Greetings!

Last night a childhood friend of mine was passing through town and came over for dinner with his wife and daughter. I’ve known Wes since the 7th grade, about 39 years! He loves cars and biking and always has some event that he either just came from, or is going to in the near future. He works hard and plays hard. As we got to sharing stories last night, I began to realize that most of my stories revolved around…. W-O-R-K. Ugh. Reality hit me like a ton of bricks.

Wes had stories of skiing, biking and car racing. I had stories about Twitter and blogging. He found a round trip air fare from Seattle to San Francisco on Virgin America Airlines for $97 and decided to take advantage of it. He did some research on hotels and the rates just about everywhere are very very low. Our little evening got me thinking, and I realized that I was forgetting to live life. There is more to life than trying to survive a recession.

To bring the point home, I was listening to National Public Radio this morning and Terry Gross was interviewing John Mellencamp. During the interview, John related a story about how he got the lyrics for Longest Day and basically said that his aging grandmother told him to live life every day, because life is short, even in its longest days.

If you are Living a Life of Excellence, I’m sure you are taking care of a lot of people. Your friends, your family, your staff. Don’t forget that you also need to take care of yourself. Live a Life of Excellence… Go do something for yourself today, and Don’t Forget to Enjoy the Ride!

Greetings to all,

It seems like all we hear about these days is how bad things are. Don’t worry, I won’t depress you further by going down the list of negative events that have transpired recently. Instead I want to give you some hope that things can look differently if we just change our perspective.

While pondering “perspective”, I was reminded of my ancestors. My father’s family came from Hiroshima, Japan, but due to the atomic blast there in 1945 most of our family records were destroyed. Based on oral history, I do know that my great grandparents were farmers. Family lore suggests prior to that, my ancestors were Samurai who were forced to flee Emperor Tokugawa during the 1800′s. While I think this is pretty cool, when I told this story to my son a few years ago he said, “great, our ancestors were cowards who ran away from the Emperor.” Perspective.

On my mother’s side my lineage goes back to France, Scotland and Ireland and it is my Scottish ancestors that I want to tell you about. I am a McLeod from the Isle of Sky. During the 1600s, it appears that one of my McLeod ancestors was somehow left on the Isle of Eigg after a raid there. Legend suggest that perhaps he was drunk and either fell overboard or was just left behind. I can only imagine what my son would say about that!

This stranded Scotsman befriended a local woman and established himself in the local community. For 200 years my Scottish ancestors lived on Eigg, a small island off the coast of Scotland. During the 200 years that they were on Eigg, they lived a simple life. They were poor and thus unable to travel beyond the confines of the island. Most of them lived as either farmers or crofters. They were born there, lived there, and died there.

Isle of Eigg

They had no luxuries as we know them today. They were even poor by the standards of their own times. They lived in what appear to be huts to us.

Crofter's house

During the mid 1800′s Eigg was sold to a new landowner and he could not afford to keep many of the islanders there. The islanders had to “earn” their keep by paying the landowner taxes, but due to the bad economy, they were unable to pay him. This part of my ancestors’ tale is a bit cloudy, but apparently the landowner decided to ship all those who couldn’t pay off the island. This included my ancestors. Sometime during the 1850s or early 1860s, my Scottish ancestors were forced onto a boat and sent off to Ontario Canada.

Perspective – Many of our ancestors had a very tough life. For 200 years, all my ancestors did was live life on a little island off the coast of Scotland. They had no television, no phones, no Ipods. They had no bank accounts, no IRA’s or 401ks. They had no supermarkets, vacations or holidays. They had no modern hospitals, vaccinations or antibiotics. Many families suffered through the early death of children to disease or poverty. They had no modern house, no air conditioning or heating. They had no bowling alleys, coffee houses, amusement parks. They had no cars. They had no internet, no bookstores or libraries. They did have hard work, uncertainty and poverty. They lived at the mercy of the landowners. They had no choice in occupation. They had no possibility of education in a modern school system. They had no….. dreams. Or did they?

Can you imagine living a life like that? Yet…. my ancestors lived. They loved. They married. They had children. They had dreams of perhaps leaving that little island. They got up in the morning and did the work they could. They helped each other through both good and bad times. They ate and drank what they had. They lived. Some of them very happily.

We could view their being kicked off the island of Eigg in two ways. One is that they left the only home they knew for 200 years. The other is that they were blessed by being given a new opportunity in a new land. And thank God for that. Because I wouldn’t be here today if they had stayed.

