Karen Otazo's Amazon Blog

As a proponent of networking every chance you can, I was thrilled to sit next to a Japanese language expert at a sushi bar who was currently working in the US. As he came in the sushi restaurant, I asked if he would sit next to a “gaijin,” a foreigner, and he agreed.
 
 What ensued was a frank and mutually fascinating conversation about the mistakes that transnational companies make when trying to use make “one size fits all well.” Shigeki complained about working with an American fast moving consumer goods company to improve their performance in Japan. The famous American company was used to treating their consumers in a very casual and personal way in the USA. We’ll call this client “A” Company. Shigeki worked in a consulting company hired by “A”.
 
 “A” Company loved to do special promotions so that it could connect with customers’ private information and opinions. Once it got the information it liked to continue to connect with customers by email using their first names. They would send emails with personal salutations like “Hi Sunny.”
 
 In Japan, even young kids would find that kind of casual emails or letters insulting. In spite of funky, teenage, green hair and punk rock, Japanese kids have standards. And one of those standards is an “honorific” like adding on“-san” for adults and “-sama” for kids as long as they are customers. My companion recommended that his client use “-sama” when the American company contacted Japanese customers. The client insisted that his company would use its philosophy: “American Casual.”

More than ever, networking takes attention and follow up. It's cheaper to pay attention there than pay in other ways. The follow up is where the payoff occurs. Just recently I was at an incredible networking event put on by a wonderful woman named Rima. She is one of my role models for effective networking and leadership. She spends an enormous amount of time thinking about putting people together. Sitting at my table were two amazing women, Irene, a journalist and Rohini, a documentary film maker. After a spirited conversation at the dinner event put on by Rime, we followed up with a dinner last night in Washington, D.C. to discuss our passions, our mutual interests and our plans. With plans for more dinners and a women's salon in the autumn, we can continue our dialogue and learn together.

Dr. Karen Otazo 

 In prizefights the trainers rush to their boxers’ corners after each round. Besides words of encouragement and a refreshing drink they’re giving some just-in-time coaching and useful guidance. The trainer’s job in those one-minute rest periods is to prime his boxer to keep moving and stay focused while avoiding jabs and direct hits. That’s what you want to do for your team members. 
 
Translate those sixty-second intervals into “coaching-in-action” minutes. These are brief coaching sessions with team members when they’re in the midst of what they do at work. What great timing to give them the shorthand sound bites they need to keep moving and stay out of harm’s way. You can energize them with your confidence and conviction just when they need it. This is not only the time for quick kudos to buck people up. You can also provide constructive course corrections. Anything with a long-term trajectory needs guidance and feedback to stay on course and avoid obstacles, whether it’s a guided missile or a strategy. 
 
Before major presentations about long-term projects the leader of one organization used to say, “This presentation could make or break your career. Don’t screw it up.” That was not very helpful since his team members would freeze up with fear. So he changed his coaching to give his team pointers like “This executive really cares about cost projections. Make sure to go through that part of your presentation carefully.” Or “Focus on the people resources.” Or “Stay away from Project X in your presentation; it’s a hot button.” 
 
What the executive learned was:  
a) Give team members rehearsal time with you before presentations to  give them some quick coaching.
b) Don’t correct unless it’s vital for your team member’s success.
c) Focus on the one or two things that will make a difference immediately.
d) Stay positive as you focus your team member on moving forward successfully. 
 
It only takes a minute to rev up someone with a coaching moment. Just a few seconds of your time will help them stay in shape for what they need to do. As their coach you need to do just that to develop winning players.