Image via CrunchBase

Last week I was inspired…

I had the good fortune to listen to two strikingly  different yet exceptional leaders:  General Richard Hillier, Retired Chief of Defense Staff of the Canadian Armed Forces, the Forces highest rank and Sir Richard Branson, Founder of The Virgin Group.

I found it so interesting to hear a common theme in both their messages around leadership: respect for people.

 “To be an effective leader you have to care about people.  You have to make it personal”, said General Hillier.

 “Having a personality of caring about people is important,” says Branson. “You can’t be a good leader unless you generally like people. That is how you bring out the best in them.”

What else was compelling was their “down to earth” nature. Both extremely accomplished people yet they never lead with their titles. Both leaders don’t take themselves too seriously.

They both have passion for their work.  They are 100% committed to what they do.  They know where they are going and they enlist other competent people around them, listen to them and let them take over- they delegate and truly empower them.

Define your leadership style. Respect the people who work with you. And take care.

Today the common practice is to gather business cards and almost immediately connect online. Connections made off line continue online. And if you’re a really good connector, continue offline again.

We’re curious to know how quick you are to react when it comes to building your network.

It turns out, it can.

I was casually speaking with a colleague recently while we were in the office kitchen, preparing our lunches. She mentioned that at her last job, everybody always went out and bought take out junk food for lunch.  Since working at McNak this past year, she has developed healthy habits by making healthy salads. It helps that we have a full kitchen to accommodate our staff. My co-workers tend to pack that fridge full of vegetables, fruit, yogurt, quinoa salads etc. We’re inspired by each other’s creations. I too, have noticed that I’m packing healthier lunches these days.

As well, this colleague of mine has also taken to running along the seawall on a few of her breaks during the week. This in turn, has inspired other co-workers to run, or practice yoga on their lunch breaks.  We are all providing each other good examples of a healthy lifestyle, and we’re all getting healthier for it.

Healthier living allows us to become more productive at work. Working better starts from living better and with the consistent improvement on one’s lifestyle provided from healthy eating and exercise, we will make the most of every minute we put to work. With physical alertness and sound emotional balance, one can easily channel concentration on the right task.

Is your culture at work literally healthy? Nothing should stop us from setting examples at our workplace, and create a culture of healthy living. We’ll all be better for it.

photo: chotda

Since 2007, the GrapeJuice wine auction has raised over $242,000 for Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland.

Special thanks to “Vanhattan’s man about town” Fred Lee who, by popular demand, returned to be our GrapeJuice auctioneer.  Another highlight of the evening was when singer Chantal Kreviazuk surprised the crowd with her song ‘Invincible’.

MAC Marketing Solutions and McNeill Nakamoto created Grape Juice to raise much needed funds to facilitate the matching process for over 100 at risk young girls on the Big Sisters waitlist. Big Sisters of BC lower Mainland matches volunteer mentors with young girls who face a multitude of challenges.

A big thank you to all of our generous GrapeJuice sponsors , donors, guests and volunteers!

Enjoy the slideshow below:

It all started with one bottle of Hawthorn Mountain late harvest wine.

The year was 2006 and McNeill Nakamoto Recruitment Group was celebrating 10 years in business. We had a little party at our office, inviting clients and friends. Just a few weeks before the party, our team had a great idea to add a philanthropy element to our festivities, and host a modest silent auction benefiting Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland. We had already been a big supporter since 2005 , but true to our McNak spirit we wanted to do something different, and give our staff the opportunity to become directly involved.

Several merchants in our Yaletown neighbourhood generously donated items for the silent auction. The night arrived, people celebrated, and enjoyed bidding on many wonderful items.

The most popular item which received the most bids was that bottle of wine, donated by one of our staff members. It was during this evening that the idea of ‘GrapeJuice’ was born. Just a few months later we put together the first wine auction benefiting Big Sisters of Lower Mainland. Tomorrow night will be the 5th annual GrapeJuice wine auction.

Corporate social responsibility is part of our soul. It’s the right thing to do.

Next week is time to celebrate Administrative Professionals Day / Week. This is a great time to observe the importance of administrative professionals in the workplace.

Joe Fortes Restaurant is celebrating by offering a complimentary lunch for administrative professionals during the week of April 23-27. See the details here.

The Vancouver chapter of the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP) will host their annual breakfast event on April 25th at the Vancouver Convention Centre West.

Doors open at 7:00 am and a plated breakfast will be served at 7:30 am, when Michelle Ray, founder of Lead Yourself First Institute, takes the podium.

The theme of the 2012 Administrative Professionals Week and Day is “Admins, the Pulse of the Office”.

Download the Administrative Professionals event info with event details and registration info.

While on vacation with my family recently, we visited a couple of theme parks in California. Let me start off by saying, that on so many levels, you can’t compare the two.  What struck me the most, however, was the employees that worked at these two different parks.

In Theme Park A, the employees were genuinely happy to be there and their positivity was infectious. They were friendly, efficient, and overall enhanced the experience for us as visitors. They’re doing it right.

At Theme Park B, the employees were operating in slow motion, barely cracked a smile, and were practically looking at the clock, waiting for their shift to end. I even overheard one of the employees telling a customer, “We aren’t Theme Park A” I was shocked that he would speak in this tone, and to a customer.

I have had several friends ask me if it is worth it to go to Theme Park B. I’ve suggested that they not bother.  This brand has now lost potential customers based on my experience as a customer. And it’s not just me. The other three parents I was with where shaking their heads too. We were just so frustrated that this particular theme park had lost out on a great opportunity to allow their brand to shine.

Your employees represent your brand.  Brand is another word for user-experience. Create a culture where your employees can represent your brand in the best light. Engage your employees. Keep them happy. Train them. Re-train them.  You will keep customers, and win new ones.

It doesn’t matter what product you sell, what service you provide – as long as you have the right people representing your business, have engaged employees, things will fall into place, and your customers will be there.  Customer service is always key to any business. After all, if you don’t have a customer, you don’t have a business.

At the end of the day regardless of what business we are in, was the experience with our clients engaging and positive?  These experiences lead us to go back time and time again or at the very least rave to others about it. We are in an experience economy so best experience wins!

photo credit: _FuRFuR_

“GrapeJuice” is the social wine event and auction tailored for wine aficionados both casual and serious. And most importantly, it’s all for a great cause – Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland.

Once again, GrapeJuice will be a terrific, fun, after work function – it will take place on Thursday, April 26th 2012 at the gorgeous 3rd floor showroom of Ferrari Maserati of Vancouver between 5:30 and 8:30 pm.

Tickets are $100 (a tax receipt is available for a portion of the ticket price) and attendees will be able to sample top wines from both BC and around the world, bid on a wide selection of wines (including some hard to find ones), as well as enjoy some delicious appetizers provided by The Lazy Gourmet. If you are a wine connoisseur or simply enjoy wine and a great social event, then this event will certainly appeal to you!

This event is limited to 250 people and the last event sold out so we encourage you to buy your tickets soon!  Big Sisters will of course happily accept cash donations or wine donations for the silent auction as well if you are unable to attend.

To donate money or purchase tickets call Rena Regier at 604.873.4525 ext. 302 or complete the online web form. For information on how to donate wine or contribute to Grape Juice contact Jessica Rozitis.

See you Thursday April 26th at Ferrari Maserati of Vancouver!!!

Cheers!