31 March 2009 
Manage Your Career: Get a Promotion; Find a Job. April 29, 2009
Learn how to earn that promotion. Learn how to get that job.
On April 29 from 11am to 12:15 a career management seminar will be conducted at The NOVA Theater at the Alexandria Campus of the Northern Virginia Community College.
Save the date, Wednesday, 29 April 2009. Seminar is at no-charge and open to the public. Registration is required.
There are five rules to getting promoted:
1) Don’t make the boss nervous.
2) Completed Staff Work.
3) Adopt the US Army’s definition of discipline (and it’s not what you think).
4) Find a friend.
5) Get your boss promoted.
Your next big job will be:
A) From someone you know (slightly).
B) A created position.
C) In high technology.
The purpose of the seminar is to increase your value to your current company so that additional responsibility will, like a magic cape, float down from on high and rest lightly on your shoulders.
Also to prepare the attendee to move and to be ready to change jobs in a fast changing, bailed-out world.
Please pass this link on to a friend who might be interested.
Details will follow here and to Friends on Facebook.
30 March 2009
Looking for a Job? PASS This Test
See how “Sarah” is getting it right. To get your next job, assignment or project PASS this test! See how the mythical composite Sarah learned new behaviors to find new opportunities.
As first appeared in The Daily Progress, Charlottesville, Virginia, January 20, 2002
To get a job, first get a plan and then get busy
by Jack Yoest
Two years ago Sarah, a technology worker asked, “How do I get a life?” Now she asks, “How do I get a job?” With unemployment the highest in six years, uncertainty has arrived this holiday season like the proverbial lump of coal: How would she find work?
Sudden unemployment, or looming job uncertainty, is one of life’s great challenges. It’s a stress test, but it’s one you can learn to pass.
Here’s how: use this coming New Year as an impending event to trigger the start of new behaviors. This is the time to be jolly, reduce uncertainty and increase paycheck security. Here’s how Sarah, and you, will PASS this test!
Get a Plan. New Year’s Resolutions notoriously never make it past the Super Bowl. So get a plan. Don’t confuse the ultimate goal — new job or new assignment — with the individual steps you will take each day. Write down the actions you will do every day, every week.
PASSing involves managing behaviors, not goals. One of Sarah’s action items was to shake ten hands at every event she attended.
Your Plan should be concrete and specific; your behaviors should be discrete and measurable: include numbers of phone calls, numbers of people you meet, number of letters you send. Numbers, Numbers, Numbers. This is important. What you count, counts.
Get Accountable. Find a friend and let them know your plan. Regularly update the friend who might be your spouse, relative, or bartender. This is the most difficult part of the process: ask for help and manage your mentor, someone who cares about you. If you can’t find a mentor, email your plan to me. (I don’t care about you either, but what works is telling someone what you will do and then reporting that you did it.) Asking for input is key — people may not have a job for you, but they will always have advice.
Get Seen. The cliche is wrong: it’s not what you know, and it’s not who you know — it’s who knows you. It is helpful to get business cards, but PASSing involves getting your name in the other guy’s Rolodex.
In the give and take of business cards, Sarah looks for something that may not be on every card: an email address. Sarah will use the address in a follow-up.
But caution: to Get Seen, you must Get Real. Sarah was a cheerleader for video conferencing and telecommuting, but she learned that nothing beats pressing the flesh of ten strangers at a luncheon in real life.
If you want to work, you must learn how to work a room as Sarah did. First, she introduced herself to perfect strangers and exchanged cards. Second, she identified her skill set in a 20-second elevator pitch.
But the most important thing she did was — nothing. No business, no I’mlookingforajobdoyouhaveanyopenings? Just talk pleasantries, the weather, the speaker, or maybe something funny, like Value America [defunct on-line based in Charlottesville].
The first meeting is like the first date, aloofness scores.
One of Sarah’s action items was to forsake not the assembly of real people and do a breakfast, lunch or happy hour function each week. This was a challenge; Sarah preferred software to schmoozing.
She’s happier being left alone to work, much like the Nudist on the Late Shift, author Po Bronson’s programmer, who preferred working with PC’s rather than people. Sarah (not her real name) saw networking as random. And she is right. But random works.
