tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65055032017599671332024-03-21T18:34:51.263-07:00The Entrepreneur on CampusThe Entrepreneur on Campushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14919239507639360023noreply@blogger.comBlogger318125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6505503201759967133.post-31870902748349579542014-03-30T14:42:00.004-07:002014-03-30T14:42:47.268-07:00Finding the Ready, Fire, Aim Folks
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">From the March 30, 2014 </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #336699;">New York Times</span></span></a></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> and the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://projects.nytimes.com/corner-office?8qa"><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Corner Office</span></a></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> column by Adam Bryant
and his interview with </span><em><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Tom Erickson,</span></b></em></span><em><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> chief executive of <a href="http://www.acquia.com/"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #336699;">Acquia</span></span></a>,
an open-source software company<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></em></div>
<div class="story-body-text" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<strong><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">How
do you hire?</span></strong></div>
<div class="story-body-text" data-para-count="312" data-total-count="4017" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">I ask the person
to tell me what they want to do, and what inspires them. When they have free
time, what do they choose to do? How do they work with others in difficult
situations? If you’ve had to fire people, how did you do that? How do they
think about leadership, and how do they think that’s sustained? </span></div>
<div class="story-body-text" data-para-count="329" data-total-count="4346" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">In a fast-growth
company like ours, you may come in with only one or two people reporting to
you, even though you had 500 or 800 reporting to you in previous jobs. How are
you going to deal with that? Your leadership skills and ability to influence
people are much more important than your need to have direct lines of
authority.</span></div>
<div class="story-body-text" data-para-count="149" data-total-count="4495" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">I also use a lot
of behavioral interviewing techniques. I do believe that what people did
previously is likely to be what they’ll do in the future.</span></div>
<div class="story-body-text" data-para-count="27" data-total-count="4522" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<strong><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">What else
do you look for?</span></strong></div>
<div class="story-body-text" data-para-count="420" data-total-count="4942" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">One thing I
preach a lot about is the importance of “ready, fire, aim.” There are people in
the world who are ready-aim-fire types. If I sense from an interview that they
are a ready-aim-fire person, I’ll tell them: “I don’t think this is the right
place for you. You need to be in a place where precision matters and the
ability to get the right answer will be valued. Because those won’t be valued
here.”</span></div>
<div class="story-body-text" data-para-count="27" data-total-count="4969" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<strong><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">How do
you figure that out?</span></strong></div>
<div class="story-body-text" data-para-count="292" data-total-count="5261" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">If it’s a
college student, I’ll listen to the way they talk about their studies. How
meticulous do they feel they need to be? If they’ve had other jobs, you can get
a sense of where they were comfortable and where they weren’t comfortable. Some
people are just very set in their ways.</span></div>
<div class="story-body-text" data-para-count="421" data-total-count="5682" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">I’m looking for
people who are going to jump in and own their work, who are going to risk
something, and risk failing. So you can ask questions about how often someone’s
failed or how comfortable they are about failure. Then you decide, “Is this
going to be a ready-aim-fire person or a ready-fire-aim person?” Because if you
don’t accept failure from an emotional perspective, then you’d be a bad fit for
us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
The Entrepreneur on Campushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14919239507639360023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6505503201759967133.post-64579198023049905672014-03-23T07:12:00.001-07:002014-03-23T07:12:14.337-07:00Looking for Fire in the Belly
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">From the March 23, 2014 </span></span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #336699; font-family: Calibri;">New
York Times</span></span></a><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> and the </span></span><a href="http://projects.nytimes.com/corner-office?8qa"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Corner Office</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> column by Adam Bryant
and his interview with </span><em><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Don
Knauss,</span></b></em></span><em><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> chief
executive of the <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/clorox_company/index.html?inline=nyt-org" title="More information about Clorox Company"><span style="color: #336699;">Clorox Company</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<strong><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">What
did you learn in the Marines about leadership?</span></strong><br />
<div class="story-body-text" data-para-count="533" data-total-count="1150" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">I’ll tell you a
story. I was stationed on Oahu. The first day I was actually in a line unit —
after 15 months of school and training — was on Hawaii, the Big Island. There’s
a big Army base there where artillery units train and shoot live rounds. They
helicoptered me over and I took a jeep to join 120 Marines in this artillery
battery. They’d been out in the field for several weeks, and the commanding officer
had ordered hot food from the base camp because they’d been eating C rations
[canned food] for several days.</span></div>
<div class="story-body-text" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
I
had been up since 5 in the morning, and I was pretty hungry. I started walking
over to get in front of the line, and this gunnery sergeant grabbed my shoulder
and turned me around. He said: “Lieutenant, in the field the men always eat
first. You can have some if there’s any left.” I said, “O.K., I get it.”<div class="story-body-text" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> That was
the whole Marine Corps approach — it’s all about your people; it’s not about
you. And if you’re going to lead these people, you’d better demonstrate that
you care more about them than you care about yourself. I’ve never
forgotten that, and that shaped my whole approach to leadership from then
on. </span><div class="story-body-text" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"></span><strong><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">When you
got out of the Marines, did you know what you wanted to do?</span></strong><div class="story-body-text" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<strong><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"></span></strong><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">I learned in the
Marine Corps that I really liked strategy. Every operation in the military is
based on a five-paragraph order, and the acronym is Smeac — situation, mission,
execution, administration and communication. It’s a very logical flow.</span><div class="story-body-text" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"></span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">I decided to get
into brand management, and Procter & Gamble was a great training ground,
and they hired a lot of junior military officers. Procter was more of a written
than verbal culture, and business initiatives were structured through short
memos. It was almost an exact parallel of the five-paragraph order. I said, “I
could fit into that culture.” </span><div class="story-body-text" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"></span><strong><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">What were
some other leadership lessons?</span></strong><div class="story-body-text" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<strong><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"></span></strong><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">One thing I
learned very quickly was that there’s a head part and a heart part. The head
part was, how are you going to focus the organization? And it had better be
simple, and it probably should not be more than three things. You’ve got to
communicate it about 100 times and align your incentive structure to it. It’s
about distilling the complex to the simple, and I’ve seen leaders fail because
they do the reverse, by trying to make things into some intellectual exercise.
Whatever business you’re in, there are fundamentals, just like blocking and
tackling in football. It always comes back to the fundamentals. You cannot let
yourself get bored with the fundamentals.</span><div class="story-body-text" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">On the heart
side, the lesson is that it’s all about your people. If you’re going to engage
the best and the brightest and retain them, they’d better think that you care
more about them than you care about yourself. They’re not about making you look
good. You’re about making them successful. If you really believe that and
act on that, it gains you credibility and trust. You can run an organization
based on fear for a short time. But trust is a much more powerful, long-term and
sustainable way to drive an organization.</span><div class="story-body-text" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">The other
thing I’ve learned is that you’ve got to assume the best intent of people, and
that they’re really trying to do a good job. I’ve seen organizations that are
based more on fear than trust because senior management really thinks people
are trying to get one over on them, that they’re just punching a clock. People
really are trying to do a good job, and they want to be proud of where they
work. Understanding that helped make me a bit more patient.</span><div class="story-body-text" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"></span><strong><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">How do
you hire?</span></strong><div class="story-body-text" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<strong><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"></span></strong><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">First and
foremost, I’m looking for fire in the belly. I’m looking for passion. I’m
looking for energy. Is the person going to take a leading role and have an
impact on the business? I will take passion over pedigree any day of the
week. Second, are they smart? Can they think analytically,
creatively and strategically? If you don’t have the intellectual horsepower,
it’s going to be hard for people to follow you. </span><div class="story-body-text" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"></span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Third, is
there any pattern in the person’s career that shows they can develop
people? Did people move up through an organization because they were
mentored by this person? A fourth thing is, can they communicate? Can you
imagine this person on a stage, inspiring a large group? Do they have an easy,
informal manner? Or are they too formal, too focused on hierarchy? That doesn’t
work. Formality slows things down in companies. Informality speeds things up.
It is much more powerful to use authority than power.</span><div class="story-body-text" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"></span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">One of the
things I’ve learned is that as you move up in an organization, you’re given
more power. The less you use the power you’ve been given, the more authority
people give you, because they think: “You know what? This guy’s O.K.”
