7/26/2010
Business Tips – The Benefits Of Entrepreneurship
Business Tips – The Benefits Of Entrepreneurship
By admin on Jul 26, 2010 in Uncategorized
In times when opportunities to earn money from jobs are less, you got to make opportunities for yourself through entrepreneurship.Starting out small and working your way up is always a good idea when it comes to entrepreneurship; small entrepreneurial activities are what keep world economies afloat and not few big businesses. And the benefits of entrepreneurship toward an individual are no less than life changing.
Of course there are necessary things you need in place before you could realize total financial independence, but working toward your goal is another exciting thing that you could do for yourself as a person.A study by Michael T. Childress and others in 1998 (Entrepreneurs and Small Business – Kentucky’s Neglected Natural Resource) found that entrepreneurs make more money, and pay more money to their employees, than working in big businesses or corporations.
After all, one of the top benefits of entrepreneurship is that you are your own boss. When all aspects of your business are fully functional, you can start to do other things that you love. You can finally make time for your sport, hobby, and, most of all, for your family.
In fact, your business should be a self-expression, a form of outlet for your creativity and the things that you love to do. It’s simply doing the things that you love to do and making money while doing it.
In fact, small business owners are respected people in the community because they are responsible for spurring community development starting at creating local jobs. Jobs provided by entrepreneurs are even more fulfilling in terms of pay and recognition compared to jobs in high-rise offices. No economy in the world can survive without the ingenuity, creativity, and labor provided by entrepreneurs.
The best part about entrepreneurship is that it doesn’t discriminate: men, women, young, old, educated or not, everyone can become an entrepreneur through hard work and dedication to continuous learning and improvement.
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University Professor Offers Students the Opportunity to 'Test Drive' Entrepreneurship With Vector Marketing
SOURCE: Vector Marketing
Jul 26, 2010 10:20 ETUniversity Professor Offers Students the Opportunity to 'Test Drive' Entrepreneurship With Vector Marketing
CALGARY, AB--(Marketwire - July 26, 2010) - Studies show that more than 30 percent of the population has an interest in starting or owning their own business, and that this number is even higher for students entering business school. With that in mind, more and more college professors are giving their students the chance to move beyond the theory of the classroom and gain real-world experience in running their own businesses. Derek Hassay, assistant professor of marketing at University of Calgary's Haskayne School of Business, gives his students the opportunity to gain real world sales experience via his Selling Smiles 101 program. Selling Smiles 101 combines entrepreneurship with civic responsibility. Hassay's students work with Vector Marketing Corporation to sell Cutco Cutlery products via in-home personal demonstrations, donating all of their commissions to the Children's Wish Foundation of Canada.
"Today's students are very self-confident in their abilities," says Hassay. "They want to be their own boss, to be in control. But on the flip-side of that, many of them are still very protected by their parents and have never been truly self-reliant. Before jumping off a cliff without a net into the entrepreneurial world, I believe that students can benefit immeasurably from 'test driving' entrepreneurship while they are still in college. The best way I have found that enables them to do that is to work as independent contractors in direct sales."
For the past eight years, Hassay has chosen to partner with Vector Marketing, the direct sales division of Cutco Corporation, for this purpose. As part of his class, Hassay's upper-level marketing students are required to set up their own independent contractor businesses to sell Cutco Cutlery. Hassay says that this experience enables his students to 'test drive' entrepreneurism while still in college. The benefits they receive include:
- Training to be self-reliant
- A sense of pride of accomplishment
- Experience of running their own business, including time management, goal setting, creating a personal plan, making presentations, handling rejection
- Providing a "safe" entry into the entrepreneurial world, since there is minimal start-up cost and a large support network.
"By working as independent contractors for a company such as Vector Marketing, I feel that my students are able to experience the perfect balance of entrepreneurism, where responsibility and authority for achieving their goals rests with the individual, while at the same time operating and learning within an environment of teamwork provided by the company. This allows the students to 'test drive' entrepreneurism in a safe environment and decide if it is something they want to pursue out of college."
Hassay points out that even those students who discover that a career in direct sales is not for them, end up with an edge over their competitors when applying for traditional jobs. "Regardless of whether or not they stick with direct sales, the students who learn to become self-reliant via experience in direct sales will find that employers will value their experience and how it can help in the traditional workforce.
"In general," says Hassay, "I can't think of a better way for college students to 'test drive' entrepreneurship than by working in direct sales while still in college. Regardless of whether it turns out to be what they want to pursue, they will have gained valuable business experience and learned a great deal about themselves that will benefit them in their future careers."