Get Smart. Continuous improvement, continuous learning is, well, continuous. Learn the habit of asking questions. Gentle questions are a social lubricant that makes the asker likable.
This is two-fer strategy: not only might you learn something, but this is a practiced social skill as you pretend you’re interested in the origin of some yahoo’s ancestors.
This does take talent and should not be done without professional training. Don’t know what to say? Ask a question about the other person’s family or where they’re from.
Sarah had a plan; accountability; she was raising her profile; and now, she was working smart. Sarah started to attend workshops and seminars, less for the content than as for the contacts. Software Sarah was becoming, gasp! a people person.
Meet and Greet. Grip and Grin. I just saw Sarah in action at a lunch event at the Omni. Kissing up to Executive Vice Presidents can be tiring. She gets the business card. “I hope I get a job soon,” she complained. “I don’t like working this hard.”
But she stays up late into her old late shift and enters the data improving her Outlook. She handwrites thank you notes to each of the ten contacts she made at the lunch that day.
Five days later she will make use of the email address she looked for, and will send each a very short follow up with some mutually interesting hook.
If the new contact hits the reply button, and says something — anything — Sarah has a new friend and confident her vcard is in the new friend’s database.
People will hire those candidates most like their favorite people — themselves. Symmetry and Chemistry is not fair, but a part of the randomness of human behavior and a part of all hiring decisions.
Still, PASSing can increase your chemistry quotient — Sarah has learned this and is betting on the marketing law of large numbers. This month she attended two luncheons, one workshop, one tech social mixer and met forty new faces.
Of course, she doesn’t need forty jobs, just one.
Sarah said she didn’t have a life, and now doesn’t have a job — but soon she will have both.
And I got a Christmas card and a new friend, because she asked me some sappy questions about my family’s origin. Smart girl.
Jack Yoest is a management consultant on the Board of Directors of the Virginia Piedmont Technology Council in Charlottesville, Virginia. He can be emailed at: [Jack Yoest]
Thank you (foot)notes:
Update 8 November 2008 Your Business Blogger(R) can also be reached at Management Training of DC, LLC.
Katrina Jobs Blog has opportunities, referred by La Shawn Barber’s post at Round Up.
Uncertain Principles has more advice.
James T. Savidge has job leads info.
Yuri Blog has IM for job hunting.
See Mudville Gazette with Open Post.
Join the Traffic Jam at Outside the Beltway.
Visit Basil’s Blog at Grandma’s Covered Dish.
See Job Fair timing.
Tattoos and Your Job Search
Our US Army is getting more recruits with tattoos. And so are civilian hiring managers.
A third of the population 18 to 29 has a tattoo. Your Business Blogger(R) is a bit outside this age range and our five-kid penta-posse has not yet demanded needles with ink. But this is an exploding fad that will affect business hiring.
Body Piercing
Tools of the Trade
courtesy: Gotham
Here I will review only the deliberate body modifications. Not the accidental. (Scars are tattoos with better stories.)
We just hired a number of employees. Not one of the attractive young women had any body art. That I noticed. Not that I was looking.
My concern is less with my outdated preferences than that potential candidates knew my preferences. If I control cutting the check, I’ll control the body cutting. I’d like some input in what peeps I be hangin’ wit’.
I prefer non-smokers with no (visible) body art. Conjugated verbs are a plus.
Job seekers must remember that symmetry and chemistry between interview-er and interview-ee is what gets hired. It is not fair. But remember, I’m writing the check.
So tattoos and other self-mutilations are not for me. And it’s not likely that I would hire such decorations. But one of my managers with hiring authority might. One of my clients might. But not me.
(And please don’t ask me about trans-gender: If you take a meat cleaver to your manhood, there would probably not be a fit between us. Because you would be crazy in need of professional care.)
And I’m not the only fuddy-duddie. The Vault reports,
Companies with dress and grooming codes are on the strongest legal grounds when they defend their policies based on legitimate business reasons.
At [the progressive] Starbucks, “baristas” who serve the $5 lattes can’t display any tattoos or wear any piercing jewelry besides small, matched pair earrings. Each ear can’t have more than two piercings. Serving upscale coffee demands upscale workers, according to Starbucks, and tattoos don’t fit that scheme.
So what’s right? What is wrong with tattoos?
