Recent news stories point to improved job prospects and increased pay to go with them. This is encouraging if you have the credentials (read: degree and/or certification) your prospective employer is looking for, but what if you don’t?

At a recent convention I attended, I heard a keynote speech that inspired this post. I’ll share more of what I learned from that talk in Part 2, but first I want to encourage you to become an entrepreneur. Instead of waiting for someone to hire you, why not start your own company and be the boss?

Let’s be clear: I’m not suggesting that you pull a Costanza and make up a Vandelay Industries. Nor am I talking about falling into the trap of turk work and setting yourself up for obsolescence. Instead, I mean that you should develop a product or service and the plan for delivering it — and then you should deliver it as profitably as you can.

Make your own luck

Let’s talk about the upsides, starting with creating your own momentum and your own luck. Now before you think there’s this mystical force our there called Luck that runs parallel to God, let me clarify. What people call luck is actually the meeting of preparation and attention. When you’ve done the homework and acquired and/or mastered the knowledge of your marketplace, you’ll harness the positive power of confirmation bias. As I’ve written before, when you drive an old Volvo, you start to see them everywhere.

When you’ve developed expertise in your chosen market, you’ll see opportunities everywhere. Then, if you’re confident and diligent, you’ll pursue the more promising opportunities. And if your preparation includes the cultivation of some selling skills, you’ll close some business. Then people will consider you lucky.

One man from my hometown used to like to say that the harder he worked the luckier he got. I got it back then, and I still remember it. I also appreciate the saying attributed to Thomas Edison that goes like this: Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.

Be your own boss

Becoming an entrepreneur has another huge upside: you are your own boss. Unless you’re also highly self-motivated, that’s also the downside. Every day, you’re going to have to summon your motivation, your desire to get things done or they won’t get done.

By the way, this is the same skill you need to manage your career, as I discussed in this post.

But… It takes money

Yes, it’s true that you have to have some money to get started, but not as much as you may think. For most entrepreneurial enterprises, you aren’t going to need your own skyscraper and helipad — at least, not at first. Some people with landscaping businesses started with not much more than a lawnmower and a willingness to sweat. Other people have figured out how to open online stores on a shoestring budget. Web domains are very inexpensive — and there are lots of free tutorials that can help you design your website and launch your business.

Chris Guillebeau wrote a book called The 100-Dollar Startup. You may find just the idea you need there.

Be prepared to learn

There are lessons everywhere, many are free. There are online publications, podcasts, and webinars devoted to entrepreneurship. There are books on management and leadership in your public library (you do have a library card, right?). And there are local entrepreneurs who want to share what they know. But reading and discussing aren’t the only sources of lessons.

In the kicker above, I said you should expect to fail. This is because you will likely fail in your first attempts at entrepreneurship. Many times. Failure can bruise your ego, but it is also a rich mine of hard-won knowledge.

This is one reason why silicon valley types talk about failing faster. This means you should embrace the probability and learn to shrug off the sting of failure in order to acquire the lessons that will come through the failure and keep going. Author, speaker, and success coach Michael Hyatt says it this way: “In my world there is no failure — only learning.”

Success comes from good judgment…

I know I’ve quoted him before, but Arthur Jones, the eccentric creator of Nautilus Fitness equipment used to say, “Success in life comes from good judgment. Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment.” I hope you see that to make your way in the world and provide for yourself and your household, you will have to endure some seasons of suck. Don’t let it throw you — you’re learning.

Congratulations, You’re a Technician

One lesson that arrived for me fairly recently was in Michael Gerber’s book Beyond the e-Myth. Gerber says that if your enterprise can’t function without your hand on it, you’re not an entrepreneur — you’re a technician. He prescribes the creation of methods and systems that will enable you to delegate the functions of and to increase the scale of your business.

A business has products and is a product

The last bit is important because in addition to having products, a business is a product in itself. If you’re truly an entrepreneur, you’ll enjoy the thrill of the launch, but become bored with the operations side of things. In that case, you’re going to have operators who can implement your systems, or you’re going to need to find a buyer who’ll operate what you’ve built. You can make money either way, but the key is to work on your business instead of just working in it..

Coming up

We’ll talk about insights I gained from that keynote address.

So how about you? What’s preventing you from becoming an entrepreneur? What do you have to lose? Add your comments below.

Note: I have linked to a couple of books on Amazon. I do not receive any compensation for doing so — these are two books I have bought and read and I am comfortable recommending them.

The title of today’s post is a quotation attributed to American president Theodore Roosevelt.  The truth of this statement is so blinding, I am partly tempted to let it stand on its own.  If I did that, though, you might think I was being lazy.  So here goes.

Equal time for comparison

I am a believer in competition.  A good-natured rivalry can motivate you to elevate your performance in nearly any arena, and can help you stave off complacency.  This is why fitness trainers and management consultants alike recommend keeping records and charting your progress toward your goals.  Engaging a friend or two to pursue the same goal builds in even more accountability, and makes it more difficult to punt your workout.  All of this is beneficial, as it brings out the best in each of us.

The dark side

Where this goes sideways is when we begin looking at what people around us have while disparaging our own resources or circumstances.  We don’t feel that we are getting the reward we deserve while others — seen by us as less worthy — are getting far more than they deserve.  Sound familiar?

Why do we compare?

