What level of faith (belief in something that is real, but unseen) do you have in your business? How about your people? Do you act on this faith even if the brilliance is not seen by many?
The answer to the three questions I posed will tell you a lot about the soul of your business and its true health.
This is the "hard" in hard work.
The following is a guest post from Phillip Reed. Phillip is associated with Westwood College in the Colorado area.
There are many ways one can look at higher education: you can look at it as a way of spending several years immersing yourself in the history, culture and philosophy of the world around you; you can look at it as an effective way of broadening your employment prospects; or you can look at is as a financial investment. It’s this last perspective that we will discuss here, as return on investment (ROI) is a significant issue in higher education today.
Thinking of higher education as a financial investment is important, because, like it or not, it’s expensive. Any expense of that magnitude should ideally have some lasting benefit in your life, and in this case that benefit is a substantially increased level of knowledge. While it would be difficult to argue a direct ROI from higher education, it’s clear enough that it can be achieved in an indirect way. That is to say, you pay a certain amount for the knowledge, that knowledge translates to a higher level of employment, and that employment brings you a larger sum than the amount you invested. Simple, no?
Again, though, that’s an ideal situation, and it’s not something that everybody can count on, or should count on. For those who are looking at education as an investment and not strictly as an opportunity for personal growth and enlightenment, some up-front planning and research is crucial.
Higher education, after all, can be expensive. And, as we know, high salaries are by no means guaranteed. It’s important, then, to weigh two things:
1) The Cost of the Education
2) The Potential Salary in a Given Field
So far, that’s straight forward enough. And, fortunately, you have a bit of wiggle room in both areas.
For starters, the cost of education can vary depending upon whether or not you qualify for grants, your place of residence, the nature of the institution (community college or online college are often significantly less expensive, for example), the speed with which you complete your degree, and other factors that are relatively within your control.
In terms of your potential salary, there’s a lot less control you can exercise. You can, however, understand that salary can increase over time, and by working hard and investing yourself more deeply in your work you can potentially expect your annual income to grow. If it doesn’t, you may be able to leverage yourself a better deal with a competitor or, depending upon your given field, by going into business for yourself.
This kind of versatility is not consistent across disciplines, so research yours in particular before you count on being able to write your own ticket. For instance, a computer programmer may well go into business for himself if he is not satisfied in his job in a particular company, but a medical assistant may not have that luxury. A computer programmer may also find himself in demand enough that he may be able to negotiate a better salary or benefits in return for staying with his current employer, while a clerk or receptionist may not enjoy the same element of irreplaceability, and can therefore expect a level of compensation determined by his or her employer.
When you stack up a rough cost against a rough expectation of payout, you’ll want to see the latter much greater than the former. If the former outweighs the latter, then you have a problem with your investment.
For instance, take a look at this article from Financial Highway. They highlight several majors that may not have an acceptable ROI in today’s economic climate, including Social Work, Liberal Arts, and Horticulture. (Sorry, horticulturalists…we didn’t create the list!) Of course they don’t delve into exactly how much a representative degree in these fields would cost…they couldn’t do that, as the possibilities are too vast to consider in a general article like this one. That’s the student’s job.
After all, ROI is relative. It may be true that the money you spend on a Criminal Justice degree at one college might not see its cost easily recouped, but a similar degree obtained at a less expensive school might just tip the scales a bit, and make the job that much more profitable.
For a sunnier counterbalance to the above list, check out this article as well. It’s a list of degrees with high ROI, and this time they do try to break it down by dollar and percentage. As always, you will need to do your own research (after all, they sure didn’t contact your college of choice and future employer to get this information!) but this might provide some food for thought when considering what to take into account when making your decision.
Weighing your options beforehand can help you to avoid regret and disappointment down the line. As unromantic as it might sound to say, a focus on potential ROI should be a deciding factor for those considering higher education for the sake of employment. For those who see college as a chance to grow as human beings, it’s less important…but anyone who wants to secure their future financially would do well to do their research up front, rather than struggle to make up for a lack of research later.
Convinced more and more that our search needs to be toward scarcity. In such a way that our abilities, talents, strengths, etc. are called upon to remedy the need for what is scarce. Economics reveals this too, but we can apply across platforms. Your ability to change the world for the better is linked here.
This assumes, like me, that you want to shake things up where you're at.
I'm all for profit, wished I had more. And I'm very into meaningful work. The problem is found in the collision of profit motive and meaningful work.
The problem rears its ugly head when the profit motive starts taking greed steroids. Meaningful work exits when this happens. I wish this scenario was rare, but you and I know it's not. The crazy part is profit and meaningful work can coexist and thrive.
