Cedar City Chamber of Commerce Blog

         Gratitude escapes me easily when I feel the pressure of work and home pounding down on me. I’m not alone, I’m sure. It’s the negative effect born of a positive tradition of celebration and endless merry-making this time of year. People often feel so pressured to embrace the season that they forget to embrace the reasons we come together in the first place to share our believes and express our heartfelt admiration with expensive gifts and gooey food.
                Whether I carefully contemplate it or not, I’m grateful every day. Whether I express it out loud or simply acknowledge it with a tired smile, I’m grateful nearly every hour of every day. However, today I have come to decide it is the expression of gratitude – honest to goodness gratitude – that blesses us most by blessing those around us.
                Today, I am grateful.
                I sincerely hope it’s a given that I’m grateful for my friends and family. I’m grateful that my beautiful children are independent and smart and sometimes stubborn. I’m glad that they’re forgiving and that I can give them something to forgive (they need all the practice they can get).

 I’m grateful for parents who value education on many different levels and from a variety of sources.  I’m grateful for my health, my mind, a roof over my head, food in my refrigerator (regardless of the expiration date) and clothes on my back. I’m grateful for the beautiful surroundings that I drink in every day.

I’m grateful for the ability to stand and not fall. I’m grateful for the ability to fall and still stand.

I could go on like this forever, but your list is probably strikingly similar to mine – with one possible exception: I’m grateful for the league of professionals that follow me and in doing so, lead me.

As the executive director of the Cedar City Area Chamber of Commerce, I have the pleasure of working with entrepreneurs and community leaders every day. As president of the Utah State Chamber of Commerce in 2008 I will have the pleasure of working even more closely with great leaders throughout the state, the nation – and, yeah, okay – the world. (We’re going to China in March!)

It’s astounding.

Have you ever seen those Verizon Wireless Network commercials where the guy in the goofy glasses is standing behind various cell phone users with an endless network of experts right behind him? That’s what I feel like today. And you know what? I’m grateful.

Active members of the Cedar City Area Chamber of Commerce know what it’s like to associate with people who are strong, smart, tested, experienced professionals who want to succeed. Life’s setbacks rarely hold them back for long and every success is evident in the demeanor of every individual who joins this group of independent thinkers with common goals. It’s engaging, stimulating, , nurturing, educational, encouraging, exhausting and life-saving.
                I genuinely feel the power of these people as if they were literally standing behind me. They seem to be all within arms’ reach – all at the ready to assist me. I call on them constantly and (if I’m lucky) they call on me. Through the chamber of commerce I have found friendships that never would have found me had I remained in my own limited circle of loved ones.

I have insurance agents, financial advisors, investment specialists, bankers, mechanics, energy experts, doctors, nurses, massage therapists, yoga instructors, counselors, car salesmen, retailers, cooks, servers, business advisors, educators, marketing experts, computer geniuses, writers, reporters, politicians, disc jockeys, homemakers, scrapbookers, nutritionists, masons, carpet layers and so much more in my network. Most of all, I have friends who have come to accept me and sometimes endear me for and in spite of my eccentricities.

As we breeze into “the most wonderful time of the year” and unavoidably the New Year, I hope you will consider your own network and consider joining mine. I hope you will resolve to rub elbows with people who are greater than you are. I hope you will surround yourself with people who expect more of you and yet always expect the most of themselves. In this amazing, crazy world of lightning speed technology sometimes you just have to take the time to get up, get out and reconnect with humans through handshakes and friendly hugs.

I do, and every day, I’m grateful.

When CNN Money honored Cedar City for having one of the fastest commutes in the country, I laughed.

Today I’m in Los Angeles, Calif. for intensive training at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Organizational Management and — I’m not laughing anymore.

There’s something to be said for the simple life in Cedar City, Utah. I arrived here on Friday after slurping my way through a big, fresh bowl of freeway spaghetti. When I finally pulled into the parking lot of the Raddisson, I patted my hands on my shoulders, my head and sighed. I really had made it alive.

I drove to L.A. instead of flying for a variety of reasons. The least of which is not the fact that I was craving five hours alone to ponder the meaning of life and the miracle of a 125 degree afternoon in Bakersfield, Calif. The alone time was wonderful, the heat even felt great and it helped me to appreciate Utah’s splendor, Cedar City’s climate and Jiffy Lube for making sure my car was road ready.

It’s critical that people in management positions take time out for training. Training comes in many different forms and in the right setting affords you the opportunity to:

• Learn about new tools and trends in your trade
• Meet other people who share your line of work and can discuss specific work-related issues with you with a deeper level of understanding
• Give your brain a rest from the day-to-day grind and relieve stress that can ultimately lead to serious burnout
• Plant new ideas in your mind that will benefit your company or organization and inspire you to climb higher to reach your company or community goals
• Help you to create a network of advocates in the region, state and even nation depending on the scope and location of your training
• Create a knowledge base that you can share with your employees, clients, customers or members

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce offers the Institue for Organizational Management four times per year in different locations throughout the country for executives of organizations and associations. Institute is a four-year program that allows participants to earn a diploma in a very specific field of study.

During a full week of study I have learned and will learn:

• about hiring and managing employees and volunteers
• how to negotiate with different types of individuals in many different situations
• how to improve my memory and therefore improve productivity and my professional image
• how to add value to our chamber of commerce in order to retain valuable members and attract new members
• how to help keep chambers of commerce strong for the future
• how to project professionalism
• how to keep my organization financially fit
• how to govern
• how to massage the media (whatever that means, I’ll let you know)

If you haven’t brushed up on your managment skills for awhile, look for and enroll in a training program. Southwest Applied Technology College hosts a wonderful program called Custom Fit that will actually help pay for up to half of the cost of your training.

If you’re looking for training opportunities in a certain trade or profession or simply looking for skills training, leave a comment for me and I’ll help you find one.

Please be sure to indicate in your comment how much time you want to invest, whether or not you have a training budget and whether or not travel is included in your training budget.

There are many organizations that offer free training programs and others at ridiculously low costs. Many organizations and associations will actually help pay for your training through grants and scholarships. For example, I was able to secure a grant from the Utah State Chamber of Commerce for the entire cost of tuition because the organization administration is sold on the value this training adds to chambers of commerce throughout the state.

If your company hasn’t budgeted for training and/or travel, let’s talk about some ways you can negotiate this critical opportunity.

Want to learn more about the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Institute for Organizational Management? Visit http://www.uschamber.com/institute/default today!

Want to learn more about the Custom Fit program near you? Visit http://www.swatc.org/programs/cfit/.

Want some guidance on getting specific training or scholarships and grants? Post your comments here.

You’re always welcome to ask questions that are or are not related to the days topics and I’ll be glad to try to answer them.

Bon voyage!

Donna