Sometime ago I questioned my Rabbi, Daniel Lapin, on the issue of tattoos. Yes, I’m Presbyterian who sits at the feet of the JollyBogger. But everyone also needs a Rabbi; a teacher. Your coach doesn’t have to be faith-based. But the “donations” can be tax deductible…
So, my Rabbi said that ancient Jewish tradition held that a person’s body does not belong to him; it belongs to the Creator and we borrow this earthly vessel for a while. Which is why the tattooing of identification numbers during the Holocaust was so humiliating to the Jews.
So if I interview you, or some other old codger interviews you, don’t tell us about your tattoos. It is not part of the job description.
You will be hired for your wisdom and your judgment.
21 March 2009
Write A Recommendation Or Reference Letter: A Guide to Getting A Written Third Party Endorsement
Your Business Blogger(R), also known as Your Business Professor has written dozens of recommendations for hundreds of students, clients, friends, vendors.
Question: If I wrote dozens of letters, then how did hundreds of people get a written recommendation from this very generous, very perceptive and very busy business consultant?
Answer: I didn’t write them.
***
I used to write recommendations all the time.
Before I got smart. (This took a long time…)
Linked here is a glowing recommendation from a United States Congressman for Your Business Professor for a presidential appointment. Note the glowing language. The detailed biography. The compelling argument.
Wow! That Congressman must really know Jack! Were they roommates in college? Are they cousins? Did they serve jail time together?
Nope.
The Good Congressman hardly knows me to send me anything other than a Christmas card.
No, the Good Congressman didn’t actually write my recommendation.
I did.
***
Why did a Very Busy Big Boss sign-off on a letter to Your (unknown) Business Professor?
Thomas Phillip “Tip” O’Neill, Jr., the late Speaker of the House during Reagan’s presidency, directed his staff to, don’t take nobody that nobody brought. That the Speaker would only use his resources for someone who was sponsored by a trusted adviser.
A trusted third party –
To get a recommendation from a Very Busy Big Boss, find a friend who the Boss trusts. A trusted staffer.
With input from the trusted staffer, I composed a draft of my recommendation, which was, of course, fact checked, spell checked and signature ready for the Big Endorser’s OK.
This is important: Very Important Busy People don’t have time to write anything. They have speech writers.
If you want an endorsement or a recommendation, you will need to become a speech writer.
For your own content.
This is the first lesson in Completed Staff Work for subordinates. The Big Boss should only make decisions and sign his name.
The Boss does not do any work.
“Work” in the form that the individual contributor or staffer would recognized.
So. I tell Interested Parties if they want a written recommendation from me on why someone should hire them — the Interested Party must first draft the letter so that I would know why I would make such suggestion.
Some one is going to have to do the thinking and the work for me.
This is how senior management works.
Some Interested Parties might suggest that Your Business Blogger(R) is not very bright and certainly very lazy.
Perhaps so. But.
This is how senior management works.
***
Now that the Alert Reader understands who really does the thinking and the working, let’s review what should go into the writing of the recommendation.
Symmetry and Chemistry
The letter is written for a Big Boss to be read by another Big Boss. Well, OK, maybe not. Maybe your letter will be signed by an auto-pen (or secretary) and read by a trust adviser (or secretary).
The Letter of Recommendation has two purposes,
1) To assure the gate-keeper that your criminal record is irrelevant or that those tattoos are not visible with modest clothing (noticeable only in that YouTube video that you can’t get deleted). And,
2) To get you a face-to-face appointment for the interview.
The Big Boss probably will not see your letter and/or resume until you walk in his office. (Remember, he’s got staff to work and to think for him.)
The Hiring Manager is looking to answer two questions with Symmetry and Chemistry:
- Do we have the same values?
- Will we all get along?
Your Letter of Recommendation gets you two together. So what should it look like?
Personnel is Policy
The wife of Your Business Professor, Charmaine, worked in the Office of Presidential Personnel for Ronald Reagan who often said, “Personnel is Policy.” No President or senior leader can make every decision at every level but he can have have trusted deputies who can act in the president’s best interest — making decisions that the president would make if he had enough time.
Your Letter of Recommendation should indicate that you will make recommendations and think and act just as The Boss would think and act.
Academics, journalists, consultants and even real managers will tell you that they are looking for independent, free-thinking individuals who advance independent thought and action.