So, what about you? Do you live a house or apartment? Are you warm and cozy at night? Do you have more than one pair of shoes? How about clothes? Even if you bought them at the salvation army, you probably look marvelous! Do you have a television? Do you have cable? Even if you don’t have cable, you still get some channels. Do you have access to antibiotics, a doctor, a nurse? Do your kids have a school to go to? Can you go to the library to borrow books? Do you have Social Security? Do you have a car? Even one that “just runs” is better than none at all. If you don’t have a car, do you have access to public transportation? Can you walk?! Do you have a cell phone or access to the internet? Is there a bakery nearby where you can get a donut and a cup of coffee? Do you have access to a market or supermaket? Can you go outside knowing that there is some law and order out there? Have you traveled further than 50 miles from your home? Can you move freely to another state? Do you have a voice in your government? Can you marry who you want?

You get the idea. Perspective. YOU are one lucky person to be alive TODAY. The entire world is becoming a land of opportunity. Our ancestors didn’t live through hard times, just to see us cave in because we lost a job or money in the stock market or the housing crash. Life is GOOD! Perspective.

So – put a smile on your face, take a deep breath of fresh air, and go out and celebrate your life.

All the best!
All the time!
JT

Power is a wonderful thing as it helps us get what we want in life. Unfortunately most of us don’t understand that there are consequences beyond getting the immediate results that we desire. We will briefly look at coercive, utility and principle-centered power and why only principle-centered power makes sense in today’s world of business.

In the world of business, managers who were trained in the “old school” philosophy that came out of the industrial revolution in the early 1900s, used coercive power to get things accomplished. They used their authority over someone and ordered people around, telling them what to do, when to do it and how to do it. Many managers still use this technique today, as they were taught that power means absolute control. While this method was effective in managing uneducated workers on the factory floor, it is no longer effective in today’s culture. When coercive power is used, it makes someone do what we want, but as soon as the source of power is removed, all work stops. Coercive power breeds a climate that will result in high employee turnover, low morale and a culture of fear and mistrust.

Somewhere during the 1960’s, businesses began to realize employees were people that had needs and desires, and that by meeting these needs they would be more productive and efficient. Human Resources was the outcome of this school of thought and power became a utility. This means that we have something that our employees want, and are willing to trade them something to get what we want. This might be money, prestige, position, vacation-time, benefits, or any other “perk” such as a corner office or a bonus. This is practiced in many businesses today and is still considered the norm in many aspects.

Utility power works, until we no longer have what an employee wants. It is interesting to watch the baby boomer generation moving through the corporate ranks. While many of us wanted “things” as we were younger, we now realize that things only bring temporary happiness. The use of Utility Power brings temporary results, based upon having what our employees want at any given time. Given enough time, Utility Power will soon lose its luster and will leave us in a position where employees leave to go somewhere else to get what they want.

Current trends suggest that people respond best to Principle-centered Power. Principle-center Power motivates people at a deep level where they will follow you, and your business, because they believe in what you are doing and trust that you have their best interest in mind. If you take a journey down memory lane, and think of the one person in your life that impacted you in a positive way, you will have an idea of what Principle-centered Power looks like. Mother Teresa is a great example of Principle-centered Power. She was committed to living a life of integrity and helping others around her. People followed her because they believed in her.

Principle-centered Power leads to partnerships being developed between you and your staff. They will be self-motivated, teachable, creative, and around for the long term. Morale will be higher and efficiencies will improve, all based on the use of Principle-centered Power.

Are you a leader that utilizes Principle-centered Power? Do people follow you because they have to, want something you have, or because they believe in what you are doing? Becoming a leader and using Principle-centered Power is not a simple thing to do. If you believe that you are using this power effectively, you probably aren’t. The Principle-centered Leader realizes that this is a life-long journey that requires constant practice and adjustment. If you want to become a Principle-centered Leader, there are seven simple things that you need to do:

• Lead with vision – Communicate the why
• Have conviction – Live what you believe
• Stop using the word “I” – Begin using the word “we”
• Care for others – Serve others – Respect others
• Encourage participation – Talk less – Listen more
• Teach others what you believe and expect them to “get it”
• Celebrate victories – Admit defeats

While the steps above are what most of us consider common sense, why don’t we all practice them more often? Your challenge is to put a plan of action together that will force you to look at these things on a daily basis. The difference between a good leader and a great leader, is moving from “knowing” these things, to “doing” these things. Are you a good leader, or a great leader?

