To Stay Sharp – Sharpen the Saw

I’ve just returned from my annual visit to The Aji Network Conference in South San Francisco.    This year I presented a breakout session with Ron Macklin, Director of Service Operations at Siemens Energy.   We did a 90-minute session for conference attendees on the topic of “Constitution: A Concern for Career and Business Enterprise.“  The content for our talk was based on writings and videos by Toby Hecht, founder of The Aji Network, and our session included a lively “clinic” in which the participants constituted new business concepts on the spot.

The Aji Network is a business education company that teaches students how to become knowledge-based and strategic business people so that they develop superior competitive advantage.  Ron and I are both graduates of their Business Professional’s Course and are currently members of the LEIP Program, an acronym for leadership, entrepreneurship, innovation and power!  These are just some of the capacities we seek to learn to build our careers.

Ron Macklin and Becky Jackson at The Aji Network Conference

At this annual meeting of The Aji Network, students from all classes and the online program called “Aji Space” came together to ‘celebrate’ and practice their learning.  Senior students like Ron and myself led sessions on topics relevant to building significant careers in business by learning superior strategic knowledge to enable top 1% performance.  This year’s conference theme was “Strategy and Strategic Planning.”  Today’s highly competitive and rapidly changing global marketplace requires that we as business people stay engaged in continual learning as all professionals do.  Ron and I find that contributing as session leaders is an added dimension to our learning.

The association I have with other ambitious business people at The Aji Network – people who are seeking competitive knowledge – helps me continually improve the services The Jackson Group offers to clients so that we can help them succeed with their property objectives in spite of a challenging marketplace. Without new strategic knowledge we cannot expect to help our clients compete effectively and cope successfully with the enormous challenges in the real estate business – difficult financing,  enormous competition, over supply of housing and limited demand.   With a commitment to learning and improving, we develop and innovate our services so that we maintain a standard of care for our clients that helps us all meet our objectives.  That’s why I commit the time and expense to study.

June 8, 2010 · Filed Under Broker's Corner, Business Philosophy, The Jackson Group

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Focus! Think faster! Remember more!

Sounds like a New Year’s wish list, doesn’t it?  These were the themes of last night’s lecture at The Newmark Theater on Neuroplasticity:  The Amazing Adaptability of the Brain.

The lecture, presented by Dr. Michael Merzenish of the University of California at San Francisco, was the opening talk as part of the 10th year of the OHSU Brain Awareness Lecture Series and I attended along with 20 or so fellow members of my Pilates studio, Transformations!

What is neuroplasticity and why are a crowd of Pilates enthusiasts learning about it, you ask?

The talk was about how the brain is a learning machine and that, at all ages, we can develop new abilities and improve, and in our own way make meaningful changes in our physical and mental acuities.  Well, this is good news, and all of us ‘movement’ types appreciated the encouragement that our physical efforts will improve our overall well being and personal performance.  So we are recommitted for the lifetime workouts!

But it goes beyond the physical movement program and also requires the commitment to a lifetime schedule for new learning.  This is the catch!  Practice and exercises – and beyond the crossword puzzle of the day, sorry to say.  We must learn constantly, practice new things, especially those subjects and skills that genuinely interest us and stretch our brains into new areas.  Sheesh!  I guess that reading list, language class and business course are all staying part of my plan for 2009 – along with PIlates!

Part of what makes Portland wonderful is a group of Pilates partners finding and appreciating together a memorable lecture from two of our city’s best institutions.  If you’re interested in the rest of the series check here.

Portland is a great place to live!

Becky

January 27, 2009 · Filed Under Broker's Corner

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Let it snow!

The press had been talking it up all last week – ‘there’s going to be a blizzard followed by cold temperatures, possibly on Saturday morning, but definitely by late in the day Saturday. Well, they were over zealous, there was not a trace of snow on Saturday morning (I skipped my 7AM Pilates class to avoid driving Burnside) and there was still nothing when Gene and I returned from 2 holiday parties Saturday night.

But, Sunday morning I awoke to swirling snowflakes that continued all day and evening. I loved it! Gene and I stayed cozy with a fire in the fireplace, a stew on the stove and books and, yes, some football, and just a lovely quiet day at home.

Today, I would have stayed home again, working this time, but I had a call to show a condo listing in The Meriwether.  So off I went, braving the icy streets slowly and carefully, but it was not actually a problem. And to be out and about in the snow is really still fun. Since walking is always better than driving in the snow, when I got to South Waterfront I arrived early enough to take a stroll on the waterfront path. Very cold and a bit of bitter wind, but the stillness of the river and the trace of remaining snow gave it a special winter quality. A new group of herons were present at the north end of The Meriwether. It was a special sight.

The showing went well, but that was the end of real estate field work today. I’m glad I had the opportunity to get out, show a home and see the emerging new family of herons.

Let it snow some more!

Becky

December 15, 2008 · Filed Under Broker's Corner

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