of 2012
Most everyone has experienced the beauty and power of a well-crafted metaphor. From poetry to song-writing, prose to oration, a metaphor can describe in a word or two something that can be quite profound and complex. And few things are as profound or complex as parenthood. I’ve heard that in the East there is a saying that “the fish is the last one to know they are in the water,” and so too are we sometimes the last ones to know what waters we are in. In the case of parenthood, especially first-time parenthood, it can be difficult to find the “meta” perspective on our experience in the midst of the intensity of it all.
In the spirit of Jon Kabat-Zinn and his wife Myla’s book Everyday Blessings where they propose the metaphor of parenthood as an “18 year long spiritual retreat”, I would like to add to the lineage they have established with a further metaphor to help describe parenthood. The metaphor I would like to offer is the Sand Mandala...
Please read the complete article on Beams and Struts
Receptive Influence in Scientific American
Scientific American ran a featurette about influence in their recent “Think Like a Genius” edition. The article, entitled “How to Use Your Ears to Influence People” cites a study by Journal of Research in Personality. The conclusion? Receptive influence gets better results! From the article:
Results indicate that good listening skills had a stronger effect on the ratings of influence than talking did. The authors suggest that listening helps people obtain information and build trust, both of which can increase influence.(1)
Read the entire piece on Scientific American
(1)“How to Use Your Ears to Influence People” by Tori Rodriguez, Scientific American, Dec. 5, 2012
Coming Up in 2013
- January 2013
New book by Kim Barnes & Aviad Goz, "Self-Navigation: A Compass for Guiding Your Life and Career" (see Kim’s article, above) - February 2013
Training 2013, February 18-20, Orlando, Florida
Kim Barnes will be speaking, and we will be exhibiting
- May 2013
ASTD Conference and Expo, May 19-22, Dallas, Texas
We will be exhibiting.
Watch future newsletters for more info.
2012 in Review: A Brighter Outlook
Lauren Powers, Senior VP, Business Development
The last few years have been trying for those of us in training and development. At long last, the outlook has brightened! We’ve seen much tumult, but also tremendous perseverance from our clients and our colleagues. Our heartfelt thanks go to clients who have maintained or expanded their business with us; we also welcome back those who are returning. Of course, we’re delighted to welcome you who are new to the Barnes & Conti community. For customers with whom we haven’t been able to work this year, please keep in touch—we value our long-standing relationships and look forward to working together again. Thanks to all of your for trusting us with your business and your friendship; we learn and grow from interacting with you and your organizations.
Thanks are also due to our trainers and partners. We’ve expanded our trainer network and global partnerships, bringing in new expertise and locales. We owe our success to the talented group of facilitators worldwide who bring life to our material and support our clients in their important endeavors. It’s a privilege to work with such a committed group.
This year, we focused development efforts on Consulting on the Inside and Self, Team and Organizational Navigation programs. We hope to share these with you in the year ahead...stay tuned! Exercising Influence continues to be in high demand throughout the world. Our Managing Innovation program is helping our customers take their unique “Innovation Journeys.” And—with shrinking resources and ever-changing environments—customers find that our Strategic Thinking program provides the strategic tools needed during these challenging times. We’ve seen a renewed interest in Constructive Negotiation and Leading Global and Virtual Teams as business conditions require us to resolve conflict and work cross-culturally and/or virtually. We’ve provided customized approaches as our clients strive to move ideas into action and succeed in this connected world. It’s been a lot of fun doing so! We know that the future will demand that we work in new and different ways and we’re excited by the challenges ahead.
We believe that wonderful opportunities for all of us are on the horizon. I wish you and yours a peaceful, happy and prosperous new year; may we all continue to bring joy and energy into the work that we do. Please don’t hesitate to contact any of us at Barnes & Conti if we can be of assistance to you as you mull over ideas and face challenges in 2013.
Introducing
Georgie, the New Barnes & Conti Mascot!
Here is Georgie, all dressed in her holiday finery. Georgie began accompanying Barnes & Conti Finance Manager, Heller Rathbone, to the office about a year ago. Since that time Georgie has been brightening our office and lightening our mood on countless occasions.