I think this unhealthy wish to measure ourselves against others is first a byproduct of living in a fallen world.  We are all fallible and deep down we know it.  We long for justice in the face of wrongdoing — just as long as we can escape our due punishment.  At the same time, we fear being exposed, so we seek to lessen the sting by identifying all those over whom we can claim superiority.

For most of us, this isn’t conscious behavior. If it were, I think it would be less common. Instead it exists from preschool play yards to corporate boardrooms. It seems to be latent animal behavior, akin to the pecking order among chickens, or establishing of dominance in a dog pack.  If you’re tempted to think that because we see this in the animal kingdom, that it’s a feature of our world, and not a bug, note that this observation doesn’t negate the fallenness of our world.  Besides, dogs drink from the toilet.

Even so, little boys compare to see whose is biggest, migrating to boasts about whose dad could beat whose, eventually escalating to the acquisition of temporary status symbols — car, career, condo, concubine — lather, rinse, repeat.  Social media just amplifies the effect. As Chuck Palahniuk wrote in Fight Club, “We buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like.”

It seems to me that a man who has his question answered, who has his purpose figured out and is about his mission is less susceptible to seeking comfort by comparing himself to others.

It’s nobody’s business 

When I was thirteen, I wanted to buy a road bike.  Braswell’s Cycle Shop had a chestnut metallic Schwinn Varsity ten-speed.  It was beautiful, and cost far more than I had.  My grandfather owned an industrial supply company in our town, so I went to see him.  When I told him I wanted to buy a bicycle but I didn’t have the money, he asked me if I’d be willing to work for the company.

I agreed on the spot. Next, I went down the street to get a Social Security number and a work permit and showed up the next morning at 8:00. As an inventory clerk it was my job to count roller chain, sprockets, roofing sealant, and drill bits that were so fine I wonder if I could even see them now. This was my introduction to the 40-hour work week.

When payday came, my grandfather took me aside and, as he handed my check to me, he told me that what he paid me was between him and me — it was nobody else’s business. Likewise what he paid others in the company was between him and them — and that was none of my business. A few people asked what I was making, and I never told them.  And I have followed my grandfather’s advice ever since.

I enjoyed riding that bike — and wearing the clothes I was able to buy with money I had earned — and was untroubled by what others were getting.  I had my job and I had agreed to the rate of pay when I hired on.  So that was that.

But why is comparison a thief?

The simplest answer is that when you’re focused on something other than what is yours, you fail to appreciate it.  It’s like dancing with a pretty girl while looking over her shoulder for someone prettier.  I’ve seen men blow up their families because they failed to appreciate the treasure that was theirs.  This is that old “grass is greener on the other side of the fence.” Most of these men simply exchanged one set of problems for another set — most often at a higher cost.

Ultimately comparison robs us of contentment when we feel powerless to change our situation.  This is a close cousin to worry and its ugly sister, despair.  These are all forms of pride — the master sin.  Pride alleges that we know better than God what we need, rather than trusting Him for what we need in its time.  So how do we fix this?

Be thankful for what you got

Gratitude is the best place to begin.  Start by giving thanks for the most basic of your blessings and expand from there like ripples in a pond.  Thank God for your life, your health, your home, your relationships — even if they are far from ideal.  Don’t just halfheartedly lob your thanks in God’s general direction — make time to consciously sit in His presence and offer what the Bible calls a “sacrifice of praise.”  If it costs you nothing, it isn’t a sacrifice.

Choose hope

Recognize that with God’s help, all things are possible.  Hang your hat on that and don’t let your circumstances tell you otherwise.  Persevere and look to God to work the current suck into a great story of redemption.

Eyes on your own work

Marketers make their living exploiting the ones who’ve fallen into what Dr. David Chadwick calls “the snare to compare.” Unless you’re in the market for a new car and you have the money to buy one, you’re better off avoiding the ads and the lots.  Similarly, if you’re married, you’re far better off investing your attention to your wife than to other women — real or imagined.

As Romans 14:4 says, “A man stands or falls before his own master.” That’s the only measurement that counts.

So how about you? In what ways has comparison robbed you of joy? Add your comments below.

“Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.
– Proverbs 22: 29 (ESV)

When I was a graduate student, the Institute had a series of guest lectures intended to enhance and broaden our thinking.  Attendance was mandatory.

I can’t recall all the topics, but they ranged from Creativity to Ethics to building a successful career.  It’s this last that I want to share with you.

This one goes up to 12! Crank up your career by learning from the ones who went before you.

Dr. Louis T. Rader held a doctorate in electrical engineering and was retired from General Electric.  Following his retirement from GE, he taught in the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.

His dress was conservative and his manner of speech was direct, and he had what military veterans would call command presence.  His no-nonsense demeanor and delivery, however, belied the wit that made his words to us that day so memorable.

He spoke to us for some time about his own experiences as a young manager and then he shared some principles for career success he called “Rader’s Rules.”  Here, to the best of my memory, is what he offered us:

1.  Never run out of money — it’s a quick way to lose confidence.

2.  There can be no compromise between a poor player and a great organization.

3.  Good calculus won’t cover poor math.

4. If you play games with people, people will play games with you.

5. The sum of all expenses must be less than the sum of all revenues.

6.  The man who goes to bed early to save the cost of a candle will wake up the father of twins.

7.  It’s hard to lead a large organization from a subordinate position.

8. As long as you remain in neutral, you can only go where you’re pushed.

9. You can’t sell the second if you can’t sell the first.

10. When the quarterback says go around left end, you go around left end.

11. Anybody off the street can run a business at a loss.

12. Statistics are for losers.

13. If you don’t get the facts, the facts will get you.

This is an incomplete listing, but I offer this as food for thought for you.  If you are in the early years of your career, or are seeking to begin it, there is great wisdom in these eight phrases.  So much wisdom, in fact, I continue to apply these axioms as I continue to navigate my career decades in.

