Does Your Child Need A LinkedIn Profile?

I was recently talking with my wife about the topics that is easily among the top five we have discussed in our relationship, "children and how best to prepare them for life." In this discussion she told me about an initiative she heard Philadelphia is piloting to keep track of (high) school children's academic and community service activities from grades to awards to projects to extracurriculars. As she spoke, I replied, "sounds like LinkedIn for kids". Then I wondered, is LinkedIn for kids?! Yikes! No! Yes. I think maybe it is.

Leaving the debate of at what age a child should be exposed to LinkedIn aside, it seems to me that LinkedIn could be a nice substitute for those boxes of school, sports and activities memorabilia in the attic and basement, and a more orderly and presentable one at that. A child's LinkedIn profile would:

1. ease preparation and representation for life's various admissions gauntlets from private schools at various levels to scholarship programs to community service organizations to college to career.
2. remind us of what we, as a family, have invested in, and can be proud of, as we too often forget under the stress of life,
3. remind our children of their accomplishments over time inspiring their self confidence.

On the flip side, I fully expect the sentiment that this suggestion puts our children's privacy at risk, is inappropriate blatant exhibitionism and that LinkedIn is too advanced for children. I'd say all these arguments have merit for consideration.

In response to privacy and exhibitionism concerns, I'd advise keeping the profile private so that it's an orderly repository for you and your child until an appropriate time for future publication. In the meantime you don't lose those resume items to poor memory, and your child begins to get an education in how to use LinkedIn as a storytelling platform for their careers.

As to the "too advance" point, I'd say you do it for your child without exposing them if they'd are too young the same way you store away savings for their future when they are too young. The fact is that the experiences we afford our children are an experiential savings asset which they spend later to gain life's opportunities, so LinkedIn becomes an experience bank of sorts. 

In any case, I thought this an interesting idea, and wonder if it's not a new business opportunity for LinkedIn as parents tend to more readily part with money for their children's welfare than for their own. For many I know, their kid's LinkedIn will look better than theirs. :-)

I'm very much interested in your thoughts as to additional benefits and caveats regarding this approach.

Here are other reads I found on this topic:

1. http://www.yummymummyclub.ca/blogs/mummy-buzz/20130919/kids-urged-to-create-linkedin-profiles

2. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-long-before-kindergartners-are-on-linkedin-2013-08-21

In Defense of Corporations

This post is inspired by a coaching conversation I had recently about the evil that corporations do and the potentially questionable ethics of carrying on a corporate career that could be seen as collusive with this evil. This is a worthy question, and one I have mulled over often in my more than 2 decades in global corporations. 

I am of the opinion that corporations, like hammers are neutral tools, capable of good and evil in the hands of good or ill-intentioned wielders. The fact is that most all corporations are simultaneously producing good and bad ends at least unintentionally, if not intentionally, and that can be said of most all things in the cosmos. This fact, conjured the thought that corporations need defending, on one hand against the assumptions that they are inherently evil, and on another hand against the evil they do when there are not enough powerful, influential well-intentioned players at the corporate decision-making table. 

Corporations have their merits & demerits. They have enabled more wealth creation, personal/professional development, etc., for a greater number of people (to wit, our middle class) to a greater degree than any force in history. They have also been behind some of the most devastating occurrences of human-inflicted harm to other humans and the environment seen in history. Because corporations have so much power to do good and evil, it is important that they have good people in and around them to defend them against the evil they might otherwise do.

For this reason I encourage those who have corporate expertise to stay in the game, both inside and adjacent the corporate as forms of light and salt to both keep clean and  preserve the cultures and intentions of corporations. I get that corporate life can be demoralizing, ethically ambiguous, unfair, unreasonable, confusing, etc., and that such triggers thoughts of escape for most of us. That said, if we can adopt an approach where we connect our corporate work to personal meaning and societal purpose, versus ego aggrandizement & lifestyle elevation, we can recommit to defending corporations and influence them to be a greater good, than evil, in the world. 

I have, for a number of years, deliberately worked to get more clear and deliberate about what industries, disciplines, situations, problems and purposes, I want to focus my energy on. I have targeted those corporations whose raison d'être, going beyond making profit, resonates with me. Working in those corporations are more satisfying as I know that my work in helping the corporation is helping achieve the purposes I want to see in myself and the world. 

This is not to say that corporations are perfect but to say that they are really good tools for positively touching the lives of lots of people when used in the proper way. I am blessed to have the opportunity to contribute to that as well as to be a change agent and influencer to keep it from as much evil as might result if I were not there. And, by the way, even when I leave the inside of the corporation, I intend to use my experience and influence to continue to develop ethical servant leaders who defend corporations from evil.

