A good [God loving] man

In 1964 I joined the Peace Corps out of college and in 1968, I worked evaluating a local OEO Community Action Program. From 1969 to 1970 I worked for a Legal Services Program on an Indian reservation in Arizona. All were the creations of Sargent Shriver -- A Good Man.

I recently completed reading  A Good Man: Rediscovering My Father, Sargent Shriver by Mark Shriver and was struck by the lessons to be found htere.

Reading Mark Shriver's tribute to his father was in part a trip back in time. It brought back memories of a brighter time when a generation felt that doing good deeds was doing the right thing and had the courage to do it. In part is a travel through time as I strongly related to Mark's story of growth, development and decline.

But this book is far more that a son's memory and tribute to his father, it is a tale of a family seen through the life of one man.

The book is divided into three section. 1. The life and times of Sargent Shriver and his family's ancestry; 2. The father and son relation from growing up in the shadow of the father and spot-lighted by being a Kennedy to witnessing the father's decline from Alzheimer and becoming the parent's caregiver; 3. Coming to terms with the legacy.

We often hear the phrase "a good man" and think "a good [God fearing] man". But when Mark Shrive describes his father as "a good man," he is describing "a good [God loving] man." 

We learn how much "faith, hope, and love" dominated Sargent Shriver's life, his marriage to Eunice Kennedy, his family of 5 children, to his service to his nation, his devotion to his church and his belief in the potentials of people of the world. We learn the secret to his life's joys, and his abiding faith in the face of defeat. He often told his family, "I'm doing the best I can with what God has given me." And he did much, creating the Peace Corps out of nothing, Office of Economic Opportunity (Head Start, Legal Services, etc.) and supporting his wife, Eunice, in creating the Special Olympics and building it into a global movement.

We also learn about the effect of this personality on a son who both worshiped his father and yet felt he must compete with him. And we learn how the son comes to reconcile himself with his father's achievements and comes to peace with his own conflict. In his eulogy to his father, Mark says,
"I'd always tried to live the way he did, but in that moment [his father's struggle with Alzheimer], I began to see his life less as a challenge to measure up to and more as a form of guidance to heed. I didn't have to be as good as he was at the tough stuff of faith, hope, and love -- all I had to do was the best I could."

Changing Careers Part 2 Lining up Your Ducks

Changing careers is a daunting step for anyone, especially if you have been invested psychologically and financially in your previous career. Career change is often forced upon us by circumstance, rather than as a conscious choice. There are many factors which may lead to the decision. The most common is lose of our present job.


When this happens our first response is to look for a position of similar or greater value. Then we discover that we are going to have to compete in a totally different marketplace than the one we experienced the last time we looked for a job. We find that our technical skills may be out of date. Our years of experience can stand in the way of gaining entry in a company when we are competing with the politics of internal promotions. Our salary history, no matter how desperate we are for a paying job, may price us out of the market.

After weeks, months and in some cases years without success in finding a place in our old career, it is then that we realize that a career change may be the only answer to our situation


I find that clients and friends who find themselves in this position asking me for "job leads." I ask them how they have prepared for this change in career. I tell them that generating leads is useless if you have nothing to offer. You need to get your ducks lined up before you try to sell yourself. You need to develop trust with those you are seeking help from and this requires work. Trust must be earned.

The salesman who leaves his samples, brochures, and order book at home will not get the sale. The lead will be wasted since the sales-person has no specific tools to make an offer or to close the sale. And while the lead/prospect may be sold on the idea, once sold they may buy the product someplace else. That is the prospect is sold on the solution, but not on you.

If you are seeking leads for yourself, then you need to address these questions for yourself and do the research required to answer them. It is your responsibility to communicate your answers to potential employers and to those that you are asking for leads. These questions are:

         1. Who are you? 
         2. What do you have that is unique? 
         3. Who uses that uniqueness and for what purpose? 
         4. Why do you think you are the right person for organization and/or job?

If you can't answer these questions by yourself, then maybe you need professional help. You need to hire a "sales representative" or a "marketing person" to help you generate the leads you are looking for.  There are job placement serves and job boards, alumni offices, professional associations that list jobs openings. Some charge you to help you, some charge the employer for posting the job, and some charges the employer if they find and make a successful placement. If you need more in-depth counseling and/or mentoring, a personal career coach may be the answer

Networking in the field(s) and areas where you have knowledge, experience, contacts, reputation, interests, and competencies is where to start. But don't expect that this will result in a quick sale.

You need to realize that when you are asking for help there is cost involved for the helper. For example, I will only refer individuals to a contact or client if I know who that individual is and what they can do for my contact or client. If I were to send a total stranger who might embarrass me, I might risk losing my creditability with the contact or client. This is something I am not going to do.

Changing your career is like any other sales job. You have to sell yourself as a person first; the organization (your professional/vocational qualifications) you represent second; and, then the product (why you are the solution to the employer's personnel need.) yourself last. That is how you build the trust you will need to succeed whether for a referral or an actual job application.

Can you make it alone?