This, of course, is a lie.
Managers want subordinates who will offer well thought-out recommendations and work to persuade The Boss — But once The Boss makes a decision, the subordinate will implement the decision as if the decision were the subordinate’s.
You will be hired for your wisdom and judgment.
Problem, Solution, Result
Give a short example of a problem you faced, a solution you devised and the result of your initiative.
“[Problem] When faced with a sudden snow storm, Mr. Jones rented a snow plow [solution] and cleared the parking lot assuring that customers could get to the store front where he worked as a cashier. His initiative not only provided a customer service and safety but increased the store’s daily sales [results].”
Atta-Boys and Girls
What actions won you what awards? What superlative? All-American? Honor Roll?
“Mr. Jones never missed a session in my Business 100 class.”
“Miss Jones volunteered as a researcher to find a solution to a BlackBoard software problem I was having.”
“Mr. Jones would bring guests to my open lectures.”
“Miss Jones got an “A” in my class and regularly contributed to the discussion.”
“Mr. Jones was consistently on time.”
“Miss Jones worked part-time while attending and completing her undergraduate course work.”
Look and Feel
The letter should be a single page, single spaced, 12 point type, on 8-1/2 X 11 inch, with a conventional front like Times New Roman.
Your draft should allow space for the Big Boss letter head and signature block.
If there is an address to a third party, provide it in the body.
Be sure to (gently) alert the Big Boss of any deadlines or suspense dates.
If the letter is to be mailed directly from the Big Boss to a third party, request a blind copy to be mailed to you. We want to know how the Big Boss Staff may have modified your draft.
Ask someone to preview your social networking pages. Not sure about that bikini picture on Facebook? Take it down. Never have a picture taken with any, ANY kind of beverage in your hand — alcohol or not. Water looks like vodka.
So, put the drink down and take your name tag off when the cameras are close. Including cell phone cameras — especially cell phone cameras.
Do not use your too-familiar nick-name, Corky. Change your too-familiar email address, hotstuff@hotmail.
…So What?
Your reference letter or letter of recommendation is a one-page sales sheet; a marketing campaign to get you hired.
If you have had a real problem in your past, like that really interesting YouTube, email me for a consult. (Hint: I was young and needed the money is not a defense.)
Your Business Blogger(R) was still able to get a job after that unfortunate bar fight, street racing and other assorted events in his wasted youth. (No, no, not THAT wasted…)
And no, I do not need to see that video. Really.
###
Helping sentences for employee evaluations.
Examples done for (by!) recent students and forwarded on NOVA letterhead:
George Mason University
Office of Admissions
4400 University Drive, MSN 3A4
Fairfax, Virginia 22030 March 30, 2009To Whom It May Concern:
This is a letter of recommendation for Miss xxx xx xxx. She is currently one of the best students in my Business 100 class at the Northern Virginia Community College in Alexandria, Virginia. She is earning top grades and consistently contributes to the class.
She attended Yonsei University and University of Akron and will be applying to George Mason University to study commerce. (She knows that her business professor earned his MBA from George Mason.)
She has a demonstrated track record in her desire to learn more about business.
In the summer of 2007 she took an internship in a small accounting office in South Korea. In the summer 2008 she was an intern at the information center of the Korean Embassy in Washington D.C. which was a great motivator for her to begin to build toward her career goal as a marketing manager.
As an intern in the Embassy, she was the lead on two research projects. On one project she conducted a survey on improving Korean cultural events and on another project she studied the habits of listeners of Korean Radio broadcasting.
She began her management training as a vice president in her high school and as a leader of
English Discussion Group in Yonsei University.After watching her bring these experiences to my classroom, I believe she would make a terrific addition to my alma mater GMU.
Jack Yoest
Adjunct Professor
Business and Technology Division***
Undergraduate Admissions
University of Idaho
PO BOX 444264
Moscow, ID 83844-4264April 29, 2009
Dear Admissions Committee at the University of Idaho,
I teach at Northern Virginia Community College and I am writing to strongly recommend xxxxx xxxxx for admittance to the University of Idaho. He has proven himself this semester to be well suited for a rigorous intellectual environment in terms of academic skills, maturity, and motivation.
