I brought home a lot of ideas from Convention. I have discussed several at our recent Board meetings. I also promised to share that information on the blog for all of the leaders in our club (that includes everyone)! I hope you gain as much from the following as I did. (Please note: this is my interpretation of the “Charge Into the Future” training session from Convention, 2010. For more information please visit the website for Cynthia D’Amour, Leadership Strategist by clicking here.)

Be A Lazy Leader

I know some of you just gasped at reading that. What? A lazy leader? How will our club ever survive? Well it’s quite simple. Imagine having one person give 110% to Quota. They are busy taking care of all the details, overseeing many things at once, dipping their hands into everything that is going on within the club. Now picture one person who is only giving 60%. She is having fun, she is able to bring more people to the club because she has the time. Her friends and fellow club members see that she is getting things done and is delegating tasks. Each one of us has our own special talents. For instance: don’t ask me to take care of Treasurer’s Reports, that is NOT what I’m good at, but I can manage the blog. I digress, our 60% member has now brought in seven other people, each giving anywhere between 20-40%. Remember the Martyr Leader? She’s stressed out, burnt out and is headed toward a melt-down. She didn’t want to let Quota down and knew that if she didn’t do things, nothing would get done. Let’s look at those eight members whose total percent of “giving” equals 200% (estimated on the low side). See how more people are more effective at being lazy, than one person who is being a martyr?

Okay, now you know how to be lazy, the members will start pouring in right? They will if you know how to approach them. We have to paint a vivid picture of who Quota is. If you want someone to join Quota, do you tell them why you joined? That’s a great way to start the conversation, but even before you get to that point, you should start from the beginning. What are they looking for?

Hot Buttons

• Personal/Professional Development
• Contribution to a greater good
• Community

Let me start by explaining the Hot Buttons. When you’re talking to someone about Quota and you’re trying to get them as excited about it as you are, the best way to do that is to find their hot buttons. What are they interested in. What is important to them. If you are talking to them telling them how much you love Quota because it gives you the chance to serve others, but they are really looking for a social group, then you’ve not only missed their hot button, but you’ve lost their attention. If you start off by asking what they are interested in, then you can hit their hot button because Quota really does relate to all three. Let me explain how.

The first one in that list is Personal/Professional Development. Do you know some companies hold training sessions that cost their employees $200-$300/session? We offer the same development through our speaker’s for our one year’s dues. Did you ever think to look at it that way? I certainly had not. It can be one more persuasive tool when speaking to someone about Quota.

Next is Contribution to a greater good. In other words: Service. That’s what we do in Quota. We help those in need. We provide many service opportunities throughout the year.

Last is Community. Before each meeting we hold a social time. We catch up with each others latest news. We have fun, we laugh and we get together outside of Quota too. Perhaps the person you are talking to wants to meet more people or even network with other business women. That’s what we do and who we are!!!

Great! Now you can find out what the potential Quota member is looking for and tell her how Quota meets her needs. We need to remember to focus on what we are and who we are helping.

One good way to bring in outside people is through our service projects. We have a walk coming up. Have you asked everyone you know to join in a walk around the park? You don’t have to ask everyone for money, but if you ask them to walk then you’ve opened to door of Quota to them. By asking someone from the outside to join us for a service project, they’ll see how much fun we have and they’ll get to know Quota better.

I will leave you with this quote from Cynthia,

“If not you then who? If not now then when?

Gov. Betty Weston wanted to make sure that we saw the following that was published in the Q.I. Leadership e-Alert, March 2010 (see the last bullet point):

TO:  Quota Leaders

RE:  Leadership e-Alert –10 March 2010

Welcome to a new issue of the LEADERSHIP e-ALERT, an e-newsletter created to support Quota club leaders worldwide. Members can receive this e-newsletter by joining the Friend of Quota Program. Contact Kristen Cowen at kristen@quota.org or (202) 331-9694 for details; in the South Pacific Area, contact Beris Pritchard at berisp@worldoptions.com.au.

3. COMMUNICATING IN QUOTA

• Connect with Quota International On-Line

Quota members around the world have more ways to communicate with each other via Quota’s new on-line features. Our new Facebook page allows members to keep up with Quota events and friends like never before. You also can find us on Twitter and LinkedIn. The Quota Express is another way to share news. It’s an on-line news board linked to www.quota.org where members can post articles and photos about happenings in their clubs, districts, and areas. Look for the link on the Quota Home Page and let us know what’s going on in your part of Quota’s World.

• U.S. District Creates Blog and Teaches “Facebooking”

District 12 established a blog in late 2009 to improve communications. The district includes the Quota clubs of Alameda-Oakland, Cupertino , Monterey Peninsula , Mountain View – Los Altos , and San José . Each club can update information on the site and use their own blog pages on the District site for club communications instead of creating separate web sites. Have a look at www.quotaD12.org.The district will hold workshops on “Facebooking” to help clubs improve their publicity efforts. The district and each club have already set up custom Facebook links. Check out http://www.facebook.com/QuotaMVLA and  http://www.facebook.com/QuotaD12

• Club Drops Newsletter Format for Blog

Many Quota clubs, districts, and areas now use the Internet to communicate, at least in part. QI of Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.A., now keeps in touch exclusively on-line. Years ago, the club turned their newsletter into an e-publication, sent electronically to members to eliminate printing costs. In December 2009, the club stopped the e-newsletter and began using a blog format that can be updated easily and more frequently. Check it out at www.quotagr.com/blog.

Way to go Q.I. Grand Rapids and our Communications Team!! And welcome to our visitors. Please give us your feedback.

Here is a great recipe for brown sugar cookies. These are easy to make and would be good at any time during the year.