In this Blog I have emphasized personal responsibility and a certain point of view that might suggest that we, you or I, can make it on our own, that we are the masters of our own destinies. It may seem that I am advocating an ego-centric, Ayn Rand/Rand Paul libertarian philisophy. If you, dear reader, have this opinion, let me make it clear that that is not the point. The current political discussions have made this very clear for me.

The political "debate" over the economy and jobs has degenerated into a form of class and philosophical warfare that is distorting the nature of economic success and the role and reason for government.

Mitt Romney and his surrogates claim that all successful entrepreneurs have achieved their success by their own "hard" labor. He argues that they deserve the fruits of their success by being allowed to keep the wealth they extract from their efforts, ship it overseas, hoard it, or squander it - free of taxation or government. They argue that as long as this done "legally" there should be no moral or ethical question of their motives nor their responsibilities to the common wealth of the community, state, or nation. This is a right because it is Legal.

President Obama and his surrogates claim that if you are a successful entrepreneur, business owner, your success in shared with the many people and institutions that made your business possible and came to your aid when it was critical. He argues that you owe a debt of gratitude to those individuals and institutions that helped make your success possible. That debt should be paid back in a number of ways including paying your fair share of the taxes that have gone into making your successful possible, participating in supporting and furthering the basic principles of  democracy and human rights that are the corner stone of the nation, and paying forward to insure that this is "a nation of the people, for the people and by the people", NOT Plutocrats or Corporations.


The difference I see between the points of view discussed above between the Republican and the Democrat candidates point to very different attidutes and beliefs about what constitutes humanity and person responsibility going into the 21st Century both here in the Unites States and by extension into the post-cold war world order. It is my belief that personal freedom is only possible when you choose between two life strategies based on what one assumes is the nature of being a Homo sapien.

Strategy 1: Accept your animal origins, separate yourself from the herd, and take your chances. This is the survivalist's strategy. It is a deadend strategy since it doesn't matter to you or anyone else what you have achieved in this life. It is based on the false assumption that "He who dies with the most toys wins" philosophy. The reality is that once you die, they aren't your toys anymore.

Strategy 2: Accept your humanity, your frailties and your strengths, engage with the herd and contribute to the herd's success. This is the humanist and spiritual strategy. It recognizes that we are interdependent and that our legacy is in how we contribute to the continuity of the herd. It calls upon us to take responsibility for our actions as they serve both our personal and the herd's needs.

A recent article in Forbers magazine by Jessica Hagy makes the point that in order to be a success we each need at least 6 people in our corner if we are to be a success. These "people" are really roles that one must play in order to be successful. Individually we may find ourselves playing some or all these in our lives. But what is critical here is that no one can effectively play all of them at once.

To put it succinctly, "Lawyer who defends herself, has a fool for a client." We might admire the "player-coach" but rarely does he lead his team to a championship.

Hagy identifies these roles as:

   1. The Instigator
   2. The Cheerleader
   3. The Doubter
   4. The Taskmaster
   5. The Connector
   6.  The Example (Mentor)

I find that in the present discussions Mr. Romney and his surrogates (the people who will make or break his campaign) don't understand that success is a group effort. Who are the Instigators, the Koch Brothers? Who is the Doubter, Carl Rove? Who is their Example? Richard Nixon? Certainly not Ronald Reagan! Who is their Connector, the Tea Party? Who is their Taskmaster, Grover Norquist, the unelected Budget Czar? We know that Fox "News" and Rush Limbaugh are the Cheerleaders.

And because they can't see this, they can't see that the Republican Congress and Party have as much responsibility for the declining fortunes of America and the American Middle Class as their allege culprit, the President of the United States.

Don't make the mistake to think you can do it all alone and take all the credit for your success. The measure of your success is how you staff and handle these 6 critical roles as you build your life, and create your legacy. Its not the toys that you will remembered for, it will be legacy you leave for future generations. That legacy can lead to greatness or it can lead to disaster. Your choice -- who is on your team?

Career Change -- Stage 1 Cashing in on experience

I have the feeling that many of you are in the process of a career change. In today's dynamic economy where whole industries are disappearing or going off shore, technology is replacing the human worker, retraining is becoming more and more expense for employee and employer in terms of both time and money, and most jobs are in the long run temporary, the challenge for older workers, as well the threat that change brings, can be frightening.

I have been asked by individuals faced with these problems, "How can I go about finding a new job? Should I change professions or careers? Should I get another degree or certificate?

What these questions tell me is, the individual is emotionally stressed by the prospect of a major change in their life situation and have not yet accepted the fact that this is the current reality. It also tells me that they have lost confidence in their own worth and have become fatalistic about the future. Such individuals are often in crisis and fail to see that crisis is a time of opportunity for those who are willing to exploit it.

My advice is a two stage approach: Stage 1:  Who are you, and Stage 2: Where do I fit?  We will look at Stage 1 in this essay and Stage 2 in the followup.

STAGE 1: Who are you?
I recommend that you take a serious look at your profile (resume). If necessary bring it up to date and expand it. In the academic world, we have a CV or curriculum vita that serves as our resume and is required when applying for an academic position.