Persuading people to do things — come along with me because we’re going in the
right direction — is much more powerful over time. </span><div class="story-body-text" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">The last
thing I look for is the values of the person. Do they tell the truth, but do
they also stand up for what they think is right in the company? It starts
with integrity, which is really the grease of commerce. You get things done
much more quickly when people trust you. <o:p></o:p></span><figure aria-label="media" class="media photo embedded has-adjacency has-lede-adjacency layout-small-vertical" data-media-action="modal" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/03/23/business/23-CORNER/23-CORNER-master180.jpg" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" role="group" style="margin: 1em 40px;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-style: normal; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></em></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
</figure></div>
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The Entrepreneur on Campushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14919239507639360023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6505503201759967133.post-72680853340905277862014-03-02T11:25:00.001-08:002014-03-02T11:25:35.158-08:00Find the Voids and Fill Them
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #333333; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">From the March 2, 2014 </span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/"><span style="color: #336699;">New York Times</span></a><span style="color: #333333;"> and the </span></span></span><a href="http://projects.nytimes.com/corner-office"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #336699; font-family: Calibri;">Corner Office</span></span></a><span style="color: #333333; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> column by Adam Bryant and his </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/02/business/sheila-talton-on-helping-employees-up-the-ladder.html?ref=business&_r=0"><span style="color: #336699;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">interview
with <b><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sheila Talton</span></b></span></span></a></span><em><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">, chief executive of <a href="http://graymatteranalytics.com/"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #336699;">Gray
Matter Analytics</span></span></a>, a consulting firm for financial services and
health care</span></em><em><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-style: normal; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">.</span></em></div>
<div class="story-body-text" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<strong><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">How
do you hire?</span></strong><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">There are
certain people who love change, and some who don’t do well with change. And
change is part of being in technology. One of the things I’ve learned in
selecting people is to discern who will thrive on change and then put them in
roles where the waters are going to be choppy.</span><br />
<div class="story-body-text" data-para-count="591" data-total-count="3823" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">One question I
ask is, “Tell me about a situation, either with one of your former bosses or
perhaps with a client, where it was really difficult and the outcome was not
good.” What I listen for is how much ownership and responsibility they showed
in trying to steer through the choppy waters. If they show leadership, that
says to me that they welcome change. Another question I ask is, “Tell me about
your successes and how you accomplished them.” I listen for words like “we” and
“us.” If I hear a lot of “I’s,” that tells me a lot about their ability to
collaborate.</span></div>
<div class="story-body-text" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">I’m really
looking for transformational leadership — leaders who actually drive
transformation rather than just reacting to it. In the technology world,
there’s a number of very successful, large corporations that are now finding
themselves having to react to transformational change. Some of that is just
because you get to a certain size, and it’s just so difficult to turn the ship
as quickly as you need to. That’s why you have most of the innovation coming
out of smaller, more nimble companies.</span></div>
<div class="story-body-text" data-para-count="55" data-total-count="4388" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<strong><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">What
advice do you give to graduating college students?</span></strong></div>
<div class="story-body-text" data-para-count="207" data-total-count="4595" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">One of the
things I say to them is: “Find the voids and fill them. There’s no shortage of
things that are not getting done. In large organizations and small ones, there
are always voids. Go fill them.”</span></div>
<div class="story-body-text" data-para-count="23" data-total-count="4618" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<strong><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Other
mentoring advice?</span></strong></div>
<div class="story-body-text" data-para-count="348" data-total-count="4966" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">One thing I’ve
done a lot over the years is to push my stars out. I’ve had a number of people
who worked for me who were really good at what they did. And many times, when I
would be sitting in meetings with my peers and they’d say, “I’ve got to hire
somebody to do this,” I often would offer up some of my people for them to
interview.</span></div>
<div class="story-body-text" data-para-count="258" data-total-count="5224" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Many of them
would ask me why, and there are a few reasons. It’s very important that my team
know that I’m invested in their career. Second, it’s the right thing for the
organization. Third, it gives me influence in that other part of the
organization.</span></div>
<div class="story-body-text" data-para-count="86" data-total-count="5310" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<strong><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">But a lot
of managers want to hold on to their stars because they help them look good.</span></strong></div>
<div class="story-body-text" data-para-count="227" data-total-count="5537" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Well, eventually
you’re going to lose them anyway. You may as well be proactive, because people
don’t forget that. Then, if you need anything in that part of the organization
where they’re now working, they will help you.</span></div>
<div class="story-body-text" data-para-count="216" data-total-count="5753" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">But you’re
right. Many managers actually try to hoard their people, especially their good
ones. Then, with the ones they want to get rid of, they’ll say to you, “You
know, I’ve got just the person for you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-style: normal; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></em></div>
The Entrepreneur on Campushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14919239507639360023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6505503201759967133.post-5984955539215929452014-02-23T10:21:00.001-08:002014-02-23T10:21:13.773-08:00Hiring By Listening to the Narrative of People’s Lives
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">From the February 23, 2014 </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/"><span style="color: #336699; font-family: Calibri;">New
York Times</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> and the </span><a href="http://projects.nytimes.com/corner-office"><span style="color: #336699; font-family: Calibri;">Corner
Office</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> column by Adam Bryant and his interview with </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/23/business/david-rosenblatt-of-1stdibs-on-teamwork-at-the-top.html?ref=business&_r=0"><span style="color: #336699; font-family: Calibri;">David
Rosenblatt</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, the Chief Executive of </span></span><em><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-style: normal; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://www.1stdibs.com/favicon.ico"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #336699;">1stdibs</span></span></a>, an online marketplace
for high-end goods including art, antiques, jewelry and furniture.</span></em></div>
<div class="story-body-text" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<strong><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">(Tell Us About) Other
important lessons you’ve learned over your career?</span></strong></div>
<div class="story-body-text" data-para-count="1" data-total-count="2452" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">When I was first
promoted to C.E.O., the hardest thing to figure out was, how do I spend my
time? On any given day, a C.E.O. could do almost anything or nothing, and it
would likely have little or no impact on the company, at least in the short
term. So I had to develop a set of rules to figure out how to manage my time.</span></div>
<div class="story-body-text" data-para-count="528" data-total-count="3302" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">I learned Rule
No. 1 from Irv Grousbeck, who teaches an entrepreneurship class at Stanford
Business School. And that is, very simply, “You can hire people to do
everything but hire people.” Rule No. 2 that I think about every day is, “Only
do the things that only I can do.” So if it’s someone else’s job to do it, I
try not to do it. If I find myself doing too many of those things that are
actually someone else’s job, then it relates back to Rule No. 1 — I probably
don’t have the right person in that role.</span></div>
<div class="story-body-text" data-para-count="515" data-total-count="3817" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">But just like
anyone in any role, it’s important to understand, where is my comparative
advantage? What am I better at than almost anyone else? To the extent that
there is something you’re better at than most other people, you should do it,
and then you should just make sure that your team complements you. The hard
thing for many C.E.O.’s, because this job requires a certain level of
confidence, is to figure out what you’re not good at and acknowledge that, and
then hire to offset your own limitations.</span></div>
<div class="story-body-text" data-para-count="1" data-total-count="3818" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<strong><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">What else
about your leadership approach?</span></strong><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span></div>
<div class="story-body-text" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><!-- ADXINFO classification="Marketing_Module" campaign="nyt2014_300x250_module_marmaladecake_hp_ros" priority="1000" isInlineSafe="Y" width="336" height="280" -->I
try to invest quite a bit of time in developing chemistry and sense of team
among my direct reports. Generally my feeling is that companies are like
families, in the sense that if the parents get along, then it’s likely that the
rest of the family will be relatively harmonious. But if the parents don’t get
along, it’s highly likely that there’s going to be conflict in the rest of the
family that, to some degree, mirrors the conflict between the parents.</span></div>
<div class="story-body-text" data-para-count="185" data-total-count="4512" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">And if the
executive team is talented and unified in their approach, treats each other
with respect and communicates openly, their behavior will be mirrored by
everybody in the company.</span></div>
<div class="story-body-text" data-para-count="1" data-total-count="4513" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<strong><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">How do you
hire? What questions do you ask?</span></strong><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span></div>
<div class="story-body-text" data-para-count="298" data-total-count="4855" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">My approach is
pretty straightforward. I like to ask people to walk me through their lives
from the time they were young through the present. I pay particular attention
to transitions, because I think that says a lot about people’s values and
judgment, and the basis on which they make decisions.</span></div>
<div class="story-body-text" data-para-count="228" data-total-count="5083" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Why did you pick
this school instead of that school? Why was this the right first job? Why did
you take two years off? When you left that company, what choices did you have,
and why did you pick Door No. 1 instead of Door No. 4?</span></div>
<div class="story-body-text" data-para-count="415" data-total-count="5498" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">I find that if
you listen to the narrative of people’s lives, you get a better sense of them
as people and as professionals than any other approach I’ve taken. It can also
uncover whether there might be problems. People are creatures of habit, and
they tend to repeat patterns, even in different contexts. Do they have a
pattern of job-hopping? That is a particularly deadly characteristic, in my
point of view.</span></div>
<div class="story-body-text" data-para-count="301" data-total-count="5799" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">It’s O.K. — in
fact, it’s a positive — to make mistakes in judgment at some point in your
life. But did the person understand it? Did they take the time to figure it
out? Did they then repeat it? It’s not really what they did that is important
to me. It’s how they reached those decisions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
The Entrepreneur on Campushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14919239507639360023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6505503201759967133.post-42677939871493481942014-02-02T10:36:00.003-08:002014-02-02T10:38:31.100-08:00It's Not 'Gotcha' Time!<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">From the February 2,
2014 </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/"><span style="color: #336699; font-family: Calibri;">New York Times</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> and the </span><a href="http://projects.nytimes.com/corner-office?8qa"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Corner
Office</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> column by Adam Bryant and his interview with </span></span><em><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Jody Greenstone Miller</span></b></em><em><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">, co-founder and C.E.O. of
the <a href="http://www.businesstalentgroup.com/contact-us"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #336699;">Business Talent Group</span></span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<br />
<div class="story-body-text" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<strong><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">How
do you hire?</span></strong></div>
<div class="story-body-text" data-para-count="304" data-total-count="4865" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Most people I
interview have demonstrated that they’re successful at something. It’s my job
to figure out what they’re good at, and that’s how I approach it. So it’s not a
“gotcha,” but instead trying to understand, “Where are you going to succeed,
and where are you going to be happy?”</span></div>
<div class="story-body-text" data-para-count="440" data-total-count="5305" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">I don’t believe
in talking someone into a job. I spend a lot of time trying to understand where
the person will thrive and what they want. They have to want to do the actual
job we’re hiring for. So I like to paint a granular picture of the job — “Here
is what you will do, and here are the hard parts and the parts that may not be
so much fun.” I don’t want anyone to come in and say, “I didn’t realize I had
to do this.”</span></div>
<div class="story-body-text" data-para-count="258" data-total-count="5563" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">A favorite
question is, “Tell me the things that you didn’t like about your last job.”
