Are you hesitant or gung-ho when it comes to sharing your goals?

At RMA, we've been working on improving communication between the sales and program delivery teams. (Translation: We had a few days where we were ready to throw eggs at each other. It being almost Easter and all.) We've had fast growth and because we didn't have an adequate information-sharing system in place, no one knew everything they needed to know. Needless to say, this was causing a major strain on relationships -- but it wasn't ultimately a relationship problem. It was a technology and process problem, and ultimately, good communication and patience helped us find the right solution, quickly. Go, team.

Two interesting apps to share this week:

LEVERAGE YOUR NETWORK: Assetmap is accepting emails now for "early access" to their site, which allows groups to share needs and discover resources: "Using Assetmap, businesses can more effectively get leads to new employees, service providers, clients, and partners that are vetted and recommended by existing employees; nonprofits can discover which of their supporters is willing to connect them to a particular resource they're looking for; and members of networking communities like conferences and fellowships can tap into the network to find specific resources without the noisiness of open email threads or private social networks." I took a look at the early platform when Keith met these guys at TED, and it seemed like a great tool to  facilitate reciprocity in a network - I liked what I saw and am interested to see how it evolves. I'm especially curious to see what levers (if any) they use to keep reciprocity in balance, so that users are both giving and receiving. It seems like they're solving that problem by using closed networks, but it's hard to say from the outside.

NEVER MISS A BIRTHDAY AGAIN: Fellowup pulls info from your contacts' social networking outposts to alert you to key events in their lives, so that you don't show up to a meeting not realizing that they've just had twins or hit some other major milestone. How is it different from Gist? According to its founder in an article on Mashable, "FellowUp can coexist in the crowded social-intelligence-meets-personal-CRM arena — think Gist, Rapportive, Xobni or even LinkedIn — because the startup’s algorithms are capable of filtering out the most important insights around contacts."

Have you tried either of these apps? I'd also love to hear about collaborative challenges (and solutions) you've experienced with your teams.

Every Friday, Relationship Masters Academy's Program Director Sara Grace digests recent must-see news, research, and technology for social capitalists and collaborative leaders. Send articles and apps you'd like to see featured to sgrace at relationship masters academy dot com for consideration.

I’m happy to be able to share this tip from my friend Tim Sanders’ moving and instructive new book, Today We Are Rich: Harnessing the Power of Total Confidence, just out today. (You can order it and get a free e-book here.) It’s full of ideas about how to adopt and project a confident mindset, one that keeps reminding you that today is the day and tomorrow will be even better. The book is also extremely personal: Tim’s remarkable grandmother is the source of many of the book's lessons, including the mantra that became the book's title.

Here’s a passage from Today We Are Rich on how to audit your email to make sure you're projecting confidence – a key attitude to win others to your POV:

“Stop using tentative words; they hedge conversation to the point of being meaningless. The unconfident person talks with qualifiers and commits to very little. Tentative words include maybe, perhaps, might, somehow, allegedly, no offense, just saying, should, unlikely, probably, possibly, likely, may, could be, appears, suggests, leads one to think, and so on.

"If you want to project confidence, say what you believe, and say it directly. You’ll find that once the namby-pamby words are gone, confident statements remain. One way you can examine your vocabulary is to audit the e-mails you’ve sent on a challenging or stressful day. Were you using power words? It’s a good idea to audit your e-mails periodically to measure your improvement. Sam Knoll, a Novell employee who took one of my e-mail training courses, did this, and in less than ninety days, he saw a dramatic change in his vocabulary – and an added benefit: 'When I reviewed three days of my own e-mails, I was floored by how wimpy I wrote. I printed several of them out and circled the weak words and lack-luck language. In just a few reading sessions, I realized that I needed to proof my notes differently in the future – for strength as well as grammar.'"

Great advice, Tim! Readers, go check out your email and report back – will they win hearts and minds?

** UPDATED BELOW **

You may think saying "you’re welcome" is the best response to a thanks. But you can do better! That’s according to Internet entrepreneur and author Guy Kawasaki, who has a new book out, Enchantment, that I recommend you get. After the tip below, there are some links to some fun ways to get involved with Guy's launch.

Guy Kawasaki: "I once had lunch with [author] Robert Cialdini. We got to discussing what you say when you've done somebody a favor. What should you say when they say thanks? He told me that just saying 'You’re welcome' is suboptimal. You're not getting the full benefit of what you've done. Actually, the best answer for when someone thanks you is, 'I know you would do the same for me.'