I encourage us all to choose our corporate defender role and play it well. Whether as inside manager, leader, contributor, influencer, innovator and change agent, or as outside consultant, influencer, stakeholder, accountability agent, or regulator-legislator. All these role are useful in defending corporations by balancing their power, maintaining their ethical agenda, and maximizing their ethically profitable performance. 

Effective defending to us all!

Every Worker, A Hero!

Work is challenging and we all are the hero in our respective work roles though we rarely think so. For years I have been a fan of Joseph Campbell, the famed mythologist, and his theory of The Hero’s Journey. The Hero’s journey identified a pattern of progressive stages in cultural myths and stories which is fairly applicable to every life, career, job and project. This cycle is seen in epic lives and stories we all know like that of Jesus, Moses, Buddha, Prometheus, Oriris, Luke Skywalker of Star Wars, Frodo of Lord of the Rings, and even ourselves if we observe closely enough.

In the Hero’s Journey, which is divided in to three phases of departure, initiation and return:

1. The hero is leading an ordinary life when circumstances take a turn which call the hero to a quest.

2. Initially the hero is hesitant to accept the quest but alas does not resist.

3. On starting the quest, the hero finds mentors and helpers along the way to advise and assist.

4. As a part of the quest the hero faces ordeals and obstacles. The hero also discovers powers, within and without themselves, some resident and others obtained along the way which enable triumph.

5. By and by, with patient persistence, the hero wins the object of the quest along with the experience and benefit of overcome ordeals and newly discovered and obtained powers.

6. The quest object obtained, the hero is faced with a decision of whether they will return to the ordinary world they lived in before the quest began to bless the community with the experience, powers and questions object they have obtained. And so the cycle starts over again.

With reflection, we could all identify that at any given time, we ourselves are in some stage of this hero cycle in every areas of our lives, careers and jobs.

I have always found this reflection helpful as stories and myth are how human cultures makes sense of chaos whether in the form of success or failure, ease of difficulty, blessing or curse.

Seeing myself as the hero in my own life, career and job, I continually recognize quests I am called to, mentors and helpers given to aid me, ordeals and obstacles, powers and experience I am given to develop during my quest, and the decision and obligation to continually reinvest the fruit of my quests back into the communities I am a part of.

Seeing this cycle is the path all heroes have tread both humbles and encourages me as I see that as they have triumphed in the their circumstances so can I as I patiently and persistently make good use of every resource and opportunity every quest presents. Reflecting on the hero's journey also lends context and perspective to my present challenges and difficulties and reminds me that this too will pass, both success and learning, and that my job as hero is to be committed to and prepared for every next stage of this cycle.

So, shall I encourage us all to reflect on how we are all heroes on our respective life and career journeys and how the world relies upon and is blessed when we step us to the hero's potential in ourselves.

Interviews as “Value” Conversations

This blog post has relocated to a book, The WiseWorking Handbook. Please visit it there.  

Please purchase a copy at Balboa Press (http://bit.ly/1wfqwBU). 

For signed copies, reach me at craig@wiseworking.com. 

Thanks in advance for reading the book and spreading the word about it.

Finally, please rate it at Amazon.com, BN.com, GoodReads.com, and other websites where books are sold and reviewed. 

What readers are saying:

"The WiseWorking Handbook is written in a down to earth, engaging style.” - Bud Bulanich

"Get this book. Read it. Keep it handy for when you need a little inspiration or some solid advice on how to work wisely and increase your value at work.” - Bud Bulanich

On a Horse Looking for a Horse

This blog post has relocated to a book, The WiseWorking Handbook. Please visit it there.  

Please purchase a copy at Balboa Press (http://bit.ly/1wfqwBU). 

For signed copies, reach me at craig@wiseworking.com. 

Thanks in advance for reading the book and spreading the word about it.

Finally, please rate it at Amazon.com, BN.com, GoodReads.com, and other websites where books are sold and reviewed. 

What readers are saying:

"The WiseWorking Handbook is written in a down to earth, engaging style.” - Bud Bulanich

"Get this book. Read it. Keep it handy for when you need a little inspiration or some solid advice on how to work wisely and increase your value at work.” - Bud Bulanich

What is a Career?

In my practice as a coach, I often work with coachees who decry that 1) they want a career, 2) they have no career, or 3) their career is broken. I usually challenge these statements by asking them to 1) define what a career is and 2) examine why they think their career is non-existent or broken, then 3) what their career, existing or fixed, would look like. This is important because I want to suggest that any of us who are living have embarked upon a career (so that we all that have one). The question then is whether we can shape our careers to be more productive, if not satisfying to us.

