Tag Archive for: Samuel Johnson

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Friday Filosophy #2016-11

From expertise last week I want to go to perseverance this week in our Friday Filosophy #2016-11. I truly believe that if everything we faced were easy, then it would already be done. By extension, some of us will go to places in our lives that are not easy. There we become trailblazers, pioneers. There we will realize failures and setbacks. It is perseverance that sets you apart.

Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.

Pele

Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20^th.

Julie Andrews

Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.

Marie Curie

Never stop fighting until you arrive at your destined place – that is, the unique you. Have an aim in life, continuously acquire knowledge, work hard, and have perseverance to realize the great life.

P.J. Abdul Kalam

Through hard work, perseverance and a faith in God, you can live your dreams.

Ben Carson

Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.

John Quincy Adams

Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.

Samuel Johnson

Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.

Newt Gingrich

The time is now.

Filosophy

Friday Filosophy #2016-2

I believe that one of the most important personal attributes to have to enjoy your life and grow as a person is curiosity. If you are curious you will be asking a lot of questions of yourself and of others. Isn’t why a wonderful question to pose on anything, at any time, for any reason? This is true as long as the answer given to you is not “because.”

So, for Friday Filosophy #2016-2, here are some interesting quotes from some interesting people on curiosity.

We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.

Walt Disney

Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.

e.e. cummings

Curiosity will conquer fear even more than bravery will.

James Stephens

It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.

Albert Einstein

Curiosity is natural to the soul of man and interesting objects have a powerful influence on our affections.

Daniel Boone

Leisure and curiosity might soon make great advances in useful knowledge, were they not diverted by minute emulation and laborious trifles.

Samuel Johnson

Curiosity killed the cat, but for a while I was a suspect.

Stephen Wright

The time is now.

Filosophy

Friday Filosophy #2015-29

With our webinar series beginning next week for the fall session, Friday Filosophy #2015-29 is about something we strive for, always: excellence.

Satisfaction in life is knowing that you got the best out of your attributes. Don’t settle for less than you are capable of in your life. There is much more satisfaction in overcoming challenges and problems than sailing through life without being challenged. Many famous people have said something like this in different ways with the same meaning. Never lie to your reflection in the mirror even though it is the easiest person in the world to lie to. You will never achieve what you were meant to achieve.

Today I would like to explore some differing views of excellence.

Every job is a self-portrait of the person who does it. Autograph your work with excellence.

Author Unknown

The secret of joy in work is contained in one word – excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it.

Pearl S. Buck

Excellence is never an accident: it is the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction, skillful execution and the vision to see obstacles as opportunities.

Anonymous

Mediocre men work at their best; men seeking excellence strive to do better.

Edwin Louis Cole

Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude.

Ralph Marston

Excellence is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.

John W Gardner

If you want to achieve excellence, you can get there today. As of this second, quit doing less-than-excellent work.

Thomas J. Watson

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.

Aristotle

ABILITY is what you are capable of doing.

MOTIVATION determines what you do.

ATTTITUDE determines how well you do it.

Lou Holtz

Perfection is not attainable. But if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.

Vince Lombardi

No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.

Martin Luther King

Once you have experienced excellence you will never again be content with mediocrity.

Thomas S. Watson

The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.

Vince Lombardi

If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.

Colin Powell

Excellence in any department can be attained only by the labor of a lifetime; it is not to be purchased at a lesser price.

Samuel Johnson

Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.

Steve Jobs

Life’s like a play: it’s not the length but the excellence of the acting that matters.

Seneca

How you view your work or your life is your own. How others view you is not.

The time is now.

Filosophy, Words of Wisdom

Friday Filosophy #2014-49

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

Albert Einstein

Curiosity is, in great and generous minds, the first passion and the last.
Samuel Johnson

The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.
William Arthur Ward

The time is now…

TESTIMONIALS

Why Does Business Acumen Really Matter?

Guest writer Stephen Haines gives us an overview in this week's blog post: "Why Does Business Acumen Really Matter?"

The current business climate has executives seeking more employees with a broader range of business expertise. The constant wave of disruption from startups and advances in technology is wreaking havoc with just about every industry. Corporate leaders report they need people – at all levels — adept at comprehending, valuing and contributing to strategic initiatives and systematic improvements.

Leaders want managers to focus on the big picture of the business, cultivate relationships across the culture, and contribute to the advancement of the firm’s goals. It’s not simply a matter of subject-area expertise, but an individual’s ability to understand various dimensions of a business that are in play as situations arise.

The concern is growing, as the Career Advisory Board announced last month nearly half of business leaders surveyed report a gap in business acumen with new talent. Another recent study from the Economist Intelligence Unit finds 65 percent of leaders believe insufficient business acumen limits a strategy’s potential.

Business acumen is not one thing. Rather, business acumen refers to the portfolio of attributes and skills that every business person needs to understand so they can effectively contribute to the goals of the company. It’s also important because it helps to guide the business employee in how they can purposefully chart their business careers.

So, what exactly is involved with mastering business acumen?

