General Articles

Submitted by Carl Jenks


On November 19, 1949 a young man strode on to a college campus in rural Pennsylvania. He was the newly appointed football coach. Over the next six decades his name and the school's name became almost became synonymous as he, Joe Paterno, became the winningest coach in the history of college football, and the school, Penn State University, became a dominant regional and national athletic powerhouse.

That fame, glory, and amazing record all came crashing down a couple of weeks ago as it was revealed that one of JoePa's ( Paterno's name in the Penn State community) assistant coaches had allegedly been engaging in child abuse, for decades. Some of the alleged activity even taking place within the Penn State athletic facilities.

What makes this sad and sordid tale a tragedy of compromise is that many people, including JoePa, had been alerted numerous times over the years that something suspicious was taking place, but no one pursued any sort of investigative follow-up. JoePa now admits he could've and should've done more. These are his own words, "It is one of the great sorrows of my life. I wish I had done more."

No one is accusing JoePa of being knowingly complicit in these crimes. But because of not doing all he could do to investigate the suspicions at least eight young boys were emotionally and psychologically scarred for life. This is of course the greatest tragedy. But JoePa is also paying a terrible price. His 60 plus year career as the most successful coach in college football history, all the good he did financially and otherwise for Penn State and the Penn State family over all those decades will now forever be overshadowed by this tragic lapse of judgment.

At 84 JoePa is coming to the end of his earthly race. As he nears the finish, giving the impression to himself and all the spectators that he is about to finish strong it comes to light that somewhere back on the course he stepped outside line, committed a foul and disqualified himself. His 409 victories on the gridiron will stay in the record books, but his reputation will never be what it could've been. As a headline on the cover of the 11/21/11 "Sports Illustrated" stated, "The Paterno Legacy - He can't get it back".

Fellow Mountain Taker, let's finish strong. Make no room for compromise in your race.

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Carl is the Founder and President of Mountain Takers Inc.; a Training and Coaching enterprise, dedicated to “Equipping exceptional people to achieve extraordinary results.”

Coupling his own marketing and business experience with 30+ years of coaching, counseling, training and leading people through all manner of life situations in his role as a pastor, he comes to the task uniquely prepared. Through public teaching, private counseling and coaching, he has helped individuals and organizations on four continents discover their purpose and learn what it means to be empowered to “take their mountain” of influence. At Mountain Takers Inc., “Your Success is Our Passion”.

Submitted by Susan Kastan

When I packed to leave I had the feeling that I should have a contingency plan. The thought "what happens if I get stuck at JFK?" floated in and out of my head.  Something told me it was time to entertain that thought.
Being proactive, I took a few precautions. I wore comfortable clothes instead of fashionable ones on the plane.  I made sure I had cash on hand. I charged all of my electronic devices. I put snacks (and Advil) in my carry-on. I shipped my valuables home separately. And, I made sure to get stranded in a city that doesn't sleep.

All this preparation didn't totally eliminate that sinking feeling when the ticket agent said that my flight left without me.  But, it did help me recover faster mentally.  It helped me get the critical thinking and evaluating part of my brain back sooner.  Preparedness helped me gain an edge.

So, the next time you get that nagging feeling, take a minute and play the "what-if" game.  Ask yourself questions like:

• What if this doesn't go as planned?
• What if I can't return to my home?
• What information could I possibly need?

Most importantly, don't be afraid to ask for help.  The really smart people always do.


Sue Kastan
President, Kastan Consulting, LLC
Specializing in Information Security and Business Continuity Solutions
Helping your business stay in business
www.kastanconsulting.com
Twitter @susankastan
585 734-0804

Submitted by Carl Jenks

The saddest commentaries to come out of a natural disaster such as the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S. just experienced with Hurricane Irene are the accounts of people who ignored/defied warnings and evacuation orders only to be swept away by the torrential weather or have some other form of weather related tragedy strike. Being a bit of a weather junkie, I spent a fair amount of time watching the Weather Channel last weekend. One of the features of most reports were shots of people cavorting in the ever rising surf or walking the beach bent into the increasingly ferocious wind. Sometimes even the reporting weather person would comment on how foolish some of these actions were. I must admit I joined in that sentiment, occasionally offering my own assessments.

However, upon further reflection I found myself asking, "What about me? Am I Hearing and Heeding in my own life?"