A quick look at www.dictionary.com shows that a career is 1) an occupation or profession requiring special training which one follows as their life's work, and 2) a person's progress or general course of action through life. I think we might all agree that when we talk about a career, we are talking about an endeavor where there is potential for growth, both reputationally, financially and experientially. I think you will agree that few things in life rob of this opportunity if we approach them with the right "spirit" and "attitude".

We are all working on a career everyday because everyday we interact in our families and society, we are developing skills, experiences and relationships, influencing and contributing to outcomes, and making progress in some area(s) of special training that is indeed our life's work. Again, one cannot avoid having a career. One can only choose what type career they will produce in their liftime.

That said, I want to encourage anyone who bemoans not having a career to give up that illusion and embrace the question of how productive their career can be. I also want to encourage this same person not to mistake a career with present difficult situations and people, degrees of failure (learning), self-doubt, discouragement and impatience as unproducive as these are the very best instructors and courses in our progress towards a productive career. I see this after many years in my career. I recall that my best mentors were giving me this advice all along and, today, continue to get the best satisfaction in life from reflecting on how I have matured, become empowered and productive as a result of the difficulties of my career.

As you move forward to repoint your "present" career towards a more productive end, I offer a few suggestions I give to one of my coachees with whom I recently worked on this question.

1. Acknowledge that you have a career already, that you have been on the road all along, and that you, are merely at this time, taking it to its next logical level. This is empowering and necessary. The fact that you have not accomplished what you wanted by now does not mean you have not accomplished anything. Take stock of what you have and commit to building on that.

2. Understand that nothing is wasted and that all you have experienced, whether you call it failure, stalling or learning, is preparing you for where you are going. There are not successful people who have not been where you are. I recommend the reading of biographies of accomplished people so that you can see this.

3. Eliminate "cannot" from your vocabulary and thinking. Replace it with "have not" and/or "will not".

4. In the areas of your interest, research and immerse yourself in everything you can in the area so that you begin to become an expert and aware of the key issues and players in the space. I recommend you invest in an iPod as a learning tool because you can listen to books and articles at times when your eyes are not free to read. I recommend your looking at sites like www.fastcompany.com, www.ted.com, www.itunes.com, (for pod and video casts), www.audible.com (for audio books and magazines), www.linkedin.com (for networking), www.technorati.com (to find relevant blogs), www.delicious.com(for relevant bookmarks), www.youtube.com (for relevant videos), etc..

5. As you become knowledgable and expert in your chosen area, begin to connect and network with people in these spaces to understand what the needs are. As you understand what these needs are, analyze where you can contribute your talent, knowledge, insight and network. Your developed expertise and networking will create the conditions for your contribution and contributions are what careers are made of.

6. Develop a tolerance for the feeling of being an "impostor" and do not be stopped by it. Every new role and endeavor makes us an impostor until we get used to it.

7. Adopt a network of people (starting with me) who believe in you and your dream and who will encourage you and hold you accountable. We get little done in life without the support of a community. You can make it, but not alone.

Congratulations on your audactiy. Remember that "the day you decide is your lucky day". :-)

2007 Posts from YaHoo! 360

With the move, I decided to bring some luggage with me. Though I did not think it was possible, I figured out how to link over all the posts from this blog's former location on YaHoo! 360. Happy Thanksgiving!

1. The Perfect Is the Enemy of the Good - October 28, 2007
   


2. Which is Better Question: What to Do? or How to Contribute? - September 30, 2007
   


3. Failing To(ward) Success - September 11, 2007
   


4. What Classes Are You Taking? - August 28, 2007
   


5. The Benefits of Giving Benefit of the Doubt - July 24, 2007
   


6. No Problem; Just Change - July 08, 2007
   


7. Take the Time for a Mid-Year Energy Check - June 23, 2007
   


8. Telling Response-able Stories - June 6, 2007


9. Work as a Spiritual Retreat? - June 1, 2007
   


10. Taking the Networking Out of Net Working - May 31, 2007
    


11. Eggs, Baskets & Careers - April 22, 2007
    


12. What Exhausts: The Work or the Reaction to Work? - March 25, 2007
    


13. Being Change - March 18, 2007
    


14. The Transformation of Accepting Change - February 25, 2007
    


15. Work As Worship? February 11, 2007
    


16. Evil as a Key to Career Satisfaction - February 03, 2007
    


17. More "Playful Working" in '07 - January 02, 2007
    


18. Forests of Purpose & The Pain of Labor - December 27, 2006

New Location for WiseWorking.com!!!

So good to be here in my new location with my new name, WiseWorking.com. For the last year, I have been blogging at 360.yahoo.com/cadelarge. I have used this latter space to muse about my work and the impact it has on my life and career. It has been a fruitful exercise that I will be doing more frequently, broadly and richly (if that is a word) in the coming year, thus this move.

