Six Degrees of Steve

I just made $2100 just being an American

In an interesting article today in CNN.com, the US government is looking to help spur the economy by giving people money - $600 for each individual, $1200 for each couple, plus $300 for every kid in the household.

Let's see, married, three kids.  Cha-ching...I can finally get that new Apple Mac Air Laptop that I've had my eye on...(so my seven year old can do her homework...yeah, that's the ticket)

Okay, like I've told my friends, "If it's free...it's me", but there is something disturbing about the government giving money back that doesn't seem right?  If you remember the days after Katrina, FEMA gave out $1000 gift cards to people in the area for food and clothing, but what did they spend it on?

Color TV's, strip joints, lottery tickets, oh and tatoos. 

Not everyone, but one apple spoils the batch.  If the ultimate end is to use the money to just spend it on meaningless things, then I guess it's all well and good, but would I rather figure out how to reduce taxes, fund transportation (especially in Chicago) or pay teachers more so that our future can make sure not to repeat the mistakes we're making now.  Just me, but I'll get off my soapbox.

We're already a nation drowing in debt because of bad choices and we're now dumping fuel on the fire.  My hope is that people take this opportunity to use this "free money" in ways that will help them become better and not worse off.  So, while I won't bite the hand that feeds me, I think this is a lesson for everyone to think about the choices we make and how we can make a difference!

So have you googled yourself lately?

In a recent poll by the Pew Internet and American Life Project said 47 percent of U.S. adult Internet users have looked for information about themselves through Google or another search engine.

Okay, I admit it, I google myself and oddly enough I get a lot of hits.  I've done a lot to make the news, but really to see what others are saying about me.  I also do it for friends and family from time to time and I also do it for potential hires. 

I've heard stories where people have lost jobs because of facebook entries, my space pages, or comments posted on some far out boards.  I'd like to say that it wouldn't be the case, but in today's society, whatever information is available will be used to find out about people.

My wife the PR pro always tells me that "perception is reality" and unfortunately I have to agree with that statement.  So, if I were you, I'd try to google yourself and check what you are saying about yourself.  You'd be surprised.  If not, somebody else will.

W00t! That's the word! Get excited!

Are you excited today?  If so, say W00t...if you can say it?  If so, you'd be part of the subculture that has made this the 2007 word of the year by Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

So, what does it mean?  Good question.  I'll let them explain it.

Woot (n): a hybrid of letters and numbers used by gamers as an exclamation of happiness or triumph.

So if you are a gamer, or Julia Roberts in the movie "Pretty Woman", you'd know what I mean.  However, I'd be at about 50% on it since I don't have time for gaming, except for the occasional Sudoku on my Blackberry on my train trip home everyday.

Even if you don't know W00t, you can still go there....yup.  There is a www.woot.com, which is a daily auction website with great discounted or overstocked items for you to buy.  Check it out and maybe you'll find something on woot.com that'll make you W00t...or something like that.

Some thoughts on starting your own gig....

I have failed many times in trying to create a new self-sustaining entrepreneurial concept that I hoped would lead to "caviar dreams," but have yet to really any of them come to fruition.  Part of it has been market changes, others lack of money and others just lack of interest.

I think deep down inside each of us is a yearning desire to get out from under our rock and dream dreams of significance.  I think of it as returning to the olden days where being self-employed was the norm.  The local baker, the banker, the candlestick maker....whatever it was, the person set up shop and made it work.  Many of us have grandparents who lived this way, earning their keep through hard work and determination - on their own and through entrenched business and personal relationships they developed over the years.  They knew success meant working hard...not hardly working.

I still continue to desire to start up something that I can call my own.  (Honestly, I'm not really a blogger, but I play one for my job) :)  Behind my hardy exterior, I think I have a "killer" idea that I'm just waiting for the "right" moment to unveil the world, however, in my mind, I have a million "hoops" I need to jump through before taking the plunge.

So, I was quite elated since reading the following article in Financial Times by Loïc Le Meur, a successful entrepreneur who wrote a recent article about 10 rules for success in business, which dispensed with the "street" advice of starting up a new venture:

1. Don’t wait for a revolutionary idea. It will never happen. Just focus on a simple, exciting, empty space and execute as fast as possible
2. Share your idea. The more you share, the more you get advice and the more you learn. Meet and talk to your competitors.
3. Build a community. Use blogging and social software to make sure people hear about you.
4. Listen to your community. Answer questions and build your product with their feedback.
5. Gather a great team. Select those with very different skills from you. Look for people who are better than you.
6. Be the first to recognize a problem. Everyone makes mistakes. Address the issue in public, learn about and correct it.
7. Don’t spend time on market research. Launch test versions as early as possible. Keep improving the product in the open.
8. Don’t obsess over spreadsheet business plans. They are not going to turn out as you predict, in any case.
9. Don’t plan a big marketing effort. It’s much more important and powerful that your community loves the product.
10. Don’t focus on getting rich. Focus on your users. Money is a consequence of success, not a goal.