When you learn the things that get under people’s skin and make them
dissatisfied, you can make the judgment about whether they’re going to work in
your culture.</span></div>
<div class="story-body-text" data-para-count="290" data-total-count="5853" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">I think you want
optimistic people who are problem solvers, not problem spotters. It’s easy to
analyze what’s wrong, but if you come in and say, “I have an idea; here’s
something we can do,” that’s so wonderful. You want people who give you energy,
and not take energy from you.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<em><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-style: normal; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></em> </div>
The Entrepreneur on Campushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14919239507639360023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6505503201759967133.post-56321303247507954302013-11-04T08:02:00.001-08:002013-11-04T08:02:23.096-08:00On Leadership...from David Cote of Honeywell
<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">From the November 3, New York Times and the </span><a href="http://projects.nytimes.com/corner-office?8qa"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Corner Office</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> column
by Adam Bryant and his interview with </span></span><em><b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">David Cote</span></b></em><em><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">, <a href="http://honeywell.com/About/Honeywellleadership/Pages/david-cote.aspx" title="Biographical information."><span style="color: #004276;">chairman and chief
executive</span></a> of <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/honeywell_international_inc/index.html?inline=nyt-org" title="More information about Honeywell International Inc"><span style="color: #004276;">Honeywell</span></a>,<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;">
<b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What are some leadership lessons that you’ve learned over
the course of your career?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I have a reputation for being decisive. Most people would
say that being decisive is what you want in a business leader. But it’s possible
for decisiveness to be a bad thing. Because if you’re decisive, you want to
make decisions — give me what you’ve got, and I’ll make a decision. I’d say
that the lower you are in an organization, you can get away with a lot of that
and you’ll be applauded for it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But with bigger decisions, you can make bigger mistakes,
so you have to really think about the kind of decision you’re making. Is this
the kind that’s easily reversible? Or is this one where, if I make a decision
and I’m wrong, there can be significant ramifications? Then I’ve got to think
about it a little differently. As itchy as I might be to make a decision, what
I’ve taught myself to do is to tell everybody that this is a preliminary
decision, and we will go through it again in 48 or 72 hours, or however much
time I think we have. It’s important to get it right. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’ve also had to think about the kind of people I put
around me. If I’m very decisive and I surround myself with people who just want
me to make decisions, then we’ll go off the cliff at 130 miles an hour, because
at some point I’ll be wrong. What I need are people who want to come to their
own conclusions and are willing to think independently, and can argue with me
in the right way so that I will internalize it and keep it objective as opposed
to emotional. </span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There’s this phrase I use a lot when I teach leadership
classes at Honeywell: Your job as a leader is to be right at the end of the
meeting, not at the beginning of the meeting. It’s your job to flush out all
the facts, all the opinions, and at the end make a good decision, because
you’ll get measured on whether you made a good decision, and not whether it was
your idea from the beginning. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;">
<b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What are the most important points you try to convey in
those leadership classes?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We have 12 behaviors that we talk about at Honeywell, but
people often ask: What’s the most important one? They’re all important, but I
finally said: “O.K., I could pick two and say that these two drive everything
else.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The first one is you have to get results, and you have to
get them the right way. Because I don’t want to just make the numbers this
quarter at any cost. I want to make the quarter, but make it with the right
kind of disciplines in our processes so that we make the quarter three years
from now and five years from now. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
second one is that you have to be self-aware and a learner. I’ll tell them that
as you go from one job to another, there are usually two failure modes. One is
“this is what I did in my last job, so this is what I’m going to do in my new
job.” The other is “boy, this is all new, I don’t know anything, and I’ve got
to build consensus and just get everyone to agree.” The trick is in the 80-20
rule. Eighty percent of what you did is still right. With the 20 percent, you
have to adjust. But figuring out which part is the 80 and which is the 20 is
the tough part. You’re going to have to adjust, and you’re going to have to
figure it out for yourself. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here
is the link to the entire article: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/03/business/honeywells-david-cote-on-decisiveness-as-a-2-edged-sword.html"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/03/business/honeywells-david-cote-on-decisiveness-as-a-2-edged-sword.html</span></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
The Entrepreneur on Campushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14919239507639360023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6505503201759967133.post-39155417209455950662013-10-24T13:36:00.003-07:002013-10-24T13:36:49.148-07:00On Internships...
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">I wrote the following for the Huffington
Post, which was published on October 14, 2013:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">In today's job market, a college
degree is not a guarantee of a good job. Today's graduate needs every advantage
and a good internship can give them that edge. It's a wonderful way for a
student to experience the real world of business, a "practice run"
before they begin their actual careers. For many, it's going to be a wake-up
call when they discover that their job isn't going to be at all like what
they've seen on TV sitcoms. Many of our young undergrads are shocked when
confronted with the realities of the business world. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">I once had a concerned sophomore
come to my office with a pressing question, "Professor Kruczek, is it true
that in the business world you are going to work 40 hours a week?" I
couldn't help but chuckle when I assured him that was not the case. But before
I could elaborate, he replied in obvious relief, "I'm so glad, because I
can't imagine what you could do in a job for 40 hours!" He was shocked
when I informed him that there would be plenty to do for 40 hours, and that the
reality was that he would more likely be working 50 or 60 hours per week when
he began his career. That student would have benefited from an internship. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">I am a strong supporter of
internships for undergraduate and MBA students. In almost every case it turns
out to be a win for the student, and a win for the employer. This is in line
with Lynn University's philosophy that emphasizes experiential learning and a
real world education in addition to the traditional classroom. We require all
of our undergraduate business students to take at least one internship course
and depending on the business major, the student might be required to take more
than one internship.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">These internships are offered to
our students in tandem with an educational course, which means that our
students earn 3 academic credits plus the work experience that they gain. We
know that these internships are an integral part of their business education.
For some of our young undergrads, this might be the first time that they've
actually worked in a real business other than a minimum-wage summer job .<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">The benefits to the student are
fairly obvious: they gain valuable hands-on experience and get an inside look
at what the real business world involves. In many cases, they come back from an
internship excited about their future career path--they have found their dream
industry and are energized to study even harder to get ready for graduation.
Sometimes though, it's equally valuable when a student comes to the decision
that this is not the career choice for them. The reality of their internship
showed them that they need to change focus. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Whatever the outcome, we want our
students to begin their internship experiences as early as the summer after
their sophomore year. They need the first two years of classes to give them a
good academic foundation and the additional discipline and maturity to
appreciate their internships, but then the sooner they get an internship the
better. It's good for the students, and the businesses like that approach, as
it gives them the potential to have students intern within their organization
for two summers. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Another benefit to the student is
the fact that these internships are often times the pathway to full-time
employment. I can't tell you the number of executives who told me that they
landed their first full-time position as a result of an internship, myself
included. The benefit to the employer is that they can "test drive" a
possible future employee without a long-term commitment, and during that
internship period they have an eager and enthusiastic worker with a fresh
perspective.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Additionally, having completed an
internship will really help a graduate stand out in the job hunting arena.
Potential employers will be impressed with previous experience, and there will
be the possibility for a great reference. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">We value internships so much that
the Lynn University College of Business has launched <a href="http://www.lynn.edu/about-lynn/news-and-events/news/lynn-university2019s-college-of-business-and-management-creates-new-internship-initiative" target="_hplink"><span style="color: blue;">a Center for Career Preparation and Internships</span></a>. We have a
full-time director who reaches out to the business community to recruit
companies that can offer excellent internship opportunities to our students. We
vet the internships, match the students to appropriate placements, and then
help prepare our students through one-on-one counseling to get them ready for a
successful internship. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ultimately, our goal as a
university is to prepare our graduates for a successful career. When they leave
school with diploma proudly in hand, we want them to have more than just a
solid academic education. We want them to be prepared with opportunities and
experiences beyond the classroom, and internships do just that.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Here is the link to the Huffington Post page: </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thomas-kruczek/despite-recent-controvers_b_4078063.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thomas-kruczek/despite-recent-controvers_b_4078063.html</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
The Entrepreneur on Campushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14919239507639360023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6505503201759967133.post-65403306000265814202013-10-22T11:31:00.000-07:002013-10-22T11:31:13.133-07:00One Year Ago Today...
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Today is the one year anniversary of Lynn University hosting
the final presidential debate. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over one
hundred of our students had the opportunity to attend the debate, but it also
gave us the chance to embed in most of our classes in the College of Business,
topics relative to the election. On the day of the debate, Bloomberg Business
Week ran an article on “</span><a href="http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-10-22/using-the-presidential-debates-as-a-teachable-moment"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Using
Presidential Debates as a Teachable Moment</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">” which included examples of how
we used the debate in our classes. Additionally, here is a short clip on this
amazing experience.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuwQobfL3xY"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuwQobfL3xY</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
The Entrepreneur on Campushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14919239507639360023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6505503201759967133.post-49144499013395062622013-10-21T08:26:00.001-07:002013-10-21T08:26:30.526-07:00On Hiring and Not Listening
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">From the October 20, </span><a href="http://query.nytimes.com/search/sitesearch/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">New York Times</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> and the </span><a href="http://projects.nytimes.com/corner-office?8qa"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Corner Office</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> column
by Adam Bryant and his interview with </span></span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">with <b>Val DiFebo<i>,</i></b><i> <a href="http://www.deutschinc.com/#!/about/leadership" title="The Deutsch Inc. management team."><span style="color: #004276;">chief
executive of Deutsch NY</span></a>, </i>the advertising agency<i>.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;">
<b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How do you hire?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The first thing I need to know is, can they get the job
done? I’ll listen to how they tell me the stories about what they consider their
best accomplishments. I’ll ask what they like to do and don’t like to do in
their jobs, because I want to understand what would make them happy in their
jobs. I’ll ask them what they want to be doing in five years. I look for people
who want to grow, who have a vision for something that they’re interested in
implementing. I also want to hear stories of how people manage. So I’ll say,
“Tell me about a confrontation you had to have with someone you worked with and
how you resolved it.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;">
<b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What behaviors at work do you have a particularly low
tolerance for? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When someone’s not listening. They might ask a question
that makes it obvious that they weren’t really listening to what was just said.
That’s like nails on a chalkboard to me, because what it says to the people in
the room is either, “I don’t care what you just said,” or, “I disagree but I’m
not going to tell you I disagree, so I’m just going to ask you a question that
will make you say it again.” When someone asks a question that proves they
weren’t listening, you can see the reaction on everyone’s face. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
other thing is a little more subtle, but it’s not having the radar to look
around and read people’s reactions to what’s going on in a room. There’s a real
skill and an art to reading the room, and it drives me crazy when people are
not present. You have to be present. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Here is a link to the entire article: </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/20/business/val-difebo-of-deutsch-ny-on-being-direct.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/20/business/val-difebo-of-deutsch-ny-on-being-direct.html</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
The Entrepreneur on Campushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14919239507639360023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6505503201759967133.post-1626796724439968752013-10-17T07:54:00.002-07:002013-10-17T07:54:14.881-07:00Unleashing the Future of Business Conference
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">On September 25, I spoke at the conference, </span><a href="http://www.unleashingthefuture.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Unleashing the Future of Business</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">,
which was held at Lynn University. The focus of the conference was on
innovation, with the audience coming from a wide cross-section of the south
Florida business community. My speech was on the topic of <em>Dawn of a New Era; Forging
a Path Toward Innovation</em>. Here is a link to the speech:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGsPn1K8HGM&feature=youtu.be"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGsPn1K8HGM&feature=youtu.be</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
The Entrepreneur on Campushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14919239507639360023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6505503201759967133.post-50702513841238819932013-09-09T07:39:00.000-07:002013-09-09T07:40:33.048-07:00On Hiring, Career Advice and Leadership Style from the CEO of Kind Snacks<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">From
the September 8, New York Times and the <a href="http://projects.nytimes.com/corner-office"><span style="color: blue;">Corner
Office</span></a> column by Adam Bryant and his interview with </span><b><i><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Daniel Lubetzky</span></i></b><i><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">, </span></i><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">the chief executive of Kind Snacks.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;">
<b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Q.</span></b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <i>How
do you hire?</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;">
<b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A. </span></b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I ask
a lot of questions and I listen to make sure that everything is consistent,
because people can be very good at interviewing. They can sound great but you
really have to get to know them and understand them and connect things. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I rely heavily on references. The art of a reference
check is aligning a candidate’s interest with yours and making sure the
reference understands that. You don’t want the person you’re interviewing to
come work for you and fail, so you really want to impress that upon the
reference. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Reference checks are also an enormous opportunity to
strengthen the person if you do hire them — to understand how to get the most
out of that person, especially if you’re hiring somebody very senior. You learn
about their strengths and weaknesses, so they’re much more likely to have a
faster ramp-up and succeed. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I also have strong opinions about the concept of letting
people go. There are corporate environments where a person has dedicated their
life to working hard, and then they’re fired with a security person escorting
them out the door. I find that so demeaning and disrespectful. There are times
and places for that, like if somebody is intentionally doing something wrong.