About Cutco Cutlery and Vector Marketing
Cutco Cutlery is a 61-year-old company with headquarters and manufacturing facilities in Olean, New York. Vector Marketing is the company's sales division, coordinating all sales for Cutco Cutlery through a national network of college students who sell products through in-home personal demonstrations. More than 13 million US households have a Cutco product.
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Technorati: Barbara Nicolosi Harrington vs. Generation Narcissus | Blogs
Here is my friend Barb, having way too much fun pointing out to Boomers that history neither begins nor ends with us. Yes, I am a Boomer, and, on behalf of my generation, I apologize to both my parents and my children and grandchildren for our sheer insufferability, self-righteousness, self-absorption, self-involvement, self-centeredness, SELF Magazine, self-love, self-concern and selfishness. Indeed, true to my generational ethos, I can’t even write an apology without making it all about Us, the Baby Boomers, toward whom all History has aspired and after whom nothing will ever quite as awesome—including our awesome, awesome faults which nobody has ever quite equaled because we are just more special than all other generations before and after.
Anyway, Barb points out that as a new generation of culture makers is arising, we are starting to see some departures from such beloved Boomer themes as Don’t Do Your Duty, Follow Your Desires! and Jaded Cynicism Conquers All and The Universe Owes Me Perpetual Pepsi Generation Adolescence and If I Can’t Have It My Way Then Let the World Burn. As she puts it:
The Boomers’ exit from cultural influence creates a two-sided pastoral challenge for the 21st-century Church.
First is the effect on the gargantuan Boomer generation of a lifetime of listening almost exclusively to their own voices. The movies being created by and for the Boomers today are a very unentertaining mix of “Never regret! Life starts at 70!” and “Life is a cruel joke, ‘full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.’” Movies like It’s Complicated showcase a bunch of grey hairs still acting badly, swallowing their shame, and ignoring their appropriate role as the wise mentors of the younger generations. The Dorian Greyish dark echo of this kind of story, are movies like There Will Be Blood and the chillingly titled No Country for Old Men, in which the characters’ lives of narcissism and greed devolve into cynicism and brutality.As an institution charged with saving souls, the Church’s urgent outreach to fading Boomers must encourage them to face and take responsibility for the mistakes they have made. If they would be saved, the Boomer Generation must be guided into repentance for the way they self-righteously sacrificed all others as they fled from the simple heroism of adult human life. The rigid eradication of tradition, the gross materialism, the unbridled license, the embarrassing promiscuity—all always accompanied by shrill distortion and denial—have left our society disconnected, bloated, poorly educated, unable to trust, and simmering in resentment. I see many of my Millennial Generation students clamoring to set back the clock to a day before the Sixties, when there were grown-ups.
Amen and amen. One of the things that has most impressed me about the rising generation is the way in which so many Millennials have sought to look over the heads of Generation Narcissus and seek to connect with the World War II generation as models for how to be grownups. From the electric connection young people had with John Paul II, to the fascination (frustrating to Woodstock priests) that both Benedict and the Extraordinary Form hold for young Catholics, to the popularity of shows like Mad Men or Band of Brothers, what bleeds through is the sense that the rising generation longs for adulthood and maturity in its adults and in itself. Expressions of this are found, as Barb notes, in such unlikely places as The Incredibles (which celebrates parents acting like grownups and even the notion that happiness is found in exercising your unique gifts, not in outcome-based sameness) and in Knocked Up (where taking responsibility for one’s choices—not a favorite Boomer theme—is honored).
Barb also points out that the Church has an urgent pastoral mission to Millennials since the domination of Boomers has left a massive imprint on our culture, including on those who resent the domination of Generation Narcissus. Lots of Millennials can’t wait for Generation Narcissus to stop sucking all the oxygen out of the room. And one of the lessons the Boomers have taught incessantly is “Inconvenient people should be killed”. As Barb warns, that will doubtless be played out when Boomers get too old to change the Beatles CD and dominate the conversation with anecdotes about how superior we are to our parents and children. The temptation to euthanize us, while understandably strong, is still to be resisted. But in the comfort-worshipping world of radical individualism, worship of comfort, utilitarianism, and comfort-worship we Boomers have created and passed to our children, it is an uphill challenge to teach Millennials why this is so.