In many ways we live in a tale of two cities. One city is a place where management (entry to executive) is focused on profit, expenses, quarterly news, and the like. The other city is a place where the employee is looking and longing for meaningful work. They're not immature children or idealistic dreamers, just people who understand that life is a limited time offer and they desire to make the most of the time given. This is the reality and the reason we're in such a mess, relating to how we do and live out our work.
So why are the two at odds?
I've always been about people-for better or worse, so I'm not writing to offer solutions on how to fix corporate America. In the spirit of giving you a place to start, a place to begin discovering where meaningful work may be found, I want you to take a look at the following video clip:
Who do you trust? What do you trust? How do you trust? This is a difficult time for trust in America. Seems like just about everyone is pitching an angle or spin. Many have shrugged and found themselves saying hello to their jaded self.
We've arrived at the end of trust.
It's not so strange when you look back over the last 30 years. In my land of America, we made the mistake of thinking trust didn't need attention. We thought it would take care of itself. Like so many other things in life, trust doesn't just take care of itself. It requires priority and work.
I'll never forget a mentor asking once if I could be trusted with the gifts and talents I'd been given. It cut right through me because I knew he was referring to my ability to understand the meaning of given and my responsibility to live out the trust I ask for from people. That question has been part of my psyche ever since. A gut check for me.
Can you be trusted?
The conclusion is found in the wieght we assign to trust. If it's like a feather, then I hope you'll always be protected because you're going to need it. If it's heavy, I since you'll treat it with great care and respect wherever you give or ask for it.
Trust is a verb like no other in a world that's lost, not found.
Very excited to share some thoughts on a new book titled, The Synergist: How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success by Les McKeown. I must say the book is a must for anyone involved or interested in organizational development and teamwork. Mr. McKeown articulates a reliable way for groups to form and perform as a team. As someone who thinks the word team is as worn out as the word leadership, it's refreshing to read a thought leader who truly understands what the word means in the real world.
I am biased in my fondness for this book because he described me, personally, in one of the chapters. It was rather haunting, but in a good way.
Mr. McKeown has a vast background in working the land of organizational development. He applies this in a way that is understandable and relevant, regardless of your position/role.
Here are some key take-aways I gained from the book:
This post is not long enough to give you all that the book delivers. But the book really is like guidebook. You owe it to yourself to check it out.
If what you do requires a group of people to make it happen, then you're a team, like it or not. obviously, there are many implications in those words. Webster's defines team in the following way:
A number of persons associated together in work or activity
Not as romantic as we often hear today. Maybe that's a good thing. Maybe the romantic should be left to those groups who are endeavoring in things bigger than themselves. Funny how the human heart longs for the romantic.
No such thing as perfection, but you've got to do all you can to find this.
Had a chance to dig into a new book recently titled Take the Stairs by Rory Vaden. The book takes a path I like, namely, it doesn't pull any punches. Rory makes it clear that if you want success you better be prepared to do the hard work, but in the end it's worth it and most truly successful people get this.
He also takes on our cultural norms (at least in America) and plays the true contrarian. Fortunately he doesn't leave you with long-winded diatribes. Solutions are found through-out the book. In the end, the resounding theme goes the direction of no easy path to true success. The following are some of the things I liked about Rory's insights:
All-in-all the book is worth the read.
Formed opinions happen all the time. We all walk around everyday setting things, and people, in place. You'd think we're setting the table for dinner. There is a certain level of comfort for humans when they can line things up.
The only problem is formed opinions are often flawed. Sometimes they can be fatally flawed.
When it comes to humans, we need to factor in the dynamic nature of how we're made. People are shaped by a lot more than you can know. And don't make the mistake of thinking a Facebook post is a true representation of the person's heart. Many people are fixated on being "ok." Not many are willing to be truly vulnerable. Living in an age of judgement makes vulnerability a risky proposition.
Organizations are a bit different. Their behaviors are driven almost solely by culture. For example, if the culture is dedicated to serving customers, then that behavior will reign and the formed opinion will follow. I've known more than a few leaders who found this difficult to accept. But in the end, it doesn't matter what your marketing outlets say. It's always about what you do. One last caution, as you form your opinions about organizations (people too):
One event does not make a trend.
As you pay more attention to your formed opinions, remember that humility is a key component in making sure your formed opinions are solid. It's important because when you're wrong you can admit it and when you're right you won't feel the need to prosecute. I throw this your way because we're all limited.
I spoke with a friend yesterday about the role of her manager in her job. He's an advocate for her and a buffer. The buffer part was what struck me. He's a buffer between my friend and senior management. Sadly, senior management in this organization is living in an alternative reality, so they need someone who is deft at translating this reality into real world application. This happens a lot in the corporate world.
This post is not a defense of the middle-manager, nor is it a rant about how bad they sometimes can be. In the spirit of balance I want you to consider 7 things your manager wants you to know: