Consult, Manage, Change

Personal traits of professionals - time to shape up!

Recently I have observed some behaviours and traits of so called professionals that are in my mind are totally unprofessional.

I believe we owe it to our friends and colleagues to tell them if their traits of behaviours upset us or are out of balance with society.

It todays instant gratification society there is a tendency to become self-centred, over important, and narcissistic.

I have been asking my colleagues and clients about business behaviour recently and the feedback I get is that some common sense and personal ethics would go a long way these days. Is it me or are our schools and universities no longer teaching basic manners, behaviours and kindness?

It is time to make a stand on this! Don’t put up with pushy people behaving badly. Tell them their behaviours are wrong and it is time for them to grow up!

From my observation here are some behaviours and traits we don’t like:

• Rude people
• People who don’t say please or thank you
• Arrogant people
• People who think they get power from abusing service staff
• Serial complainers or whingers
• People who talk loudly on cell phones in public places
• People who send and receive txt messages in meetings
• People who drive aggressively
• People who eat like pigs in restaurants

And here are some behaviours and traits we should see more often:

• Random acts of kindness
• Call service staff by their names
• Saying please and thank you more
• People who are self-aware of themselves and others
• Positive attitudes
• Applying personal discretion when using phones in public places
• Using the mute button on your phone
• Leaving your phone in your pocket of bag at meetings
• People who make genuine eye contact with you at meetings
• People who know the basics of eating etiquette
• Holding doors open for others

I know I have probably missed some so let me know your thoughts on what we should add to both lists.

How to avoid the traps and pitfalls of presenting in JAPAN

PRESENTING IN JAPAN

Pitfalls and Traps to Avoid

Purpose

This brief introduction is only an overview on the importance of understanding the issues you will have to consider when presenting in Japan.

Introduction

If you are about to make presentations (verbal or written) in Japan there are a number of critical issues that you need to consider before you make the presentation. You will have to consider language, colours, translations and religious beliefs to name a few.

This introductory guide provides an initial understanding of the issues you may face when presenting in Japan.

While the focus of this document is on making presentations in Japan, all of the concepts raised in this document apply to presentations in other Asian countries.

Presenting in Japan

Though English is Japan’s second language outside the main cities in Japan few Japanese have encountered a native English speaker. English is taught in Japan at secondary and high schools for 6 years. Most of the post baby boomer generation in Japan can understand (read and write) and speak some English.

Use of Language

It is important to consider your use of language when you are presenting to an audience of non English speaking people or to an audience where English is a second language. You will have to pay attention to sentence construction, technical terms and the use of bullet points within PowerPoint.

Translations

If you are presenting to a bilingual audience then it is strongly recommended that you have any written presentations translated into the native language. There are many translations services that can assist with this. A point to note here is that literal English translations to another language do not always have a one to one equivalent and may not have the meaning you are trying to convey. For example there is no literal translation in Japanese of “How are you?”

Colour

Depending on the country you are presenting in, you will have to research what colours may offend and to not use these in written or PowerPoint presentations. In Japan it is highly offensive to produce written correspondence (especially someone’s name) using the colour red.

 Religion

In any Asian country your audience will be made up of people from a number of different religious backgrounds. You will need to carefully consider your use of language especially the use of humour so as not to cause offence. In Japan the two major religions are Shinto and Buddhism. The post baby boomer generation in Japan may not practice a religion but with a cultural upbringing based on religion, offence may be caused if religious beliefs are not considered.

Business Cards

The exchange of business cards in Japan is a highly significant event. The business card exchange can set the tone for the rest of the relationship. It is recommended that if you do not have a business card holder that you purchase one before visiting any Asian country. In Japan it is critical that you keep your cards in a business card holder and when you receive a business card that you examine it carefully and try to pronounce the name. Then make sure you are seen putting it carefully in your business card holder.

Basic Foreign Language Skills

It is highly recommended that before you visit Japan you learn some basic terms and how to introduce  yourself. Consider learning the following:

My name is Watashi Wa (YOUR NAME) dess

Good Morning o-hayo gozaimass

Good Afternoon Kon-nichi wa

Excuse Me Sumimasen

Please O kudasai

Thank You Arigato

No Thank You i-e kekko dess

Independent Professionals

This week I have been presenting social media training for professionals.

There was opportunity to meet new people swap ideas and exchange experiences on the use of social media and online networking for professionals.

One of my key messages has been that face to face networking is alive and well and social media enhances your networking but will never replace face to face meetings.

Business cards and the ability to give and receive business cards is as important as ever.

Here are a few TIPS on being a better professional when meeting face to face.

1/ invest in a business card holder. Keeps your cards fresh and keeps the cards you receive in a safe place

2/ if you are an independent professional invest in good quality cards. First impressions count. And by the way invest in a personalised email address don't use a gmail or hotmail address on your cards!

3/ never give out that last card from your wallet that is stained and wrinkled

4/ have a good supply of cards with you all the time and have spare cards in your brief case, car and travel bag

5/ get efficient in collating the information from the cards you receive. Consider using the CardMunch app from LinkedIn you will be amazed how much time you save

Please share any other tips you have by commenting on this post.

Tell Me Where It Hurts ??

The following thought provoker is kindly reproduced under permission by Alan Weiss.  Alas provides us with sound advice and challenges us to think differently.

© Alan Weiss 2012. All rights reserved. Summit Consulting Group, Inc. "Reprinted with permission"

Source - Alan's BLOG http://www.contrarianconsulting.com/

When you’re coaching people or simply observing clients, you’re well served never to assume someone else is “damaged” or malicious. We tend to make too many assumptions about others’ motives without any evidence.

There are four key vectors to consider when, in fact, people are being hurt. Develop evidence to support your conclusion so that you can properly help in each instance.

1. Consciously hurting others. This may be through emotional manipulation, peer group humiliation, withholding important information, providing incorrect information, starting rumors, and so on. Passive/aggressive people deliberately hurt others, though seemingly unintentionally (though it’s highly intentional). Bullies (emotional, psychological, physical) try to hurt others because of their own perceived inferiority, attempting to lower others to their levels.

You must confront these acts with observed behavior and the ramifications of that behavior. If it continues unabated, it should be grounds for dismissal. I was the fourth in a line of coaches trying to prevent obscene workplace tirades and humiliation from an executive vice president whose division delivered large profits. He refused to stop his behavior or get counseling. I told the president that the entire workforce considered it HIS preferred behavior, and this man was his proxy, since the president refused to put a stop to it. A week later the vice president was fired. His division continued to produce large profits.

1. Unconsciously hurting others. These people are generally oblivious to the world around them and/or totally self-absorbed. They are the people who speak loudly on the phone in public areas, use inappropriate language, demand attention at others’ expense (they monopolize the help in a restaurant), or drive at 20 miles an hour on a 45 mile-an-hour road because they are talking on the phone.

It usually helps to bring the behavior and its ramifications to the attention of the transgressors, since they are unaware of both what they’re doing and how it impacts others. “Why are you changing the temperature in the room when all the rest of us are comfortable, and you haven’t even asked us? Put on a sweater.” If they are apprised and refuse to change their behavior, then they enter category 1 above.

1. Consciously hurting yourself. This can range from physically harming yourself (e.g., cutting) to emotional and psychological harm (e.g., constantly sacrificing personal objectives for others, denying yourself what is rightfully yours, and so on). This often stems from a need to punish, feeling alienated, and feeling unworthy.

In this case, people have to be encouraged to reveal their feelings of inferiority or lack of worth, or explore why they constantly accede to others because of intimidation or a false sense of protocol. Many people deliberately dress, use language, and comport themselves so as not to draw attention or praise. They are often afraid of exposing their own perceived ineptitude.

1. Unconsciously hurting yourself. These are people with very low self-worth who “automatically” and consistently place themselves in inferior positions. They never try to “win” or to gain praise, or to stand out favorably in a crowd. When I once forced such a person to explain why she couldn’t speak up to a prospect who was asking reasonable questions, she said, “I guess I just can’t imagine why he’d listen to someone like me.”

There are people walking around believing inherently that they don’t deserve, don’t count, don’t merit any success and, if it comes, it was an accident, a stroke of luck. Their defeats and setbacks of course, are because of their own lack of talent. I’ve found that people in this category are carrying “baggage” and self-limiting beliefs that are never examined or even apparent. But they are guided by them nonetheless.

Examine why and how people are hurting and being hurt. Don’t assume it’s always the same reason or situation or solution. And it doesn’t hurt to ask this of yourself, as well.

© Alan Weiss 2012. All rights reserved.

Alan Weiss, PhD

President

Summit Consulting Group, Inc.

Box 1009

East Greenwich, RI 02818

401/884-2778 Fax: 401/884-5068         

http://www.summitconsulting.com

http://www.contrarianconsulting.com (blog)

Alan@summitconsulting.com

 

• Professional Speaker Hall of Fame

• Fellow, Institute of Management Consultants

• Lifetime Achievement Award, American Press Insitute

• 48 Published Books

 

"One of the most highly respected independent consultants in the country. 

— New York Post

"One of the top motivational speakers in the country." — Providence Journal

Twitter tips for the twitter novice

Companies small and large have taken to using Twitter, the global microblogging service www.twitter.com

Twitter is also very relevant for individuals and professionals.

In recent research by MIT Sloan Management Review, they found that some 77% of the Fortune Global 100 companies have at least one twitter account at a corporate level as well as specific twitter accounts for individual brands.

