Strategic Planning & A Gala At The Sydney Conservatorium of Music
- June 30th, 2010
- Posted by: Joe Williams
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The Sydney Conservatorium of Music drew business and community leaders throughout Sydney to Dean Kim Walker’s Gala. I gave a short address to the group and then settled back to enjoy a wonderful evening of music, education and performances.
I’m a lucky guy. I get to go places ranging from Fairfax, VA to Bloomington, IN, and from Regina, Saskatchewan to Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Dean Kim Walker, herself a three time Dialogue alum, invited me Down Under to do some strategic planning with her team for the Conservatorium’s 100th anniversary, coming up in 2015. Working with her team of approximately 20 administrators and professors, we prepared a very complete and thoughtful document.
With Dean Kim Walker at the Gala. A marvelous evening all around!
While there, Dean Walker invited me to join the Board of Advisors for the School, which I accepted with great humility.
The Aussies are wonderful to work with. Looks like I’ll be heading back to Sydney in November for a Board meeting!
Pistol’s Firing!
- July 16th, 2009
- Posted by: Joe Williams
- (2) Comments
My new quarter horse, registered name is Billy’s Smokin Pistol, but we just call him Pistol. And he is certainly that.
Finally! After all these years I’m back in the saddle with my own horse. As a kid we had a string of horses and we use them as part of the Dialogue in the Desert Workshop, but I’ve put off getting one for myself far too long. So when the notices came telling me I will soon be eligible for Medicare, that did it.
Pistol is a golden palomino cow horse. Stands 14.2 hands and has won a fair amount of money in competitive team penning and ranch sorting. He’s dead broke and responsive to the touch. He can side pass and loves to open gates–he’ll practically do it by himself. I put him in the box last night and chased steers out of the chute to see how he’d respond, and he went from 0 to 30 in high gear from the get-go. Next step: roping!
I had all six grandkids on him for Father’s Day. Young Henry said it was the best Father’s Day ever.
He’s a head turner!
Good Fellows
- July 3rd, 2009
- Posted by: Joe Williams
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The San Francisco skyline as seen from the home of Rae and Norm Leaper, who hosted the Circle of Fellows reception. Their warm hospitality equaled the beauty of the view from their balconey.
As most of you probably know by now, the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) named me and Pixie Malherbe Emslie as this year’s IABC Fellows. Pixie and I were recognized at the opening general session at the World Conference in San Francisco on June 7. Fellow selection criteria includes contribution to the organizational communication field and profession; career achievement; authorship, speaking and lecturing; contributions to IABC; and other professional recognition such as community activities and other business-related activities. The IABC Fellow Award is the highest honor the association bestows on an individual.
Pixie is from South Africa and was the guiding hand behind starting the first IABC chapter in that country. She is a sheer delight, bright and outgoing, and filled with energy.
Pixie and I never me before this, but you can never tell that by this photo. She is that kind of a person.
I had two minutes allocated for my “acceptance” talk. Although I went off the prepared script somewhat, I thought you might like to see the prepared script that I spoke from, which is included here:
Thank you for this wonderful honor.
This moment reminds me of when two of my six grandkids were in the back seat of our car. We had just gotten them a new game for their DS player and Charlie said, “This is the best day of my life.” His brother, Felix, said, “No, Charlie, this is the second best day—remember when our other grandma bought us 5 DS games?”
So this is one of those best days…
I do not take this honor lightly. I accept it on behalf of all of us in this profession who are trying to bring who we are to what we do…and what we do to who we are…
It seems to me that underneath everything we do, and underneath all the sessions we’ll go to in this conference, that what each of us in this room are really seeking is credibility, affirmation, authenticity and community. Simply put, we want to make a difference and for our work to matter. Like Marilyn Monroe said, “I don’t want to make money. I just want to be wonderful.”
Over the years, IABC has given me credibility, affirmation, and community and to this organization and those who have gone before me I owe much. Past Fellows like Walter Beach, Mike Emanuel, Downs Matthews, Lou Williams, Lynda Stewart, Dick Wilmot, Norm and Rae Leaper, Roger D’Aprix, Connie Eckard and so many more have paid it forward for me and for all of us in this room.
And there are others I owe:
• Dr. Harry Heath—Dean of the School of Journalism & Broadcasting at my school, Oklahoma State University, with whom I had a “Tuesday with Morrie” relationship…
• Bill Evans, Ross Lagattuta and Bob Esposito for giving me opportunity…
• My son and business partner, John, for his wise counsel.
• The 2,000 alums of our Dialogue in the Desert Workshop, and our many clients, for their trust…
• And finally, Barbara’s name should be on this…for 42 years she has given me her indominable spirit. Every thing I have done in business and in life that has been good and lasting has had her mark, her ideas, her impact, her touch on it.
