Tightening Labor Market Means You Better Learn To Ripple

It is half passed ten and you received a call from your boss asking to see you. You immediately head over and she asks you to shut the door. Panic sets in immediately.

She asks you to have a seat as she shuffles paper around her office nervously. Your hands begin to sweat. She makes some veiled attempts at small talk asking about your son's soccer team and reliving the fun times you both shared at a co-workers birthday happy hour recently. She is stalling and you can feel it.

She abruptly shifts gears and the tone light chit chat suddenly changes with, "I have some bad news."

You can likely imagine the rest right?

Unfortunately conversations like this are going to be happening a lot more in the coming months and years. As I rode over to the office this morning I was listening to NPR and they were talking about 1/3 of the top 100 builders would be forced into bankruptcy within the next 12-18 months. The impact obviously will be devastating for people in that industry on so many levels. And honestly if the pundits continue to scare the business and consumer public, many more industries, communities, individuals and whole families will be impacted.

So the simple question I must ask you is how prepared are you? I mean if the scenario above were to occur and your boss had to have that very same conversation with you, would you be alright and have options or would you be starting at square one?

Learning to Ripple your way to the important business connections that can aide you in a time of need is so critical. Yes, there are plenty of people out there that continually tell you networking is the key to landing your next job and I would agree, but only to a certain extent. Networking alone won't help you in your time of need. Only relationships, real relationships will; and that's why Rippling is so uniquely different and honestly, why it so powerful.

My friends the time to start learning to Ripple your way to better connections, to building stronger relationships and to creating your own destiny is upon us. Are you prepared?

I want to help. One way I am putting my money where my mouth is to provide an exclusive offer to my BLOG readers to get their Rippling started by learning the true impact of The Ripple Effect. I would like to extend a special discounted price on my book for you, for your family, friends, co-workers, important customers, etc. I believe so much in these strategies and the impact that it can make in your personal and professional life I want to make purchasing this book for yourself or someone else you know needs it, a no-brainer.

The book is only the first part. Its how committed you need to be to actually implement the strategies and put in the hard (but fun) work to gain the full benefit of the power of the Ripple. I hope you will. I hope in just a short period of time you can answer YES when asked if you are ready for the potentially turbulent times ahead.

CLICK HERE FOR THE EXCLUSIVE BLOG READERS OFFER

Ripple Connection Question Of The Week

Ripple Connection Questions are a unique way to engage people in conversation. Whether with a complete stranger or someone you already know, but want to know better, using Ripple Connection Questions (RCQ) accelerate the dialogue and deepen the connection. The questions are by design, fun to ask and fun to answer, and can take your connection to an entirely new level. Come on, break out of that shell of yours and start Rippling.

So with no further adieu....this week's Ripple Connection Question is:

WHAT IS ONE OF YOUR MOST
FAVORITE CHILDHOOD MEMORIES?

This time of year as the Super Bowl approaches, it would be easy to say football for me. I fancied myself a backyard (or actually front yard) football hero. I had this old Nerf football that I would use and I would, for hours, self-hike the ball to myself and toss it on my parents house and wait for it to come down for a completion. Passes that were thrown on the first story were good for a single completion; I needed two for a first down. Passes that were thrown on the second story would come down much faster and much more unpredictable which made them so much more fun to catch. They of course were good for an automatic first down so I went for them a lot! Hey no guts, no glory right?

I would sit out there for hours and pretend I was leading my beloved Dallas Cowboys down the field for that Super Bowl win. I especially loved this time of year as a snow game added to the flare and excitement of a Steve Harper, Dallas' overlooked and yet undiscovered future franchise quarterback, led win.

I didn't win all of them as to make it fair, I had to play both teams; Dallas and whoever they might be up against that week. And in the battle field of the Harper front yard stadium, there were many tough opponents and very few easy wins. But the wins that I did have will be forever etched in my mind and the memories will forever make me smile.

So what about you? What's your answer to this week's Ripple Connection Question? Use this question with the people who cross you path in life and I guarantee you will open up a plethora of great material from which a deeper more meaningful relationship can be built.

Ripple On!!!

Forrest Gump's Mom Had It Right

Forrest Gump said, "My momma always said 'life if like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are gonna get.' "

I think Forrest's mom was most certainly a relater. She understood something about people. She got it. I love the symmetry of that line to what has become my life's passion: teaching anyone and everyone that will listen about the power of connection. When it comes down to it, connecting is nothing but a mystery that courage and a little gumption (no pun intended) will help you discover and solve.

Life, and by association the people in it, is very much like a box of chocolates. True there are all sorts of great pieces to enjoy and consume at your leisure. And of course sometimes you select the piece that looks so yummy and you can't wait to eat it but when you take a bite you discover that beneath that attractive surface lies a filling that isn't going to be to your liking. Oh the disappointment and displeasure when that happens. But sometimes you continue to chew, you refuse to spit it out and you muddle through.

Maybe that piece is something you never want to eat again. But the candy people understand that sometimes you have to give things a second chance and in most boxes of candy you get two pieces of the same kind of candy. Perhaps, just maybe, you go back to that piece and you give it another try....just to make sure you don't like it. Sometimes, as in life, your suspicions are confirmed but perhaps, just maybe, your initial impression turns out to be wrong. That piece of candy isn't nearly as bad as you first thought and in fact, as you consume the second piece, it actually begins to grow on you. Carmel and a kid named Mike was that way for me as a kid.

People are exactly the same. Sometimes you need to take a second bite or rather make a second effort, just to make sure you aren't missing out.

Go forth and find your box of chocolates my fellow Ripplers and don't just look for the pieces (and people) you know. Take a chance. You never know what your gonna get but in the end isn't that what makes life more interesting?

Thanks Ms. Gump!

Ripple On!!!