7 More Reasons Not To Hire An Expert

It was three years ago this month that I wrote a post about Ten Reasons Not To Hire An Expert. I got to thinking today about that subject for some reason and thought I’d share some additional reasons with you.

You are too smart to need any help from anyone. You know everything there is to know about every subject under the sun. There isn’t a question you can’t answer nor a topic you can’t expound upon with certainty. If it weren’t for the fact that I think that puts you into category seven below I would actually envy you.
It would hurt your pride to admit that you could use some help. This is more of a male trait than a female trait. Not being willing to admit to being lost and not being willing to ask for directions is the epitome of this. So is refusing to read a user’s or instruction manual. How many things have you screwed up, broken or had to replace for this reason? Just remember: pride usually goeth before a fall.
You can afford the time, effort and expense of doing things over again instead of doing them right the first time with a little help from someone who knows more about the task that needs doing than you do. Just think about the amount of wasted time, effort and expense, not to mention the long-term negative effects on your life, your business and even the environment from indulging in this strategy.
You can’t afford it because you never budgeted for it. This is such a common problem with small businesses as to be almost epidemic. This one came from a friend of mine who is a CPA. It helps explain why so many small business owners are never able to scale their businesses to success.
You don’t see why you should pay someone for sharing their expertise with you even if it will take away your pain and frustration and provide you with more time, energy and profits. If this is what you feel, why do you think someone should pay you for your product or service or time or labor or knowledge?
You are too stubborn to accept help even when it doesn’t cost you anything directly. This is truly a cardinal sin in today’s world of the overwhelming availability of knowledge and expertise in virtually every field known to mankind. If you Google a subject and don’t get at least several pages of hits then I’d suggest you become the expert in that topic. When you see something offered that might help you, take advantage of it!
You are too ignorant to know that you actually need help. This puts you into the category of unconscious incompetent and you have my sympathy. There are ways to become conscious of the areas in which you could use some help and then to act upon that new knowledge. Does that make sense?

You can read the original article, which was couched in far more polite language than I’ve used here. Or you can ignore it and dismiss this one as well. See reason number one above.

As always, your comments, compliments, brickbats and other non-profane thoughts and words are welcome.

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July 22, 2015July 22, 2015

Celebrate Your Successes

Celebrate Your Achievements & Successes

Don’t wait until you’ve reached your final goal to be proud of yourself. Be proud of every step you take toward reaching that goal.

You’ve read seven chapters. Congratulations! Give yourself a pat on the back. Do your “happy dance.” Take ten minutes to do something you really enjoy. Tell someone how proud you are of yourself. Give someone a hug (with their permission, of course!) and ask them if there is something you can do for them that will make them want to do their happy dance.

As important as it is to celebrate success, it is also important to analyze the not so successful things that inevitably occur in the course of your journey toward accomplishing your goals – of achieving your dreams and desires. Let’s deal with those. Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, is one of the most admired and one of the most hated people in the world. He says, “It’s fine to celebrate success, but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.”

This from a guy who is responsible for the creation – and perpetuation – of the dreaded “blue screen of death,” where your work disappears for no apparent reason and can never be recovered! This from a guy who knows there will be bugs in his software and accepts that as an OK state of affairs. This from a guy whose virtual monopoly on business operating systems lets him ride roughshod over the people who have and continue to contribute to his billions of dollars of net worth.

Totally off-topic note:When you are working on something on your computer, make sure to use “CTRL+S” every few minutes! “CTRL+S” is your friend.

Don’t get me wrong here. I’m not bad-mouthing Bill Gates personally. Or event Microsoft (although I bet some of you do)! I’m not suggesting that we not learn from our setbacks and “failures” – a word I hate to use. Certainly we need to say to ourselves “OK, self, what can we learn from this less than optimally successful outcome? What can we do better next time?” Then we need to celebrate the success we did accomplish!

We actually did something that no one else has ever done. We made progress toward realizing our dreams and goals even if that progress was, in Bill Gates’ terminology, a “failure.” I like Mia Hamm’s advice much better: “Celebrate what you’ve accomplished, but raise the bar a little higher each time you succeed.”