When you go to a sporting event held in a stadium you’ll find three kinds of people there. Those on the field playing the game. Those in the stands watching. Others at the concession stand ordering some food. When you look at what they are doing, they equate to those that 1) Make things happen (on the field), 2) Watch things happen (in the stands), and 3) Wonder what happened (at the concession). So which one are you?

The players on the field didn’t get there by accident. They just didn’t happen to wander into the stadium and decide to play. The same can be said of those in the stands watching and those at the concession. The same analogy can be used to look at your life. You are where you are – because of intent. You have the same amount of time, the same basic resources, the same opportunity, as most people around you. If you are making things happen, that was a choice. If you are watching things happen, that was also a choice. And yes, being the bearer of bad news, if you are wondering what happened. Ditto. Your choice.

If you want to make things happen, you have to be intentional about it. So… what are your goals, and how are you going to get there. Don’t wait….life happens fast.

Here is a great video that I just love. Don’t blink!

All the best!
All the time!
JT

I just finished reading an article written by Thomas Friedman called Are We Home Alone?. The article, an Op-Ed in the New York Times, was about the lack of Inspirational leadership in our government and corporations. Friedman’s comments were well put and timely. I want to expound just a bit on his basic premise that Inspirational Leadership is the answer to our country’s woes at the moment.

Friedman quoted Dov Seidman who said, “Laws tell you what you can do. Values inspire in you what you should do.” He then goes on to say that it is a leaders job to instill in us these values. I couldn’t agree more. However… Houston, we have a problem.

Exactly what “values” are we talking about here? As a country, we have lost a common sense of values that is the underlying fabric of our society. I don’t want to get into an argument over what these values are, that clouds the issue. The significant thing to remember is that we, and more importantly, our leaders, have lost sight of what is right and wrong. An inspirational leader, will only solve our problems if those in Congress and our Corporate CEO’s are willing to follow a common set of values. Clearly… they are not.

Barak Obama was elected President because the majority of Americans want change. We are sick and tired of business as usual. It is emotionally exhausting to pick up the Wall Street Journal everyday, only to find another leader in Congress or Corporate America looking out for their own interests, at the expense of the rest of us. Is our common value system  based on the premise, look out for numero uno?!

We need more than Inspirational leadership. A leader with Courage to bring about change is what we need! I watched the AIG incident with great interest? Why? Because it was a defining moment for our country, and we blew it. This is a collective we. Barak Obama, Congress, AIG CEO Edward Liddy, AIG Board of Directors and the AIG employees. What happened at AIG (not to mention Merril Lynch and all the other poor leadership spectacles over the past 5-10 years) is a telling tale of the future to come.

What should have been done? Edward Liddy should have been asked to resign. The bonuses should have been rescinded. The Board replaced. I’ve heard the arguments as to why the payments had to be made. Yeah. Right. Barak and Congress should have challenged them. Take them to court. Make them pay. Even if we lose, it sends a clear signal that behavior like this will not be tolerated. What really happened? We blinked. This behavior will continue for the foreseeable future, with only the Public paying the price.

All the best!
All the time!
JT

If you have been following the economy for the past year you’ve heard it said more than once, that the complex transactions that the financial industry entered into over the past 5 -7 years are the reason our economy is currently in shreds. If we just untangle things like complex credit default swaps, the economy would quickly recover because financial institutions would be able to properly assess the value of their investments and would then be able to buy and sell them to each other. This in turn would open up the lending spigot and the consumer would then come back to life and voila, all is well.

Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! It is not the investment vehicles that are the problem. They are only a symptom of the real cause. Poor leadership. At the moment, I am f-u-m-i-n-g! Why? Let me put it to you in a story.

You’re driving along the highway when a car up ahead in the fast lane spins out of control. As you watch in horror, the car swerves into your lane and misses hitting you by inches. The car then continues to careen off the highway into a ditch along the roadside. While pulling over to give assistance you call the police and then jump out of your car, wondering what you’re going to find. As you approach the car you notice that the driver appears to be unhurt but his passenger is unconscious.

