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Mentors can change people's lives and help them follow their
dreams and achieve their goals. They recognize and speak-out when
their mentee is taking the wrong path or could potentially be making
a poor decision. Mentors direct and encourage, offer opportunities,
and open doors for others.
My first mentor was my father. He taught me things that little girls
weren't typically shown or even encouraged to do or be growing up.
My aunt started to develop me for adulthood when I was twelve. At
sixteen an influential woman became my first formal mentor followed
by another woman who took me to the next stage in my development
when I was twenty. She pointed me in the direction that changed my
life forever and I didn't even know it. I have had many mentors
throughout my life, most formal and with direct intentions to guide
and influence me in different stages of my life. But there were also
many informal, life-influencing mentors, many who didn't even know
how much their guidance was changing my life, and probably neither
did I at the time.
A young person's goals can be attained because of formal and
informal mentors throughout their lives, people who see potential in
a person, offer their guidance, and care enough to devote their time
to developing them. We can all have a positive impact on a young
person coming into our organizations. But to effectively develop
these young aspiring leaders, it is important to understand the
behaviors of this generation, and the previous generations.
Please join me at our April meeting to hear what is in the minds of
six aspiring young minds and understand how you can be a life
changing force for those in their generation, Generation Y. At this
session you will also learn how to understand your own generation to
more effectively influence this generation.
"The gifts we have received from our mentors can be repaid by
mentoring an aspiring young leader."
Ivy Meadors, President Northwest Call Center Professionals and Help
Desk Northwest
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Meeting Details |
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Session Title: Developing Young Leaders
Date: April 19, 2006
Time: 1:30 - 4:00
Location: Starbucks Corporate Headquarters
Do you have employees or teenagers ranging in age from
twelve to twenty-five who are aspiring leaders? The
Millennials, commonly known as "Generation Y", are the next
most likely leaders of our corporations and government
agencies. It is important to know how to effectively help
prepare and develop these young minds for their future
potential.
At the April 19th meeting we will have six panelists ranging
in age from sixteen to twenty-four on stage along with Ivy
Meadors on the subject of developing young leaders. This is
a rare opportunity to hear what is in the minds of six young
people in an open forum to explore what it takes to develop
young leaders from the Millennial Generation. We will
explore mentoring, behavioral styles of the different
generations, communication considerations, and leadership
techniques that are the most effective for the Millennials.
You will hear specifics and statistics about the different
Generations and receive many resources. We will encourage
audience participation for a highly interactive,
thought-provoking and stimulating discussion.
Our Panelists include Corissa Meadors (16) student, Kevin
Osborne (17) student, Annie Reimer (20) college student,
Jennifer Jeffery (21) employed at Nintendo, Leona Higashi
(21) employed at Starbucks, Kristiana Jimenez (24) youngest
call center manager at Costco.
About our Moderator:
Ivy Meadors is CEO and founder of High Tech High Touch
Solutions, Inc., a trade show producer and consulting firm
specializing in help desks and call centers.
Award winning, speaker-consultant, Ivy Meadors, has over 29
years of experience in call centers and help desks. She is
considered one of the industry’s most respected leaders and
is one of the top 5 most recognized names in the Help Desk
industry. She got her roots in the industry during her
tenure at U S West Communications and IBM.
The owner and producer of both the
Help Desk Professionals Conference and the
Government Customer Support Conference, Ivy is the sole
woman tradeshow / events company owner in our industry. Ivy
is also co-founder and President of the Northwest Call
Center Professionals Association and President of the Help
Desk Northwest User Group.
Ivy publishes the online newsletter, eSharings, has been
published in the top industry magazines and newsletters,
wrote a monthly column for Customer Interface Magazine - one
of the top call center magazines in the industry, received
the Service News Award for being one of the 25 most
influential people in the service and support industry, and
received the honor of being one of the Top 10 Legends in the
Help Desk Industry.
As an experienced keynote speaker and seminar leader, Ivy is
known for her engaging, thought provoking, spontaneous
style, delivering forward thinking, and unconventional
ideas. She carries the title of Professional Speaker as
recognized by the National Speakers Association. Ivy’s
presentations are rich with content and alive with humor and
real-life examples. You may not always agree with her
position but she will certainly challenge you to think of
things from a different view-point as she challenges the
norm and promotes the exceptional.