Please note the theme of integrity that runs through these sayings.  Each of us owes it to himself and to his employer to view himself, the company where he works and his circumstances clearly.  As famed stage magician Teller says, “The biggest lie is the one you tell yourself.”

Note also the emphasis on getting the fundamentals down.  Your talent may get you into a meeting, but a weak handshake or a lack of eye contact may sink your chances.  Or to use another example, you may have gotten the order, but is it profitable?

My personal favorite is rule number 6.  Taking shortcuts or falling for the false economy invariably creates unintended consequences that cost more in the long run.

I hope these will stick with you the way they have with me.

So how about you?  What’s the best career advice you’ve received?  Add your comments below.

Note: A hat tip to Walter Curt, a former associate of Dr. Rader’s for providing some more of Rader’s Rules.

The following story appeared as a guest post by Mark Kinsley on Q’s Views — the blog of Mark Quinn.  I have obtained the permission of Los Dos Marcos to reproduce it in part here.  Click here to read the original post.

A straw wrapper made into a rose — by someone with passion. He or she won’t be a waiter for long.

I want to feature this story here because young men are complaining that there are no jobs available.  I’m not certain that’s entirely true.  What may be more likely is that the jobs on offer aren’t important enough, high-profile enough or well-paying enough.  I concede all of that may be true.  But it’s more likely that the available jobs don’t sync with the very popular advice to pursue your passion.  Enter The Story of the Scullery Maid, as originally told to Mark Kinsley by the Wizard of Ads Roy. H. Williams:

The Story of the Scullery Maid

As a scullery maid, she scrubbed stone floors. One day, with the afternoon off work, she went to listen to a famous intellectual speaking in her town. When his speech was over, nervous and timid, she mustered a moment of courage and stepped into the aisle to speak to the professor. She confessed that she wanted to be like the famous doctor and travel the world giving talks and sharing ideas.

He said to her, “What do you do?”

“I’m nothing more than a scullery maid,” she confessed. “I scrub stone floors.”

“What is the stone made of?” asked the professor. The maid did not know. “Find out what the stone is made of and send me a paper,” said the professor.

With that they cordially parted ways. The scullery maid wasted no time. She went to her master’s home and examined the stone floors, asking him what they were made of. When her master told the maid all he knew, she went to the library to learn more about that particular kind of rock. From there she went to the quarry where the stone was sourced and the factory where they were shaped. She put all her newfound knowledge down on paper.

After months of research and editing, she mailed her paper to the professor and he replied with a simple statement. “Good work. What is under the stone?

Excited that the man she admired had taken time to respond, but also confused by his question, the scullery maid walked over to a loose stone, lifted it from the floor, and saw a single ant. She replied to the professor that under the stone was a single ant. He responded, telling her to find out everything there is to know about ants and send him another paper. For this paper she went even further than the previous. It took her more than a year. She traveled to every library in the land, spoke with educators knowledgeable about bugs, and spent hours observing ants’ behavior in their natural environment. When the paper was complete, she mailed it to the professor and he replied.

“Congratulations, you are now the world’s foremost expert on ants,” he told her.

She spent the rest of her years traveling the world, sharing ideas and giving speeches about ants.

Notice that the maid didn’t begin with a passion for ants.  Instead she had a larger goal that becoming passionate about ants enabled her to reach.

A young man I know dreamed of working in production at Disney. He had an opportunity to move to Orlando to live temporarily with a family friend and contacted Disney World to get an interview.  He succeeded in getting the interview, and took the only job available to him — working as a parking lot attendant at the Magic Kingdom.  Viewing this as a chance to get a foot in the door, he pursued the opportunity with enthusiasm, even posting a photo of his name badge on Instagram.  Although he has not realized his ultimate goal yet, he has a better chance of being promoted within Disney than as a stranger to them.

The German poet Goethe said it this way, “Cease endlessly striving for what you would like to do and learn to love what must be done.”

So how about you?  What is your long-term passion?  What doors are open to you now?  What small steps can you take today to improve your motivation?  Add your comments below.

“Learn to say ‘no’ to the good so you can say ‘yes’ to the best.” – John C. Maxwell

In a previous post, I explained the debt a man owes to his employer. (If you weren’t paying attention then, you can read it here.) In that post I presented a general rule that employees should find a way to say yes to every reasonable request from a boss, provided the request isn’t illegal, unethical, or immoral. However I also explained that there are times when it is absolutely appropriate to say no, even when doing so brings negative consequences.

Saying no can lead to consequences. Daniel Cast to the Lions from “The Bible and its Story” published in 1908. Public domain

Enter Daniel

In the Old Testament book of Daniel, we see the story of a young man of Judah who was taken captive along with three of his friends by King Nebuchadnezzar and forcibly resettled in Babylon. Some scholars disagree on this point, but since Daniel and his colleagues reported to the king’s chief eunuch, it is not out of the question that these young men were castrated as part of their captivity. Not exactly the “onboarding” or the welcome a new hire would wish for.

