Covey Summaries- Installment 1

I have began reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey for a class, and have decided to share with you all about what I have thought and what I have learned from each chapter.

Though I am only two chapters in at this point (i.e. installment 1), here is what I think so far.

After reading the first chapter, “Inside-Out”, I believe the main point of the chapter is: how we think and react on the inside effect what happen to us on the outside. Covey, went through multiple personal stories in this chapter about how the way he reacted to a situation, effected the outcome in that situation. Then he would speak of how in hindsight he would react differently, and how that in turn would help the situation play out differently. He spoke a lot about our personal paradigms, and how those effect how we communicate and act, and how if we change those paradigms, this around us will change as well. All in all, Covey discussed how we communicate and act, effect the things and people around us.

I can use this message in my everyday life, by thinking before I react. This will help me to develop better relationships with my friends and family, as well as classmates and coworkers. I think that sometimes I come off very sarcastic, so when I am serious people may not take me seriously or think I am just trying to be funny. If I take time to think about what I say before I say it, I think that people will start to take me more seriously. Overall, I think I can use his idea about personal paradigms, in my own life to cultivate better and truer relationships.

The next chapter, and the first habit Covey has introduced, was all about the idea of being proactive. Not proactive like doing things before they need to be done, but reacting to things in a proactive way. Instead of blaming situations on outside factors, he suggests deciding on how you can handle them or how you can change them. He went through many examples of ways people have done just that, or ways that people can do that. He spoke of how our stimulus is not the reason for our response, that we have a choice of how we respond.

I think I can use this in my personal life, as well as in my school and work life. In terms of school, I tend to complain about classes and work load based on how much do or do not like my teachers. If I have a lot of work in classes with teachers I do like I do not care as much. But when I have a lot of work in classes for teachers I don’t like, I get easily annoyed. In terms of stimulus and response, I need to treat all classes the same, focus on my learning, not focus on the professor.

I can use this at work to, on days that my boss isn’t very nice, I have worse days at work. But instead of reacting to him as the stimulus, I can just focus on getting my job done and making the most if it. All in all, I think I can learn to not react right away, and focus on the situation as a whole, not just one thing that annoys me.

Overall, Covey has intrigued me more than I thought he would.

Be looking for my next installment of Covey summaries in the next few weeks.

Advertisements

Spring Cleansing

With the beginning of spring comes spring cleaning.

Well I’ve decided to do some spring cleansing instead.

I chose to purchase the Advocare 10-day herbal cleanse, because I have used Advocare products before, and loved the result, and the way the program worked.

I started my 10-day cleanse last Monday, so that means I am on day 8 of the 10 days (almost done YAY).

Even though a “cleanse” sounds like a very difficult thing to do, and not a very fun thing to do, Advocare makes it very easy and honestly kinda fun.

Here is what the cleanse has looked like for me thus far:

Every morning you begin your day by taking two probiotic pills along with a glass or Spark. Spark is a drink that is mad up of amino acids and vitamins, and during the cleanse takes the place of coffee, at least it does for me. (Because sadly you are not supposed to drink coffee during the 10 days).

Then, 30 minutes after you take the probiotic pills, you dink a fiber drink right before breakfast. I don’t really know how to describe this drink other than its kinda gross, but if you chug it, it is tolerable.

For breakfast I have been eating two scrambled eggs, and a protein shake made of frozen berries, natural peanut butter, cashew milk, and protein powder. Sounds weird but is very yummy.

Then about two hours later you are supposed to have a small snack to keep your metabolism going, I opt for almonds and an apple, or celery and some hummus.

Than again about two hours later, or whenever you decide to have lunch you are supposed to eat a protein, a complex carb, and a fruit or a vegetable. My go to lunch is a Greek salad, loaded with greens, cucumber, tomatoes, and chicken that I try to have prepared the night before. (I love this salad and HIGHLY recommend it). I usually have a Spark with lunch as well.

Two hours later, you guessed it, a snack!

And finally, for dinner, a protein, complex carb, and a fruit or a vegetable. My got to has been sautéed veggies with sweet potato, with an over easy egg on top and some turkey meatballs. Might sound weird, but it is SO good.

The last step of the cleanse is to take two herbal tablets right before bed with a glass of water.