___________________________
Mentor a Young Leader
Have you considered being a mentor to a Millennial? The
personal reward from being a mentor of a Millennial will
likely exceed your expectations. As the article on the
website "Generations at Work"
(http://www.generationsatwork.com/articles/millenials .htm)
says:
"They’re the hottest commodity on the job market since Rosie
the Riveter. They’re sociable, optimistic, talented,
well-educated, collaborative, open-minded, influential, and
achievement-oriented. They’ve always felt sought after,
needed, indispensable. They are arriving in the workplace
with higher expectations than any generation before them—and
they’re so well connected that, if an employer doesn’t match
those expectations, they can tell thousands of their cohorts
with one click of the mouse. They’re the Millennial
Generation. Born between 1980 and 2000, they’re a generation
nearly as large as the Baby Boom, and they’re charged with
potential. They’re variously called the Internet Generation,
Echo Boomers, the Boomlet, Nexters, Generation Y, the
Nintendo Generation, the Digital Generation, and, in Canada,
the Sunshine Generation. But several thousand of them sent
suggestions about what they want to be called to Peter
Jennings at abcnews.com, and “Millennials” was the clear
winner."
I love where they make the statement found on this same
website: "You be the leader. This generation has grown up
with structure and supervision, with parents who were role
models. The “You be the parent” TV commercials are right on.
Millennials are looking for leaders with honesty and
integrity. It’s not that they don’t want to be leaders
themselves, they’d just like some great role models first. "
We must be good role models and lead this young generation
to success, developing these young leaders who will soon be
the primary population in our corporations.<
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Monthly Sponsor |
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SafeHarbor provides successful customer interactions by
integrating the customer support experience with business
intelligence.
SafeHarbor Technology Corporation, founded and headquartered
in Satsop, Washington, is a leading provider of customer
interaction and business intelligence services that designs,
builds, and improves customer support environments for mid-
to large- sized enterprises. Since 1998, SafeHarbor has
implemented more than 100 customer support solutions. These
solutions deliver tangible results, including improved
productivity, customer satisfaction and loyalty, and reduced
support costs.
SafeHarbor creates solutions that apply behavioral analytics
and customer satisfaction data across a strategic mix of
support channels—Web sites, e-mail, chat, and phone—to best
serve its clients' customers, whether they are consumers,
agents, employees, or partners.
Some of SafeHarbor's customers include American Airlines,
Cingular, IBM, Juniper Networks, Magnavox, Orb Networks,
Philips North America, State of Washington, SunTrust Banks,
TiVo, T-Mobile, and Washington Mutual.
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News and Events |
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Opportunity to Attend a Help Desk and or Call Center Conference for
a Deep Discount, or Even No Fee
NWCCP and HDNW boards have agreed to align our organizations
with three primary conference events; ACCE, Help Desk
Professionals (HDP), and the Government Customer Support
(GCS) conference and expos in exchange for very aggressive
discounts made available only to our members. You rarely see
these deep discounts to attend conferences, so take
advantage now.
Our members are also offered the opportunity to be
considered to join the faculty of these events in exchange
for free passes or even deeper discounted passes. There are
a small number of these exclusive, highly rewarding,
volunteer opportunities available.
Anyone who volunteers for at least 3 hours is eligible for
50% off the conference you volunteer at! To learn more,
email nwccp@hthts.com or call 425-398-9292 and ask for
details. Be specific which event you are interested in and
what role you would like to perform.
The
5th Annual Government Customer Support Conference and Expo
for Call Centers, Help Desks, and Service Portals -
Arlington, VA June 14-15, 2006
Annual Call Center Exhibition (ACCE) Featuring the ICMI
Knowledge Exchange September 11-13, 2006 Washington State
Convention & Trade Center http://www.accec mp.com
The
8th Annual Help Desk Professionals Conference and Expo
will be held in San Antonio, September 25- 27, 2006 at the
Hyatt on the Riverwalk, just across the street from The
Alamo!
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Resources |
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This issue's resources have been submitted by Laird Hail, a member
of our organization.
"Thank you, Laird for these useful suggestions and so
timely, given this month's topics."
The Coast Guard develops leaders very early in their careers
and some 20 & 21 year olds carry enormous responsibilities.