Part of the mission will be through culture and the sort of films and stories people like Barbara Nicolosi Harrington will be creating. Most people don’t read moral theology. They learn the elementary truths of life through story. A moral theory about something called “radical self-donating love” won’t move most people. But seeing Sam Gamgee carry Frodo up Mount Doom does. Most people don’t readily recite phrases like “the dignity of the human person”. But if they know the story of George Bailey, the little guy from the Building and Loan who finds out what the world would have been like if he’d never been born, they know in their bones more Catholic anthropology than 50 philosopher fools like Peter Singer. God bless Barb and her work in raising up a new generation off artists to embody the truth and beauty.s that my generation has done so much to obfuscate and uglify.
Growing Multicultural Market a Threat Multicultural Agencies? - The Big Tent - Advertising Age
Does a Growing Multicultural Market Threaten Multicultural Agencies?
General-Market Shops Move in as Segments Move Beyond 'Niche'
Posted by Jose Villa on 07.23.10 @ 01:16 PM
I'm sure you've heard the old saying "you can never get too much of a good thing?" That's been the prevailing notion in regards to the rapidly growing Hispanic population in the U.S., which, together with continued population growth among African-Americans, Asians and other ethnic minority groups, has resulted in a huge multicultural population.
José Villa That's definitely been the prevailing opinion among ethnic ad agencies -- the hundreds the Hispanic, African-American and Asian ad agencies out there that have made a good living off of these changing demographics. I've seen many a capability deck or presentation from multicultural ad shops that starts with some variation of this compelling vision of the future: "By 2050, more than half of the U.S. population will be non-white" (that particular stat comes from Nielsen).
What I wonder is if this rapid demographic shift, and the sheer size of some of these minority populations will start to create more of a problem than an opportunity for multicultural ad agencies. Specifically, at what point does a group become too big to be considered a niche requiring a specialist agency?
At some point doesn't the balance tip and the notion of "general market" inevitably change to include Hispanics, African-Americans and Asians? I wonder if the future of general market means creating advertising that works across ethnic audiences.
As I wrote on my blog, with big Hispanic population numbers expected from the 2010 Census, won't that finally awaken the sleeping giants that are the big general-market advertising agencies? They see the writing on the wall -- the Hispanic population is growing so fast and its numbers are getting so big, that they risk losing control, budgets and relevancy if they don't begin to offer Hispanic advertising services. Large ad agencies like McCann Erickson have been dabbling in Hispanic advertising for years, and big players like DraftFCB are moving rapidly to position themselves as a new "full service" ad agency.
I wonder if that overused "full service" moniker might not soon evolve to describe large agencies that offer general market, Hispanic, African-American and Asian advertising services under one roof?
From the client/marketer's perspective, isn't there a tipping point when hiring specialist agencies to reach niche audiences no longer makes sense? The business of hiring specialist Hispanic or African-American ad agencies is based on a model where those agencies and their respective markets never represented more than a collective 20% of a client's advertising programs. Clients aren't set up to have multiple "lead" agencies, and the cost efficiencies they enjoy from having 80% of their advertising spend go through one large agency would be threatened if they had to spread the money out 25-20-15-40, right?
Going one step further and "futurecasting" out 10 to 20 years, aren't millennials going to blur the nice, clean lines of ethnicity that have dominated advertising spend and agency structure? Everyone talks about millennials being the first "multicultural" generation -- the first generation that is truly color-blind and has been able to break through the racial prism that influenced their parents and grandparents. If this is true, won't advertising (both the message and the media that carries it) have to be representative of this new multicultural world?
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/CNW/ – Carlisle Goldfields Limited (Carlisle or the Company) (CNSX-CGJ) announces that P & E Mining Consultants Inc. have completed an Updated Technical Report and 43-101 compliant Resource Estimate on the MacLellan Gold Property in Lynn Lake, Manitoba for the Company. Highlights of the report include:
1. Total Open Pit and Underground Resources have increased to 5.3 million tonnes containing 658,200 ounces of AuEq (Gold Equivalent) at an average grade of 3.85 g/t AuEq in the Measured and Indicated category and 4.4 million tonnes containing 506,200 Inferred ounces AuEq at an average grade of 3.56 g/t AuEq. This is compared to 932,000 tonnes containing 210,100 ounces AuEq (Measured and Indicated) and 904,000 tonnes containing 213,700 ounces (Inferred) AuEq in the July 2008 Resource Report. The current Measured and Indicated Category represents 55% of the total resource tonnage.
2. Open Pit Resources, designed down to a maximum depth of approximately 230 meters include 3.1 million tonnes containing 315,800 Measured and Indicated ounces AuEq at an average grade of 3.14 g/t AuEq and 2.4 million tonnes containing 226,600 Inferred ounces AuEq at an average grade of 2.95 g/t AuEq.