The king assigned the best of these young men to study the history and culture of the Babylonians for three years, and upon passing their tests, to serve as wise men and seers in the royal court. Part of this preparation included eating the food and drinking the wine that Nebuchadnezzar himself ate — food that was ritually unclean for devout Hebrews.

Daniel had a dilemma. He could displease God by violating the ceremonial law, or he could displease a tyrant by refusing his hospitality — a capital offense. Instead of offending, he asked if he and his devout friends could eat vegetables and drink water instead. When the chief eunuch protested that he would receive the king’s wrath if Daniel fared poorly, Daniel suggested a ten-day trial. When he and his fellow test subjects exhibited better health and a better appearance, Daniel received permission to continue eating consistent with the law of God.

Along the way, Daniel and his friends — who received the Babylonian names Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego — received honor and promotions as they remained faithful to God even as they served in the court of Nebuchadnezzar and the rulers who succeeded him.

Thrown to the Lions

A quirk of tyrants and other absolute rulers is that they tend to overestimate their greatness. In Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar created an idol in his image and sought to punish anyone who failed to worship it. After Nebuchadnezzar’s son Belshazzar fell to Darius the Mede, Darius himself tended to grandiosity.

To be fair to Darius, some advisers who were jealous of Daniel sought to eliminate him by tricking Darius into signing a ban on prayer or petition to any god or man but the king. Under Medo-Persian law, a decree signed by the king was irrevocable. The conniving officials knew that Daniel was pious, and they spied on him as he prayed three times a day to the God of Israel. When the corrupt schemers reported Daniel’s disregard to the king, Darius tried unsuccessfully to amend his decree, but with regrets he ultimately kept the law. As decreed, he threw Daniel to the lions, covering the den with a large stone and affixing it with the royal seal and left him there overnight.

Lessons from Daniel

I’ve listed some of the principles that I have adopted based on the life of Daniel:

Propose an alternative – Daniel acted constructively to resolve the dilemma over eating unclean foods. When you’re faced with a task or duty that violates your conscience, this is a possible course of action. In the US, employment law requires reasonable accommodation for religious restrictions.

Present your results – Daniel mustered the facts and showed the benefits of his proposed dietary alternative. Your boss may not share your beliefs, but if the results are clear, only a micro-manager would find fault.

Perform in every area – In all other aspects of his work, Daniel came through without compromise. Look, not every task is going to be pleasant, but not every task is a moral quandary either. Seek to learn constantly, and seek to excel in every aspect of your work — especially the parts you like least.

Profess the truth – One thing you’ll notice about Daniel is that in every face-to-face encounter with the king, he pointed consistently to the sovereignty of the Living God. I think if I had been imprisoned, taken from my home, and emasculated, I would find it easy to be bitter and non-compliant. Daniel overcame all those circumstances, told the truth always, and served as an adviser to four kings. In addition, God let Daniel know that he was “greatly loved.”

Persist – When you know the right thing to do, make sure you do it. Don’t shade the truth. Don’t pretend to go along to avoid the consequences. Throughout his story, Daniel didn’t waver. This is what integrity looks like.

Prepare to endure the consequences – When you know that remaining faithful — to God, your conscience, and your principles — will put you at odds with your employer, accept the consequences. Daniel did not protest or fight his being thrown to the lions, but God delivered him from being eaten. Not so the traitors who conspired to trap Daniel.

One last rule of thumb

I know I’ve said it before, but the brightest line for determining whether or not a boss’s request calls for a rejection is this:
If he commands what God forbids or forbids what God commands, do not comply. That was where Daniel dug in, faced certain death, and survived.

So how about you? How are you preparing to live with integrity in your workplace? Add your comments below.

“Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s and render unto God that which is God’s.” – Jesus

Call me cynical, but I am hearing and seeing more instances of employers behaving in a high-handed and indifferent way toward their employees. This is not an indication that human nature has descended to a new level of depravity. People — bosses included — are just as broken as ever. Instead, it is an indication that the law of supply and demand is alive and well.

This is what they give you in exchange for your labor. Make sure it’s a fair exchange.

If job postings were plentiful and workers were scarce, employers would compete with higher pay, more flexible hours and more generous benefits to attract and keep qualified people — that is, people who produce. When employers receive dozens of résumés for every available position, it is a buyer’s market and the pay and benefits on offer are less generous. Unfortunately, this also affects the people already employed, as they not only face diminished bonuses or no salary increases, but new demands or duties for no further consideration.

A word in defense of the boss

As I have explained elsewhere, companies don’t simply have more money to put toward salary increases or improved benefits. Those funds have to come from somewhere. A well-managed company will have a budget which assigns a destination or a job for every dollar at their disposal. Raises normally follow measurable increases in productive output, not edicts from Washington, or kindly impulses. In other words, just because you want or need more money, your employer won’t give it to you. If you want it, earn it.

Often, the shortened prospects for a bonus or the reality of a pay freeze is nothing but an accurate representation of a company’s financial health or the condition of the market it serves. The best companies will share this information with you and will spell out the need for everyone to share in the cost-cutting and belt-tightening. Overcoming these challenges with your colleagues often draws you together and makes you more effective in more prosperous times.

So what do you owe your employer?

An astute question! Your employer is paying you for your knowledge, experience, ability, and productive output. It’s wise to think of this more as a rental. You secure your place on the payroll because you solve problems with minimal cost and minimal drama. The company is not paying you to be a human doorstop or a warm body.

