Most of us had hard times and made many difficult decisions last year. We called on our teams to do more with less. We’re doing it. We’ll keep on doing it and we are prepared for growth in 2010.

Recently I saw William D. Green, CEO of Accenture Consulting, boil-down three days of staff training into these simple rules: Competence, Confidence and Caring. Competence requires laser focus on our core business with a positive urgency to stay lean and prepare to grow. Confidence requires conviction in our plan and the commitment to shepherd our team out of the current situation. Caring means that it is all about team, really caring about our customers, our organization and the people around us.

This requires more communication than ever; about the goal…as visual and measurable as possible; and how to get there–strategy, next steps and the rules or process the team will follow.

Let’s face it…people’s morale has been seriously tested. And your team’s morale has been seriously tested as well.

Put yourself in the shoes of a Harley-Davidson employee as they communicate with management over the coming months. If they are going to win in the long run, they must have competence, confidence and caring. This involves dedicated, positive coaching and team celebration of victories along the way.

How do you find the time to communicate more with your team, members and customers? The Chamber can help through our emerging online networks, web-technology improvements and focus on business communications.

You expect us to stay on top of technology trends and we responded in December with our new YorkChamber.com Web site. Throughout 2009 we invested time, talent and money to add value through better communication, easier navigation and seamless registration.

In December our Chair, Arlene Lapore, wrote that you should be proud of your Chamber’s 5-Star Accreditation, elevating us to the top one percent of chambers across the U.S. In addition to excellent face-to-face networking, we were recognized for our online network and links to other social networking sites.

You can connect with business topics and interested members through our Linkedin.com group, find member products and services through our user-friendly directory and advertising, and save time through seamless event registration, and more people interested in doing business in the York region can find you and see our wonderful community showcased through YorkChamber.com.

One of our newest web tools is my Chamber Videogram, another way to communicate with you as needed on critical Chamber and business issues.

If you are a Chamber member, I know you have the competence, confidence and caring to move forward in 2010. Thank you for your continued support. You allow us to advance business and our community.