3. The Underground Resources of the deposit are estimated at 2.2 million tonnes containing 342,400 ounces AuEq (Measured and Indicated) at an average grade of 4.89 g/t AuEq and 2.0 million tonnes containing 279,600 ounces AuEq (Inferred) at an average grade of 4.27 g/t AuEq.
4. Silver in the resource is estimated 3,302,000 Measured and Indicated ounces Ag and 6,042,000 ounces Ag in the Inferred category.
The complete resource estimate undertaken by P&E Mining Consultants Inc. is outlined below.
Table 1.1: Open Pit Resource Estimate at 0.65 g/t AuEq Cut-Off Grade (1),(2),(3),(4)
————————————————————————-
Classifi- Au Ag AuEq Au Ag AuEq
cation Tonnes (g/t) (g/t) (g/t) (oz) (oz) (oz)
————————————————————————-
Measured 987,000 2.74 12.0 2.91 87,000 380,000 92,300
————————————————————————-
Indicated 2,146,000 2.84 29.1 3.24 195,800 2,009,000 223,500
————————————————————————-
Measured &
Indicated 3,133,000 2.81 23.7 3.14 282,800 2,389,000 315,800
————————————————————————-
Inferred 2,392,000 2.09 62.1 2.95 160,600 4,776,000 226,600
————————————————————————-Table 1.2: Underground Resource Estimate at 2.5 g/t AuEq Cut-Off Grade (1),(2),(3),(4)
————————————————————————-
Classifi- Au Ag AuEq Au Ag AuEq
cation Tonnes (g/t) (g/t) (g/t) (oz) (oz) (oz)
————————————————————————-
Measured 630,000 4.78 11.1 4.93 96,700 224,000 99,800
————————————————————————-
Indicated 1,549,000 4.68 13.8 4.87 233,100 688,000 242,600
————————————————————————-
Measured &
Indicated 2,179,000 4.71 13.0 4.89 329,800 912,000 342,400
————————————————————————-
Inferred 2,036,000 4.00 19.4 4.27 262,000 1,267,000 279,600
————————————————————————-Table 1.3: Total Open Pit and Underground Resource Estimate (1),(2),(3),(4)
————————————————————————-
Classifi- Au Ag AuEq Au Ag AuEq
cation Tonnes (g/t) (g/t) (g/t) (oz) (oz) (oz)
————————————————————————-
Measured 1,618,000 3.53 11.6 3.70 183,700 604,000 192,100
————————————————————————-
Indicated 3,696,000 3.61 22.7 3.92 428,900 2,697,000 466,100
————————————————————————-
Measured &
Indicated 5,314,000 3.59 19.3 3.85 612,600 3,301,000 658,200
————————————————————————-
Inferred 4,428,000 2.97 42.4 3.56 422,600 6,043,000 506,200
————————————————————————-1. Mineral resources which are not mineral reserves do not have
demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of mineral resources may
be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title,
taxation, sociopolitical, marketing, or other relevant issues.2. The quantity and grade of reported inferred resources in this
estimation are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient
exploration to define these inferred resources as an indicated or
measured mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration
will result in upgrading them to an indicated or measured mineral
resource category.3. The mineral resources in this press release were estimated using the
CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions and
Guidelines prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve
Definitions and adopted by CIM Council December 11, 2005.4. AuEq was calculated such that one gram of Au = 72.3 grams
Ag. Metal prices used were the April 30, 2010 trailing average for Au
at US$955/oz and Ag at US$14.77/oz with respective process recoveries
of 95% and 85%. The US$ exchange rate was $0.95.5. Process costs used were C$15/tonne and G&A was C$5/tonne. Open pit
mining was C$3.50/tonne for ore and C$2.75/tonne for waste with
underground mining at C$57/tonne. Open pit slopes were 50 degrees.6. The mined tonnage from previous operations was removed from the block
model.The current 43-101 Resource Estimate differs primarily from the previous report filed in July 2008 in that there is now a significant Open Pit Resource with a cut-off grade of 0.65g/t outlined for the MacLellan deposit. The average grade of the resource within the pit limits is 3.14 g/t in the Measured and Indicated resource classification and 2.95 g/t in the Inferred resource classification. Grade estimation was undertaken with the inverse distance (1/d3) interpolation method. Management considers the grade of the resource estimate to be highly significant and is confident that this approach will positively affect the economics of the overall project. Management is now considering undertaking a Preliminary Economic Assessment during 2010 to more thoroughly examine the economics of the MacLellan Project.