Hearing is an essential part of communication. Just ask any parent! But it's also essential in business. I just recently had the unfortunate experience of having a sales person who did not hear what I was asking for clearly and as a result I did not receive the right part, and as a consequence her company is eating some money, re-making the part, and I am still waiting to finish the needed and overdue repair.

I make my living coaching executives and professionals of all stripes to achieve extraordinary results. The number one tool that I need to use, and often to teach, is the art of listening. How many times have I witnessed others (or myself) get into unnecessary trouble because of not listening or speaking too soon?  Hearing is so important to the coaching community that there is actually a website dedicated to encouraging coaches all over the globe to share their insights on the subject. It's very informative. But sometimes you get the sense that some of the least prepared to listen folks are the coaches themselves. I'm amazed at how many times the same thoughts are repeated from comment to comment. I ask, "Did anyone read what was already written?" It seems we're all ready to speak, but what aggravation, not to mention damage might be avoided if everyone took time to really hear?

Hearing however is only the first half of the equation. Parents, does this sound familiar? "Johnny, pick up your toys." Ten minutes later, "Johnny, didn't you hear me? Pick up your toys!" "Yes, Daddy, I heard you…" You who are parents can easily fill in the rest of the story. Johnny sort of hears, but heeding, that's another thing.

Returning for a moment to Irene - all who were taking chances and ignoring the pervasive and urgent storm warnings and government issued orders of evacutation certainly had heard with their ears, but what entered the ears never made the connection to the brain, or common sense!

Who do you need to be hearing and heeding? Customers? Employees? Partners? Employers? Suppliers, Spouses? Parents? Kids? The list goes on and on. The truth is everywhere we turn there are opportunities, and needs to Hear and Heed. Hearing and Heeding goes a long way to making our lives more productive, successful, and fulfilling. Failing to do so can have disastrous consequences. Some would say the whole Human race would be in a far better place if Adam and Eve had practiced both in the Garden.

Give Hearing and Heeding a try today. You'll be glad you did.

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For the last decade Carl has been serving small business CEOs and their enterprises. He has done extensive executive coaching, facilitated conflict resolution, conducted leadership training for management teams, helped refine business vision, bring employee training and publications to reflect corporate values more accurately, and for some clients engages in on going corporate life counsel. Internationally Carl has inspired hundreds of profit and non-profit leaders through numerous conferences and one-on-one interactions. Carl is also a published author.

Carl's contact information:
carl@mountaintakersinc.com
585-503-1481
www.mountaintakersinc.com
   
       
 

Submitted by Jen Ulrich, Answers to Organizing

At the August 26th, I was a panelist at the RPCN (Rochester Professional Consultants Network) speaker meeting, discussing the important of having a "Board of Advisers" when working as a sole proprietor. My Board of Advisers includes three dynamic women with very different styles, business focus, and strengths. We meet every Monday morning (with very  few exceptions) to share our plans for the coming week, ask for support and give suggestions on troublesome business issues, and help each other to be accountable for our respective business goals. We call this gathering the Accountability Group.

Members of Friday's RPCN audience offered some of the challenges they face as small business owners, such as isolation; knowing what equipment to get; learning how to market the business, write a proposal or attract new clients. These and many other issues are discussed at the monthly Business and Technical Forums at RPCN. But our Accountability Group goes several steps further; we go beyond the "how to" steps and help each other develop action and implementation plans that are specific to our businesses. Equally important, we focus on a timeline to ensure the project actually gets done.

For me, the other members of the Accountability Group are my partners in business (not to be confused with business partners.) They hold a vital role in the success of Answers To Organizing. They are:

Lori Cohen, Compass Quality Solutions - Lori works with small- and mid-sized companies to achieve ISO 9001 Quality Management Certification.

Linda McQueen, Business to BEST Consulting - Linda employs efficiency principles, solutions, and technology to turn a business's vision into reality.

Beth Sears, Workplace Communication, Inc. - Beth improves individual and organizational performance by helping build better relationships through open communication.

