THANK YOU!!...This note is way over due and I appologize for not sending a thank you note last month for your kind contribution and/or support for the fund raising we took on this year. Over the course of four months, I not only challenged you, but I also challenged myself to a commitment of fund raising and fitness for those who suffer from Multiple Sclerosis.  No, I don't know anybody personnally who has it, but I figure why wait until I do and why not help now since I/You have the opportunity to do so right. Through this journey, I learned that two friends have a close relative that has MS, so guess what? They became my focus for raising money and accomplishing the goal even more.
The goal was simple:
1. Bring awarness about MS and the century ride event:   I did that by having fund raising events at work, at the gym and doing outside activities.  I also asked family, friends and corporate donors to help particpate.	Freedom Communication Fund Raiser event.
2. Be a top money raiser for the "Energy One" MS team. Though my goal was to be the top level fund raiser, I came in 3rd out of 23 team participants.  The result: $1,573 contributions were made and overall, the team raised 13k!!!	Team Energy One
3. Do a 70.3 Ironman Race - I successfully completed the Texas - Longhorn 70.3 Ironman race in exactly 7:30 (exactly). For the record, I beat two professionals. The first didn't finish because his bike broke down and the other pro got a blister during the run...losers! Also, to prepare for this race, I partcipate in two other Triathlon events: Carlsbad and Camp Pendleton (Sprint races)	Huffing and Puffing Carlsbad Triathlon
4. The week after the Ironman Race - Cycle the MS Century Ride (100 Mile Bike Ride) - Done!
5. After the MS Century Race (following day) - Cycle the 26.2 Long Beach Marathon Course in less than 1h:30m - Done (1h:23m).	LONG BEACH HALF MARATHON Left to Right: Carmen, me, Connie, Mike & my dearest sis and biggest fan: Mayita. The two friends that always kick my butt: Beth and Tammy.
I can't thank you enough for your contribution and believe me that without your support, there was no way to accomplish all these activities. You made a difference and I'm sure that the people that receive the funds for this cause are thanking you as well.   Next year, I'll be at it again, however, I'm going to help raise money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation.  In turn, I decided to raise the bar a little more by signing up for two 70.3 Ironman races (Vineman, in Napa and Brazil) - Hope you can join me, they are a lot of fun. Francisco.	INSPIRATIONAL MOMENTS IN IRONMAN When things go wrong, as they sometimes will; When the road you're trudging seems all uphill; When the funds are low, and the debts are high And you want to smile, but have to sigh; When care is pressing you down a bit- Rest if you must, but do not quit. Success is failure turned inside out; The silver tint of the clouds of doubt; And you can never tell how close you are It may be near when it seems so far; So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit- It's when things go wrong that you must not quit. "Don't Quit," Author Unknown

        

Hi

Below is the track log for the SurfCity 1/2 Marathon event February 1st. If you dare to do it and be committed, we'll help you reach your goal!

During the week, you can train and run anywhere you want, however, to help us keep track of your progress, we all rendevous at the East Bluff- BackBay Entrace.

We start running every Saturday at 7:00 AM sharp at the Corner of Jamboree and Univerity/East Bluff Corner (East Back Backbay Entrance).  We run anywhere from  1, 3, 6, 10 miles. Its open to everyone and its free.

All we ask for is just for you to have fun.

This is a 15 week training program for 1/2 Marathon. The training schedule starts OCT 20th
Week	Mon.	Tue.	Wed.	Thur.	Fri.	Sat.	Sun.	Total	Show Up
									For Sat.
1	Off	2	Off	2	Off	3	3	10	Carmen, Norma, Mike, Eric, Frank, Kirstein
2	Off	2	Off	2	Off	3	3	10
3	Off	2	Off	2	Off	4	3	11
4	Off	2	Off	2	Off	5	3	12
5	Off	2	Off	2	Off	5	4	13
6	Off	2	Off	3	Off	4	5	14
7	Off	3	Off	3	Off	4	4	14
8	Off	3	Off	3	Off	5	4	15
9	Off	3	Off	3	Off	6	4	16
10	Off	3	Off	3	Off	6	6	18
11	Off	3	Off	4	Off	8	6	21
12	Off	4	Off	4	Off	8	6	22
13	Off	4	Off	4	Off	8	6	22
14	Off	4	Off	4	Off	8	6	22
15	Off	4	Off	4	Off	Off EAT CARBS * EAT CARBS	13.1

We all have 5k,10k, Marathon, Triathlon - Sprint/Olympic and Ironman 70.3  Training Programs. 

Triathlon Training will start in January for those interested, but during the winter season it's best to start getting your gear!

        

On July 8, 2008 I attended a career seminar hosted by the Project Management Institute - Orange County Chapter. The speaker for the evening was Mr. John McKee - a Career and Life Success Coach.

