Central Jersey consultants share their own resolutions
Originally published in the Courier News (c-n.com)
By Robert Baker, Correspondent
Throughout the year, professional consultants advise clients on how to achieve their goals. Some specialize in business or employment goals, others in personal goals, still others in organizational goals.
Whatever their area of expertise, they focus on helping others make beneficial changes.
So when the new year rolls around, what kinds of New Year's resolutions do these people make for themselves? We asked a few of them to find out.
One bite at a time
· JOANNE DENNISON, who runs a personal-consulting business called Guidance Counselor for Grown-Ups (www.joannedennison.com), resolves to tackle things one step at a time instead of all or nothing.
"I try to take a health walk every day," she explains. "One day, I did not have the 40 minutes I needed to complete my regular route, so I just skipped it -- and felt terrible. I realized only later that I could have walked a shorter distance. Now there are days when I walk only 20 minutes -- and feel great! So my resolution is to remember the children's joke about how you eat an elephant -- one bite at a time!"
· KATE NASSER, founder of CAS Inc. in Somerville (www.katenasser.com), specializes in people skills and works with clients ranging from individuals who need to deal with career change to major corporations.
"My resolution is definitely to stay in the moment and enjoy it to the fullest," she says. "For me, that means whatever I am doing -- working, playing, relaxing, guiding or empathizing -- I will devote my full attention to it at that particular moment."
Goals versus resolutions
· NATALIE GAHRMANN, as Coach Natalie, the founder of N-R-G Coaching Associates (www.nrgcoaching.com), helps super-busy parents cope with their hectic lives.
"I don't believe in making resolutions," she says. "I prefer to set goals, which I feel are more positive and forward-looking. One of my goals is to develop more tools such as a new book and some audiotapes, as well as more workshops, presentations and training or coaching programs to better support my clients while I continue to grow my business.
"I have also set goals for my ongoing development personally and professionally. This year, I will prepare for my next level of certification as a coach, participate more actively in my professional organizations, maintain my health and fitness and build everlasting friendships by connecting with new and old friends at least three times each month."
+ MARK GREEN, founder and CEO of Performance Dynamics Group LLC in Green Brook, agrees. His firm is focused not on training or telling clients what they need to do to improve their operations, but rather on using existing resources to achieve quantifiable results. In fact, the URL of the company's Web site is "I want results now" (www.iwantresultsnow.com).
"The reason most resolutions fail is that they are stated as hopes or wishes," he explains. "I apply a five-component test to determine whether a statement is a real goal or not. The acronym for this test is SMART -- specific, measurable, achievable, realistically high and time-bound. For example, instead of resolving to lose weight, you might set a goal of losing 25 pounds by March 30 through a combination of dieting and exercising three times a week for a minimum of 45 minutes. This is, in fact, one of my goals for 2007.
"The others are reading every issue of Fortune and Business 2.0, reading one business or personal development book per month and being interviewed for and mentioned in at least three published articles during 2007."
Utilizing technology
· JEFF KNAPP, an attorney specializing in financial and estate planning, is founder and CEO of The Knapp Law Firm LLC (www.knapplaw.net), also known as The Wealth Strategies Center.
"One of my goals is urging my clients to go beyond the legal and financial issues to address family stories and legacies, which is what their adult children seek," he says. "Technology gives us several easy options, including interviews recorded on CD-ROM and quality videos that capture family histories."
· VICKI LYNNE MORGAN is president of Russmor Marketing Group (www.russmormg.com), based in Califon, which she founded in 1991.
"My goals include redoing my Web site to make it more informative and to include passive income opportunities," she says. "Some others are increasing the number of communications with customers and target markets using e-mail marketing programs, relying more on my database callback systems to increase productivity, and using the Internet more for funds transfers."
Serving customers better
· ALETA FUSCO is the branch manager of the recently opened Branchburg office of Magyar Bank (www.magbank.com), a small community bank that prides itself on its personalized service and building relationships with its customers.
"My goal is to focus more on maintaining my health so I can be here for those who require my assistance, whether it is work or family related," she says. "Elaine Henwood, a member of my staff, put it perfectly when she said that her goal is to truly listen to the customer in front of her to discover what their dream is, what they feel and what they want -- then, within the framework of products and services available, to provide exactly what they need, thus letting them know we heard them and that we care about them and their dream."
· JOHN HADLEY, founder of a career consulting practice, John Hadley Associates LLC (www.jhacareers.com), based in Somerville, is also focused on providing better customer service.
"One of my resolutions for 2007 is to expand my knowledge and skills through regular reading, tele-classes, audio books, etc., allowing me to help my clients even more effectively," he says. "Others are to get more rigorous in achieving my own work/life balance so I can better model how to help my clients with those issues, to increase my repertoire of career topics on which I am speaking, engaging audiences on a broader range of issues, and to introduce more 'group coaching' into my practice, enabling me to reach clients in different ways, and to serve clients who might not otherwise be able to afford my services."
· SUSAN JOHNSON, regional director of the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Raritan Valley Community College (www.sbdcrvcc.com), resolves to expand her efforts to serve her clients.
"My goal is to work more closely with small businesses to help them become more successful," she says. "This will impact the local community as well as the entire region."
Personal goals
· GAIL ROSEN'S firm, Gail Rosen, CPA (www.gailrosencpa.com) does accounting work for its clients. The part of the business that she enjoys most, however, is consulting with and counseling clients, especially entrepreneurs who are considering starting a new business.
"A friend once told me that if you put your resolutions on your refrigerator door where you are likely to see them frequently, you are more likely to complete them," she says. "With that in mind, my top three resolutions for 2007 are to see more concerts, to eat lunch with my staff more often in order to better understand their needs and concerns and (don't laugh) to eat less chocolate."
· PATRICIA DIESEL, who writes a weekly column for the Courier News, is founder and CEO of Keep It Simple Now, LLC (www.keepitsimplenow.com) and an expert on organizing everything from closets and rooms to filing systems to business productivity.
"I advise others, but sometimes, I have to step back and look at myself as a client," she says. "For 2007, I resolve to devote more effort to serving my current clients, the people with whom I have built my business, and not get so caught up in trying to get new business and grow faster than I am able to handle it. I also resolve to make more time for myself, to relax and just enjoy life, in order to avoid burning out."