Many of life’s “failures,” according to Thomas Edison, “are experienced by people who didn’t realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” Napoleon Hill agrees, saying “Most people have achieved their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure.”

Celebrate what you accomplish, but raise the bar each time you succeed. – Mahamm

Success doesn’t come easily as I’ve pointed out before. It’s kind of like reaching for heaven. You have to work to get there. So celebrate your accomplishments, no matter whether they are huge successes or, more likely, successful steps along your way to the ultimate goals.

If you aren’t sensing some common themes as you read this book then either I’ve done a less than adequate job of presenting them or you are really obtuse. J

Winston Churchill defined success as the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm. Taken in the abstract, outside of any specific goals, success can be considered as the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out, that move us toward our ultimate objective.

You know you’re on the right track when you become uninterested in looking back.

How will you know that you are on the right track as you move toward your goals? For one thing, you will find yourself “in the zone” more often than not. You’ll find yourself visualizing the end result you are pursuing so vigorously that you’ll stop looking back and really concentrate more and more on looking forward. You’ll begin to adopt thinking patterns and action habits that will consistently propel you forward.

Celebrate the small successes as well as the large ones. A great life isn’t necessarily about great huge things. It’s about little things that can make a big difference.

When your self-doubter begins to try to undermine what it is you are doing to achieve your dreams and desires – to become truly happy – then remember that how you think and act will have a significant impact on how well you perform.

Unsuccessful People:

Fear change
Blame others
Think they know it all
Are Transactional
Talk about people
Hope others fail
Never set goals
Horde data and information
Exude anger

Do you want to attract people who fear change and blame others for their every misfortune? To be around people who think they “know it all,” avoid forming close and lasting relationships and talk about others? People who take perverse pleasure in hoping that others fail, never set goals for themselves, horde data and information and exude anger all the time?

Not me. You can have these kinds of people – if you want them in your life. But these types of people will suck the life out of you. You want to surround yourself with positive people. People who will lift you up, help you move forward, celebrate your successes with you as if they were their own. People who will continuously encourage you to grow and excel in whatever it is you’ve decided to do.

Successful People:

Embrace change
Accept responsibility
Continuously learn
Are relational
Talk about ideas
Hope others succeed
Keep “to-do” and “to-Be” Lists
Share data and information
Exude joy

I want to be around successful people. People who accept responsibility for their own situation, who learn continuously and who embrace change. People who value relationships and who talk about ideas instead of people. People who share information, hope – and help – others (me! you!) succeed and exude joy as we celebrate our successes.

Your celebrations don’t always have to be loud, grand or raucous affairs involving multiple people. If you’ve had a good day with a success or two you might just look in the mirror, smile, and nod at the person looking back. Sometimes the best way to end a great day is with a silent acknowledgment of achievement and, more important, fulfillment.

One activity that I’ve found very valuable is to build up a storehouse of favorable outcomes and their accompanying feelings for use with future challenges. If you use, for example, the physical techniques that Amy Cuddy suggests, you can couple those physical actions with the feelings of success that are associated with overcoming past challenges to build your confidence in overcoming future challenges.

You can also simply try smiling for ten minutes before entering a meeting or an interview. The act of smiling will change your brain chemistry just as Amy’s techniques have been proven to do. I do this before joining networking meetings and it works wonders.

Rather than letting your self-doubter undermine your confidence you can use positive self-talk to increase it. So when life is sweet say, “Thank you,” and store those times away for times when life is not so kind to you.

When life is sweet say “thank you” and celebrate. When life is bitter say “thank you” and grow.

You can use even the not so nice times to make life more pleasing in the future. As Oprah Winfrey has been known to say, “The more you celebrate in your life, the more there is in your life to celebrate.”

Promise yourself also to be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.

There is magic in celebrating your achievements and successes.

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The above material is from Chapter 8 of Inspiration Now! Order your copy now at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RQT1BLK to read the other 8 chapters!