Mr. xxxxx has been an industrious student in my Intro to Business class. With only a few weeks remaining in the semester, he has a strong “A” average. This grade in my class suggests that he has both the intellectual capacity and diligence to participate in higher education. He thinks and communicates clearly and creatively, actively contributes to class discussions, writes fluently, and interacts well with both students and teachers.
Mr. xxxxx has shown himself to be a mature and motivated student throughout this semester. He is well-prepared for classes and excels on my assignments, projects, and tests. He is committed to excellence as a college student and is highly motivated to contribute and succeed.
I strongly recommend xxxx to you. He will be a positive addition to the University of Idaho student body and I expect will continue to excel academically.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you desire further information.
Sincerely,
John Yoest
Adjunct Professor, Business
Cell: 202.215.2434***
May 12, 2008
Robert xxx
xxx Recruiting Coordinator
Six Metro Tech Center
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Dear Mr. xxx,This is a letter of recommendation for Mr. xxx xxxx xxxx. He is a remarkable young man and an outstanding student who earned an “A” in my Introduction to Business class. I am very pleased to recommend him for admission to your program.
I have been impressed by his commitment to continuous learning, attention to detail and follow-up. Mr. xxxxx has outstanding organizational skills and was able to complete multiple tasks on time successfully.
He prepared and delivered a compelling presentation on the condition of the real estate market in the United States as part of a semester project. His work ethic combined with his interest in business and the construction sciences would make him a desirable candidate for your construction management program.
Mr. xxxx xxxx xxxx is a diligent student who seldom missed a class. Cultivated and highly motivated, Mr. xxxx xxxx xxxxx speaks fluent French, Russian and, of course, English. He actively participated in leading class discussions.
If you have any questions regarding his abilities or this recommendation, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Jack
Adjunct Professor
Northern Virginia Community College, Alexandria Campus
202.215.2434***
Office of Undergraduate Admissions September 8, 2009
James Madison UniversitySonner Hall, MSC 0101
481 Bluestone Dr.
Harrisonburg, VA 22807
Dear Admission Committee at James Madison University,This is a letter of recommendation for xxxx xxx xxx. I teach at the Northern Virginia Community College and I am writing to strongly recommend xxxx xxx xxx for admittance to James Madison University. He had proven himself last semester to be well suited for a rigorous intellectual environment in terms of academic skills, maturity, and motivation.
Mr. xxxx xxx xxx was an industrious student in my Intro to Business class. He never missed a section of my class and always on time. He earned top scores for all of my tests and was awarded an “A.” His extra effort in my class suggests that he has both the intellectual capacity and diligence to participate in higher education. He thinks and communicates clearly and creatively, actively contributes to class discussions, writes fluently, and interacts well with both students and faculty.
Mr. xxxx xxx xxx had shown himself to be a mature and motivated student throughout the semester. He is well-prepared for classes and excelled on assignments, projects, and tests. He is committed to outstanding performance as a college student and is highly motivated to contribute and succeed.
I strongly recommend xxxx xxx xxx to James Madison University. He will be a positive addition to JMU’s student body and I expect that he will continue to excel academically.
Please contact me if you would like further information.
Sincerely,
John Yoest
Adjunct Professor, Business & Technology, Alexandria Campus
Cell: 202.215.2434
Follow me on Twitter: @JackYoest
18 March 2009
Sales & Persuasion Quiz
Professor Yoest’s
World Famous Award Winning
All-Purpose Magic Sales Elixir
In Three Easy Steps
Sales is the transference of _________
Push
Persuasion helps move a decision maker to make a _________.
Qualify the prospect:
M__________
A__________
P__________
Pitch
Every product or service or idea has:
F___________ What a product_____
A___________ What a product_____
B___________ ____ what? Faster, Better, Cheaper
Whoever raises an objection, ______ the objection.
Promise
The best salesman is a trusted _________.
The best salesman manages ___________ and
________promises and _________delivers.
The best sales representative never does _______ consulting
* www.yoest.com * Jack Yoest * jack@yoest.org *
16 March 2009
Sales & Persuasion Training for Business, Government, War
7 March 2009
Marketing with no Budget
In the late 80′s Your Business Blogger(R) was part of a medical device start-up. With no money.
We were launching new products, with new technology, teaching new surgical techniques, new medicine.