And none of what I’m saying has to do with tolerating mediocrity. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But a vast majority of people who work have the best
intentions, and sometimes they don’t fit with the work. So if you took the time
to hire them and to put them in that situation, and they’re doing their best
but just not working out, I think the best practice is to do a few things: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">No. 1: Maximum communication, because if you communicate
with the person and have constructive criticism early, you might prevent a lot
of issues. A lot of problems happen because the manager doesn’t address them,
and then it’s too late. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">No. 2: If things are not working, set a plan. You have a
30-day plan, a 60-day plan. Hopefully, they get on the right course. If they
don’t, maybe it’s just that that particular job doesn’t fit them. So can you
move them to another part of the organization? You should have done enough work
during the hiring process to determine if the person has your values and your
work ethic, but maybe the skill set is not aligned with their job. So can you
find another one for them? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Try that first, and if that doesn’t work out, then at
that time come up with an elegant way for them to transition out. And we have a
different model for that. As long as it’s not someone who has bad intentions —
they’re doing their best but you’ve just determined that they need to be doing
something else — it’s much better for them to start looking for another job
while they’re employed. But they’re also going to help us find the person who
will replace them and help train them. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And by the way, in exchange for this culture of us never
treating somebody badly, we have an expectation of our employees that they
can’t just walk out because they decide to. Everyone is a stockholder, and
ownership carries responsibilities. You need to give a minimum of 60 days’
notice if you’re departing. With my direct reports, I require two years. In
exchange, I’m blindly loyal to them. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;">
<b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Q.</span></b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <i>What
career advice would you give to a class of graduating seniors?</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;">
<b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A.</span></b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> The
most important is to make sure that you talk to yourself, that you think hard
about what’s important to you and gives you meaning. When I was 19 and walking
between classes, I didn’t have a phone, so my brain would take me in different
directions. And it’s so healthy and important to be thinking, “Oh, I could have
done that better.” Or, “What about this idea?” But nowadays, we’re on our
iPhones all the time, and you don’t have time to talk with yourself, to
analyze. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’s
very important for people to know what gives them meaning. But it’s hard for
people to figure out if you’re not connecting with yourself and taking the time
to just be introspective and daydream. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;">
<b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Q. </span></b><i><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tell
me about your leadership style.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;">
<b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A. </span></b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’m
very inquisitive. I love hanging around people who can teach me. I ask a lot of
questions. And I’m very introspective and self-critical. I try hard to always
question myself and wonder: “What could I have done better? What did I do
wrong?” The culture at our company is to be self-critical, but you have to
balance that as a leader with praise for your team. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;">
<b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Q.</span></b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <i>What
else?</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A.</span></b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> We
talk a lot about “and, not but,” which is about challenging people’s
compromises. It is true that sometimes you have to choose this or that, but
many times those are false choices. Our brains help us take shortcuts to be
efficient, but sometimes the assumptions you take as givens — to help make
decisions quickly — are no longer true or have always been false. It’s
important to ask: “What do I want to achieve and what’s stopping it? Is there a
way to have my cake and eat it?” It’s about being creative. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Here is a link to the entire article:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/08/business/daniel-lubetzky-of-kind-snacks-on-reaching-multiple-goals.html"><span style="color: #336699; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/08/business/daniel-lubetzky-of-kind-snacks-on-reaching-multiple-goals.html</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
The Entrepreneur on Campushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14919239507639360023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6505503201759967133.post-52818190589894624042013-09-03T11:54:00.000-07:002013-09-03T11:57:22.453-07:00It's All About Passion<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">From the September 1, <a href="http://query.nytimes.com/search/sitesearch/"><span style="color: blue;">New York Times</span></a> and the <a href="http://projects.nytimes.com/corner-office"><span style="color: blue;">Corner Office</span></a> column by
Adam Bryant and his interview with Francisco D’Souza<b><i>,</i></b></span><i><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span></i><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">the chief executive of the information
technology company <i><a href="http://www.cognizant.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Cognizant</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;">
<i><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What are some leadership lessons you’ve learned during
your career?</span></i><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A.</span></b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> We
started Cognizant in 1994, and there was a period early on when I personally
knew everyone in the company. Now we have 160,000 employees, and there were
several personal and rapid transitions over that time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The lesson I learned is that when you have to evolve that
quickly as a person, you need to be aware of two things. One is personal blind
spots and the other is personal comfort zones. Those two things can be real
gotchas. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’s very hard to see your blind spots, by definition,
and it’s very easy to fall into comfort zones, because people like patterns and
a sense of familiarity. I’ve tried consciously to say, “What are the tools I
can use to identify these blind spots and push through comfort zones?” And I
always tell myself that if I wake up in the morning and feel comfortable, I’m
probably not pushing myself hard enough. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Q.</span></b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <i>And
what are the tools to help you see your blind spots?</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A. </span></b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">One is
just talking to other leaders. The conversations with them help me because they
are, in a sense, a mirror — I can assess what I think they’re doing well, and
where I think their blind spots are. It’s easier to see someone else’s blind
spots than it is to see your own, of course, and you can use that to reflect on
what your own blind spots are. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I also learned a lot from the people who work for me.
Before I took over as C.E.O. in 2007, the board gave me the benefit of some
time. I worked with a coach for a while, and he talked to about 20 people who
worked for me, above me and around me, and to my board. It was difficult
feedback, but very enlightening. That helped me identify a couple of my blind
spots. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Q. </span></b><i><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Can
you share one?</span></i><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A.</span></b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> There
was a lot of feedback from my team that people had confidence in my ability,
but they also said that when I criticize something they’ve done, the weight of
that is very pronounced and significant. It made me understand that the weight
of my words was a lot heavier than I gave myself credit for, and it led me to
be much more thoughtful and measured in how I give feedback. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Q.</span></b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <i>How
do you hire? </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A. </span></b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’m
looking for passion. The person I’m hiring needs to have passion for what
they’re doing, and they need to understand where that passion comes from. They
need to be in touch with that. You need to know what drives you. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And
you need somebody who’s got just raw smarts and talent and an innate ability to
learn. Because the thing about functional expertise is that unless you’re in
some very specific area, almost everything that we need to do our job becomes
obsolete quickly, and the half-life of knowledge is becoming shorter and
shorter. So do you have the personal agility to continuously renew those
skills, to reinvent yourself? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here
is the link to the entire article: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/01/business/francisco-dsouza-of-cognizant-on-finding-company-heroes.html"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/01/business/francisco-dsouza-of-cognizant-on-finding-company-heroes.html</span></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
The Entrepreneur on Campushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14919239507639360023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6505503201759967133.post-81866120457536555662013-08-26T08:11:00.000-07:002013-08-26T08:11:13.746-07:00Looking for the beasts
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">From yesterday’s <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/"><span style="color: blue;">New York Times</span></a>, and the Corner Office column
by <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/25/business/be-yourself-redfins-glenn-kelman-says-even-if-youre-a-little-goofy.html"><span style="color: blue;">Adam
Bryant</span></a> and his interview with </span><b><i><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Glenn
Kelman, </span></i></b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">chief executive<i> <span style="color: black;">of Redfin, the online real estate site.</span></i></span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<i><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How do you hire? What are you looking for? What questions
do you ask?</span></i><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A. </span></b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mostly
what I’ve learned about it is, you can’t judge a book by its cover. It’s very
hard in an interview when someone talks about their work to judge them. What
you want is to have them do the work. So when I interview engineers, I give
them a coding problem and I ask them to work through it. When I interview a
marketing person, I say, “Write a press release,” or, if you’re in P.R., “Write
a pitch.” I want to see the actual quality of their work. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The other thing that I look for is people who are beasts.
I was a dishwasher once and I kept falling behind with all the dishes, and this
guy in the kitchen yelled at me to get me going — “You’re an animal. You’re a
beast.” And I was just a very intellectual, effete kid — I was probably reading
Proust at that point in my life — and that experience made me a lot grittier
and tougher. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If I
haven’t found evidence that someone’s ever done anything hard in their lives,
then I just don’t believe they’re suddenly going to be able to jump into a
phone booth, come out wearing a cape and learn how to be tough on this job. I
want to know about anything you’ve done that’s hard, really hard. So I tend to
focus on that. </span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here
is the link to the entire article: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/25/business/be-yourself-redfins-glenn-kelman-says-even-if-youre-a-little-goofy.html"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/25/business/be-yourself-redfins-glenn-kelman-says-even-if-youre-a-little-goofy.html</span></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
The Entrepreneur on Campushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14919239507639360023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6505503201759967133.post-32164504623215014732013-08-05T06:25:00.000-07:002013-08-05T06:25:20.120-07:00How Do You Hire?
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Over the course of the last few years, I've used this blog as
a forum to share information on entrepreneurship with college students and readers.