The cleanse is as easy as it gets. For me the hardest part has been not drinking alcohol (I know its only 10 days, but I’m in college and get major FOMO), drinking enough water (you are supposed to have over a gallon each day), and being prepared. On the cleanse or whenever you are trying to eat clean preparation is VERY necessary.

Overall, I feel healthier, have lost a couple pounds, and just have a good head start on my health this spring.

I recommend a good spring cleanse to anyone and everyone.

CWU Parking: A Crisis

So, you are a CWU student and you are paying $200 a year on top of tuition for a parking pass, don’t you think you should be able to find a parking spot?

I guess the university doesn’t think so.

As of 2017 the enrollment at Central Washington is 11, 500. Yet there are only 5 main lots that make sense for off campus students to park at. That doesn’t even take into account the freshmen who live in dorms that are parked in those spots 24/7, as well as other faculty and staff, who also need to park on campus for their jobs.

Students drive around these parking lots for upwards of 30 minutes looking for a spot in front of the SURC or Black Hall between the hours of 9AM and 3PM. Many times, people end up having to park illegally, at Starbucks or other local businesses, risking getting towed or ticketed just to make it to class on time. Students will even skip class, in fear that they will get ticketed and have to pay the $30 fine.

If the University valued student’s education, they wouldn’t continue to build dorms to house hundreds of new students, they would provide a better parking situation to the students who are here and will be alumni in just a few short years. The university needs to invest in us here now, so we in turn can invest in them in the future.

So, since the University has not yet figured out how to help the paring situation here on campus, I have a couple ideas for them.

1. Build a garage
2. Make a parking lot specially for freshman that is farther off campus, since they are already living on campus.
3. Stager parking price costs to encourage less vehicles being brought to school with people living on campus. More expensive for freshmen, less expensive for seniors.
4. SELL LESS PASSES

I think everyone can agree that the parking at CWU sucks, and the university must do something to fix it.

Prep for Your Crisis

Given the fact that I have two upcoming presentations on the topic of crisis communication, I have been wondering what actual companies do to prepare for a crisis, not just what they do when it occurs.

The more I research the more that I find that companies prepare way ahead of time for crises, and most companies have the same or similar planes of action.

First things first, companies need to imagine their worst-case scenarios. What are the worst things that can happen to your specific company?

Our team has decided that for Starbucks the worst-case scenarios are:

1. Food safety
2. Hacking
3. Earthquake (Seattle… duh)
4. NGOs decide to come after them
5. Bio-terrorism

After the worst of the worst has been established companies need to figure out how they can be avoided if it is at all possible.

For example, food being handled safely is something that a company can do, they can prevent a foodborne illness. But, they cannot prevent an earthquake, however they can take precautions and be prepared for such an event.

Next, companies need to decide what their plan of action will be if one of these incidents do occur.

For example, if Starbucks had a breakout of e. coli, they would need to shut down that store immediately, and find out what caused the break out. Then they would need to recall this item.

Even prior to this, PR professionals need to choose and prepare spokespeople for each event that could possibly occur. That way everyone is prepared and will not make matters worse. They should know the do’s and don’ts when speaking to the press.

Companies should also have a sort of playbook when it comes to crises. Aka if X happens then the company follows steps 1,2,3. Press releases, social media posts, and speeches should be basically completed before any sort of crisis occurs.

All in all, companies should know what they will do if, and when a crisis occurs, because a crisis will occur. So, if you are reading this, but not really reading this, here is a list so sum up what and how a company should do to prepare for a crisis:

• Figure out worst case scenarios
• Create a crisis playbook
• Train spokespeople
• Practice your response
• Practice again
• And again

Lady Doritos?

Pepsi is facing big backlash on a statement that their chief executive, Indra Nooyi, made.

She was telling a reporter the difference in chip eating habit between men and women, and she stated,

“[Men]  lick their fingers with great glee, and when they reach the bottom of the bag they pour the little broken pieces into their mouth, because they don’t want to lose that taste of the flavor, and the broken chips in the bottom. Women would love to do the same, but they don’t. They don’t like to crunch too loudly in public. And they don’t lick their fingers generously and they don’t like to pour the little broken pieces and the flavor into their mouth”

Then preceded to tell the reporter that Doritos is going to be launching new snacks specifically for women.

And surprise surprise, people are outraged with the idea of “Lady Doritos”… I mean myself included. I love a good bag of Doritos, finger licking and bag tipping included.

