You look at the conference brochure and survey the list of keynote speakers, the various topic tracks, look at the schedule of other events and learning opportunities, and decide to invest your money or budgeted dollars on attending the event.

All of these criteria are valuable and good reasons to decide on which conferences to attend. Yet, when it's all over, a conference, convention or other gathering of like-minded professionals is more than a place to soak up content - it's also a great place (maybe an even better place) to network.

If you wonder if that is true you've either not attended many conferences or haven't had a networking plan.

A networking plan is important because often the greatest learning and most interesting opportunities happen outside the scheduled sessions!

When you define an event solely by its workshop schedule you are missing a large opportunity that comes from the gathering people, experiences, knowledge and more. Along with all of the good personal and professional development reasons, when you have a better networking plan, you also will have more fun at the conference than you would have otherwise!

Here, then, are 11 ways you can network more effectively and easily at any conference or convention.

Decide to connect. Networking begins with a decision. Decide before you attend the event that you want to meet, learn from and serve new people. Make this a part of your objective for the event. In addition, decide how many new people you want to meet.

Be friendly. A good place to start, don't you think? Whether you are more extroverted or introverted matters less than your decision and your initial behavior - which is to be friendly!

Get to sessions early. One of the best times to meet new people is at the start of a session. Besides, often the people who arrive early are also focused on having a great experience and are therefore good people to meet! You also immediately share something in common since you both picked the same session to attend.

Say hello first. It may be a part of being friendly, but I separate it because it's a very important tactic. Be the one to say hello! Go first, initiate the conversation. Often others won't do it, but are glad you did. Put your foot and hand forward first. Say hello!

Ask questions. Spend your time getting to know the other person. Don't make it a barrage of questions, but ask them why they chose this session, where they work, what their goals are for the conference or something else that helps you actually get to know him/her. Asking these sorts of questions will get them talking and put both of you at ease. Besides, by asking questions you are giving yourself the best chance to learn from them!

Meet the speakers. You've picked the sessions to attend, why not build at least an initial relationship with the experts? And, when you go early (see above), it's much easier to connect with a great speaker than after the session when everyone else wants to meet her/him too.

Ask for, and give, business cards. Business cards are the currency of the initial relationship, so have plenty and have them with you. Remember too that getting their card is actually more important than giving yours. Why? Because if you have their card, you can always initiate the next (or subsequent) contact.

Always eat with at least one other person. Eat with speakers, eat with people you meet in a session or strike up conversation with someone new. Meals are a great time to create relationships and extend conversation.

Find out how you can help the other person. As in any networking situation, get the focus off of you and onto the other person. Ask the kinds of questions that helps you understand what their needs are (hint - they're almost always open-ended questions).

Be engaged and engaging. This is a bit of a summary idea, but it's more than a repeat of what has been said. Don't just make small talk; try to serve and to learn what their issues and challenges are. Ask great questions and listen to the answers and they will know you care.

Network with new people (don't just hang out with who you came with). What is the point of spending all of your time at a conference with the people you already know? Split up; consciously choose different sessions. Everyone in your group can do what this article prescribes, and each of you invite people to an even larger dinner gathering!

I know there is no rocket science on this list. Yet, as a speaker at and participant in many conferences, I see far too few people doing these things. When you start by deciding to network and then apply the other ten items on this list, you will maximize not only your learning from any event you attend, but the amount of fun you have will go through the roof as well!

Potential Pointer: The best learning at a conference or convention usually comes from the people around you, rather than the sessions you attend. Make a plan - and make the time - to connect with people at your next conference, and see your results, satisfaction and enjoyment skyrocket!

This week's resource isn't a book, article or a website.

It is a person!

Dan Kennedy is a speaker, author, consultant, copywriter and marketing expert. He also is famously opinionated, the self-proclaimed "professor of harsh realities", and he's sometimes controversial.

All of this is true, and while some people won't resonate with his approach or style, it is hard to argue with his results.

If you have interest in marketing or sales you will have the most connection or interest in his writing, as the short list of book titles I recommend below will attest. That said, his no-nonsense approach will be of interest to others as well.

Some of Dan's books that I recommend:

Any serious student of business should have least a cursory knowledge of this prolific, smart and successful guy's work.

I don't know about you, but I can pretty easily make a top five list of gifts I've received for my birthday or Christmas. Some things stand out for their usefulness, some for the thought that was behind them and some just because they were cool.

