Career Coaching Blog

While much might not look different at this blog on the front end, a lot has been happening at the back end.  I want to thank my new Web master, Micah Boon for all his great work in helping me truly link this blog to my Web site.  Hopefully, with the ease on the back end, I’ll be able to write more regularly than I have in the past! 

I am also feeling a sense of true relief because the manuscript for my new book, Scrappy Startups:  How 15 Ordinary Women Turned Their Unique Ideas into Profitable Business is well in the hands of my publisher, Praeger, and is being tenderly cared for by a copy editor, whom I will meet sometime in the next four to six weeks.

Writing a book is truly a lot like giving birth.  Yet in the later, the labor lasts for many months, rather for many hours!  But in each case, I must say, it’s a labor of love.

I look forward to sharing more about my book in coming posts.

For now, I want to share with you my excitement about a book I’m reading and listening to (I love reading and listening to books at the same time - it’s a profound experience.)

I probably would have heard about this book some months down the road, but I love the way I discovered it - it was what I think of as a synchronistic event!

My husband, Gary, is a avid Yankee fan, having been born and bred in the Bronx, NY.  He’s spending every Sunday (and many other days) watching his beloved Yankees from the comfort of our home, thanks to a special cable subscription.  His love affair with baseball frees me up to focus on whatever makes my heart sing.  Mostly it’s been writing my book as well as tending to the details of my career coaching business.

A couple of Sundays ago, I happened into the room where he was flipping between the Yankee game and C-Span’s book TV.  Fortunately, Gary was on the Book TV channel when I entered the room.  I lingered to hear what was being said and was intrigued to hear author Jeff Jarvis talk about a new model of business that Google had created.  He was lamenting that government should take note of Google, rather than impose tons of regulation.  My ears perked.  His book, What Would Google Do? was where he laid out his thinking.  I also learned that he writes a blog, Buzz Machine.

As is often the case when I’m excited about something, I’ve been recommending this book to everyone who comes across my path, friends and clients alike.  The more I get into the book, the happier I am with the recommendation.  What Jeff Jarvis is doing is laying out just how different Google is from other companies and how it is a pathfinder for a new day of openness and commerce and abundance.  So many of the values I hear about are values I share, yet how Google is doing business is indeed turning traditional models on its ear.

I don’t think I could be articulate enough now to spell out what the book is truly about at this point, but I will point you to something Jarvis alerted me to that I wasn’t aware existed.  It is a list of ten truths that Google lists on its Web site:  Google’s Philosophy.  It’s truly worth a read.

As I write, I hear my husband watching a game in the other room.  Must be a good game because he’s not flipping the dial to Book TV.   Guess I’ll have to pull up their schedule and see for myself if there’s something worthwhile to watch today!

Bye for now,

Melanie

Tags: career change, career development, career exploration, career transition, careers, coaching, entrepreneur, personal development, personal growth, reinventing self, starting over