Luckily, a Highway Patrolman pulls up just as you are trying to decide what to do. Soon an ambulance is at the scene and whisks the unconscious passenger away. While waiting to give your statement to the Patrolman, you notice in disgust that the driver of the vehicle is obviously drunk. You patiently watch the driver go through his DUI assessment by the patrolman and are amused by the drivers inability to stand, let alone walk.

When they are done, the Patrolman approaches you and says, “Too bad that guy’s car is in such bad shape. If he had been driving something besides that old heap, he probably wouldn’t have gotten into an accident.” “Uh, how so officer?” you reply. “You know, a new car wouldn’t have been so sensitive to his motions.”

Not sure what he meant you give your statement and then continue on home. About 3 months later you are sitting in court after giving your testimony. You’re curious about what sentence the judge will give the driver. As you listen in horror, the judge blames the poor condition of the car for causing the accident. In fact, the State has a special program for situations like this, and has bought a brand new car for the driver to replace the one he lost in the crash. The driver is then given the keys to the vehicle and sent on his merry way.

This is exactly what is happening in the financial crisis today. Our financial vehicles are out of control and have crashed. We have a lot of smart people in government, at least I thought so. Why then, are they handling the crisis by trying to fix the vehicle and leaving the drunk in the driver seat?

Ok, so the politicians yelled at some of the drunks. Some of them got a grilling in front of congress. Big Deal. Congress failed to even take the keys away from them when they left HUGE loopholes in the TARP for these companies to abuse at will.

To fix our problem, we need to fire the leaders who got us into this mess. I am probably a bit jaded, but my military training embedded in me a commitment to be responsible for my actions. The captain of a ship is always responsible for what happens to his or her ship. The officer of the watch is responsible for what goes on during his or her watch. From day one at the Naval Academy I was taught the phrase, “No excuse sir!”

The latest fiasco about the bonuses being paid out to AIG employees just illustrates how bad leadership is in Congress as well as private industry. Here is a short list of their leadership failures?

1. Lack of proper oversight of the financial industry for many years.
2. The inability to let market forces control the market.
3. While trying to help by passing various stimulus passages, the inability to get rid of earmarks.
4. In a rush to get the stimulus package passed, a failure to build proper procedures for accountability
5. The myriad of escapades by corporate executives. Merrill Lynch bonuses, AIG bonuses.
6. The passing of the new tax law to tax those receiving the AIG bonuses at a 90% level. While I think this makes sense, it breaks the articles of the constitution. You can get more details here.
7. The unbridled spending by the Federal Reserve Bank. How can they just spend $1 Trillion of tax payer’s money without checking with Congress. This may be how it works, but it seems like giving individuals control over $1 Trillion is a bit suspect.

We can no longer afford to go about business as usual. Why? Because we still have drunks in the driver seat. They ruined the economy once and even with a brand new car, unless we make changes to the leaders who got us into this mess, they’re eventually going to ruin it again. It may take 1 year, 5 years, or perhaps 10, but this recession isn’t going to be the last one.

I would love to see someone wrestle control of AIG by getting a voting majority of its stock, then cleaning house. I don’t know how this all works as I’m not a corporate lawyer, but I do know that institutions only own 47% of its stock. That means if we, the individual investors, could somehow get control of the other 53%, and if we could get a single voice to it’s board, (Jack Welch or Carl Ichan come to mind), then we could really shake up the business world. Ok – this is a fantasy, but it helps me to calm down. I’m dreaming, but if we started a campaign over the internet to buy AIG stock (It’s under $2) and people bought what they could, then agreed to give their voting rights to one person… perhaps it could work. Who knows. Carl Icahn… where are you?

All the best!
All the time!
JT

Leaderhip For Dummies

The other night in class, we were discussing leadership and I asked the class if anyone could become a leader. The point I was trying to make was that while most professions require some sort of qualification before they allow someone into their group, there is no test for leadership. Physicians, Doctors, Lawyers, Engineers, Teachers, Project Managers, Marines, Police Officers, Firefighters, Scientists… you get the idea… all require you to pass some sort of test before you can join their group. They may require college, certification, or physical stamina, but they do require something. What of leadership? Can anyone be a leader? What are the requirements?

If there are no formal requirements then I suppose anyone can be a leader. This is where the discussion got interesting. I proposed that despite there being no formal requirements for leadership, that just like a Physician, not everyone is qualified to be a leader. The responses I got were great. Some felt that anyone could be a leader. Others suggested that leadership could be learned.