The CV includes all of your accomplishments to date in the three areas important to an academic appointment: research, teaching and service. In the CV you show off the broad range of professional life experiences and interests you have achieved to date. It describes the tools chest that you own and that you can bring to the job. Degrees and certificates are only a part of the tool box - they are the starter hammer, screw driver, wrench, and tape measure. What is of real interest is what you have done with these and the choices you have made, based on your experience, to add to that tool box. You need to rethink your resume in terms of a CV or a tool box.

A carpenter's tool box maybe well organized or not depending on the carpenter. However, as an outsider, the picture one sees is also confusing and can and will be interpreted by others as something belonging to a person who lacks of focus or spends all of his/er time in the hardware store buying tools. I am not being negative here -- I have and still do fall into the same camp.Your CV will look like this if you have had kind of life.

Your goal, which we will address in Stage 2, is to prepare a resume (tool kit) that you can take to the job that meets the needs of the job, not to show off your tool collection. That means selecting the right tools for the job and leaving the rest at home. I have had to surrender some ego and recast myself into the mold that best fits my clients needs and perceptions in order to get a job or assignment. To do this successfully I find the following to be an effective strategy.

STEP 1:
The first task you face is to identify what it is is you want to do with this background. You can do this by answering the following a set of  functional questions.1. What problem(s) do you like to and want to solve? 2. For who do you want to solve them? 3. Who pays for such solutions?

STEP 2:
Once you have answered these for yourself, I would recommend looking at your interests and experience in terms of skill sets and NOT the statuses you have occupied which you usually list in your resume. Define yourself in terms of the skill set that best matched question 1 above, instead of who I worked for. I would look at these in terms of where and how I learned and practiced the skills.

STEP 3:
You must have a preference or two of who and where you'd like to work for or with. That is where you want to apply those skills, question 2. Look at who you have worked for or with and ask yourself what was the best and worst experiences I had in that organization or on that job? How would I maximize joy/pleasure and minimize my dissatisfaction in these cases?

STEP 4:
Finally and most important is question 3 -- who are you going to sell yourself to? This is the business model for your marketing and job/career search. Where are your ethical and moral parameters? Are they realistic in regard to your financial and career goals?

These are the beginning steps, especially for someone such as yourself who is in the process of a career change to making the right career choice. Once you have organized your needs (strengthens and weaknesses) you can then begin stage 2. Looking for a job, assignment, or position that fits your needs and desires.

Employee or Entrepreneur?

 During the current election, the question of jobs and the economy are setting the agenda. One of the proposals being made is that increased tax cuts and extending tax cuts will lead to more investment, more entrepreneurship and thereby solve the economic problems the country faces. An entrepreneur is defined as: "one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise."  Obvious, the assumption that entrepreneurs are the "job creators" is a false assumption, they are investors in risk. The essences of entrepreneurial activity is "creative destruction."

The entrepreneurial investor can chose to invest in people by building a business. But they can also invest in the capital assets of a company and liquidate the liabilities, i.e. fire people (employees); or they can invest in lottery tickets (Wall Street virtual products IPO's, swaps, etc.). They can invest in  anything that offers an opportunity to make a profit. Only one of these creates jobs, the entrepreneur who invests in people. What kind of entrepreneur are you going to be?

I find very misleading the assumption that there is a distinction between employees and entrepreneurs. Some say that entrepreneurs create jobs and jobs creates employees. This is assumed to be the equation. So we are presented with the question:  

I have found many people who seem to think that to be the entrepreneur is to be the boss and have control over the whole enterprise. They don't have to be "workers" because they are THE BOSS. It's their (or other peoples money that they control) that gives them the power to "boss," they claim. It certainly works for the entrepreneurial corporate raider



and investment banker. So my question to you is

Which would you rather be

 an entrepreneur or an employee?

  But for the rest of us, those of us who actually work for a living and make a meaningful contribute to society and our community, my answer to this question, and the theme of this Blog, is

I better be both to be successful. 

 

 

The entrepreneur who does NOT see him/herself as an employee is a fool. To be an entrepreneur means that you are your own boss but you can't be boss unless you have an employee. And that employee is you long before you hire anyone else. And if the project fails, you are going to fire your last employee -- yourself. Only then can you go on to the next project, i.e. as long as you hold on to a losing proposition you are employed by yourself you are not freed until you fire yourself.

Control may feel good until you find that you are also accountable to all your stakeholders including yourself and your family for what comes from the responsibilities that control imposes upon you. 

If you are unemployed then you are a failed entrepreneur, and if you are a failed entrepreneur then you have been a poor boss to your sole employee -- YOURSELF. 

Transition from Job to Career: Yes or NO

  I recently had a conversation with an individual I will call John Doe. John is facing doubts about his current job and where it is leading. The routine of the job has started to wear on him, and he is wondering if there is anything else. This is all too common at certain stages of your life.

John is a college professor who teaches anthropology (specifically archaeology) and is tenured. While most of the time he enjoys what he does, he is beginning to feel trapped. .

   Here is what I suggested. Maybe there is a message for you as well.

Dear John Doe,

  It seems like you are facing that great moment is life when the question "What if?', or What if only?" It is a matter of "the road less traveled" or "not traveled." This is the moment when we consider whether we want to be defined by who we are or by what we are. That is, by our job title(s) or by our career (accomplishments).