Twitter has agreed with me on this, and tweets about these so- called Lady Doritos have gone viral.  Here are just a couple things people have had to say on Twitter about these new Doritos.         ————>

After receiving so much backlash from Twitter and all the late night shows, Pepsi was forced to make a statement.

In their statement to Adweek they said  “the reporting on a specific Doritos product for female consumers is inaccurate… We already have Doritos for women—they’re called Doritos, and they’re enjoyed by millions of people every day.”

People are not pleased with this response from PepsiCo. They do not like that the Nooyi said they were coming out with this certain chip for women, then them turning around and denying it.

In this crisis they should have communicated better what the specific snack that is or was being created for women. That way it does not seem like they are lying or misguiding their audience.

Lady Doritos are a bad idea, but lying to your consumers is also a bad idea.

 

The MLB hit a home run, but Cleveland may have struck out

Sports are a huge part of our lives. At least they are a huge part of mine.

Growing up, not only did my brother and I play every single sport that was ever offered to us, but we also watched every single sport that we could.

In my house, Sports Center and ESPN were on constantly. If there wasn’t a football game, basketball game, or baseball game playing on a network, we would be watching the GOLF Channel. We couldn’t escape it and we didn’t want to.

With how much sports are a part of our live’s and our society, it is silly that we do not notice the inappropriate things that different teams stand for. We hear about when a player sexual assaults someone, or hits there significant other, but why are we not more outraged with their names and mascots?

In particular, the Washington Redskins and the Cleveland Indians.

These names and logos are extremely hurtful to many.

Major League Baseball is finally taking steps to rectify these derogatory terms and images.

In a press release issued by MLB Communications on Jan. 31, 2018, on Twitter,

(https://twitter.com/MLB_PR/status/958036827805573121/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.prdaily.com%2Fcrisiscommunications%2FArticles%2FCleveland_Indians_to_retire_Chief_Wahoo_but_retain_23907.aspx)

MLB Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr., “announced that the Cleveland Indians will remove the ‘Chief Wahoo’ logo from their uniforms”.

The press release also spoke about how the MLB is “committed to building a culture of diversity”.

When I see teams and MLB as a whole making decisions such as this one, it makes me very happy to be a sports fan, even though it has taken them this long to do it.

Though, it is a great thing and I hope that the NFL will follow their lead, it is still a crisis for the brand Of the Cleveland Indians.

This change negatively impacts their brand and their reputation. Fans are upset with change to the team that they know and love.

The PR department of the Indians is going to have to work hard to ensure their fans that their brand will be okay. They will have to quickly choose and name a new mascot, that is both culturally appropriate and that fans can get behind. 

If they were doing their jobs right, they have already planned for this crisis and know the steps that they will take to ease the transition for their fan base.

They need to show their fans that this is the right and ethical thing to do, but it will definitely not hurt their baseball team and their performance on the field.

It is just something that was bound to happen.

Crisis can happen in any industry and at any time, and most likely when you least expect it. Sports are not an exception.

Though I love sports, I also love when they change and evolve with our society.

Cheers to the MLB.

 

 

4 tips for crisis communication

Crisis communication.

Necessary to have, unfortunate to have to use.

Though, a company never wants to have to employ its crisis plan, it is bound to happen.

A new way that companies are relaying their crisis communication to the public is through Twitter.

In, Melissa Agnes blog,  Promoted tweets: 4 tips for deploying them in a PR crisis (https://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/12613.aspx). She demonstrates four ways to help a company use the platform if Twitter to efficiently and effectively disperse information about a crisis.

Include a targeted link:

By including a targeted link, your audiences can easily click from Twitter to your website to receive in depth information on what is happening and how it is being handled.

Be sympathetic:

Make sure your wording is sympathetic t your audiences. You only get 140 characters so be sure to be precise, but also understanding towards victims and their families.

Use targeted keywords and hashtags:

Use words and hashtags that are already being used for the crisis that way the tweet will be promoted even more.

Declare the end of the crisis:

Make sure to have continuous updates if you are going to use social media as a platform for crisis. Also make sure that you tell your audience when the crisis is over, so they aren’t searching harder than they need for updates.

These four tips can be implemented on all forms of social media. As always when dealing with crisis communication: tell the truth, tell it all, tell it fast, and move on.