Linked In

I've been networking a lot lately on LinkedIn.com. It's a fantastic way to meet people in your field from all over the world. Since we've been thinking about moving to San Francisco, I've networked with about 10 people from the PR field in the Bay area. When I'm ready to search for jobs out there, I'll immediately be in a better position than your average job seeker.

Similarly with Italy - I've been networking with a number of people from Roma and Milano. The news is not as exciting from over there as the economy is going through un brutto periodo, but that doesn't deter me from getting to know people in my field, even if their most comment question is "Why would you want to leave the US?"

Nothing has come to fruition yet with LinkedIn, but I think it's the mere possibility of fruition that keeps me supremely satisfied with the web service.

I think that's an anology for humans in general - we're happy as long as there is the possibility that something good can happen.

It's called "hope."

Quote of the Day

Our quote of the day comes from the comic strip Eyebeam via someone named Jamie who posted on a friend's blog (see Miss O's Diary to the right).

"It's either feast or famine at the table of love, and, alas, there's no Tupperware. "

Mom's new blog

My mother Betty just started a new blog tonight. As she states in her first post:

"Hi ..this is my first attempt to blog (whatever that means). "

I'm really proud of the way she has been embracing technology over the past few years. Not only has she started sending emails to me, but she shares pictures and now her diary online. Regardless of whether or not she understands the technology or its myriad implications (like blogging), she nevertheless has taken it up as something new and fun to try.

In her early 60's, she is the ideal "mover and shaker", always willing to try something new and exciting, because you only live once. She has tried numerous business endeavors over the years, some have worked well and some less, but all have had a positive effect on her and on the entire family. She allows herself to learn from every experience.

You may have read my previous post about my father and his dental practice - it's important to know that my mother and her adventurous philosophy have played a similarly critical role in my development, serving as a necessary balance to my father's practicality and wisdom.

While my father was teaching me the value of staying up-to-date on the news or on the latest books in my various fields of interest (and amazing me by his capacity to absorb and retain information), my mother was always reminding me that I could do anything that I wanted, no matter how crazy, as long as I believed in myself (she proved this by doing everything she wanted to do before my eyes). In the end, those two philosphies merged to form the powerful sense of empowerment that I try to maintain every day, and will be two essential ideals that I pass along to my chidren.

Tennis and Customer Service

It's Sunday night and I already feel that we have had a successful weekend. Yoav and I played tennis yesterday and today, both times for over an hour. We really push ourselves to play hard against each other, with some impressive corner shots on each side. We are competitive enough to try and one-up each other, but gracious enough to acknowledge the other person's good shots against us.

I think these two qualities are both important and inseparable in life in general. We should be competitive (think "self-confident") in whatever we do, but at the same time realize that there will always be others who know more - and we need to acknowledge their skills in a humble way, by learning from them.

There are few things in life that are as beautiful as the ability to learn from others, whether they know it or not, whether we know it or not.

Take for example the year I spent working for my father when I was 22. As a recent graduate with a liberal arts degree (read "unmarketable") I was anxious to find a good job and start building a career. I worked with my father to make some money in the meantime. What I did not realize was that this office experience would shape my business ethics and morales in a significant way. Working with a man I still consider to be the smartest businessman out there would teach me how to interact with clients for years to come. His ability to remain cool and collected, even when badgered by impertinent patients who thought they know more than him, forever instilled in me an ability to take a deep breath and smile when responding to an issue at work, a quality that has since been dubbed "diplomatic" by my colleagues. His practical and realistic approach to his field led to the ability to cut to the chase of every argument, yet his friendliness and witty sense of humor made it a pleasurable chase for everyone involved.

He was not the only one. His financial assistant and my best friend at the office was also deeply influential in shaping the way I look at the concept of "customer service". She single-handedly raised the bar of expected customer service skills to a level that no other office, certainly no other medical office, has ever been able to match. From looking at the schedule beforehand in order to personally greet a patient by name to working with them one-on-one to create a payment plan for their treatment taught me more than any MBA course could possibly have done.

In short, when it comes to life, we are forever like children among adults, soaking in the lessons of those around us like grammar and vocabulary to a child who has not yet learned how to speak, because we are forever around others who know more than us about something.

That is the beauty of life, and that is why our "language" skills are forever improving.

Forever forward. Amen.