  You say that "Some of my difficulty is situational. I am extremely isolated where I am, at least in terms of my own professional development.." Let me ask, "who or what owns your life -- you or your profession?" You can develop your personal life so that the profession contributes to it, or you can let your profession dictate what kind of life you will have. That is, you can develop your individuality or you can be the status/role that your professions dictates that you will be allowed to achieve. Your description of your situation suggests to me that you are currently thinking like an "organization" man i.e. what the profession tells you to think ,rather than about your own self interest.

  Turn the question around. It is NOT what are the short coming of your profession relative to others -- it is what are the short comings of these other disciplines that "I as an archaeologically trained and experienced professional fill?" Note I said "archaeological training and experienced" this is a skill set NOT a job title, i.e. status nor a role.

  Now you say, "There are lots of lovely people to work with if I want to become a geologist, ecologist, criminologist, etc. but I am the only archaeologist for miles, ditto for people working my particular geographic region (Southern Andes)."

  In the business world, to have a monopoly on a product and a territory can be very profitable. If you are the only archaeologist around then I would ask who in addition to the college consumes archaeological services that could be my customer? If you are the only person in your area who is doing archaeology focused on the Southern Andes  I would ask, "Who in my area needs expertise the southern Andes?" This isolation that you feel, may actually be your greatest strength.

You say,

    " I have never been more in love with work that I do as an intellectual pursuit. I am enchanted with the cultures and places that I study and am enjoying thoroughly exploring these places and melt at the beauty, grandeur and mystery of the ancient heritage I find there. In my meeting and studying the people I encounter there, I am moved by the plight of the poor - both rural and urban -- and would like help  And I would hate to give this all up for just a desk job. Hence, my dilemma."

  What I see here is an excitement and enthusiasm.This person, who is speaking, is the real you.You are identifying your interests and these point to a potential solution to your concern. Here is where you should be looking for a solution to your personal desires. Your question is, How can I apply my archaeological training and experience, teaching experiences, and writing experience to create a new career for myself that address my real interests?

 One way is to disassemble your skill set from your title, your self imposed definition of who you think you are or have become. Then look at what the skills can be used for and, where you can find the joy and pleasure you find in your mastery and experience. Look there and weigh your options.

  For example, Writing popular articles about southern Andean archaeology and travel rather than worrying about the academic straight jacket of peer reviews. A blogging on the subject gives you editorial control, while writing for travel magazines will give you editorial feedback to help you get out of the academic writing mode. Or, become a guide for Elderhostel tours to the area where you have done field work, for example. You are an expert here. Or, write a novel based on your experiences and fantasies.The point is use your skills and knowledge to build a wider audience and broaden your outlook.

   One warning, before you make a move, I would strongly suggest that you review your current retirement and medical benefits. What would  the impact of changing employers or jobs be on your situation; and what flexibility do you have there in terms of the portability of your benefits?. You need to know and be aware of the risks you are taking in any change.

   I take exception to the advice you are getting about tenure and waiting until you retire. Tenure is the trap that you expressed in your initial feelings. If you wait to retire before you explore these other opportunities, it may be too late. Who knows what your health will be then, or even the reasons or conditions that might be forced your retirement. But if the security of tenure is most important to you then that is your decision.

  Finally point, what you are experiencing is normal and the experience of reflection is in itself a worthy one.

Good luck in whatever you decide!"

How to keep that job

We tend to discuss a lot about how to get a job.  

But there is another side to the job issue. That is keeping one.

 Sometimes when things get difficult on the job or at the company, we react in ways that are actually counterproductive to our interests or are interpreted by others as being counterproductive to the morale of the organization. We feel like taking drastic steps.

In times like these we may be acting against our own best interests.

Before you go too far, STOP, STEP BACK and EXAMINE your feeling. Ask yourself what is the problem and what is my "problem." Who am I and who do others see in me? Maybe the problem is my attitude. 

Take a look at the attached article The Wall Street Job Report from the Wall Street Journal. You may find it helpful. Attitude counts.

When is enough enough?

I was recently asked: How do you decide when you have enough information and it's time to execute on your plan?

My response is fairly straight forward:

When you find yourself reading the same thing over and over, doing the same thing over and over and not finding or accomplishing anything really new. And, when you begin to feel that enough is enough.

The trick is to NOT let yourself to be the biggest excuse for not putting your plan into action.

When researching a subject, there is always the temptation to do one more Google search, read one more journal article, watch one TED video on You Tube out of fear that you may have missed something. This is called, Paralysis by Analysis.

When preparing to give a speech, there is the temptation to do one more rehearsal, make one more modification in the wording, add or subtract a joke, make one more adjustment of the tie or hair. This is called Stage Fright.

When taking steps to implement the plan, there is that moment when you look at the competition and they look BIGGER, SMARTER, RICHER, BETTER CONNECTED, ETC. than you are and you want to crawl back into your shell. This is called Lack of Self Confidence.

All of these excuses are in your head and barriers of your own making.