Brown Sugar Cookies

Enjoy!

Robin

Rosemary Scott

Diane Friar sent me this very interesting speech made by our own Rosemary Scott on February 23, 1995. As most of your know, Rosemary broke many barriers as one of the first women lawyers in Grand Rapids. Whether you knew her or not, I think you will find her speech to be very interesting. And it provides a side to Rosemary that we didn’t always see.

Thanks for sharing this, Diane!

It’s time for our annual Holiday party! Click on the following invitation for more details!

Holiday invite 2009

Wondering why this is called Peggy’s White Chicken Chili? It’s because it’s SO EASY that even Peggy could make it! (ha ha!)

One jar Northern Beans

One jar salsa

One can chicken

Heat all together on stove top (in pot, Peg) until warmed through. Serve in bowls with shredded cheese on top and a side of tortilla chips. (If you use low fat cheese and baked chips, this one is REALLY good for you!)

Submitted by Robin

1 Box yellow cake mix (with pudding in mix)

1 stick butter

1/3 cup oil

3 eggs

1 can (11oz) mandarin oranges – juice and all

Beat above well and pour into greased and floured pan or pans if doing layers. Bake 25 minutes at 350 degrees

FILLING:

1 can (20 oz) crushed pineapple, juice and all, mix with 1 pkg (3-3/4oz.) instant pudding (vanilla) DO NOT COOK. Beat until thick and fold in 1 pkg cool whip (don’t whip).

Spread on top or if doing layer cake, put between layers and on top. Refrigerate

Jan

Holiday Turkey Orders

Hello Everyone,

It’s that time of year again. (not that I want to think about whats coming—–cooooold, weather!) Time to order the Holiday Turkeys!!

If you’d like to order a Thanksgiving or Christmas Turkey, I have a sign up sheet at the market, or you can send us your order via email. Just let us know if it’s for Thanksgiving, or Christmas, or both, and the approx weight you’d like your bird to be. We’ll do our best to get you a bird in the weight range you request, give or take 5lbs. I think we did pretty good getting everyone their birds within 2-3 lbs last year.

Because the price of gas and feed has come down in the past year, we have also lowered our turkey prices this year, to
$1.99/lb.

Just like last year, we will again deliver the turkeys to the Fulton Street Market on the Tuesday and Wednesday market days just before Thanksgiving. These will be fresh birds (not frozen). If you have not ever tried a “fresh” turkey you are in for a treat! It’s been my experience that “fresh” birds seem to cook quicker than the frozen version. Last year we went to my parents for the holiday, they had a 13 lb bird that had been previously frozen and thawed, which wasn’t big enough for20the crow that was to be there, so we brought another “fresh” bird with us, also 13 lbs. Both were stuffed and cooked at the same time and temps in the same oven. The fresh bird was done 1 hour sooner than the one that had previously been frozen, (not to mention so much more juicer than the frozen one) I also had a 21lb bird that I cooked at Christmas that got done 2 hours sooner than I figured it should have due to it’s size. Even holding that bird on warm for over an hour, it was still very juicy. Now I’m not saying that is always going to happen, but I’m a beleiver now!

We also plan to bring about 6 extra birds with us, for those who didn’t place an order and maybe made last minute plans. If you want to pass that info on to anyone that might be interested.

The Christmas birds will probably be delivered frozen. The last market day is Dec 19th, the last Saturday before Christmas. If we get enough people that want fresh birds for Christmas, then we may do another butchering and schedule one day the week of Christmas for people to come to market to pick them up. I guess we’ll play that one by ear and see what comes up.

Thank you all, very much for your support of our farm, and that of the local small family farmer!!
Pat & Ginny Rakowski,

Rakowski Farm

rakowskifarms@aol.com

Dust if you must…

LADIES!!! Remember…a layer of dust protects the Wood
beneath it.
A house becomes a home when you can write ‘I love you’ on the
furniture.
I used to spend at least 8 hours every weekend making sure things
were just perfect – ‘in case someone came over’. Finally, I realized
one day that no-one came over; they were all out living life and
having fun!
NOW, when people visit, I don’t have to explain the ‘condition’ of my
home. They are more interested in hearing about the things I’ve been
doing while I was away living life and having fun.
If you haven’t figured this out yet, please heed this advice.
Life is short. Enjoy it!
Dust if you must …….
but wouldn’t it be better to paint a picture or write a letter, bake
cookies or a cake and lick the spoon or plant a seed,
ponder the difference between want and need?
Dust if you must, but there’s not much time . . . .
with beer to drink, rivers to swim and mountains to climb,
music to hear and books to read, friends to cherish and life to
lead.
Dust if you must, but the world’s out there with the sun in your
eyes, the wind in your hair, a flutter of snow, a shower of rain. This
day will not come around, again.

Dust if you must, but bear in mind, old age will come and it’s not kind
. . .

And when you go – and go you must – you, yourself will make
more dust!

In honor of Pat’s time in Shanghai, here’s a little trivia on the Shanghai and US stock markets.

1. TIME DIFFERENCE – The Chinese Shanghai stock index closes 6 ½ hours before trading on the US stock market begins in New York City. The Shanghai index is an unmanageable index that is generally considered representative of the Chinese stock market. These international securities involve additional risks including currency fluctuations, differing financial accounting standards and possible political and economic volatility (source: BTN Research).

2. TOGETHER – On those trading days YTD when the S&P 500 and the Chinese Shanghai stock index were both open, the S&P 500 mirrored the up or down movement of the Shanghai index exactly 50% of the time. Last week, the movement of the 2 indices matched on just 2 of 5 trading days (source: BTN Research).

Enjoy,

Kim