I have obsessed about some of these points in the past and it has kept me from moving forward, but am kinda glad that someone who has gone before me is telling me it's okay to move ahead without every "I" dotted and "T" crossed.

Now, I just need to get off my duff and do it.....

Have you worked for a famously bad boss....

There are bad bosses, then there are celebrity bad bosses.  In a recent careerbuilder.com article, they list out some dastardly bad bosses including Naomi Campbell, Simon Cowell, and the late great Leona Helmsley.  Not that it surprises me, but mostly that people can get away with it.

I've had a couple of really bad bosses in my lifetime, but nothing like these guys, although they tended to think highly of themselves....  Hopefully, most people I know take these experiences and do the opposite or have the uncanny ability to avoid them at all costs.

If not, they'll just end up in an article some day just like this one....

Do you speaka-de-Bossish?

If you have ever worked in the an office environment where "Dilbert" or the "Office" seems to be ripped off your personal daily experiences, here is a new book that should resonate deeply with your soul.  A new book has been released called the "From "Cube Monkeys: A Handbook for Surviving the Office Jungle" by Second City Communications.  A recent review of the book showcases a great Boss to English translators, such as:

"Great job on the report!"
Translation: "I'm taking credit for your work."

"Let me give you some broadstroke ideas and you can fill in the rest."
Translation: "I still haven't learned how to create an Excel document."

"Headquarters has assured me we will not be affected by the merger."
Translation: "You are going to be fired."

Oh for those of us who have experienced these and other ditties, this book is a must have in order to survive today's environment.  It is recommended on the side of this blog, so click and buy (as I get a hefty .05% referral fee or something) and enjoy.

Have a great week and hope you had a great Holloween!

When to know to stay or leave your job...

I have a newly graduated friend who just finished an internship at a major PR agency, but wasn't able to hitch a permanent gig with them.  She is know back in the job market, networking like crazy and a bit bummed out that she hasn't gotten a job yet.  I can understand her plight and the plight of so many young ones who are trying to "start" their careers.

However, I encouraged her to enjoy her life right now because she will eventually get a job (people always do if they work hard enough) and that she'll be working (unless she retires rich or stays at home once she has kids) for the next 40 years.  Think about it, 40 years.  If you are a wide eyed 22 year old, you'll be 62 and pushing retirement then.  Technically, you'll still have 3 years before you hit the mandatory age of retirement, but with baby boomers living longer, they'll probably raise that limit.  Even then, people are working longer because they want to...and sometimes can't retire.

So, taking the perspective of 40 years of work, I realized the wisdom of a recent article in Fortune by writer Anne Fisher called "8 signs it's time to change jobs before you get fired".  After only 14 years in the business, I have experienced or felt each of the 8 signs, even as recently as my last job.  It's not a good feeling and while I am one that will always try to make things better, you can't ignore the signs.

The one sign that I resonate with the most is #2.  I am a big believer in believing in your boss and having a good relationship with them.  You don't have to hang out together every weekend, but have a proper sense of respect for each other.  Why?  In the world of working,  you're aspiration is to rise to the level of the person above you.  However, if you can't respect them or work with them, it doesn't make sense.  Trust me, I've seen it first hand and struggled through great jobs, but bad bosses. It's not worth it.  If you spend most of your adult life with your boss, why not select one that creates a positive work environment, not a negative one.

Keep in mind, I am way past trying to "impress" and find the "fast track" in my career.  For those who are still on it, I think by the time you are about 29, you'll start to figure out if it was worth it.  For me, the relationships, not the career level has meant more to me and I know look at success at work differently.  But that's me.

However, I'm at a firm where I enjoy my work, respect my boss, produce good work, and have a more work/life balance than I ever have in a job.  However, it's taken 14 years and multiple jobs to find that.  I wish that for everyone, but everyone has a different path.  But you can make that change today if you want, it's not that hard. 

How you ask?  Let's see, whether you have multiple years under your belt or still trying to find that first job, I have one suggestion for you - if you are in Chicago, try to get tickets to the cubs game this weekend.  Why?  Because work will always be there, but the Cubs in the playoffs at home may not.  You'll remember that game 40 years from now vs. the TPS reports you did yesterday.  Trust me.

Have a great week!  Go Cubbies,Bears,Chicago Triathlon Runners, Illini!

Running the good race

Yeah, that's me basking in finally finishing the Chicago Half Marathon last Sunday.  It was by far the hardest thing I've done to date and the longest distance I've run in my life.  While I am smiling outwardly at the camera, I am secretly masking the lactic acid pain in my legs that I'm finally not noticing today...

For the last 12 weeks, I've been getting up early (and sometimes late), donning uncomfortable clothes and heading out on an multiple mile trek that is supposed to test my body and mind to the limit.  However, I didn't realize I would learn some life lessons in the process. 

Life lesson #1 - Success starts with small steps

One of things I realized is that in life, accomplishing great things take small steps, not necessarily big ones.  I remember my first time out, I started getting shin splints, I wore a cotton shirt and didn't drink any water before or after the event.  I did survive and nobody called 911 because they saw a dead guy on the side of the road.  I eventually made it home from my 3 mile run...eventually.

