One of my passion projects this past week has been to develop a Personal Credo (writing exercise example, leadership credo example).
A credo is a statement of your beliefs and values that guide your actions. I think I'm 90% there, but of course, as I grow as a person, this will evolve with me.
Personal Credo
I believe in being ethical and aware, treating everyone around me with kindness, respect and compassion. And above all, I try to have sunshine inside of me to share with those around me.
I am passionate about language and helping people be the best communicators they can be.
Everything everyone needs to succeed is inside of them, they just need to peel back the layers.
I love working in diverse groups, but I need to focus on analysis and writing in the zone during alone time. I believe in taking the time to building trust, structure and a strong foundation for any partnership.
I continue to accept challenges and opportunities to learn and grow. There are no mistakes, only lessons. The only right way is forward.
Showing posts with label business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label business. Show all posts
10.14.2016
3.19.2013
Touchy Feely Business: Gee Ya Think?
I am unendingly fascinated by the role of ethics and soft skills in leadership environments. I was reading my business news resources today and was surprised by two posts/articles which, essentially, focus on what I'd consider common sense. Now, they're not the best pieces of writing (particularly based on their titles) but the point is, they seem to revisit common sense concepts of emotional intelligence, sensitivity, establishing a safe working environment, and thinking of the whole ahead of the individual. So here's the two pieces that got me started:
First is SmartBlog for Leadership's Do I dare say something? How to be assertive at work
"Building a good reputation as a competent, capable professional who is primarily interested in the good of the organization rather than gaining personal power helps create a solid base."
In discussing personal branding and reputation, it's essential one not only seem but actually care for the work is doing and the company one is with. This person becomes a reliable pillar for superiors to rely on in a time of need.
Second is The Washington Post's Capital Business, with Can empathy play an important role in a successful career?
"agency theory, he said teaches that managers tend to be “opportunistic and self-serving,” a prophecy these students might go on to fulfill."
I've been reading for YEARS now that business majors generally have narcissistic tendencies from the outset. There haven't been many articles on curtailing these natural tendencies, but the fact that they exist keeps popping up in my reading.
First is SmartBlog for Leadership's Do I dare say something? How to be assertive at work
"Building a good reputation as a competent, capable professional who is primarily interested in the good of the organization rather than gaining personal power helps create a solid base."
In discussing personal branding and reputation, it's essential one not only seem but actually care for the work is doing and the company one is with. This person becomes a reliable pillar for superiors to rely on in a time of need.
Second is The Washington Post's Capital Business, with Can empathy play an important role in a successful career?
"agency theory, he said teaches that managers tend to be “opportunistic and self-serving,” a prophecy these students might go on to fulfill."
I've been reading for YEARS now that business majors generally have narcissistic tendencies from the outset. There haven't been many articles on curtailing these natural tendencies, but the fact that they exist keeps popping up in my reading.
2.22.2010
The New York Times' Mad Science Lab Experiment
Did you hear the latest news? The 150-year old New York Times is pioneering digital journalism together with Apple. Users now get to manipulate how the NYT columns, font size, and how it looks and acts with a simple flick of their fingers. How? When they access the NYT via the new Apple iPad.
This latest reincarnation of tablet products provides yet another way to slice the digital bread and butter of the publishing world. It also makes promises for a number of amazing and reengineered ways to access published content with complete mobility. Something the Times has been very keen in addressing with all its online media experiments.
During the Apple iPad press conference, phrases thrown out to connect with the user base included such gems as “users no longer needing to adapt to their tools, but rather, the tools fit them.” That expands all sorts of publishing boundaries. Of course there’s Kindles and other assorted electronic tablets out there, so this is hardly the best new thing. The touch screen navigation, however, makes personalizing the content from newspapers and other media as easy for users as painting with their fingers.
But what does this mean to me as an online NYT reader? Well, for one I’ll continue to be able to access the NYT from anywhere, but I imagine that I’ll be making the experience of reading it more mine, by being able to personalize how it looks via fonts and other preferences. As a book reader, tools like the iPad and Kindle make it so much easier to carry your entire library of books with you—as if you were able to do so with the print copies.