Twitter has more than 100 million users. Twenty-seven percent of twitter users log in every day, and 25% say they follow a brand and are happy to interact with that brand.

Some twitter terms explained:

• TWEET                         A message on twitter limited to 140 characters
• #(HASH) TAG                A tag that links topics and can be searchable e.g. #socialmedia
• RETWEET                     The practice of forwarding others messages to your network
• FOLLOWERS                Twitter users following you – you are in their network
• FOLLOWING                 Twitter users you follow – they are in your network
• @NAME                       You twitter name e.g. @onespec
• DM’s                            Direct Message – twitter users can message each other direct

 

Nine twitter practices that work

 

1. Keep it short and sweet. Leave room in messages to allow retweets
2. Grab attention so that they read your message
3. Just ask to be retweeted
4. Make it personal and use appropriate humour
5. Add value and provide news and information people can use
6. Offer a deal
7. Make your tweets relevant and practical
8. Do it every day
9. Get efficient and use technology to assist you to tweet regularly e.g. hootsuite

 Still got questions? The check out ONESPEC on twitter www.twitter.com/onespec or @onespec also check Onespec out on the web at www.onespec.co.nz

 

 

Advice for us all - From Dr. Alan Weiss

I have recieved my regular Contrarian Consulting email from Alan Weiss and one of his topics was in tune with some discussions I have had recenlty.

Alan is providing advice on how to get things done! Please visit Alan's Blog if the following rings some bells for you.

Alan's advice .............

Here’s how you schedule time to get things done. Let’s say you want to write an article or position paper.

1. Choose the audience you seek to influence, probably those most appropriate for your value proposition. (5 minutes) [Bank lending officers]

2. Choose a topic that will be provocative and timely. (10 minutes) [Identifying the best candidate for safe loans and repeat business]

3. Choose a working title, not something for all the ages. (5 minutes) [Behind the Interview: The Prospect Within]

4. Select 4-6 key points. (10 minutes) [1. The lessons in the first greeting; 2. How to assess behaviors in an interview; 3. The key questions to ask to appraise the business proposition; 4. The key questions you want to be asked.]

5. Write an edgy opening paragraph. (10 minutes) [Why do lending interviews reveal so little about the customer and so much about our own fears? If the objective is to increase business, then we should first increase our own probabilities of identifying and welcoming high potential prospects. That's not usually done with a shaky wooden chair and a bare lightbulb overhead.]

6. Write about each of your points, making sure to include your rationale, an example so that it’s not merely conceptual, and a graphic if it helps explain the point. (20 minutes per point)

7. Write a closing that’s a call to action. (10 minutes). [The next time prospects walk into your office, invite them to sit in a comfortable chair, offer them some refreshments, and remind yourself that they represent opportunity, not threat. Ask yourself how they might speak positively of the experience, no matter what your ultimate decision. That, alone, might increase your business more than you can imagine.]

8. Reassess the title to see if you want to now adjust it. (5 minutes) [The Human Banker—Stepping Out from Behind the Green Curtain]

That entire process above, with six points, requires about two hours. Spread it over four days, and it’s a half-hour a day. Put that in your calendar at 10:30 each morning, and don’t change it, no matter what.

That’s how you get work out. I’ve probably taken a week off the process above for most of you! Stop fooling around, discretionary time is wealth, and you are eroding yours.

© Alan Weiss 2012. All rights reserved.

 

Merry Christmas

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Social Media for professionals – networking in the new age

Business professionals in today’s technology rich environments are presented with many opportunities to market ourselves. The rise in the past 5 years of social media platforms has provided us with amazing opportunities to leverage our networks both nationally and internationally.

What is the difference between networking and social media? In reality nothing! Networking involves the use of social media and social media provides many different platforms for networking.

Many business owners and professionals ask me “What sites should I use”? and “How do I integrate all of my social media sites”? In addition, the big question I am asked is “Should I use facebook for business”?

An online network provides unmatched freedom, enabling participants [you and your clients and potential clients] to post inquiries and information at any time and from any place.

Business networking is a marketing method by which business opportunities are created through networks of like-minded business people.

Business networking allows the business person to build new business relationship and generate business opportunities at the same time.

Social networking focuses on building online communities of people who share interests and/or activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others

Let me cover the three most popular social media/networking sites first.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn started out in the living room of co-founder Reid Hoffman in 2002. The site officially launched on May 5, 2003. At the end of the first month in operation, LinkedIn had a total of 4,500 members in the network.

As of September 30, 2011 (the end of the third quarter), professionals are signing up to join LinkedIn at a rate that is faster than two new members per second.

The company is publicly held and has a diversified business model with revenues coming from hiring solutions, marketing solutions and premium subscriptions.

As of November 3, 2011, LinkedIn operates the world’s largest professional network on the Internet with more than 135 million members in over 200 countries and territories. Fifty-nine percent of LinkedIn members are located outside of the United States.

There were nearly two billion people searches on LinkedIn in 2010. Based on third quarter 2011 metrics, LinkedIn members are on pace to do more than four billion searches on the LinkedIn platform in 2011.

If you are in business then you need to have a profile in LinkedIn.

Business is based on relationships

I had the opportunity to attend the Trans-Tasman Business Circle business lunch and networking function today.

The 400+ attendess got to hear from the CEO of Auckland Council and the Mayor on the first 12 months of the new Auckland Council.

The gathered group was a whos who of Auckland business and what struck me was the amount of pre-lunch networking. And this networking was face to face networking that kind of networking that builds relationships and trust.

I had the opportunity to meet some new contacts and using the great apps he now have access to via out smartphone was able to connect to these contacts very quickly using the LinkedIn cardmunch app.

The point here is that online networks and the use of social media can enhance your networking ability. Face to face meetings and networking are not DEAD!

Taking time out

Have been in the nations capital this weekend to attend the IMC New Zealand council strategic planning day www.imcnz.org All so taking time out to relax in the harbour capital.

In these busy days it is important to take time out to work on your business and to take time out to relax.

Ethics and beyond - Where do you stand?

The ongoing story and saga of Rupert Murdock reminds us all about ethics, trust, corruption and beyond.

 

The question I have about the tactics that New of the World used is how can the managers and so called leader involved sleep at night? If these individuals had any personal values they would in my mind have to have questioned the ethics of hacking into other peoples cell phone and medical records.

Or am I wrong?? Does the journalism industry by right have to report the news no matter what!

What do you think??

This raises the issue of industry ethics verses personal ethics. How many times in your job are you asked to undertake a task that is counter to your personal ethics? For example if you worked in the food manufacturing industry and you are a vegetarian would you mind selling meat sourced overseas as local produced?

As a Certified Management Consultant CMC, there is a global standard of ethics called the CMC Code of Professional Conduct.

One of the areas that becomes an issue on a regular basis is the confidentiality of client information. For example I was recently on a RFP panel for a client and had consultants approach me for information. These approaches breached the rules of the tender and for the CMC's that approached me the breached the code of professional conduct which states "A Member will treat client information as confidential and will not take personal advantage of privileged information gained during an assignment, or enable others to do so".

Rest assured they got reminded of their obligations, and due to my ethical standards I did not breach the code!

 

So how many times a day do you get asked to breach your own professional code or that of your industry? What stance will you take?

Improving the skills and competency of Management Consultants in New Zealand

 Can you remember when you decided to become a management consultant? How did you build the required skills and competencies to delivery consulting assignments?

In New Zealand, becoming a management consultant can be an accident. Many of us had executive level jobs and then one day we decided to be a management consultant!

Having made the decision to deliver consulting assignments did we ever think that we had the required level of skills and competencies to achieve and deliver the results our clients wanted? I would hazard a guess that if we are honest the answer would be no.

One way to increase your skills and competencies is to join an industry body. New Zealand’s only dedicated management consulting industry body in the Institute of Management Consultants www.imcnz.org 

IMCNZ has a goal and aim to raise and maintain the industry standards for Management Consultants in New Zealand through the provision of skill and competency certification, consulting skills accreditation and continuing professional development opportunities and peer support.

One example of this is the IMCNZ is about to raise the bar with the launch of the IMCNZ Consulting Skills Framework Consulting accreditation.

IMCNZ will be launching the New Zealand Consulting Skills framework on 9 June 2011. The CSF has a focus on a skills framework with five levels of accreditation.

How do you know you have consulting skills and competencies? How do you prove you have consulting skills and competencies?

How do users of consulting services know that they are hiring people with the right level of consulting skills and competencies?

The answer up until now has been that you cannot prove this unless you are a Certified Management Consultant (CMC).

The answer to this dilemma is now here and IMCNZ is delighted to launch the Consulting Skills Framework (CSF) which allows consultants, former consultants, internal consultants, managers, learners and anyone who wants to receive accreditation in respect of consultancy to receive and industry based consulting accreditation from the only authorised body in New Zealand.

You do not have to be a practicing consultant or a member of IMCNZ – it’s open to all people who want a Consultancy qualification and it also provides a training and development path

The CSF is an excellent tool with which to:

1. Enable any consultant wishing to assess their skills and competencies as a consultant to use the tool
2. Provide a Personal Development programme for any person who undertakes self assessment
3. Assess the actual skills of applicants to the IMCNZ or to allow progression through membership levels.

The framework delivers consistency through a common language and reference point for skills, competencies, knowledge and experience.

If you are consulting then please take a look at getting accredited.