Communicating clearly with all levels of people in every functional department and earning their respect.

Collaborating creatively across departments to recognize and solve problems.

Understanding the drivers for profitability and growth.

A keen awareness of external threats and how to align internal processes to overcome them.

Being a self-starter who takes initiative when appropriate.

A willingness to shift strategy and goals to leverage market disruption.

And why exactly do these abilities matter?

When people are brought into a business role, either because they’re new to the company or because they shifted roles, it’s like they’re asked to jump on a moving train when they start. It’s clear that a sharp sense of business acumen allows them to adapt from day one. Veteran employees also need to sharpen their agility at pivoting from the work in front of them to other areas. Customer problems tend to trump the daily plan, but not everyone is adept at shifting their focus.

The business section is replete with articles about new competition emerging so quickly, incumbents are often caught off and their market share dissipates at an alarming rate. But when employees possess the above-listed skills and work across disciplines, businesses are better positioned to react to disruption, innovate, meet customer demands, avoid costly delays, and possibly, disrupt a market themselves.

As business consultant Ram Charan once explained, “Success depends on a leader’s ability to recognize such moments of disequilibrium in advance — and to have the courage and business acumen to chart a new course in the face of them.”

Business Acumen is missing link to long-term success

Ray Reilly, a professor of business administration at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, consults with corporations and has reported his surprise at how few executives know what business acumen is or why it’s important. He describes one with business acumen as someone who understands the key things they need to know to make a decision, to synthesize complex and apparently unconnected data, and react positively to events when they do not happen as expected.

An individual with a thorough grasp of business acumen, will establish the context for their work day, so others don’t set it for them. If business people have sufficient preparation when they encounter the unexpected, they’ll be able to set the stage to deal with these issues.

For strategies to stay on track, everyone attached to its execution should master these skills or risk allowing dysfunctional to rule. Now more than ever, millions of dollars are lost and businesses shutter when business acumen is not emphasized beyond the c-suite.

To encapsulate the various levels and the range of attributes and skills, the Business Acumen Institute created the Business Acumen Canvas.

https://business-acumen.com/business-acumen-skills-canvas/

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November 29, 2022

High Demand Jobs

This week brings our second guest post from Don Shilling. He talks about the not-so-glamorous world of high demand jobs. Don was born to this industry. In his own words:

I grew up in a construction family and worked for my Dad several summers during and after high school. Then while working on my degree at North Dakota State University I was hired by a construction equipment dealership. I started in their service department part time until I finished college. Then full-time service employment for a couple of years then transitioned into sales management. During the recession of the early 1980’s myself and three other managers started General Equipment & Supplies, Inc.

First as Sales Manager and eventually as President we grew our business from one location and 20 employees to 10 locations in four states and two Canadian Provinces and over 250 employees. Along the way we developed relationships with area Technical Colleges and created a College Tuition Reimbursement Program where today we Recruit a handful of new technicians annually into that program. Our company has also developed two Department of Labor Certified Apprenticeship Programs to fill hard to find skilled positions. I am currently semi-retired as Chairman of the Board.

High Demand Jobs

In my initial blog I discussed the fact that we need to be able to find good people and then train them. This seems simple enough, except what the Workforce Development Council defines as “High Demand Jobs” typically are not considered glamorous. High Demand Jobs don't get a lot of attention when our youth are exploring their future careers.

Why is that? We find it easy to blame our educational system and all the College promotional materials out there that tout the excitement of degrees in computing or high tech. But, as they say, maybe it is time to look in the mirror if you want to lay blame. The “High Demand Jobs” are typically tied to industries who have allowed this to happen. Owners and managers within these industries have not taken the time to engage the educational system and demand equal time with our youth as they select their career options.

How Do Young People Discover Us If We Don't Tell Them We Are Here?!

However, thanks to the Pandemic . . . maybe, just maybe, we have reached a time where we can turn that corner. What we have found in our local Workforce Development Council is the jobs that were lost during the Pandemic were tied to people who are perhaps under-skilled. In some cases, these were people who made employment choices early in their careers that were not focused on these high demand employment positions. In fact, most of the jobs that were considered “essential” during the Pandemic are also on the “High Demand Jobs” lists. Perhaps with only a little additional skills training we can help the now under-employed find a stable career that is also considered “essential”.

Industry needs to react to this immediately! As Ron Slee says at the end of each blog, "the time is now," especially for all of us who employ people in these “high demand jobs.” It is time for us to pull together to support the Career and Technical Education sector as it begins the process of re-tooling our unemployed or under-employed.

By support, I mean something very simple: you need to get involved. Perhaps you can start an apprenticeship program, or connect with your local Career and Technical Education system and see what they might need to start a program that would benefit your labor shortage areas. You can work at recruiting our youth and consider helping the right candidates with educational expenses. Bring them into your businesses and show them opportunities they might have never imagined. Let’s get started! You are going to like what you see in the mirror when you do.

For further information on re-tooling your skills, please visit us at Learning Without Scars.

September 29, 2020