July 15, 2015March 11, 2016

Visualize and Plan

Visualize & Plan – Chapter 2 Excerpted from Motivational Magic

Beginning the process of growth requires you to ask yourself a lot of questions. What is it that you’d like to accomplish in your life? What would you like to be doing as a career? How would you like to look? How would you like to be contributing to your own good, the good of your loved ones and the good of society? How do you want to be viewed by those who you care about? By those who you leave behind?

What is your fondest dream? How does it look when you visualize it? If you are not currently living it, and I can only assume that you are not or you wouldn’t be reading this book, how does it feel when you imagine that you are living it?

Regrettably, I can’t answer any of these questions for you. Only you can imagine how things should be, how you want them to be, how they will be once you’ve done what’s needed to make them happen.

What is your dream? How important is it to you? How willing are you to pursue it? What risks are you willing to take and what sacrifices are you willing to make to achieve your particular dream? Sometimes life is about risking everything for a dream that no one can see but you!

Change begins with a vision. A picture coupled with an emotion – how things feel when you’ve done what needs to be done to make reality as you experience it match reality as you have envisioned it. We’ll talk much more about the details of using the Visual Image Formation technique in Chapter 9, but the concept is essential to any and all changes that you’d like to make in your life.

If you can create a vision, and you most certainly have the power within you to do so, then you can constantly remind yourself of that image. You can use affirmations, notes on your bathroom mirror, schedule messages to pop up on your computer, tablet or smartphone. You can do whatever you need to do so that the vision remains in the forefront of your conscious mind so that it can be continuously transmitted to your subconscious mind.

Your subconscious mind – mainly the right brain hemisphere – is designed to keep reality as you experience it in harmony with reality as you envision it. In other words, if the reality as you’re currently experiencing it does not match the reality as you visualize it, then your subconscious mind will go to work to make you do the things you need to do to make reality as you experience it match reality as you envision it. Or it will change your vision. But more about that later.

Once you have successfully implanted your vision in your brain, you won’t be able to stop thinking about it. And if you can’t stop thinking about it you won’t be able to stop working on it – or for it. It’s a simple, but not necessarily easy, matter of putting your mind to work on making you do the things you need to do to make the vision a reality.

What will it make you do? Let us count just some of the ways:

It may prompt you to get answers to questions you hadn’t thought of before;
It may provide you with “aha” moments or answers – particularly after “sleeping on it;”
It may cause you to be more aware of something or someone around you;
It may encourage to gain new knowledge or new skills.

I have no clue exactly what will happen for you since I have no clue as to who you are, what you want, who you want to become or why you want the dreams you want. But you do! Or at least you can begin to find that out.

Identify what you want – creating a vision or mental picture as clearly and in as much detail as possible – enables you to plan to make that vision a reality. And it is in this planning phase where special care is needed.

Let’s say that you have a relatively short term dream of walking across the stage of a prestigious university in a cap and gown to receive your college degree. Visualize yourself doing that. Imagine, in great detail, how that will feel. Think about how much pride you will feel when that degree is hanging on your wall in your home, your study or your office. Imagine the things you can do now that you have your degree that you couldn’t do before.

Are you with me so far? And isn’t something else happening as you go through this exercise? What is it? Isn’t it your brain telling you that you can’t? That you don’t have the time, the intelligence, the money or something else to make this dream a reality?

This is where you really need to watch out. When you create a vision that is different than reality as you are currently experiencing it, then your subconscious mind will go to work to help you resolve the disharmony that is created when reality as you envision it doesn’t match reality as you experience it. So it will either help you do the things you need to do to make reality match your vision or it will change or corrupt your vision! But it will resolve the disharmony!

We all have the self-talker inside of us. It’s usually negative and left over from our earlier experiences as children or early in our careers. The “Well, I can’t because…” syndrome: I’m not good enough, I’m not handsome or pretty enough, I’m not smart enough, I’m not blah, blah, blah…”

When this happens, we need to recognize it and tell this inner voice to shut up! Tell that doubting voice that those excuses are in the past and are no longer inhibitors to new dreams and plans. Those were the bad old days and those were the bad old ways. You are good enough and, by golly, if you aren’t yet you soon will be! The strongest factor in achieving success is self-esteem: Believing you can do it, believing you deserve it and believing you will get it.