If you would like to create your own support team, the following guidelines may help you get started:

• Determine the size of the group - We've found four is the perfect size to allow everyone time to present and discuss issues. Pick whatever number you feel can be handled in the time allowed for meetings, but start small; you can always grow larger if desired.
• Set the parameters for the group meetings: where, when, frequency. As I mentioned, we meet every Monday from 9-11 a.m. at a local coffee shop centrally located for all four of us. With some exception for special gatherings, we found one set time, day, and place is really the only way to go to avoid confusion.
• Table stakes - Mutual respect, honesty, confidentiality, willingness to share, and a desire to learn. To avoid conflict of interest, it probably is best not to have more than one member in a specific field of expertise or industry.
• Compatibility - This doesn't mean you all think alike; quite the opposite. In our group, we have introverts and extroverts, global thinkers and process professionals alike. What compatibility means in this context is people you can relate to, listen to, and with whom you enjoy spending time. Yes, we are business focused, but we have fun too. We genuinely care about each others' success, both professionally as well as personally.
• No dues - Start-up companies and small businesses have enough expenses to deal with. What we are doing is making an investment of time to ourselves and each other that truly pays off.
• Require commitment from all members to attend all meetings. Naturally vacations and illness are understandable. Most of my clients are consumers, whereas clients of the other three business owners are primarily other businesses. And in the business-to-business world, sometimes the client drives the dates of activities. But actually, it's fairly rare when one of us has to be absent from our Monday meeting. Because we have built strong bonds of respect for each other, we accept these infrequent and unavoidable absences willingly.

So the next logical question is, "Where do I begin?"

• Pay attention to the people around you when attending other group meetings or networking. Who interests you? Who is knowledgeable in an area you'd like to know more about? Who do you get along with?
• Invite one person to coffee to get to know that individual better. If that person seems compatible to your style, open the conversation about forming an accountability group.
• Come to agreement on the parameters of the group. As you consider others for membership, these will be the pre-established arrangements they will have to agree to before joining.
• Discuss who else might be a good fit for your Accountability Group. Schedule separate one-on-one meetings; keep in mind, this is not an invitation-to-join meeting, just a get-to-know-you session.
• Next, discuss with the other member whether or not you both agree that the person is a good fit. If yes, extend an invitation to join your group. If not, there's no harm done; you've expanded your network which always is good.
• When you've reached three members (or when a vacancy needs to be filled), you can begin inviting other prospects to visit your meeting to share about their business with the group. Later, repeat the step above.

As Lori, Linda, Beth and I shared with the RPCN group on Friday, being a member of this Accountability Group has made an invaluable impact for each of us in being more knowledgeable business professionals, working smarter and more efficiently, and raising our standards of accountability not only to ourselves and each other, but to our clients as well.

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Jen Ulrich, owner of Answers To Organizing and blogger for the "Democrat and Chronicle," is a professional organizer. She guides clients in the process of transforming their environments from cluttered settings to comfortable ones. In the past six years, she has recovered nearly $18,000 for her clients in their homes or small offices.

This article has been modified from a blog posted at the "Democrat and Chronicle" website on August 26, 2011.

Submitted by Ruth Balkin, Balkin Information Services

A monthly bulletin on the latest news in the information industry and tips
on finding the information you need, and how to organize and analyze it.

We hope you find this electronic newsletter a valuable resource and look
forward to hearing your feedback. If you have comments regarding this
posting, please send an e-mail to: rbalkin@balkininfo.com.

Vol. 12 No. 8

CONFERENCE NEWS: We are back from the American Association of Law Libraries conference in Philadelphia. There were 1776 paid registrants. (Nice number for the seat of independence!) The exhibit hall was sold out. We had lengthy talks with several vendors and visited every booth. Trends we noticed: scanners for libraries and law firms; tools to help you organize research. Many vendors exhibiting for the first time, including: Acquire Media, CCP Solutions, LLC and Eastern Book Company. We will report on these and other vendors in future issues and on our blog.

WHAT’S NEW: From Edward Elgar: Global Knowledge Work - Diversity and Relational Perspectives (1 vol., $125);  Technology, Natural Resources And Economic Growth - Improving the Environment for a Greener Future (1 vol., $175);  www.e-elgar.com.