If you are purchasing consulting services then demand your consultants have certification or accreditation.

What is wrong and right with Public Transport??

 
Today I left the car at home and took the bus to the office in Auckland. The weather today 16 May in Auckland is very autumnal with strong wind and passing showers. Not that entrancing when a warm dry car awaits my use in the garage!

The 10 minute walk to the bus stop was nice apart from the down pour – lucky I grabbed the umbrella before I left the house.

The bus was on time – and the driver very polite. The smart card system worked. It is being replaced with the “snapper” card. The new readers where on the bus but the system is not live yet.

At 7am in the morning the traffic was light and before I knew it I was in Newmarket to change busses as the one from my suburb goes to the transport hub Britomart and due to the rain I wanted to go to the Aotea square (mid-town). I did not have to wait long for the connection but was not impressed that I had to pay another fare?? The driver told be that I was not able to transfer?

I arrived at my destination on time and the total cost of my journey was $5.20

For my return home this evening I will find a direct bus that will cost me $5.60

By not bringing my car I have saved a $13 parking fee and the petrol and running costs of my car.

 So what was right about using public transport today?

•  Bus arrived on time to pick us all up at the bus stop
• Arrived on time at my destination
• Got to meet my neighbours at the bus stop
• No stress of driving
• Got to look out the window
• Possibly reduced my carbon footprint for the day?
• One less car on the Auckland roading system today

 In my opinion, this is what was wrong about using public transport today?

•  Integrated ticketing on one platform for all modes of public transport is a must
• Printing out a timetable needs to be simplified
• Needed to transfer to get to my destination
• Was not able to transfer my original fare to my transfer bus
• Might have caught the flu from all the sick and coughing people on both busses
• Total journey time was double the usual

So how many of you use public transport? Have you started to use public transport again due to the rising cost of fuel? What are your views on cost verses convenience?

Please let me know your thoughts?

 

Leadership it is the small things that get noticed and they COUNT!

 I have noticed recently that it is the often small things that count when you are in a leadership position. It reminded me that we all need to undertake some self-reflection and to review if we are making a difference as leaders.

How often do you take the time to give your wider teams members feedback on their performance?

I recently provided some feedback to a team member who is not a direct report to me and I received the following feedback from a third party: “she practically glowed down the phone when she explained the feedback you had provided and she can't believe that someone as busy as you would take the time to provide such positive feedback”.

How often do you say “Thank You”?

You need to take the time to say this more often to your team, direct reports, colleagues and friends. Try it and you will be surprised!

I also want to share some thoughts from Alan Weiss on the human condition of Nastiness. Alan has stated the following in his Balancing Act Newsletter (No. 136: December 2010) www.summitconsulting.com

The human condition: Nastiness

Many years ago I arrived in a city early for a speech, and proceeded to the hotel my client had booked for me. It was 11 am, and the clerk rudely told me that not only were there no rooms available so early, but that I didn’t have any chance prior to 4 pm. I called another hotel, found they could get me in immediately, and went there, since I could clean up after a long journey and be fresh for my speech.

When I called the first hotel to cancel the room altogether, the same rude woman answered the phone. I asked for the hotel manager. When I explained what had happened, he said, incredulously, “We have rooms available, we’re only at 65 percent capacity! Can I get you to return?”

“Not while that woman is working for you,” I said, and wished him luck.

That woman was just nasty, getting her kicks by causing misery to someone else. I’ve seen this with judges, immigration officials, restaurant maitres d’, and “barristas.” There’s a difference among making a mistake, not being competent, and being nasty. I believe that the last condition is the worst.

Some people are nasty because they’re miserable themselves—they failed at something, had a rough break, were disappointed. Others are nasty because they are basically disempowered and are trying to create artificial power to buoy themselves up. Still others are showing off, trying to impress colleagues.

I admit having a hard time dealing with utter nastiness, because it’s infuriating. There’s simply no reason to treat people that way, no matter what your position, no matter how bad a day you’ve had.

However, there is one thing we can do about it: Never resort to nastiness ourselves. Helping others and doing your best might just turn that lousy day around for you. Walk away from nastiness. Let others be miserable by themselves.

 Alan Weiss balancingact@summitconsulting.com

Managing Globalisation – Moving into a global marketplace and aligning yourself with your international trading partners.

 
On Wednesday 24^th November Gordon Shaw from Sempre Avanti Consulting will be presenting at the Organisational Design and Strategy Execution Conference in Melbourne Australia.

This post is for the attendees to down load the CI Check List.

Download CI consulting check list Org Design Conf Nov 2010

Also to follow is the position paper given to the delegates at this conference.

Purpose

This Position Paper has been prepared to assist you with post follow up reference from the Organisational Design conference. Please refer to the slides.

Introduction

What is culture - Geert Hofstede states – “Culture consists of mental programs that condition individuals’ responses to their environment

Human nature or personality”

CQ References

“People skills for global business – Cultural Intelligence” by David C. Thomas and Kerr Inkson

Klein – “pre-mortem rehearsal” imagine issues / trouble before it happens

“leverage point” a turning point – a small difference that makes a BIG difference!

Operating at a higher level of understanding

Opening up your mind

As simple as showing respect and treating people with dignity and as you want to be treated

TURN DOWN THE ARROGRANCE METER    

Gary Klein “Sources of Power” (1988) “Amounts of expertise limit abilities to build mental simulations”

Cultural intelligence means being skilled and flexible about understanding a culture, learning more about it from your ongoing interactions with it, and gradually reshaping your thinking to be more sympathetic to the culture and your behaviour to be more skilled and appropriate when interacting with others from the culture.

Klein – “scenario fulfilment” – assumptions made to fit a predetermined path.

“antigoals” unwanted outcomes – Klein 1994

EXAMPLE OF CQ - Presenting in Japan

This introductory guide provides an initial understanding of the issues you may face when presenting in Japan. While the focus of this document is on making presentations in Japan, all of the concepts raised in this document apply to presentations in other Asian countries.

Though English is Japan’s second language outside the main cities in Japan few Japanese have encountered a native English speaker. English is taught in Japan at secondary and high schools for 6 years. Most of the post baby boomer generation in Japan can understand (read and write) and speak some English.

Use of Language

It is important to consider your use of language when you are presenting to an audience of non English speaking people or to an audience where English is a second language. You will have to pay attention to sentence construction, technical terms and the use of bullet points within PowerPoint.

Translations

If you are presenting to a bilingual audience then it is strongly recommended that you have any written presentations translated into the native language. There are many translations services that can assist with this.

A point to note here is that literal English translations to another language do not always have a one to one equivalent and may not have the meaning you are trying to convey. For example there is no literal translation in Japanese of “How are you?”

Colour

Depending on the country you are presenting in, you will have to research what colours may offend and to not use these in written or PowerPoint presentations. In Japan it is highly offensive to produce written correspondence (especially someone’s name) using the colour red.

Religion

In any Asian country your audience will be made up of people from a number of different religious backgrounds. You will need to carefully consider your use of language especially the use of humour so as not to cause offence.

In Japan the two major religions are Shinto and Buddhism. The post baby boomer generation in Japan may not practice a religion but with a cultural upbringing based on religion, offence may be caused if religious beliefs are not considered.

Business Cards

The exchange of business cards in Japan is a highly significant event. The business card exchange can set the tone for the rest of the relationship. It is recommended that if you do not have a business card holder that you purchase one before visiting any Asian country.

In Japan it is critical that you keep your cards in a business card holder and when you receive a business card that you examine it carefully and try to pronounce the name. Then make sure you are seen putting it carefully in your business card holder.

Basic foreign language skills

It is highly recommended that before you visit Japan you learn some basic terms and how to introduce yourself. Consider learning the following:

My name is	Watashi Wa (YOUR NAME) dess
Good Morning	o-hayo gozaimass
Good Afternoon	Kon-nichi wa
Excuse Me	Sumimasen
Please	O kudasai
Thank You	Arigato
No Thank You	i-e kekko dess

 It is recommended that you use professional assistance in the preparation of any written or verbal presentation in Japan as you only have once chance to make a good impression.

LinkedIn is currently signing up one new member globally every second! Are you one of them?

 

I had the pleasure of attending Social Media Junction2 in Auckland on 16 November and was a willing attendee of the presentation by Cliff Rosenberg, Managing Director, LinkedIn Australia & New Zealand on the topic "Find the right audience using digital media: How professional and businesses can get the most from LinkedIn"

 

Those of you who know me will know I have been an advocate of using LinkedIn for many years and some of you have attended my LinkedIn mentoring sessions.

Cliff made some very strong points about the power of your personal brand and how LinkedIn is a critical part of you managing your own brand. I hope the following points from Cliff's presentation are of interest to you:

LinkedIn is currently signing up one new member globally every second

The basic LinkedIn account is free

Members have total control of their profiles and what other see

There is real value n having a good network and there is value in maintaining it

Remember to review other daily updates and add your own daily updates

Professional networking is about Brand, Personal Insights and Connections

The key is to separate your professional brand from your personal brand

LinkedIn is your professional network brand and facebook is your social network and brand they should be SEPARATE

We live in the digital age and you need to take control of your personal brand

When was the last time you completed a Google search on you own name? What information was listed

Through Search Engine Optimation SEO LinkedIn profile have high ranking in Google searches

Put the effort in and get your LinkedIn profile to 100% - set aside time and call it business development

Remember that LinkedIn is about your professional network and that your band is now being viewed by head-hunters, recruiter, potential business partners and your future client or employer

The following link will take you to the Fortune Magazine article "How LinkedIn will fire up your career"

 

http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/24/technology/linkedin_social_networking.fortune/index.htm  

Feel free to let me know if you have any burning questions about using LinkedIn.