If you fall victim to this inner voice and begin to say to yourself “I can’t…,” then you will achieve nothing except the ability to say that you are always right. For if you say you can’t then you won’t and you should probably stop reading here.

Keep in mind as you visualize and begin the process of goal setting, strategy development and tactical implementation of your plans is that you’ll want to learn to develop a sense of urgency for achieving your goals. Life is short, and if there was ever a moment to follow your passion and do something that really matters to you, then the moment to get started on that passion is NOW!

Another thing that we’ll talk about further in future chapters is letting going of other kinds of baggage besides the self-doubter and the I-can’t-er. It is hard to keep a sharp focus on your vision of the future if your eye is stuck on the past or even sometimes on today.

This is not to say that the vision and the plan should become so all-consuming that we go overboard and ignore our day-to-day duties and responsibilities. Moderation in all things is the watchword.

We want to keep our vision in the forefront so that as we set goals, develop strategies and implement tactics we are making sure that each action we take contributes in some way, shape or form to the overall plan. We want to make sure that we make the rest of our lives, starting from this moment, the best of our lives.

I said in the beginning that there is magic in this book.There is also magic in believing – believing in what you want, what you visualize, what you need, what you desire or want and, most importantly, believing that you will get it!

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Get your copy of Motivational Magic on Amazon.com or from Kindle at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0112ODGD. Order or download your copy now.

April 1, 2015April 1, 2015

What Price Wisdom?

I am, at age 68, by many standards, old. I am, in many companies, unemployable. Because I am old. Because I am overqualified. Because I am worth more in compensation than young, inexperienced new people entering the job market will accept — although I’ll actually accept less than most companies think for the privilege of sharing my experience and earning a living wage.

That’s not to say that I am destitute. I have a satisfying career helping people — young, middle-aged and yes, even old, make the best choices in terms of their risk management and wealth accumulation strategies. For those who will listen. And there are not nearly enough of those. Far too many spend more time planning vacations instead of their financial futures.

Many young people today have never seen a telephone that required a wired connection. Many have never seen computer applications that used word commands instead of pointing devices. Virtually none remember the BETA vs. VHS video recording wars. They can’t even fathom that content wasn’t always streamed over their smartphones and tablets and once upon a time required physical media and equipment for playing it. And many who can text at multiple thumbstrokes per second can’t carry on an actual conversation with another person.

In “the olden days,” where multiple generations interacted in family and business situations, the wisdom of the “elders” was passed on to the younger generations so that mistakes could be avoided and so that past experience could be applied to new situations. But today’s “elders,” at least for the most part in the business world, are discarded and ignored. And thus their wisdom and experience is lost so that new generations are given the opportunity to make the same mistakes again and again.

Imagine, if you will, a situation where a finance VP decides that the sales people are making too much money and decides to cut their commission rates. If you look at the spreadsheet you’ll see that the savings in commission will make a big improvement to the bottom line. What you won’t see is how the top line will drop dramatically to offset any calculated gains and begin a downward spiral of the business. FYI, I lived this experience!

Who could predict that? The technology supported the decision. But experience tells us that this is faulty thinking. Uh Oh… What experience? There isn’t any. We got rid of that to “save” costs and “improve” productivity. We did that at the same time we eliminated human contact with clients and customers with new phone tree answering systems. Press 1 to…Press 2 to… Want a human? Sorry, that’s not an option.

Then there’s stuff the other way around. Us old folks, while having a lot of experience in a lot of things, don’t necessarily know that we need WiFi to use our tablet devices or to make sure that we’re not overcharged for smartphone data usage because we don’t know that we need to connect to it. We have the Internet, don’t we? What is this Wifi and why is my 4gLTE bill so high?

I heard a great suggestion at a networking meeting a couple of months ago. How about we put retirement homes next door to pre-schools and elementary schools? Imagine what the oldsters could teach the youngsters and vice versa! I’m computer literate for the most part, but I still have to call my sons for help with operating systems and website development tools. In the “old days” when we needed help with some newfangled electronic device, we called a teenager!

