Though today’s the designated day of the week to write about new technologies and gadgets, I thought, since I already wrote about my Toshiba Notebook earlier this week, I’d focus on an idea that came to me while listening to Chris Brogan during a webcast of BlogWorld.
I remember wanting to join the Peace Corps when I was in my early twenties. The motivation was to find a way to help people that couldn’t help themselves, or at least share with them something I had or knew about. That idea stayed with me through the years.
I’m starting it here in a different way. I want to share what I’ve learned with you by offering at least five ways in which I can help:
- Building Your Network: As a result of my my past job search, more recent partner search, and varied interests in business, software, hardware, and other topics, I’ve visited and become member at a number of different organizations. If you’re new to the process of relationship building and networking, and you want to know where to start, feel free to read about My Favorite Networking Groups, and then call or email me.
- Connecting You: I’ve built a network of friends and associates that I trust as a result of working and socializing with them. Though I won’t be able to make any recommendations for you if I don’t know you well (nor would you want me to if the situation was reversed), I’ll certainly meet and speak with you to see whom I can connect you with in my network. This means getting to know you personally. To that end, we can setup a time to meet in-person if you’re in Southern California, or talk on the phone if you’re not.
- Professional Opinion: I’ve spent the last 13 years working in the software industry. My past employers and clients have ranged from start-ups to consulting firms to Fortune 500’s. My focus over the past eight years has been on project and product management, with a particular interest in team building. I’ve been in the trenches building up teams in little known companies to those that have in excess of 15,000 employees and wish to build small, nimble teams of technologists and customer support specialists. So, if you have any questions or just want a fresh look at your challenges, feel free to reach out to me. I’ll be more than happy to walk through it with you.
- Tools and Templates: As a result of my work, I’ve also come across or created a number of templates for task tracking, project management, balance sheets (profit and loss calculations), among others that I’ll happily share with you.
- Mentoring: I recently volunteered at Chapman University to mentor a college student who’s just starting out on his graduate degree. After joining the program and speaking with many of the mentee candidates, I realized how much tribal knowledge I’ve come by that I can pass on. This is information I certainly would’ve loved to have had when I was in my twenties. These are essentially ways to approach problems (hint: as a challenge and an opportunity, not as a road block), how to set goals and track against them weekly, monthly, yearly, each quarter century and so on. I also have templates for setting and tracking goals that I’ll happily share with you.
What Do You Think?
Are there other ways you think I can help you? Feel free to reach out and let me know. I’ll be happy to speak with you about it.