Corrections or additions?
This article by Barbara Fox was prepared for the December 4, 2002
edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
Learn to Risk And Learn to `FISH’ — Neil Orkin
It sounds like a young man’s dream. Upon graduating
from college, pack two suitcases, one with winter clothes and one
with summer clothes, and travel to a foreign country where you don’t
know the language and don’t have a job. Survive — and prosper
— by finding a job, learning the language — and build your
career on the experience.
Neil Orkin, now a trainer and motivational speaker, uses his
own experience to inspire others. A graduate of the University of
Michigan, Class of 1982, he has a master’s degree from Columbia
University
and an EdD in adult education and corporate training from Rutgers,
where he ran the corporate training program, focusing on cross
cultural
challenges. He opened his own firm, Global Training Systems, in
Hillsborough
in 1996.
Orkin also comes to the training field with genetic as well as
academic
qualifications. His father was the first dean of Somerset Valley
College
(before it was Raritan Valley), and was president of Union County
College.
Orkin will teach “Motivating Yourself and Others through Positive
Communication” on Thursday, December 5, at 9 a.m. at the North
Branch campus of Raritan Valley Community College. Presented in
conjunction
with the Small Business Development Center, the full-day course costs
$95.
“Motivating yourself goes far beyond saying affirmations in front
of a mirror,” says Orkin. “I’m a big believer in getting
involved
to build your skills.” He is vice president of the Society for
Human Resources Management, active in the National Speakers
Association,
and also involved in the Princeton Institute of Management
Consultants.
Orkin advocates getting to know people as opposed to playing business
card frisbee. “Words on a piece of cardboard won’t do it,”
he says.
Do what you say you are going to do , which will give youa competitive advantage. Simply doing what you say you will do 100percent of the time is rare enough to set you apart.Plan , whether for your education or for meeting people.Feed your mind . “My car is like a library, with tapesand CDs and books by Tom Peters, Ken Blanchard, Brian Tracy. It givesyou confidence.”Take calculated risks . Just to take a risk may not bea good idea. “When I went to Japan, I had done some research.For instance, go to a professional group to find out thepossibilities.”As part of Orkin’s presentation, the course will include a screeningand discussion of the video “Fish,” filmed at the World FamousPike Place Fish, a fish market in Seattle that has turned into oneof the city’s premiere tourist attractions. Created by ChartHouseLearning of Minneapolis, the video shows how applying the principlesof teamwork and personal accountability helped the fishmongers changea failing business into a hugely successful venture.A fish market seems like a strange place to hunt for managementconsultinggold, but Seattle saw it happen: the transformation of a failingbusinessinto a successful one. “Selling fish can be an unpleasantbusiness,”says Orkin. “It’s cold, smelly, and you have to get up at thecrack of dawn. But they changed how they look at their work. To themit is much more than selling fish, it is communicating with thecustomer.They call out orders to each other, create a lot of energy and havea lot of fun. People walk by there just to get the energy. It startedinformally. Then, by having meetings, it gave people someresponsibility,and they started to do better.”A consultant noticed the change, made a video, and four years afterthe video’s release it is a best-selling corporate education filmand is available in 14 languages. There is also a book, “FISH!A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results!” by SteveLundin, John Christensen of ChartHouse Learning, and Harry Paul ofthe Ken Blanchard Companies, published by Hyperion(www.fishphilosophy.com).Among the keys of the FISH! Philosophy:Enjoy what you do. Have fun, play, be spontaneous, onthe theory that if you enjoy something, you put more effort into it,and creativity results.Think of others. Make someone’s day, or moment. A smallkindness or special attention, lifts the spirit of two people, thegiver and the receiver.Don’t take life for granted. Be present. You have onlyone life to live. Why miss it? Focus on the person or task with whichyou are engaged. Listen at a deep level. What wears you out is doingsomething halfheartedly while thinking about something else.Be positive. Choose your attitude. Look for the worstand you will find it. Look for the best and you will find it.Accept responsibility for your choices . If you findyourselfwith an attitude you don’t want, you can choose another.The fishmongers call the business people “yogurt dudes”because they would come to the market to buy their lunch. Now theyogurt dudes come to the market to pick up something else — adose of energy.— Barbara FoxTop Of PageInsurance KnowhowSome insurance costs are rising, and some are falling.Learn about the major forces and variables affecting several typesof key insurance — liability, casualty, terrorism — at ameetingof the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties onThursday, December 5, at 7:30 a.m. at the Woodbridge Hilton in Iselin.Alan Geisenheimer of Geisenheimer Insurance Agency will moderatea panel that includes Congressman Michael Ferguson; JamesBalcam of Corporate Risk Advisors; Douglas Kelly of DouglasR. Kelly Associates; and Jack Fersko of Farer Fersko. Cost:$75. Call 732-729-9900.With extensive expertise in commercial and residential real estate,Geisenheimer provides consulting services for law firms involved incommercial real estate. Congressman Ferguson (Republican, 7thDistrict)serves on the financial services, transportation and infrastructureand small business committees in the U.S. House of Representatives.Balcalm’s focus is on risk management programs, and Fersko, who chairsthe organization’s real estate and business department, has expertisein environmental law. Kelly has a commercial mortgage banking companyand will consider insurance from the perspective of different kindsof loans, including portfolio loans, CMBS transactions, constructionloans, bridge loans, floating and adjustable transactions done withlife insurance companies, commercial and savings banks.The panel will discuss strategies for dealing with current challengesin the industry, how the current market is responding to the September11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, and what the futureholds for commercial property owners.Top Of PageD&R Canal: Plans For KingstonThe Delaware and Raritan Canal Commission has issueda 10-year master plan to improve the 60-mile course of the historicalcanal. This ambitious plan contains 31 projects, ranging from addingsigns to promote use of the park to making big changes where the canalintersects with Route 27 in Kingston.Meetings on the plan will be held on Tuesday, December 10, at 7:30a.m. at the commission’s headquarters at Prallsville Millsite,Stockton.A second discussion will be Thursday, December 12, at 7:30 p.m. atthe Lawrence Township municipal building on Route 206. Call609-397-2000for information.The proposed plan would create a link to the 600-acre Institute forAdvanced Studies property, which is now separated from the canal byone privately-owned property and a channel of water. “If thatproperty can become part of the preserved land in this area therewill be a 1,300-acre natural area in the heart of the Route 1Corridor,”says the plan. Also included are projects to increase the parkingcapacity for where the canal intersects with Washington Road andHarrisonStreet.Kingston Lock (near the former Winepress restaurant) would bedevelopedas a major access point, but a separate master plan and specialfundingwould be needed for this. The plan notes that Kingston containshistoricstructures, the Millstone River and Lake Carnegie, a canal lock,naturalareas, a linking path to the Cook Natural Area, and enough space forpeople to congregate. “Add to this the fact that Kingston is rightnext to a bus stop that connects Princeton with New York City andit is obvious that this should be a major access area,” suggeststhe plan.Previous StoryNext StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