Simply put, without her, I would not be here…I would not be whole…
I’d like to close with a phrase that I start every Dialogue Workshop with for it sums up everything I feel about communication…
‘If I stay here long enough I will learn the art of silence…when I have given up words I will become what I have to say.’
Thank you.
So, again, thank you to all Dialogue alums for giving me your trust over the years and for making this workshop so amazing. Without you, there simply would not be a Dialogue Workshop. I would be wandering around the desert by myself, flip chart and map in hand, trying to have a little dialogue with the coyotes. Lost and drooling…
Before they recognized Pixie and me, they brought all Fellows who were in attendance up on stage. What a nice touch and an impressive sight–all that experience and history. Without the Fellows, IABC would be where it is today. They have each given so much behind the scenes that the average IABC member will never know about. I never thought I would be in such distinguished company. I am humbled and honored and I know that Pixie feels the same.
The three Williams Fellows: Lou, Tudor and myself. Is there anyone else named Williams in IABC who is not a Fellow?
Norm and Rae Leaper, Pixie and myself after the Fellows dinner at LeZinc. Norm and Rae are both Fellows (a husband and wife first!) and are the nicest, most gracious people you’d ever meet. They have contributed greatly to this organizational communication profession we’re all in.
Sheri Rosen introduced me that evening to the general assembly. I’ve known Sheri before the days of electronic communication (!). Thank you, Sheri, for your warm and gracious comments. Now, how can i get you to come to the desert?????
Thank you Connie Eckard for our friendship over these many, many years and for nominating me as a Fellow. Connie and I go back to when he lived in Tulsa and we were both active in the Tulsa chapter and putting on district programs. Where has the time gone? Where has my hair gone???
And so we live a life and do the best we can and hope that our work somehow matters, that it makes a difference, that we make a difference and that what we do is somehow recognized, somehow known in some small way. In the end are we like a rock that has skipped five, eight or twelve times over the surface of a pond, and then with a little splash, sinks to the bottom? What difference do we make?
I struggle with that now that I am getting letters telling me that I will soon be eligible for Medicare and had better get supplemental insurance before it is too late. So, it seems to me that all of us are Fellows, for all of us contribute, each in our own way. We are each part what we do and as such, we are each part of the other.
We get up every morning, planting seeds and producing work that we hope matters. But there is danger in getting so caught up in the work that we lose sight of the environment we are trying to create through the work. And it seems that it is the small things that make the difference in the work: The trust we exhibit, the recognition we give, the respect we extend, the openness we create.
And when we incorporate these qualities into our work we incorporate them into our very being. The result is that what seems simple and ordinary, like a rock skimming over water, is anything but simple and ordinary.
They are extraordinary.
And speaking of extraordinary…
Holy Cow—I’m A Fellow!
- March 25th, 2009
- Posted by: Joe Williams
- (4) Comments
I got a phone call a few weeks ago from Sheri Rosen informing me that I had been selected as one of two recipients of the 2009 IABC Fellow Award.
I never thought of myself in that league. So I was, quite naturally, at a loss for words. And I still am. The official ceremony is June 7 at the international conference in San Francisco.
If any Dialogue alums are there, let’s get together. I’m buying. At least the first round.
Here’s the blow-by-blow biographical details, from an IABC press release…
The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) has named Joe Williams and Pixie Malherbe Emslie, ABC, as this year’s IABC Fellows. The IABC Fellow Award is the highest honor the association can bestow on an individual and acknowledges outstanding leadership, professional accomplishment and service to IABC and the profession.
Fellow selection criteria includes contribution to the organizational communication field and profession; career achievement; authorship, speaking and lecturing; contributions to IABC; and other professional recognition such as community activities and other business-related activities.
“Both Joe and Pixie have had a substantial influence on the communication profession, though they’ve done so in different ways. Each one’s individual personality and circumstance shaped their career achievements and contribution to IABC, says Sheri Rosen, ABC, chair of the 2009 Fellow Awards committee. “Together, they make the point that IABC members have a variety of skills and successes that move the practice of organizational communication toward greater visibility and value to business. They are two of the best.”
Joe Williams
For 35 years, Joe Williams has developed innovative strategic thinking and planning processes, cutting-edge training and professional development programs, and advanced measurement methodologies that link communication to business performance.
During his tenure at TRW from 1975 to 1985, Joe pioneered research and strategic planning practices that were far ahead of their time and established employee communication as a strategic management function.
In 1985, he formed Joe Williams Communications, Inc., and today his company’s research database represents 500,000 employees worldwide. With John Williams, his son and president of the firm, they developed the first quantitative methodology to statistically link communication to bottom-line business results.
