Now, come and visit us at our new site, TrustisEverything.com.
This is the end of our blog on this site. Thanks so much for visiting us here all these years. We’ve upgraded to the new wordpress site where we can do more than just blog.
We look forward to hearing from you there.
Aneil & Karen
I took my students to a local fair trade store this week and introduced them to Philip and Sara Dail. Philip and Sara own Beleza, a fair trade shop in Cameron Village in Raleigh, North Carolina. This was the third time I took my MBA students to visit their store (here they are in their store) and hear the story of how they sell products from 22 developing countries. I learn something new every time we visit their store. I love to hear the story of how they turned their passion into a store.
Philip was a professor at NC State in the Textile department (recently retired) and traveled the world, bringing back textile gifts from each trip, and discovered that he had more gifts than he actually needed, so he opened a store with no retail experience. He married his high school sweetheart, Sara, late in life, and she now manages the store. They told us about many single mothers that they support through their efforts and we realized that they are actually living out global economic development in a small, but significant way through their constant and positive efforts to build relationships with women in villages all over the world.
It was humbling to think of the way that they just made up their mind to do something and did it. This week, I thanked them for their example. I know that they made an enormous impact on my MBA students and I am grateful for that, as well. We need to think broadly about how business is global and that it doesn’t necessarily have to be a multinational corporation in order to make an impact.
-karen
An article in today’s Wall Street Journal has commenters doing their typical rant about how others are idiots. I wonder. Here’s my take as I commented there:
The tools have simply changed for those of us who earn our living in the service economy. I use my iPhone 4S for my email, calendar, GPS, Twitter account, and LinkedIn updates, among other things.
In the ’80s I needed a desktop computer and a laser printer. In the 90s, laptop, internet and color laser printer. A smartphone and blog/website in the next decade became indispensable. I’m sure in the next decade, it will be a chip-enabled pair of carbon fiber Google Goggles that will allow me to multitask while listening in on interminable conference calls. With added sound, I’m sure I’ll be able to conduct simultaneously translated speaking engagements with audiences in other countries, rather than having them listen in on headsets as they did in South America in 2008.
Economists used to say “guns or butter.” Now apparently, it’s phones or food
Yes, all four of us have smartphones in our family, and although I “occasionally” go ballistic at my children’s multitasking while we watch t.v. together (almost never at the dinner table, which is a no-no), I also am proud that my children know how to use their iPhones to navigate in new cities, read the New York Times or Kindle books, keep in touch with friends they’ve made at schools in other states, and keep their parents informed about where they are and what they’re doing. I managed to thrive without computer, wireless phone, or internet in college, but that world is long-gone.
How much do you and your family spend each month on cellular phones and service, and is it worth it?
Aneil
We met Ellie and Ira when I was in the doctoral program at UNC-Chapel Hill. We decided to live in a condo–less maintenance while I was in school and Aneil was commuting. What we never expected was to find the most amazing friends in Ellie and Ira.
They moved down south from Westchester, New York to retire and we adopted each other. Ellie is an amazing cook and shares her latkes and delicious desserts with us. Ira was such a good friend, even during the return of his cancer. He battled bravely and taught us all–Maggie and Jack included–how to be a friend. He loved them as much as any grandfather would love a child and even gave Maggie a special gift on her 13th birthday–a ring he had made for her. She just told me that she wears it constantly to remember him because she misses him so much.
I hope we thanked Ira enough for his friendship while he was alive. Jack and Aneil loved having men’s lunch with him and we tried in many ways to let him know how special he was to us. It is Ellie’s birthday this week, and so it is a good time to tell her again, what a blessing they have been in our lives and how lucky we are to have moved into that condo neighborhood, where Ira was the unofficial mayor of Glenview Park.
-karen
I just cancelled my USA Today subscription. I love waking up and reading that paper each day, but my almost-50 year old eyes just can’t read it anymore. The new format is just too young for me. I thought I was insane, until I read some other reviews. I guess USA Today is looking for a younger audience. Did someone forget to tell them that younger folks don’t read the paper?!
As a marketer, I totally understand the need to update and refresh your brand and look. However, this is not a good one for this brand. Reminds me of the Gap fiaso.
If I can, I’ll continue to read USA Today on my iPhone–the app version works much better for me.
-karen
When students and alums keep asking for ways to find a job, I am amazed at how many of them have never heard of doing an informational interview. It is an easy way to expand your network (and your knowledge) in a non-threatening way, as you learn about new job opportunities.
Here is my article in policymic.com this week on how to use your network to land an informational interview.
Have you had success doing informational interviews? What other advice do you have for job seekers?
-karen
This week, I am not only writing a thank-you note to Kansas, I wrote one to her bosses, too, bragging about her great service.
We drove through the dry cleaners yesterday, and I realized that we need to say thank-you more to the many service providers we run into each week. We think service employees are getting the thanks, support and encouragement they deserve from their bosses, but sometimes they are not.
Kansas went out of her way to do sew back some buttons on a coat for Aneil but her bosses gave her grief for it. Aneil really appreciated what she did and even offered to pay her extra for it, in case she got in trouble for the extra time, but Kansas made it clear that during her downtime, it was her decision to sew the buttons back on. She knew Aneil was a good and loyal customer and wanted to do it for him. She knew it was the right thing to do and made up her own mind to do it.