From Bernan: Focus 2011 - World Film Market Trends (2011) $24.50 (Council of Europe); Euro-Guide: Yearbook of the Institutions of the European Union 28th Edition - 2011 $465.00 (Editions Delta); Growth without Crisis: China's Modern Financial System  $128.00 (Enrich Professional Publishing); Cloud Computing for Business: The Open Group Guide $40.00 (Van Haren Publishing)    www.bernan.com

 

COOL SITES: Looks Too Good To Be True.com "While the Internet can be a safe and convenient place to do business, scammers are out there in "cyber world" targeting unsuspecting consumers. The Looks Too Good To Be True.com website was built to educate you, the consumer, and help prevent you from becoming a victim of an Internet fraud scheme. The website was developed and is maintained by a joint federal law enforcement and industry task force. Funding for the site has been provided by the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Key partners include the National White Collar Crime Center, Monster.com, Target and members of the Merchants Risk Council." http://www.lookstoogoodtobetrue.com/index.aspx

Bibliotheca Alexandrina: “The New Library of Alexandria, the New Bibliotheca Alexandrina is dedicated to recapture the spirit of openness and scholarship of the original Bibliotheca Alexandrina. It is much more than a library.” http://www.bibalex.org/

 

SUBJECT SEARCHING: Experts: Sources And Experts is a page of links to experts in various categories. This was designed for the media – for journalists to contact experts. Many of the links lead to university Web sites, where you'll find academics who are renowned in their fields. You can contact these experts easily by e-mail, and they may answer some of your questions, or give you leads to other sources of information. Note: it hasn’t been updated in a long time, so several of the links I tried didn’t work, but it is still a useful research tool. http://www.ibiblio.org/slanews/internet/experts.htm

 

©2011 BALKIN Information Services

Check out our blog: http://balkininfo.blogs.com/legal_marketing/

Ruth G. Balkin
Legal Industry Marketing Specialist
Balkin Information Services
295 Hurstbourne Rd
Rochester NY 14609-5504
Phone 585-482-1506    Fax 585-654-5235
E-mail: rbalkin@balkininfo.com
Website: http://www.balkininfo.com
Blog: http://balkininfo.blogs.com

Submitted by Dave Young

I'm a do-it-yourselfer, and I've followed a lot of instructions for everything from mixing concrete to baking bread (and, sometimes for baking bread that was more like concrete-but that's another story). As a writer and editor, I've  written a lot of instructions. Along the way to becoming what I am, I've become sensitized to several words and expressions. When I read them, an alarm sounds in my head.

"Various" is a word that can usually be omitted. "Towards" and "toward" mean the same thing (opt for the simpler term). And "if" should be paired with "then" while "whether" should be paired with "or not" are just a few examples of my internal alarms.

But I think the one that simply beats all is "simply." Years ago I read a recipe that said "Simply boil a few eggs…"  I spent several years (I'm not kidding!) reading cookbooks and asking other cooks how to "simply" do that. Ask me sometime and I'll share the secret of how to consistently hard-boil eggs without getting that greenish-grey coating around the yolk. But I digress.

An author who writes "simply (do this)" assumes a lot of the reader. Those assumptions may be true, but more likely are not true. It may be simple for the author (who, we presume, knows how to do the task) but the reader may be completely ignorant. It's always better to assume that your reader is a novice and that you must explain the "simple" stuff too.

Some things sound so easy. I recently heard a speaker say "There are thousands of templates for tri-fold brochures available on line. Simply pick out the one that suits your needs and fill in the blanks." (The term "tri-fold" was coined by the person who chose "WWW" for Worldwide Web [two Ws]. A tri-fold brochure is a sheet of paper with two folds.)

So there you are with "thousands" of templates and you're supposed to "simply" choose the most appropriate one. Well, how do you know what's appropriate if you're new to brochure design? Why are there thousands of templates out there? Is it because there are thousands of opinions of what's appropriate? If you have no track record, how do you choose?

You'll need to know several things to make such a choice. Just what are your needs? What is the objective of your brochure (menu of services, promoting a sale, introducing your company, driving people to your web site, …). How will it be used (printed and mailed, used as a leave-behind at interviews, mailed on request, placed in a rack at conferences, …) Will you use relevant graphics (not just "decorative" clip-art that doesn't help achieve your brochure's objective. And, how will you recognize an "effective" brochure when you see one? These and many more questions will pop up as you "simply choose an appropriate template." After you "simply" design your brochure, you may wish to "simply" design your own web site. There are thousands of templates on the web.

About 40 years ago I worked as a writer at Kodak. I was also "moonlighting" doing artwork and typesetting for local offset printers. After being asked to "simply" design flyers for several printing customers I got curious how "real" artists went about "simply designing" flyers, so I found some free time and visited several in-house art shops at Kodak. I asked "What process do you use to design flyers?" I was amazed to find that they didn't really know how to explain what they did. However, I was able to piece together a few clues.