 The first step in your plan should have been a realistic assessment of your particular strengths and weakness. If you put together a plan, then you should know this already. If these barriers were real, your plan would have shown you that. And you should have made a decision about what to do about it. This should address the Paralysis by Analysis issue

The second step in your plan should be to make a realistic assessment of the opportunities and threats the environment present to your idea or plan. You should have built your plan to take advantage of the opportunity and at the same time to prepare your defenses against the threats. This includes preparing an exit strategy. This should address the Stage Fright issue.

The third step is related to the first step, strengths and weaknesses. If you have done it well you have included an analysis of your competition and their strengths and weaknesses relative to you and one another. You will have found that they are "human" too. Your plan should include a strategy for exploiting their weaknesses and avoiding confrontation with their strengths. This should address the Self Confidence issue.

The point is to know that whatever your plan is, IT WILL NEVER BE PERFECT.

But you will know your ready when it is the BEST DAMN PLAN you can make today to deliver today. Strive for PERFECTION but deliver and accept EXCELLENCE.

And remember, a PLAN is only a road map toward your destination it can be changed and altered at anytime during the journey. YOU ARE IN CHARGE.

Entrpreneurship A woman's point of view

This video is from the TED Channel

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon: Women entrepreneurs, example not exception

Entrepreneurship is "one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise."

It is not about them. It's about you

 Bill Gates has some ideas that we all should take to heart. The realities of life are the realities we must adapt to in order to lead a successful life.

What good is a recommendation?

There has been a on going discussion on LinkedIn in the Adjunct Network about making recommendations for students and what different professors feel about the process. While cast in the context of teacher student recommendations, it really strikes at a broader concern -- what is the value of a recommendation in any context?

Some have said that they would only give a recommendation to someone who got an "A", while others would consider other qualities in addition to or as an exception to the grade.

Some would be very vocal about the strengths and weaknesses of the student in their written recommendations, while other would simply check of the lines on a form created by their institution and approved by the legal department out of fear of being sued.

Academic recommendations are really the first step a young person has for entering the job market. For career changers of any age, this is also true. It is the process of professional birth or rebirth. So the question one faces both as the person asking for the recommendation and the person making the recommendation is -- What good is it?

One of the comments we received took the position that there is "more to people than getting the highest grade." I would also add "than getting the highest salary or most prestigious title." There is more to performance outcomes than the symbols of success. These are evidence of how that success was achieved. But does not focuses on the individuals innate talents and character. These are the things/qualities that we hope to get a handle on from the recommendation.

When I have been in a hiring position I have often found that the "proforma recommendation" from a former professor or employer is next to worthless. This was especially true if there is no personal impression of the student's or employee's progress, involvement, or other feature that made the individual stand out from the class or crowd. Grades can be obtained from the registrar and employment records from the HR department,if they are important. Character is only measurable by the testimonial experience of those who have worked with individual.

As a classroom and online teacher, I know that not everyone is the same. I chose not to recommend any student I could not say something good about or that had failed to impress me in the classroom context. For example, an "A" student who earned it by the objective criteria imposed by the department but failed to demonstrate any growth or unique quality, was someone who didn't impress me enough for me to want to recommend them. Meanwhile a "C" student who overcame problems, showed progress and growth, AND was making a realistic application for a realistic job, might be someone I would be happy go to bat for.

The forms that a department or employer require be used covers their ass, but it does nothing for student or employee. In fact it almost negates the whole process -- from a hiring perspective. I would even say that in an application process all that it really is a piece of paper that can be added to the file as required by the process without shedding any light on the applicant's qualifications.

The recommendation is just part of the process and we should be aware of this whether we are the one writing the recommendation or the one asking for it. It can be critical as a step in the process.

For a couple of decades now I have participated in the Brown University Alumni Schools program from time to time. In this capacity one gets to see some of the inside aspects of the selection process. As an alumni volunteer in the program we are asked to conduct a personal interview with a prospective applicant and return an evaluation, based on a set of general criteria and our impression of the candidate, to the admissions office.

As interviewers, we are formally trained in the application and acceptance process and our role in that process before we are assigned applicants to interview. The interviews are generally conducted either by phone or in person. My preference in the face to face because you get learn a lot from body language and how they treat the interview process (e.g. seriously or flippantly).

This is but one of many dimensions that are used to make an acceptance decision, We have been told that sometimes it can be the critical determinant between two equally qualified candidates. So, as interviewers, we take our responsibilities and recommendations very seriously.

As a result of this experience, I take my role and responsibilit as someone who is being asked to make a recommendation very seriously, both in who I recommend and what I write or say about the applicant.

When asking for a recommendation, you want to ask someone who knows you both as a performer and a person in an area relevant to the position and organization you are applying for. Unless there is some immediate connection between the position you are applying for and the recommendation you request -- all you really have is the word of someone to the potential employer that they know you. But the question is: Does the employer know the person making the recommendation?

Something else we must also realize. When we make a recommendation we are also opening ourselves up for evaluation. If your recommendation results in a bad experience for the recipient of the evaluation, what does that say about you and any future recommendations or evaluations you may make?

Sometimes killing with kindness can be worse than not responding to the request at all.

What is progress and what does it mean for you?

In the broad global context of taking charge of your life, I think it is important to note that "progress" is a concept that encompasses a hope, optimism and reasoning based on a belief in that particular human ideal of "free will."