I guess the point of this diatribe is that I think it’s a shame, and a tremendous waste of talent, experience, and wisdom, to dump the old folks and bring in the (cheaper?) new folks. We need both! Too many CEOs listen to too many CFOs who put spreadsheets together based on inaccurate assumptions and build presentations to show how smart they are. And too many CEOs fall into the trap.

But they don’t care. They slash and burn the business and move on to the next one before anyone realizes what they’ve really done. With multi-million dollar bonuses — for being fired! — while thousands of workers lose their jobs, their pensions, and their dignity. What a travesty.

It doesn’t have to be this way, people. We can fix it. But it will take work, inspiration, and education. Will it happen quickly? Not in my experience. It took me 20 years to make Design for Test happen in the electronics industry. But I did it. The device you are using to read this is easier to test than it would have been had I not written a 77-page book in 1979 and “preached and teached” its tenets all over the world for two decades.

I changed the world and I think you can too. At the risk of seeming self-serving, I suggest you start by reading my new book Inspiration Now! It may give you some insight into why I think the way I do and to why you might want to ask yourself why you think the way you do. And whether or not you want to do anything about it..

Because you have that power, no matter what your age, profession, employment status or position in an organization. You have the power to change a great many things, not the least of which is your own set of visions, feelings and actions. No one can stop you from changing yourself. You don’t need anyone’s permission. You don’t need to do anything but decide that you will use your personal power to accomplish your personal dreams and goals. Because you can. You have that power.

Comments, compliments, brickbats and lambasts are all, of course, welcome as always. Thanks for reading.

Go to http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RQT1BLK to order your copy of Inspiration Now!

February 15, 2015February 15, 2015

Presenting Yourself Properly

Networking is Business!

At recent networking events, I’ve been seeing men standing up to introduce themselves and I’ve actually felt embarrassed for them. Dressed in dirty jeans. Wearing ratty t-shirts. Belt tails hanging down. Shirt tails hanging out. Day old beard growths.

Not standing up straight. Looking almost apologetic for being in the event. Mumbling when introducing themselves. Being inarticulate when trying to say who they are, what they do and who they might be able to help. If someone would want help from someone like them.

OK, I get it. This IS Portland, and lots of people want to keep Portland weird. But, c’mon, guys — get it together! And yes, I’m picking on guys in this post because the women, although some of them can be inarticulate, apologetic or painfully shy, are usually at least dressed properly for a business event. Usually, but not always. So just because you are female doesn’t mean you can ignore the advice that follows.

I’m not going to pull punches here. If you want to be presenting yourself properly at a networking event, or any other business function for that matter, you must follow some basic rules, even if you think they violate your personal freedom to look like a street person or a wanna be actor in LaLaLand.

Bathe! Yes, I mean wash! Comb your hair! Shave! Show some respect for the people who have made that effort.

Wear clean clothes! They don’t have to be fancy. But they ought to be clean. I certainly don’t want to even shake hands with people who looks like they’ve slept in a dumpster. Do you want to repel potential clients during your first impression? It couldn’t hurt to pass an iron over something that’s extremely wrinkled, either.

Wear appropriate clothes. It doesn’t have to be a suit or even slacks, a nice shirt, a nice tie and a sport jacket. Although that would be nice. It could be just nice slacks and a nice shirt. Not a t-shirt. Not a muscle shirt. Not something with inappropriate sayings or images on it. You might be able to get away with a “brand” look like Steve Jobs’ trademark turtlenecks or Jim Teasley’s trademark Hawaiian shirts that his wife makes for him. Depending on the way you carry yourself. Some people can pull if off; others can’t. Know yourself!

Speaking of which: Stand up straight! Put your shoulders back. Try to look like you are awake, alert and ready to interact with people instead of slouching over with your shoulders hunched as if you aren’t worth being paid attention to. Move with at least the appearance of purpose. Posture counts.

Speaking of speaking: Speak up! Let people hear you. Speak clearly. Practice what you are going to say at each event so that it is relevant and will attract potential partners to you. If you stand up straight you will find it easier to speak up. If you are wearing something nice you’ll find it easier to stand up straight because you’ll feel more like you are worth something when you are wearing something that says you have some self-esteem. And some respect for others.