And while I have enjoyed all the gifts on my top five or top ten (or even top 100) list immensely, there is an entirely different list that exceeds them all. And that's the list I want to share with you now.

Being listened to. It happens so rarely, really. Yes, I am blessed with wonderful people in all parts of my life, and many are great listeners. It isn't that they never listen; it's that when they stop everything and focus on just me and my ideas, I feel more confident, stronger and smarter. It seems like such a simple act, and yet we all forget too frequently, which makes this gift all the more powerful.

Being trusted. When people trust me, I feel great! And while they don't usually announce it in a card, with a voice mail or in a personal conversation that "You, know, I really trust you"; I can tell when they do. And when I sense their trust at higher levels it urges me to do everything I can to continue to earn it - which has the side benefit of creating a sense of accomplishment when it is achieved.

Being supported. This is a multifaceted gift because it can come in so many wrappings (including the other gifts mentioned here). I want to know that someone has my back - that they believe in me. That they want me to succeed, that they have my best interests at heart, and that they will recognize my successes. This doesn't mean that I am absolving myself of responsibilities; it's just that when I have the support (in all these many forms) of others it makes my life easier and more enjoyable.

Being included. I want to belong (we all do). I want to be asked to join (so do you). Whether it's the game of tag on the playground, or to join the group for lunch out of the office, we all like to feel wanted, and we all need to be a part of a community. I won't always say yes to every offer, but it doesn't mean I don't appreciate the gift of being asked, of being included.

Being loved. In some contexts, like at work, you might not use the word love - but you hopefully do use the word care or respect or like. These are wonderful gifts, and they're all in the same family as love. But love is the bottom line - and the greatest gift of all.

These gifts are deeper, more meaningful and longer lasting than even the biggest or most expensive material gift. They are gifts given with action rather than with other resources. These are gifts cherished by everyone on earth, regardless of age, race, religion or job function.

While I'm talking about gifts, these thoughts aren't confined to birthdays, and isn't really about receiving either.

The cliche is true.

It is better to give than receive.

Now, read about these gifts again and think about how often you give them to those around you. Is it as often as it could be? Is your answer the same at work as it is in your personal life?

How could giving these gifts positively impact the people you lead as well as their performance?

Give yourself the gift of reflecting and acting on these questions today.

Potential Pointer: The gifts we most value receiving deeply are the same gifts we can choose to give more freely. When you give these gifts more freely with sincerity you will improve your relationships, your attitude, your results and your life.

I picked this book up recently in an airport bookstore because, well, the cover POPped right out at me. Since I recognize the author and the title seemed pertinent to our work, I put it in my briefcase (after buying it of course).

Fast forward a few weeks and this book moved to the top of my very long reading stack. Why? Because I am searching for some new product titles and thought the book would help.

I was right!

The big idea? That your pitches, taglines and titles should POP, or be Purposeful, Original and Pithy.

Part marketing, part creativity primer and part collection of great quotations puts this book right up my alley from the start.

Sam does a great job of using stories and examples to make her points. In each chapter, and with each technique, she does more than provide examples - she gives you a specific process to follow to help you employ that approach.

The last section is more about presentations and keeping people's attention once you have it. This section is good, and may be a more important section for you, but for it wasn't the best or most useful part of the book from my perspective.

The first three sections though were outstanding and the exercises will be very useful for me. One sign that I find a book useful is how much is written in the margins. By that measure, this book has done its job - and more.

Learn more and purchase at Amazon.

Recently someone asked what I thought about "servant leadership."

My short answer was that using the word servant is redundant.

Don't misunderstand, I believe in the concept of servant leadership, and what you read or learn about leadership from that prism is extremely valuable.

It's just that I believe being of service is an underlying component of leadership.

Leaders, by definition, are trying to move towards a desired future - and hopefully a future that is desirable to those you are leading, Customers, and the community at large.

Taking actions to do those things is an act of service in itself - using your skills, knowledge, intellect and insights to create something greater than yourself.

As you read the suggestions below - consider how often you do, and how often you could, incorporate them into your leadership approach and style. Recognize too that they aren't merely tactics to be deployed to reach a destination.

If you apply these ideas without a clear and genuine intention to be of service, you will be disappointed in your results and will have, in fact, reduced your leadership effectiveness and damaged your reputation.

