Writers of the Round Table Inc develops manuscripts with clients who are looking to engage the world in a massive conversation. What we do is work with a client to 1) Organically define the message; 2) Build the Vision; and 3) Create the delivery vehicle for the conversation. Our company principals have defined our process over more than a decade, building stories in film and now in manuscripts. What is unique about our company is that we only use story to engage readers in the higher level conversations our clients are looking to pioneer.

When a client comes to us, they have an idea of their message; what we refer to as the dream. What we bring to the table is story structure, character development, an aggressive process on a definitive timeline, and a team of writers, editors, story mentors, designers and others who surround each single client to draw forth from them their dream and capture the essence of it in a story that allows readers the intimate opportunity to be drawn into the world of the client and their message.

Sometimes the most obvious and profound forms of leadership hit you up-side the head when you least expect it. I got in the car Wednesday morning to go pick up my older son John from a friend’s house where he had spent the night, no doubt thoroughly enjoying the start of summer break. Minutes later, on the two lane rural highway ahead of me was a car accident that obviously had just happened, right at the intersection of another two lane road. No emergency vehicles had arrived yet, and there were a few men directing traffic and helping the victims to the roadside. I squinted as I got closer trying to make out the familiar looking figure in the Levis and white t-shirt. It was my son, waving his arms for traffic to slow and to move to the shoulders of the road. Turns out the accident was a mere stone’s throw from his friend’s house. Hearing the impact, John, his friend, and some other locals had sprung into action.

I followed his direction, and then pulled off for a few minutes, watching as my young son stepped seemingly effortlessly into control, surveying and directing the weekend traffic coming and going on the rural but busy road. Just then the fire truck pulled up and the Captain got out and shook my son’s hand, like a peer. He gave him a yellow jacket and a traffic control sign and let him get back to work. You see, my son is in training as a volunteer firefighter. His father is a fire captain, and John has waited for this day since his dad’s boots came up to his hips and the weight of his helmet toppled him over. He just turned 15, the legal age for one to start training as a volunteer and to go on calls and actually assist. But, of course, he’s been hanging out with his dad, uncles, and cousins at the volunteer station for years, hearing the men he aspires to be like exchange fire and rescue stories

I pulled back into the line of traffic. As I passed John, I instinctively–automatically–asked, “Are you alright?” before I could edit myself. Of course he was alright! He was soaring, but his reply was simply, “Yeah, Mom, just keep the traffic moving.” So, I did. And then it hit me. This was his first call…and I had gotten to witness my son moving into the leadership role for which he is so intentionally grooming himself.  Needless to say I had tears streaming down my face as I drove back to the house, thankful not only for my amazing son but also for having created a career that lets me work from home…and allows me to share in rare moments like these.

When his cousin dropped him back off at home, John was beaming and reliving every moment as he recounted each detail to me and his brother. We were all ears. Though his father and I are no longer together, we each know that our son will walk a mile in the shoes of the firefighters he knows and admires…and then outgrow them, exceed them. He is walking his own path and will either find or create the tools he needs to do so, whether he is a firefighter or not (and he probably will be!). So for anyone with a young leader in their life, I would say this: support them, love them, give them boundaries, listen to them as they figure it all out and, perhaps most importantly, be a mirror for what they need to see in and of themselves. And then, little by little, set them free to touch the lives that they will.

These Gen Y leaders seem to be ten steps ahead of even themselves, let alone those of us who are fortunate enough to nurture them. We walk a fine line between helping them get their footing and knowing just when to let go of their hands. But don’t worry, they’ll let us know when we hold too tightly or too long…  The last thing my son said to me that night was, “So, Mom…did you really cry when you were driving back home?”

“Yes…I’m so proud of you.  I love you and I’m so glad I was there to see you in action.”
He smiled at me and turned to go to bed.  “Yeah, I’m glad you get to work and still be with us.”  Then I heard him softly say, “I love you, too,” but not until he was safely out of sight.

Part 1: The Conversation and The Sketch.

Last week I had the pleasure to begin a conversation with author Heather Leah Smith on the cover design for her upcoming book, The Corporate Madonna (working title). This initial conversation is perhaps the most important one we’ll have pertaining to her cover design, because it is my first impression of her vision of the book, just as the cover will often serve as the first impression potential readers will have of her brand.

During this conversation I like to listen to the author talk about their project so I can get a solid sense of the ideas and emotions the author is capturing in their work. This bit of information is often times what carries me through to the initial concept. While the author talks, I simply listen and sketch. I sketch whatever comes to mind as we move through the conversation. Read the rest of this entry »

I recently had the pleasure and privilege of spending three days with a book client who, of her own volition,  flew in from back east to work with me because she wanted to devote some seriously focused time to her project.  We spent a grand total of over 36 hours brainstorming, talking, oohing and aahing at epiphanies, sprawling out on the floor with colored pens and a big pad of paper to map out our ideas, and…writing with dual laptops fired up.  Oh, and lest it seem like it was all work and no play, I’ll share with you that we popped open a good bottle of wine and enjoyed a “picnic” dinner on the floor (with our papers and resources scattered around us) toward the close of the final evening before her red-eye flight back home.