Conventional wisdom dictated hiring a half-dozen advanced-skill nurses to teach around the country. Our Board of Directors said no budget. This was a problem. Our product required extensive inservice training.
With a product that was 100 times the cost of its nearest competitive substitute.
So what’s a thinly capitalized company in trouble to do?
1) Throw a party.
My boss, John Harper, came up with the solution. Conduct training seminars. If we can’t go to the clinician; bring the clinician to us. (John Harper said something about mountains and Mohamed.) We would outsource the training to temp-ing Nurse Consultants. We expanded his idea making the classes into events.
Food, flowers, contests, framed certificates, lapel pins. More fun than a TupperWare party. Avon calling. Our mostly female nurses loved it.
of 10 steps provides a case study.
of brilliance in hindsight after the fact.
And desperation and frustrationbefore the fact…
This list of 10 steps provides a case study. Of brilliance in hindsight after the fact. And desperation and frustration before the fact.
2) Independent Contractors. Identify, recruit, train and motivate per diem consultants. 1099 not W-2. No fixed costs. Easy to hire. Easy to fire. I could make a lot of mistakes. And did.
3) Advertising. Small ad in local trade journals — ad buy was for multiple exposures, not size. Limited ad budget turned out to force creative thinking. I also learned that these thought and opinion leaders also were contributors to text books — and were looking for the latest technology — and wrote new chapters on advanced clinical techniques featuring our products.
4) Talent. Hired thought and opinion leaders who happened to be users. I simply hired my current customers. In setting up seminars the customers conducted the classes. Our instructors were typically ‘nurse of the year’ award winners for their organizations with advanced practice suffixes. These were smart women and everyone knew it. I hired 24 of the best.
5) Invitations. Snail-mailed and faxed personally-addressed invitations to thought and opinion leaders who were not customers. And phone calls. To attend our training seminars. A fax machine was hi-tech at the time. Hi-tech. Hi-touch. A personal invitation always sells.
6) Partners. Linked with local chapters of professional nurse organizations. Who were our key influencers and decision makers. Attended every industry trade show possible — I was less interested in the attendees as in the booth space buyers next to me — who were my channels of distribution.
7) Segment. Smallest, targeted market segment. We thought we would be selling to the 6,000 hospitals across the country. Nope. Not yet. It was the new home health care market. Which also was demanding performance over price. This tiny market segment was less price sensitive than hospitals.
Love. Appreciate the customer. Whenever a nurse passed (inserted) one of our catheters, I awarded her the coveted Landmark Nurse lapel pin. And a large framed certificate signed by the bosses. And corsages. Coming to our seminars was like going to the prom. I really loved my nurses. Still do.
9) Heeeeeree’s Johnny. Your Business Bogger acted as the Master of Ceremonies introducing the instructor and guided the logistics. There was no sales pitch. I openly disclosed that the Nurse Consultant was an instructor on the payroll. (At $500 a class — a lot of money at the time. Goodness, a lot of money anytime.) This Full Disclosure had an unanticipated consequence: Every nurse attending wanted to teach part time and would approach me later to get in on the $500 per gig action. Who knew?
10) Visit. Follow-up with a face-to-face visit. So here was my pitch: Buy the frightfully expensive product, I’ll train you, bring you roses, guarantee your happiness and patient outcomes. Or your money back.
So.
The seminars were conducted at a fraction of the cost of hiring a team of clinicians full time. And we were able to bury the expense under the travel & entertainment budget. Which, as it happens, the seminars were. delectare et docere
So what?
I collected baubles for sales numbers.
And then what?
The company was sold to Johnson & Johnson. A profitable experience for the investors and stock holders.
Need to market with no money?
Throw a party.
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Thank you (foot)notes:
I had some terrific bosses at Menlo Care, Inc.: John Harper, Dave Maupin, Chuck Schreiber.
Menlo Care, Inc.
Menlo Care, Inc. (Nasdaq: JNJ)
Menlo Care is a company with materials, science, and manufacturing know-how transferred from Raychem Corporation, started in 1985 to develop “low trauma,” high-performance catheters that are less harmful to patients’ veins and can be left in place for longer periods of time. Menlo Care was acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 1995.
Basil’s Blog has good content and links.