However, I'm switching gears a bit now, and while I'm still an entrepreneur who
has found his way to teaching and working at a university, the focus of this
blog now is going to be on helping students prepare for life after college. So
much has been written lately about the need for students to be better prepared
for the job market...and since my school…Lynn University… is one of the schools
leading the charge to do just that, I thought that the blog can also be used to
help students (and anyone else interested in the topic) think about what they
need to do to prepare for and get that first job out of college. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">With that in mind, today’s piece comes from yesterday’s New York
Times and the Corner Office column by Adam Bryant. It’s helpful, as you’re
preparing for that first job, to understand how the hiring person approaches that
task and more specifically, how do they hire?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Q.</span></b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <i>How
do you hire?</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A. </span></b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
first thing I look for are the nonverbal components of one’s overall presence
and presentation. Would I buy from this person? Would I want to do business
with that individual? Do they look me in the eye? Do they have a certain energy
level? Do they seem confident? Those are the kinds of things that really matter
most. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I care less about your résumé in terms of the places you
worked or where you went to school. What I do care about is how your résumé can
give me insights into why you went from one position to another. I’m listening
for how someone weaves together the changes in their career, and why they left
one job for another. We all make mistakes. We all have setbacks. I’m listening
to why someone left. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If I see multiple positions where there wasn’t necessarily
progression, that’s always a point of concern for me. I listen closely if
someone had a position that is a major change from the rest of their career —
if there’s an outlier role. It’s not the worst thing to say, “I was laid off,
and I needed a job and so I pursued this position, I gave it a shot, but I
eventually went back to my area of specialization.” That’s perfectly fine. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But when people try to present the story of their career
so that every move was a step up, everything was perfect and everything is
wonderful, then I have to question whether they are realists. Are they going to
be someone I’d feel comfortable working with? Or are they going to be
constantly putting a spin on everything that happens? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I also don’t want anyone who’s constantly going to tell
me what I want to hear, or what they think I want to hear. I find there are
times when, if I make my view known too early, then I’ve just shaped the whole
direction of the conversation. So when I’m interviewing someone, I will ask
them how they feel about certain issues and points, and how they feel about
certain organizations. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Before
I describe how Williams Capital operates, I want to hear about their ideal
environment. I want to hear how they interact with their colleagues rather than
me saying, well, here’s the way Williams Capital is, because then I’ll just
hear something similar back from them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Here is a link to the full article: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/business/-christopher-j-williams-of-williams-capital-group-says-a-great-manager-should-expect-a-peaceful-vacation.html?_r=0"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/business/-christopher-j-williams-of-williams-capital-group-says-a-great-manager-should-expect-a-peaceful-vacation.html?_r=0</span></a></span>The Entrepreneur on Campushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14919239507639360023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6505503201759967133.post-52326136791340041652013-04-15T09:05:00.000-07:002013-04-15T09:05:08.158-07:00New Business School Building and Revised Curriculum
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">From Sunday’s
Palm Beach Post, an article on the Lynn University College of Business new
building, written by Emily Roach.</span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By <a href="http://www.palmbeachpost.com/staff/emily-roach/"><span style="color: blue;">Emily Roach</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Palm Beach Post
Staff Writer <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">BOCA RATON — <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As it revises
its business curriculum, Lynn University is building a compatible home for the
College of Business and Management, one with an open and bright design that
reflects the school’s mission of collaboration and innovation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
34,000-square-foot, platinum-level LEED certified International Business Center
is expected to open next spring. The new curriculum, which Dean Thomas Kruczek
said incorporates writing, critical thinking, presentations and seeing the
organization as a whole, kicks off with incoming freshmen this fall.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“I think those
are some of the core pillars of our College of Business, so we tried to
incorporate those into our classes,” Kruczek said. Practical preparation for
employment and the core principles “get them ready to be able to get that job
when they leave here.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’s quickly
evident how excited Kruczek is about the $14.5 million building. A poster board
of the design sits in the middle of his office, and his window overlooks the
mostly empty space where ground work has started.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Accounting for
47 percent of the student body with its 1,000 students — 800 undergraduate and
200 graduate — the business school is an integral part of Lynn.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The new
building has gained a lot of interest, and been fully funded by donations. A $3
million challenge grant was met at the groundbreaking last month. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Students will
be able to see into, and out of, the new building with its open,
multiple-window design. Inside space will be set aside for a Venture lab, where
budding entrepreneurs will develop their own businesses with the help of
faculty and community advisers, as well as team rooms and a technology
classroom.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Again, it all
complements the new curriculum.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In addition to
the traditional classes like economics and accounting, students are required to
take courses that will help them develop a career.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">During their
freshman year, business students will learn about being an entrepreneur and
developing their own brand. Sophomore year features career preparation. Junior
year advances to professional career development and juniors and seniors have a
required internship.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“We want our
students when they come here to have a sense of what the business world is
like,” Kruczek said. “So when they get out of here, when they’re ready to
leave, it’s not a surprise,”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Groundbreaking
last month was a huge affair, with VIPs, beribboned shovels and a flight
overhead by the school’s associated Burton D. Morgan School of Aeronautics
airplanes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Kruczek is used
to the handshaking, as he works to build relationships with local businesses
and business leaders.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“They wanted me
to be an outward-facing dean,” Kruczek said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Business school
alum and advisory board member Jeremy Office recently engaged the MBA students
in a project for his Delray Beach business, Maclendon Wealth Management. Office
said he has worked with universities across the country and had dozens of
interns. While he thought young business-minded students could help determine
if his clients want him to use social media, he was “leery” of the time
commitment and ultimate outcome.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“I was
overwhelmed with the quality and thought they had put into the effort and
assignment,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Successful
projects between the school and local businesses expose Lynn to more people in
the community. And they help the advisory board’s efforts as Office described:
“to develop bridges within the community.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In fact, the
new business school will have space for businesses to work at the school.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Office credits
Kruczek with pointing the school in this direction and said university
President Kevin Ross also is steering the curriculum in an important direction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“They are doing
things in very small, measured steps that are opening up opportunities and
paths that have not been available to students in the past,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Celebrating its
50th anniversary, Lynn has revamped its entire curriculum in recent years. And
with the prestige of hosting the final presidential debate last year came the
reality of spending hundreds of thousands to upgrade technology, specifically
the wireless network. This fall incoming freshman will get an iPad-mini
downloaded with course materials.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As a small,
private college, Lynn can be responsive to changes in academia and the business
climate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Part of
Kruczek’s mission meshes well with the undergraduate Dialogues of Learning, a
recent curriculum emphasis that incorporates liberal arts ideals and writing
and reading into most classes. Kruczek said employers have stressed that
graduates need to be better writers, better presenters and better team members.
They need to be able to view their organization as a whole, he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Business
schools across the country are going through a transition,” Kruczek said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The president
of the college’s accrediting body, Dennis Gash, agreed. The changes are aimed
to supply graduates that have skills employers want.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“We have
noticed that over the years that business schools and management schools have
been transitioning from more theoretical curricula to more hands-on
experiential curricula,” Gash said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The 229-member
International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education just re-accredited the
business school last year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Gash said
employers want graduates who can “communicate effectively and work in team,
especially cross-functional teams.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In other words,
employers want people who know enough about all functions of the business that
they can function in a global business environment, working on teams with
people around the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Lynn’s
international student body makes that even easier, Kruczek said. Recently in
class, he heard students talking about wages not just in terms of U.S.
conditions, but in the various countries around the world that were represented
by the students.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And the new
business world is very entrepreneurial. So it helps that Kruczek has overseen
entrepreneur centers at other universities as well as being an entrepreneur
himself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
<hr align="center" size="2" width="100%" />
</span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Features of the
International Business Center<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">34,000 square
feet<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">11 classrooms<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">12
collaborative rooms<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2 conference
room<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1 entrepreneur
center<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2 recycling
stations<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Here is a link to the story at the newspaper’s website: </span><a href="http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/business/lynns-business-school-rebuilds-curriculum-as-new-h/nXHJm/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/business/lynns-business-school-rebuilds-curriculum-as-new-h/nXHJm/</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
The Entrepreneur on Campushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14919239507639360023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6505503201759967133.post-66270955714139262362013-03-19T13:24:00.001-07:002013-03-19T13:24:24.299-07:00Playing the Matchmaker for Our Business School StudentsI wrote the following for the Huffington Post, which was published on March 18, 2013. Here is a link to the Huff Post: <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thomas-kruczek/smaller-bschools-can-play-matchmaker-too_b_2895673.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thomas-kruczek/smaller-bschools-can-play-matchmaker-too_b_2895673.html</a><br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There has been a lot written lately about how business
schools can better match their graduates with prospective employers. The March
6 <i>Wall Street Journal</i> article “In Job Hunt, B-Schools Play Matchmaker,”
by Melissa Korn is a recent example of this conversation. For me, seeing a
major national publication give this issue some ink was like breath fresh air.