The question I then asked the class was, “can someone pick up Leadership For Dummies, and become a good leader? Can anyone, become a leader?” The discussion made me realize two things…

Anyone can become a good leader… but… not everyone will become a good leader

During the discussion I was reminded that while some people try to become good leaders, they eventually fail at it, sometimes miserably. Why? Because there is a cost to leadership that not everyone is willing to pay. What does it take to become a good leader? Well, we have an entire book industry and many companies and consultants who are trying to help us figure that out. But in the meantime, here are some of the requirements for someone wanting to become a good leader:

1. The Heart of a Leader – A deep desire to improve the world around them, perhaps at great personal risk or cost.
2. A deep desire for knowledge and truth. Leaders are readers. A leader will read a book regularly, before watching TV.
3. A leader must be willing to listen to others. He or she must have the ability to accept criticism AND to alter their behavior when necessary.
4. Courage to face themselves when they look in the mirror. A good leader will learn to face his or her demons and to work to get rid of them.
5. Perseverance – to continuously improve their skills and to go beyond their comfort zone.
6. Commitment to Excellence and a very strong work ethic to improve their leadership skills.

IF a person is willing to do these things, he or she can become a good leader. Based on their abilities, some may become better than others, but we can all become good leaders, if we’re willing to pay the price. But why then do we have people who “try” to become leaders but fail? Because they don’t want to, or in some cases can’t, pay the price. There are requirements for good leadership. What about you? Are you willing to pay the price?

All the best
All the time
JT

Sir Francis Bacon is attributed with the quote “Knowledge is Power”, but it is ironic that he died nearly destitute and in disgrace for corruption. So I would like to humbly suggest changing his philosophy to:

Prudent use of knowledge is power…

Knowledge applied aimlessly is foolishness…

Lack of knowledge is laziness.

Which are you? Powerful? Foolish? or Lazy? I am not trying to be patronizing. I ask myself this question almost on a daily basis. Why? Because I believe that we all have a responsibility to be as informed as possible, in order to make sound decisions that will ultimately shape the life we lead.

When it comes to finances, the world is complicated. I do not consider myself financially astute and understand firsthand how hard it is to maneuver through the jungle of investing in stocks. I don’t have a degree in finance or an MBA. All I can say is that I have studied this intently for the past few years and have come to some startling discoveries.

I am posting this for your information in the hopes that you will find it useful as you use it to become powerfully in control of your investment decisions.

1. The London Exchange can trace its history back to 1698 when its founder – John Castaing – began to organize the market in Jonathan’s Coffee house via a simple list of stock and commodity prices.  The New York Stock Exchange was founded in 1792 by 24 Brokers with the signing of the buttonwood agreement. The following cartoon illustrates conceptually what the stock market does.
2. How and why people buy stocks has changed over the years, directly impacting the way a stock behaves. If we take the cartoon at face value, you buy a stock because you feel that the company will pay you dividends when it is profitable. If the anticipated dividend meets or exceeds the rate of return you can get in another investment, it makes sense to buy the stock. Is this how the market behaves today? No!

   Let’s take Google as an example. Google is one of the poster children of stocks. It has traded as high as $600/share. To give you an average return of 5% on your investment it would have to pay out $30/share to its shareholders. Google has NEVER paid out a dividend AND according to Google Execs, it NEVER will!. So, why should you buy the stock. This is not even speculation! They will NEVER pay out a dividend – yet the stock is still valued. The only reason Google has value, is that people who have no clue as to what they are doing – buy the stock. It is pure gambling. Yes granted, Google is sexy – Google makes cool things but this is important for you to understand…

   The underlying value of a stock has very little to do with how it trades!

3. What does this mean to you as an investor? As you put money into mutual funds, 401ks and the stock market, you are gambling with your money AND paying people to gamble it for you. The main reason the stock market has gone up over the past 30 years, is that people poured money into it. Now, using the herd mentality, you could argue that it is what it is. That if the herd is making it go up, where else could you have put your money over the past 30 years and made as much money. One could argue real estate, but my answer will surprise you. You had your money in the right place, but you weren’t managing it properly.
4. Still not sure that this makes sense? Another example that is repeated time after time, day after day on the stock market. A company’s stock is trading at $50 on Monday. After the market closes on Monday, it releases its earnings for the last quarter. The news is good. Record earnings and solid profits. Great news if the stock behaves like those in the cartoon you just watched. Reality – the stock tanks 30% overnight and on Tuesday morning it is now selling for $35/share. Within 6 months the stock is back at $50 and for those of you who are long term investors, you shrug your shoulders and wait for it to appreciate to $52.50 by years end, an increase of 5%.  Someone just make a killing and the investor got 5%. The investment bankers made well over 60% (30% down, 30% up) using the investors money, while the investor got 5%. Why…. because most of us are lazy. We are not using the knowledge that is out there to take control of our financial future.

