Making a Difference

Everyday Americans are waking up wondering how they can make a difference, and leave behind a legacy in this world. Who doesn’t want to have an everlasting positive impact?

When the opportunity arises to make a small commitment to a charity or purchase a green product, it sparks a feeling of self-actualization. This feeling invokes an automatic response of wanting to give more.

Typically, an individual begins visualizing contributions he or she could make on a grander scale. This process is highlighted in the Commitment Consistency Theory that states, "persuading people to comply with a small and seemingly harmless request greatly increases their likelihood of complying a with subsequent, larger request" (Vaidyanathan & Aggarwal, 2005, p. 232).

Have you ever joined a professional committee? While working on a small project for the committee you become inspired and begin redesigning the project, in order to make a larger impact on the community. This is the perfect example of starting off small with a harmless project that provokes thoughts and ideas on how to make the project bigger, better, different. In every community project I've worked on I have noticed that I always get back much more than what I put into it.

Are you a part of a professional committee? Which one? Have you been persuaded to take on more of a leadership role within that committee?

Are you interested in joining a professional organization, but not sure which one to join? Check out my team's myspace page! We have links to lots of professional organizations in Central Ohio.

http://www.myspace.com/networkcolumbus

If you like what you see add us to your friend list and post a comment while you are there. Feel free to forward this link to anyone looking to get Connected in Columbus!


Vaidyanathan, R. & Aggarwal, P. (2005). Using commitments to drive consistency: Enhancing the effectiveness of cause-related marketing communications. Journal of Marketing Communications, 11(4), 231-246.

Mission = Motivation

In the song Right to Be Wrong by Joss Stone she discovers her mission to be everything that she can be in life. To lead by example and observation through being true to herself.



Listening to this song you can hear her passion and motivation to remove negativity from her life, and make powerful decisions that may be right or wrong, to reach a new level of self-actualization. Showcasing that when mission and motivation is a conscious behavior that is driven, a persons "internal needs and drives lead to tensions, which in turn result into actions" (Shah, 2007).

What missions have you recently created? What impact has those missions had on your life?


Shah, K. & Shah, P. (n.d.) Motivation. Retrieved July 10, 2007, from http://www.laynetworks.com/Motivation.html.

Stone, J. Right to Be Wrong. Retrieved October 12, 2008, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inWLd_9TlqY&feature=email.

What do you prefer?

At work do you pick up the phone every chance you get? Or do you email everything?

With the increase of technological communication choices, how do you use technology to your advantage?

At work I would much rather call a client and solve their issues for them immediately over the phone. There is great satisfaction when an issue can get complete right away. Plus, it gives me the opportunity to get to know my client better by creating small talk during the conversation. Emailing back and forth can be exhausting for me.

I have found that I am more energized when I can meet face to face with people or have an effective phone conversation. When I communicate with people who's backgrounds are culturally different from mine it is easier to understand their communication via phone than email. However, lots of scholarly writers argue that electronic communication is more effective and fruitful when communicating with various cultures.

Do you agree or disagree? Whats the best form of communication for you at work?

On a personal note, my close interpersonal communication continues at home too. When I get home I rarely watch television or surf the net because I prefer to be out and about meeting with friends and family. There is nothing more relaxing to me than to get off work: meet someone for dinner, study, workout, and go to bed. To me that is a perfect evening.

How do you prefer to communicate in your personal time? What is your idea of the perfect weekday evening?

Ess, C. & Sudweeks, F. (2006). Culture and Computer-Mediated Communication: Toward New Understandings. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11, 179-191.