The Year 2000 Rollover and Emergency Management
Leadership is setting strategic direction; First Line Management is getting things done. Hurricane Katrina’s havoc shows us that government bureaucracies do not perform well in large scale emergencies where people are dying.
Pundit Guy gives us this picture: 205 New Orleans buses, under the command — or not, as the case may be — of one Ray Nagin. Via Ace who asks “Bush’s Fault?“
The Washington Post and others have been critical of the senior leaders running the Katrina operations. And I would agree that the “middle management” should be replaced — by one or both organizations that can deal with death and destruction:
The US Military and private business.
The governments have called up uniformed services. But I fear that the Cavalry was called in too late; a most unfortunate decision by the state’s governor. The civilian leadership should now give more control to the three star general on site and make him truly in command. And to implement control and rescue, the civilian leadership should hire (the liberal) Public Enemy Number One :
Halliburton.
The Wall Street Journal has correctly suggested that only very large organizations like Bechtel and Halliburton know how to manage very large disasters. The military uses small platoons and big business knows how to use work-group platoons to accomplish a mission. And we’ve seen this before.
During the Year 2000 roll over we faced such a challenge: a disaster with a known timeline. Your (Humble) Business Blogger(R) had the Y2K responsibility for Health and Human Resources, a $5 billion enterprise in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The boss, governor Gilmore, a former military intelligence officer, knew what we could and couldn’t do. So he hired the biggest IT consulting firms on the planet and bought their solutions packages.
In my weekly staff meetings I had a dozen of the smartest, profit motivated experts in the business sitting in the room. They let me think I was in control at the head of the table. And maybe so. But these consultants wouldn’t let me, a mere bureaucrat make a mistake.
(Half of the world’s internet traffic passed through Virginia; my continued employment depended on no adverse incidents.)
So Virginia spent $215 million and nothing happened. Nothing crashed. Except for that super-secret CIA satellite…and some defibrillators. Not my fault. No one died.
Louisiana’s Governor and New Orleans’ mayor Ray Nagin should hire Halliburton and leave the Big Easy for the big dogs.
The Evangelical Outpost has more on small unit tactics to win this battle with nature.
Ace of Spades has more on the Mayor.
Thank you to Basil’s Blog for the Covered Dish.
Wizbang has it as always: Res ipsa loquitur…
The Sideshow is unhappy with the redtape.
Michelle Malkin picks between a uniform and the uninformed. (Hint: she goes for the Big Red One, not the little red cup.)
Daimnation has more New Orleans urban legends.
Eric McNulty at Worthwhile has more on what big companies should do.
ProfessorBainbridge.com also says disaster relief effort should be outsourced.
Fastcompany has rebuilding the Big Easy.
Update: ProfessorBainbridge has more on contracts.
Update: 4 Oct 05 Monster blog has Crisis Management.
Punctuality is the Courtesy of Kings
L to R: Bush, Karen Hughes,
husband Jerry Hughes, Condi Rice
Punctuality is the politeness of kings.
Business owners have smaller margins for error than our larger big-company counterparts. One way a person, a company, can stand out and sell more is to respect people’s time. By being on time.
Your Business Blogger(R) was reminded of this truth a number of years while working with small business advertisers and clients in a trade show in Vegas. Some 10,000 of us sat of the feet of the keynote speaker Karen Hughes, presidential advisor.
She was flogging her book Ten Minutes from Normal about working on the political campaign trail to get George Bush elected.
She recounted the story of President Bush’s particular concern about being on time. She once asked the President why they were leaving so early for a meeting. He said:
“Three words: Late is rude.”
President Bush (who has an MBA) likes to get down to business on time. This is is best done in an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect. It can best start by checking your watch. Promptness is the soul of business said Lord Chesterfield 1694 – 1773. Timeliness is impressive.
These days, Etiquette Expert, Emily Post has much to say on the courtesy of timeliness. In Business Etiquette — Tips on Making a Good First Impression Post reminds us — when traveling to an appointment you should “know how to get there and how long it will take. (BEING ON TIME IS CRITICAL).” Emphasis in original.
But sometimes being on time is not good enough. One of football’s most successful coaches would tell his players to show up 10 minutes early or be considered late. This discipline is known as “Vince Lombardi time.”
Coach Lombardi won games, in part, with the discipline of punctuality. This also teaches the value of time: Man has no nobler or more valuable possession…. as Beethoven said.
