There’s an interesting column in the December 7, 2009 issue of BusinessWeek Magazine entitled:
‘The Coming Fight for Executive Talent”
It’s worth reading.
The article discusses the shifting of top managerial talent from west to east and suggests a few ideas as to how Western nations can compete for talent.
It’s a thought-provoking column and, while I think the problem needs to be addressed in a different and more fundamental way, it’s a trend that we need to understand.
This is not new news to me, but it’s always useful to be reminded of the fact that Dr. Dale Callahan has a clue.
If I may grossly over-simplify his entrepreneurial viewpoint:
Find something you are passionate about and then find a way to earn a living doing that thing.
I was reading an article in the November 30th issue of BusinessWeek Magazine about a guy who started selling homemade soap from the trunk of his car, then moved into premium-priced skin-care products. In 2005, he had sales of $250,000. In 2008, sales hit $5.8 million.
Luxury soap?
Why am I working in IT?
SOAP!?
Sheesh. It’s brilliant.
I mentioned this to my wife and she’s like, “Yeah, you’ve heard about people making their own soap, right?”
No. What else are they making? You have my interest.
Then it hits me. The lady who liked to bake sweet rolls, and now she sells them in grocery stores everywhere. The guy who made the really good little cookies that everybody likes.
And have you checked out the BBQ sauce aisle? Does EVERYBODY have their own BBQ sauce label now?
And you know what the key is? Advertising. Branding. Marketing. Generating demand. Getting something out there.
I KNEW that.
Soap? Wow.
I need to get something off my chest.
I’m worried about the average guy. I’m worried about young people looking for jobs, let alone careers. I’m worried about people I talk with every day who no longer have dreams and aspirations, people who once loved their jobs, but don’t any more, people who have little or no time for family or friends or hobbies or life-outside-of-work. I’m worried about people who are looking for third jobs to make ends meet, or people who can’t find their first job.
And I’m not linking this to the current recession. This has been building for quite some time. Financial pressures grew incrementally for most of us over many, many years; you began to wonder how you could continue to make ends meet. Then, you realized you couldn’t… and so you scaled back year after year. These were the first cracks in the financial structure.
I have seen “low inflation” erode away the standard of living of people for nearly two decades. A friend of mine worked for a company that, at one time, gave cost of living adjustments so as to keep employees level in terms of what they could afford to buy with their paycheck. That adjustment went away so that “the company could remain competitive.” And, after all, inflation was only running at perhaps 2.5% (especially if you threw out the “volatile” food and energy prices – as though we didn’t need to buy food or gas).
Losing 2.5% a year doesn’t sound like much, does it? What’s 2.5% of 40? Yes, it’s one. So, if my friend had said, you know, since I’m going to lose 2.5% of my purchasing power (pay), I’m going to work only 39 hours per week this year. Next year, 38. Why, in 10 years – even without compounding – he would be down to 30 hours a week. How well do you think that would have gone over with his company? Well, not at all – in fact, he actually began working much longer hours to take up the slack for those who had been “resourced.”
He died at the age of 55.
This is not a rant against Capitalism. Not at all. I believe in free markets – truly free markets – because they are an inseparable component of human freedom. They are right and they are fair and, if they are not perfect, they are surely the next best alternative.
But this post isn’t about economics. It’s about people working under high stress in unfulfilling jobs who desperately want something better for themselves or for their children.
You probably wonder where the title of this post originated. It’s from some discussions with my friend as I saw him working himself… well, I’ll just say working very, very hard, putting in the kind of hours that can break your spirit. So, we would take a few breaks and laugh about things.
I once told him that there was a new managerial school of thought called “lightbulb management.” What’s that, he asked? You know, I said, each worker is like a lightbulb and, if one starts to flicker, the manager either screws it in more tightly or replaces it! LOL.
Another time, we were talking about job fulfillment. Was something missing? What had changed? Ah, said I, it’s like we were cowboys and every day was unique. Sometimes we’d mend fences, sometimes we’d brand cattle, sometimes we’d drive the herd, sometimes we’d break horses, and so on. Every day was different in some respect and you felt like you could do so many valuable things! Then, one day – the day when everyone was told to find a space, i.e., stake out the one thing you do to contribute – it’s as though we had to say, well, I’ll mend this 100 foot length of barbed-wire fence. And that was your job. And if the day came when that fence went away, so did you. We’re not cowboys now, I said, we’re fence-menders. LOL again.
Why am I writing this tonight? Because one of the most enjoyable and rewarding things that I do is try to help people develop personal and professional skills to advance their careers. That sounds so nice and neat, doesn’t it? But, increasingly, I’m trying to help people find their way out of a snare and give them some insight, some clue, some hope that aspiration hasn’t become a meaningless word for the average guy.