First the artists would meet with the "customer" and ask what the flyer was to be used for (set the objective, such as "come to our bowling tournament"). Then they'd gather the facts (time, date, location, fees, etc.). That's the easy part.

Putting the facts on a page in an eye-arresting, motivating display was based on a mental search of having seen and designed hundreds of flyers and a physical search of a "clip file." In other words, the artist had been doing years of "research" about what catches the eye, appropriate use of type faces and sizes, organization of information, choice of color, etc. Some had kept files of examples gathered over several years.

Research is the step most novices overlook. It's the "simply" part. And, this is why I often say to people, "Why not have a professional do that for you-and be sure to choose a professional who's been in business for 20 or more years. That experience is what you're buying.

As consultants we assume our clients will recognize the need to hire us professionals, but we fail to see that we too need to get help with things that appear simple.

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Dave's a free-lance business editor who has helped people communicate effectively in print for over 50 years. He welcomes your comments and your business.

Don't know what an editor can do for you? Dave gives free samples.

Submitted by Ruth Balkin, Balkin Information Services

A monthly bulletin on the latest news in the information industry and tips
on finding the information you need, and how to organize and analyze it.

We hope you find this electronic newsletter a valuable resource and look
forward to hearing your feedback. If you have comments regarding this
posting, please send an e-mail to: rbalkin@balkininfo.com

Vol. 12, No. 7

COMPANY NEWS: We are gearing up for the AALL conference in Philadelphia later this month.

WHAT’S NEW:   From Bernan: Cloud computing for business – the open group guide (Van Haren Publ) (1 vol., $40);  Handbook of US labor statistics 2011, 14^th ed – employment, earnings, prices, productivity, and other labor data (1 vol., $154); National trade and professional associations of the United States 2011 (Columbia Books) (1 vol., $299); Everything you want to know about business continuity (IT Governance Publ) (1 vol., $24.95) www.bernan.com

From Rowman & Littlefield: Diabetes and you – a comprehensive, holistic approach (1 vol., $32.95; ebook); This great struggle – America’s civil war (1 vol., $29.95); The con: How scams work and how to protect yourself (1 vol., $32.95; ebook); Returning home – reconnecting to our childhoods (1 vol. $32.95; ebook); The new CEOs: Women, African American, Latino, and Asian leaders of Fortune 500 companies (1 vol., 34.95; ebook); Dawn of the Belle Epoque – the Paris of Monet, Zola, Bernhardt, Eiffel, Debussy, Clemenceau, and their friends (1 vol., $26.95; ebook); Plagues in world history (1 vol., $34.95; ebook); A guide to innovative public-private partnerships – utilizing the resources of the private sector for the public good (1 vol., $60;  Government Institutes); A guide to federal terms and acronyms (2 vols., $175; Government Institutes); The United States government Internet directory, 7^th ed by Peggy Garvin, fellow member of AIIP  (1 vol., $65, Bernan Press). Also check their website for lots of interesting books on many different topics. www.rlpgbooks.com

 From Scarecrow Press: Finding the Law: Legal Research for Librarians and Paralegals, by Bryan M. Carson  (1 vol., $65)  http://www.scarecrowpress.com/

COOL SITE:   www.stopyourekillingme.com for a list of mystery and thriller authors, their books, main characters, authors of a particular mystery or thriller genre, etc. They group books by a particular author into a series list with the publication dates. So, you can read the books in order.  

 INTERESTING READING:  See the NY Times article from 1982 trying to predict the world at the turn of the century. Some of the predictions are amazingly true. One sentence in particular is intriguing:

 "A new profession of information brokers and managers will emerge, serving as gatekeepers, monitoring politicians and corporations and selectively releasing information to interested parties.”

 http://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/14/us/study-says-technology-could-transform-society.html

 And check out the book: Paris in the Twentieth Century: Jules Verne, The Lost Novel by Jules Verne and Richard Howard.  Would you believe he predicted the Beatles!

 

Ruth G. Balkin
Legal Industry Marketing Specialist
Balkin Information Services
295 Hurstbourne Rd
Rochester NY 14609-5504
Phone 585-482-1506    Fax 585-654-5235
E-mail: rbalkin@balkininfo.com
Website: http://www.balkininfo.com
Blog: http://balkininfo.blogs.com

Submitted by Carl Jenks


Doing the right thing should be the easiest thing in the world; if the world was a place of integrity. Unfortunately that's not the way it is. Every day the headlines tell us of the latest publisher, politician, entertainer, sports figure, or preacher who has done the "wrong thing".

