Category Archives: Business

Going on Your Own

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3081123 d3e9e4e041 m Going on Your Own
Image by Jake Sutton via Flickr

How do you decide that you have to get out of a dead end job situation?  When do make the decision to learn about other opportunities, other business situations and begin to consider creating your own business?  When do you realize that the commitments and promises of employment sector- security, stability and a comfortable  retirement - are not realistic any longer?  And when you do decide, what do you do?  Where do you find the information you need to identify the opportunities and knowledge you need?  I have been around this block.  I retired twice without achieving the financial security to do what I want.  It is a tough world today but there are also opportunities for people who decide.

The realities of today’s economy affect people differently.  Younger people never expected a retirement system or lifetime employment but baby boomers were lulled into a false security.  They believed in secure jobs and comfortable retirements up until the system collapsed leaving them with reduced or lost retirement income and a stressed life stlye.  Boomers have lost the most and and find themselves strapped.  Many want more income but don’t know what to do or where to turn.  I understand.  I have been there.  I have chronicled some of my decision points and insight on this blog.

Dealing with change to begin with. Change is always difficult and threatening but there are ways to keep your head and make sure that you find the opportunities. Then, of course, there is the problem of deciding when things are bad enough that you just have to get out.

Assessing the situation in your job is difficult as well.  Looking at the five levels of organizations can give you a better idea if there is a reason to stay or leave.

And finally some wise counseling from Seth Godin helped me make the right decision for me- I Quit.

If you are a boomer moving along the same decision path that I followed, you begin to understand that multiple streams of income is the best insurance in the unpredictable future we face.  Maybe you know some vehicles and just need the nudge.  But maybe you need more information – both about how to create a business of your own and what some of the vehicles to use as well as background on the mindset you need and some good reading to get you ready.  For that reason, I created a resource to get you started, a compilation of the information I am using .  There are books that have helped me and background to help you identify what opportunities are available.  If you want to quit your job, supplement your retirement or find something fulfilling to do with the monotony of retirement, it is there for you.

Going on Your Own

Originally posted 2010-03-31 08:21:57. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Employee Responsibility

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I need your help.

I have been galley1 Employee Responsibilityan employee for most of my life, some of that as a management employee meaning that I supervised the activities of others and had responsibility for activities bigger than I could pull off on my own. What amazes me is that even though our education system is oriented to developing employees who expect to spend their productive lives dependent on somebody else, we are not training them in the responsibilities that go with being an employee or the expectations from the boss or business owner towards an employee.

I have put together a list which captures the responsibilities of an employee and a manager/boss based upon my experience. I think it covers the big points but I know that anything based upon one person’s experience is sure to be missing something- or several somethings. I would like to ask readers to add, comment or critique my list so that with more experience and though, we can make it better.

Employee:

1.Perform required tasks

2.Support business goals

3.Maintain a positive attitude

4.Seek better ways to do the job

Boss/Manager

1.Provide clear directions

2.Respond immediately and completely to questions about job

3.Review work and provide comments in a timely fashion

4.Identify and remove barriers to employee doing job

5.Provide necessary tools and training

Corporate/Owner

1.Arbitrate disputes fairly

2.Be transparent in all actions

3.Walk the talk

Making the Relationship Work

You can see that I am focusing on the main reason for the job which is performing the tasks which lead the business to success so there is no consideration of benefits and salary here. I don’t mean to say that they are not important but my interest is in the relationship between the employee and the supervisor and creating a good environment for the employee to be successful and the boss to be satisfied.

Look at my lists of responsibilities and tell me what you think is good and what I am missing. How did you learn what you know about this relationship? Why do you think we let our kids grow up to be employees without giving them any training in how to be successful?

Add your feedback

With your comments, I would like to revisit this list and make it more comprehensive.

