Can a manager be judged by thier home life?

We judge politicians, CEO’s, and world leaders for the choices they make in their home lives. The question that logically follows: Is it okay to judge the home lives of the managers and leaders we come in contact with in our everyday lives? Is it fair to say that the manager that just got divorced isn’t good at managing their home life, time, or loved ones? Is it fair to say that the manager that has lost their home because they bought fancy cars, boats, and vacations isn’t good at prioritizing? Is it logical to link ones personal life to ones professional life?

Even if you declare that it is not fair to judge someone due to their home life or choices, manager’s employees can still view this as a weakness. It is difficult to disassociate ones abilities to run their own life with ones abilities to run a business. More recently it is becoming more and more difficult to judge where work and life separate. Forget the ethics or morals; it is the separation between work and home life that must be dissected.

I believe that even if we deem this link between ones personal choices unfair or unethical as a society we will see people’s personal lives becoming symbiotic.  We monitor and censor our actions in our personal lives for fear of stories or the dreaded pictures showing up on Facebook or Myspace, why don’t we monitor our and censor our personal choices to keep our images squeaky clean.

Any good businessman must be a rugged outdoorsman

Any good businessman, manager or entrepreneur must know who they are and what makes the tick. This higher level of introspect becomes useful upon becoming a leader, a decision maker, and a risk taker. Introspect becomes the armor that the businessperson wears to keep them safe amongst the turmoil that is associated with starting a company, managing people, or taking on risk. Without introspect the entrepreneur would give up, the manager would collapse under pressure, and the businessman would run and hide. One must know what is inside for you will be tested. 

The rugged outdoorsman has tested him/herself. The outdoorsman has spent many of weekends putting themselves to the test: climbing that 14,000 foot peak, crossing that stream, the one you swore would be frozen solid if it weren’t moving so fast. The outdoors roots his/her character and introspect; the introspect that going to the mall or walking your girlfriends Papillion just can’t hold a candle to. 

Do I really think the only way to gain introspect is by becoming Daniel Boone? No; but I do believe the outdoors are a fantastic way to gain introspect and become a stronger, healthier, well rooted person. Despite my spoof I also believe one can gain introspect walking an 8 pound foofy dog. 

Moral of the story: No matter what we enjoy we must push ourselves to either side of the spectrum and push our boundaries in order to truly know ourselves. Before we can provide value or define how we do so we must know what we are made of. Gaining introspect and learning about who we are can help every one of us learn what we want out of this life. In the process we will become better businessman, entrepreneurs, managers and people simply by learning who we are.

This is…Business! (Final Thought)

Referring back to the first blog post stating, “that the Spartan civilization would have been great business owners as well as epic entrepreneurs.” I believe this simple statement due the fact that this civilization was never known for its size but by utilizing its resources efficiently the Spartans thrived for many century’s. I fell that in the economy of today efficiency has become the key to success. Small business owners and entrepreneurs must utilize every resource to its full advantage to compete with the many had driving multinational corporations of today. The entrepreneur must be lean, mean, and highly efficient much like the Spartan Creed.

Small business owners must be: loyal to thier business, have courage to stand out in a crowd, show certainty in uncertain times, accept certain levels of risk, and intense pride in themselves and their business. I have learned that, much like life, to be truly successful in business one must surround themselves with the right people and create a tight-knit community of mentors, customers, employees, and friends.

This is…Business! (Part V)

For the concluding post on why Spartans would be great entrepreneurs as well as business owners we will delve into pride. The final reason why Spartans would make great entrepreneurs is the intense pride in themselves and their accomplishments. Pride in ones accomplishments signals confidence in ones abilities. Pride in ones business alludes to the fact that your business has value and you provide value.

Pride in ones work signals to the customer base that they are getting a quality product and will be happy with the value that get out of the product or service and in turn the customer will be happy handing over their money. Pride in ones business signals to the customer that you will make sure they have a good experience dealing with your business.

Having pride is a great asset and a great seller to ones business but having so much pride to the fact of reaching being boastful could be detrimental to the business. Entrepreneurs must be careful to not let pride cloud their judgment about their product or service.

As Nancy Lopez states, “A competitor will find a way to win. Competitors take bad breaks and use them to drive themselves just that much harder. Quitters take bad breaks and use them as reasons to give up. It’s all a matter of pride.”  Harnessing ones feelings of pride can prove to be advantageous as long as it is not over the top or cloud ones vision of reality.