If the underlying value of a stock has little to do with how it trades, how do you place a value on your investment. This is what drove the market into a tailspin. The cat is out of the bag, and bankers are having a hard time placing a value on their investment vehicles. What does this mean? I cannot predict the future. I try not to be a doomsayer. However…. take note… knowledge is power… if used prudently…

Start following the news and watch how China reacts to the US crisis. Why? Because they were a large reason why our economy soared the last 10 years. They are the major holder of our debt with about 30% of outstanding treasury bills. This past week, Chinese officials began to express concern that the US may not be able to meet its debt obligations. The fact that we spent $2 Trillion in our attempt to save the financial system is not giving them a warm fuzzy.

IF (and it is an IF) China decides to decouple the Yuan from the dollar and IF it decides to take its money elsewhere (this won’t happen overnight… but beware the fable of the frog in the boiling water), then investors in US stocks will be wondering why the market went down 50% below what it is today. Can’t happen you say? How do you know if we can’t place a value on a stock?

What to do? Get educated. Learn how to actively trade your own stocks and stop relying on others to do it for you. Anyone could have made money in the market over the past 30 years. The question really is, who is going to make financially sound decisions in the next 30 years. Is it you? Prudent use of knowledge is power!

All the best!
All the time!
JT

So, you’re preparing for a job interview and are worried about, THE question. You know, the one that will stump you and may prevent you from getting the job. How do you prepare for this? If you focus on the right thing and approach it with the right perspective, believe it or not, this is an easy task.

I was teaching a class the other night and we were talking about integrity. One of my students relayed an experience she had during a job interview and wanted some feedback from the class on how they would have approached this. With no other background information, her interviewers gave her the following scenario: The head of the company was going to give a presentation to an important client. She was helping to put together the presentation and noticed some pretty glaring errors in the numbers that were being used. What would she do?

During the interview, the dilemma she was faced with was pretty obvious. Not knowing what they were getting at, the following questions ran through her mind: 1) Were they looking for courage to question the CEO’s numbers? 2) Was there a problem with integrity in the organization and they wanted to see what she would do? 3) Was there a problem with the CEO and how he took criticism? 4) Were they looking for someone who wouldn’t rock the boat and just go along with the bad numbers? How should she answer the question?

Before I get to the answer, let’s put job hunting in perspective.

1. You may need a job badly, but is your job hunt about finding an organization that you would be lucky to work for, or, is it about finding a company that would be lucky to have YOU!
2. Would you be willing to compromise your integrity just to get a job?
3. Do you care about where you work? Enron for example!
4. Have you stopped to think about who you are and what your talents are?

Now that I’ve asked the questions, here are some thoughts to help you.

1. If you’re looking for a job, you have to know who you are. During this economy, a best seller from the 1970′s is again rising to the top of the charts, and with good reason. Do yourself a huge favor and go get “What Color is Your Parachute” or another awesome book called “Do What You Are”. These books will give you some insight into your talents, desires and abilities.
2. You should care about the company you are applying to. Do your homework. Why do you want to work there in the first place? If your answer is because you saw they had an opening, I’d think twice about applying – unless it was in an industry or occupation that you were targeting of course.
3. If you think you need to answer an interview question correctly to get the job, you’re imposing a REALLY big hurdle for yourself that will only increase your level of anxiety. The only correct answer is the one that aligns with who you are.
4. Job hunting is about finding someone lucky enough to have YOU. If you want to exude confidence, you need to humbly give off the impression that you matter. That they would be lucky to have you on their team. Approaching them with the idea that you HAVE to get THIS job, is a kiss of death. Like dogs, the people doing the interview can smell fear and desperation a mile away.
5. Never, Ever, give up your integrity to get a job. This may be hard advice to follow if you are really hurting financially, but it is for the best. How would you like to get a job now, only to end up in jail or in the newspapers a year from now?
6. Remember – there is always another opportunity out there somewhere.