Although the article focuses on large schools, it vindicates the thinking we
have championed at Lynn University—a small, independent school in Boca Raton,
Fla.</span><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Bringing business students out from behind their desks
and into the real world is a key aspect we champion, and I’d like to continue
the conversation on this topic by pointing out that you don’t have to be one of
the elites to do this. Any size school, such a Lynn, can reorient their
thinking to put “matchmaking” high on the priority list. Here are some thoughts
on how it can be done.</span><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We’ve been working with regional and national businesses,
meeting with leaders and introducing our B-School and our students. As part of
this process, our understanding of the importance of introducing the right
student to the right company has matured and become more subtle. As the article
mentions, businesses are not hiring large numbers of students at once so
they don’t want schools sending them 100 resumes. Schools need to work hard to
understand what a business wants and find the right students for them. To help
do this, we’ve moved one of our executives-in-residence who has years of
experience in the HR field over from a teaching position to a staff position to
lead these efforts.</span><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">From our experience, preparation should also be a key
part of the process. We’ve built a class, together with the business community,
into our January Term (our mini semester) that has as its theme, Career
Preparation and Internship. We tested that class this year and had overwhelming
positive feedback not only from students who took the class (we thought we
would have around 15 students in the class and ended up with 37 students) but
also from our business partners who participated in the class.</span><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s also important not to wait until a student’s senior
year. Our program also includes, in a class for freshman, Entrepreneurship and
Innovation—a section where we get students to think of their own personal
brand. They have to think about what that means to them in terms of the things
that they need to do over the course of their college and how their brand can
help them prepare for their career.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">To ensure we make any needed adjustments to adapt to the
ever-changing conditions in the business world, we are working with members of
the business community through our College's Board of Advisors to further
extend and enhance the program.</span><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We understand that the job market has changed, and we
believe that part of our responsibility includes not just helping to
prepare students for that first job, but also to help make some of those
introductions. Ultimately, as the article argues, it’s up to the student to get
the job, but we as educators have to do much more to help them get that first
job out of school.</span><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And finally, prospective parents love this initiative, so
it’s great for our marketing. Students entering B-school today have a higher
expectation of assistance as they know the job market still lags the recovery
and landing that first job may require a team effort.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
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The Entrepreneur on Campushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14919239507639360023noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6505503201759967133.post-21279548538055859992013-03-05T11:58:00.000-08:002013-03-06T09:23:30.778-08:005 Key Skills in Entrepreneurship Guest PostBrad Zomick from SkilledUp.com – the leading source of reviews and ratings including online courses, is providing the following guest post. You can find them online at SkilledUp.com as well as on Facebook and Twitter.<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Lucida Grande','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'ヒラギノ角ゴ Pro W3'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><a href="http://www.skilledup.com/"><span style="color: #0000fe;"><span class="Hyperlink1"><span style="background: white; font-family: 'Georgia Bold Italic','serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">SkilledUp.com</span></span><span class="Hyperlink1"><span style="background: white; font-family: 'Georgia Italic','serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></span></span></a></span><br />
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5 Key Skills in Entrepreneurship<br />
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He’s built many successful startups, is a prominent philanthropist and humanitarian, invests in and advises fledgling startups, and is a full time family man. We are all wondering how does Richard Branson do it? And Branson is not alone. He stands in an elite group of entrepreneurs like Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Jack Dorsey, and the late and great Steve Jobs. All of these entrepreneur wunderkind, have their hands in many cookie jars, and somehow are able to turn each cookie jar into a full scale cookie factory, without breaking a sweat. While they are all smarter than your average bear, they all possess a combination of crucial skills that have helped them every step of the way. If you hope to follow in their footsteps, and become the latest Silicon Valley entrepreneur, you are going to want to develop your skills in one or more of the following areas:<br />
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Leadership & Decision Making<br />
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It takes a special type of leader to be at the helm of a tech startup, and that person is one part manager, one part technician, and one part evangelist. That leader needs not only needs to monitor what is going on within the company and figure out how to do it better, but also prioritize and figure out what needs to be done now while keeping pace with competitors in the marketplace and maintaining the inspiration and drive of employees. It’s a delicate balancing act and there are many tough decisions to be made that will leave the most confident people second-guessing themselves. Many tech entrepreneurs are not natural born leaders but they learn quickly! Case in point, Mark Zuckerberg and Groupon’s Andrew Mason cut their teeth in leadership via public trial-by-fire, since their companies IPO’ed last year. Both made questionable leadership moves that were publicly lambasted by Wall Street and news media. Save yourself some public embarrassment and start looking for leadership opportunities ASAP.<br />
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Communication<br />
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Communication may have most of you saying, “No duh!” but more often than not the pace and tempo of a startup is so intense and quick, people forget to communicate and important ideas and messages get lost in the shuffle. So it’s best to over-communicate, communicating early and often ensuring all of the major stakeholders are on the same page. Messaging is equally as important, and good leaders communicate a positive vibe that keeps employees engaged and excited about their company and products. Howard Schultz, Starbucks chairman, knows this because his ability to share collective passion around a common purpose is what took Starbucks from a single coffee shop to the global chain it is today. <br />
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Sales & Persuasion<br />
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Being able to sell and persuade is not just about closing the deal. It’s also about being about to motivate and inspire employees, customers, partners, and investors. A lot of this boils down to people skills, which can be rehearsed and refined. One tech entrepreneur that has mastered this skill is Marc Benioff of Salesforce.com. He is not only the Chief Executive Officer but also the Chief Evangelical Officer, and has rallied a loyal army of Salesforce.com employees that share in his vision and help him evangelize the Salesforce product. Go to one of Salesforce’s free Dreamforce conferences and you witness them not only dishing out the Kool-Aid but drinking it too. Not everyone is a natural salesman, so get a leg up on and start putting yourself out in positions that require to you to promote yourself or a product or service.<br />
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Programming Skills<br />
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While this one seems like a no-brainer, we would be remiss if we did not mention it. All the rock star entrepreneurs listed above all had serious programming chops, and worked at it for years before achieving mastery. According to Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers, it takes 10,000 hours to get to a level of mastery in a subject. It’s no surprise that Bill Gates and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, started coding in junior high at the age of 13. Similarly, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak started tinkering with computer boards at age 14. Recently, the 10,000 Rule is being contested by serial entrepreneur and meta-learning guru, Tim Ferris, but until you master meta-learning, the art of mastering subjects in a short period of time, we suggest picking a programming language and start coding now!<br />
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Flexibility<br />
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As an entrepreneur, you can’t prepare for every emergency scenario but you can be ready to think and act quickly. Sometimes the pace of work is frenetic so when an issue pops up, a good entrepreneur can face it head on or duck, swivel, and move in another direction. Peter Thiel exemplified this with a classic business pivot. He founded Confinity in 1999 to process payments between Palm Pilots. We all know the Palm Pilot fizzled out, but Thiel changed directions and Confinity became what we know today as PayPal. Being able to flex does not just apply to tough situations, but also to being able to read the tea leaves of your industry, understand what consumers want, and evolve to meet those needs. In this sense, Steve Jobs was a true visionary. He realized that there was an opportunity in the MP3 player space and developed the iPod, which not only revitalized Apple’s brand but revolutionized the music industry as we know it.<br />
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Conclusion<br />
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Sadly, there is no go-to guide for becoming a successful entrepreneur. Each successful entrepreneur has his or her own unique story. However, they all have one or more common threads, and those are the core skills that it takes to successfully take a product or service from an idea to a market launch. All of the aforementioned entrepreneurs possessed at least one of the above skills, if not more. So if you fancy yourself to be the next Larry Ellison, Jeff Bezos, or Bill Gates, don’t just sit there, get out and start trying to develop your entrepreneur skillset!<br />
<br />The Entrepreneur on Campushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14919239507639360023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6505503201759967133.post-69345063620452637142013-02-27T07:35:00.003-08:002013-02-27T07:36:05.977-08:00Want to Be Taken Seriously?One topic that I think of often is the quality of writing in today’s students. At the College of Business at Lynn University this is a point of emphasis in our curriculum…but when I saw Dave Kerpen’s post… and besides sending it to my faculty, I knew that I had to include here in the Entrepreneur on Campus. So, from Dave Kerpen and his outstanding post, Want to Be Taken Seriously? Become a Better Writer :<br />
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<em>The number of poorly written emails, resumes and blog posts I come across each month is both staggering and saddening. Grammar is off. There are tons of misspellings. Language is much wordier or more complex than necessary. Some things I read literally make no sense at all to me.</em><br />
<em><br /></em><em>Writing is a lost art, and many professionals don’t realize how essential a job skill it is. Even if you’re not a writer by trade, every time you click "Publish" on a blog, "Post" on a LinkedIn update, or "Send" on an email, you are putting your writing out into the world.</em><br />
<em><br /></em><em>Your writing is a reflection of your thinking. Clear, succinct, convincing writing will differentiate you as a great thinker and a valuable asset to your team.</em><br />
<em><br /></em><em>If you want to be thought of as a smart thinker, you must become a better writer. If you want to be taken seriously by your manager, colleagues, potential employers, clients and prospects, you must become a better writer. </em><br />
<em><br /></em><em>It's not just you who must become a better writer- it’s all of us. I'll be the first to admit, I too have had to learn to become a better writer. So here are five ways that I've become a better writer over the last several years:</em><br />
<em><br /></em><em>1) Practice, practice, practice. The old joke comes to mind: A tourist in New York asked a woman on the street, “How do I get to Carnegie Hall?” and she replied, “Practice, practice, practice.” The truth is, the best way to get better at anything is to do it repeatedly. Write a personal blog or begin that novel you’ve always wanted to write. Offer to write some content for your company’s marketing team. Write a short, interesting LinkedIn update each day. The more you write, the better you’ll become at writing. That's why I write here on LinkedIn every Monday and Thursday, no matter what.</em><br />
<em><br /></em><em>2) Say it out loud. I read all of my articles and books out loud before I publish them, and many of my emails out loud as well. It’s great to hear my writing the way others will “hear” it as they read. Especially since tone in emails is difficult to convey, it’s valuable to say what you’re writing aloud, and then consider a quick edit, before you put it out there.</em><br />
<em><br /></em><em>3) Make it more concise. Less is often more, so during my editing process, I’ll often ask, “How can I say the same thing in fewer words?” People don’t have time to read a long email, or memo, or article, so out of respect for your intended audience, practice making your writing short and sweet. I’d even argue that tweeting has helped me a lot with this, as it obviously limits you to 140 characters. If you’re not on Twitter yet, this is another reason to get tweeting.</em><br />
<em><br /></em><em>4) Work on your headlines. A mentor once told me that 50% of your writing is the headline. So, spend equal time and energy working on your headline as you do the piece itself. Whether it’s the headline of a blog post or an inter-office memo, or a subject line for an email to a sales prospect, your headlines will either grab your reader’s attention, and get them interested in what you have to say, or not. Lists and questions work very well as headlines and subject lines. Practice them.</em><br />
<em><br /></em><em>5) Read. Besides practicing writing, the number one way to improve your writing skills is to read great work. I read at least one book per month, at least 20 articles per week, and countless tweets, Facebook posts and emails per day. I know we all have limited time, but truly the best way to become a better writer is to become a better reader.</em><br />
<em><br /></em><em>These are my methods for becoming a better writer. Now, I’d love to hear from you! Do you agree or disagree with me that all business professionals can work to become better writers? How important is good writing to you? And how have you become a better writer over your career? Let me know in the comments below!</em><br />