Feel free to contact me on LinkedIn at

 

http://nz.linkedin.com/in/gordonshawcmc   

 

 

Sustainability and risk management

I have just come across some information on Harvard Business related to why investors are taking note of companies sustainability platforms.

In a time when the "s" word is out of favour in the New Zealand Government area the "s" word still has pulling power with investors and customers.

In the article called :

Why Investors Should Consider Sustainability Risk Management
by Daniel Goleman

Goreman states: Here's yet another concern for investors: sustainability risk management, or SRM. While the basic concept has been around for years, emerging market forces are creating a new strain of investor sustainability risk: point-of-purchase reputation risk. Disruptive systems are on the verge of revealing ecological impacts of products that could sink some brands — and boost others

Investors are taking note. The Investor Network on Climate Riskhas 80-plus members representing over $60 trillion (including BlackRock and CalPERS). While climate concerns have been at the forefront for investors like these, social sustainability — such as how workers are treated — has been an additional focus of late. And as new ecological transparency systems come online, that focus will most certainly broaden.

TO READ THE FULL NARRATIVE - CLICK HERE

What sustainability position does your company have? How do you market your sustainability position?

Are you engaging with your suppliers and customers on your sustainability platform? Is this giving you competitive advantage?

In our view your "s" position is still as important as ever.

We come across many business that have yet to understand the business case for sustainability!

What are you doing in this regard?

Organisational changes taking place within the Sustainable Business Network

I received the following message this morning that I thought would be of interest to readers of this BLOG.

Letter from Chris Morrison, Chair of Sustainable Business Network and Rachel Brown, CEO Sustainable Business Network, to all members

 

Dear SBN Member,

I’d like to take this opportunity to inform you of some organisational changes which will be taking place within the Sustainable Business Network over the coming months.  Additionally, I will supply some background information on the occurrences which have led to these decisions being made. 

SBN’s governmental funding ceased on 30 June 2009; it had previously been contracted to continue until 30 June 2010.  This significant change to SBN’s income stream meant that the organisation needed to closely examine the ways in which it offered services and tools to members.  Foremost in our minds was the need to rationalise the costs associated with operating separate offices throughout the regions, while still ensuring that the service levels remained at the high standard previously enjoyed by members.  We have sought to reduce our overheads to ensure that membership subscriptions and other income is used to achieve our first priority; the continued provision of high quality services to our members.

How will SBN’s structure be different?

The National SBN Board has sought to retain the organisation’s regional structure as much as possible so as to ensure that services to members are affected in the least possible way.  As a result, each region will now be responsible for managing a national portfolio covering key areas such as national events, communications, and overall network management.  This will result in high quality events; consistent National communications and research; and centralised national management, being offered to all members.

While all regions will remain as separate entities complete with requisite Regional Advisory Boards, some regional offices will now be coordinated from other existing offices.  This is particularly pertinent for both Waikato and Southern Regions.  In the case of Waikato, from January 2010 the regional office functions will now be run from Tauranga where it will operate as one with the Bay of Plenty region.  At that stage, Jo Wills will undertake the role of Bay of Plenty/Waikato Regional Manager. 

Jo has worked with SBN businesses for three years in the Bay and created a vibrant, thriving network.  Jo is looking forward to expanding this interaction to include Waikato SBN members in the future.  Because of Jo’s previous event management successes, she will now also be undertaking a strategic role in developing the national events strategy.

In the case of the Southern Region, the Christchurch office functions will be run out of the Wellington/Central office from January 2010. The Nelson satellite office will also report to the Wellington/Central office.  At that stage, Brenda Harkin will undertake the role of Central/South Island Regional Manager. 

Brenda has worked with SBN businesses for two years in the Central region which is also a very active and fast growing network. Brenda is excited to have the opportunity to engage with Southern Regional SBN members in the future.  In addition, Brenda will now be undertaking the National Communications Manager role.  She is passionate about research and ensuring members are kept up to date with the most recent developments in sustainable business practices. 

Over the coming months, it is with much sadness that we will bid farewell to a number of our colleagues: Jan Harrison, Carolyn Brown, Michelle Locke, Andrea Oliphant and Elizabeth Fletcher.  We are a close knit team, and these changes are very reluctantly made. We whole-heartedly wish these talented individuals much luck in the future – they come highly recommended from us at SBN if you are seeking new staff.

Will this affect my SBN membership benefits?

No, you will still receive the same member benefits – the only difference will be in where these are delivered from.  As such, your business will still enjoy access to all of the great SBN tools and services which include Greenlist, GreenFleet; GetSustOnlilne; Get Sustainable Challenge; listing on Members’ Directory; monthly newsletters; member certificate; AGM voting eligibility; and use of the SBN member logo.  You will still enjoy the opportunity to attend networking events and workshops in your region.

In addition to these current, ongoing benefits, you will also receive access to some new and exciting tools and services in 2010.  Jo, with her National Events Manger hat on will be working on a strategy for delivering a series of high value, inspirational events for members in 2010.  The aim is to provide SBN members with opportunities to hear from high profile, expert speakers – in this way, you will be able to learn from and interact with those professionals at the cutting edge of sustainable business practices both nationally and internationally.

Brenda, as SBN’s National Communications Manager, will provide a more centralised communication with consistent information across all regional newsletters and other communications.

David Clendon will undertake the role of National Network Manager in addition to managing the Northern Region.  His skills, experience and expertise will ensure that the operational function of SBN is fulfilled to a high standard and his members continue to receive the same high quality service he has delivered in the past.

SBN is currently exploring the establishment of a ratings system to support the Get Sustainable Challenge tool.  This will go one step further than previously in that an organisation can choose to gain verification around its sustainable business practices.  More information on this will be supplied in early 2010.

Through a new partnership with EECA, SBN is planning a launch of its Sustainable Business AdviceLine “Ask an Expert” to members this year.  This email service will be free to SBN members and is aimed at providing tailored support and advice on sustainability issues in business.

 

We’re excited about the future and look forward to delivering a high quality programme to our valued members this year and beyond. 

Should you have any questions about these changes please contact your regional managers or myself as per the contact details below.

Best Regards,

 

Rachel Brown and Chris Morrison

 

Rachel Brown

CEO Sustainable Business Network

Email: rachel@sustainable.org.nz; Ph: 09 826 0952

 

David Clendon

National Network Manager and Northern Regional Manager

Email: david@sustainable.org.nz; Ph: 09 826 5642

 

Jo Wills

National Events Manager and BOP/Waikato Manager

Email: jo@sustainable.org.nz; Ph: 07 5779355

 

Brenda Harkin

National Communications Manager and Central/South Island Manager

Email: brenda@sustainable.org.nz; Ph: 04 3844715

 

ETS 101 - a starting guide

There is much debate in NZ on the proposed NZETS. We must remember that an ETS is not the total solution to all of the emission problems nor is it the only response.

To follow is a 101 guide to ETS.

It has always been our position that being sustainable is good for business! This is now bearing fruit as there is a direct positive economic impact related to the cost of carbon under and NZETS.

For example if the power price is set to rise in the NZETS then being more energy efficient will save you money! We think this is a "no brainer"!

Emissions Trading

 

Emissions trading is a policy instrument available to mitigate GHG emissions. It involves putting a limit on the quantity of GHG emissions that can be emitted to the atmosphere over a set period of time – the “emissions cap”

 

Government policy documents state that emissions trading schemes are internationally recognised as an equitable, effective and efficient way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

 

Emitters of carbon will need to purchase carbon credits. As carbon is emitted, the credits that a business holds/processes will need to be surrendered, effectively “paying” for the greenhouse gasses produced.

 

GHG emissions are usually converted to their carbon dioxide equivalent [CO₂e]

 

Trading participants can then purchase and sell emission allowances in order to meet their emissions cap.

 

Emissions trading operates like a commodity market where the price is determined by the Market based on the relative supply.

 

The price of the emission allowance [the carbon price] is the financial incentive to limit emissions.

 

Emissions trading alone will not be sufficient to achieve the global reductions in GHG emissions that are required to stabilise atmospheric GHG concentrations, but ETS is the principal instrument that governments are employing in the first instance.

 

Any ETS system has advantages and disadvantages. Potential advantages of an ETS include:

 

• The guarantee of a specific emissions reduction [abatement] outcome which is set by an emission cap
• Can lead to the use of innovation and business responses to reduce the resource intensity and affect of business on GHG emissions

 

Potential disadvantages can include:

 

• The carbon price is not known in advance
• Can be costly to establish
• If free rebates and permits are offered then economic distortions can occur

 

Cap and Trade

 

New Zealand has chosen a cap and trade system. This involves setting a specific limit (a cap) on the quantity of emissions that can be released to the atmosphere from a specified group of emission sources over a given time period.

 

For an ETS to be effective and efficient as a mitigation instrument the trading  system should cover some of the following key principles:

 

• Maximum emissions coverage
• Provide a clear market incentive to reduce emissions
• Be embodied in long term government policy
• Maximise administration efficiencies to reduce compliance costs
• Have a clear set of standards that allow for accurate emissions accounting
• Provide economic efficiency and equity

 

What is the ETS

 

Under an ETS, prices are established for units to emit greenhouse gases. It is hoped that these prices influence decisions by producers, consumers and investors, in their decision making around the reduction of emissions and to look at viable alternatives.

 

Put more simply, essentially, if you create emissions, say by using fossil fuels by driving your car e.g. petroleum, it costs you units (so called carbon credits). If you create a carbon sink (plant trees) that then soak up carbon emissions, you create credit units that can be traded.

If you have any questions or comments let us know?

EarthTrends Delivered: Get the latest WRI charts and data via your inbox

As a subscriber to the WRI - World Resources Institute I have been advised of the launch of Earth Trends.

They state:

WRI is happy to announce the preview release of "EarthTrends Delivered" - a free graphics subscription service sending WRI charts and figures to your inbox based on your research and policy priorities.

"EarthTrends Delivered" makes it easy for you to use WRI charts and figures in your research, presentations, or in the media. For every chart, "EarthTrends Delivered" provides high-resolution images and original citations, and in many cases the underlying data sets.

This initial release includes Climate and Energy charts and figures that address issues related to U.S. and international climate policy, energy and electricity, greenhouse gas emissions, and adaptation.

To learn more, provide feedback, or subscribe today, visit www.earthtrendsdelivered.org/signup?c=CT1842.

I have signed up as this looks like a good resource. I suggest you sign up too!

Heaps of green issues and people on Twitter but can you trust the Twitter Platform?

When I signed in to write this post I had the following message from TypePad!

Attention: Recent attacks to Twitter are affecting the performance of our 'Share this Post' feature. TypePad is working with Twitter to remedy this issue. Thank you for your patience.

I use twitter for business and have the following twitter accounts:

www.twitter.com/sempreavanti@sempreavanti

www.twitter.com/onespec@onespec

www.twitter.com/imcnz@imcnz

As I have found when you "key word" search on Green, GHG and Sustainability there are 1000's of twipeople writing messages on TWITTER. It is a great platform to spread the green and sustainability message!

The outage over the last 2-3 days due to hackers show how business risk need to be managed!

Let me know your horror stories of the past days of not being able to use twitter for business?

Business owners are still focused on SUSTAINABILITY

Sempre Avanti Consulting was an exhibitor at the Bizzone Business Expo in Wellington last week.

It was pleasing for us to engage with numerious passionate business people and business owners who have a focus on sustainability.

In the current recession it would be easy to follow the Governments lead and put "sustainability" issues on the back burner! We have always maintained that sustainability is good for business!

The business owners we spoke with agree. We had a number of visitors at our stand who wanted more information about carbon accounting, emissions inventories, waste audits and how to be more environmentally sustainable which leads to economic sustainability.

CLICK HERE TO SEE PHOTOS OF THE SAC STAND AT THE EXPO

We had a number of visitors ask us about the carboncounted system - more information can be found here

We look forward to talking in more detail with those who visited our stand that have requested more information.

Come and visit us at the Bizzone Bussiness Expo in Wellington 22-24 July

Green is Good BLOG together with Onespec and Sempre Avanti Consulting will be at stand #117 at the Bizzone Business Expo at the TSB Bank Arena from 22-24 July.

Please pop by and say hello.

We would love you to visit us (look out for us at stand 117 in the main hall) and to have a good look around the expo. Make sure you enter our card draw to win a new iPod.

We can offer you a complimentary ticket to the event by CLICKING HERE.

More details on the expo can be found at http://www.bizzone.com/ The information below gives you a quick overview of the Expo.

Why you should attend?

Increased sales, smarter marketing, tighter cashflow, compliance made easy, staffing solutions, access to finance, debt collection, pricing strategy, business planning, strategy, online business, IT, cost reduction, investment advice, insurance…

Get support for your business from

New Zealand

’s best

Including 40 free seminars, specialised zones, free business mentoring, free smart marketing expertise and much more.

For your complimentary guest ticket to the Bizzone Business Expos register online and automatically go in the draw to win a $100,000 Smart Marketing Prize 

www.bizzone.com/guestof/exhibitor

Put these dates in your diary now!

Wellington

– TSB Arena

22^ndJuly Wednesday 9-4pm

23rd July Thursday 9-8pm

24th July Friday 9-4pm 

Crisis what Crisis - Green Consulting and Sustainability

I am pleased to post the following which was written by Mr Ron Shaw Principal Consultant with Sempre Avanti Consulting.

This is a response to an article published by Terry Dunleavy in theNZ Herald.

The Dialogue offering of 6 May 2008 from Terry Dunleavy of the NZ Climate Science Coalition is interesting and raises some useful questions. It also demonstrates how the United Nations, policymakers, ‘Green’ writers, NGOs and other Green groups such as Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace have boxed themselves into a corner with their focus on climate change.

There are enough scientists and other experts who do not accept that climate change is happening or, if they accept that it is happening, do not accept that it is ‘man-made’ or don’t see it as a problem.. And there are also enough NGOs such as NZ Climate Science Coalition who can highlight anomalies in the climate change science and data. The presence of these two groups presents big hurdles, particularly in the public mind, to any widespread acceptance of the need to address climate change.

The attitudes of experts, and scientists towards climate change seem to line up along a continuum from ‘Crisis, What Crisis?’ through ‘Sceptics’ to ‘IPCC Mainstream’ then to the ‘Eeyores’ and finally to ‘The End is Nigh’.

‘Crisis, what crisis’ people are like Terry Dunleavy or the late Augie Auer who don’t accept that climate change is happening. They raise genuinely sceptical questions that can be used to support their views.

Bjorn Lomberg, the Sceptical Environmentalist, ably represents the Sceptics. Lomberg’s position is interesting in that he accepts that increased CO2 is changing the climate but that there are other problems that need more urgent attention.

The middle ground seems to belong to the IPCC. While Dunleavy highlights how much political and policy maker influence goes into IPCC publications it’s clear that the politicos and policy wonks have toned down much of what the scientists have said, thus introducing a conservative bias to IPCC pronouncements.

The Eeyores seem to be well represented by the likes of James Lovelock whose position seems to be ‘I tried to warn you but you wouldn’t listen, I need a hug and a nuclear reactor’.

The End is Nigh is well represented by the extreme position of George Monbiot.

With this range of competing ideas and attitudes, the general public hasn’t much of a show of deciding what to believe or accept. Add in the politically unpalatable results of trying to change people’s behaviour around carbon emissions, stir in a measure of human short-term thinking and the result is likely to be too little action, too late.

Even though there is substantial and growing evidence that climate change is happening and its end point wont be pretty, in the end the acceptance or rejection of climate change can be made irrelevant by a slight change in direction.

Whether we accept or reject climate change, there is s good argument for action on climate change based solely on a risk management approach. The risk management approach just requires an acceptance that the growth in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from 280 to 380 parts per million and beyond  is an experiment that we don’t know the outcome of and if it goes horribly wrong it will be one that we wont be around to repeat. If we assess the risks associated with the consequences of acting versus the consequences of not acting based on the largely conservative position of the IPCC there is a clear need for action.

And while the risk management approach makes a compelling argument for action it too can be rendered ultimately irrelevant by a change of emphasis.

And what will render both scientific approaches to climate change and the use of risk management tools irrelevant?

The undeniable truth that humankind is consuming the planet’s resources in a grossly unsustainable fashion.

This unsustainable use of the planet is leading to shortages of affordable food, affordable energy, clean water, and clean air. The world has too many polluted zones, overpopulated cities and endangered species

The answer is to put aside the debate on climate change and instead take up a Call To Action on Sustainability.

To address Sustainability individuals and communities have a clear role to play. However the engagement of organisations is central to getting the change required. Organisations need to commit to operating in an ethical and environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable manner whilst balancing the interests of diverse stakeholders including improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large

Organisations need to be completely clear about their ethical position and their position on environmental sustainability. They must put in place systems and processes to monitor compliance. They must engage the hearts and minds of their people with exemplary leadership and communicate their commitment to Sustainability throughout all the stakeholder communities.

In the long run, an organisation will only be economically sustainable when it earns enough profit to pay for the total cost of capital. In other words they still need to make a dollar. The concept of economic sustainability is well understood and has been promoted by Peter Drucker since the 1960’s. In more recent times, Economic Value Added concepts, such as those promoted by Stern Stewart, have come to the fore. It is clear that such concepts must be embedded into the organisation’s business model and clearly communicated to the stakeholder community.

Government, seeing itself as the representative of society at large, regulates and legislates to control an organisation’s social impact as well as its economic and ethical impact. In an increasing regulated environment, the position that the Government will take needs to be understood and factored into any considerations by organisations. The position government takes is conditioned by ideology as well as political pressure from the public and from other political groups. While market mechanisms are the most efficient tools available to influence behaviour, particularly around internalising the cost of ‘free’ environmental services provided by the natural environment, the need to balance equity with efficiency means that Government regulation is unavoidable.

Local government see themselves as the representatives of the local communities and thereby can have a similar position as central government. The overtly political approach of central government is conditioned somewhat at the local level by a more common sense approach in local government to getting things done.

Local communities interrelate to organisations as customers and partners, customers when consuming the organisation’s products or services and partners when consuming sponsorship resources.

The way an organisation treats its workforce and their families has many aspects for consideration when delivering Sustainability. When an organisation lays off members of the workforce it is likely to receive attention in all areas of social sustainability – the ethics of outsourcing jobs to Asia – the economics of exporting jobs – the impact of government attitudes to free trade – local attitudes to sweeteners to keep jobs in a region, and so forth. Witness the comments made when Fisher & Paykel re-jigged its global supply chain at the cost of 430 jobs in Dunedin.

With an increasing competition for talent, the consideration of an organisation’s impact on the workforce and their families goes beyond social sustainability and affects the organisation’s economic sustainability. Without enough people to get the job done, organisational initiatives are choked off.

The organisation’s position on Sustainability needs to be viewed as a core value of the organisation. Therefore it needs to be lead, sustained, and managed by the leadership team.

What we need is an acceptance that SUSTAINABILITY is the future direction for New Zealand, stop the sterile ‘he said, she said’ debates about climate change and engage a broad coalition of Government, Communities, Organisations, and Individuals to address the need to move to a sustainable social, economic, and environmental position for this slice of potential South West Pacific paradise.

Author’s Details

Ron Shaw is Principal Consultant with Sempre Avanti Consulting, a consultancy based in Wellington and Auckland. Sempre Avanti is the first New Zealand organisation to participate in the United Nation Environment Programme – Climate Neutral Network. www.sempreavantinz.co.nz

 

Carbon Finance, Accounting and Reporting

I had the pleasure of being the chair of day one on the Carbon Finance, Accounting and Reporting Conference held in Wellington yesterday 22 April 2008.

I thought it was appropriate that on World Earth Day that a large group on managers involved in sustainability within their respective businesses sa down to take a journey of learning related to Carbon Finance and Accounting.

We had informative presentations on topics as diverse as carbon neutral issues, management accounting issues, legal and accounting implications of carbon finance and accounting, carbon trading, strategy and a case study on Meridian energy.

One them was consistent during the day - "Sustainability is a journey and not a destination"

I was amazed at the experise of the presenters and attendees and was pleased that New Zealand business is leading the world in this area.

Sustainability Strategy - A learning experience - Training opportunity

I am please to announce that Sempre Avanti Consulting has partnered with Conferenz Ltd to deliver a business sustainability 2 day master class. The details are below.

I urge you to consider attending this training that will provide you with the tools and capabilities to develop your businesses sustainability strategy.

TRAINING OVERVIEW

Key learning objectives:

·          Define what sustainability means for your organisation

·          Develop a sustainability vision and mission statement for your organisation

·          Develop a sustainability strategy to implement this vision in your organisation

·          Audit your organisations environmental footprint

·          Ensure social responsibility in your organisation

Developing & Implementing a Sustainability Strategy in Your Organisation is a must attend seminar for all organisations who want to ensure that their organisation is environmentally sustainable.  

Over two days combining practical exercises, theory and case studies, learn how to measure your organisations environmental impact, develop a strategy to ensure the sustainable organisation, and communicate your actions to stakeholders, customers, suppliers and the community at large.

Who should attend

·          Business Owners

·          Sustainability Managers and Advisors

·          Procurement Managers

·          General Managers

·          Communications Managers

·          Environmental Managers

·          Managers responsible for Climate Change and Emissions

·          Anyone with an interest in enhancing the sustainability of their organisation

Green Consulting - GHG Emissions Accounting, Management and Reporting

Greenhouse Gas Emissions GHG Inventory Consulting

The start of any journey to carbon neutrality starts with the measurement and accounting of your GHG emissions. This is achieved by producing a GHG emissions inventory. You will then have a base for your GHG reporting needs.

When it comes to emissions reductions you need to live the four M mantra!

Measure

Manage

Mitigate

Market (promotion)

Just remember it is all about your GHG emissions! It all starts with the measurement of your GHG emissions. The first stage is the development of your GHG emissions inventory.

Find someone like Sempre Avanti Consulting who can provide you with no nonsense advice and assist you with easy steps to develop your inventory.

If you have been considering the benefits of becoming carbon neutral then a natural progression is to get certified. Certification starts with the measurement of your GHG emissions and this leads to the development of a management plan that looks to mitigate your emissions and off-set any unavoidable emissions.

To get certification you need to complete the above steps and then you need to get independent auditing of your GHG accounting.

For more information on GHG accounting standards please visit the GHG Protocol.

There are six types of greenhouse gas emissions that could be relevant to your organisation:

• Carbon dioxide CO2
• Nitrous oxide N2O
• Methane CH4
• Hydrofluorocarbons HFCs
• Perfluorocarbons PFCs
• Sulphure hexafluoride SF6

Emissions sources are classified as either direct (Scope1), energy indirect (Scope 2), or other indirect (Scope 3) as adapted from the GHG Protocol.

CSR - Corporate Social Responsibility - You need to show some leadership!

As climate change has become the ‘hot topic’, the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility has been down played in the media.

We believe that the key to managing any climate change issues is the same as the key to managing wider issues of corporate social responsibility – Sustainability.

In fact, both climate change/carbon management and corporate social responsibility can both be seen as part of the move to a new social, governmental and corporate paradigm – Sustainability.

What is Corporate Social Responsibility?

Corporate social responsibility [CSR] has many and varied definitions.

From the mushy

CSR is about how companies manage the business processes to produce an overall positive impact on society

to the hard edged

There is one and only one social responsibility of business-to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits

We suggest to you that CSR can be defined as a company’s commitment to operating in an ethical and environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable manner whilst balancing the interests of diverse stakeholders including improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large

Ethics

The subject of corporate ethic would take a position paper in itself.

Corporate ethics in the age of Enron seem to some to be an oxymoron, and many

New Zealand

companies have come up short in the way they have treated customers. This is largely because transactional managers have laid down and stringently enforced rules without providing an ethical and social context in which the organisation is to operate.

It is clear that some form of the ‘golden rule’ should govern corporate ethics. Recent research suggests that treating others well and in a way that you would want to be treated has positive social outcomes.

Organisations need to be completely clear about their ethical position, put in place systems and processes to monitor compliance, engage the hearts and minds of the people with exemplary leadership, and communicate this commitment throughout all the stakeholder communities.

Environmental Sustainability

The broad issues around environmental sustainability have been discussed in this blog

Organisations need to be completely clear about their position on environmental sustainability, put in place systems and processes to ensure easy compliance, engage the hearts and minds of the people with exemplary leadership, and communicate this commitment throughout all the stakeholder communities.

Economic Sustainability

Again, the concept of economic sustainability deserves a position paper in its own right. In the long run, an organisation will only be economically sustainable when it earns enough profit to pay for the total cost of capital.

The concept of economic sustainability is well understood and has been promoted by Peter Drucker since the 1960’s. In more recent times, Economic Value Added concepts, such as those promoted by Stern Stewart, have come to the fore.

It is clear that such concepts must be embedded into the organisation’s business model and clearly communicated to the stakeholder community.

Social Sustainability

It is in the area of social sustainability that CSR is usually played out.

Government, seeing itself as the representative of society at large, regulates and legislates to control an organisation’s social impact as well as its economic and ethical impact. In an increasing regulated environment, the position that the Government will take needs to be understood and factored into any consideration of CSR. The position government takes is conditioned by ideology as well as political pressure from the public and from other political groups.

Local government see themselves as the representatives of the local communities and thereby can have a similar position as central government. The overtly political approach of central government is conditioned somewhat at the local level by a more common sense approach in local government to getting things done.

Local communities interrelate to organisations as customers and partners, customers when consuming the organisation’s products or services and partners when consuming sponsorship resources.

The way an organisation treats its workforce and their families has many aspects. When an organisation lays off members of the workforce it is likely to receive attention in all areas – the ethics of outsourcing jobs to

Asia

– the economics of exporting jobs – the impact of government attitudes to free trade – local attitudes to sweeteners to keep jobs in a region, and so forth.

With an increasing competition for talent, the consideration of an organisation’s impact on the workforce and their families goes beyond social sustainability and affects the organisation’s economic sustainability. Without enough people to get the job done, organisational initiatives are choked off.

The organisation’s position on social sustainability needs to be viewed as a core value of the organisation. Therefore it needs to be led, sustained, and managed by the CEO and the leadership team.

The Operating Model

So who has to make sure what happens on Monday morning?

Taking each ‘issue, some are more strategic while others are more operational – strategic level issues address values and beliefs while operational issues address organisational behaviours and capabilities.

For smaller businesses and non business organisations, most of the responsibility falls on the CEO and leadership team as they will be lacking access to the specialist departments discussed.

The new position of Chief Sustainability Officer reflects Sempre Avanti’s belief that we are seeing a paradigm shift that will place sustainability at the core of the organisational model for the foreseeable future. The CSO is responsible for the setting the leadership position on sustainability, engaging the rest of the C suite and top reports in the organisation to provide compelling leadership in each of their areas, setting policy and putting in place systems and procedures for ensuring organisational action is embedded in day to day routines. The CSO will have significant organisational power as well as significant influencing skills to ensure others buy in to the Sustainability programme,

Once an organisation has done all this work on CSR and Sustainability, the formal communication of the results needs to be considered.

You are asking for a PR disaster If it becomes known that your organisation has undertaken some CSR/Sustainability initiatives AND you are not prepared to report the results. The conclusion will be that it showed such a poor result that you are embarrassed OR you have something bad to hide.

However if you know you have the ability to solve or at least mitigate anything that arises then a poor baseline will make any improvements look good.

So before engaging in any substantive work on Sustainability, think through what you are likely to find and consider to what extent you act. Market and political pressure will force you to act sooner or later so you need to go into in with your eyes wide open.