In the coming months, look forward to more frequent posts, richer content and insights, and hopefully a growing community, as we continue down the path of producing a work life and career with ever more meaning and purpose.

By the way, does anyone have a suggestion as to a good way to migrate an old blog to a new one? Is it better to link to the old one or to copy all the old posts into the new one?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Which is Better Question: What to Do? or How to Contribute?

This blog post has relocated to a book, The WiseWorking Handbook. Please visit it there.  

Please purchase a copy at Balboa Press (http://bit.ly/1wfqwBU). 

For signed copies, reach me at craig@wiseworking.com. 

Thanks in advance for reading the book and spreading the word about it.

Finally, please rate it at Amazon.com, BN.com, GoodReads.com, and other websites where books are sold and reviewed. 

What readers are saying:

"The WiseWorking Handbook is written in a down to earth, engaging style.” - Bud Bulanich

"Get this book. Read it. Keep it handy for when you need a little inspiration or some solid advice on how to work wisely and increase your value at work.” - Bud Bulanich

The Perfect Is the Enemy of the Good

This quote, attributed to the French philosopher Voltaire is more valid today than ever. This is so much so that I have found that those (perfectionists) who ignore this quote rob themselves of a great deal of health, sanity and satisfaction in life. As a born, and further raised "perfectionist", I have spent most of my life beating myself and being beat by others because I did not perfectly execute a task. This inability to achieve (perceived) perfection has, and continues to be, the cause of more tears, lost sleep, anger, guilt, bitterness, worry, doubt, fear and procrastination than any other other in my life.

One of the greatest gift I have been given in life, by a former boss of mine, Stan Woodland, are the insights that:

1) there are 4 levels of performance that are possible in life: perfection, excellence, adequacy and inadequacy
2) perfection, or penultimate performance, is futile to expect because the definition is narrow and ever changing
3) excellence, or above average performance, is a better performance goal than perfection because it can be achieved more consistently. Also more people agree on its definition.

As I have worked to adjust my expectations of myself and others to these insights over the years I have become less anxious, overbearing, vindictive, stressed, angry and procrastinating. This has been replaced by greater patience, calm, balance, perseverance, resilience, ability to forgive (let go) myself and others and satisfaction with what I achieve. This has, indeed, bee one of the greatest transformations of my life. So much so that I teach these insights in all my classes, whether at my church or at the university.

All this said, I work in environments where this is not often convention wisdom and so I have to continually bring myself to a remembrance of the truth and benefit of these insights. I offer these insights hoping you will use them to gain more satisfaction from what you are getting done and be more forgiving of, and educated by, that which have not yet gotten done.

Eggs, Baskets & Careers

This blog post has relocated to a book, The WiseWorking Handbook. Please visit it there.  

Please purchase a copy at Balboa Press (http://bit.ly/1wfqwBU). 

For signed copies, reach me at craig@wiseworking.com. 

Thanks in advance for reading the book and spreading the word about it.

Finally, please rate it at Amazon.com, BN.com, GoodReads.com, and other websites where books are sold and reviewed. 

What readers are saying:

"The WiseWorking Handbook is written in a down to earth, engaging style.” - Bud Bulanich

"Get this book. Read it. Keep it handy for when you need a little inspiration or some solid advice on how to work wisely and increase your value at work.” - Bud Bulanich

Work As Worship?

This blog post has relocated to a book, The WiseWorking Handbook. Please visit it there.  

Please purchase a copy at Balboa Press (http://bit.ly/1wfqwBU). 

For signed copies, reach me at craig@wiseworking.com. 

Thanks in advance for reading the book and spreading the word about it.

Finally, please rate it at Amazon.com, BN.com, GoodReads.com, and other websites where books are sold and reviewed. 

What readers are saying:

"The WiseWorking Handbook is written in a down to earth, engaging style.” - Bud Bulanich

"Get this book. Read it. Keep it handy for when you need a little inspiration or some solid advice on how to work wisely and increase your value at work.” - Bud Bulanich

Evil as a Key to Career Satisfaction

This blog post has relocated to a book, The WiseWorking Handbook. Please visit it there.  

Purchase a copy at Balboa Press (http://bit.ly/1wfqwBU). 

For signed copies, reach me at craig@wiseworking.com. 

Thanks in advance for reading the book and spreading the word about it.

Finally, please rate it at Amazon.com, BN.com, GoodReads.com, and other websites where books are sold and reviewed. 

What readers are saying:

"The WiseWorking Handbook is written in a down to earth, engaging style.” - Bud Bulanich

"Get this book. Read it. Keep it handy for when you need a little inspiration or some solid advice on how to work wisely and increase your value at work.” - Bud Bulanich