Many of the heroic actions during Katrina were led by very
young leaders. When I commanded ships, I also sent out teams
led by very young sailors. Former Commandant of the Coast
Guard Admiral (ret)n James Loy co-authored a book titled
"Character in Action: The Coast Guard on Leadership"
that goes into great detail on this.
"It's Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn
Ship in the Navy" by Captain (ret) D. Michael Abrashoff.
It speaks to the importance of listening to your people and
learning from them. Capt. Abrashoff took over a poor
performing ship and in his two years of command turned it
into one of the best ships in the Navy by following the
techniques he discusses in the book. (This book will also
change some stereotype thinking about military leadership
methods and possibly reduce prejudice that sometimes exists
against military applicants.) The following is the
publisher's comments on the book:
"The most important thing a captain can do is to see the
ship from the eyes of the crew." This belief has
successfully guided D. Michael Abrashoff, the captain of one
of the U. S. Navy's most modern and lethal warships.
Abrashoff has revolutionized how to handle such challenging
problems as excessive costs, low morale, sexual harassment,
and constant turn- over. Business managers will benefit from
Abrashoff's guiding belief that focus should be on
empowering your people rather than on chain of command. By
shifting organizing principles from obedience to
performance, managers will be rewarded with remarkable
productivity. As Abrashoff explains, the more people enjoy
the process, the better the results. Good leaders listen to
the people under their command-and use their ideas to
improve operating procedures.
Another author I really like on the topic of leadership and
teamwork is John Maxwell. He has a number of books that are
great, but two I thought were very applicable to Help Desk
and Call Center groups are: "The 17 Indisputable Laws of
Teamwork: Embrace them and Empower Your Team" and
"The 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player: Becoming the
Kind pf Person Every Team Wants". So much of both Call
Centers and Help Desks is team oriented. Also, If you ever
have the opportunity to attend on of his conferences, I
highly recommend it.
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Job openings and Available Candidates |
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Parker Services has a great opportunity for an experienced
Call Center Manager to join growing firm to hire, train,
develop and motivate a team of call center supervisors.
Will be charged with setting up KPI metrics, budget
preparation, call forecasts, customer service targets. Will
hold staff management responsibilities including hiring and
termination, performance reviews, employee satisfaction, and
career mentoring.
Ideal Fit: 5 years of management experience with track
record of cultivating staff to excel in call center
environment. Demonstrated success in implementing process
improvements and system changes. Knowledge of call center
management tools. Excellent leadership ability and strong
communication skills. Customer service orientation.
If interested, contact Mona at monav@parkerservices.com.
High Tech High Touch Solutions has two sales position
available. They will be working for Ivy Meadors. One
position is for a commissioned sales person to sell
sponsorships for our conferences. This individual can work
anywhere in the United States from their home.
The other position is for an attendee sales person who
contacts our prior conference attendees and reaches out to
new attendees to invite them to come to our events. This
role also includes office administration. The position is in
Woodinville, but does offer some limited work at home
opportunities.
Please contact Christine for details or to set up an
appointment to talk about the roles. She can be reached by
email at Christine@hthts.com or by phone at 425-398- 9292.
Classmates.com has 21 job openings. Contact Carole
Todd Anderson at 425.917.4722 or email canderson@classmates.com.
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Directions to Meeting |
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Driving and Parking Instructions to Starbucks in Seattle
at the Starbucks Support Center Building (SSC)
2401 Utah Avenue South Seattle, WA 98134
The main entrance to the Starbucks building is on 1st
Between the Office Depot and Sears. You will proceed to the
elevator and go to the 8th floor (the main Reception area
for Starbucks).
Please let the receptionist know you are there for the
NWCCP/HDNW meeting.
Our sponsor, SafeHarbor, will be providing refreshments
Traveling South on I-5 Take the 4th Avenue South exit. Turn
right on 4th Avenue South. Turn right on Lander. Go across
1st Avenue South. Turn right on Utah Avenue South.
Traveling North on I-5 Take the Spokane Street exit. Turn
right on 6th Avenue South. Turn left on Lander. Go across
1st Avenue South. Turn right on Utah Avenue South.
Traveling West on I-90 Take I-90 to the end. Turn right on
4th Avenue South. Turn right on Lander. Go across 1st Avenue
South. Turn right on Utah Avenue South.
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