This is sometimes harder to see in the front-line ranks, but your company wants to see you excel in your current role. When you put forth the effort to exceed expectations in your current role, you open your boss’s eyes to your additional capacity. Even if you don’t find your next post within the company, that kind of initiative rarely goes to waste.

Bring your brain to work

Of course you can’t leave your brain at home while you’re at work, but you owe your employer your full attention to the job he’s hired you to do. Engaging your mind means you speak up regarding ways to make the job more efficient, more productive and or safer. And you do all of this with a cheerful and helpful demeanor. It’s a decision.

Find a way to say yes

Nobody (but the weakest bosses) likes a yes-man — the craven bootlicker who tells the top brass what he thinks they want to hear. At the same time, nobody likes to work with the guy who is always negative. My counsel to you is to consider every request your boss makes and — thoughtfully — find a way to say yes. You may not be able to stay late on Wednesday, but can you come in early on Thursday and accomplish the same outcome?

No is still a powerful word

When you are finding ways to say yes, and to follow the company’s policies regarding dress, attendance, cell phone use — even if you disagree with them — there are also times when it is important to say no. These occasions should be rare, but they do exist.

You should refuse to follow any order that is illegal, unethical, immoral, or that poses an avoidable risk to your or an associate’s life or safety. Your company may have a way for you to report such requests confidentially, but not all do. Note that refusing on these bases is the right thing to do, but there are consequences for doing the right thing. The fear of those consequences is one reason doing the right thing is so noteworthy.

To be continued

In an upcoming post, I’ll tell you a famous story about a young man and the limits of submission.

So how about you? How are you navigating the waters of your career? Add your comments below.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.”
– Colossians 3:23 (NIV)

Congratulations! You got the job! Now what? If you’re just entering the work force, or changing to a new job, you wouldn’t be human if your excitement didn’t also contain a bit of apprehension. This is natural, as starting a new job is one of the top causes of stress. If you’re feeling anxious and wondering what your new boss is expecting from you, here are some tips to help you come through as you were designed to.

You’re working by choice — don’t do it like you have a gun to your head!

Deliver

In a previous post, I explained the importance of delivering results in every circumstance. You landed the job because your employer believes in your ability to produce. The best roles are those that allow you to measure your progress, to see the worth you generate. So your first task is to determine from your boss’s point of view what a great job looks like and deliver that. All day. Every day.

High speed

The workplace is changing and the pace is quicker than ever. Even if your business is to serve other businesses, your clients are consumers in their daily lives, with the same expectations of a predictably enjoyable experience and a quick, trouble-free transaction. Your task is to develop the knowledge and skill to deliver your output quickly and consistently.

Low drag

Management expert Peter Drucker foretold the rise of the knowledge economy — where most workers didn’t make things, they dealt in knowledge and information. Even for those still working in manufacturing, there is a substantial knowledge component that has accounted for unparalleled increases in productivity. No matter what your role, bring your brain to work and use it. Learn the procedures your employer requires and if you see ways to improve them, think through the business case for your proposed changes and present them to your boss.

Low drama

Unless you work for the owner of the company, odds are your boss has a boss. He (or she) has his own set of problems and doesn’t need you creating new ones. In particular your boss doesn’t want to solve problems for you that you could solve yourself. Ditto, refereeing disputes between you and other employees or departments.

You can distinguish yourself by being pleasant, helpful and above office politics. Getting along with your co-workers is important, but getting your work done is more important. Don’t linger at the coffee machine and stay clear of the temptation to enter into other people’s drama.

Promptness

When you get an assignment, make sure you understand when your boss needs your work. If you get a vague answer, propose a specific date — “Close of business on Friday?” It’s very important to hit these deadlines consistently. See the item above.

Punctuality

If work begins at 8:00, by all means be there at your station at 8:00. This means you are groomed, dressed in proper work attire and ready to produce. Life happens, and you may oversleep or be sick one day. Understand your company’s attendance policy and make sure you notify your boss if you run into trouble. Do right and you have less to worry about.

Diligence

Unless you’re punching a clock and your boss tells you not to stay past your scheduled work time, you’ll earn credibility by solving problems, and by sticking with the effort until you do.

Reliability

It will take time, but becoming a consistent performer will create more opportunities for you. Your boss will recommend you for increased (read better-paying) positions in your company. Let me add that you will fail from time to time, but being reliably resilient will also enhance your reputation.

Confidence

Part of being new in a job is taking in all the specific tasks you have to master while also learning the culture of your company as well as the cultures of the company’s customers and suppliers. Being open to the process, and sure of your ability to grasp all of this will help you succeed. My friends in recovery like to say, “Fake it ’til you make it.” Interestingly, behaving confidently will help you to become more confident — a virtuous circle. Just make sure your confidence rests ultimately on a foundation of achievement.

Humility

Confidence and humility are not opposites. You can be confident in your abilities while still humble enough to recognize that you still have a lot to learn. This means that when your boss offers correction or criticism, you ask clarifying questions, but you don’t offer excuses. It’s even better if you can repeat to your boss — in your own words — your understanding of the corrective action you are to take.

Also, it is not necessary to apologize for not knowing something — unless it’s a policy you received on your first day at work. Save apologies for genuine offenses and accept the lessons your boss is offering you.

Chemistry

Working musicians in Nashville don’t necessarily find work according to their musical virtuosity. Above a certain level of talent, it’s very hard to rank one player over another. Instead, the players who get more work are the ones who are known as “a good hang.” This means someone good to be around. Performing is a relatively small fraction of a musician’s time, so being good company makes the work more enjoyable.