Progress is only possible if you believe that the individual has the power to take destiny in his/her hand and make of it what he/she desires. There is no progress in a deterministic or fatalist universe. There is change, but change without purpose is not progress, at best it is evolution.

The belief in free will is an act of faith and for those who accept and act on that faith -- progress becomes a possibility. I say a "possibility" because there are no guarantees, but there is "HOPE." I guess this is the most any of us can expect -- a chance.

A Simple Truth about Image

Are you a valuable human resource or a self promoting celebrity?   A recent article in The Chronicle of Higher Education by Allison M. Vaillancourt reminds us that, as the sole proprietor of our own career, we need to focus on how we go about marketing ourselves. Vaillancourt makes 5 sound points that we all should consider.

  1.  First, do no harm. 
  2.  Be focused.
  3.  Share your ideas as much as possible
  4.  Be appropriately visible, but not perpetually available.
  5.  Let others promote you.

How do you promote your business?   Are you a resource or a self promoting celebrity?

HOW TO BE A SUCCESSFUL SOLE PROPRIETOR

Becoming a successful a sole proprietor means that you are both your own boss and your own product. To succeed is hard work

Hard work is having a clear idea of who and what you are. Hard work is networking and more listening than talking. Hard work is active and proactive research. Hard work is learning what an employer or customer is looking for and what they can afford. Hard work is remaining open to opportunities.

Oh, by the way, did I mention hard work.

What makes it hard work?

I have experienced and heard the same comments people allude to about losing out insiders, being advised by others not to apply for a position or respond to the RFP (request for proposal or bid) because the fix was in. But I have learned that at one time whoever that "insider" might be, he/she was once an outsider. And the fix is in because someone else found another way to approach and sell the potential employer or customer. So what is the lesson? Become an insider -- volunteer, network, make physical eye contact - then ask about sending a resume. Otherwise you are one of hundreds of pieces of paper, emails or cold calls that employers or customers receive daily.
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Have you studied the rules?

Learn the "rules" of the market you are looking to enter? For example, some jobs are advertised because the HR policies and maybe the company's funding require a public announcement of the opening. Federally funded projects generally have EEOC mandates. This does not guarantee all applicants will be treated alike. Some RFPs have specific contractual language and conditions that must be met to even qualify for consideration.  Do you know what the rules are? Do you even know what game you are playing?
 
Reputation Counts

Often the difference between you, the outsider, and the insider is simply you are a total stranger and the insider is a known quality. It is cheaper and safer to go with the known entity than the stranger. Employers and customers are generally risk adverse. They do not like surprises. To become known is part of the hard work

Successful Selling comes from Good Marketing.

Sales is always hard work whether physical, mental or social.

If you are in sales, for example, you can make the sales calls either by spending time researching what the market is, how the product is bought and sold, and when it is bought and then identify who the buyer is -- hard work. Then you know where to go to find that potential buyer and make your pitch. OR

You can take the phone book and start on page one and cold call every number and get many rejections -- hard work. But if you keep at it, someone will eventually talk to you and then you begin you pitch. OR

You can write a "one kind fits all" email, circular, or brochure and blast it into the universe of some database(s) you have bought and sit back and wait...and wait....and wait -- hard frustrating work, like waiting for that girl or guy you met last night to call or return your call..

Successful Job Hunting takes a HUNTER.

Whether you are looking for a sale or a job, any of these strategies can produce a job or a sale -- eventually with LUCK. To succeed you must think like the HUNTER that you are. You must recognize that job hunting and product sales are just that -- HUNTING. Think like a hunter and not the prey!!

Both you and your potential employer or customer are hunting for the right mix. Both of you are both the hunter and the prey. In today's buyer's market, the employer and the customer has the hunter's advantage.

Know your environment


While you were not looking, the environment has been changing. In today's world of Facebook,Google, etc, you, as prey, are visible in all of your many  good and bad facets to the potential employer/customer's computer. The chances are that if you ever get past the first paper screening or Google search and before you ever get to an interview invitation or site visit, you have been subjected to computer generated background check, comparison, and evaluation.

But you will never know it anymore than the rabbit knows that the fox decided that that rabbit was not worth the chase. So, selling yourself or your product it still comes down to hard work of learning how you are perceived in and by your environment.. Are you that rabbit?

Take responsibility because only you care whether you succeed

You may not realize it, but right now you are employed. Your are employed by yourself as the sole proprietor of your life and your business. Your job is to sell your product, talent, desire, and knowledge to a customer who is willing to pay your boss --- YOU --- for the value you offer them..

Good luck!!

HOW TO SELL A BUSINESS Lesson 1 Pricing your business

 This is the first is a series of postings on the process of selling your business. As a sole/soul proprietor your business is your life and there comes a time when its time to retire or change your life. The time, money and effort you have put into your business up to this point has been building equity for you. But the only way that you collect on that equity and have it available for the next stage in your life is to sell the business. In this series, HOW TO SELL A BUSINESS, we will introduce you to what you need to know to turn your business into the cash you need to take that next step.


The first thing you need to understand is how to go about pricing your business.