We were pretty flabbergasted that her bosses would give her a hard time for doing a nice thing that is actually extending their level of service and making sure we are satisfied customers. I’m not sure how much money we spend at the dry cleaners each year (actually, I don’t think I really want to know) so her small gesture was significant and kind.
Even if she doesn’t feel appreciated on a daily basis, I hope that my thank-you note to her will make a difference.
UPDATE: I just got this note back from Kansas’ bosses after submitting my note to them via their online form:
-karen
In a series of three articles for PolicyMic.com recently, we discussed how people can best decided whether, when, and where to attend graduate school. Here are some excerpts and some recent information in other news outlets that we think will be helpful: Tbe key questions to be answered are:
- Why do I want to do this?
- When is the right time to pursue such a degree?
- Who can I ask for advice about this, andwhat do they say?
- Where is the best place I can obtain the degree, and how do I determine this?
In our first article in this series, we asked our network of over 100 MBAs on LinkedIn Linkedin to help us answer the first two questions, the Why and the When. In the second article, we addressed the Who and the What. We now answer the last question, involving the Where and the How.
As mentioned in our previous article, considering the needs of your spouse, partner or family should be of paramount importance, because their support is critical. One alumnus integrated several criteria when answering the question. “We needed to be in state where my wife, a PA-C, could not only be licensed but maximize her clinical skills as well. The second factor was the quality of the program. The third factor was the financial aid package.”
Once again, deciding to pursue a graduate degree is one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make. So make sure you answer all four questions before making it. Getting input fromClose Connections who have already earned graduate degrees, Trustworthy Talent whose opinions you can trust, Professional Pundits like HR folks and recruiters, and alumni from those institutions you are considering, can all help you make the best decision for you.
The Wall Street Journal reported today that some employers are providing tangible assistance for graduate school to their employees, beyond the traditional tuition reimbursement that employers have offered (and sometimes discontinued) over the past several decades:
As a means of attracting stellar young hires, an increasing number of firms in finance, consulting and technology are shepherding employees through the graduate-school admissions process by organizing and paying for test-preparation courses, inviting admissions consultants to help with applications, arranging mock interviews with senior staffers and even bringing school representatives to information sessions at the office.
Companies support staffers attending a number of graduate programs, but business school is by far the most common destination.
It may seem counterintuitive to encourage employees to head for the exits, but firms say that assisting with the graduate-school application process leads to long-term loyalty and, with strings attached to tuition money, improves the chances that employees will return after graduation. (Most companies reimburse employees only after they’ve been back for a number of months or even years.)
Such programs have been in place for a while, but have grown more popular in recent years as the recruiting process heats up.
Does your employer encourage you to pursue graduate school, and if so how? What advice have you sought in evaluating whether to return to school, who has influenced, and how?
Aneil
My daughter is turning 18 soon and her babysitter from State College PA (who is also Jack’s godmother) wrote me with a special idea for her birthday. It reminded me of how lucky our kids are to have godparents who love them and care for them. So, I had to write them to thank them for their faithfulness. It is not common in this day and age to keep friends over time and space, but these friends have remembered Maggie and Jack’s birthdays as well as other special times in their lives with gifts and notes of encouragement.
We met these special folks in State College. Maggie’s godmother, Marta is a dear friend who worked with Aneil at Penn State. She loved Maggie from the moment she was born and continues to keep in touch with Maggie long-distance, even from her sabbatical overseas this past year.
Matt and Kristin babysat for Maggie while they were college students at Penn State. I still remember that they took Maggie to a football game to watch Matt play, even though she was only two. I didn’t think she would sit still, but Maggie loved looking for Matt on the field and actually paid attention the entire time. When Jack was born, we wanted to keep them in our lives, so we asked them to be Jack’s godparents. They have taken us all into their family and have been a constant source of love and encouragement to both kids–gotta love Facebook to help with that!
The ultimate Godparent, however, is my godmother, Karen, whom I am named for. She was my mother’s roommate at college and has remembered every birthday and Christmas for my entire life. When I think of people to thank during this year, I could never forget her because she has never forgotten me. What an example she has set for me as I am a godmother to my wonderful niece, Mady.
-karen
Bob Lintz, one of the leaders featured in both our first book Trust is Everything and our forthcoming book Becoming a Trustworthy Leader, had the ability to take the long view. Unlike many managers at GM, he didn’t skip around from plant to plant, promotion after promotion, but decided to stay in Parma, Ohio to build something that would endure, even after he retired. Parma is still thriving today as one of the automotive industry’s highest quality stamping plants.
This new McKinsey study identifies three ways that leaders can help employees take the long view
1) root out unhealthy habits: Bob worked with the union to eliminate costly overtime and duplicative jobs.
2) prioritize values: Bob did this by eliminating the executive dining room, abolishing separate parking lots for hourly and salaried employees, and having managers no longer wear coats and ties. He wanted the union and management to work together to bring in new business to the plant, and knew that they could not do it with old, traditional barriers in place.
3) keep it simple, but meaningful: Bob instituted an Open Door policy that he stood by. Anyone could come to Bob at any time.
These are important principles to remember: easy to say, but challenging to implement.
-karen
Total Trust 