But imagine what it would be like being able to heft around tomes such as the hefty Harry Potter and Twilight books on a tablet! All your favorite NYT clippings too! This is exactly what mp3 players did for music.
Can print media’s move to online only finally release journalism from the chains of the costs of print? Best of all, no ink stains on your fingers or crisp white dress shirt from reading the NYT on your morning commute. This is the main reason why I read the Times online versus in print anyway.
But IS print really going away? How can the static content from media such as a book, a newspaper, or a magazine be made more interactive or helpful to the reader? This has been a question publishers have wrestled for time immemorial. Or at least since the Internet seriously began competing for readers’ attention and time in the mid to late 1990s. Some newspapers and magazines have added more photos, by award-winning photographers. Many others have urged readers to follow up on the story online for more in-depth coverage via interviews or video. Both things the NYT has done.
Do you wonder why Apple selected the NYT among all the other newspapers or magazines for their grand unveiling of the iPad?
The NYT is known for its high quality typefaces, layout, amazing photographs, and excellent writing. They have a strong, solid foundation. They have both good looks and smarts. However, this doesn’t only apply to the NYT. Other newspapers and magazines can and should be taking advantage of this model. This is how old becomes new again, and we can only hope other newspapers and magazines catch up—fast. It looks like, for the very nervous publishing and journalism industries, it may very well come down to allowing users to paint with their fingers after all.
This latest reincarnation of tablet products provides yet another way to slice the digital bread and butter of the publishing world. It also makes promises for a number of amazing and reengineered ways to access published content with complete mobility. Something the Times has been very keen in addressing with all its online media experiments.
During the Apple iPad press conference, phrases thrown out to connect with the user base included such gems as “users no longer needing to adapt to their tools, but rather, the tools fit them.” That expands all sorts of publishing boundaries. Of course there’s Kindles and other assorted electronic tablets out there, so this is hardly the best new thing. The touch screen navigation, however, makes personalizing the content from newspapers and other media as easy for users as painting with their fingers.
But what does this mean to me as an online NYT reader? Well, for one I’ll continue to be able to access the NYT from anywhere, but I imagine that I’ll be making the experience of reading it more mine, by being able to personalize how it looks via fonts and other preferences. As a book reader, tools like the iPad and Kindle make it so much easier to carry your entire library of books with you—as if you were able to do so with the print copies.
But imagine what it would be like being able to heft around tomes such as the hefty Harry Potter and Twilight books on a tablet! All your favorite NYT clippings too! This is exactly what mp3 players did for music.
Can print media’s move to online only finally release journalism from the chains of the costs of print? Best of all, no ink stains on your fingers or crisp white dress shirt from reading the NYT on your morning commute. This is the main reason why I read the Times online versus in print anyway.
But IS print really going away? How can the static content from media such as a book, a newspaper, or a magazine be made more interactive or helpful to the reader? This has been a question publishers have wrestled for time immemorial. Or at least since the Internet seriously began competing for readers’ attention and time in the mid to late 1990s. Some newspapers and magazines have added more photos, by award-winning photographers. Many others have urged readers to follow up on the story online for more in-depth coverage via interviews or video. Both things the NYT has done.
Do you wonder why Apple selected the NYT among all the other newspapers or magazines for their grand unveiling of the iPad?
The NYT is known for its high quality typefaces, layout, amazing photographs, and excellent writing. They have a strong, solid foundation. They have both good looks and smarts. However, this doesn’t only apply to the NYT. Other newspapers and magazines can and should be taking advantage of this model. This is how old becomes new again, and we can only hope other newspapers and magazines catch up—fast. It looks like, for the very nervous publishing and journalism industries, it may very well come down to allowing users to paint with their fingers after all.
2.21.2010
The US Space Program: Seeing Stars or Reaching for Them?
