INFORMATION OVERLOAD

Are you aware of the cluttered state of the internet and the World Wide Web? I am going to add to the clutter with this blog--but I think the statistics and related studies emphasize the effects of the clutter. Aaron Elliott cites a study by LifeHack that shows a typical social media user is exposed to 54,000 words daily; that's only 63% of the information social media users get. Media content comprises the other 37% of information loaded on us daily. Words, pictures, videos, music--think of all the information we are exposed to from social media alone!

A 2011 study, Extracting Value from Chaos, tells us "the world's information is more than doubling every two years."  The study computes how much digital information is generated and copied yearly. Something like 1.8 zettabytes occurred in 2011. This is astonishing information, and I don't even know what a zettabyte is! As it turns out, a zettabyte is one sextillion (that's 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) bytes. Measurements of digital information also include a petabyte (one quadrillion bytes or 1,024 terabytes), a exabyte (1000 petabytes), and a yottabyte (1000 zettabytes). What all this means is we are adding information to the internet in astounding proportions. Think about all the ways we personally and professionally add to the clutter--blogging, social media, news, movies, magazines, company web sites, personal web sites, etc. The Library of Congress apparently sees some of this clutter worth saving; the Library has plans to archive the 400 million tweets that Americans produce each day. As a digital immigrant who loves technology, I find these numbers mind-boggling--400 million tweets daily! And when we think of all the inane tweets we receive--why would anyone want to collect these!

I don't know how to solve the problem of internet clutter, but I do know that too much information can be debilitating on us. Information overload is not a new problem; the term was coined in 1970 by Alvin Toffler. But the amount of information we are subjected to today has grown tremendously. Think about the amount of email we receive daily, the YouTube videos we watch, the social media we use--this may be just the personal data to which we are exposed. Now think about the work-related data we use--reports, web pages, social media, research, etc. It's no wonder information overload can add to our stress. A Reuters study found that 2/3 of managers surveyed found information overload contributed to dissatisfaction with their jobs or negatively affected their personal relationships; one-third of those surveyed thought data overload affected their health.

 

Email overload is easy to experience, as I well know. I receive 150+ emails daily, and I generally work to move them out of my inbox. Merlin Mann (Inbox Zero) gives an interesting Google Tech Talk about how to better manage the email inbox. Mann points out that we need to take care of email immediately--delete, delegate, respond, defer, do. Before I ever watched this video, I began to take actions similar to what Mann suggests. I use Outlook so I can set the program to check for email every hour; some days I extend that to two hours. This alleviates stress for me as I am not anxious about checking every email as it arrives individually. I do not clean out my email as thoroughly as Mann suggests as I do need to see past emails in a conversation, or I need to show that I did send the right information to someone. I sort emails into folders and subfolders and delete several times a day. I suspect many of us are email hoarders, but filing and deleting when possible helps reduce my stress.

Another segment of digital technology that adds to information overload is social media. Facebook, in particular, allows me to stay in touch with former students, friends who live in other areas, and family. I also have a business Facebook page that posts safety articles for cheer coaches and class postings. I am not a Facebook addict and do not personally post often. I only use Twitter for business. I am not a Twitter fan, nor do I feel the need to let everyone know my every move.  I know concerns exist about the negative effects of too much social media. Kross, et al. studied the influence Facebook has on subjective well-being in young adults. Their research shows that the more young adults used Facebook, the more their "life satisfaction levels" dropped. As we connect online, are we disconnecting with people in real life. Before texting, we actually called people to see how they are or just to chat. Convenience has taken the place of real conversations.

Information overload can make us feel stressed; stress can reduce our effectiveness in our personal relationships and our work relationships. Taking a social media break for a few days is a good idea--maybe start with one day if you are anxious about the length of the break! Can we give it up for a day or two? Ignore email on the weekend; turn off the computer or ignore the phone's icon for email. How liberating to know we don't have to check updates, postings, and emails! During the work day, take a few breaks away from the books, reports, or monitors. Look out the window, talk with a co-worker about the weather, breathe deeply and close your eyes. We need these breaks to give our minds a rest.

We talk about overuse injuries in sports, and I think a correlation can be made with the information overload syndrome. Just as we treat overuse injuries with rest and breaks from training or playing, let's take breaks from information exposure. The information will be there when we return.