By saying that, what you're doing is telling the other person, 'I think you are an honorable person. I think you understand that I did you a favor. Because I trust you, I like you and you're an honorable person, I know you would do the same for me. So it's not a big deal.' That's one thing you're saying with that response. The second thing you're saying with that response is 'You owe me.' This is just the velvet hammer. You're both telling the person 'I think you're honorable' and you're telling the person 'You owe me something. Someday I hope you pay me back.'"

ED UPDATE: Keith's tip was meant to generate productive conversion. And it did. Nothing has changed about his belief that generosity isn't about keeping score. However, Guy's/Cialdini's comment gets at something else that's equally important, and equally a part of Never Eat Alone: Reciprocity. It says to the thanker, "We are both honorable people. Honorable people do well by each other." This is in the spirit of reciprocity; mutual awareness of our generous network is not the same thing as manipulation. Look for an update/comment roundup on this post from Keith himself Thursday!

Here's a list of Enchantment-related links:

1. Enter the photo contest to win one of five Nikon D3100s or an iPad: http://apps.facebook.com/enchantmentcontest/entries

2. Are you enchanting? Take the online test so that you can determine how enchanting you are--most people score in the low teens: http://great.guykawasaki.com/ or on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/enchantment?v=app_6009294086

3. And of course, get the book: http://www.guykawasaki.com/enchantment/order/.

What do you think about Guy’s 'your welcome' suggestion?

Here's a clip from the interview I did with Peter - hear how the story of ham radio launched Peter's career. If you didn’t already know, he produced films such as Batman, Rain Man, Gorillas in the Mist, Flashdance, and The Color Purple – and that’s just a thin slice of his professional resume.  

If you order Peter’s book now, before the March 1 on-sale date, you’ll get a digital gift bag  full of leadership, marketing and social media resources – including the 30-minute interview between Peter and me about Tell to Win.

Click here to see the gift bag and order:
http://ycin.net/ct.php?ctaid=1793

Here are a few more links to prior articles I've written on Peter's storytelling methodology. It's great stuff, and changed the way I approach my leadership.

http://www.keithferrazzi.com/communication/tell-to-win-storytelling-secrets-for-business-success-from-an-oscar-winning-producer/

http://www.keithferrazzi.com/never-eat-alone/five-tips-for-g/

http://www.keithferrazzi.com/never-eat-alone/this-past-weeke/

In the comments, I'd love to hear how you're using the power of story to "emotionally transport," as Peter would say, the people whose POV is critical to your success.

Here are my favorite tips from Peter from the interview.

1.  Put Your Heart on Your Sleeve: “Hits are made in the heart, not in the head. Often when you make movies, folks don’t even remember the plot. But they remember emotional nodes of the story.”

2.  Face Time Matters: “Tell it in the room, face to face, where you’re breathing the same air. There’s nothing yet that can replace that. When everything depends on you getting it done, being in the room face to face is the game plan.”

3.  100 Percent Authenticity: “Do you really believe in your message? Can you own it completely? If you can’t, you better be the greatest actor. The greatest.”

4.  Clarify Your Own Goals: “Intention before attention. Your intention should be aligned – what do you want, and can you own it. Don’t worry about motivating them – make sure you’re in state.

5.  Tell But Also Listen: “A good storyteller is an active listener. As a teller, you’re listening to the response of your audience, whether it’s one person or 50, and making them feel heard too.”

If you’d like to listen to the whole 30 minute interview without joining RMA you’re in luck – we gave Peter a copy to use as part of the free gift that you get if you pre-order Tell to Win. Here’s the link to check out the resources and order your copy:

http://peterguber.com/telltowin/toolkit/

Here’s a question for discussion on the blog: Who’s the best storyteller in business or politics today?

During the presentation, Mark tells a great story about how he walked into an important meeting with a high-level contact and knew immediately that the guy wasn’t listening to him. At all.

Instead of writing the guy off as a jerk, he turned the tables and gave him the opportunity to be listened to – sometimes, there’s nothing more generous. It totally turned the situation around and earned Mark an ongoing relationship with someone who previously was a stranger.

Mark’s insight is that your first job isn’t to transact, but to relate.  You do this by asking questions that allow the other person to tell you:

• This is what I think.
• This is who I am.
• This is what I want to achieve.
• This is how you can play a part in making my life better.

Check out Mark’s blog for more great insight! And of course, get on the list to join RMA next time we open enrollment.

Do you have a story like Mark’s where your ability to listen won you a new ally?

In any case, you can take away a lot of the fear of presentations by being well prepared and practiced – you’ll feel much more comfortable with time and as you build your skill set. That’s why we asked presentation expert Rob Buccino to give an RMA Masterclass to help participants learn the essentials of creating and deliver killer talks.