“The US human spaceflight program appears to be on an unsustainable trajectory,” opens the summary report from the Review of US Human Space Flight Plans Committee (September 2009). “It is perpetuating the perilous practice of pursuing goals that do not match allocated resources.”
This rather depressing perspective, and numerous words beginning with “p,” are as much part of today’s business marketplace as this committee’s sobering report. This was meant as a wake up call for the US space program and for legislators who are responsible for funding it.
As the space shuttle Endeavor launched early last week, the public was probably more aware about the cargo payload—a new unit for the space station—that the trouble the space program is in. So why do we keep trying to make it go forward if there’s so many hurdles? Is there any hope the space program will find financially-sound footing soon?
To Go Where No Man Has Gone Before
The United States has been struggling with a quandary during the past few decades. We’ve been torn between succeeding with bare minimum shuttle low-orbit and moon missions and the promise that lies ahead—just past our reach—with mars and solar system exploration.
It’s very exciting being able to even fathom taking a trip to the Moon and Mars, but sadly, our technology and investments have not allowed NASA the leeway to at least try. In the current economic crisis, it’s no surprise that funding has been reallocated to other, more necessary functions. After all, we’ve had an automotive and bank bailout and two wars to attend to.
Hope, the next frontier
“There’s just four more shuttle missions, and then that’s all she wrote,” says a retired Air Force employee and now supply chain management professor I met on Twitter (@SCMProfessor). “The latest budget proposal axes the ‘to the moon’ part. [I’m t]hinking I need to make pilgrimage for [the] final launch. [That] would be worth canceling classes [for]…” Brady hasn’t only invested some emotional equity in the shuttle program and space exploration for the cool technology and innovativeness. For him it’s a family affair.
NASA has done a great job at inspiring children and families and obtaining a lot of their emotional equity over the past and leading into today’s missions. These days, it really needs to reinforce this good feeling to help it assure its own future. It’s perhaps exactly this that prompted NASA to release its first iPhone application not too long ago—a possible effort to endear itself to new generations of taxpayers.
John Holdren, Obama’s top science adviser at the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), created the US Human Space Flight panel in hopes of identifying means and methods of strengthening the existing exploration program.
However, as the summary report revealed, it backfired in a way. According to a Wired magazine article, the US’ leading role in space exploration has required far more funding and risks to human life and safety than what was planned for as each project moved forward.
Just to put the various phases of space exploration into perspective:
According to another OSTP report, this one on the state of space propulsion technology manufacturing and sourcing in the US (December 2009), the US Government and commercial needs for continued and improved access to space are levying a heavy toll on current infrastructure and capabilities. That means companies folks who work at an aerospace parts manufacturer near you.
The committee’s report reviewed all possible technologies and revenue streams that could help alleviate the current gridlock. However, the committee showed little confidence in the untested promise of costly evolving engine and fuel research in the private sector, nor with the potential revenue streams of space tourism (such as Virgin Atlantic). What they were looking at, was the potentially negative impact that an unstable demand cycle for parts by the US Government would have on manufacturers who need a stable source of income to stay afloat in this economy.
The number of space launches in the US has been declining markedly since 2001, with 15 yearly launches versus the prior decade’s average of 22 per year. The decline creates an environment primed for suppliers to bail out at the uncertain demand—leaving a trail of unemployed staff in their journey to a long, slow death. Suppliers are finding themselves in such dire straits they are deciding whether to completely step away from government bids and projects, or just shut down, or move their attention and resources to other, non-government and more lucrative projects.
The financial manager at a large electrical transformer manufacturer based in Oak Brook, Illinois, has been bidding on US Air Force and other aerospace companies for electric services providers RFQs. “The bidding process is an expensive and convoluted process,” Holmes says. Because of the recent economic straits, Tamini stepped down on the amount of bids they put out to the US Government. “Not only is the bidding process expensive to the bidder, but the odds are always stacked against the smaller companies.” Holmes said growing up in the 1960s while the Apollo missions and the moon landing took place, made the space frontier seem so approachable. “It was a life altering for anyone who witnessed that moment in history.”