Originally posted 2009-12-07 09:57:31. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Saturday Bonus

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Lately I have been looking for ideas and inspiration for building a better blog and my business skills .   A big part of the inspiration behind any big project or commitment is the dream – the reason that will drive you to the effort necessary to make it happen.  Because of the difficulty in getting people to dream, the focus is often on expensive, impressive things like big houses or fancy cars.  These things tend to be superficial representations of success but they are not always what we really want.  Recently, a mentor of mine suggested that I watch a video called Core Influence by a man I had never heard of, Frank Kern.  It is a two hour experience of Frank ( a multi-millionaire Internet marketer) telling how he achieved success and bought things but only after he identified his Core Influence did he become really successful with much less effort.  The video is free and Frank isn’t selling anything as a follow-on.  I am excited with the exercise that Frank followed and the changing perspective that it is giving me.  You may be too.

I have a link to the video at my other blog.  I suggest that you head on over and check out Core Influence.

Saturday Bonus

Originally posted 2010-03-27 09:05:16. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

The Dilbert Moment

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It is easier to recognize a Dilbert moment than to describe one. It is the post in your day where reason and common sense are helpless to protect you from craziness in the corporate culture.  It is the time where you most need help in developing as a leader.  Not only do you find that you have no tools to chart a course through chaos, it is impossible to even comprehend the reason for this madness. I always blamed the corporate culture for distorting people’s priorities but recently I learned that it is much more complicated. The organization is just a reflection of the people that make it up. They operate on one of five distinct levels.

To understand Dilbert, the best model I have found comes from Tribal Leadership by Dave Logan, John King and Halee Fischer-Wright. In this model, individuals operate on one of five levels:

1.Despairing Hostility – “Life Sucks”

2.Apathetic Victim – “My Life Sucks”

3.Lone Warrior – “I’m Great – and you’re not”

4.Tribal Pride – “We’re Great – and they’re not”

5.Innocent Wonderment – “Life is great”

As an explanation, Dilbert exists in Level 2 – “My Life Sucks” and the reason his life sucks is a manager at level 3, hung up with his own glory. Dilbert is powerless to change the situation. He knows that there are others whose lives do not suck but his does. And he know that there is nothing he can do about it.

The only way out for Dilbert is to leave his current environment (job) where the deck is stacked against him and enter a new one where he can regain control of his performance and attitude. Living a level two existence makes it hard to escape. After spending some time at Level 2 it becomes hard to believe that your life doesn’t have to suck and you risk sinking to Level one where you no longer believe that life doesn’t have to suck.

When you are working at Level 2, it is unlikely that you will find anyone willing to help you and the options you have are risky both emotionally and financially. Others at Level 2 will seldom be able or willing to provide support for your escape to Level 3. You level three boss doesn’t really consider that helping you contributes anything to his greatness.

When I first wrote this post, I just made the decision to leave a work situation where I could no longer control my level. My Level 3 boss was forcing me to play a game that he designed and where he is also the scorekeeper and referee, I had spent years working under a level four boss and enjoying the satisfaction of being part of a winning team. With my new boss I was reduced to Level 2 and was getting perilously close to Level 1. Resigning was a no-brainer decision but it is not always easy to think clearly at Level 2. For a positive person who gives his best and expects to be appreciated, it is difficult to accept that someone actually wants to hurt you and will stack the deck to make it happen because it is needed for him to stay at Level 3. Reason prevailed. I did what I had to do. I fired my boss and left my level 2 work environment.

I share this not to gloat but as an example, and perhaps encouragement, to others suffering a Level 2 work environment. I hope that I can persuade you to read Tribal Leadership and learn more about the dynamic underlying the Dilbert life than you can learn from this short essay. Also, I offer encouragement that you do have some power to take back control. Don’t let yourself buy into accepting the Level 2 life. There are  other options including starting your own business.

The Dilbert Moment

Originally posted 2009-12-09 17:31:22. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Saturday Quote

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51fMyB3O1TL. SL300 Saturday Quote

Cover of Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?

“People who tell you that “I could paint a painting like that” are missing the point.  The craft of the painting, the craft of writing that e-mail, the craft of building that PowerPoint presentation- those are the easy parts.  It’s the art and the insight and the bravery of value creation that are rewarded.”

Seth Godin in Linchpin.

Saturday Quote

Originally posted 2010-04-10 09:06:31. Republished by Blog Post Promoter