The Underground Resource was also re-estimated using a 2.5g/t AuEq cut-off grade rather than 3.5 g/t. AuEq cut-off. This in combination with the Phase I and Phase II drilling done in 2006-08 (21,456 meters of Core drilling) provided the basis for a substantial increase in the estimated Underground Resource ounces. The average mining width (domain width) has also increased to 3.0 meters from 1.5 m reflecting the possibility of a bulk mining scenario.
The average price of Gold used in this Technical Report at US$ 955 per ounce Au which was substantially higher than the previous price in the 2008 report at US$ 710/oz. The current average price is calculated based on the 24 month trailing average to April 30, 2010.
The MacLellan gold deposit contains a significant open pit and underground mineral resource estimate of 5.3 million tonnes grading at 3.59 g/t Au and 19.3 g/t Ag in the Measured and Indicated category with an additional 4.4 million tonnes of Inferred resources grading 2.97 g/t Au and 42.4 g/t Ag. It should be noted that within the context of the entire Carlisle land holdings in the area, the MacLellan deposit occupies only a small portion. Therefore there remains a significant potential for further expansion of the resource through exploration on a regional basis.
Carlisles current plan for the MacLellan gold deposit are of sufficient merit to justify undertaking preliminary engineering and additional environmental and metallurgical studies aimed at completing the characterization of the context of the gold-rich mineralization.
Since the mineralized zones within the MacLellan project area are still open along strike and down dip, Carlisle is planning to undertake an IP survey in late 2010. The survey will entail establishment and surveying of approximately 120 line-km of grid. The IP survey area would be centered over the shaft and cover an area 2 km north to south and 5 km east to west.
Peter Karelse P.Geo, the Companys independent Geological Consultant commented the MacLellan deposit is in some ways unique in that the gold mineralization is found in a broad sheared zone with clearly defined higher grade zones found within this broad zone. From an economic and operational standpoint the distribution of gold mineralization at MacLellan offers a great deal of flexibility. The fact that the deposit remains open in all directions is of particular interest in that the possibility to readily build on the resource indicated above remains possible at a relatively low dollars invested per additional resource ounce.
Bruce Reid, President of Carlisle Goldfields stated This updated Technical Report should substantially improve the economic viability as well as change the future development plans of the Companys Northern Manitoba Assets. The possibility of being able to Open Pit a substantial portion of the MacLellan Gold Deposit especially in the early years of production is a radical change from previous mining plans that will certainly benefit the economics of this project.
The full Updated Technical Report and Resource Estimate will be available soon on both www.sedar.com and the Companys website at www.carlislegold.com.
The Technical Report was completed by P & E Mining Consultants Inc. for Carlisle Gold fields Ltd., under the supervision of Peter Karelse; P. Geo. who is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 with more than 25 years of experience in exploration and development of gold projects. All technical information contained in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Peter Karelse P.Geo. and Eugene Puritch, P.Eng. of P&E Mining Consultants Inc, both of whom are Qualified Persons under the National Instrument 43-101 guidelines. All the information contained herein is in compliance with the National Instrument 43-101.
About Carlisle: Carlisle Goldfields Limited is a Canadian based gold exploration and development company, focused on development of its mining leases and claims in the Lynn Lake Greenstone Belt of Northern Manitoba, covering approximately 20,000 hectares which include the former MacLellan Gold mine and two other former producing gold mines.
Forward-Looking Statement:
Some statements in this news release that are not historical facts, including statements about plans and expectations regarding future exploration programs and resource reports, are forward-looking. Investors are cautioned that the forward-looking statements of the Company may include certain estimates, assumptions and other forward-looking information. The actual future events, performance, developments and/or results may differ materially from any or all of the forward-looking statements, which include current expectations, estimates and projections, in all or part attributable to general economic conditions, and other risks, uncertainties and circumstances partly or totally outside the control of the Company, including resource estimates, drilling activities, future costs and expenses related exploration and development programs, financing availability and other activities associated with the mineral exploration industry.
The Netroots, The Tea Party And The Millennials - Who's Right About America? | Future Majority
The arms race. A time in our Nation's history when we were on edge. We were racing to the top, to be the world super power and make sure we defeated the USSR. The times were hard, some sloppy policy was made, and our Nation was all over the political spectrum. Since we've learned these lessons, we now know better. In today's current political climate we have our very own arms race. This time instead of racing to the top to fight against another Nation we are fighting against ourselves. The right and the left are all pissed off while the middle stands and stares. We have generated such polarized language that all it does is to turn-off people from politics and aggravate those who are in it.