With these types of repercussions reverberating throughout corporate America during a down economy, it’s very important to revisit the funding and project timeline at NASA in the coming years.
On the Horizon
The Ares I manned Orion vehicle and Ares V unmanned launch vehicles (NASA 2007) are in line to fill in the duties of the outgoing Space Shuttle (personnel and cargo) around this time next year under the program name Constellation. NASA has announced Boeing as the leading avionics supplier for the Ares I rocket that will launch the Constellation crew module (NASA 2007).
Sadly, President Obama’s recent budget announcement in February 2010 included a major cut in funding to the Constellation program. Steve Brady says that the moon mission portion of Constellation has been canceled, but Mars was left in as an ultimate stretch goal. Brady estimates that NASA is probably looking to focus both on low earth orbit and space station missions, and add in larger/longer missions as technology and funding become available. There’s hope for manufacturers yet.
The committee has stated firmly that NASA’s budget should fit its goals, and that its goals should be sensible. Possible opportunities to help with resources emerge with international partnership, short-term planning for the shuttle, technology advancements, and commercial involvement. The 6-7 year human spaceflight gap and an extension of time for the International Space Station all have a role in helping the process as well.
One of the committee’s suggestions included a more reasonable launch for the Constellation program, pushing the first crewed launch until 2017-2019 due to budget. This would help space out expenses and make sure funds are set aside in time for the longer timeline.
President Obama’s budget didn’t spell out only doom and gloom, however, it also featured NASA’s “Bold New Approach for Space Exploration and Discovery.” According to reports available on the White House website, it boosts NASA’s budget by $6 billion over the next five years, includes large increases in technology research and development, and a renewed commitment to aeronautics, earth observation, robotic space exploration, science and education, and an extension of the International Space Station through at least 2020.
The shuttle’s long and bumpy history will hopefully not come to an abrupt end. Hopefully, its end won’t also spell the end of the future of the US aerospace manufacturing and engineering and all the hard-working people these industries employ.
This rather depressing perspective, and numerous words beginning with “p,” are as much part of today’s business marketplace as this committee’s sobering report. This was meant as a wake up call for the US space program and for legislators who are responsible for funding it.
As the space shuttle Endeavor launched early last week, the public was probably more aware about the cargo payload—a new unit for the space station—that the trouble the space program is in. So why do we keep trying to make it go forward if there’s so many hurdles? Is there any hope the space program will find financially-sound footing soon?
To Go Where No Man Has Gone Before
The United States has been struggling with a quandary during the past few decades. We’ve been torn between succeeding with bare minimum shuttle low-orbit and moon missions and the promise that lies ahead—just past our reach—with mars and solar system exploration.
It’s very exciting being able to even fathom taking a trip to the Moon and Mars, but sadly, our technology and investments have not allowed NASA the leeway to at least try. In the current economic crisis, it’s no surprise that funding has been reallocated to other, more necessary functions. After all, we’ve had an automotive and bank bailout and two wars to attend to.
Hope, the next frontier
“There’s just four more shuttle missions, and then that’s all she wrote,” says a retired Air Force employee and now supply chain management professor I met on Twitter (@SCMProfessor). “The latest budget proposal axes the ‘to the moon’ part. [I’m t]hinking I need to make pilgrimage for [the] final launch. [That] would be worth canceling classes [for]…” Brady hasn’t only invested some emotional equity in the shuttle program and space exploration for the cool technology and innovativeness. For him it’s a family affair.
NASA has done a great job at inspiring children and families and obtaining a lot of their emotional equity over the past and leading into today’s missions. These days, it really needs to reinforce this good feeling to help it assure its own future. It’s perhaps exactly this that prompted NASA to release its first iPhone application not too long ago—a possible effort to endear itself to new generations of taxpayers.
John Holdren, Obama’s top science adviser at the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), created the US Human Space Flight panel in hopes of identifying means and methods of strengthening the existing exploration program.
