Contagious Culture

Posted by Lindsey Ravasani-asl


Mar 24

Culture.jpgHave you ever been on the fence about reading a book and once you starting reading that book you have a hard time putting it down because it is relatable, interesting, or simply something unexpected? I tend to be a harsh critic when it comes to many books and for a book to motivate me and capture my attention is few and far between. Recently however, I have read Anese Cavanaugh’s book, “Contagious Culture, and thoroughly enjoyed reading her new book.  Although it is geared towards already existing leaders and how to improve their leadership through the IEP (Intentional, Energetic Presence) method it is still a great resource for ambitious young professionals that want to start preparing towards becoming a leader within an organization. During this blog, I want to give you some insight on the author, the main ideas throughout the book so if you decide to attend the event in April 2016 that Anese will be speaking at you can see if her book interests you. All the information about the event location and how to register are listed below with a direct link to the event page.

Author Background

Before reading any book I like to see what kind of credibility the author has so I will list some of the accomplishments over the years Anese has attained. Here is some background information to start off with about the book and the author. The author wears many different hats such as a business owner, strategist, writer, motivational speaker, wife/ mother, and just an all-around hardworking individual. I admire that type of work ethic.  Let’s start with her entrepreneurial endeavors because the book is about the business world and it is essential to know how she operates within her own business. Anese Cavanaugh owns a consulting management company called, “Dare to engage” in California and started the trend of companies using the IEP method as mentioned earlier. The IEP method is the energy, intention, and presence that leads to your success in creating influence. Some of the companies she consults with are IBM, Chevron, Cooper, IDEO, and Citigroup just to name a few. Anese’s expertise can be found on numerous magazines such as the New York Times, Huffington Post, the Miami Herald, Inc.com, and more. Her credibility and work ethic to be able to consult and write in some of the most in demand companies and journals is just incredibility and demonstrates the power of what she and her company can offer.

Key Concepts

The concept of the book, Contagious Culture is based on how to show up, set the tone, and purposefully produce an organization that flourishes. What this is means is what your presence is like, how you direct others, what tone do you use when being a leader and the different paths of how you can grow your organization. According to the book the key objective, “Is about improving your leadership presence and your impact, not just on others, but on yourself." This can be done by showing up, the energy that you give off, and the tone of what you say.  The book has a lot of good examples of different leadership styles, explanations of why someone is doing what they are doing, and how to react to different leadership styles or how a leader can improve his/her presence.  She describes two types of cultural intention projected from leaders are how they “show up” and how they grow others. When you think about these two elements they are simple concepts but she puts them into perspective on how to bring these two concepts out in leaders. When reading the book you will find yourself re-evaluating a lot of the way you act or do in a business setting.  It is refreshing to hear it from another person on how to handle situations or how you can improve not only your own life but those around you by just taking a step back and analyzing your own actions. Many of life’s problems personally or in the business environment can be solved or considerably reduced by holding accountability and by  leaders taking the initiative or just approaching situations differently through considering other people’s feelings, end goals, patterns/ trends, and just by simply being observant. I know everyone goes through a lot on a daily basis and some days are better than others, but this book will help you to become a better person and leader by the many situations it takes you through. By creating positivity as a leader or in general as a person it allows others to feel more comfortable, important, and you will find yourself improving the energy of others

Opportunity

Anese Cavanaugh is speaking on April 12th at the Ann Arbor Hubspot user group. If anything, I strongly believe she will have an interesting outlook on personal life, business, and how to improve oneself at the presentation. 

How to Register for the Event

The link below is directly to the Registration page to the Ann Arbor Hubspot User Group. In order to register you have to put in your name and email. http://annarbor.hubspotusergroups.com/events

Culture

Figure 1: This figure was in the book and discusses the 5 components to “showing up”.

This expresses the seven different ways you can be contagious and below the seven are listed.

  1. What you do
  2. How you show up
  3. The energy of your presence
  4. The tone of your voice
  5. Your enthusiasm
  6. The focus of your attention
  7. The sincerity of your words

The seven game changers that can help you create your own fate.

  1. Do your work. Be accountable for your choices.
  2. Stop complaining and start resolving.
  3. Ask for help- admit your glorious imperfections.
  4. Surround yourself with good people.
  5. Practice gratitude, even for the stuff that hurts. You don’t have to be grateful for everything, but do be grateful for what you learn from everything.
  6. Eat well. Really well. Move your body. Drink water.
  7. Love your kids. Love your friends. Love your people. Love yourself. Remember who you are.

Additional Information:

Anese Cavenaugh was a speaker at the Inbound 2015 event.  This is her blog post that applied her concepts about how to stay focused at the event -- http://www.inbound.com/blog/13-ways-to-stay-focused-and-energized-at-inbound15 

Consider "Studying in Boston!" during the Fall semester -- http://inbound.business.wayne.edu/study-in-boston 

Topics: Culture

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