The Only Constant Is Change

Blogging is an excellent way to offer opinions, give advice, and learn from those who comment. I have an interest in crisis communications and strategic communications, probably resulting from my work in the cheerleading industry. I develop training manuals and facilitate instruction for cheer coaches in safety and risk management. I also live in a town that was devastated by a tornado a few years ago. I understand the importance of being prepared for a crisis and the importance of preparing for handling the aftermath of a crisis—whether related to weather or injuries or organizational mishaps.

This blog will peruse areas in strategic communications, emerging media, and related topics of communication. I plan to post weekly and will meander through different topics as they deal with communication. I encourage readers to post your thoughts in a polite manner—whether you agree or object!

This week I have read a variety of articles dealing with social media and the print media. Much has been written lately about the demise of print newspapers. Newspapers have a long and meaningful history. My generation can remember headlines whose words changed our lives--KENNEDY IS KILLED BY SNIPER AS HE RIDES IN CAR IN DALLAS, Saigon Surrenders To Reds, MARTIN LUTHER KING IS SLAIN IN MEMPHIS and Terror Hits Pentagon, World Trade Center. Newspapers give us a one-stop-shop for coupons, ads from our favorite grocery stores and clothing stores, editorials, and articles covering local, national, and international news. There was a time we believed what we read in the newspaper.

I remember my dad reading the morning and evening papers. I was a fan of print newspapers until a few years ago. I think the newsprint on my hands and stacks of papers had something to do with my dropping the paper subscriptions, but accessing newspapers online has much more to do with my leaving the printed newspaper. I am now a headline scanner--I look through the headlines for the news. If a headline grabs my attention, I'll read the article. I don't need the entire paper. No more stacks, no more ink on my fingers. Apparently I am not the only person to gravitate to digital papers.

 Will Bunch, a blogger for philly.com, discusses the  "de-newspaperization of America." The number of newspaper readers is decreasing daily. This is occurring across the country--not just in the big cities. Many blame the digital age and the free access of online news.A Pew study reported that in their survey, half of Americans get their news digitally. The number of people who had read a newspaper the day before had dropped by half since 2000. With the options available to us today, it is not surprising to see these numbers. What was surprising to me was that, according to this same study, more people are relying on social media as their supplier of news. What? Who finds news in social media? Maybe my definition of news is difference from others, but as I reviewed my Facebook page this morning, I saw little that qualified as news. I found entertainment, updates from friends, and those useless requests for games, but no news! It is not surprising that young people are not consumer of traditional news; they like the latest updates about famous people and sports but not politics and other traditional news items.

Some cite the popularity of tablets and smart phones as contributing to the demise of newspapers, and this makes sense when looking at the increased sales of tablets and phones. I own two android tablets (one is strictly for grandchildren use!) and an android smart phone. I find the ease of use and convenience contributing to my turning to digital means of finding the latest news. As I said, I have become a headline scanner and several apps make it easy for me to find only the articles that interest me. Flipboard allows me to personalize which newspapers and magazines I want to include in my "library" of choices. Pulse is another app that lets me choose which blogs, newspapers, magazines, and social networks I want in one place. Both of these apps are free. I can see how difficult it is to compete against digital programs that are free and provide the same service (or better) than a print newspaper or print magazine.

Print newspapers and print magazines are not the only industries to see a downward slide--the book publishing industry is impacted by digital innovations. Joseph Esposito's blog, An Industry Pining for Bookstores, talks about the disappearance of the local bookstore and that impact on publishers. I, too, love bookstores. Nothing is better that walking through Barnes & Noble touching the books and picking one up to scan through. Their graphic displays and huge assortments of all types of books are appealing, but I will admit I have moved to eBooks--almost totally for my reading. Again, the convenience of having all my books on a digital device is appealing--no more stacks of books gathering dust. Using my tablet I can read anywhere--waiting in a doctor's office, standing in line at the back, or flying to a conference.  Unfortunately for publishers and bookstores, the Kindle and the Nook have risen in popularity. Esposito believes that Amazon's growing dominance in eBooks and e Readers is a worry for every publisher. I don't need a physical book store now; I simply go online, choose a book, pay, and download. What could be easier? It appears that Esposito foresees the demise of bookstores and what that may mean for book sellers.