With this background and these caveats, read the following suggestions, consider my questions carefully and, most importantly, take action.

Listen. So few of us really feel listened to on any given day - in every part of our life, not just at work. When we really listen to people we are: serving an important internal need, building our relationship with them, adding to the levels of trust, and learning information, perspective and ideas that can move us towards the goals we are trying to achieve.

How completely did you listen yesterday and how will you improve on that today?

Respond. People want us to listen because they want to be heard. As a leader we are asked questions about processes and procedures, about ideas, about challenges, about resources and so much more. For others to feel heard, we must respond. Perhaps our answer may not always be the one they hoped for, but from a perspective of serving those we lead we must respond to their questions and requests.

Are you answering all questions and emails in a timely (as defined by the asker/sender) manner?

Engage. Engaging could be considered adding listening and responding together, but I mean something much more than simple mathematics. This idea isn't about the important (but trendy) idea of engaging others. This is about looking in the mirror. Are you really engaging with those you lead? Do you share with them, have conversations with them and in general engage with them beyond the normal discourse of your work.

Are you proactively engaging with those you lead every day?

Ask. Do you really want to know how people are feeling? Do you really want their ideas? Do you believe they have ways to influence greater results? If you do, when did you last ask? If you don't, rethink your answer. Still not convinced? How do you feel when someone asks you a question?

Who (and what) will you ask right now?

Care. When you think of people serving others, wouldn't you say that underneath all of the behaviors and actions is a sense of caring? When we care about those we lead, we are serving them. When we care about who they are, their goals and aspirations, their values and their concerns, we are serving them. This sort of caring doesn't mean we need to (or should) become everyone's best friend. It means that we care about them; person to person real caring. Done from the heart, acts of caring and kindness may make more of a difference in your overall results and productivity than any process map, Gantt chart or scoping document.

Do you care, and can others tell it from your actions?

While these may feel like "soft" or "touchy-feely" suggestions, that couldn't be further from the truth. When included as an authentic part of your leadership approach, these will make a huge difference in the lives of those you lead and any of the overall results you achieve.

Start serving today.

Potential Pointer: Once you recognize that leadership is an act of service to others you are better positioned for success. Everything you do as a leader may not be popular or agreed with, but when you remember your role of serving others in pursuit of worthy goals, you will lead with greater focus, compassion and results.

Rypple.com is a free web application that's currently in beta testing. It's an online tool designed to help you get feedback from others on your performance.

I would say it's a great cross between online survey tools like SurveyMonkey.com and a structured, designed and tested 360 Assessment like our Remarkable Leadership 360 Assessment.

Rypple seems most focused in its development for personal feedback. But, it could also be used to do peer reviews, gain customer feedback, help with decision making or planning, and even possibly for quick employee surveying.

Feedback is all provided anonymously online, and the site touts security of its data.

The process is pretty simple - select your questions, determine who to ask, and send the survey (either by having the system send an email for you or by giving you a link that you can send, post on a website, etc.).

The tool allows you to ask any question you would like, but also comes with a group of nearly 150 suggested questions, all submitted by users, making it easier to get started. Questions can be tagged with an attribute (popular ones include communication, organization, leadership and more) as well to help you categorize your feedback.

As feedback comes in you can log in to see your results; that are shown in a variety of ways. Your results are also held in the system allowing you to track results and/or review past feedback.

The tool is free for personal or team use (up to 20 people), and comes with a fee at the Enterprise level (starting at $2/user/month).

Will this tool replace formal, well-designed employee surveys or 360 tools? No.

But as a tool that has been designed specifically for feedback applications, it is helpful in its structure and in giving you a framework to ask questions. It's a fine tool for getting quick feedback from a group - especially if they are geographically dispersed.

If this review intrigues you, I encourage you to check it out at Rypple.com.

Spring is the time of the year I miss my kidhood the most. Growing up on a farm the spring brought many activities and tasks, but my favorite was preparing the soil and planting a crop.

There are two truths of planting that all farmers know. First, you must plant the seeds that you want to harvest. You can't plant pumpkin seeds and expect corn to grow!

Second, you don't plant one kernel of corn to harvest just one kernel in the fall. You plant expecting - knowing, really - that you will harvest much more than you plant.

You may not have spent hours in the tractor seat, but you have planted something in your life and I know you understand what I am saying.