Opportunities beckon for those companies that want to be leaders and not followers!

How do you navigate the carbon footprint hype?

There has been a lot written about organisational sustainability. It has been said that a sustainable organisation is one that behaves in a sustainable manner, whilst focussing on achieving its business goals and outcomes.

But what does sustainability really mean? There is no definitive answer. However, a business must be able to establish sound policies and practices. These must then be delivered in a manner that meets best practice standards and ethical requirements. Legislative and other legal requirements and public expectations must also be met. If you can do this then you are well on the way.

The carbon foot print debate

Becoming carbon neutral has become all the rage. But is it just pure marketing hype?

We suggest to you that it is not all hype. For example we can provide you with evidence on how you can make positive benefits to the bottom line by measuring your emissions/carbon footprint and looking at business processes that reduce the footprint that will save you money and increase economies of scale.

Strategic Direction

Does your organisation have a strategic approach to environmental sustainability? If it does not then it should be thinking about one. Carbon taxes will become a business reality. Organisations that embrace the reduction of carbon emissions as early adopters will steal a competitive advantage over their competition.

Assessment and Analysis

The first step on this carbon neutral journey is to analyse and make an assessment of the current state of your organisation. Sempre Avanti Consulting can assist with methodologies that assist with a current status review. This would include a broader environmental scan, gap analysis, development of a future state view and strategy recommendations

Measurement

The next step is to measure the current state of carbon dioxide emissions. Measuring CO2 emissions raises awareness of climate change impacts provides a basis for identifying opportunities to reduce emissions and provide cost savings.

Sempre Avanti Consulting can assist you with the measurement of your footprint and to produce a carbon foot print report which becomes the basis for strategies to offset and reduce the measured foot print.

Measurement can take the form of travel demand planning audits, energy audits, fleet efficiency audits and waste management audits.

Carbon credits

For any unavoidable emissions the option is to purchase carbon credits to offset these emissions. Carbon credits create funding that is invested in projects such as forest regeneration and renewable energy development.

For example carbon credits derived from forest regeneration projects make for a good option and can integrate into your organisations corporate responsibility programme.

Sempre Avanti Consulting recommends that your organisation takes the lead and considers using carbon neutrality to gain competitive advantage while making a worthwhile as sustainable positive impact on the environment.

A NEW YEAR - it is time to set your 2008 Goals!!

Welcome to 2008.

It is time to set some goals for the year ahead. To help you I have come up with a list of goals that you may want to consider adding to your list for 2008.

GOALS

• Use you car less and walk more - it is good for you and the environment
• Use public transport when you can - a little bit of travel planning will help you get out of your vehicle and use the available public transportation
• When you fly choose an airline that has a carbon off set programme AND USE IT
• Purchase Bio-fuels for your vehicles - check out if you vehicle can operate of bio-fuels such as ethanol petrol mix or bio-diesel, if so use it - we are all better off
• Undertake an energy efficiency audit of your home and office - some ideas for better efficiency include - switching to energy efficient light bulbs, fitting movement sensors to lighting systems, adding insulation to the walls and roof of you home or office.
• Join a carbon offset programme and offset you avoidable emissions by purchasing recognised and accredited carbon credits
• When you replace you vehicle undertake some research and look at hybrid and diesel vehicles as an alternative to petrol vehicles.

This is a small list to start you on your way.

Please let me know other goals you would like to see added to this list.

If Paris can then we all can!!!

Hello from France.

I read with interest in the International Herald Tribune on Friday December 14, 2007 that Paris Hilton has become climate friendly! I kid you not!!

If it is in the newspaper it must be true?

It quotes darling Paris as stating "I changed all the light bulbs to energy-safe light bulbs and I am buying a hybrid car right now"

So who would of thought that Paris Hilton would lead the way on being environmentally sustainable.

Good on you Paris Hilton!

Led Zep, Air Quality, Smart Hotels and Electric Vehicles!

Hello from Genova Italy.

It is Friday and the end of the week. This week I have been moving North in Italy using trains to arrive in Genova.

Some observations for this week!!

First Led Zep, The reunion concert by Led Zep was all over CNN this week! They even interviewed some of the crowd and guess what they found a concert goer from NZ!! I am sure there will be a CD and DVD released soon for all of us who missed out!! I was thinking what the carbon foot print of a rock concert is? Maybe it is time to offer a service to the rick industry to measure GHG emissions from events!!

Secondly there is Air Quality. The weather has been kind on the trip so far many fine calm cool days. But boy talk about air pollution!!!! The air quality is bad there is a brown orange haze and later in the day it gets bad enough to make you cough!! So all those small cars the Italian drive add up to a lot of CO2 emissions. Thank goodness for New Zealand,s good air quality.

Thirdly, Smart Hotels. I visited Pisa this week and stayed at the Sanranieri Hotel in Pisa. Pisa Hotel

Check out the web site - what a cool place! It is a smart building and the thing I noticed was the number of light sensors. The lights come on as you move about the hotel and your rooms. I has about the Hotels carbon footprint but it was lost in translation! I think they thought I was from Mars!! There was a lot more the hotel could do to be really SMART. Such as grey water recycling, not changing towels and linen every day, using solar power to name a few.

By the way the Sanranieri Hotel is 10km from the Pisa railway station and guess what I walked to the hotel!! Yes it is true!! No carbon produced on that journey!

Lastly, electric vehicles. In Florence I observed a number of electric scooters, small electric buses (so the could fit down the small streets) and electric delivery vehicles. The Florence council is also introducing a light rail system starting next year. I could not find any English information to identify how the electric vehicles are charged or if the electricity is produced sustainability.

I have had a great week in Italy - lots of food for thought!

Next week it is back to France to spend some time in the Normandy region.

Green Issues in Europe

Hello from Sienna Italy.

I am on vacation and on the second week in Europe I have visited England, France and Italy.

The climate change conference in Bali is on the TV and in the newspapers, when I booked a flight from Milan to Paris I was offered a pay as you go carbon credit by Easyjet.

I have also been observing the vehicles here in Italy and guess what? They are mostly small to medium vehicles and a lot of them are diesel cars. I filled my 1.4ltr Ford Festiva with petrol today at the price was €1.37 a litre - VERY expensive in world terms.

But get this the price of bottled water is less than €1 a litre!!

The reduction of carbon emissions here is called carbon positive! And it seem just like in New Zealand business are struggling to understand that being carbon positive can bring competitive advantage. I just read in the Times newspaper that most CEO,s in Europe see the carbon debate as a cost to the business!!

Boy do they need some consulting advice or what!!

Time to wake up I think!

Sustainability is Good Business

There has been a lot written about Sustainability, mainly in the context of Climate Change. This writing ranges from advocating a return to a pre-literate Stone Age hunter gather society to a ‘hair-shirt’ return to the Middle Ages and on to a Panglossian view that there is absolutely nothing to worry about. The debate is clouded by whether one is a climate change believer or a climate change sceptic.

Regardless of your attitude to climate change, Sustainability is good business and should be embraced wholeheartedly by all kinds of organisations. New Zealand’s reputation of being “Clean and Green” is founded on sand and is subject to attack from within by environmental activists and from without by the EU. High polluting waste types such as bread waste from a bakery will be regulated and priced to discourage its dumping. Transport will be further regulated because it is New Zealand’s second highest emitter of carbon.

First movers will gain advantages that even fast followers will envy.

Sustainability can be viewed on three levels:

• lip service,
• transactional sustainability, and
• transformational sustainability.

Lip Service Sustainability

This is where many businesses are currently placed.

This is the hotel chain that places the ‘lip service’ card in the bathroom. The card suggests that you can help lessen the load on the environment by hanging up towels to be used a second time. When you do this, the housekeeping staff replaces them anyway because there are no systems in place to ensure staff compliance with the ‘policy’.

This is the business that has a general purpose paper recycling bin but no systems to ensure the paper is picked up and sent to the recycler.

Or the business that has a policy to recycle toner cartridges and then has no system to make it easy and wonders why empty toner cartridges end up in the waste bin.

Sustainability at the Transactional Level

This is where sustainability starts to make a difference. It should not be where it ends.

Transactional sustainability is about the three R’s – Reduce, re-use, and recycle. Yet that is not all. To avoid ‘lip service’, the 3R’s must be supported with robust systems to ensure easy and simple compliance with the 3R’s.

To understand how this works lets look at a few contrasts between lip service and transactional sustainability.

Paper Recycling

Lip Service equals old ‘lineflo’ paper boxes or wire ‘cages’ scattered randomly over the office space. These are left to get overfull and then they are picked up on a random cycle by the cleaners. If you are lucky, the paper makes it to the PaperChain™ recycling bin but is just as likely to be put in the general waste bin.

Transactional sustainability sees light weight, closed side bins made of recycled material [this could be board or plastic] and with safe lifting handles placed at regular intervals. These bins are picked up everyday by your sustainability management firm and the paper transferred to the correct paper recycling bin. The empty bin is replaced and is available for use without the users having to do anything

Aluminium Cans

Lip Service sees the provision of vending machines selling drink products packaged in aluminium cans. When the product is consumed, the recyclable aluminium can is thrown into the general waste bin or into the bin under the desk of the consumer. All these cans go in the general waste and are conveyed to a landfill.