Your boss is not looking for a new best friend, but he is looking for a capable associate who is also enjoyable to interact with. Master these tips while you learn the fundamentals of your job and you’ll be in demand over the course of your career.

So how about you? Which of these attributes do you need to work on to excel in your job? What have I missed? Add your comments below.

“Find something, found something, or fund something.” – Bob Shank

Recent news stories point to improved job prospects and increased pay to go with them. This is encouraging if you have the credentials (read: degree and/or certification) your prospective employer is looking for, but what if you don’t?

At a recent convention I attended, I heard a keynote speech that inspired this post. I’ll share more of what I learned from that talk in Part 2, but first I want to encourage you to become an entrepreneur. Instead of waiting for someone to hire you, why not start your own company and be the boss?

Let’s be clear: I’m not suggesting that you pull a Costanza and make up a Vandelay Industries. Nor am I talking about falling into the trap of turk work and setting yourself up for obsolescence. Instead, I mean that you should develop a product or service and the plan for delivering it — and then you should deliver it as profitably as you can.

When you drive one, you see them everywhere!

Make your own luck

Let’s talk about the upsides, starting with creating your own momentum and your own luck. Now before you think there’s this mystical force our there called Luck that runs parallel to God, let me clarify. What people call luck is actually the meeting of preparation and attention. When you’ve done the homework and acquired and/or mastered the knowledge of your marketplace, you’ll harness the positive power of confirmation bias. As I’ve written before, when you drive an old Volvo, you start to see them everywhere.

When you’ve developed expertise in your chosen market, you’ll see opportunities everywhere. Then, if you’re confident and diligent, you’ll pursue the more promising opportunities. And if your preparation includes the cultivation of some selling skills, you’ll close some business. Then people will consider you lucky.

One man from my hometown used to like to say that the harder he worked the luckier he got. I got it back then, and I still remember it. I also appreciate the saying attributed to Thomas Edison that goes like this: Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.

Be your own boss

Becoming an entrepreneur has another huge upside: you are your own boss. Unless you’re also highly self-motivated, that’s also the downside. Every day, you’re going to have to summon your motivation, your desire to get things done or they won’t get done.

By the way, this is the same skill you need to manage your career, as I discussed in this post.

But… It takes money

Yes, it’s true that you have to have some money to get started, but not as much as you may think. For most entrepreneurial enterprises, you aren’t going to need your own skyscraper and helipad — at least, not at first. Some people with landscaping businesses started with not much more than a lawnmower and a willingness to sweat. Other people have figured out how to open online stores on a shoestring budget. Web domains are very inexpensive — and there are lots of free tutorials that can help you design your website and launch your business.

Chris Guillebeau wrote a book called The 100-Dollar Startup. You may find just the idea you need there.

Be prepared to learn

There are lessons everywhere, many are free. There are online publications, podcasts, and webinars devoted to entrepreneurship. There are books on management and leadership in your public library (you do have a library card, right?). And there are local entrepreneurs who want to share what they know. But reading and discussing aren’t the only sources of lessons.

In the kicker above, I said you should expect to fail. This is because you will likely fail in your first attempts at entrepreneurship. Many times. Failure can bruise your ego, but it is also a rich mine of hard-won knowledge.

This is one reason why silicon valley types talk about failing faster. This means you should embrace the probability and learn to shrug off the sting of failure in order to acquire the lessons that will come through the failure and keep going. Author, speaker, and success coach Michael Hyatt says it this way: “In my world there is no failure — only learning.”

Success comes from good judgment…

I know I’ve quoted him before, but Arthur Jones, the eccentric creator of Nautilus Fitness equipment used to say, “Success in life comes from good judgment. Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment.” I hope you see that to make your way in the world and provide for yourself and your household, you will have to endure some seasons of suck. Don’t let it throw you — you’re learning.

Congratulations, You’re a Technician

One lesson that arrived for me fairly recently was in Michael Gerber’s book Beyond the e-Myth. Gerber says that if your enterprise can’t function without your hand on it, you’re not an entrepreneur — you’re a technician. He prescribes the creation of methods and systems that will enable you to delegate the functions of and to increase the scale of your business.

A business has products and is a product

The last bit is important because in addition to having products, a business is a product in itself. If you’re truly an entrepreneur, you’ll enjoy the thrill of the launch, but become bored with the operations side of things. In that case, you’re going to have operators who can implement your systems, or you’re going to need to find a buyer who’ll operate what you’ve built. You can make money either way, but the key is to work on your business instead of just working in it..

Coming up

We’ll talk about insights I gained from that keynote address.

So how about you? What’s preventing you from becoming an entrepreneur? What do you have to lose? Add your comments below.

Note: I have linked to a couple of books on Amazon. I do not receive any compensation for doing so — these are two books I have bought and read and I am comfortable recommending them.

“When we are out of sympathy with the young then I think our work in this world is over.” – George McDonald

Recently, I ran into a former colleague and her high school aged son. As we caught up, I asked the young man about his plans following high school. He replied: “College, of course!” He’s an intelligent fellow with intelligent parents so I’m not surprised. What was pleasantly surprising was that he’s seriously thinking about taking a path we’ve discussed here before — taking his first two years at the local technical college before transferring as a junior to a state university. Since he’s thinking about a career in healthcare, this is a sound plan.