Respect event formats and time limits. If the moderator or meeting leader says 30 seconds, do 30 seconds — or less, not more! You should have “canned” 30, 60 and 120 second self-introductions if you are serious about business. You should know your “elevator speech” by heart. You should articulate why someone would want to meet with you after your self-introduction. Trying to cram your complete life, company or product story into a self-introduction is counter-productive. That means that it won’t work, so don’t try to do it!

Don’t apologize! As it says in my book Inspiration Now!, never think that what you have to offer is insignificant. There will always be someone out there who needs what you have to give. Make yourself attractive to those people at every opportunity.

Follow the advice I’ve given here and I’ll look forward to meeting you. Ignore it at your own peril. There are others out there who feel as I do! :-)

For more on networking, please see Networking Necessities, Niceties and No-No’s on LinkedIn. And if you haven’t read the book yet, what are you waiting for?

January 2, 2015

My New Book for You – Inspiration Now!

I spent the month of December, 2014, working on a labor of love in the form of my newest book, Inspiration Now!

Inspiration Now! helps its readers define and implement their dreams and desires for personal and professional happiness and success. It explains the process of visualizing and planning to achieve results no matter what the goal. It talks about time and life management issues and explains how to develop practical, workable goals, strategies and tactics for achieving these objectives.

Filled with engaging stories from the author’s own personal experiences, the book illustrates the importance of practicing to gain the skills a person needs to succeed, provides hints for maximizing personal performance and talks about the importance of celebrating successes. Central to the book’s theme is the description of how to use visual image formation to make the reality you’d like to live actually happen.

It is in itself an inspiring book that will help the reader realize the “magic” provided by the advice and empower him or her to achieve whatever it is that they desire.

Here’s what some of the early reviewers had to say about Inspiration Now!

“LOVED the book!! “Inspiration Now!” is a must read for all who are interested in success, happiness, and making a difference in the world. This book has become my newest addition of books to read over and over again, along with other greats like “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” Very inspirational and thoughtful, the book is easy to read; Jon’s use of stories based on his own experiences make’s it quite entertaining.” — Becky Tengwall, Co-Founder, I Take The Lead

“I have always been honored to call Jon Turino a friend and mentor. His book should inspire all of us to follow our ‘Why.’ Thank you, Jon for the ‘kick in the rear.’” – JimTeasley, SendOutCards

“This book has helped me surge forward with my goals and my dreams. Thank you, Jon, for putting your words of wisdom and encouragement in this powerhouse of a book. This will be a ‘go to’ book when we stumble across our doubts, fears and uncertainties.” – Judith Lind, Portland, OR

“Whether you are building your own future or helping others with theirs, this book is a valuable tool for creating a vision that is authentic, powerful and meaningful.” –Stephanie Austin, CircleUpNetworking.com

“Does the world really need another motivational guide? Absolutely! Because for those of us who seek personal and professional growth, the simple daily habit of reading books just like this can be tremendously powerful. Jon Turino skillfully picks up the torch carried by the likes of Bob Proctor and Earl Nightingale before him, sharing lessons from his own achievements and providing tools and structure for his readers to discover and act on their own inspirations.” – David Baer, BaerOnMarketing.com

Inspiration Now! is available from Amazon.com athttps://www.createspace.com/5124589

You’ll find more inspiration per page in this book than anything you’ve read before. You’ll love the little, boxed bits of advice that appear throughout and you’ll experience a lifetime of wisdom condensed into a wonderfully easy-to-read book! This is an absolute gem of a book. A must read for sure! Click Here to order your copy now!

P.S.: Please SHARE this with those you know who could use a little Inspiration Now!

January 2, 2015March 11, 2016

Conquering Your Fears – Excerpt from Inspiration Now!

We need to work on conquering our fears. Dale Carnegie once said, “If you want to conquer your fears, don’t sit at home and think about them. Go out and get busy!” We’re talking again here about that bias for action I mentioned previously. It’s never too late to begin the process of becoming what you might become, or might have been if you had taken a different path, or might still become if you start on that path anew.