As I write this, the U.K. is reeling from a stream of resignations of very high profile public figures as revelations of phone hacking journalistic practices continue to cascade, ending careers, closing down a newspaper that had been in business for over 150 years; now heightened even further by the surprise death of the whistleblower who started the process rolling.

Here in the U.S. the governor of our state, who ran a clean-up the capitol campaign has now been revealed to be continuing the very same "Pay to Play" practices he vowed to end. We have also discovered that some state senators who were "committed" to supporting the morality of one course of action, [and whose votes were essential to maintain that direction] but abandoned their staunchly proclaimed commitments and voted their "conscious's" on this very controversial measure were actually paid for their change of heart in the form of each receiving the highest legally allowed campaign contribution from one of the chief proponents of the measure in question. Their votes carried the measure to victory. 

In the midst of this sea of situational truth and action stands Christian Lopez, a 23 year old cell phone salesman. Christian is the very fortunate fellow who was in Yankee Stadium when Derek Jeter, the Yankee super-star hit his 3,000th hit as a Yankee. Jeter hit a home run right into the stands where Christian Lopez was sitting. Jeter hit it out into the stand and Lopez caught it. Jeter's hit made history for both men.

For Derek Jeter, the hit was historic because he was the first Yankee to have reached that number of hits while playing for the team. For Christian Lopez it became historic because he "Just did the right thing."

Rather than make the Yankees pay thousands and thousands of dollars to buy (ransom) the ball back, Christian simply returned the ball to Derek Jeter, saying to those who interviewed him, "Jeter deserves this; he worked so hard for this, I was not going to be the person to take it away from him." (1)

Not surprisingly many people criticized Christian for doing the right thing, saying he missed a golden opportunity to make a financial killing off of the Yankees. But Christian took the higher road, walked in integrity and did the right thing.

A columnist I read this last weekend commented that perhaps the strangest part of this story is that Christian's action is unfortunately seen as unusual, and hence news worthy. The columnist's closing statement I believe expresses the world's hunger for integrity; "Let's hope that the next time someone does right, it's not such big news."
(2)

You never know what impact your daily "doing the right thing" might have on the world around you.


(1) YES Network
(2) Steve Israel, "Times Herald Record" 7/15/11

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 Carl is the Founder and President of Mountain Takers Inc.; a Training and Coaching enterprise, dedicated to “Equipping exceptional people to achieve extraordinary results.”

Coupling his own marketing and business experience with 30+ years of coaching, counseling, training and leading people through all manner of life situations in his role as a pastor, he comes to the task uniquely prepared. Through public teaching, private counseling and coaching, he has helped individuals and organizations on four continents discover their purpose and learn what it means to be empowered to “take their mountain” of influence. At Mountain Takers Inc., “Your Success is Our Passion”.

Submitted by Carl Jenks

A perusal of internet articles on business or career will yield many good points on what integrity looks like or does, but I have yet to find one that answers the question "Where does integrity come from?" If it is an important principle and behavior for me to cultivate to promote my career, which it certainly is, I think it would be important to know where the idea comes from.

Integrity it turns out is a very old idea. Our word comes from the Middle English, but the word and concept dates back all the way to Rome. [And long before I'm sure] Integrity comes from the Latin, "Integritas" and "Integer" Integer is still used today, and is therefore a good place to begin.

Webster's New World Dictionary informs us that integer in Latin means: "untouched, whole, entire" In modern English it means: 
"1. Anything complete in itself; entity; whole
  2. A whole number - distinguished from a fraction"

From integer we glean two important ideas - the concepts of wholeness and singularity. In math, a whole number is sometimes referred to as an integer. This distinguishes it from fractional numbers. Fractions are numbers that have been divided. If we are going to walk in integrity we must remain whole and singular in our dedication to the principles that we embrace. Professionals conducting themselves in this way can be counted on to be undivided in their commitments, decisions, and actions. A business can thrive with these men and women.  Integrity and situational fidelity are incompatible for a career path known for integrity.