What the newspaper industry, the magazine industry, and the book publishing industry are experiencing is a changing world and changing patterns of reading. Yes, the digital age is a major factor in this change; however, many believe it is a reluctance to change that has been the driver. Publishing has finally accepted they are in a changing world. Those who adapt to change now and plan for change as technology advances will see a brighter future. Change is constant; those who prepare for it and plan for it will be the winners.   

Women and Leadership

I belong to several groups in Linkedin; the Professional Women’sNetwork is one I enjoy visiting often. A recent discussion revolved around this statement:  "My biggest struggle as a Professional woman is ___." Members of the group are asked to fill in the blank. The replies and comments were some that I expected and have experienced myself. I was disappointed that since my professional career began almost 40 years ago, not much has changed. A common thread was choices and priorities—having to choose between family and job. Sheryl Sandberg, in a TED Talk, mentions this same concern; women “face harder choices.” Making these choices is very difficult, but many of the Linkedin commenters said finding a balance is the key.

A second concern mentioned several times was the inequity of the corporate world as it applies to promotions, salaries, and opportunities.  Sandberg says the percentage of women in the corporate world who hold C-level jobs or board seats is about 15% to 16%. I encountered this in the beginning of my professional career and see that it is still a concern for women of the 21^st century.

John Maeda and Becky Bermont have a leadership design that compares traditional leadership with creative leadership. Creative leadership is characterized by being interactive, improvising when appropriate, learning from mistakes and taking risks. Their traditional leadership is characterized by one way action with others, following the manual, avoiding mistakes, and sustaining order. The creative leadership descriptors are more open, more about thinking out of the box, but both genders can fit into either set of descriptions.

Let’s break out of the kind of thinking that limits our choices for leaders and holds us back as we apply for those positions ourselves. I have six granddaughters ranging in age from 13 down to two. All six are energetic, active children who enjoy all kinds of activities. Their parents and grandparents encourage them to be the best at whatever they try to do. We also tell them they can be or do whatever they wish when they grow up. My dream is that they find many doors open to them—doors open based on their abilities—not their gender.

When in doubt, sit it out--Concussion Awareness Campaigns

Cheerleading injuries have often made the headlines; however, few epidemiological studies that correctly use participation and exposure data have been conducted to give a detailed analysis that accurately reports injuries and provides data to minimize risk. That has now changed as Nationwide Children's Hospital conducts such studies for most high school sports, including cheerleading. These studies, along with others, highlight areas of concern--those types of injuries that statistically indicate more needs to be done to promote awareness and prevention. Concussion, a type of traumatic brain injury, is a health concern that has dominated the news for the past few years. One study reports that concussions account for 15% of injuries in high school sports. The effects of concussion injuries can be long lasting and life changing. Groups from all sports, including cheerleading, have called for better attention to concussion awareness. This has led to concussion awareness campaigns that cross all sports' boundaries. With the participation of parent groups, state athletic boards, safety groups, and medical professionals, the awareness campaigns have enabled coaches, parents, and athletes to be prepared to know signs and symptoms of concussion, danger signs of concussion, how to get help, and what to expect in return to play policies.

While I cannot give the financial costs of the various awareness campaigns or the different campaign plans launched, I can detail some of the methods used to promote awareness. After middle schooler Zackery Lystedt was severely injured in a football game, his parents, state representative Jay Rodne, and other interested groups campaigned for stricter guidelines concerning sports-related concussions. In 2009, three years after Lystedt's injury, the state of Washington (the first state to enact such a law) enacted the Zackery Lystedt Law which mandated specific concussion policies for youth and school sports. The law includes the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association in the development of educational information and policies. Since then, forty-two other states and the District of Columbia have enacted similar laws. In my home state of Alabama, the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) has a concussion policy that requires any athlete removed from play due to suspected concussion injury cannot return to play until released by a medical doctor. The AHSAA website also has other information pertinent to concussions free to anyone.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has collaborated with over 26 groups to develop their "Heads Up:  Concussion" educational training. What makes the CDC's efforts heartening is that they have information geared toward athletes, parents, teachers, and physicians. They provide free educational material, promotional material, videos, podcasts, and radio public service announcements. They provide a free online training course for those involved in youth sports in which anyone can participate. You even get a certificate for passing the course.

