As we close out January I am seriously awestruck by what I have heard from business prospects and clients throughout this month. Listening is just a start - how we react, respond and produce results is what truly matters.

As I’ve listened this month, here’s what I’ve heard:

“We want you to raise our retainer fee.” Now that’s a first. Our client asked us to raise our fee by a set percentage as they wanted our firm to share in their success. To me this may be the ultimate recognition of a true partnership between firm and client, and a wonderful compliment to our work. The resulting reward is that we raised the bar for what we will deliver every day in this client relationship to yet a whole new level.

“Listening to your passion makes me want to go to work for you.” When the prospect says that after hearing your firm’s pitch for their business, you know they have already experienced the passion your team brings in their work. The resulting reward is a foundation of trust to build the working relationship with passion to help them achieve their goals.

“Best pitch ever. You blew the others away with your creativity.” Those are strong sentiments to hear after your team pitches a highly competitive national prospect. Yes, we won the business as the result of tenacious teamwork and creativity that positively differentiates our work. The resulting reward is that we continue to improve and innovate internally so we can share those great ideas with clients to grow their business.

The rewards of listening are not in hearing your own voice or thoughts but rather in experiencing the end result of what dedication, passion and creativity articulate in their own ways. You bet I will be listening even more.

Economic gardening is cultivation of entrepreneurial skills and support that is taking place in Florida through organizations such as: GrowFL and the Edward Lowe Foundation. Last night these two entities celebrated and recognized 50 Florida Companies to Watch at the 2012 Gala at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando.

I was not only honored to represent the firm I work for, Moore Communications Group as one of honorees, I was enthused and inspired by the people I met and the stories I heard about growing innovation in Florida. We are surrounded by the support of organizations like the Tallahassee/Leon County Economic Development Council and the Florida Economic Development Council.

Success sounds good, but to appreciate what these 50 companies have accomplished, you have to hear the compelling stories that many of them have to tell about their journey to achieve Innovation Excellence. These entrepreneurs made the most of their respective fields in which they were planted, weather conditions and got their harvest to market.

Today beyond the beautiful award and recognition, I am elevated and inspired to know there are organizations far beyond the walls I work within that look to see every Florida entrepreneur is given the opportunity to cultivate excellence through economic gardening. The harvest is just a part of the process.

Proactive: Wisdom purports that “timing is everything” and indeed that may be true. Sometimes we must act as the timekeeper ourselves, initiating the action – sending out that first smile, calling a friend instead of returning the call and offer the kind unexpected word and action daily.

Clarity: Transparency is trendy, but beyond the trendiness daily progress requires continual focus and pellucid living. This is yes or no, do or do not, black or white, no gray area and nothing stored to clutter or accumulate.

Conficernment: Now there’s a new word for you (my gift.) Start the new year with a dynamic combination of confidence and discernment and you get conficernment. Surely great strides will accompany certitude, assurance and an acuteness of understanding to only do what is the right thing to do.

These three words create action, focus and insight, which will ignite your launch sequence for 2012! Headed toward the stratosphere of success. Climb aboard.

Stop for a moment and think about all noise we have heard over the last few months. We have been subjected to all kinds of sounds coming from a variety of venues and directions: political campaigns, countless media reports of pre and post-election coverage, football fans screaming, holiday celebrations and yes, even the barrage of electronic and social networking spheres seem to raise the noise level all around us.

We have become so accustomed to the continuous noise levels that millions of Americans cannot sleep without some form of white noise.

Trying to be heard above the crowd noise used to mean that you had to raise your voice to be recognized…now you just have to use your voice. The constant increase in noise and the onslaught of non-verbal communication through numerous social media networks has given new value to individual human voices. Talking one-on-one used to be the most common way of communicating, today it may not be the most common, but it certainly remains the most valuable.

If you want to deliver your message with maximum impact, nothing comes close to that of a single voice taking time to share an important message. It is no longer about raising your voice to be heard, effective personal communication now comes from just using your one voice.

Want to be heard above the noise? Just talk to me.

Sitting alone in the dark quiet of Christmas Eve morning among the twinkling of the Christmas tree and flickers from the fireplace beholds a special silent anticipation.

Before others awake adding excitement to the environment, I am enveloped in this serene moment of stillness. While mezmorized by the lights, my thoughts are filled with a steady stream of faces coming to mind…family, friends, colleagues and pets. These thoughts are joined by the first hint of dawn’s light in the morning sky.

This is the joy of Christmas, being grateful for all we are given and knowing there is even greater joy in celebrating the birth of our savior. Silent anticipation of eternal joy.  Gratitude for the blessings of the day.

We rely on all types of gauges throughout the day to ensure we don’t go over the speed limit, run out of gas, arrive timely, remember our appointments and are comfortable in our surroundings. Unfortunately for too many of us, myself included, we fail to keep an eye on a most important gauge, our attitude altimeter, to ensure a smooth flight throughout our daily lives.  Truth be known, many of us don’t realize we even have an altitude altimeter and by default we allow our emotions to act as such.