Joe’s popular “Dialogue in the Desert” workshop is the nation’s first and longest running strategic thinking, planning and leadership program. He also developed “Face2Face,” a highly rated, worldwide training program that has provided thousands of managers with essential communication tools.
Spanning across geography, industry and size, Joe’s clients include: General Dynamics; Susan G. Komen Foundation; MTS Allstream in Canada; Butterfield Bank in Bermuda; Chevron Corporation; the Government of South Africa; Northeast Utilities; Cirque du Soleil; Sydney Conservatorium of Music in Australia; and the Federal Reserve Bank in St. Louis.
As an active member at IABC, Williams has received several awards from the association. He has won 12 Gold Quill Awards—and an unprecedented four in one year and three in a row for communication planning. He has also received the Communicator of the Year award from IABC/ Tulsa. Williams has served on the Gold Quill Blue Ribbon panel of judges and has presented his work at several IABC conferences and chapter events.
He is a director for Arvest Bank, a regional bank group headed by Jim Walton.
Joe holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s in mass communications from Oklahoma State University. He served as an officer in the U.S. Army (Armor) in the late 1960s, and in the early 70s he was on the editorial staff of the Daily American newspaper in Rome, Italy.
Joe and his wife, Barbara, have two married sons, six grandchildren and one big dog.
Pixie Malherbe Emslie, ABC
After graduating from Natal University, Pixie Malherbe Emslie started her career as a journalist for newspapers in South Africa and magazines in London. Pixie moved into corporation communications in 1976 when she joined the communications department at General Mining (now BHP Billiton). It was during this time in her career that Pixie became involved in the South African Association of Industrial Editors (SAAIE) and a member of IABC.
Pixie was actively involved in the SAAIE National Committee with a focus on training in the areas of employee communication and publications. She established a series of training courses for business communicators that came to be professionally recognized by corporations and academic institutions. In 1985, Pixie became national president of SAAIE and attended her first IABC conference in New York. A year later, she was made an honorary life fellow of SAAIE.
Shortly thereafter, SAAIE discontinued, its members joined IABC, and Pixie led the charge to establish a Southern Africa chapter. After a first-ever global referendum on the subject, the Southern Africa chapter was approved by majority vote in 1991. Pixie served as the first chapter president for two years.
In January 1990, Pixie started her own consultancy as Pixie Malherbe Business Communication, which she ran successfully for 15 years. Her clients included many of South Africa’s leading corporations, particularly in the mining industry, and her expertise was internal communication.
Pixie was among the first group of South Africans to achieve accreditation, and she has spoken at numerous IABC conferences, corporate seminars and various functions. Pixie has received the IABC Chairman’s Award, and she was the guest speaker at two consecutive World Women’s Day celebrations in Namibia.
Pixie has served as Chairman of the IABC Excel Award Committee and is currently a member of the IABC Accreditation Exam “E” committee.
Pixie raised a foster son during the past 21 years, and she lives in the Southern Cape where she writes for several publications and pursues her love of gardening and cooking.
Assignment
- December 1st, 2008
- Posted by: Joe Williams
- (0) Comments
I recently conducted a Face2Face communication session in Regina, Saskatchewan for managers at Farm Credit Canada.
A week after the workshop I sent the participants a note with the following suggested “assignment.”
Perhaps you might find it useful, also.
Choose one of the items below.
1. Ask more questions.
2. Lead from behind.
3. Transfer your energy.
4. Give more than you receive.
5. Listen more than you talk.
6. Praise more than you criticize.
7. Accept more, judge less.
8. Be fully present with someone.
Write your choice and put it by your work station where it’s easily viewed.
Then for each hour of each day for the next week, bring it forth in everything you do.
At the end of that time, notice what’s different about you and about how others relate to you.
And if you have time, drop a comment about it on this blog. We’d love to hear from you.
This week I’m heading to Bloomington, Indiana for the second Dialogue Indiana strategic thinking, planning and leadership workshop for Indiana-area nonprofit organizations. The amazing thing about it is that Dialogue alums LuAnne and Bill Holladay, Anne Palmer, and Barbara Coffman came up with the idea of doing this a couple of years ago and they organized and marketed the entire affair. We’re keeping the cost low for non-profits and are holding the two-day session at the Waycross Retreat Center, some 30 minutes outside Bloomington. LuAnne and Barbara are doing a labyrinth walk and LuAnne will be doing a yoga orientation early one morning. In between, I will be presenting the group with some of the core tools from the desert program. Last year marked the inaugural workshop and we have a great group coming this time, including one from Canada, thanks to Dialogue alum Sandra Cruickshanks at the Trillium Foundation!
Stay tuned for reports from Waycross, WIFI connection permitting!