The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) teamed up with the CDC to provide quality information and education for coaches, parents, students, and officials on the topic of concussion safety. Their course is free and provides information on the effects of concussion injury, recognizing the signs and symptoms of concussions, protocols to follow and return to play procedures.

 The American Association of Cheerleading Coaches & Administrators (AACCA) is another one of those groups collaborating with the CDC for concussion safety awareness. AACCA offers safety training for cheer coaches online and in classroom settings. AACCA is also in the forefront in making safety guidelines and supporting research in injury prevention. AACCA joined the "Heads Up" campaign to promote concussion awareness. AACCA produced cards with adhesive backs so coaches could put these on clipboards, notebooks, etc. The card, shown at the left, gives the signs of a concussion which can be observed by a coach and the symptoms that may be reported by the athlete. The card also gives an action plan for the coach and a place to list important phone numbers that may be needed if an injury occurs. The card says, "It's better to miss one game than the whole season." These cards are distributed to coaches at summer camps, workshops, when participating in AACCA or NCSSE courses and at competitions. AACCA's website offers concussion management information and return to play protocol with downloads and additional resources hot linked to their respective pages.

The concussion awareness campaigns all have similar features that help make the campaigns relevant and useful. They appeal to several important groups--not just coaches or parents.  Much work has been done to make the individual athlete knowledgeable and responsible for his or her own safety. Athletes are given information that emphasizes the concerns related to concussions--this is a brain injury. The athlete is encouraged to report signs or symptoms of injury to responsible adults. The athlete is given information that emphasizes how harmful concussions can be--not just for now but for a lifetime--so they understand the importance of reporting how they feel. This information also encourages friends of injured athletes to talk with an adult if they suspect a concussion. Parents have an opportunity to access information that is easy to understand and not loaded with medical terms. Parents are encouraged to know the warning signs of a concussion injury and are given the steps for what to do next. Much of the information available encourages parents to find medical practitioners who are specially trained in neurology. Parents are informed of the importance of following return to play policies and the risks of additional head injuries. Coaches are given all of the information listed above and guidelines from their state associations. In states with specific concussion guidelines, coaches are required to take a concussion safety course. School teachers have been included in concussion awareness campaigns as students suffering from moderate to severe concussion may have problems with memory, reasoning, communicating, and other functions associated with school work.

All of us concerned with an athlete's safety should understand that the brain needs time to heal after a concussion. Ignoring the signs or doing too much too soon can cause more problems. The awareness campaigns have contributed much to the understanding of concussions and the importance of reporting any signs to a responsible adult. The days of joking about "he got his bell rung" are long gone. We all have a responsibility to work to keep our athletes safe. It is gratifying to see so many groups join in concussion awareness campaigns. Safer sports mean safer athletes.

Crisis Communication Planning

My interest in crisis communication stems from my work with cheerleading safety. When I think of crisis as related to cheerleading, my early thoughts were of catastrophic injury, but my definition through the years has expanded to such crises as inappropriate behavior of coaches, cheerleaders, and parents as well as other major problems that affect cheer programs. My interest in crisis communication has grown to include disasters that severely impact communities such as weather disasters, chemical disasters, etc. All of these situations need a crisis communications plan--a plan that details who, what, when, and where as it pertains to the individual disaster or crisis.  In my experience with cheer gyms and programs, very few are prepared to handle the communications needed during a crisis. I am probably safe in saying few small businesses are prepared to do the same.

My interest in crisis communications and helping communities has led to my participating in CERT--Community Emergency Response Team. CERT training helps citizens become better prepared to respond to disasters through education, training and volunteer service. I also sit on the board of the Recovery Organization of Coffee County (ROCC). ROCC is a type of VOAD (Voluntary Organization Active in Disaster), a group whose job is to assist in coordinating voluntary relief efforts in times of disaster. Without VOAD groups, assistance to survivors of disasters might be haphazard and of little help. You can imagine the chaos that would ensue if these groups had no crisis communication plans.