The changing nature of work

As the end of 2015 approached, I read many articles predicting the future technologies that will affect our lives this year and beyond. Some are amusing. Some are alarming. Some seem beneficial, and some are hard to categorize. The fact is that due to technology, economics, politics, and demographics the kind of work we do and how we do that work will change. The question is, what can a man do today to be prepared for the likely changes?

Working hard or hardly working?
Photo by Joseph Booth

Seek education

One of the ways you can avoid poverty is to stay in school. According to 2012 data (the most recent I could find), high school graduates earn a median income (that is, the middle of the range of incomes) of just over $29,000 per year. Add a two-year Associates Degree, and the median income increases to nearly $38,000/year. The median income for a bachelor’s degree is over $50,000/year. Not only does having a degree lead to higher earnings, unemployment among those with a bachelor’s degree remained low throughout the worst of the great recession.

Now for the disclaimer: A degree is not like a lucky charm. You have to work to earn it, and once you have the job, you have to deliver a consistent return to your employer that is greater than your pay. To do this, not all degrees are created equal.

STEM the tide of unemployment

Degrees in the STEM fields — that is, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics — will put you in demand. The US lags behind in educational attainment in science and math, and this is creating problems for companies that will hire you if you have what it takes. If you’re suited to it, I recommend pursuing a two or four-year degree in a STEM-related discipline. Hint: These majors don’t usually end in the word “studies.”

As you consider your formal education, think first about the career you want as it fits within your life’s purpose. Then investigate the educational prerequisites for that career, and evaluate how your interests and your giftedness line up with these fields of study. Then pursue a degree with the best fit. You’ll fare better this way than if you pursue a course of study based on the starting salaries of holders of a given degree. Yes, getting paid is important. And earning enough to recoup the cost of your education is also important, but life is about more than what you earn.

But also seek wisdom

While STEM degrees are needed in our increasingly technologically saturated marketplace, and the STEM departments in most institutes of higher learning are blessedly free of the corruption of political correctness, you must also make time to cultivate the architecture of your soul. No doubt there is wonder in the periodic table, and grandeur in the laws of physics, but you owe it to yourself to read the great works of western civilization under the leadership of a wise and honest instructor.

So I strongly recommend that you also study literature, language, history, philosophy, and the arts. Read Aristotle, Homer, and the Bible. In doing this you will, to paraphrase novelist Tom Robbins, furnish your mind like a comfortable living room instead of like an office cubicle. This will also make it possible for you to think more broadly and insightfully about the work you do and to understand the times in which you live — a valuable thing when technologies rise and fall within a short span (remember Blockbuster video?) leaving the less flexible stranded as they struggle to adjust.

Professor Gelernter explains it

Yale computer science professor David Gelernter wrote an essay recently for the Wall Street Journal titled “Machines That Can Think and Feel” in which he explained why artificial intelligence was not close to replicating human consciousness. The reason was not that computer scientists lack the skill or desire to do so, it was simply because they are currently focusing solely on the logical and computational functions that our brains can perform, while ignoring the emotional component entirely. His critique of this approach is that it is like “trying to get to California (so to speak) without ever leaving I-95.”

I would add that an emphasis on STEM disciplines that excludes the arts and humanities, faith and values would seem to be an attempt to make men more like their robotic counterparts — the same error, only in the oncoming lane. And as C.S. Lewis said, “Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil.”

Avoid turk work

Note the lower-case “T” indicating I’m not referring to a nationality. Turk work is anything that can ultimately be replaced by automation. These are often pay-by-the-piece tasks that pay very little for each repetition. If you want to see an example of this, click here to see Amazon’s Mechanical Turk job board. Similarly disappointing (in my opinion) experiences are available through gig economy staples such as fiverr.com or taskrabbit.com. As I’ve written before, we should all be looking for work that exists at the apex of our purpose, passion, and potential.

For the time being, driving for one of the ride-sharing companies, such as Uber or Lyft, may provide some income, but once self-driving taxis take off, that work will also go the way of the video store. Over the road truck drivers are similarly vulnerable, by the way, as are the sign twirlers outside the tax preparation offices.

But by all means work

I know several men in my age bracket who are changing or have changed jobs. The decisions aren’t always easy, as at least one friend is having to uproot his family to start over in a new city and state. However, this move is wise as it will provide a better income and a more humane work environment. Another young man I know has taken on seasonal work as a laborer while he pursues an additional certification. I’m betting on him to come out of this ordeal stronger. If you have the choice between working and not working, work. You’ll gain credibility if your next boss sees you have a bias toward action.

Rise above the gig economy like a boss

Changes in health care and tax law have dried up full-time employment opportunities for a lot of you. Some of you are having to stitch together two or more 20-hour-a-week part-time jobs to pay the bills. The hard part is these jobs under 30 hours don’t come with health insurance. If you’re in this situation, working as a contractor, you may want to consider forming your own personal services company. One young man I know did this and was able to increase his income significantly, as his client pays the contract rate he charges. You can file an LLC in many states for as little as a couple hundred dollars. If you’re stuck in gigland, you might want to consider it.

Here’s how I’m doing it

For my part, I earned a degree in Spanish from a liberal arts college, took a sales job out of college and worked for a couple of years before going to graduate school in an applied science (STEM), which led to my working in the textile industry from graduation to the present. I also formed a general partnership with my wife to manage and operate the band we own. And, as you’ve no doubt noticed, I blog. The things I’m doing are the fruit of getting an education, going to work, delivering results, and continuing to learn. You can do these things and more — just stay aware that the market will continue to change and be ready to change with it.