Another word that comes down to us from the Latin "integer" is integral. Integral comes from the same root as integer and integrity. It means: "Necessary for completeness; essential, not fractional" Building on the idea of wholeness, integral adds the understanding of how necessary it is for that wholeness to be made complete. Integrity is a solid building block for every enterprise of humanity. Integrity in a structure means that it is solid, well built and dependable. A bridge that has integrity will support the traffic that travels across it. A manager who walks in integrity can be depended upon to get the job done. His role and integrity are integral to the success of the company. 

Finally we come to the word integrity itself. Turning once more to Webster's New World Dictionary we have the following definitions:

"1. The quality or state of being complete; unbroken condition; wholeness; entirety
  2. The quality or state of being unimpaired; perfect condition; soundness
  3. The quality or state of being of sound moral principle; uprightness; honesty;
      sincerity"

Right away we see the similarities with integer and integral. Integrity is all about wholeness, singularity, completeness, soundness. What we learn in addition is that integrity can have these qualities because it's rooted in a "state of being of sound moral principle" Integrity is not built on shifting sand. Integrity is securely anchored to a base of sound moral principle. This base is characterized by "uprightness, honesty, and sincerity".

Making integrity a hallmark of your career or business begins with knowing what you believe, why you believe it and drawing a line in the dirt that says, "I will not cross this line. I will stay true to these principles." The firmer and clearer they are the easier it will be to walk them out.

Integrity is a career decision reflected in honesty, wholeness, sincerity, and steadfastness in the face of the winds of subtle character erosion. Many persons have set out to be people of integrity, but along the way have lost sight of its origin. Now that you have seen where it comes from may you be better equipped to lead the way.

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Carl is the Founder and President of Mountain Takers Inc.; a Training and Coaching enterprise, dedicated to “Equipping exceptional people to achieve extraordinary results.”
Coupling his own marketing and business experience with 30+ years of coaching, counseling, training and leading people through all manner of life situations in his role as a pastor, he comes to the task uniquely prepared. Through public teaching, private counseling and coaching, he has helped individuals and organizations on four continents discover their purpose and learn what it means to be empowered to “take their mountain” of influence. At Mountain Takers Inc., “Your Success is Our Passion”.

Reported by Ruth Balkin, Balkin Information Services

A monthly bulletin on the latest news in the information industry and tips
on finding the information you need, and how to organize and analyze it.

We hope you find this electronic newsletter a valuable resource and look
forward to hearing your feedback. If you have comments regarding this
posting, please send an e-mail to: rbalkin@balkininfo.com

Vol. 12, NO.  6

COMPANY NEWS: Interest in French is increasing. Ruth is planning to add two classes: French for beginners; Advanced Conversational French.

WHAT’S NEW:  From Edward Elgar: Knowledge Transfer And Technology Diffusion (1 vol., $150); Global Perspectives On Technology Transfer And Commercialization - Building Innovative Ecosystems ($150); Climate Change Liability (1 vol., $125); Handbook Of Corporate Sustainability - Frameworks, Strategies and Tools (1 vol., $210); Technology Strategy And Innovation Management (1 vol., $315); Handbook Of Research On Energy Entrepreneurship (1 vol., $210) www.e-elgar.com

From Neal-Schuman: The Medical Library Association's Master Guide to Authoritative Information Resources in the Health Sciences (1 vol., $295); Fundamentals of Government Information  www.neal-schuman.com

FEATURED BOOK: EOS INTERNATIONAL pUBLISHES nEW bOOK, "tHE dIGITAL lIBRARY sURVIVAL gUIDE 

(Carlsbad, CA - May 16, 2011) EOS International, a leader in library automation and cloud computing, announced that they will be publishing a new book, "The Digital Library Survival Guide" by Joseph R. Matthews in May 2011.  The eBook version will be available through iBooks, Amazon, EOS Website, and at the 5 major library conferences this year.

The Digital Library Survival Guide" by Joseph R. Matthews is an excellent book for all librarians who are moving into the digital library arena.  It is written in a concise manner that will easily guide you through the migration process from traditional/hybrid to digital.The book briefly discusses the evolution of libraries and the technologies that enables them to effectively manage ever growing digital library assets. (1 vol. $24.95, $9.95 electronic version) www.eosintl.com

CONFERENCE NEWS: EBSCO Publishing has acquired H. W. Wilson. For more information, see http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/home/890843-264/in_major_deal_ebsco_publishing.html.csp I’ll try to get more details at the AALL conference in July.

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