Absent of the physical presence of an attitude gauge, I am slowly learning how to improve the navigation of the daily terrain I traverse. Far from accomplished in the process, I have learned a few key steps to better optimize my personal attitude altimeter:

1. You can only adjust your own attitude gauge.

While we may impact and influence others with our attitudes, just as they do to us, attitudes are only adjusted by the individual that owns them.

2. Your body provides continued signals of your attitude altimeter.

Just as you prefer to enjoy a smooth flight or even keeled attitude, you have to be quick to respond and appropriately adjust to your attitude altimeter’s warning lights.

3. Proper maintenance is continually required for optimal performance.

You are your own ground and baggage crew. You have to know and maintain proper loads and balance for optimal life flight.

Our individual attitude altimeter is the important gauge for us to measure and monitor in order to optimize everything we seek to accomplish and encounter. Keep in mind that while we may be able to observe someone else’s attitude altimeter, our view and perspective makes reading theirs is much more difficult to accurately gauge. We can offer support and suggestion to influence it, but honestly an attitude altimeter is only controlled by the individual.

A good flight with a safe landing, whether airborne or through life, will always be subject to keeping your eye on the altimeter.

Thinking back on our wedding day I was struck with the thought of how many of the important things surrounding our wedding day that have changed over those 21 years:

• Ausley Farmhouse where we had our rehearsal dinner is long gone and now the Buckhead subdivision in Tallahassee.
• The church we got married in has been converted into special school for arts & sciences.
• The ballroom where we had our reception has changed ownership several times.
• The hotel where we spent our wedding night has been sold and renovated to become the Hotel Duval.      

If you look at our wedding picture, for me I have less hair and a few more pounds. As for Deborah, she is more beautiful.

What has also changed is our love for one another – it has grown to a special place that we both hold dear. We know what each other is thinking, we finish each others’ sentences and we definitely understand each others’ non-verbal communication.

As  individuals, we are no more special than anyone else; as a couple we are blessed beyond measure and our love for one another continues to grow. Happy Anniversary Sweetheart – you make loving fun!

No coincidence, it is only divine intervention through innovation that brings the unique talents, creativity and personalities together that make up the PositivePosse. Interesting enough no one person ever said “let’s form the group” or let’s call ourselves the PositivePosse” or “let’s include so and so,” it was nuclear fusion social media style. Long before the introduction of Twitter lists, we formed global bonds of friendship and compassion beginning in early 2009. With friends connected from Sydney Australia, to Ontario, Canada, the PositivePosse is what I often refer to as the GlobalGreats. While there are numerous followers and many other great Twitter friends, allow me to highlight the original PositivePosse crew:

@Iconic88 and @Bridget_Cooks – Sydney, Australia: Our Chief Happiness Officer and The InternetChef. There are no finer folks to be first to start a new day on the planet than these two.

Global Greats

@nlupus – Minsk, Belarus: Sasha is a young, smart gent talented in technology and social media innovation.

@funkysteph – Luxembourg: Steph knows information technology; she shares and inspires with her communications daily.

@ph1lm – Cambridge, England: Phil is a great encourager with a caring heart, which is a great talent combined with his web development.

@juliarosien – Ontario, Canada: Julia is the epicenter of energy and combines it with fun. Julia is a talented and spirited communicator personally and professionally.

@stacijshelton – Akron, Ohio: Staci is the superstar of compassion and caring. She goes way beyond networking, she builds strong relationships. Twitter lights up when she logs on.

@aceconcierge – Wilmington, NC: Suzie recently moved from the NE to the North Carolina. She is a master at getting the task done; with a little jolt of java she will literally kick it up a notch. She brings a smile with the fun.

@CoachCharrise – South Bend, Indiana: A treasured friend and talented life coach. Charrise’s advice sets new heights and opens new opportunities continuously. She speaks and writes truth fearlessly.

@johnlusher – Roanoke, Virginia: John is a proven technology connector and social media strategist. He puts his heart into all he does.

@vincenthunt – Albany, Georgia: look up creativity in the dictionary you will find Vincent’s avatar. Innovative, thinker, visionary, collaborator, gentleman genius. He is and has an amazing spirit.

@jerry_cohen – New York, New York: Jerry is an attorney who is informed and innovative in a very positive way. He understands how the value of social media can be an asset to businesses and individuals.

@tkpleslie – Minneapolis, Minnesota: Leslie is a gifted writer and social media leader for the furniture industry. Her passion and talent is evident in every post.

@sandyguerriere – Wilmington, NC: author, photographer and writer, Sandy shares her talent in both her local and online community.

@bkmacdaddy – Tallahassee, FL: Brian knows how to bring social media communication to life. Multi-talented and works to get it right and sings too.

Log on just about any morning shortly after 5:00 am and you will see #PositivePosse sharing a cup of coffee and encouraging one another for the day ahead. Our friendships have meant business opportunities, collaboration, sharing, laughter, compassion and the start of life-long relationships. Much has been written about the power of social media but I sincerely doubt there is a better example of global communication and friendships than those forged through the #PositivePosse.

Our circle of friends continues to grow and include countless others whom we look forward to tweeting with on Twitter. No doubt these friends and the PositivePosse serve strong year ’round, which makes for a positively tweet year!