Recently I completed FEMA course G288--Local Volunteer and Donations Management. Almost every unit of the manual devoted some space to communications. Social media was discussed in great detail as being an aid to crisis communications and as being a hindrance. In FEMA's publication, Social Media Strategy: Virtual Social Media Working Group, FEMA administrator Craig Fugate emphasizes the importance of social media:  ". . .it helps to facilitate the vital two-way communication between emergency management agencies and the public, and it allows us to quickly and specifically share information with state and local governments as well as the public." After Hurricane Sandy, FEMA published Lessons Learned--Social Media and Hurricane Sandy: Virtual Social Media Working Group. This publication details multiple uses of social media by government agencies and private groups. Collaboration with a variety of agencies allowed for centralization of information and sharing of information, social media allowed the media to provide information to the public and to gather information from the public, social media enabled rumors to run rampant but also helped to give space to controlling rumors.

If it is possible before a disaster is declared, vital communications should take place--what are the evacuation routes, where are the locations of shelters, what family needs should be taken care of (cash, medicine, diapers, formula, water, pet food, etc.), and other relevant messages. These messages should be delivered through traditional means (radio, television, newspaper) if time allows and also through social media. Local EMA Facebook and website pages should contain this information; city governments' websites and Facebook pages should also have this information. Friends and family may use Twitter, Facebook, and texting to relay information to their loved ones. Pre-disaster information is valuable in keeping people safe and in enabling citizens to prepare. It is important that those groups who issue the pre-disaster communications have a plan in place and practice for the next disaster. Reviewing and revising those plans should be a regular exercise. Continual monitoring of social media is important as information changes.

After the disaster, communication is necessary to assist people in responding and recovering. Most of our communities are ready to help our neighbors and even respond to help other communities close by or in another state. We volunteer our assistance for a variety of reasons:  genuinely want to help, have survived a similar incidence, or want to be part of a larger cause. We donate to causes for similar reasons, but we may have selfish reasons to donate--seeking a tax break or ridding our homes of excess goods. Communications directed to volunteer efforts and donation efforts can greatly assist local EMAs and VOAD groups. This is an opportunity to educate the public (that truly wants to help) what volunteer help is needed and where donations will be collected. In the FEMA course G288 I learned that financial donations to reputable volunteer organizations are the best method of giving to the recovery effort. Some people see disaster donations as a way to clean out their closets and get rid of their clutter. The last thing a disaster victim needs is someone's used clothing or broken/used furniture or appliances. During the class everyone had a story of really useless things donated to a recovery effort and the reactions of folks when their "treasures" were rejected. Reputable voluntary organizations have experience in disaster recovery, and they know what is needed. Financial contributions allow the voluntary organizations to purchase items needed locally, thereby assisting the local economy. This makes so much sense. Donated items must be packed, labeled, and transported to a distribution center--costing valuable time and money.

Communications in the responding and recovery phase related to volunteers and donations should clearly state where donations can be made, where volunteers should go to register for disaster work, and what type of assistance is needed. Social media is very useful to get these messages to the public. Websites, Twitter, and Facebook are useful as they give an opportunity for two-way communication; questions can be answered, rumors squashed, and updates posted. These communications should be coordinated with all groups involved--local government officials, the media, and EMA should all have much the same information. The mayor should be giving the same donation and volunteer information as the VOAD or the Red Cross. Monitoring the various social media sites will help ensure the messages are correct, consistent and updated.

Planning communications before a disaster occurs gives groups the time to compose messages that educate and detail what needs to be communicated. Having templates set up for a variety of disasters may make communications a bit easier or at least give you a head start. We can't prepare for everything, but we can prepare for incidents that are typical for our area.

SIGN SIGN EVERYWHERE A SIGN

Sign Sign everywhere a sign

Blocking out the scenery breaking my mind

Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign

This song by the 5 Man Electric Band relays what many of us think about the proliferation of advertising. Advertising is everywhere—signs on the fence at baseball fields, billboards dotting the highways, buses, race cars and pop-up advertising on websites. Advertising extends to branding college bowl games with the Capital One Bowl (formerly the Tangerine Bowl and the Florida Citrus Bowl), the Chick-fil-A Bowl (formerly the Peach Bowl), the Allstate Sugar Bowl (formerly Sugar Bowl which is played in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome). You can see the clever advertising angles here. What else is fair game for an advertising medium? Will we one day brand hurricanes, stars in the sky, newly found planets, etc.? 