Rob is president of NeoCortex, a consulting firm that helps CEOs, top executives, and pitch teams not only master pitch fundamentals, but also add new authenticity, chemistry, and passion to business presentations.

Here are a few of his best suggestions for presentations that engage, persuade, and – so important – build a relationship with your audience.

1. Move from fear of to fear for. Change from someone who fears audience criticism to someone that helps audiences address and overcome their fears.

2. Instead of using manipulation show cooperation. Stop trying to manipulate the audience into seeing things your way and start cooperating with them to advance their interest.

3. Don’t give a presentation, have a conversation. Instead of one-way monologues, let your presentations become conversations about their interests, needs, and concerns.

4. Don’t make it about you, it is about them. Most importantly, go from worrying about yourself and how you feel to caring about your audience and how they feel.

What presentation tips have never let you down?

Top 5 iPhone apps for CMOs:

1. Keynote: As a CMO, you'll be making presentations. The iWork Keynote app is ideal for on-the-go presentation development. You can also import Microsoft Powerpoint slide decks with ease (Note: Also available as an Android app).

2. Dragon Dictation: There's only one way to get more done if you need to communicate with lengthy messages or compose marketing prose. In addition to sending lots of staff-related email messages to delegate tasks, the CMO is typically at the center of all corporate messaging. Dictating messages and documents is far more productive than typing and provides a highly productive solution.

3. Instapaper: CMOs are constantly on the prowl for competitors, partners, and marketing opportunities. Grabbing links is an inefficient method of capturing things to read and especially useless when you're not online. Capturing pages and articles is a breeze with InstaPaper which allows you to cache your reading requirements offline.

4. HootSuite for Twitter: This app is ground-zero for the CMOs social media intelligence dashboard and outbound messaging platform for his or her entire marketing team. HootSuite helps you manage multiple Twitter, Facebook, and other social media accounts in one place. It also provides automated content posting features and persistent search queries to keep tabs on partners and competitors. Because they provide such a robust web version, you can hop to any system (including iPad) and all configurations are live. Plus, your team needn't install and setup native clients. This system also provides integrated social team management features that allow you to control and commend the social media process from one application. HootSuite is only available for iPad (presently) but that will change soon. On the iPad, the native iPhone app works fine, and the web-based interface also works pretty good in Safari.

5. Gist: Gist is a comprehensive contact, company, and social dashboard for all your business relationships. Presently only available as an iPhone app which works fine on iPad, it also includes a Safari-compatible web interface. This tool will make it easy to stay abreast of all your ongoing and past communications with customers, colleagues, and partners.

Top 5 Android apps for CMOs:

1. TripIt: This app gives frequent travelers instant access to their trip planning needs. Users can keep track of their itineraries, even when they're offline, as well as maps and directions, flight alerts, links to hotels and restaurants and alternative flight options in case of delays.

2. Seesmic: Multiple Twitter accounts can be managed with a simple interface with Seesmic. View timelines, private conversations, post tweets from a single or multiple Twitter accounts, share photos and videos and be notified of new replies as they happen.

3. mShare: Share files of any size with other mobile phones and computers or use the app as a way to backup and store mobile device files. The app works the same way as an FTP server and an instant messaging service.

4. iSkoot for Skype: Also available on the Blackberry mobile platforms, this app allows you to make calls over the Internet. Make calls to those on your Skype contacts list, instant message and place calls to anyone in the world.

5. Lookout: This app provides mobile antivirus protection while backing up important data at the same time. The app can also help locate your phone if it's lost or stolen, with a handy siren that goes off to alarm its misplacement.

Top 5 Blackberry apps for CMOs:

1. Documents To Go, Premium Edition: The app, which is available on all three of the smartphone platforms, allows users to open native Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel and PDF files. The Premium version also provides the ability to edit and compose documents.

2. Exgis Time and Expense Pro: Mobile professionals use this app to track their mileage, time and expenses when they're working in the field, or using the information later for invoicing clients or their employer. Data can be exported from the phone to a spreadsheet and saved to a computer for future use.

3. CardSnap: Stop collecting stacks of business cards and quickly convert a photo of a business card into a contact on your Blackberry - the app takes unlimited card "snaps."

4. MyCaption: MyCaption is ideal for those who compose emails, text messaging and calendar items while they're away from their desk.
Users can dictate emails, memos, tasks or calendar items and have it transcribed to Microsoft Outlook, Gmail or the appropriate software application.

5. WiFi File Transfer App: This app is best for professionals who need to instantly send files from their BlackBerry to a computer or printer all through the same web browser - it's like using the smartphone as a wireless memory stick.