<em><br /></em><em><br /></em><em><br /></em>The Entrepreneur on Campushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14919239507639360023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6505503201759967133.post-50944838740768759122013-01-22T12:24:00.004-08:002013-01-22T12:25:55.907-08:00Tip for College Freshman…and No, It Isn’t Follow Your Passion<br />
Here’s my blog that appeared last week in the Huffington Post:<br />
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Telling a college freshman to "follow your passion, do what you love and a rewarding career will follow," is usually as futile as encouraging them to begin saving for a retirement account. It may be good advice, but it's premature. Most of them have yet to discover just what it is they are passionate about, since up to this point their "passion" has simply been to graduate from high school and be admitted to their top pick college or university. <br />
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Yes, there are those lucky few who enter college knowing exactly where they want to go in life and are driven to get there. They certainly don't need to be told to follow their passion... they are already doing just that. In fact, it's dragging them relentlessly forward.<br />
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Other students had a consuming hobby or interest in high school but find that their passion is not going to translate directly into a lucrative career. Realistically, only a minute number will get a chance to enter the world of professional sports, or become A-list movie stars, or win multi-million dollar recording contracts. In the wider world of the college campus they find that their talent is not as great as their passion, and their goals must change. <br />
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Telling most students to 'follow their passion' won't work because they don't know themselves well enough to know what that passion is. My tip for students? Learn about yourself to discover your passions -- and that will be your path to success. <br />
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A good first step is to start with the basics. For example, this fall, all of our incoming freshman in the College of Business will be taking a talent assessment. They'll create a personal SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) that will be a huge help in their self-awareness, and will be an invaluable tool in career planning. The fact is, not every student is right for every career. What they learn about themselves in this assessment can also give them another clue into finding a passionate direction for a career. <br />
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The goal is to try to expand their thinking and take them outside the box to find career options. Sometimes it's not about what they like, but why they like it. They may discover that the field they enter is less important than the type of job they do: a passion for "teamwork," or "a desire to work alone" can find fulfillment in many fields. <br />
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We also encourage our freshman to immediately take a course in a major they are considering. Many schools don't allow it until junior year, but we want them to know right away if it sparks an interest or not. Too often students will choose a college major not because of their interests, but because their best friend did, or because that's what their mother wants, or because they think they will make a lot of money. By letting them "test drive" a major early, they find out quickly if they have a genuine interest in it or not. <br />
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College is all about discovery. New facts, new knowledge, new skills. But to truly help our students find the path to success, we must go beyond academics, we need to also give them the tools and opportunities to discover the passion inside themselves.<br />
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Here’s the link to the piece in the Huffington Post: <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thomas-kruczek/college-freshmen_b_2481987.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thomas-kruczek/college-freshmen_b_2481987.html</a> <br />
<br />The Entrepreneur on Campushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14919239507639360023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6505503201759967133.post-23689482718161563522013-01-21T05:31:00.001-08:002013-01-21T05:31:17.067-08:00How Curious Are You?I’ve been spending time with our students who just completed a Career Preparation class in the January Term, and talking with them about interviewing particularly for that first internship or job. So naturally, I’m looking in the press for things related to that topic that I can pass along to them as well as to our more experienced alumni. On that topic, take a look at yesterday’s New York Times, The Corner Office by Adam Bryant and his interview with Kon Leong, the co-founder, president and chief executive of ZL Technologies, an email and file archiving company located in San Jose, California. From the article:<br />
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<em>Q. How do you hire? If you were interviewing me for a job, what would you ask me? </em><br />
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<em>A. I would want to know your goals for the job. Is it money? Learning? Fulfillment? What is it? I would try to figure out if our environment suits your goals. I would not try to sell you to get you to take the job. I also will ask, “How curious are you?” </em><br />
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<em>Q. I imagine that most people simply say, “Very.” </em><br />
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<em>A. But then I’d ask, “Outside the headlines, what were some of the most interesting things you’ve noted in the last couple of weeks, and tell me why, and what did you do about it?” That would reflect what you think is interesting, and that tells me a fair bit. If you can cite many disparate topics, that’s a step in the right direction. The point is, we’re trying to find the right fit. In a fast-changing environment, you need to learn more and more and more. There’s so much to learn, and you can’t be taught all the permutations and combinations of the answers, so you have to learn on your own. And to learn on your own, you need curiosity. </em><br />
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<em>Q. What other questions? </em><br />
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<em>A. I’ll ask: How willingly do you accept stuff, and how willing are you to question things? How creative are you in finding your own answers? For example, everyone knows in school that you cannot divide by zero. Why? I try to find if they’ve actually questioned things like that at any time. The point is, we’re usually handicapped by our own borders, and we will not think beyond them. I think there’s one rule of thumb in creativity: when you’re brainstorming, you have to suspend disbelief. That’s a key ingredient. There’s time enough to challenge it and poke holes, but not at the time of generation. </em><br />
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<em>I’ll also change the subject to one where they have some expertise. So I’ll ask what their passions are, and then I’ll ask questions. If it’s ornithology, I’ll start talking about the evolution of birds and ask questions like, “How do you think reptiles got feathers?” </em><br />
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<em>Q. What else do you look for when hiring? </em><br />
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<em>A. Brains and drive. Those are the basics. Without them, it’s probably going to be a long shot. After we work through that, then it’s curiosity and attitude. </em><br />
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<em>Q. How do you get at the question of attitude? </em><br />
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<em>A. Are you willing to learn from your mistakes? Do you do that automatically? Are you willing to set the bar higher? Are you able to deal with failure? Can you bounce back from it? </em><br />
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<em>Q. What’s your take on the standard interview question about strengths and weaknesses? </em><br />
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<em>A. I never really ask about weaknesses, because it’s meaningless. I ask more about strengths, but I ask it from a different angle. I’m more interested in the answers from a more personal perspective as opposed to a professional environment. I’ll typically ask: How would you describe yourself in three words outside the work environment? And then: What do you consider your natural strength? What do you do that comes without any effort, that your peers struggle with and can’t even match? What is natural for you? Other skills emanate from that natural core. Someone once answered that question by saying, “People tend to just come and talk to me.” That really intrigued me. </em><br />
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For the rest of the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/20/business/kon-leong-of-zl-technologies-on-encouraging-creativity.html <br />
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The Entrepreneur on Campushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14919239507639360023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6505503201759967133.post-17941386718211026652013-01-15T09:53:00.002-08:002013-01-15T09:53:16.127-08:00Red Flags and the Hiring ProcessOne of the great things about being at a University is that you get to consider issues and then discuss them with business leaders, faculty and students. One of the topics that I’ve been considering lately is the hiring process. Companies know that it is important to emphasize the hiring process; they understand the costs involved with hiring the wrong person, but often times, other than the screening of the resumes, it’s an entirely unorganized process. Often times, when you evaluate the hiring process, you find out that everyone in the organization gets to ask whatever questions they want to ask of the prospective hire, and there is little effort to make sure that they’re hiring the <em>right person</em>, versus the person <em>we simply like the best</em>. On that topic, below is an excerpt from Sunday’s New York Times the Corner Office column by Adam Bryant, in an interview with Dinesh C. Paliwal, the Chairman, president and chief executive of Harman International Industries. From the interview:<br />
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<em>Q. What qualities are you looking for when you hire? </em><br />
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<em>A. I want to know how hungry they are. Are you hungry to get to the next level? Every day you come in the office or wherever you’re traveling, you make progress. And the next day it starts from ground zero. That’s the No. 1 thing I’m looking for. Next, I’m looking for whether they will bring the best out of the teams — and not just the peer groups, but people below them and above them. </em><br />
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<em>And I’m looking for people with courage. The higher up you go, courage becomes the No. 1 thing. If I don’t have courage to listen to my instincts and my colleagues’ critiques, I’m not going to make the right choices because generally the right choices are a little tough to execute. </em><br />
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<em>Q. So what questions do you ask? </em><br />
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<em>A. Everybody in their life has gone through the good, bad, the ugly. How did you manage the worst part? What did you learn? Then I’ll say: “If I were sitting with your boss over a beer, and I were to say, ‘I’m interviewing John for this great job and he’s fantastic. He seems to be great at this and this, but. ....’ ” Then I will ask, “What would that but be?” Some people don’t want to answer that, but some of them actually go on to tell me five “buts.” I’m looking for honesty. I’m looking for self-confidence and people who are secure in their own skin. Another thing I generally ask is, “What would your subordinates say about you?” </em><br />
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<em>Once I have decided that I want to hire somebody, there’s a final step, where I’ll invite the person and their spouse to join my wife and me for dinner. It’s a social dinner. It is an interview but it’s a not interview. And I learn things that I couldn’t learn any other way. Let’s say I’m interviewing a man. I’ll watch how he interacts with his wife. I’ll ask some of the same questions in front of his wife that I asked him before. Is he afraid to say again what he said to me? It’s amazing what you learn. </em><br />
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<em>Here’s another question I’ll ask: “Tell me about a time when you had to give an assignment to your team and it didn’t go well. What was the process? What did you learn from that?” They might say they didn’t give a clear explanation of the challenge, the problem, the difficult situation. Or maybe they didn’t have the right team in place, and didn’t get enough support. But I’m listening to whether they see the big picture. If they start talking about two or three fall guys, that’s a red flag. </em><br />
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Here’s a link to the rest of the story: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/business/harmans-chief-on-how-to-reduce-office-politics.html?_r=0">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/business/harmans-chief-on-how-to-reduce-office-politics.html?_r=0</a> <br />
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The Entrepreneur on Campushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14919239507639360023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6505503201759967133.post-24580174133311512522012-12-30T11:07:00.001-08:002012-12-30T11:07:29.089-08:00Getting and Giving Feedback in the OfficeEach Sunday morning, I get my coffee and turn to the “Corner Office” column in the New York Times. Today’s was an interview with Karen May, VP for People Development at Google and written by Adam Bryant. It deals with a favorite topic of mine …getting and giving feedback in the workplace. <br />
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From the column:<br />
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<em>Q. Many C.E.O.’s I’ve interviewed talk about how hard it is for people to give direct feedback. Have you seen that, too? </em><br />
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<em> A. Absolutely. I would say it happens for a couple of reasons. It’s simply harder to give difficult feedback than positive feedback or no feedback. It’s harder because it can be an uncomfortable conversation. It creates tension. You might be disappointing somebody or potentially leading them to feel worse about themselves. </em><br />
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<em>If you’ve identified something that isn’t going well, then you’re likely to be asked, “How do I fix it?” If you don’t know the answer, you might not want to start the conversation. I think that’s the primary reason managers don’t give feedback. They’re willing to give the feedback, but then they won’t know how to help fix it, so why start the conversation? </em><br />
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<em>As a coach, I was often in the position of giving people feedback they hadn’t heard before, after I interviewed a bunch of people they work with. It was always difficult for me, too. Just at a human level, it’s difficult to tell somebody that something that isn’t working about them. But I came to find that people are incredibly grateful. If I’m not doing well and I don’t know it or I don’t know why or I can’t put my finger on what’s not working and no one will tell me, I won’t be able to fix it. </em><br />