In the current digital age, advertising has taken on new forms and means of reaching an audience, even a specific segment of an audience. Search advertising and digital display advertising are the top two forms of digital advertising, according to The State of the News Media 2013. This report predicts that by 2016, digital display advertising will be the top form of digital advertising. No surprise as to which search company leads in digital advertising—Google. Tibken, a writer for CNET News, reports that in the first half of 2012, Google made more money than all U.S. print media combined—at least $20.8 billion. To be fair, Google is a world-wide entity, but these numbers surely stand out as a testament to the popularity of digital advertising. An eMarketer report said that digital global advertising spending as a whole topped $100 billion in 2012 and predicts the next few years will see much growth.

From my readings and research I have learned that about 40% to 50% of adults own a smart phone. Those of us who do are familiar with some form digital advertising through the phone.  My WSFA weather app has banner advertising at the top that changes every time I open the app. My AP mobile app has banner advertising at the bottom. As noisome as these may be, we learn to live with them; they are part of the digital landscape. Smart phones have given advertisers a new frontier—location-based advertising. Our phones are mobile; they go with us from location to location. Why not have advertising that also goes from location to location—ads change to fit our surroundings. Adfonic’s Geo-location White Paper uses the terms geo-targeting, meaning a “geographically recognised region, such as a State or city” and ringfencing which is the ability to direct ads bases on a specific location such as retail outlet or hotel chain.  Many of us have used our phone’s navigation apps. We know we must turn on the GPS signal of our phone in order for the navigation app to locate the phone and direct us to our destination. On a recent trip to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, I found location-based ads appeared on several of my phone’s apps along with coupons for tourist attractions in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. Groupon, LivingSocial, and many other apps direct specials and coupons to our phones directed by our location.

Lauren Hockenson article, “Bright Lights, Big City,” has an overview of the latest in digital display options.  One of the coolest digital displays available are the displays that resemble a hologram—a virtual assistant display. Several of these are already in use at airports in Washington, D. C., Dubai, and Edinburgh. Tensator’s Virtual Assistants can be located in airports to assist passengers, retail locations to build sales, or anywhere to assist with information, guidance or purchase ideas. They speak any language, and motion sensors can be integrated so that the assistants are not continually repeating a message. Tensator says their Virtual Assistant is “completely customizable.” This brings audience entertainment as well as information--increasing sales and foot traffic. Casio has a Virtual Presenter that is described as an interactive display that is also “completely customizable.” Casio’s Virtual Presenter will run for almost ten years without taking a break! Wow! The uses for these virtual assistants seem unlimited.  

 Another type of digital display is one found on street corners—an intelligent lamppost. The developer of the lamppost, Ron Harwood, worked at Disney before developing his intelligent lamppost. Intellistreets is a lamppost with built-in signage and has the capability to alert passersby to possible safety concerns or directions. The lamppost has a camera and a microphone to sense problems in the area. The lamppost can play music, announcements, count pedestrian traffic, and, yes, it offers street lighting. Cities can install these not only to assist citizens, but also to sell advertising. There is some controversy about these being a "Big Brother" tool, but Howard says, "If you look at all the city services that could be accomplished wirelessly and all the budgets that are being accomplished to do these things, including gunshot detection and traffic cameras, we are layering costs that Intellistreets solves with one unit." These innovations take digital displays to new hieghts, and they offer an amazing technology.

I don’t know that anyone can predict where this technology will go in the next few years, but it is clear that our world has embraced digital technology and digital advertising. Remember our first mobile phones—those huge bag phones we lugged around? We thought those were the best invention! Now we use our smart phones as our mobile laptop computer. Personally, I can’t wait to see what’s next in the digital world!

Leadership and Vision

It’s been an interesting week. Taylor Swift fans used YouTube and an online petition to demand Abercrombie & Fitch remove a t-shirt that said “# more boyfriends than t.s.” BuzzFeed reports that the shirt in question is no longer available. The retailer used Twitter to say they thought Swift was “‘awesome.’” Savvy teens knew how to get attention to their cause.

