Your student…and your money are going off to college…are they ready?

July 30, 2012 in Intentional Fingerprint with 0 Comments

Many students in our personal circles are heading off to college.  Are you ready?  (I can’t even thing about it without getting teary-eyed.)  But more importantly are they ready?  I am not referring to the stuff for their dorm rooms, clothes or books.  Are they ready to make great use of this time, opportunity and investment?   Do they know what they are pursuing and why?  One statistic states 84% of students are undeclared.  Taking just a moment to play this out in my quirky mind, I can imagine a student having the following dialogue with their parents.

Student: “Hey Dad/Mom, could I have $15,000 for the next 4 months?  And by the way I am going to be asking this again each semester for 4 years.  BTW, that is the minimum if all goes well and I beat the national average of 67% of students taking more than 4 years to finish.  Just saying.”

Parent:  ”What are you going to use it for?”

Student:  ”To take classes & live.”

Parent: “What classes and why?”

Student:  ”I’m not sure yet, just going to go with the flow.”

Parent:  ”Sure, I’ll write the check.  Here you go, have fun.”

Obviously, a bit tongue-in-cheek, but it has a thread of truth.  I am blessed to deal with many exceptional teenagers whom I love dearly!  Yet, with few exceptions they really don’t know why they are going to college.  It is simply what everyone else is doing…soooo…if everyone else jumped off the bridge would you want your student to join in?

Please don’t read what I am not saying.  (That is one of my business partners lines that takes a minute to digest.)  College is great, it is hugely beneficial and can set a solid foundation for the future, if it is done with intention.

Taking the time to assess interests, skills and values of students before selecting a major is critical.  There may be more than one area of interest and the student could be intentional in talking with people in each arena before investing in tuition, classes, books and the dreaded exams!  You can play a key role by looking back over their lives and recalling what projects, experiences and situations they thrived in and what areas were draining to them and consequently drained you.

Say your student wants to be a nurse because they love helping people  At the same time, they do not excel under high-pressure, lots of detail and in a fast-paced environment.  Probably not a good career selection for them.  But what if that same student was passionate about music and could pursue a music therapy degree.  Hmmmm.  In this amazing world, our opportunities are limited only by our creativity in applying our natural gifts and talents to our career selections.

I urge parents to invest in their students during high school to intentionally discover their unique gifting, talent and purpose for their career and ultimately their lives.

For all those students going off to school…make decisions you want your children to make some day.  For the many I know personally, Georgia College, UGA, Georgia Tech, Furman, Georgia State, Georgia Perimeter, Georgia Southern, Alabama, Auburn, Presbyterian, Kennesaw, UNC Chapel Hill, Vanderbilt, etc. are beyond blessed to be getting you as students!  Love you guys!!  So proud of you!!  GOD bless each of you!! (Here come the tears.)

See more at Intentional Fingerprint Student

You are not a prisoner (hopefully)!

July 9, 2012 in Intentional Fingerprint with 1 Comment

You are free to choose.  You are not a prisoner (hopefully).  You have a choice.

Many conversations with clients (and friends & family) contain comments regarding dissatisfaction with their job, the people and/or circumstances in their lives.  Thankfully, there is not a thought bubble above my head that displays an unfiltered question.  But, if there was, it would probably have a question in a neon yellow obnoxiously large font flashing, “what are you doing about it?”.

This blog focuses on the “job” comments, but applies to most other areas of complaints.  You don’t have to have to stay in your  job…you may want the job to be able to provide for yourself & your family.  As one of our partners says, “I prefer to eat and live indoors”.  It is one of his motivations to do what he does including the elements of his job that are not the most engaging like explaining financials to me!  :-)

So, what do you do if you really despise your job?  You choose.  You can quit or you can stay.  Both decisions have associated responsibilities, risks and opportunities.  Go ahead…make the choice…right now.

If you chose to quit:

  1. Resign respectfully
  2. Prepare for the response you will get from friends & family
  3. Set up a new budget for the financial implications of this decision
  4. Update your resume
  5. Create a plan for looking for your next opportunity

If you chose to stay:

  1. Pull out your job description, a notebook & a pen
  2. Prepare for some soul-searching questioning
  3. Ask & answer the following questions
  • Where could I improve to better deliver on the expectations on my job description?  Remember it is what you agreed to and it is what you get paid to do.
  • Am I the type of employee I would want to hire if it was my own company?   Why, or why not?  Consider effort, creativity, attitude, commitment, etc.
  • What opportunities could I capitalize on to learn and grow in my current position?
  • What job/industry/environment do I want to work in?
  • What steps do I need to begin moving in that direction?

Whichever path you take, it is your choice.  For the sake of yourself, your family, your co-workers and every person you come in contact with – please decide.  It is easy to spend your employer’s investment in you complaining, giving 1/2 the effort that you could/should contribute and dragging co-workers morale down.  As much as people like to say they leave the office at the office, it is humanly impossible.  We are one being.  What happens at work impacts our family life, our social life and our health.  You have the power to choose, plan and act.

Commit to “being” where you are – be present, be engaged, be passionate about the success of others and if necessary be committed to preparing yourself to “be” somewhere else.

Where you in the same “place” a year ago?  Have you made an actionable plan (not just a goal) to be in a different “place” in 12 months?  What needs to change?  What baby step could you take today?  We would love to be a part of your journey no matter what path you decide.  Go to http://www.entrepredoers.com/Services/IntentionalFingerprint.aspx

Are you creating a Legacy Culture?