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<em>And if you give me the information, the moment that the information is being transferred is painful, but then I have the opportunity to change it. I’ve come to realize that one of the most valuable things I could do for somebody is tell them exactly what nobody else had told them before. </em><br />
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<em>Q. How often does that have a positive outcome? </em><br />
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<em>A. People can do something with the feedback probably 70 percent of the time. And for the other 30 percent, they are either not willing to take it in, it doesn’t fit their self-image, they’re too resistant, in denial, or they don’t have the wherewithal to change it. And the reality is that most change happens in small increments. So if you’re watching to see if someone’s changing, you have to watch for the incremental change. It’s not a straight line. </em><br />
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<em>We have people sit in chairs and they’re knee to knee. Then we start the speed-back and say, “You have three minutes to answer the question, ‘How have you experienced me during this learning program?’ ” Then the bell rings and the person giving feedback hears how the other perceived them. Many people say it’s some of the best feedback they’d ever received. We’ve experimented with different questions, like, “What advice would you give me based on the experience that you’ve had with me here?” </em><br />
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Here’s the link to entire story: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/30/business/karen-may-of-google-on-conquering-fears-of-giving-feedback.html?ref=business&_r=0">http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/30/business/karen-may-of-google-on-conquering-fears-of-giving-feedback.html?ref=business&_r=0</a> <br />
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The Entrepreneur on Campushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14919239507639360023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6505503201759967133.post-77421243127269401972012-11-11T09:36:00.001-08:002012-11-11T09:36:41.305-08:00Ethics and B-School EducationA few weeks ago, I was talking with our Marketing team here at Lynn University, and I told them about the way that we were now teaching ethics in the College of Business. As a result, they developed an information piece and placed it on our website on Thursday. The timing of the piece (which I’ve placed below) couldn’t be more relevant. In just this weekend alone, we’ve seen stories published about ethical lapses at organizations as varied as Lockheed, the BBC, and the US Government. Lance Armstrong’s issues were raised in another story, while the sports page discussed an athlete leaving a school because of alleged abuse from the coaching staff. Clearly since these five stories were topics of the news in just the last two days, then whatever we’re currently doing to instill ethics into our leaders isn’t working. <br />
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So take a look at the article below, and learn about the new model that we’re using to integrate ethics into business education. (Here is the link to the Lynn University news page: <a href="http://www.lynn.edu/about-lynn/news-and-events/news/business-dean-says-ethics-are-guiding-values-for-decision-making">http://www.lynn.edu/about-lynn/news-and-events/news/business-dean-says-ethics-are-guiding-values-for-decision-making</a>)<br />
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Published November 8, 2012<br />
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Business dean says ethics are guiding values for decision-making <br />
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“It seems the traditional separate ethics class method isn’t producing the optimum result,” said Kruczek. “We’re trying to change that.” <br />
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Unlike many business schools across the nation, Lynn University’s College of Business and Management does not offer stand-alone courses on business ethics, business communications and/or sustainable enterprises.<br />
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“We believe ethics – and other key business values – are such important topics that they should be embedded into all of our business courses,” said Thomas Kruczek, dean of Lynn’s College of Business. “The discussion of ethics, both personal and business, warrants far more in-depth attention than a one-semester class that meets twice a week.”<br />
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Lynn’s College of Business is working to change the outdated model of having only one or two courses specifically dedicated to guiding business principles. The university’s core curriculum, the Dialogues of Learning, also works to buck the trend by embedding life lessons throughout all Lynn classes.<br />
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“As educators, our hope is that we are helping to make the world a better place by training our students to enter the world as productive, contributing and ethical business leaders,” said Kruczek. “Our ethics and guiding values are at the root of every decision we make.”<br />
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ETHICAL DECISION-MAKING<br />
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Ethical decision-making is the foundation for building a successful business. However, in the wake of the financial crisis, unethical business agendas seem to garner the most attention.<br />
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“Enron, Global Crossing and WorldCom are key examples of the poor choices we hear about,” said Kruczek. “That’s one of the reasons we emphasize ethics so strongly here at Lynn. We are seeing questionable decisions in too many businesses, so it seems the traditional separate ethics class method isn’t producing the optimum result. We’re trying to change that.”<br />
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The Entrepreneur on Campushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14919239507639360023noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6505503201759967133.post-41769739677912633422012-11-05T05:57:00.001-08:002012-11-05T05:57:52.605-08:00Leadership...The Carrot or the Stick? I Vote for Salami!<br />
Part of leadership is being able to motivate people to do what you want them to do. It’s not (always) about ‘barking’ out orders…but it can be useful to treat your staff like, well... dogs. Just the other night I put my leadership/management skills to work to get my wife’s dog off the bed after he climbed up during a thunderstorm. Believe me, that was harder than it sounds. This is no labradoodle, her beloved boy is a 160 pound man-stopper, and I’m not a dog guy. I walked into the bedroom after a late football game, my wife was fast asleep, and her canine shadow was snuggled next to her with his head on my pillow! Sigh, thunder makes him nervous. <br />
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Now here’s the leadership lesson: I had a couple of choices, I could go for strong-arm dictatorial tactics or work towards collaboration. Trying to force the situation could result in opposition. The dog had his own agenda that didn’t coincide with mine. If I pushed hard he could growl (scary) and a confrontation would wake my sleeping wife (scarier.) Since I was dealing with a 160 lb immovable object with teeth, I was leaning towards negotiation and persuasion. I needed to consider both our needs, but my management goal was clear…I wanted that damn dog off the bed. The options were the classic carrot or the stick. Instead of the carrot, I went with a slice of salami. It worked, and both big boy and I were happy. For that particular situation that style worked. It wasn’t weakness... it was a win-win. In my current field (higher education) this style is a go-to choice. But leadership works different ways in different businesses, and sometimes a tougher style can be more effective. If the dog had been chomping on my cat, for instance, my management style would have been more hands-on! <br />
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Good leadership involves influencing those you lead, not about constantly dominating them. You’re not the hall monitor at school, it’s in your best interest to consider your employee’s concerns and desires (which unfortunately are not as simple as a slice of salami!) so that you can inspire and motivate them to help you succeed. When you have a choice in a situation, aim for the win, not just for you but for the other person. You can still be the “alpha” by making that choice. <br />
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The Entrepreneur on Campushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14919239507639360023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6505503201759967133.post-89344538379607805202012-10-31T14:15:00.003-07:002012-10-31T14:15:44.149-07:00From Bloomberg Businessweek About Lynn and the Presidential Debate<em>This post is an article that was published in Bloomberg Businessweek on October 22, 2012...the day of the final presidential debate which took place at Lynn University. The author of the article is Alison Damast</em><br />
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About a year ago, Lynn University, a sleepy private liberal arts school in Boca Raton, Fla., learned it was going to be one of three schools in the U.S. hosting a presidential debate on its campus. Tom Kruczek, dean of Lynn University’s College of Business and Management, knew immediately that he wanted the debate to have lasting impact on the school’s 1,000 undergraduate and graduate business students, rather than pass as just an “eventful day or week in the life of our students,” he says. He challenged the school’s faculty last year to come up with creative ways to embed the third presidential debate into their existing classes, a charge they took on enthusiastically.<br />
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“It is a wonderful opportunity to capitalize on the interest by integrating the debate and election into our classroom discussion and assignments,” Kruczek says. “It really shows students the intersection between government and business.”<br />
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Kruczek and his faculty’s efforts have paid off this fall. Students in the business school have been busy studying the debate and its economic implications in many of the school’s electives and core classes during preparations for the third and final presidential debate on foreign policy, which will take place at Lynn tonight, Oct. 22.<br />
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For example, students in the Managing Organizations class were asked to pick a presidential candidate and then write a paper that described what would happen in their prospective career field if their choice were elected. Accounting students studied the first debate and then examined the candidates’ differences on economic policy, as well as some possible tax consequences if the policies the candidates support go into effect. Even students taking the school’s aviation-management and sport-management courses have organized class projects around campaign issues that impact their sectors, Kruczek said.<br />
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Lynn’s business school is one of several capitalizing on holding presidential debates on campus. Business schools at the University of Denver and Hofstra University, which respectively hosted presidential debates on Oct. 3 and 16, have also used classroom time to study the debates. Students there spent the season analyzing candidates’ leadership styles, studying campaign finance, and examining the impact that proposed economic plans will have not only on the country’s economy, but on their own wallets, school administrators said.<br />
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For example, at Hofstra’s Zarb School of Business, finance students in the school’s investment courses were asked to analyze what impact the economic plans of each candidate would have on the value of their simulated class portfolios. In another class, undergraduate and graduate management students researched leadership styles and then posted clips of the debates online that illustrated examples of those leadership aspects, said Gioia Bales, the Zarb School’s associate dean, in an e-mail.<br />
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At the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business, accounting professor Hugh Grove discussed the second presidential debate as a capital budgeting project with his students, analyzing what some of the monetary and non-monetary benefits were for the university, the school says. Daniels also organized a number of panels around the election, including discussions on such topics as campaign finance, restoring fiscal responsibility, and the issues that will most influence swing states this year.<br />
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At Lynn, the lead-up to tonight’s debate has busied students with class discussions, in-class debates, and research presentations on debate topics related to the economy. Professor Farideh Farazmand, a professor of international business, asked students in her macroeconomics class to break into teams and research socioeconomic topics she assigned to them, such as tax cuts for working families and whether every American should have affordable heath insurance, and then debate these issues in front of their classmates. She is also having her students conduct an economic survey on the impact of the debate on the local community.<br />
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“They can now follow the campaign and debates closer because they are much more informed,” Farazmand says. “It also enhances their citizenship and personality development because this way, they will get involved. Hopefully they will vote and they’ll be more involved in community and national issues.”<br />
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Akash Isrania, 19, a freshman at Lynn’s business school, participated in one of the debates in Farazmand’s class last week, with his team tackling the issue of whether government spending on social programs should be cut. The assignment opened his eyes to many of the most pressing economic problems that Republican nominee Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama face.<br />
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“I didn’t know too much about these issues until this class, but now I can finally sit back on Monday, watch the debate, have my opinion, and know exactly what is going on,” Isrania said.<br />
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John Cipolla, another Lynn professor, is hoping the work he’s done this fall with his introductory global management class will make his students pay closer attention to candidates’ positions on international economic issues. He has asked students to select three statements made by each candidate about global trade, fact-check them, and pinpoint what economic theories they are based on. The students then made class presentations about what they believe will happen to the U.S. and global economy if some of the policies come to fruition.<br />
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Says Cipolla: “It has opened their eyes to what realistically can and can’t be done, and how much of what the candidates are talking about is actually bluster.”’<br />
The Entrepreneur on Campushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14919239507639360023noreply@blogger.com0