In addition to her bountiful good cheer and limitless capacity to give and receive affection, Georgie is always delighted to join any of us for lunch, or a tasty snack. Kim suggested that Georgie could be put to work screening visitors, managing security, and testing the lunchroom sofa. Georgie would need to refine her skill set in the first two areas, but she’s a real pro testing the sofa!
Barnes & Conti’s Associate Mascot, a black and white Sheltie named Cricket, was unavailable—or unable to stand still—for the photo shoot.
The
11th Annual Barnes & Conti
Virtual
Feast
Our holiday gift to you each year is a virtual feast of favorite recipes contributed by our staff. Follow any of the links to the recipes online.
- Lemon Ginger Muffins, Kim Barnes & Don Bryant (recipe below)
- Appetizer/Lunch: Empañadas, Lauren Powers
- Lunch/Side Dish: Brazilian Rice and Black Bean Salad, Lauren Powers
- Soup: Creamy Butternut Squash with Truffle Oil, Joel Kleinbaum
- Main Dish: Fried Trout for Hanukkah, Greek style, Joel Kleinbaum
- Side Dish: Dutch Vegetable Whip, Kim Barnes
- Dessert: Honey and Aniseed Fritters, Eric Beckman
Featured Recipe: Bridge Creek Lemon Ginger Muffins
From Kim Barnes and Don Bryant
Kim says: “These muffins are a staple of holiday mornings at our house. The recipe was given to me a number of years ago by the proprietor of a wonderful but short-lived restaurant in Berkeley. It reminds me that when we keep ideas to ourselves, they can’t outlive us but, when we are open-hearted and open-handed we can have an impact beyond what we can ever predict.”
Ingredients:
- 2 oz fresh ginger
- 3/4 cup plus 3 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp lemon zest (2 lemons worth)
- 8 tbsp butter @ room temperature
- 2 eggs @ room temperature
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
Method:
- Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease 16 muffin cups.
- Cut ginger in large chunks. Process or chop into fine pieces, about 1/4 cup.
- Put ginger and 1/4 cup sugar in small skillet, cook over medium heat until sugar has melted. Remove from stove, let cool.
- Process or chop lemon zest and add 3 tbsp sugar. Add to ginger mixture.
- Put butter in mixing bowl, beat and add remaining 1/2 cup sugar, beat until smooth.
- Add eggs, beat well.
- Add buttermilk, mix until blended.
- Add flour, salt, baking soda. Beat until smooth.
- Add ginger-lemon mixture and mix well. Spoon batter into muffin tins so each cup is 3/4 full.
- Bake 15 - 20 minutes; serve warm.
Hurricane Sandy: Disaster Relief
Lauren Powers, Senior VP of Business Development
As we all know, Sandy has wreaked havoc on our friends in the East. We mourn with those who lost family and friends and are grateful that so many lives were preserved through the efforts of first responders.
Several of our clients, colleagues, senior associates, and friends are still dealing with the aftereffects. I was one of the inexplicably lucky ones; our home on Long Beach Island survived when so many have not.
At this season of giving, please consider giving to the Red Cross on behalf of all of our East Coast neighbors who may not have been so fortunate. Thank you, and may you and yours be safe and healthy.
Barnes & Conti will be making year-end donation to both the Red Cross and to Heifer International. We urge our friends to check out both of these excellent organizations.
Beethoven Awareness
Joel Kleinbaum, Info Systems Manager and Newsletter Editor, wants to point out that November was Beethoven awareness month, and December 16 is the anniversary of Beethoven’s birth.
By day, Joel works for Barnes & Conti. By night, he plays the bassoon. Joel performs with Alternate Destination, a world chamber jazz trio, and with Reed & Fitz, a unique bassoon and piano duo. Below is a link to Reed & Fitz playing the Adagio from Beethoven’s Opus 71. The excellent pianist is Daniel Fitzmaurice.
The Barnes & Conti Holiday Newsletter is emailed once a year to clients, colleagues, and friends of Barnes & Conti Associates. Inc. Barnes & Conti is a spam-free zone. We do not sell, trade, or give away mailing lists or email addresses to anyone. Period.
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