Our current political climate tears us between either "taking back America" or "Change". It puts our leaders in a battle of endless litigation, of pass then repeal. Take a look at choice, healthcare, gay marriage or any other issue you hear about. During the Bush years the Democrats were always set on getting back into power and now during the Obama years the right is doing the same. Both the Tea Party movement and the Netroots were born out of anger, frustration, and a call for something different. How is it that both the right and the left are so mad and frustrated about what is going on that they are calling for uprising from their respective sides?
FACT: The middle of the political spectrum makes or breaks policy.
We know it's hard to hear. Sometimes we like to disagree with it and get wrapped up in the fighting for our beliefs, but it's true.
It's our opinion that Millennials voted for Barack Obama not so much because he is a Democrat or a liberal or a progressive, but because he gave us the hope of a new kind of politics - one where we don't tear each other down but build our nation up together. Millennials are frustrated that the Congress, the oldest in average age in American history, continues the highly partisan governing from the Bush Administration. We voted not for policy change but for a fundamental change to the approach to governing and politics.
Older generations were fighters. They fought wars, they fought for civil rights and women's rights, the fought for their generation and their country. "Fighting" for one's values and beliefs was a constant theme at this year's Netroots Nation. The "Netroots", spawned from the Daily Kos army, has that fighting spirit. They came of age again under the Bush Administration and remembered the fight that they and their parents fought.
Looking at older generations and comparing them to our generation raises one main question. Are Millennials fighters? We fight in wars but don't have the draft. We support the guarantee of equal rights for the LGBT community and all other oppressed communities, but in a different way in which the struggle for civil rights was fought. As Tim Wise reminded us during his Netroots Nation keynote speech, the majority - whichever way you cut it - will always try to retain it's upper-hand. It's human nature. It's that understanding of human nature that led the leaders of our nation to protect minority rights at the individual-level and at the state-level. But majority rights are protected, too. That is the wonder and effectiveness of American federalism, which is itself rooted in finding compromise and in taking the slow-paced approach to change.
What does a nation without negotiation look like? It's ugly. No one is happy and the entire country is pulled in different directions. The country would be plagued with martial law and civil wars. This is not our country. Our country has a long standing tradition of compromise. We were founded on the idea of protecting everyone's beliefs and creating the fairest possible system we could.
If we keep up the fighting mentality then we fail to bring in the hearts and the minds of the people. We open the doors for special interests to flood the political world with money and bad policy advocates. Policy-making requires moderation and negotiation; the cornerstones of democracy and American federalism. A nation as diverse as ours must take careful and deliberate steps in governing. But shocks to the systems are sometimes important. That was the case during the civil rights era, for example. The federal government recognized that individual rights are guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, and must be protected. For the most part our Nation recognizes the importance of equal rights and the protection of those rights. There are still examples were this isn't true, but it's being worked on. The reason a shock to the system was needed in the past was because the issue was ignored. We now live in such a connected age that no single issue can be ignored because anyone, anywhere can make it public. Voters make or break politicians.
Millennials carry the spirit of the founding fathers, perhaps more closely than generations in recent times. We understand that quality interactions with our counterparts advocating in good faith are more important than building huge e-mail lists based upon tactics of fear and hate. We talk to others, on this blog, on Facebook, on Twitter, and we do it with civility - or at least we try. We interact this way because we know others are watching and that everything we do and say is on-the-record. This does not mean that we don't stick to our principles and our values and voice our opinions. What it does mean is that we know that we are having conversations with people, other than those that just agree with everything we say. We're not about burning bridges; we're about mending them and building them out into the future.
There isn't a good example in recent memory of what it's like to engage in quality conversation with our friends on the other side of the aisle. But, we all know that working together is the right thing to do. It's the reason that politicians and candidates harp on their bi-partisan successes because they know that Americans are all about teamwork, in life, in sports and in politics. Our generation might not have a clear vision of how working with conservatives and Republicans will turn out, but we know that fighting against them will only entrench their views more, and vice versa. Barack Obama said, "If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress." We're pretty sure he meant that we walk down that path together and not alone.
This post was a collaboration between Karlo Marcelo and Colin Curtis.
We would like to encourage dialogue on this subject. Let us know what you think either in the comments or on twitter.
Karlo - @_kbm
Colin - @colincurtisks
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The M-Factor: How The Millennial Generation Is Rocking The Workplace , Lynne C. Lancaster, David Stillman , | Pages Bookstores
ISBN: 9780061769313,0061769312
The definitive guide to turning the Millennials’ great expectations into even greater results.The Millennial generation (those born between 1982 and 2000) has rapidly entered the workforce in greater numbers, but its introduction to the workplace has been anything but seamless. In fact, many companies already report attention-grabbing stories about: the mother who called HR to complain when her Millennial daughter got a mediocre performance review; the new hire who dialed the CEO directly to tell him what the company could be doing better; the young employee who revealed a confidential new product on her Facebook page before it was made public.