Mr. McKee is well known in the community of coaching and mentoring. His presentation at the event was titled Leadership, Career and Life Success.  Mr. MckKee stressed that the leadership books that are being published today revolved around the same principles he has been teaching for the past 12 years. "Today's books adjust to the modern verbiage and trends, however the concepts have not changed." stated Mr. McKee.

At the event, Mr. McKee shared the following 12 leadership characteristics:

1. They live their lives with a thought of being "On Purpose"
2. They help others to succeed and become better individuals by:
1. Mentoring
2. Training
3. Challenging them
4. and Modeling for them.
3. The get results
1. Over coming odds, the usually beat and exceed expectations
4. They give back io the community
1. Volunteer and support non-profits
5. They excel in difficult environments and they make their own success
6. They are great listeners to everyone (e.g. customers, employees, competitors.
7. They make tough decisions
1. When action is required, its taken
2. They admin mistakes and correct them immediately.
8. They are honest and ethical
1. "what goes around comes around"
9. They understand the difference between power and force.
10. They don't need all the recognition all the time.
11. They continually upgrade their skills.
12. They have a clear actionable plan for thier life.

In addition to these characteristics, Mr. McKee pointed the difference between Success vs. being Satisfied with your life and the way to distinguish between the two is simply how you balance the following aspects of your life:

• Career
• Personal and Family
• Financial

Other Notes taken from the seminar:
 

1. Great leaders exhibit great calm. 
2. There is always more time than what it seems.
3. Focus on the reality not what you hear or they tell you.
4. Take nothing for granted.
5. The world is becoming smaller more so you can expect change more frequently.
6. Market share will spread out throughout the world so your job will most likely be taken by somebody else.

 

        

Reading Hank Marquis 8 traits (see below) approach to leadership is very interesting and I thought that he brought up some of the major things a leader should posses, however, what I don't see in his methods are the intrinsic values a leadership should have such as:

a)  I'm I the right person to lead this group or to lead this project.  Different environments and projects require different skill set therefore and sometimes; people take leadership positions that may not be suitable for their capabilities.

b) Leaders need coaching and continuous feedback to ensure they're on track. As leader, having a coach provides him/her the ability to further define their leadership style and what people work best with you.

c) Get to know your employees on a personal level (families, hobbies, and activities).  Because of the information age, people are not as personable as they should be.  People still thrive on the human factor simply because it's part of being humanistic.  Cell phones, emailing, IM doesn't get us all that we need in order to keep employee moral high and loyal.


#1 Leadership means focusing on the needs of others, not yourself
Real leaders try to provide service - to their team, their customers, and anyone else met. Leadership is not a 9-to-5 job. By focusing on the needs of customers, and then trying to align his or her team in ways to meet those needs as well as the needs of the team, a leader gets the job done and develops followers. Customers want to work with a leader because a leader team produces results. Your team wants to follow your lead because you take into account its needs and requirements.
To improve your leadership skills consider spending as much time with your customers as you do with your team.

#2 Leadership comes from your actions, not your title
Some of the best leaders don't have CIO or VP titles. Leadership in fact has nothing to do with title or pay-grade.

Leaders lead because others want to follow them. Why would anyone want to follow a leader? Because a leader motivates its followers, gives them purpose, supports them, guides and mentors them, and even "takes flak" to protect them. To be a better leader you need to ask yourself some hard questions. If you are not leading then you are dictating, and no one follows a dictator.

#3 Leadership makes you accountable, even if it's not your fault
A leader take full responsibility for his or her mission and with this comes accountability for failure. Leaders don't blame their team, or complain about unreasonable customer requirements. Leaders set expectations by focusing on the needs of others (Trait #1) and build consensus for what can be accomplished. If something goes wrong, a leader accepts responsibility - even if it was a team member that was the cause.
Think about the last time someone on your team made a mistake. Did you support and counsel them? Did you turn the failure into a learning opportunity? Or did you ridicule, shun, or punish him or her?

#4 Leadership is not a 9-to-5 activity
Being a leader means focusing on the needs of others and helping others when they fail. This can require additional work, even after hours. Often it is only personal engagement that uncovers the root cause of an unhappy worker. And many times these root causes present opportunities for improvement beyond the single worker.
Do you stay and work with the team? Not just being in the office, but do you actively engage and work to deliver when required?

#5 Leadership takes trust from your followers
When you focus on the needs of others, motivate your team, and satisfy your customers, when you take responsibility for success and failure, when you engage with your team on a personal level, then you build trust. Trust does not come easily. You have to earn trust. It won't come because you have an impressive title. You can't buy, barter, or steal trust. You have to earn it. You have to follow the first four traits on a regular basis for enough time to have earned the trust of your customers and team.
Do your customers trust you? Does your team get behind your ideas because they know you will protect and guide them?