Let’s look at fears for a moment. Here’s a list of the most prevalent ones:

Fear of flying
Fear of public speaking
Fear of heights
Fear of the dark
Fear of intimacy
Fear of death
Fear of failure
Fear of rejection
Fear of spiders
Fear of commitment

My guess is that your list, if you are honest with yourself, will pretty well match, or at least include, most of the items on this list. I know mine does. Look where death comes in on the list – at number six! After five other fears that are completely non-lethal!

In my younger days, I loved flying. Never had an issue with it. Loved it. It was a great way to get to see new places and interact with new cultures. Plus in my younger days they had such things as non-stop flights, upgrade seats that actually existed. Plus food and drink during flights, free baggage handling (which was important to me when I had to carry three cartons full of seminar binders with me) and – critically important – a seat big enough so that your butt didn’t get numb in the first thirty minutes.

Fear of public speaking, on the other hand, was my number one. One of my mentors recognized that fear in me and was determined to eliminate it on the belief – correctly, it turns out – that if I was going to reach my full potential I had to become an accomplished professional public speaker. So he found a Call for Papers for a large upcoming trade conference called NEPCON – the National Electronic Packaging Convention – and helped me submit a proposal for a paper.

I did this only to make him happy, secure in the knowledge that my meager topic would never have a chance of garnering a spot in a very prestigious technical program. Ha! A month later I received an Authors Kit and a schedule for when the paper had to be print-ready and the slides had to be on hand for the presentation. Talk about panic!

I had help, though. There were writers at Xerox Data Systems where I worked and that department’s job was to help engineers like me put our ideas into words that others could understand. And there were some great graphics folks to make the slides I would use for the actual presentation (as this was pre-PowerPoint since the PC had yet to be invented.) My paper was entitled “Computer-Aided Troubleshooting on Automatic Module Testers.”

So I had slides and thought I was ready to go. Until my mentor told me that it was time to practice the presentation. All of a sudden this once purely technical project was taking on a very real life of its own. And in two weeks I was going to stand up in front of 300+ people to give my 20-minute talk.

We did the first run-throughs with small groups of people I knew. Then we did them with larger groups, including the design engineers who looked down on us manufacturing test engineers with disdain. But they weren’t the real public and I didn’t really put my heart and soul into the practice sessions. I was nervous. I stumbled. But I really didn’t think that it mattered much.

Presentation day duly arrived and I drove from Manhattan Beach (CA), where I lived, to the Anaheim Convention Center. After losing my breakfast between the house and the car, I finally got to my destination, grabbed my slides and headed for the rooms where the presentations were to be given. After throwing up again between the car and the building, I arrived to find that the conference program had an error in it. People were coming to hear me give a 20-minute talk entitled “Computer-Aided Troubleshooting on Atomic Module Testers.” Then they videotaped me and made me watch it and I almost died. There was no way I was going to look that bad in front of 300+ strangers. I’d rather die first. So I started to practice in earnest. And after several sessions with dozens of people I had stopped stumbling and was a far less nervous presenter. I was determined to do myself and my company proud.

So here I am on my maiden public speaking voyage with a whole lot of people waiting breathlessly for me, a 20-something in a short sleeved shirt and a narrow tie, to expound something atomic, not something automatic.

I learned then the value of humor in opening a presentation and in asking for audience participation in the form of answering a question right at the beginning of a talk. And I somehow got through my twenty minutes and even fielded a couple of questions before gratefully making my escape.

It turns out that there were several people from Corporate in the audience that day and the feedback they provided to my boss (mentor) was extraordinarily positive. They said that I had diffused the error in the program effectively and with humor, that I clearly know my material and that I had indeed been a credit to the organization.

But I don’t throw up anymore in parking lots on my way to giving them. What changed?I still get nervous before a talk. But not so as to be paralyzed by it. And I hope I never lose that little bit of nervousness that sets me up to do my best – every time.

This post is taken from Chapter 5 of my new book “Inspiration Now!” It is available athttps://www.createspace.com/5124589. Order your copy now.

