You know we aren’t doing without. Bagels in the creative area, popcorn perfume wafting through the air, comparative analysis of our various microwaved lunches—we’re a bunch of well-fed frogs.

However, many area residents can’t make that claim. That’s why WFMY-News 2 is challenging area businesses to see who can collect the most non-perishable food to help out the families who need it most.

So bring in your beans, your peaches, your canned tuna. Pack up your peanut butter, your peas, your pasta and sauce. Here at Leapfrog, we’ll be helping stock the shelves at the Greensboro Urban Ministries, making sure that we do our part so no family goes to bed hungry.

The box is in the lobby. Tell your friends and neighbors, even your clients who have a heart for Greensboro’s hungry. We have the next two full weeks to fill the box which will fill up empty tummies.

On Feb. 26, we’ll have a short ceremony to weigh our booty (from the box—this isn’t the Biggest Loser, after all) and report the results to WFMY and Greensboro Urban Ministrries.

Look at the box. Learn to pack your extra items in the car the night before so you won’t forget them. Leap into the decision to give. Let’s LAND at Greensboro Urban Ministries with a level of generosity that tells them what kind of people work at Leapfrog Marketing | PR | Design.

It’s time for reviews. It’s time to talk about growing, getting better, and setting goals. It’s time to evaluate and make recommendations for improvements.

Being fair and accurate is important to whether or not these reviews really work the way we want them to. So, I have a couple of resources that I believe are proving to be more than helpful. Second Wind is a great resource for information about running an agency. They always have plenty to ponder.
Action Coach is another great resource that I can count on. They teach me how to be a team leader.  And even though I believe the most useful information is what you learn from other people, I still would’ve never thought about asking other employees for their input on their teammates' performance review.

I have found some great articles and listened to some inspiring auditorials, but the thing that I think will be most helpful in writing these reviews is listening to what teammates have to say about one another: NOT a gossip session, NOT a griping session, but what positive things do they believe this person brings to the team? How do they improve our environment? What do they appreciate the most about their teammate or what makes them a valuable asset?

I’m thinking that I’ll create a short questionnaire for everyone to fill out. The questions will allow team members to only focus on the positives. I want to know what the natural skill sets are that someone brings to the office each day. (And that means more than just their interaction with me!) Besides good design and exceptional writing, I want to talk about things that add value to our culture. I expect everyone to do their job. I want to know what else they do. Do they inspire others? Do they motivate others? Are they the steady rock that grounds us when emotions get out of control? Whatever it is, I want to develop it.

We are always working on improvements within the agency, and I’m betting that this will help as well. And, of course, everyone will start thinking about what THEY bring to the team and how important their ownership is.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

(I’m curious to know what other methods are out there, so if you have any, please share them!!)--Tracie Beasley

10 | 7 | 2008

Picture day around here was no different than it used to be back in school. There were hair conferences, lipstick applications, accessories judging—and that was just Jordan! (just kidding, Jordan!) The only thing we were missing from the school picture day atmosphere was one kid off crying in the corner because her mom “trimmed” her bangs up to her hairline the night before. Thank heavens!

Having photos of you and your employees is worth the thousand words of cliché and lore. After being impressed by the bio, it’s reassuring to see who’s packing all those credentials. Your Web site is a form of first impression, and letting the graphics and text do all the work is tempting. But whiz-bang Flash and cool rollovers will never completely replace a friendly smile.