PRICING OBJECTIVES

                Objective: Get the best possible price for the business

a.       Seller: Highest possible price

b.      Buyer: Lowest possible price

BASIC STRATEGY FOR SELLERS AND BUYERS

        The best possible price is situational and contextual -- basically it is the point where the seller and buyer can agree that the price is “fair”. A “fair” price is a price that a seller is willing to sell the business for and a buyer is willing to buy the business for. What is fair in one situation may be seen as unfair in another situation.

HOW DO SELLER AND BUYER REACH AGREEMENT?

1.       The process starts with the seller who will quote an “asking price” for the business.

2.       The buyer will have already determined if this is the type of business he/she wishes to acquire will make a “offer” which may be higher or lower than the asking price.

3.       Seller and Buyer  negotiate until a deal is reached on the price; or a decision is made that no deal can be reached.

BASIC ASSUMPTIONS

The process begins with an assumption that neither the buyer nor seller is starting from a fixed position relative to the asking or offering price. The “asking price” represents a starting price that may be higher than the seller’s “minimum” price. On the other hand, the “offering price” represents the buyer’s starting price which is lower than his/her “maximum” price. One might expect for the deal to take place to take place between these extremes. The negotiations then generally begin somewhere between the asking and offering prices. An agreement is very likely to be reached as long as the price does not go below the “absolute minimum of the seller,"  nor exceed the “absolute maximum of the buyer”.

NEGOTIATIONS PRINCIPLES:

IT IS STRATEGICALLY BEST FOR THE SELLER NOT TO REVEAL ONE’S MINIMUM PRICE BEFORE THE NEGOTIATIONS BEGIN.

GETTING THE BEST PRICE IS A MATTER OF THE NEGOTIATING SKILLS OF THE PARTIES INVOLVED. 

FOR THE SELLER WHO IS UNCERTAIN ABOUT HIS/HER NEGOTIATION SKILLS MAY WANT TO ENGAGE A THIRD PARTY TO ACT AS HIS/HER AGENT IN THE NEGOTIATION.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A NEGOTIATOR:

a.       Experience business broker or consultant who knows the business and industry

b.      Known to the buyer and seller, if not personally, at least by reputation  

c.       Trusted to be fair by both parties.

d.      If an attorney is used by the seller, get one who has prior experience “negotiating” sales or purchase of a business and understands the need to SATISFY both parties. You DO NOT want an attorney who is out to get the most without regard for the interests of the other party, otherwise you may loose the deal. Remember you are trying to get the "best" price and the "best" price is the FAIR price.

SELLER'S STRATEGY

1.       The initial asking price should have some rational objective basis -- Investment Value

2.       Set up an absolute firm “minimum” price below which there is no deal regardless of the circumstance. This should also be based on some rational objective basis  -- Principle of Alternatives.

3.       Seller should develop an understanding of the buyers’ point of view relative to the value of the deal. What is the buyer “really” looking for in the deal, and what is it worth to him? The buyer may be looking at the business in a totally different light than the seller and valuing the deal based on that.

 We will be discussing these points in future postings, stay tuned.

IS TRUST A QUALITY OF A LEADER OR A PRODUCT OF LEADERSHIP??

   

"Trust me!?"  

(click on graphic to enlarge)

How often have you heard this? How often have you been asked this question? How often have YOU asked the question?

Some people believe that trust is a competency, an individual talent, that people are born with. 

 
Some people may even label and categorize others as trustworthy based on their "ethnicity.

I do not see "Trust" as a competency. Trust is something that has to be earned.

Managing the trust that one has earned is the COMPETENCY.

Trust is a very fragile, delicate, asset that must be nurtured and protected. 

It is also the most valuable asset a person or organization can possess.

 
But reality and life is a matter of survival. 

  
These can test one's ability to manage the trust that others have deposited in your account. 

Sometimes you have to spend or risk some of that trust in order to survive.

 

The leader is one who is competent 

in the skills required to manage his/her 

TRUST ASSETS

ARE YOU A LEADER? 

Let me steal your profit: -- Have you ever encountered this?

 The seller and the client relationship can sometimes become really tricky, especially when you are selling a service. Here is a fun example.

Consultants and Travel Time -- Who pays?

 I am some times asked about pricing and billing for consulting services. One of the sticky points is:

Who pays for travel and travel time?"

Basically the question comes down to what have you negotiated with the client or the consultant. There are two parts to travel, a) the out of pocket expenses incurred by the consultant and b) the consultant's time consumed by traveling.

Out of Pocket Expense

Based on my experience and practice, the out of pocket for travel (transportation, food and lodging), if an over night is required, is billed to the client at some agreed upon standard rate such as federal per diem rates. If necessary these can be backed up with actual receipts justifying actual cost, or at predetermined daily rate or allowance, or some variation of both.. The federal rates are a good reference source since they take into account the cost of living in different cities and countries.