However, as the summary report revealed, it backfired in a way. According to a Wired magazine article, the US’ leading role in space exploration has required far more funding and risks to human life and safety than what was planned for as each project moved forward.
Just to put the various phases of space exploration into perspective:
- the Apollo moon missions from 1969-1972, cost around $22.7 billion (just under $26 billion in today’s dollars)
- the Space Shuttle program from 1972-present, is costing $174 billion
- the International Space Station (ISS) from 1998-present is expected to cost E100 billion over 30 years
According to another OSTP report, this one on the state of space propulsion technology manufacturing and sourcing in the US (December 2009), the US Government and commercial needs for continued and improved access to space are levying a heavy toll on current infrastructure and capabilities. That means companies folks who work at an aerospace parts manufacturer near you.
The committee’s report reviewed all possible technologies and revenue streams that could help alleviate the current gridlock. However, the committee showed little confidence in the untested promise of costly evolving engine and fuel research in the private sector, nor with the potential revenue streams of space tourism (such as Virgin Atlantic). What they were looking at, was the potentially negative impact that an unstable demand cycle for parts by the US Government would have on manufacturers who need a stable source of income to stay afloat in this economy.
The number of space launches in the US has been declining markedly since 2001, with 15 yearly launches versus the prior decade’s average of 22 per year. The decline creates an environment primed for suppliers to bail out at the uncertain demand—leaving a trail of unemployed staff in their journey to a long, slow death. Suppliers are finding themselves in such dire straits they are deciding whether to completely step away from government bids and projects, or just shut down, or move their attention and resources to other, non-government and more lucrative projects.
The financial manager at a large electrical transformer manufacturer based in Oak Brook, Illinois, has been bidding on US Air Force and other aerospace companies for electric services providers RFQs. “The bidding process is an expensive and convoluted process,” Holmes says. Because of the recent economic straits, Tamini stepped down on the amount of bids they put out to the US Government. “Not only is the bidding process expensive to the bidder, but the odds are always stacked against the smaller companies.” Holmes said growing up in the 1960s while the Apollo missions and the moon landing took place, made the space frontier seem so approachable. “It was a life altering for anyone who witnessed that moment in history.”
With these types of repercussions reverberating throughout corporate America during a down economy, it’s very important to revisit the funding and project timeline at NASA in the coming years.
On the Horizon
The Ares I manned Orion vehicle and Ares V unmanned launch vehicles (NASA 2007) are in line to fill in the duties of the outgoing Space Shuttle (personnel and cargo) around this time next year under the program name Constellation. NASA has announced Boeing as the leading avionics supplier for the Ares I rocket that will launch the Constellation crew module (NASA 2007).
Sadly, President Obama’s recent budget announcement in February 2010 included a major cut in funding to the Constellation program. Steve Brady says that the moon mission portion of Constellation has been canceled, but Mars was left in as an ultimate stretch goal. Brady estimates that NASA is probably looking to focus both on low earth orbit and space station missions, and add in larger/longer missions as technology and funding become available. There’s hope for manufacturers yet.
The committee has stated firmly that NASA’s budget should fit its goals, and that its goals should be sensible. Possible opportunities to help with resources emerge with international partnership, short-term planning for the shuttle, technology advancements, and commercial involvement. The 6-7 year human spaceflight gap and an extension of time for the International Space Station all have a role in helping the process as well.
One of the committee’s suggestions included a more reasonable launch for the Constellation program, pushing the first crewed launch until 2017-2019 due to budget. This would help space out expenses and make sure funds are set aside in time for the longer timeline.
President Obama’s budget didn’t spell out only doom and gloom, however, it also featured NASA’s “Bold New Approach for Space Exploration and Discovery.” According to reports available on the White House website, it boosts NASA’s budget by $6 billion over the next five years, includes large increases in technology research and development, and a renewed commitment to aeronautics, earth observation, robotic space exploration, science and education, and an extension of the International Space Station through at least 2020.
