Entrepreneurship and Consecration

As I start on my journey to set up a new business, I have been focused on whether I can sustain my current lifestyle with this business, and if not, how can I make up the difference?  If the gap is too great, do I really want to follow this path?

Those are good economical questions to ask and an important part of my business case.  As I read the assigned works this week, and watched the assigned video's, I actually felt guilty for how I have been thinking.  I have said that I am happy to earn less, I just need to be able to keep my house.  I love my home, I love my view of the temple and the panoramic view of the mountains.  I never tire of seeing it and would love to stay here for the rest of my life.  It has been my one financial goal: Keep the house.

After listening to "Are we not all beggars" and "Entrepreneurship and Consecration", I have started to think differently.  It is just geography - there are many that are homeless and hungry, there are many, even in my community that are financially struggling.  How can I be so arrogant that I want to "keep my view"  In all honesty, I am not quite ready to give up on my goal yet - but I need to maybe temper it at least a little.

Elder Gay's talk was incredibly powerful, I have been trying to find a written copy of it - but to no avail.  At the very least I will download it so that I can continue to listen to it.

In  Charles Handy's "What's a business for?" we start to explore the purpose of businesses and the increasing gap between the rich and the poor.  Are CEO's becoming focused on self interest?  Or are they truly focused on shareholder value.  In is imperative that virtue and integrity remain in tact in order to maintain the appropriate balance.

Handy states that businesses don't exist just to make money, but there is always "something" more - something that the busienss contributes instead of just making money.  It could be a brand, technology, anything....but something more than just profit.

Handy suggests that increased financial accountability would further protect shareholders and ensure financial security, he also suggested driving accountability below the CFO level, providing increased accountability.  This article was written in 2002, which is the year that SOX was implemented, it has evolved significantly since then and I believe these laws have increased corporate accountability significantly.

There was some sad irony to the John Browne perspective of environmental sustainability.  BP later caused the worst marine oil spill in history, which signficantly impacted the whole industry.  However, this does not impact the intent of driving to sustainability..

The article quotes a gallup poll that states that 90% of the public do not trust the integrity of people running organizations.  I think we are measuring the wrong thing.  It's easy to paint everyone with the Enron brush, but when you are actually working with business leaders, you know that these are generally honorable people, and we need to be careful not to assume that popular belief reflects reality.  The "occupy" movement is based on corporate greed, and while there may be issues, I think some of those issues are more about perception than reality.

Formula for Success

President Monson suggested a formula for success that will be impactful to all areas of our lives:

"First, fill your mind with truth; second, fill your life with service; and third, fill your heart with love"

This formula is made more meaningful because it epitomizes President Monson's life.  He has lived a life of service and love, and his decisions have been guided by truth.  What an incredible example for us to follow.

I have found it to be relatively easy to follow these guidelines in a "church" environment", however, to be truly successful - we need to be able to apply this in all facets of our lives.

We looked at case studies this week.  They were situations of conflict between work and family, in both cases someone needed to make a choice.  I know how I was supposed to address the cases, but in reality, I am not convinced I would have made the right choice, in either of the situations.  I have never had to choose between family and work, as a single person for most of my adult life, it was easy to choose work.  There were no conflicts.  I am not sure how well I would have done if I had a family.  I may never know.

This week we have also studied a talk entitled "Attitude on Money" by Stephen W Gibson.

I have never been very good with money.  That is not because of a shortage of money, on the contrary, I have been well paid, and the companies that I have worked for have also provided well for my retirement.  It is interesting now that I find myself unemployed, I realize if I had been smarter with my money, I would be considering retiring and serving a mission, but I anticipate I will have to work another 10 years before I retire.

My attitude with money has a huge impact on the way I live.  My frivolous approach has delayed my plans to serve a mission; I will be a lot older that I would like, and that will impact the number and nature of missions.

On the other hand, my poor attitude towards money has enabled me to live a "nicer" life than I probably should.  If I were more frugal, I would likely travel less, have a smaller home, more inexpensive car etc.  My income has afforded me a nice lifestyle that I have grown accustomed to.

On the plus side, I find great joy in using my money to help others.  I love to pay for meals for strangers in restaurants, I love to help others that have little, and I enjoy doing it anonymously.

We learned of 6 key rules for propsering:

1. Seek the Lord and have hope in Him

2. Keep the commandments

3. Think about money and plan how you can become self reliant

4. Take advantage of chances for learning

5. Learn the laws upon which the blessings of wealth are predicated

6. Do not send away the naked, the hungry, the thirsty or the sick or those who are held captive.

Can money buy happiness?  No, but it can buy ice cream, and that's practically the same thing :)

Think Big

I have learned a few things this week.

In addition to the entrepreneurial interview, I also interviewed my previous boss to get his perspective on my own business plans.  I also met with a potential business partner to explore how I could work with his company.

These discussions helped inform my business plan.  I have been thinking that my outplacement business would be hugely successful if I were to get a few large clients, and I have been considering my strategy for accessing larger companies and providing outplacement services.  however in my discussions with my previous boss and new business partner, they both suggested targeting smaller companies.  The rationale is that the margin for larger businesses in much smaller, and the offering is more narrow.  Whereas if I were to build relationships with smaller companies that do not have dedicated HR support, then my scope could increase to include outplacement, change management and other HR services.  With a few small companies, I could make a significant impact.

As I watched Taylor Richards short "Think Big" presentation, it helped me to focus on how to be the best in what I do....it doesn't necessarily mean the biggest.  They became the #6 dealer in North America for boat dealers.  They didn't have to have the biggest boat to do that :)

Capability, Collaboration and Character

What an incredible week!

For the first time in my life, at the age of 55, I am unemployed.  As anticipated, I was laid off this week as further cuts were made in the oil patch in Calgary (Nexen Canada layoffs).

It was an interesting experience being on the other side of the desk, I am a senior HR professional and have been involved in hundreds of layoffs.  I developed the layoff process for our company, and it was ironic to be the recipient of that process.

Guy Kawasaki says that there are two kinds of people "Bakers and Eaters" - I wanted to be a baker.

I have given many seminars and presentations to networking groups about how to manage after layoff, and with my background, I was determined to make it a positive experience, both for me and the company:

• I spent time preparing copious transition notes for the person that would inherit my work.
• I cleared my office before it happened 
• I labeled my on line files clearly for others to be able to access
• I removed all personal files from the office and computer

After I left, I sent a note to the Chief HR Officer (CHRO) to thank him for his guidance and influence over the course of our working relationship.....or as Guy Kawasaki would say "How can I help that person" and not "How can they help me"

Of course, employees and co-workers reached out to me and updated me on what was happening.  I was touched that during a town hall meeting the CHRO said "yesterday was a tough day for everybody, the only bright spot in my day was receiving an email from Jeni Whiting".  He has since reached out with a delightful email of support and encouragement and has arranged to meet for lunch on Monday.  

So how does this help me on my entrepreneurship journey? I now have a very influential ally who I believe will be willing to support my new business in a very real way, and I will have the opportunity to discuss it with him this week.  My email to him may have been (unintentionally) the smartest move I made this week!

I am now a step closer to setting up an outplacement business.  Carly Fiorina said that leadership is about  3 things: Capability, Collaboration and Character. This is a critical element to setting up a new business. I have spent many years developing the capability, but the importance of collaboration and character are critical.