This is…Business! (Part IV)

My fourth blog post will cover endurance. Continuing with the Spartan theme the endurance demonstrated by the Spartans helped their society become more focused on long-term  gains as well as the ability charge past the normal persons endurance and seize the opportunities to the fullest. In the business world endurance is an asset for which to capitalize on. Endurance is a trait for which an entrepreneur must posses  to out endure the nay-sayers or the bell curve of any start-up.

Endurance in business is the key that many businesses are missing. The key to reach higher levels of success or in this market climate those that endure the economy may have the key to the brighter future ahead. As put by Baseline Magazine, “Enterprises can achieve enduring high performance by creating an environment in which the development of strategic goals is reinforced by processes that educate, organize and align the enterprise’s activities with those goals.”

The educating of the Spartan society, paired with a tightly knit, organized, and aligned community allowed their society to reach higher levels and endure through the many hardships and trials historically. In conclusion endurance is a difficult road to travel but with a little hard work paired with mental strength and audacity endurance may just be the golden ticket.

-Jesse Hummel

This is…Business! (Part III)

In my third post I hope to continue to add value by viewing business from a different perspective in order to gain knowledge. Some would argue that resolute convictions (certainty) in the business world is impossible but, certainty is achievable. Having resolute convictions such as, “I have made my best effort” or “Although my idea is not popular I have taken the correct path.”

A resolute conviction doesn’t mean that you do not listen to customers, employees or industry leaders a resolute conviction means that you have accepted the risk in your decision or actions and move forward. I believe that it is this standing of one’s business ground resolute conviction can also be taken as having confidence.

In business it is important to be confident that the actions your business makes are actions you want to align yourself with. As the Spartan’s instilled fear by use of resolute conviction in their skills and abilities, companies whom choose to utilize confidence will attract many customers. It boils down to assessing the risk, accepting ones choice and actions, remaining confident in ones actions, and learning as well as growing from ones actions.

 -Jesse Hummel

This is…Business! (part II)

In my second Blog I hope to continue to add value by viewing business from different perspectives in order to gain knowledge.  I hope you will follow my posts and as always, any and all comments and criticism are welcome. Sticking with our Spartan theme the next topic to be covered is that of undaunted courage.

Any entrepreneur or business owner must demonstrate courage in the face of danger and realize that fear is merely a cue of where the boundaries are located.  The Spartans suppressed fear by striving for achievement and constant straining for the impossibility of perfection.  An entrepreneur utilizes fear as a tool to inform of the unchartered territories and utilizes their network and knowledge to become informed as to suppress the fear. I believe that John McCain defined courage best, “…taught to understand, correctly, that courage is not the absence of fear, but the capacity for action despite our fears.”

The common misconception of Spartans being a purely militaristic society has been put by the wayside for the more accurate portrayal of them as fusing strength of character and compassion to create a mentally and physically strong individual as well as society. Courage can build ones strength of character and that allows a person’s business and life to reach for something beyond the ordinary.

Having the insight to realize that risks and rewards are usually proportional, courage to seize the day and make the most out of the abundance of opportunities seems like second nature.

May we all have courage in our many endeavors.

-Jesse Hummel

This is…Business!

Welcome to my blog. My blog is targeted at thinking of business in new ways from different perspectives and relations.

Typical Sunday evening…watching a movie (300) getting in the last minutes of relaxation out of the weekend before another week of work. I come to realize that I must write a blog for my Management 491 class, here we go.

I feel that the Spartan civilization would have been great business owners as well as epic entrepreneurs due to their admirable traits of: unwavering loyalty, undaunted courage, resolute convictions, incredible endurance, and intense pride in themselves and their accomplishments.  I will cover these 5 traits in the next 5 days beginning with loyalty.

If a modern business owner demonstrated the unwavering loyalty to his business that the Spartans had toward their culture and people then that business would thrive. That business would thrive upon the owner being so loyal and unwavering toward his business and product or service that the business owner’s raw confidence would become an epidemic.

The loyalty towards what one is supporting provides exponential power. Much like the modern examples of Bill Gates or Ted Turner an unwavering loyalty toward ones aspirations can plow through any roadblock. As seen in 300, Leonidas lead 300 men to battle against a much larger force, and prevailed on many levels due to his confidence in his men and his army’s loyalty toward their leader. A manager or owner that could have such confidence in their product or business would easily win over their employees and be able to defeat huge levels of competition upon reaching this depth of loyalty. Above all Loyalty has that power to unite a force. As Leonidas proclaimed, “This is….Business!!!!!” (Quote may be modified)

I look forward to engaging in conversation and learning from myself and others.  Please feel free to comment, critique, and challenge my thoughts and I look forward to learning from each other!

-Jesse Hummel

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