Consultant's Time

Depending upon whether you are a sole proprietor (self employed) consultant or are hiring one, the time engaged in travel is a cost of doing business and should be reflected in the pricing formula used by the consultant to compute his/her a daily or hourly rate. The travel time is overhead, in my view, and therefore is part of cost to be recovered from the hourly rate and hours actually worked for the client. As long as both parties agree to the rate for actual work/service done for the client, it is really no concern to the client how that rate was determined. On the other hand, the consult should be aware of what his/her costs are and how much (how many billable hours) time and at what rate he/she must sell to breakeven per period.

The travel time is a shared expense rather than as a paid vacation. The consultant should not travel unless a.) he is assured that there is paying assignment at the other end; and/or b.) she is willing to consider and accept the risk that the travel is a marketing (overhead) expense to the consulting practice rather a paid junket.


Consulting Firm and Travel

If you are hiring an established consulting firm, or work for one, there should be established policies in place for dealing with these contingencies. These policies should be discussed prior to the sale/purchase of the consulting services and be incorporated into the consulting contract. The responsibilities of each party should be clearly set out in the contract before work begins.


Mission Creep

Beware of mission creep. Mission creep is when the client expects a little more effort without paying for it; or when the consultant wants to extend the billable time because he/she low balled the project.


Over-billing or Underpaying for Travel

A final observation, to charge a client for the travel may seem like a great idea for the consultant. However, it is really only a very short term benefit. If the client is at all dissatisfied with the work and then sees two days of "travel" time padding the invoice -- it may be the last time you hear from the client or any of his/her contacts.

The client who requires the consultant to travel from point A to point B in the client's interest, but refuses to pay for the time that the consultant must take away for "meaningful" work is cheating the consultant of billable hours that might be more productively spend on the project or for another client.

Travel while under contract


One area of mission creep and under/over billing takes place is paying the consultant's travel time, while under contract.

Sometimes the consultant is asked to travel to an event at the request of the client, or if you are the client, you want the consultant to accompany or represent you at an event. If this case, the consultant should be paid for his/her time on route and return from the event. If the travel was unanticipated when the contract was negotiated and signed, the consultant may have under bid the assignment and an amendment to the scope of work and the time should be negotiated.

For example, if a consultant is asked to attend a conference or workshop for the client, and then is expected to prepare a report or conduct a local training session for the client and their staff based on the conference/workshop, the time the consultant spends in transit is part of the cost that client should be expected to pay.

In this case, the consultant's activity is part of a larger mission, research or training the trainer. The client gains because they are paying for only one person (an expert) to attend the event. As a result the client obtains an expert's evaluation of the data/event, or prepared the consultant  to train the staff locally. The client gains by saving registration, travel, and down time expenses that the client would have incur by sending staff to the event.

BASIC PRINCIPLE

1. If the consultant is required to travel before a contract is negotiated and signed with a client, then the consultant's time is his/her responsibility.

2. If the travel is required after the contract has been signed and the travel is required by the client, then the consultant's time in transit should be billable to the client. 


3. As far as reimbursement for out of pocket expenses, pre-contract expenses should be negotiated or assumed by the consultant while out of pocket expenses incurred while under contract should be billable (reimbursed) by the client.


  

Personal success is linked to your choices

To be human is to have freewill!
Or at least that is how I see it.

To have freewill means that we have choices. The problem with choices is that we have to make them. We have to take responsibility for them.

Many people would prefer not to take responsibility for their choices, rather they will let others make their choices for them. Then they can blame the other for making a "bad" choice. Maybe the problem is that they are unwilling, or unable, to share responsibility or to understand what their responsibility is. But then whose responsibility is it?

As a sole/soul proprietor you are responsible. If you want to own your business, if you want to own your life, you have to take responsibility for the choices you make in your business and in your life. There is no insurance policy that you can buy to protect you if your decisions is not the right one.

There is no guarantee that the choices you have to make are going to be the best choices. The choices we have, are the options, alternatives, that life offers us at this moment in time and in this place. However, there is one choice that we always have, regardless of the time or place. That is the choice of not choosing.

But then, if we avoid the Choices we have, who do we blame? Who do I blame for not buying Google when it went public? There is really no answer to this question except "I take responsibility for my actions -- even if it means taking a lose".

To place blame is to surrender your freedom to others. And that is a choice, a bad choice.

Only when you take responsibility can you move forward. Only by taking responsibility for your choice, do you open up the opportunity to make a new choice.

And by learning from the past failure can you move on to success.

WHAT IS YOUR CHOICE?

Where the jobs are

There are many different reasons to set up a business or a career where one does. To be close to suppliers, raw materials, customers, transportation, etc. are some of the most common reasons. In the complex world of international commerce, these choices are even more critical. The commitment to locate is not a short term decision, despite the internet. Cost advantages in one sphere may be suddenly over turned by an environmental, technological, economic, social or political change in another.

Careers are the same way. Different skill sets are need for different industries as we all know. Steel workers concentrated around the big steel plants in the Mid-west and Great Lakes, oil workers around Texas and the Gulf of Mexico, actors in California and New York. Part of any sole/soul proprietor's business and/or career planning should include a realistic appraisal of the occupational distribution the area where you plan to settle. One place to turn for useful information is the U S Department of Labor's Mapping out a career: An analysis of geographic concentration of occupations

In a nutshell:

What you do for a living and where you live have a lot to do with each other. Explore the connection between occupation and location