So how about you? How are you preparing for the work environment of tomorrow? Add our comments below.

Update: Just this week two news articles brought this post to mind:

1. Artificial intelligence advances have resulted in machines that can beat professionals at poker. Machines’ increasing abilities to “reason” and solve complex problems will, over time, even begin to absorb what today is regarded as knowledge work.
2. Uber X is fielding driverless cars in Arizona. While the technology is not perfect (yet) the company has a human copilot in every car just in case. As these systems become more reliable, and the legal liabilities get sorted out, expect to see fewer opportunities for gig employment as a driver.

“What lifetime are you waiting for?” – Bill Hybels

I hope you had a great celebration on Christmas Day, and that you are still enjoying the joy of this season. Today, I want to encourage you to think about your plans for the new year. I have written before about setting SMART goals, and I won’t repeat myself here, but I want to urge you to think broadly with more of a systems approach to the life you want.

Map the systems of your life and optimize them for a more effective new year.

The plague of “If only” thinking

When I was a child, my parents sometimes gave me books as presents. One such gift was Dr. Seuss’ I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew (published over 50 years ago!). Although not as well-known as some of his other books, Solla Sollew made a great point — and thanks to Dr. Seuss and his gift for rhyme — I have remembered its message ever since.

The main character stubs his toe and encounters a series of other vexations and decides as a result to find a place without these frustrations. Just then, our hero meets a traveler who is on his way to Solla Sollew, “where they never have troubles — at least very few.” The story develops as the hero faces other challenges and reaches a surprising and hopeful conclusion.

If this year has been a bad year for you and your family, you might wish for a ticket to Solla Sollew, or at least to a better set of circumstances. I want to challenge you to resist the temptation to think this way. Perhaps you know people in the grip of “If only” thinking. You know: the single people who think if only they were married they’d be happy; the unhappily married ones who think if only they were married to someone else they be happy; the unemployed or underemployed who think if only they had a better job — any job — they’d be happy; or the childless couples who think if only they had a baby they’d be happy. And on and on.

For the record, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to be married, with wanting children, with wanting a job, or with the desire for better circumstances. (Though if you’re married and it isn’t going well, I can’t advocate divorce. I do recommend working on it — prayerfully.) The problem with “If only” thinking is, you’re always putting your happiness off — and let’s define happiness as the peak of your effectiveness and fulfillment — into some hazy future. It might as well be never.

If you want to have a happier, more fulfilling new year — with more to show for it — I have a suggestion for you.

Systems thinking

In these and other circumstances, they key is to think less in terms of goals and more in terms of systems. Although this principle finds its most common use in problem solving in science and industry, you may also find it useful for increasing your effectiveness and for creating virtuous circles — chains of things that go right, which facilitate other things that go right — in your life.

So, what’s a system?

A system is a collection of parts that all work together for a specific purpose or set of purposes. These parts can consist of physical structures or entities, but also of the inputs and outputs of the system. It’s possible for a part to be shared by more than one system, but to belong to a system, a part must be integral — essential — to the functioning of the system. To illustrate this, think about the various systems of the human body. The circulatory system contains your heart, lungs, blood, veins and arteries, and its input is oxygen and carbon dioxide is its output. You can identify the parts and inputs/outputs of the skeletal, muscular, digestive, endocrine, nervous and reproductive systems, and you can see how they work together.

Now let’s apply this concept to the aspects of your life with an eye toward making next year better than this one. If you are seeking a better job, the parts might consist of your education, experience, attitude, talent, location, and your network. Your career system inputs would be time and effort, and your outputs would be your specific work product and the money you earn.

Putting it to work

Taking a systems approach to your career, you can begin to understand how to improve the overall efficiency of the system. We’re looking for the smallest tweaks that will deliver the greatest gains. So ask yourself what aspects of the system need tweaking? If you lack skills, how can you increase your competence? If your commute or your extracurricular activities leave you too tired to keep up the pace or maintain consistent quality of output, what changes can you make to enable you to increase your value? It could be a change to your diet to maximize energy, and/or it could be as simple as getting to bed earlier.

Your career is just one system. You can apply this to marriage and family, friendships, community activities, creative pursuits, and your health.

Eating my own cooking

For the new year, I am again replacing the creation of annual goals with an assessment of the various systems in my life. My hypothesis is that this approach will free me from the restrictions of numerical goals (What if I establish too easy of a goal and kill it by the end of February? What if I was too optimistic?) while allowing me to increase the return on investment in every aspect of my life.

It is still important to have measurements and timelines, and yet I believe the systems approach will enable me to keep a better watch on my progress. In the realm of fitness, this approach has made me stronger and more flexible than I thought I’d be at this age.

Give it a try and let’s see where we end up next December — not someday.

So how about you? What systems, inputs and outputs can you identify in your life? How do you intend to tweak them to increase your effectiveness in the coming year? Add your comments below.

P.S. I recognize that many famous people have passed away this year, and we are laboring under this idea that the calendar kills people. You see this with social media postings earnestly addressing 2016 as if it is a living thing. Nonsense! While I mourn the loss of several of my personal favorites this year, we all have to realize that death is part of the package in a fallen world. It’s a sad fact. But more important, each of us has only so many years to accomplish his life’s work. All the more reason, then, to get busy becoming the best possible version of yourself.