Be an active listener.

• When asking qs, try to thoughtfully engage your audience. Don’t just listen for what you want to hear.

Remove yourself from the equation.

• More often than not, the work you are doing is not about you. It is about your audience.

Avoid the vacuum.

• Whenever possible, don’t work alone. Talk with people, whether they are your teammates or guerrilla testers in a cafe. Solicit input and feedback as often as possible, and remember your audience.

Be humble.

• Know when you’re right, and know when you’re wrong.

Be honest.

• Be honest with yourself, with your team and with your time.

Pay respect.

• We’re all in this together, and we all have people to thank.

Don’t be afraid to fail.

• Challenge yourself at all times, and learn from every experience — good and bad.

Learn to say no.

• This can be the hardest lesson to learn, but also one of the most important.

Laugh.

• We all want to live longer, right? Enjoy what you do.

Advice from architect, Benjamin Dauer, from his interview with Smashing Magazine.

The SBA and Agility are offering free tips on how to avoid the costly mistakes that could put the safety of your clients and your organization at risk at a webinar hosted by Agility Recovery and the U.S. Small Business Administration on Tuesday, December 10. "True stories about business owners’ pre-disaster missteps, plans not followed and errors made—as well as what they learned during the recovery phase, will be discussed." WHAT: “The Top 10 Most Common Mistakes During a Crisis” WHEN: Tuesday, December 10, 2013 -- 2 to 3 p.m. EST HOW: Space is limited. Register at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/625471417

SFGate recently posted an article regarding physicians who had frustrations with the transition to electronic medical records (EMR).  While some of the complaints seemed somewhat trivial and likely to decrease over time as physicians got used to the system, one complaint stuck a chord with me:

...patients also have complained about less eye contact during office visits because physicians turn away while typing on a keyboard.

I recently visited a specialist who, prior to meeting with me, had on of his medical students review my chart and ask questions about any changes there might had been.  And the student did spend a significant amount of the time facing away from me while standing at the computer making adjustments.  But the student was still verbally engaged.  When the doctor came in for the actual consult, he made frequent eye contact and only directed the medical student to input data rather than inputting it himself.  It worked, but obviously required that I be comfortable with there being more bodies in the room. 

It raises questions about what the concrete changes to customary medical practice might be based on changes in technology.  Are there any other steps that medical professionals can take to minimize the discomfort caused by changes in techology?

Related articles

• Achieving Patient Safety with EMRs (medcitynews.com)
• New Information on the Importance of EMR Portability Shared by Chhoda (prweb.com)
• Why Physicians Prefer to choose their own EMR software? (medcitynews.com)

Black Enterprise has drawn AGi's attention to the National Minority Angel Network Fall 2013 Tour, particularly the September 18 date in DC:

NMAN, founded in 2012, is a member based angel investor network that was created to source diverse and otherwise unseen deal flow from primarily minority, woman, and entrepreneurs and link them with investors and corporations who seek to invest in them or utilize their product or services. Investors include banks, funds, advisors, family offices, and high net worth individuals.

• Washington, DC, September 19
• New York City, September 26
• Charlotte, October 2; Atlanta, October 17
• Silicon Valley, November 14.

Related articles

• Angel investors no longer flying solo as angel groups take off (business.financialpost.com)
• How to Navigate AngelList Like a Pro (women2.com)
• 5 Core Principles of Angel Investors (alleywatch.com)

Consider the tentative growth of global marketing budgets, these three resources identified by Small Business Trends as being helpful for launching your own business overseas are very timely.

In particular, they highlight the importance of attending conferences and trade events.  The rationale?  "Trade fairs and shows allow you to introduce international buyers, distributors or representatives to your products or services... You’ll also be able to meet other small business owners and gain their insight about what’s worked for them, what hasn’t worked and get an insider perspective about what could be in store for you as well."

They’ve also identified a searchable list to find official trade missions and trade events sponsored by the International Trade Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce.  Click through to learn more about this and their other identified resources for encouraging overseas business growth.