January 2, 2015March 11, 2016

A Story About A Book circa 1978 – From Inspiration Now!

A Story About A Book circa 1978

I wrote a 77-page book over a single weekend in 1978. I decided to self-publish it. This was long before print-on-demand and e-books for those of you who may not be old enough to remember when you took a typed – not word processed – manuscript to your local printer and had him make your first print run. And you went to VeloBind to get covers and binding strips and even punching and binding machines.

I had the book printed on very nice paper and the hard cover was a walnut veneer with gold printing. Very good looking and conveying very high quality. The book was titled “Design for Testability” and I priced it at $95. That’s $95 in 1978 dollars, which today would be roughly $347. For a 77-page book in 8-1/2” x 11” format.

Everyone said that I was crazy to ever expect to sell any of these books. But I was convinced based on experience that there was a knowledge vacuum on this topic that I could fill. So I bought a full-page ad in Electronics Test magazine for $1,800 (which today would cost $6,500).

And I sold a few books. About half as many as needed to pay for the ad. But I ran the ad again the following month and sold 3 times as many books as I needed to pay for the ad. I was now on the way to profitability, even with a $10 ($36.50) cost of goods sold. And sales kept increasing.

God, it was fun to get the mail every day. Orders with checks attached. Names of book buyers who obviously had a significant problem to get their companies to spend that amount of money for a book. Going to the garage to punch, bind and put the covers on those books was a labor of love.

Not six months after that first book was sold I was in the seminar business teaching design for testability to all of the major electronics manufacturers in the United States. My little book had become “The Bible” of design for testability. And it remained that way for over ten years.

Why do I tell you this story? Only to point out that what I’m about to say to you in this book is not fiction. Nor is it wishful thinking. It is a compendium of thoughts, beliefs, and processes that are proven to work. Because they have worked for me and, properly applied, they will work for you.

This story comes from Chapter 1 of “Inspiration Now!” It is available at https://www.createspace.com/5124589. Order your copy now.

October 7, 2012October 7, 2012

Some Revealing Information

CVI Image for Jon Turino — This diagram highlights my Innovator and Merchant characteristics.

Some revealing information has recently come to light about yours truly.

A while back I took an assessment called the Core Values Index (CVI) assessment. This assessment is unlike strengths assessments or current personality assessments that can be colored by current or recent past events. The CVI looks at just what it says it does: my core values.

I am old enough to own up to being who I am. So I’ve included the link to the complete CVI results on my About Jon page. But I want to share some highlights with you. Here’s what it says:

“Jon Turino,

54% of your core value energy comes from Wisdom and Love.

Jon, the CVI assessment found you are an INNOVATOR-MERCHANT.

What does this mean? This means your primary core value is Innovator – An Innovator’s core value energy is Wisdom. Wisdom is the ability to see the way things are, and discern what to do about it. You accurately assess situations and provide solutions. Your secondary core value is Merchant – A Merchant’s core value energy is Love. Love in this sense is working toward an inspired vision of what can be, by nurturing the core values in one’s self and in others. You thrive at building relationships and providing an inspired vision for those around you.”

It goes on to say: “Your scores indicate you have INNOVATOR/MERCHANT tendencies. When you enter a room there is more wisdom and love energy suddenly in that room. You are the presence of loving wisdom. This is your assignment, to be the effective presence of loving wisdom. You look at the circumstances and situations around you through the eyes of compassion and truth. You operate from reason and intuition, seeing the way things are. Asking questions and deriving the right responses, best strategies and most workable solutions. This is balanced by your intuitive and reasoning capacity to see who people really are. You try to understanding their needs and wants. You work to nurture and support them and yourself. Your highest and best contribution can only be made in situations in which there is a significant and constant need for loving wisdom”

There is much more explanation, and some examination of the negative traits associated with my “exquisite wonderfulness” — a phrase that was coined many years ago and who’s origin and meaning will never be revealed here! In any case, I found the CVI results to be truly fascinating information and I like to think they are pretty darned accurate.

How about you? Do you think it fits me? I’d love to hear from you. And if you’d like your own assessment, just click on Taylor Protocols.