Clashes like these are happening in workplaces around the world, and they leave leaders and coworkers scratching their heads and wondering, “What do these Millennials want? Why are they so different? How do we get the good ones in the door? How do we keep them there without alienating the other generations?” Going forward, a company’s success will depend upon knowing the answers to these questions, because they are the keys to motivating this new generation and to taking advantage of the amazing potential it possesses. In “The M-Factor,” Baby Boomer Lynne Lancaster and Generation Xer David Stillman draw on cutting-edge case studies, findings from large-scale surveys, and hundreds of interviews to identify the seven trends essential for understanding and managing the Millennials: the role of the parents, entitlement, the search for meaning, great expectations, the need for speed, social networking, and collaboration. Observant, humorous, and savvy, this book–the ultimate guide to Millennials in the workplace–offers valuable insights and practical, take-action tips and solutions that Traditionalists, Boomers, Gen Xers, and even Millennials can use to bridge generational gaps, be more productive, and achieve organizational success like never before.
About the Author : Lynne C. Lancaster :
Lynne C Lancaster has contributed to The M- Factor: How the Millennial Generation Is Rocking the Workplace as an author. Lynne C. Lancaster and David Stillman are nationally recognized public speakers, generational experts, and cultural translators as well as coauthors of “When Generations Collide”. They are cofounders of BridgeWorks, a highly successful twelve-year-old research, speaking, and training company focused exclusively on the generations at work. Their clients include high-profile companies such as 3M, American Express, Best Buy, Coca-Cola, Deloitte, Disney, Ford Motor Company, General Mills, and Procter & Gamble, as well as stellar organizations such as AARP, the American Bankers Association.
David Stillman :
Generations expert, speaker, and writer David Stillman is one of the rare Generation X keynoters on the speaking scene today. Recently named to the prestigious list of Forty Under 40 movers and shakers by the Business Journal, David’s blend of honesty, irreverence, energy, and inspiration earn him the highest marks from corporate and association audiences alike.
David is co-author with Lynne Lancaster of the best selling business book, When Generations Collide: Who They Are. Why They Clash. How to Solve the Generational Puzzle at Work. David and Lynne are co-founders of BridgeWorks, a company dedicated to enlightening organizations on who the generations are in today’s workplace and what makes them click, clash and collide. David Stillman and Lynne Lancaster also conduct keynotes and seminars together.
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Federal News Radio 1500 AM: Poll: Most Americans don't trust federal government
Do you think the federal government is doing a good job? What about your neighbors?The majority of the American public doesn't think that the federal government is getting the job done as cheaply and efficiently as possible. This, according to a new poll from the Center for American Progress.
The group recently teamed up with Hart Research and found that trust in the federal government is at an all-time low.
Ruy Teixeira is a senior fellow at the Center and says the poll was done prior to the launch of the latest installment of the Doing What Works project, which is aimed at developing real solutions that the federal government can use to improve the business of government.
"We decided to commission a poll to look at people's attitudes toward government and government reform and sort of try to dig into this conundrum we typically have here in America where people have a lot of things they want the government to do . . . but they seem very suspicious of government's ability to actually get things done."
Teixeira says they found that most people don't have a lot of confidence in the government to solve their problems, and that confidence is currently at its lowest level ever. Despite this seemingly bad news, though, he says this sentiment isn't universal according to their numbers.
"There are certain parts of the population that are much more positive about government and its performance. The ones I would single out -- and that we have a special report out about -- are the Millennials, those born in 1978 and after."
Younger adults, he says, have a pretty different view of government when compared to Baby Boomers or Gen Xers.
"It would be overstating the case to say they totally love it and they think everything is great, but they're just much more positive about what government's been doing and its ability to solve problems than their older counterparts."
Young or old, he adds, most poll respondents say they are very concerned with waste, fraud and abuse.
"The problem is less that government is not trying to do the right thing, than that, when they try to do the right things, they do it oh-so-very-inefficiently. That was not surprising, I suppose. . . . We certainly found that there is a very strong relationship between these perceptions and the amount of confidence that you say you have in government's ability to solve problems."
For the most part, party affiliation didn't have much to do with whether or not people thought the government was doing a good job. People generally tend to judge government based on what they see it doing and how effective it performs overall.