Her enthusiasm and intention amazed and inspired me.  We delved into file after file that she pulled out of her bag, all clippings and references and her own writings that she had been compiling for this project for over six years.  Caught up in the momentum we created, we plowed through idea after idea and got it all down on the page.  And then, I realized that we created more than tangible results.  Out of the blue, she said quite candidly to me, “Sometimes I just feel like paying out my contract, shoving all of this stuff into my file cabinet and walking away!”  It caught me off guard at first, but then made me see something, well…profound, in two distinct ways.  First, participating with anyone in a creative journey produces a sort of intimate trust in which not only dreams and hopes but also fears can be safely expressed.  Second, anyone with a message to share with the world—anyone essentially on a leadership mission of any kind—feels not only its joys and blessings, but also its burdens. 

Taking a stand for your voice and for what it has to say is not always an easy task.  It is, however, a worthwhile one.  Is this client going to stash her project and walk away?  No.  Is the thought of doing so even a realistic consideration for her?  No.  Was she expressing something that all leaders—whether in thought or action—feel , even if only for a fleeting moment, at some time or another.  Yes, I say. 

We here at WRT get to participate in the journey…and see the fruits of perseverance.  Seeing our clients—who are ALL leaders in their own rite—take not only their books but their bigger visions out into the world makes all of the joys and fears worthwhile…and encourages others to do the same.  And so the journey is one continuous movement of which we are all a part. 

I have to say that lately, myself and my staff are loving that we all work from home.  We have nearly two dozen people who freelance for our company and they do some from the confines of their own residence.  As I was watching the news this morning, I see that companies are starting to talk about possible four day work weeks to combat the high price of gas. Typically four 10 hour days that would replace the standard five 8 hour days. As I was watching that, I felt suddenly blessed. With the flattening of the world, has come the ability to run a business virtually.  We work from three time zones, make our own schedules and no one has to spend a dime on gas to get to their job.  Lucky indeed as we watch those around us really getting hit hard by these current times. Can you work from home? Consider the opportunity.  You might find it easier than you think.

I recently participated in a Dreaming Room weekend workshop with Mr. Michael Gerber, best-selling author of the E-Myth books. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Mr. Gerber, his inspirational message and his motivating paradigm, he is an entrepreneurial genius. In fact, the “E” in E-Myth stands for Entrepreneurial. Now, before you go and assume that the Dreaming Room is a how-to-intensive-immersion-course from which you emerge with all of the proscriptive, objective tools and a how-to manual to go and build yourself a business, think again. Let’s just say the Dreaming Room is aptly named.

Midway through the first night, me and the 25 or so other people in the room were all listening to Mr. Gerber with rapt attention. And most of us were probably wondering what the heck we were going to do with the pads of blank paper and assorted colored pens before each of us. Well, Gerber suddenly told us to go to the first page and start to dream. He advised us not to talk to one another, said he’d be back in 20 minutes and quietly left the room. I glanced sideways at my neighbors, picked out a green pen, and then sat there for 5 minutes with nothing but this doodle that I’ve done for 20 years running through my brain. Long story short, the picture posted here is what I ended up with. The leaves on the flower represent the elements essential to the development of any creative project: intuition, focus, intention, voice, creation, and empathy. At the center of it all is heart…because without it, our work has no proper foundation. The people grasping for the individual petals have the right idea, but don’t yet see the bigger picture and what it has to offer. That is, they don’t see the beautiful flower…just its individual elements. The hand from which the flower grows also supports those individual people. And the roots from which the flower grows come from the mindset of ABUNDANCE.

This picture represents what we do our utmost to offer our clients. People come to us with an idea, a story, their voice…and we work together to grow and nurture the whole thing into its own, unique bigger picture…whatever that may be. We do it very intentionally. And we do it knowing that that picture will affect and change the world one amazing person at a time!

Mr. Gerber says that most small businesses fail not because–as popular opinion seems to say–the owners dream too big…but because they don’t dream big enough. The Dreaming Room, then, is about finding, remembering, creating, voicing, being intentional about…your passion. What drives you? What inspires you? What’s your dream? It’s that motivation that will keep the fire in you and, thus, in your business. I won’t give too much away here, though there’s a lot more to say about it! It’s something that you need to experience for yourself. The Dreaming Room motto is “Come Dream With Me…” By extension, that is what we here at Writers of the Round Table invite you to do, too. Begin to dream your dream, engage with us in its creation, and set it free into the world where it will encourage and help others to do the same. Can you envision the exponential results your dream will have?

Today, Barack Obama is the only Democratic candidate in the race for the presidency of the United States. But 17 months ago, Sen. Hillary Clinton looked like a sure-thing for the nomination. Why did she fall from the graces of the American democratic voters? She relied on the power of the few: the maximum donation allowed by law from a limited pool of millionaire supporters. Meanwhile, Obama’s people courted smaller donations from a much larger population: the American voters. He raised $265 million from more than 2 million people. He accepted their contributions, a little at a time, and then proved he was worthy of more. His grassroots campaign proved that one voice can resonate when it sends a powerful message. When you have something that strikes the hearts of people, they will spread the word because the message has value. He gained more than money with his wise efforts; he earned respect and a growing community of support, overcoming his racial background and his relative inexperience in the political arena. Sen. Clinton leaves the campaign $30 million in debt. Her error in judging the power of social networking cost her more than money; she lost her chance at the presidency in the prime of her career. Perhaps, if she rises like a phoenix from these ashes, she will recognize that money does not have power. People do. Never underestimate the power of one voice. At Writers of the Round Table, we see this power resonate every day, with people who want to tell their story and then make it happen. They are not chasing huge book sales but promoting their books to the people who will embrace the message and then pass it along. Big successes can come from simple efforts. Follow your dreams and your heart. And learn from Barack Obama!