The shuttle’s long and bumpy history will hopefully not come to an abrupt end. Hopefully, its end won’t also spell the end of the future of the US aerospace manufacturing and engineering and all the hard-working people these industries employ.
4.29.2009
The Marketing Mix and Telesales
I don't often talk about work on here, but this is a lesson worth sharing. Sharing it also helps me explore the concept further in my own mind and make connections that can become useful while developing this idea further. So without further ado...
At work we've been discussing the role telesales (better known as telemarketing) can play in the marketing mix we use to target our audiences. As a nonprofit specializing in education and growth opportunities of all types for our members, we've also been seeing some negative trends as people, departments, and companies cut budgets. Education is usually the first to go, immediately preceded by unnecessary travel. Sometimes followed by the public relations and marketing people.
Apparently, it seems that telesales are very useful for re-engaging expired memberships. The trick is to target each and every conversation so that you aim for what the member needs, right now. I find it interesting that telesales trainers and specialists that I have come in contact with either as an end user or behind the scenes, are usually manic individuals who push without appreciating the subtle line separating assertive and overbearing. I've yet to meet someone in the telesales market that sounds as polished and convincing as the NPR hosts during one of their fund drives--for proof I'm not the only one who thinks those work, see Slate's March article titled Let's Get Those Phones Ringing!The cunning genius of the public radio fundraising drive. It's radio-telesales.
I recently, and very apropos, ran into an article by Ben Stein on the New York Times titled The Sales Profession: Attention Must Still Be Paid under the Everybody's Business column/category.
I like Ben Stein, he's a smart guy. I know he only speaks up when there's something important to say, so I listen. One of my favorite quotes from his article follows:
Sales — when done right — is more than a job. It is an art. It is a high-wire act. It is, as Arthur Miller immortally said, being out there “on a smile and a shoe shine.” It is learning the product you are selling, learning it so well that you can describe it while doing a pirouette of smiles for the customer and talking about the latest football scores. It is knowing human nature so well that you can align the attributes of your product or service cleanly with the needs and wants of your customers.
At its best, selling is taking a doubt and turning it, jujitsu style, into a powerful push. Selling is making the customer feel better about spending money — or investing it — than he would have felt by keeping his wallet zipped.
At work we've been discussing the role telesales (better known as telemarketing) can play in the marketing mix we use to target our audiences. As a nonprofit specializing in education and growth opportunities of all types for our members, we've also been seeing some negative trends as people, departments, and companies cut budgets. Education is usually the first to go, immediately preceded by unnecessary travel. Sometimes followed by the public relations and marketing people.
Apparently, it seems that telesales are very useful for re-engaging expired memberships. The trick is to target each and every conversation so that you aim for what the member needs, right now. I find it interesting that telesales trainers and specialists that I have come in contact with either as an end user or behind the scenes, are usually manic individuals who push without appreciating the subtle line separating assertive and overbearing. I've yet to meet someone in the telesales market that sounds as polished and convincing as the NPR hosts during one of their fund drives--for proof I'm not the only one who thinks those work, see Slate's March article titled Let's Get Those Phones Ringing!The cunning genius of the public radio fundraising drive. It's radio-telesales.
I recently, and very apropos, ran into an article by Ben Stein on the New York Times titled The Sales Profession: Attention Must Still Be Paid under the Everybody's Business column/category.
I like Ben Stein, he's a smart guy. I know he only speaks up when there's something important to say, so I listen. One of my favorite quotes from his article follows:
Sales — when done right — is more than a job. It is an art. It is a high-wire act. It is, as Arthur Miller immortally said, being out there “on a smile and a shoe shine.” It is learning the product you are selling, learning it so well that you can describe it while doing a pirouette of smiles for the customer and talking about the latest football scores. It is knowing human nature so well that you can align the attributes of your product or service cleanly with the needs and wants of your customers.
At its best, selling is taking a doubt and turning it, jujitsu style, into a powerful push. Selling is making the customer feel better about spending money — or investing it — than he would have felt by keeping his wallet zipped.
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