How would I have approached the interview question? Give an honest answer. In our discussion during class, my student said she told them she would point out the error. Good for her. She never did get that job, and doesn’t know if her answer had anything to do with it. However, she did get another job. One she loves.

So – how do you approach interviews? Be yourself. Give honest answers. Don’t worry about what the interviews “want” to know. If you give them a dishonest answer, everyone loses. You will find the right job, in the right organization, if you are true to yourself. So don’t stress out. Go find someone that will be lucky to have You!

All the best,
All the time
JT

It seems like the concept of “networking” has been around for awhile, albeit with different names and connotations. If we think about networking over the ages, it can be fun to think about how things have changed over the past 50 years.

During the 1960′s and 1970′s, networking was accomplished primarily by joining clubs like the the local country club, Kiwanis, Lyons International or the Chamber of Commerce. To track one’s network, the tool of choice was probably a Rolodex or a little black book.

During the 1980s and 1990s, networking became a buzz word in business and networking took on the form of passing out business cards at different functions and trying to collect as many of them as you could. Clubs were still in vogue, but a paradigm shift was definitely occurring. Computers were becoming more prevalent and we now had email, contact lists, and SPAM.

Over the past 9 years, a dramatic shift in networking has occurred. With the ever increasing marvels of technology, we now have tools for networking that include instant messaging, cell phones, blackberrys, palm pilots, PDAs, mp3 players, blogs, video blogs, pod casts and virtual worlds like Second Life.

In the last 5 years, we have seen the introduction of My Space, Facebook, Linked In, You Tube, Digg, Technorati and yes…. Twitter.

With all of these changes, I think many of us have lost our way when it comes down to the basics of networking. Many of the networking tools available today are often used solely for advertising and marketing. There is a BIG difference between these and networking.

Networking means building relationships. Advertising means blurting out your message. Networking with Honor means simply… building relationships. In his book Never Eat Alone Keith Ferrazi gives us many different ways of building a network, but it always comes back to building relationships.

You see, it doesn’t matter how many people you know. What matters is how many people care for you, and how many people you’ve helped. I don’t know if this story is true or not, but I’ve seen it posted on the internet in different variations and believe it has been lived out by more people than we would care to admit.

A CEO of a Fortune 500 company lived life to the fullest while she was working. As a CEO her calendar was always full and it seemed like she never had a moment to herself. Well, one day Kim was diagnosed with cancer and despite treatments her condition worsened until she could no longer effectively function as the CEO and was forced to retire. While she had a small fortune saved up and lived very comfortably, she noticed that she lacked one thing after her retirement. After about a month of leaving her post, she realized that her phone was usually silent, that her calendar empty and her guest room vacant. She didn’t have many people that truly cared for her. All the people she “knew” were busy knowing other people to advance their careers.

The point here is that people won’t care, until they know how much you care. You see, a true network is based on people helping and caring for each other. Not just scratching someones back in the hopes of getting yours scratched too. Are you doubtful? Consider Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. I would guess that most people would say he has an extensive network. Where was this network after he got into trouble? How many people truly supported him when he was down and out? Some, but not many.

In the world of Facebook, My Space, Linked In and Twitter – remember that networking is all about building relationships, not amassing large numbers. Let’s take Twitter for example. You may have thousands of people following you, but how many are really listening to what you have to say. Which brings us to an interesting point. What are you trying to say in this new environment anyway?

Again, using Twitter as an example, for those of you who want let the world know what you are doing, it is perfectly ok to say something like, “having pizza for lunch – Yum!” But, for those of you who want to network, is this the best way to go about it? I would argue no. You want to engage people. Help them out when possible. If you’re networking on Twitter, it would have been better to say something like, “Downtown Chicago has the BEST Pizza at Pizzanos!” Then give a short link to their web site so a reader might find it. Someone may be looking for a pizza place and might remember where they got that information, more so than just taking note that you, a total stranger, were eating pizza for lunch.

Networking with Honor also means putting away your elevator speech at times. When people meet you, they might find it interesting that you are someone who helps businesses get organized, or that you help people get out of their own way. But – what they really want to know is who are you? Are you funny, talented, quiet, loud, offensive, polite? Networking isn’t so much about letting people know what you do, but that you care about them. If people know you care, they will be in your network and will let others know about you… free of charge.

All the best,
All the time,
JT