#6 Leaders get their best ideas from their team
The best ideas are not going to come from the leader, but rather from those being led. A good leader develops consensus for a project based on its relationships to customers, company, and staff. Exactly how the project should unfold is often best left to the team to determine. Nothing so engages and commits a team to a leader than for them to be part of the design of the solution. No one knows the job better than the person who does it every day.
Do you dictate schedules to your team or do you and your teams negotiate on how to get things done? Ask your team for their ideas - and then use them. Just remember trait #6 - always give the credit to the team. The leader's credit comes only by crediting the team he or she leads.

#7 Leadership thrives on diversity
I love the story about the IT group at a major retailer. The business needed to know the conversion ratio: that is, how many people entering a store purchased something. IT began brainstorming traditional IT solutions -- complicated, highly automated, and expensive. On a whim, an IT leader asked a non-IT person how they might determine how many shoppers who came into a store actually purchased something. The non-IT solution after just a few minutes of thought was to hire a couple of temporary workers and have them count the number of people entering the store and then leaving with a shopping bag.
Instead of the typical all-consuming and expensive 18-month IT project more likely to fail than succeed, they got a cost-effective low-tech solution in a few hours. The best ideas come from those who don't think as you do. Expand your circle of relationships; nurture those who think differently from you.

#8 Leadership comes from continuous communication
To be able to lead and embrace these traits requires communications skills. I'm not talking about superior comedic skills when presenting. I am talking about person-to-person verbal and non-verbal communications.
This is counter-intuitive, but to present your ideas requires that you listen. To understand and accept the ideas of others requires that you talk. These are skills many people never develop, but all true leaders seem to have mastered.

In a meeting, do you do most of the talking? When you are listening to others, are you an active listener, repeating what you have heard to make sure you understand what was said?
Summary

Leader is a title given to you by those whom you follow and serve. They see you as a leader when you pay attention to their needs. By listening to their needs and addressing their issues, you demonstrate leadership. You can lead a team of equals, you can lead a team of superiors, and you can lead a team of subordinates. Leadership is a way of acting and communicating.

Hank Marquis is Chief Technology Officer at itSM Solutions LLC, a Global Knowledge Partner. Previously CTO at Opticom, a venture-funded producer of IT Service Management software, Hank is an ITSM entrepreneur, practitioner, and manager with over 25 years of practical hands-on experience gained at the US Government, MCI, US Sprint, Timeplex, Compuware, and other organizations. He was an early ITIL proponent, adopter, and frequent contributor to the ITIL community. He writes the popular weekly DITY™ (Do IT Yourself™) column, lectures on ITIL, and teaches IT executives how to implement ITIL. He has written dozens of articles; several books; and Cisco, CompTIA, ISEB, and EXIN certification programs. He holds the highest ITIL credential-ITIL Service Manager (Masters) certification, with distinction in Service Delivery.

        

After reading the CIO Article - Staff Retention: The Power of Appreciation at Work, I found this article to be absolutely correct.  More managers and in particular HR departments should offer and take training classes to help themselves be more "Humanistic" when it comes to working and directing people.  

Like many IT people, I'm sure we've had our share of good and bad manager right? So, whether your seasoned or not as manager, below I listed my top 5 must do things a manager should be doing to keep employees happy:

1) Send out a hand written note simply saying "thank you for..."

2) Take them out to Lunch.

3) Schedule one on one meetings and get everything out in the open.

4) Give them Starbucks, Movie, or some other type of gift certificate

5) Invite their families to work so they can see what you do.

Working in IT environments is perhaps a bit more challenging for many people and the reason why is because you work with an array of cultures and that in itself is a challenge.  When you come across people from different culture,  there's more likely to be a communication breakdown and  I'll talk about this more in my next article.

In the mean time, share your thoughts.

        

Business (systems) analysts study the overall business and information needs of an organisation, in order to develop solutions to business and related technology problems.

A business (systems) analyst's role is usually undertaken prior to the system design, building and programming stages of the systems development process.

Business (systems) analysts may perform the following tasks:

• work closely with clients to identify business needs and the costs and benefits of implementing a computing solution
• construct information technology (IT) definitions based on identified needs of the organisation
• work with other IT experts to address networking and hardware needs
• look at finance and budgetary matters
• devise and document a general system design based on the client's anticipated requirements
• negotiate options with the client.

A business (systems) analyst's role will vary with the size and complexity of the organisation. Some smaller organisations may roll various types of analyst, designer and programmer roles into one, while larger organisations may employ teams of specialists.

Personal Requirements:

• able to conceptualise and think creatively
• good interpersonal and communication skills
• persuasive, patient manner
• team leadership capabilities.