Author Archive: Craig

In need of smarts? Keep reading books!

May 11, 2016 0 Comments

books

Getting smarter requires reading — reading books. Here’s why: blogs and online articles are quick reads but they don’t force you to do mind stretching work. The extended thought and working of the ins and outs of ideas requires more digging and exploration than most blog articles provide. Blog articles typically only scratch the surface of an idea. The creator of WordPress and a leader in the blogging realm, Matt Mullenweg, advocates for reading books. I like what he said to Michael Ellsberg, author of The Education of Millionaires:

“A common quality I see of people who are successful is that they are voracious readers. The book as a format is underrated in the digital age. I’m the first one to say blogs are fantastic, obviously. But they tend to be shorter form. Longer-form works stretch my mind more. When you write a book, it consumes you. What you get when you read that book, then, is someone’s entire life for several years or more, distilled into one work. That’s really powerful.

 

“I feel like these things have super-cycles, and I think we’re at the nadir of long-form writing. I think we might have just passed it, and it will rise again. The e-book revolution put an entire library into something as small as a paperback. For me, as I stopped reading books in favour of Internet content, I felt myself getting dumber. Several years ago, I thought, ‘Man, I don’t think I’m as smart as I used to be.’ I just felt a little duller. So I realized I had to start reading again. When I was starting [my company] Automatic, I realized, ‘I have no idea what I’m doing, so I need to read as much as possible.’ An e-book is ten dollars these days. Anyone can afford a book. Take some of the best books on entrepreneurship. Maybe Innovation and Entrepreneurship by Peter Drucker. Or The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki, which I was really inspired by when I was first starting out. What’s holding you back? Its your time and a few dollars. Or to go the library if you don’t have a few dollars. And you can have access to the world’s greatest wisdom on any topic.”

 

Michael Ellsberg, The Education of Millionaires: It’s not what you think and it’s not too late. 2011. p. 174

Change, Education, Leadership

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5 Reasons Your First Job Doesn’t Have to Be Awesome

May 25, 2015

Sometimes recent graduates from high school or from college can get stuck on the thought that their first job has to be awesome. Awesome pay. Awesome hours. Awesome people.

If you find yourself caught up in this kind of thinking its not going to help you move forward. Holding onto these expectations of awesomeness may cause you to miss out on great opportunities.

A first job doesn’t have to be awesome. A first job, even one that doesn’t pay a lot, gives you more than a paycheque; it gives you  opportunities to:

 

1.  Build up your work ethic. Show up, ready, on time. Learn how to bring a good attitude, even when you don’t have it. In other words you learn to be professional.

 

2. Figure out how to relate to a boss. You are going to have to figure out what your employer wants and how to deliver good service without losing your soul and identity to their good days and bad days.

 

3. Develop your people skills. Learn how to relate to customers or clients, fellows employees or work group members. Get to know what happens inside of you in a variety of situations.

 

4. Learn how to add value to an organization or company by aligning yourself with its mission and values.

 

5. Earn some money and learn how to pay the bills.

 

Finally, its a plus, when your first job gives you the opportunity to develop new skills and knowledge sets that can add to your career development. It’s possible to be more than a “cog in the machine.” As you settle in and show yourself to be responsible, ask for and accept responsibilities. That’s when a first job becomes awesome.

 

 

Career, Work

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Confusion… before you are ready to learn.

May 25, 2015 0 Comments

Just before you are ready to expend the energy to learn, you may find that you are actually confused. This feeling of being out of balance, of not knowing exactly what to aim at, or where to start, is important to your growth.

You do have to name the “confusion.” Is the confusion sourced by pain over the past, a lack of clarity about personal vision, or is it the flood of recognition, “I just realized I have a lot to learn”?

Knowing that you don’t know something is a gift. Because once you identify what you don’t know and establish the conviction that you do want to learn it… you can develop a plan for growth.

 

The best leaders lean into their disequilibrium. Instead of panicking, these leaders know the fog will clear as they discover more about this new topic, new job, or new reality. They will figure out what they don’t know. When they know they don’t know something they develop a plan of learning. They will find some books, a course, and some people capable to coach, teach, and help. Sometimes they just dive in, get busy, and learn along the way.

Growth oriented people actually welcome the confusion of “not knowing.” They know its a prerequisite to the success they hope for on the horizon just beyond them.

Are  you retreating from your confusion or are you leaning into it?

Change, Leadership

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100 Days After Graduation

May 21, 2015 0 Comments

Go ahead put a mark on your calendar. What do you hope will be true 100 days after graduation from college or university?

And now I must say “Congratulations!“ Because of my work, I get really excited about the graduates at UBC! You have joined a small and elite segment of the world. If the world population was 100 people, only you only and six other people would have a college education! You have had a wonderful opportunity to learn, make some friends, and build up some identity capital. You are truly blessed!

100 days. That’s a summer break. But this year you may want to be doing something else at the end of it. Unless you are pursuing more education, the pathway is not laid out for you any more.  Maybe you anticipated this ambiguous reality. Maybe you didn’t.

Anyway, look ahead. Mark 100 days on the calendar. Answer the question: What do I hope is true at the end of the next 100 days?

This little exercise isn’t meant to create fear and dread. But it is meant to help you examine your expectations. This self-leadership exercise will help you get a reality check and then reverse engineer your activities for the next 100 days.

For some, having an extended and carefree holiday may be in the cards.

For others though, your desires may require more diligent work.

Perhaps you are having trouble coming up with an answer to the question. Talk it out with someone; not someone who is going to tell you what to do. But instead talk it out with someone who is going to ask questions and then listen for what’s on your mind and in your heart.

100 Days.

Graduation

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