Being punctual is the politeness of kings. And courtesy to your clients. It would please even the French, like Louise XVIII, who said, Punctuality is the politeness of kings.
Thank you (foot)notes:
In the official White House photo above, Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State, does the swearing in of Karen Hughes on September 9, 2005. Jerry Hughes, Karen’s husband holds the Bible. I believe that he would be eligible to enjoy the honor of being recognized by The Denis Thatcher Society.
Elmer Wheeler: Sell the Sizzle, not the Steak
Elmer Wheeler selling
through the senses
“Sell the sizzle, not the steak,” said master salesman Elmer Wheeler.
His book SIZZLEMANSHIP: New Tested Selling Sentences and his others are among sales lore classics.
His original research was built around 105,000 word order combinations and tested on some 19,000,000 people, as the legend goes. Elmer then took the “Wheeler Word Laboratory” on the road consulting with major retailers.
Teaching salesmen to sell more.
His research from the 1930′s still holds and sells today. Even half way around the world.
Your Business Blogger was touring the country side north of Beijing. Seeking out local thrills.
The buzz from my hosts was about a terrific luge-like ride. Nothing like Disney World. A real experience.
A ride faster and more dangerous. Not OSHA compliant with all those pesky safety restrictions.
It sounded great. All my senses were a-tingle. I jumped at the chance for danger.
Ski lift to the top of the run
Our guides mentioned some history and scenery and artifacts, along the way. With an edge. So I ride with my buddy David Wayne up to the top. And sped down to the bottom.
A Chinese thrill ride
Everyone was right! Cheap, exciting thrills! When you come to Beijing, be sure to look into the luge ride!
It sizzles.
By the way, there was another attraction in between the ski lift ride up, and the tremendous luge ride down.
The Great Wall in between two Great Rides.
Here’s Your Business Blogger modeling genuine Chinese Communist Red Army head wear. At the Great Wall of China.
The structure was breathtaking. A meaty experience sold with sizzle. Anticipation rewarded with a concrete experience through each of the senses.
Marketing at its best.
Elmer Wheeler lives.
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Thank you (foot)notes:
Off-vertical brick laying
Your Business Blogger worked in college as a carpenter’s helper and was intrigued by the brickwork of the Great Wall. The bricks followed the terrain contours. The Wall in the Middle Kingdom doesn’t follow the vertical to earth’s center. If a mason could plumb this out for me and comment, I’ll send a blog t-shirt.
From Emperor Heaven,
The Great Wall of China is one of the great man-made landmarks on earth, an incredible feat of engineering begun some 2000 years ago. It stretches for about 6,500 km from the Korean mountains to the Gobi desert. The average height is 10 metres (originally the height of 5 men) & the width is 5 metres (originally 6 horses wide at the top, 8 horses wide at the bottom).
It was started during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty as small bits of defensive wall for three of the individual states to keep the northern nomadic barbarians away. Under the Qin Dynasty the independent bits of wall began to be joined making it the ‘great’ wall to protect the whole country from northern invasions. Over a million people eventually were sent to work on the wall during the Qin Dynasty (local people, soldiers, scholars and prisoners) and it was worked on for ten years continuously day and night using, for the most part, local construction materials. If anyone died while working, they were buried in the wall. Workers who complained or tried to run away were buried alive. During the Qin and Han Dynasties the construction was of wooden frames which were filled with earth which was then tamped tightly. The frames were removed leaving a tightly packed earthen wall. Many years later the earth was enclosed by brick and stone.
It consisted of wall interspersed with watchtowers. The soldiers lived and stored their supplies in the towers and each tower was within sight of the next. The soldiers looked out for invasions when a flag or torch was used for signaling and occasionally took part in skirmishes with the invaders. Many of the garrisons had nearby farming plots so were self-sufficient as getting supplies to the remote areas was hard.
From the Han Dynasty (200 BC) to the Ming Dynasty (17th century), it was continually extended, reconstructed and restored. It’s the remnants of the Ming wall that are mainly visible today when the brick and stone work was extended and sophisticated designs added.
Mudville Gazette has Open Post.
Russell Davies has a better picture of Wheeler. Bet on the Brits. And a better article. Blog roll him.