Since then, I learned through experience and professional advice, how to run a race.  I ditched the Keds shoes, followed a training regimen, got a water belt, bought breathable clothing, stretched right, timed my runs and ate properly.  Slowly but surely, things turned around and while I didn't really change my running time (I run about a ten minute mile) I could see the benefits in my energy, weight loss, and overall mental state.

And as I crossed the finish line, I realized that all those small steps were critically important in helping me crossing the finish line.  However, each one was important in helping me finish the race.

It's really the same in our work life.  We think life is a like a sprint, but its really a marathon and instead of taking small steps, we tend to want to run as fast as we can because we think the finish line will get us there faster.  We have forgotten that very few of us are gifted in running a sub 6 minute miler and the rest of us are just plugging along.  As a result, we need to relook at how we work and how each work experiences helps prepare us for our next one and so one.  If we can get our arms around that mentality, we will be more purposeful on why we work and what we get out of each work experience.

Lesson #2 - There will always be obstacles

I had to run more than 100 miles in training before even running the half marathon.  Over twelve weeks, I've had to endure a bad calf strain, sickness, running at 7,000 feet, and even a serious eye injury that almost kept me from running the half marathon itself.  This was on top of actually pulling myself out of bed almost every morning at 6:00 am to run.  And even when I was running, you couldn't imagine the voices in your head telling you to stop, go home and have a large bowl of ice cream....it wasn't fair.

So, I had to decide during and after each of those obstacles whether or not I was going to continue.  It would have been easy to give up, or explain again once again why I chose not to run, but I realized that if I was going to do something great, I would take a level of focus and dedication to rise above these obstacles and get to the next level.

In our professional life, we also face almost endless streams of obstacles - big and small.  Layoffs, failed promotion bids, projects that go awry, bad bosses, etc.  We all have a choice of staying the course or keep going.  Ultimately, it's yours to decide, but before I always felt that obstacles were placed in front of me because I was doing something wrong, but now I see them more as an opportunity to grow, think differently and see how dedicated I am to the bigger goal.  I challenge you to think that way too.

There were a lot of other lessons I learn while I was training for my half marathon, but some lessons are best learned personally.  As so, I invite you to step outside yourself and go for a run.  You never know what you'll learn.

Mapping out your career...

Today's CNN.com has a good article regarding "Job goals by age".. it's an interesting read.  It breaks down your career in decade goal points, 20s to gain experience, 30s to gain leadership experience...and so on.  I've heard it this way:

* 20-30s:  Learn; 40-60s: Lead; 70s- : Teach/mentor/give back

I think in either instance, its important that we understand, especially kids coming straight out of college that it takes a lifetime to learn and even when we're old, we don't know everything.  I've always been a student of learning, especially from my mistakes.

After working 15 years, I would have thought I'd learned enough, but then something else happens to let me know how much I don't know.  Keeps me humble and keeps me motivated.

However, I'm a firm believer in setting goals.  My wife and I are in year 5 of a ten year goal.  It's posted in a small frame in our bathroom, where we do some of our best "thinking".  It's about 20 points, broken down into specific areas and most of all, measurable.  We've hit about 25% of them, but it's always there to motivate us as we wake us up every day.  Some of them are easy, some are hard, but all are doable.

If you haven't thought about how to map out your future, make the effort to do it.  I'll write later on my process if that helps.

Have a great weekend.

So what if you aren't first born?

In, today's USA Today article titled, "First-born kids become CEO material" writer Del Jones indicates that being a first born son or daughter results in being slightly smarter than their younger sibling and therefore, may lead first borns to be more successful.

First, not being biased, I can see how it makes sense.  More than half of our US Presidents are first born, the article talks about first born leaders like "Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer is an eldest child, as is Avon's Andrea Jung. Charles Schwab, the oldest of two, overcame dyslexia to become one of the world's richest. Joe Moglia, CEO of TD Ameritrade, was first-born of five and says he received regular corporal punishment as a child."

In Kevin Lehman's Birth Order Book, which is a great read, it outlines the distinct differences between the traits of each child's position from only child to multiple children.  As a middle born, I would agree with his assessment of my personality being more of a peacemaker and following into the footsteps of the first born as true.  However, you can also look into what he says like looking into your horoscope.  If so, I need to shake hands with a duck today in order to win the lotto...

Second, being biased as a middle born, I don't buy it.  There are plenty of people of the world who have been successful and not first born.  Right now, I can't think of any, but I know they are out there.  I'm going to assume that many of you out there are too and reading this article, you're probably crawled up in a corner, whimpering to yourself about how you'll never be president...or is that just me...or someone I know....

The truth is that while there are differences in each of us, our worth shouldn't be dependent on whether we are first born or last born, but who we are.  Each one of us is special and has talents that allow us to be success in whatever we choose.

Yes, it may take time to figure what that is exactly, but I believe once we have found what makes us tick, we can be as successful as our first born brothers and sisters, if not more.  If not, then know that mom and dad probably were much stricter to them than they were to you and you should thank them for being spared the rod....