June 8, 2012 in Intentional Organization with 2 Comments

There is significant conversation regarding the importance of culture.  For many companies this remains a problem.  Each of us could probably look back on our careers and bring to mind a “great place” where we worked.  For me, it was not the company where I had the coolest job with innovative projects and even the highest compensation.  My mind is instantly drawn to an organization that I worked with two decades ago!!!  I still have friends from that job because of the environment that was created.  We worked extremely hard together.  Everyone in our organization was genuinely interested in each other AND the success of the group.  And it paid off personally & professionally.

My simple description of that type of environment is a “legacy culture”.  It is something we all benefitted from and it stays with us as an example to follow.  Legacy culture doesn’t happen by chance.  It requires being intentional.

How does one go about creating a legacy culture?  Just pay everyone double. Just kidding, wanted to check if you were still reading.

Keys to creating a legacy culture:

  1. Define the legacy you want to leave.  Do you want people to look back on their time in your organization as a defining moment for their career?  Would you rather be remembered for creating a employee-focused environment?  What is your personal vision and mission regarding work?
  1. Share your legacy culture with your leadership team and let them add their own vision for their organization.  Remember you are shaping leaders to take your position.
  1. Compare current culture with your desired legacy culture.  You will need to collect multiple data points; i.e., employee surveys, focus group debriefs, electronic surveys, etc. and compare them looking for key trends.
  1. Develop a plan of action and have trusted advisors hold you accountable.  You do not (and should not and can not) do all of the effort by yourself.  It needs to be a mix between you, leadership teams and individual contributors working together.  You are ultimately accountable; after all, it is your legacy!

One great question to ask yourself as you are developing and building your legacy culture…would I want my children to come work in this organization?

Want to be more intentional about your culture click here! 

 

The Price is Right: Establishing Pricing Integrity in a Changing Market

March 19, 2012 in Intentional Business Finance with 3 Comments

The fast-food industry is one of the BEST examples of the DIFFERENCE in philosophy regarding pricing integrity. When the recession hit, one of the FIRST fast food companies to lower their prices was McDonald’s. They introduced the Dollar Menu. Almost all other franchises soon followed suit. One of the only franchises NOT to introduce a “value menu” was Chick-fil-a. Rather than lower prices, Chick-fil-a stood by their belief. Their belief was to provide a better product, with better service, rather than reducing prices. To make a long story short, Chick-fil-a, in 2010, generated MORE profit in the United States than McDonald’s…

The lesson here is to consider the value that your business adds in the marketplace. McDonald’s made the determination, (whether intentionally or not) that they did not offer enough value at the current cost, to continue charging the same amount as before, or that their customer base was primarily concerned with price. Chick-fil-a, on the other hand, was better prepared for the changing marketplace. This was because their business model was better suited to provide additional VALUE without depreciating the QUALITY of their product!

Here are some points to consider for your business:

1. Understand the market, keep in mind that the market is CONSTANTLY changing, and you need to be CONSTANTLY vigilant!

2. Recognize your business’ margins. If you know that it will require certain margins to obtain your goals, you will be LESS likely to reduce price, and MORE likely to add value.

3. Find ways to enhance what you offer, rather than reducing price.

4. Understand your customer base. By taking the time to UNDERSTAND your customer base, you are better able to adapt to changes in the market.

5. NEVER operate out of fear!

If you would like a little help getting started:

A Holistic Approach to Business

March 12, 2012 in Intentional Business Scan with 0 Comments

ho·lis·tic - relating to or concerned with wholes or with complete systems rather than with the analysis of, treatment of, or dissection into parts

 

I was speaking to a prominent business man the other day (by the way, he has been around businesses far longer than me) and he mentioned that mission statements were not commonly used 15 years ago. If they were, you found them on the wall for shareholders to read. The “folks” in the business never read them.

The rise of mission statements in our opinion is directly related to the emergence of a HOLISTIC approach to business. Every department; sales, production, marketing, development, IT, legal, warehouse, all working with one idea in mind. A Mission Statement!

The challenge for most small and new businesses is the lack of TIME, RESOURCES, and EXPERIENCE to HOLISTICALLY approach their business. That is why so many do not reach their full potential.

Here are some tips to increase your ability to FOCUS and HOLISTICALLY analyzing your business:

1. Make time to spend on important rather than urgent matters.

2. Develop analysis tools ahead of time and make sure to save everything.

3. Find someone you can trust to help you think through your business.

4. Create monthly goals and analyze the difference obtaining those goals made on your business.

 Understanding your business is critical to your success, sometimes it is just hard to see the forest for the trees! (and the pressure is mounting!)

link February 28, 2012 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

mo·ti·va·tion /ˌmōtəˈvāSHən/ – The Desire to Do Things

February 15, 2012 in Intentional Fingerprint with 0 Comments

Each and every one of us is motivated by something. Whether it is motivation to eat, sleep, work or play… at a certain point that drive sets in.

Question:  Why are we more motivated to do certain things?

Answer:  Because we are WIRED in a way that makes certain things easy and others very difficult.

If you google motivation it will return 235 million websites of information. But, if you  do not understand how you are WIRED, you will be frustrated!  Finding motivation is easy when you spend your time discovering and doing what you do!
So how will you spend your time today? Going through 235 million websites trying to find motivation, or understanding what motivates you?
Finding motivation is easy when you spend your time doing what you do!

Want to learn more click here!