Teixeira explains that, in this context, poll respondents were asked to evaluate the Center's own plan for government reform, which consists of three main components:
- eliminate inefficient government programs and redirect support to the most cost-effective programs
- carefully evaluate the performance of government programs and make that information publicly available
- have the government use the most modern management methods and IT
Teixeira says 60 percent support the management efforts and over 70 percent support getting rid of inefficient government programs and the careful evaluation of all government programs.
"We saw across-the-board support for this among liberals, moderates, conservatives, independents. We even found that people who profess to be supporters of the tea party -- 60 percent of them said this kind of program could be effective in performing and increasing the functioning of the federal government."
During the poll, the Center tested 16 specific components of its overall plan, and found that 60 percent thought they would be at least somewhat effective.
"The top ones were things like, 'require every federal agency to set clear goals that are measured by real world results'. 83 percent thought that would be effective and 68 percent said highly effective. The second one was, 'reform the federal budget process so that spending decisions are based on objective evidence about what works and what does not'. 82 percent [said] effective and 65 percent said highly effective."
Overall, he says, those responses exemplified a pattern revealed by the poll: most people think effective reform of the federal government has to do with measuring performance and accountability.
He adds that the results also reveal that many Americans don't think the federal government does this now.
One of the challenges facing the federal government, however, has to do with the fact that changing processes is often difficult when compared to the private sector because, quite frankly, the federal government often has to follow different rules.
While Teixeira acknowledges this is true, he also says this doesn't mean that changes can't be made, or that there isn't room for improvement.
"I guess there are two ways of judging the public's current views on this. One is that they simply misunderstand or don't know about what is being done in terms of quality checks and target settings and using objective evidence. . . . The alternative hypothesis would be [that] a large part of the public's feelings about government can be attributed to the fact that that just isn't being done and done in an effective way, and being communicated to the public so they have a sense of what's going on."
Though the Center has started its project based on the latter premise, he says that, no matter what, the federal government needs to effectively communicate with the public about its actions.
"The public has to have metrics that it can look at. There have to be report cards. It has to be pushed out in a way that average people can understand and grasp. It won't be enough just to try to implement the program, and it certainly won't be enough to just have a website that people could go to and mine for information."
The Doing What Works project launches tomorrow. You can watch the live webcast here.
Email the author of this post at dramienski@federalnewsradio.com
MinnLawyer Blog » Blog Archive » Bereft of technologies, millennials vie to be Minnesota lawyers
Bereft of technologies, millennials vie to be Minnesota lawyers
Jul 26th, 2010 by Mark Cohen
I was reading (via MinnPost) an excellent Christian Science Monitor story — “Are iPads, smart phones and the mobile web rewiring the way we think?” — when I started to think of the potential implications for the 800 or so law students signed up to take the bar exam tomorrow at St. Paul’s RiverCenter.
The gist of the article is that new technologies have both made us smarter (by exposing us to and teaching us to navigate a wealth of information) and made us dumber (by reducing our capacity for deep thought through narrowing our attention spans.)
The bar exam is, of course, something where it would be helpful to have the capacity for deep thought. OK, OK, maybe you don’t need it for the multistate portion, but for the essay exams at least.
I called Margaret Corneille, executive director of the Board of Law Examiners, to see if there had been any changes in the technologies students can use since the antediluvian days when I took the exam. (As I recall, we just chiseled an A, B or C onto a stone tablet then.)
As it turns out, there’s only one major change - about 85 percent of test takers type out their answers on a computer rather than the old-fashioned furious scribbling into a blue book. However, no other computer assistance is available.
Thus, would-be lawyers from Generation Y have to leave behind their smart phones, iPads, iPods, laptops and other electronic devices. The Christian Science Monitor story tells the tale of one youngster who, stripped of his electronic gadgets for a week, wound up getting lost in his own neighborhood. Hopefully that won’t happen to any bar exam takers tomorrow. On the other hand, maybe somebody that clueless ought not to be a lawyer anyway.
Corneille told me that exam takers are only allowed in a pencil (on multistate day), a pen (on essay day) and “Kleenex.” The Kleenex, I suppose, serves the dual functions of letting you clear out your nose and giving you something to cry into if things don’t go your way.
But the current generation of lawyers need not worry. Despite their allegedly short attention spans, there is no evidence the bar passage rate is going down. Minnesota’s pass rate - which hovers at about 90 percent - remains one the highest in the country.
So what does all this electronic gadgetry mean for meaningful thought and discourse in the long run? I’d tell you, but my cell is ringing right now and I have a couple of e-mails to finish …
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