Transactional sustainability sees light weight, lined open top bins made of recycled plastic. These are placed within ‘throwing’ distance of work station clusters and in public spaces. These bins are picked up everyday by your sustainability management firm and the cans transferred to the correct recycling bin. The empty bin is replaced and is available for use without the users having to do anything.

Transactional sustainability recognises that when making sustainability decisions, the principal trade-off is between sustainability and time and builds robust systems that ensure lack of time does not halt efforts to reduce, reuse, and recycle.

Sustainability at the Transformational Level

The sorts of things to be considered under transformational sustainability include:

• Engagement of organisation members and stakeholders in a values and leadership programme that incorporates a commitment to sustainability
• Transport fleet assessment and management – carbon footprint measurement and mitigation
• Smart buildings – from fully integrated smart building through to limited impact mitigation of existing buildings
• Travel policy assessment and management – carbon footprint management
• Local sourcing vs carbon certified remote sourcing of organisational inputs – as much to engender debate on the merits and downsides of so called food miles
• Meeting enablers – the use of facilitated Video conferencing and Internet technology rather than F2F meetings
• Design for sustainability

Clearly the work to be done here is more far reaching than the work required for transactional sustainability.

Voluntary Carbon Off-sets - Update

In my blog post of 3rd November I was talking about the effect of air travel on the environment and asked why some airlines do not offer voluntary off-sets for carbon emissions.

As a frequent flier with Air New Zealand I decided to contact the CEO Rob Fyfe and ask him why Air New Zealand was not offering carbon off-sets to its customers.

I have had a positive response to my email this morning.

I asked Rob Fyfe the following: "I have one question. When will you offer pay as you go carbon credits to offset the impacts of the journeys we make? I note that Qantas has announced what seems to be a great offering to their customers. I applaud you and the team on the announcement of the Bio Fuel project but as one of your loyal customers I want the option to make the difference now when I travel."

Rob's response this morning was:

"We plan to introduce Voluntary carbon off-setting next year – we wanted to wait for the launch of TZ1 – the New Zealand climate exchange so that we could support this initiative and if the Government policy proceeds as planned we will be required to off-set all our domestic emissions."

It is pleasing to know that I will have the option next year to take up carbon off-sets as I travel.

Vehicle Emissions Debate

Here in New Zealand we are awaiting a decision from our Government on making changes to the rules related to vehicle emission standards. The Ministry responsible for the policy change for some time has signalled that there will be major change.

Industry groups from both sides are lining up to state their cases. On one side of the scale we have the new car industry and on the other we have the used car industry. They are not pulling any punches. For example I have just read the latest edition of the "autofile" magazine and they new car industry is quoted as saying "Ministers have buckled under pressure from used importers" and the used car importers have stated "The new vehicle industry is being self-serving".

SO you can see that there is alot of emotion in the debate.

The debate is being driven by the New Zealand Government driving to reduce Transport produced CO2 emissions.

The new and used car industries will debate this issue until the cows come home! However one comment in the autofile article got me thinking? "there is an obligation on all parties (including vehicle owners) to play a part in reducing air pollution"

I totally agree with this statement. As vehicle purchasers we ALL have a part to play in getting up to speed with the issue of vehicle emissions and making the emission standards of a vehicle a key component of our purchasing decision.

One good example of this is Tourism Holdings announcing today in the media that it has bought 370 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter motor homes to be customised for the New Zealand market. It has lined up its existing 1500-vehicle fleet for a new benchmark test being developed by Vehicle Testing New Zealand.

The new regime exceeds the European benchmark Euro IV standard. Qualifying vehicles will be some of the world's lowest emitters.

Lets all try to follow this lead!

Taking time out

I am writing this entry from Motueka a small town at the top of the South Island of New Zealand.

I am taking time out with family to enjoy some family time. However with all of the technology we have at our finger tips I am able to log on and clear emails, update the blog and continue to work for clients while I am taking time out.

As we get close to the Christmas silly season I want to say to you all that you need to take time out, have some fun and recharge your batteries.

While sitting here in the bright blue sky day with sun on my back I realise how lucky we are to have time to spend with family and freiends.

Today I am spending time with my Gransdson Ryan who is three and it gets me thinking that it is our role to leave New Zealand and the planet in a state that will allow Ryan to grow up in a world that is safe and sustainable.

More than ever we need to take responsibility for the actions we undertake that affects the legacy we leave for our children and granchildren.

To use a phrase that Green Peace use we NEED TO BE THE CHANGE!

The future of our planet is in our hands!

Business Travel Planning - Climate Friendly

There has been a lot written about organisational environmental sustainability.

A sustainable organisation is one that behaves in a sustainable manner, whilst focussing on achieving its business goals and outcomes.

What is Business Travel Planning?

Land Transport New Zealand [LTNZ] tells us the following “A workplace travel plan sets out steps to encourage staff to travel to and from work by public transport, on foot, by bike or by car share, and to improve access for a particular workplace.” This definition implies that staff travel into a fixed place of work and return to their homes at the end of the working day.

It is my belief that there is a need to take a wider view of travel planning than just a focus on how your staff behaves in getting to and from work. If fact, the broadening of the focus beyond LTNZ’s focus to all business related travel has far more positive impacts.

Business travel planning starts with the simple act of collating information on domestic air travel, international air travel, taxi trips and rental car usage. The application of some business and statistical analytics and the application of consulting expertise will lead to improved business processes and policies than can be designed to reduce cost and improve environmental sustainability through changes in behaviour.

How does Business Travel Planning contribute to an organisation’s environmental sustainability?

The act of reviewing an organisations travel planning provides insights into opportunities to change travel behaviours that can lead to streamlined and efficient business practices.

For example, how many single occupant taxi journeys does your organisation undertake in one month? What are the alternatives? With the use of business travel planning there is opportunity to look at ways of employees travelling together and making multi occupant journeys or to use shuttles. Another option is to review your organisation’s taxi procurement policy to select taxi provider that run their fleets on alternative fuels such as bio-fuels or natural gas.

So as you can see a good starting point in any sustainability review is with travel planning. I dare you to undertake some analysis on your own travel for business or leisure. I am sure you will get a shock and you will see that with small changes in behaviour you can make incremental gains that extrapolated out over a year can save you money and time!

Green Consulting

You may be hearing the term "green consulting" more and more?

You might be saying what does it mean? I hope I can help to explain to you what it is all about?

From my perspective as a green consultant it means two things. 1) Owning and managing a consulting firm that has a strong sustainability focus and, 2) Being able to assist clients with navigating the road of corporate social responsibility, environmental awareness and delivering green outcomes.

If you visit the Sempre Avanti Consulting web site you will see the we are a participant in the carboNZero programme and that we are a carbon neutral consulting firm.

Sempre Avanti Consulting

You will also see that we help clients with many of the issues facing businesses today linked to climate change and sustainability.

We have also joined the Green Logistics Consulting Group which is a like minded group of consultants working around the globe to assist clients with sustainability issues.

What about all of those carbon emissions when we fly?

I am writing this as I sit in the comfort of the United Airlines Red Carpet club in San Francisco Airport of 1 November 2007.

I look around at my fellow travellers and wonder if the impact of our flying and the CO2 emissions the airplane that we are about to travel on enters our conscious thoughts!!

So I asked one of my fellow lounge guests. I spoke to a guy flying off on vacation to Span and France.

He would like the opportunity to purchase pay as you go carbon credits but has never been offered the option of doing so. He also stated to me that he wants to purchase a green car.

So there you go, not a scientific poll by any means bit the first person I asked was aware of the impacts of air travel on our world.

Like the guy I spoke with I too was not offered a pay as you go carbon credit by Air New Zealand.

So I ask you all to lobby your preferred airline partner on this issue so they pull finger and offer us pay as you go carbon credits!!

I will now go and draft an email to Rob Fyfe the CEO of Air New Zealand.

If I had been offered the option I would have taken it!!

To my surprise when I asked him “does he think about the impacts of airplane carbon emissions when he travels” he said YES!

Wake up USA it is time to smell the roses again!

As a certified management consultant with a speciality in environmental consulting I am amazed on this trip to the United States the vast difference in understanding and opinion here on climate change issues.

I have been attending a management consulting conference and “green issues” made it on the programme! Confab USA

On day one of the conference there was a presentation from a USA based conference titled Capitalizing on Green Companies Building Client Value through Sustainability.

The presentation was informative and insightful and highlighted the need for consultants to assist their clients through all of the complex issues of being green and sustainable.

However what struck me was that of a total pool of 250 plus attendees only myself and 10 others showed up for this presentation!! The other consultants decided to attend the other two sessions running concurrently at the same time. This to me is madness as corporate America needs to wake up to the issues of climate change, sustainability and corporate social responsibility!

When I raised the issue of environmental consulting with my peers at the networking times they seemed to get glassy eyed and want to talk about the Red Sox or about the rising cost of gasoline!

Yes, the cost of gas – around $3.50 USD a gallon get them talking but somehow there is a disconnect from the cost of running a vehicle, CO2 emissions and the effect of vehicle emissions on the environment. But the cost of gasoline is causing some pain.

Where there is pain you can get some gain.

So to me it seems that in New Zealand we are way ahead in our understanding of environmental issues and the positive impacts that can be gained from environmental sustainability and the need for change.

Good on us – but boy we need to keep it up and we need to shout out our successes so that our American cousins hear the message and wake up to the need to make the change! Wake up guys – the smell of roses is far better that vehicle tail pipe emissions.