This article really isn't a lesson about planting a crop - at least not a crop of plants. This article is about planting other things in life - planting the things that we want to grow in our lives and organizations.

Every winter Dad would study and decide which varieties would be best in the fields, and Mom would study the seed catalog to decide what to plant in the garden.

Now I'm suggesting you do that sort of planning too. Consider what follows to be your seed catalog.

Things to Consider Planting in Your Life

As I've already said, we should only plant the things that we really want to grow, blossom and flourish in our lives. Consider this as a starter list . . .

Plant ideas. Ideas can grow and provide new opportunities, improvements and greater success.

Plant belief. Belief in your future, belief in the potential of others, belief in success. The more belief you plant, the more will be in your life.

Plant confidence. Confidence in others and confidence in yourself.

Plant people. Want those around you to grow? Give them opportunities and a chance to do exactly that! Put people in situations and opportunities to grow towards their potential.

Plant positive attitude. Would you rather live and work in a positive environment or a negative one? Someone must plant the seeds of positivity - why not you?

Plant a goal. Start by writing it down, then go to work to help it come to a full harvest. Think bumper crop!

Once gardeners plant seeds, they know they can't just ignore the plants. Your seeds will need to be nurtured and cared for. Just like the farmer or gardener, we must nurture and fertilize what's been planted.

In these cases, the best fertilizer will come in the form of time, attention, resources, focus and encouragement. When you nurture the seeds, you will create much, much more from the single seeds you've planted.

You may have more than one crop planted in your garden - which is absolutely OK - just make sure you plant only the things you want more of in your life. Remember that if you don't plant, something will still grow (also known as weeds).

Remember too that planting the things you want requires time, effort and thought - but without time, effort and thought you will surely have a harvest of weeds.

The things we are talking about can be planted anytime, but there is no time like the present - spring or not - to get started.

Potential Pointer: Every farmer knows you must plant the seeds that you want to harvest. The same is true in the rest of our lives. Make the decision to plant the things in your life that you want to grow and see blossom. You are the gardener and the choice is up to you!

Interest in Abraham Lincoln is high right now - thanks in part to references made by now President Obama during the campaign and since 2009 is the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth.

Lincoln is the fourth most written about person in history behind Jesus Christ, Shakespeare and the Virgin Mary, and there are a flood of new books about all facets of his life.

I've read several books on Lincoln over the years (including Team of Rivals which I recommended some time back), but this one is the broadest in coverage and most fascinating in approach. (The fact above about his popularity with authors comes from the book.)

As the title suggests, the book is written in Q & A format and many of the questions have been specifically asked of the author, a noted Lincoln historian. The book covers every part of Lincoln's life: his childhood, early life, as a politician, as President, as Commander-in-Chief, as a Man, his legacy and much more.

More than just a collection of answers, since this is written by a historian everything is well documented and offers opportunities to learn more about any point he makes if you so choose.

I enjoyed it as an accessible, easy-to-read book about everything that made Lincoln who he was. It helps put his leadership skills and shortcomings in a fresh and understandable perspective.

On top of that, it's fun to read - the author, more than knowledgeable, is insightful and funny.

If you want a way to learn more about the man consistently considered the Greatest American President (details on this point on page 232), this may not be the only thing to read, but it's a fun and enjoyable piece of that study.

I found this book at Costco by serendipity (if you are a Costco member you may know the experience), and I'm glad I did. While I have read it cover to cover, I didn't do it all at once. It has sat by my bed, and I've read it in small pieces over several weeks. If you read like that, or like to have something else around to be reading, this book fits that bill too.

If you are a student of history, Lincoln, leadership or all three, or are just curious about any of these, I highly recommend this book.

Learn more and purchase at Amazon.

Balance.

For many balance represents the Holy Grail. You might aspire to:

Work/Life Balance.

A balanced approach to your business strategy.

A desire to please all Customers.

And yet, often, you don't really think about what that means in terms of your decision making; what you stand for, what you believe in and the results you achieve.

In other words, striving for balance is fraught with risks.

I know, you might be shocked at this point, especially considering the first one on my list - work/life balance - but, please read on with an open mind.

First, let's talk about the reverse of the idea of balance. The reverse of balance is a clear and driving preference; a priority or a choice.

Work and the rest of your life are important, but which do you choose first? And how can you integrate both, given your overriding preference?

