9 things (really 12 * ) I know now that I wish I knew when I was graduating

1. 9 things (really 12*) I know now that I wish I knew when I was graduating Mickey Glantz Modified: 23 December 2009 * I was never really good in math

2. KEY POINTS Your 1st job will not be your last job What’s a perfect job? All roads lead to Rome What skill set do you need to get there? Jack of all trades. Masters of some Talent, alone, is never enough Iacocca’s Nine characteristics of leaders An observation about being “clever” Where do ideas come from? Anywhere. The “connect effect” Understand how bureaucracies operate Always have a Stretch Goal Summary: “Kites rise highest against the wind”

3. Warren Buffet77 First Job – Newspaper delivery boy Bill Gates Greatest Wealth - $57 Billion at age 53 First Job – Congressional page Sergey Brin Greatest Wealth - $18.7 Billion at age 35 First “Job” – Student Michael Dell Greatest Wealth - $17.3 Billion at age 43 First Job – Dishwasher for a Chinese restaurant Steve Jobs Greatest Wealth - $5.4 Billion at age 53 First Job – Gopher at Hewlett Packard Oprah Winfrey Greatest Wealth - $2.7 Billion at age 54 First Job – Part time radio news broadcaster Mark Cuban) First Job – Bartender Your first job … will not be your last job!

4. My goal: to create a perfect job in an imperfect workplace • Rarely do you find THE perfect workplace • There are always challenges and constraints to cope with, most of which are neither of your making or choosing • Often, it will be up to you to … • Create that perfect job in an otherwise imperfect setting

5. What do you see as a perfect job… for you? “Perfect” has different meanings to different people The King of Bhutan has developed a “happiness index”

6. “All roads lead to Rome”what do you want to see along the way? At its peak, the Roman road system spanned 53,819 miles (85,004 km) In the days of the Roman Empire, all the empire’s roads radiated out from the capital city, Rome. There are different ways to achieve one’s objectives The way you choose to go will depend on what you want to “see” along the way. Each road has a likelihood of coming with surprises, both good and bad

7. What skillsdo you need to get there? • Identify your “skill set” • DO NOT let your degree define your skill set. Your skills are more than that • Your degree exposes some learned skills but many of your talents are hidden. • BE explicit about your skills. • have more marketable skills than you realize! Put them on paper. • It pays to be an intern: • hands on experience pays off in the marketplace for jobs Louise Reid, 1993, Netpac.com

8. Jack of all trade. Master of some. We are now living in a multitasking world, doing many things in parallel and not in series. Read articles and books in other disciplines. Many ideas exist in one field that can be very useful in other fields. My personal experiences suggests the need for a modification of the adage “jack of all trades and master of none”. I believe making it is possible to be a jack of all trades and become a master of some as well. Some tools can do it all!

9. Never say never, but…Talent is never enough You can be the smartest person in the workplace; the best researcher, the sharpest tech whiz, but your talent, taken alone, is never enough to please the string of bosses above you. You got to have heart, passion, personality and compassion. You’ve got to be a people person and care about others you work with. Take some time away from your own work to learn about what those around you are working on. If you want to be a manager, then strengthen the “9Cs” that Iacocca identified as key to a manager’s success.

10. Iacocca’s 9 leader characteristics Iacocca identified nine leadership qualifications 9C’s! Curious, creative, can communicate, has character, courage, charisma, conviction, is competent and has common sense He forgot “CLEVER”

11. Being “clever” adds what to your skill set? “I said that I wasn’t clever. I was just noticing how things were, and that wasn’t clever. That was just being observant. Being clever was when you looked at how things are and used the evidence to work out something new.” (Mark Haddon, 2002)

12. Where do ideas come from? Anywhere and everywhere: be inquisitive New ideas can come from anywhere and by accident Be open minded Can come from other disciplines and applied to your area of interest Get recharged away from work Starbucks? Airplane flights? Advertisements? Edward Hopper: Nighthawks, photo by R.W. Clark

13. The Connect Effect: Networking pays off in the long run • The connect effect:build networks (easy to do) and maintain them (much harder to do!!) • Brainstorming works because We are smarter than me! http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/02/social_networking/source/1.htm

14. Understand how a bureaucracy works Before you set out to speak truth to power, make sure those you tell can handle it. Know the system you are up against. Information is power. A Few Good Men, Parody, Jack Nicholson

15. Always have a “stretch” goal • Do not short-change your own ideas • If you think you can’t, you probably can’t (Stretch goals can bedefined as goals set above current expectations but are difficult to achieve) Photo: BNPS

16. “Kites rise highest against the wind - not with it.”(Winston Churchill) There is an “Iron Law of Challenges”