Locally, social media and traditional media were quite busy reporting on turmoil between the superintendent of schools, the school board and the city council resulting in the superintendent resigning. It was interesting to see my peers, digital immigrants, fully embrace Facebook as they posted meeting times and locations, videos, and news stories relevant to the ongoing drama. Texting was also popular as people at a called city council meeting texted friends the outcome of the incredibly short meeting. A called school board meeting was well attended as Facebook, Twitter and texting were used to alert concerned citizens. City school board meetings are available on YouTube—who would have thought it possible!

The school board disagreement with the superintendent concerned leadership (at least publicly). The superintendent’s vision for the school system did not mesh with that of the school board. In my last blog, I discussed various styles of leadership, organizational climates, and internal communication. Continuing that discussion of leadership, I would like to focus on two more styles of leadership in addition to vision and mission statements.

J. Nye’s article “Good leaders don’t always need a vision” discusses two styles of leadership:  transformational and transactional. Transformational leadership is goal-based or vision-based. Goals and/or visions are shared with others to encourage all to work for the common goal. Nearing July 4^th, it is appropriate to mention George Washington, first president of the United States. Washington was a transformational leader; he led the colonies from being separate entities to one nation.  Imagine the difficulties in getting thirteen separate organizations to buy into a leader’s vision, to follow that vision through several disastrous failures, a war with the governing nation, and the formation of a new government. Nye ranks Woodrow Wilson, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan as transformational leaders. G. A. Aarons, “Transformational and Transactional Leadership,” says transformational leaders inspire and encourage. Followers share the same core values as the leader and find intrinsic motivation for following. The leader’s vision is their vision, and followers often work beyond their own expectations to succeed.

Good teachers and successful coaches regularly use this style of leadership. Teachers who believe in their students, who release their preconceived notions of students’ abilities, see their students exceed goals and find success because they, the students, believe they can do it just as their teachers envisioned. Coaches also know this. Bear Bryant is credited with these statements:  “You must learn how to hold a team together. You must lift some men up, calm others down, until finally they've got one heartbeat. Then you've got yourself a team.” This sounds a lot like transformational leadership, building a team, the one heartbeat. Coaches have goals for their teams and a vision where they want to go.

Aarons defines transactional leaders as practical leaders as this style of leadership gives emphasis to meeting explicit objectives which may result in recognition and rewards. Under this type of leadership, followers may not be allowed to innovate or even find the need to be innovative. Transactional leadership appears to be more task oriented. Nye asserts that James Madison, Dwight Eisenhower and George H. W. Bush were transactional leaders. As Nye’s title says, “Good leaders don’t always need a vision.” Good leaders must also be creators and managers.

Again we see that leaders must be balanced; having a vision for where we want to go is essential, but it is also essential to successfully complete the objectives necessary to reach the vision. As a coach my vision may be to develop a successful cheerleading program that promotes citizenship, physical fitness, and good sportsmanship; however, my teams and parents must be prepared and must meet several objectives before that achievement can happen and continue to happen. I must be able to manage my team’s abilities and talents; I must make reasonable goals and appropriate objectives to reach those goals; they must share my vision and believe they can be successful.

A leader’s vision can be defined in a vision statement—not to be confused with a mission statement. A mission statement usually details what a company or organization does, how they do it, and for whom they do it. My organization’s mission statement: Our mission is to provide comprehensive safety training and certification programs for the educational development of spirit coaches and advisors through an international council of unified industry leaders. What we do—provide safety training and certification programs; how we do it—international council of industry leaders; for whom we do it—spirit coaches and advisors.

What we don’t have is a formal vision statement. According to diffen.com a vision statement tells where a company or organization wants to be at some point in the future, challenging the group to work to their potential and beyond. A vision statement should be rich in describing the aspirations for the future. For new organizations the vision statement is developed first to guide the development of a mission statement and the business plan. For groups that are established and have a mission statement, that mission statement most likely guide the formation of a vision statement and the business plans for the future. Mission statements may change; vision statements do not change.

All leaders have a dream, a vision, for where they want to be, where their group or company will be in the future. Successful leaders are able to articulate their vision to those they work with honestly and clearly. All who come on board—employees, volunteers, and stakeholders—should know the vision and know they are involved in helping to make that vision come to life.

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more,do more and become more, you are a leader.
John Quincy Adams