How strategic is it when you attempt to cater to every group, trend and buzzword with the goal of being inclusive and balanced? How does this "balanced" strategy" inform your future?

Are all Customers created equally? Can you really want to please everyone? Would focusing on a perfect Customer positively change your actions and results?

I believe that your answers to these questions may lead you to wonder, if only a little bit, about the wisdom of striving for balance.

The mental picture I get of "balance" is of the old fashioned scales, where items are placed on opposing golden trays to be weighed; one against the other. When this is done, seldom does the scale come to a dead balance without some amount of on-going teetering and movement.

Or consider another example of balance - two kids on a teeter-totter. Try as the kids might, it is very difficult to have it balance exactly.

With all of this as context, let me be more specific on the perils of making balance your goal.

Balance is bland. The old line says "you've got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything" can be modified to help me make this point. "If you try to balance everything, no one will ever be happy." How successful are advertisements, products or projects (to name just three examples) that try to please everyone? I mean, hardly anyone hates vanilla ice cream, but if given 30 choices, is vanilla what you would pick? With balance as your primary goal beware of creating bland, lifeless results that engender no passion.

Balance provides no clear direction or focus. If you state everything from profitability to reliability to safety to environmental consciousness (I could go on) in your strategic plan or vision, what do you really stand for? If you exclude the word safety, does it mean you don't want safety? If safety is a defining factor or differentiator (think Volvo), great. If not, including it as one of your key items to make sure you have balance keeps you from focusing on the things that will make you special - and provide direction for decisions. 100% balance means no one (including you) knows what matters most.

Balance is a moving target. Like the scales, achieving balance is an ever moving and adjusting target. Take work/life balance. Does it mean you never, ever work after five pm? Does it mean that you never leave in the middle of the day for something important to a family member? Chances are neither of these are true. You make decisions - one at a time - trying to adjust the scales or teeter-totter to find the formula that works best for you. Growing up on a farm, for a variety of reasons (including having a family life), we generally didn't work on Sundays. But if a storm was coming and there was a task that needed to be done before the rain or snow, we might very well work part of the day on Sunday.

Balance is the wrong goal. Creating balance in a business process or between work and family or between standardization and creativity isn't the right goal. It may be a path that moves you toward your goals, but perhaps the biggest peril is that the effort required to find the elusive balance may be keeping you from actually achieving the goal (or ultimately achieving what you most want)!

Of course there is nothing wrong with striving for balances in priorities, situations, methods or any number of things in life. Your challenge should be to keep these efforts in alignment with your ultimate goals allowing the benefits of balancing without the perils of achieving absolute balance.

Potential Pointer: You must be careful what you strive for because often you will achieve it. Such is the case with balance, which for all of its value and allure, doesn't always provide what you hope for once it is achieved, if it even can be achieved. Consider your goals related to balance carefully to make sure that, if gained, it achieves what you most hope for.

Many books are written about strategic planning, strategic thinking and the like.

Most are written in a quasi- or fully academic approach (and therefore are full of lengthy and impressive cases studies that too often leave you wondering exactly what to do in your situation).

I've read many of them, and I have participated in and facilitated strategic planning processes in the past. And occasionally I find them lacking in enthusiasm for the process and too often the end result.

If you have similar experiences, or if you just want to really understand a strategic planning process that will work, this book is for you.

This book will help you understand what it means to be strategic, encapsulated in this definition:

Being strategic means consistently making those core directional choices that will best move you towards your hoped-for future.

The book is laid out in two major sections: Being Strategic Everyday and Being Strategic With a Group. The first lays out Erika's understandable process and helps you begin to apply it individually. The second, as you may have already guessed, will help you use this process and ideas with a group.

While I love both sections, the first section to me is most powerful and universal. Certainly the quality of the content in the second section is also high, but it might leave you wanting more. The best news about that is that with this new understanding of this strategic process, there are many other resources that can help you take your facilitation and leadership skills to an even higher level.

Note: I'm working from an advanced reading copy of the book in part because, I am pleased to say, I know Erika Andersen (the author). One of the best things I think you can say about a book is that after reading it you feel like you know the author, if only in some way. I feel like I know Erika better now, and I respect her talents more than ever.

This book is available on May 26th. Ordering your copy now would be good strategic thinking if you want to proactively move towards your hoped-for future.

Learn more and purchase at Amazon.