You can be/know "more," not "better"

My professional background and daily grind required me to adopt a personal theme to maintain balance between my responsibilities as an employee and citizen. Looking back on it, the saying is applicable for just about anyone, especially those trying to understand how you achieve greatness or recognition without growing negative egotism.

Simply put, you can always be "more", but never "better."

Alexandra Levit offers her own take, which mostly echoes my beliefs on the matter. For those of us in public administration/bureaucracy, it is necessary to recognize that our duties not only require interpretating, upholding, and enacting stated policies, or applying skilled knowledge, but also necessitate appreciating the perspective and experiences of others who may not see eye-to-eye with our judgements. I find it extremely important, if I want to fulfill my professional obligation while making certain that a citizen or official is understanding of the decision made, to show that while I may be well versed in what I do, it does not mean that I have "the" right answer, in contrast to theirs.

This concept applies to virtually anyone, but may have specific relevance to those (like me, at times) who believe they have advantages in proficiency with technology. Recent or upcoming graduates often automatically think that they will be able to get "a step ahead" in the real world by showing off their skills with computers, electronic communications, and what not. I have found (in some cases, the hard way) that despite what we may know that more veteran coworkers don't, it does not mean that our ideas or information has any practical relevance to the situations at hand.

In any given situation, presenting your talents and abilities is always applicable. However, it is important that you do not want to insult the audience, especially if they are in a supervisory or mentoring capacity, by expressing your skill level as somehow "better" than theirs. More than likely, as I did, you'll make this mistake (more than once).

Your coworkers have made this mistake as well, but it will be important to learn quickly about cues and the role of organizational culture, especially when it comes to institutional habits that might negate some of the value possible with your advanced knowledge.

What should we get/not get for new Graduates?

I am open to suggestions for a post I will run later this week on what we should get (and not get) for those in the Class of 2009. I'm thinking primarily about books, products, and other items that you think are of most or least value to someone heading on the next step in the lifelong journeys this summer. Please post here, or if you prefer, send by email to alwaysachieve@gmail.com.

Short Tips Double Feature (Social Networking for Careers, Twitter)

Here is your 2-for-1 special for the weekend:

1. Kelly Giles (Tar Heels in Transit) put together this presentation for a campus workshop on utilizing social media for career development. The presentation also covers the concept of personal branding (while I may be skeptical about this idea, I do think she presents it well). You should also take a look at this post, which elaborates on what she discussed in session.

2. In case you haven't noticed, I have started actively twittering at a reasonable clip. So, here's my 3-step advice for effective twittering:

• Select an account name that can be easily identified (i.e., actual name or most commonly-used email address)
• Use a URL shortener for links, preferably one you can use to track what you post (I prefer http://bit.ly)
• Keep your posts relatively professional (save your family stories for Facebook)

Chris Rock puts it nicely

I am in the midst of my busiest time of the year with respect to my career. I am also not an accountant, so just because today is Tax Day does not mean that it is going to get any less busy. I should see some daylight at the office (literally, and I actually have a window) by mid-June.

Regardless, it does not matter that much. I love what I do, and while my enjoyment with regard to the line of work I'm in does not match my current workplace demeanor most days, the arrival of each new day is something I look forward to.

Chris Rock is on TV tonight, and a comment he just made during a show says what I'm dealing with right now perfectly:

"If you got a career, you ain't got enough time."

There are some pieces I've been working on I will get out very soon, and I'll do my best these next couple of weeks to come up for air and make a post or two. Until then, take a look at the articles linked to the right.

You're not great? Can you be effective?

If you are graduating from college or high school, or making any other type of transition in life this coming summer, here is a simple fact to consider: you are not great.

I thought about this a little while back, the day after the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship. When asked about the college career of NCAA Champion UNC Forward Tyler Hansbrough, legendary basketball coach Bob Knight said the he did not think that Hansbrough was a "great player."

Instead, he considered Hansbrough "effective," which he thought was better.

Don't get upset. Few of us are truly "great," especially when we enter an unknown environment. We may possess knowledge and experience, and we might even have the ability to claim some cases of achievement, but they do not guarantee our ability to achieve success as we move forward.


Despite our desire as individuals and society to look forward, we are considered for those opportunities based on our past performance. This is true on the individual and organizational level. In my professional surroundings of the public sector, performance measurement and evaluation is a growing in its role and significance in decision making. For the past several years, I have worked with departments, managers, and stakeholders on examining current practices and activities, identifying what works well and attempting to correct or eliminate what does not.


There are many ways, of course, to evaluate performance. All too often, our track record in the beginning focuses on inputs and outputs. How much workload can we handle? What grade or score do we get in a class or on a test? What were our sales numbers? To some degree, we can compare these two classes of metrics and rate our efficiency, or our ability to make more out of less.


However, the only matters that really matter with respect to evaluating talent, ability, or capacity to take advantage of opportunity is effectiveness. It is also known as outcome, the end result of our endeavors and application of resources. If we are in sales, how does our activity impact the bottom line of the company? For project managers, it would be an investigation into how our activities or idea, brought to fruition, improves the business or enables the achievement of an established goal or objective.


Identifying outcomes and effectiveness is not easy across all professional fields. It is easiest in sports. The easiest mark of effectiveness is victory at the championship level, the recognition that you are the best of the given lot. Sometimes, possessing the talent, passion, and character to focus on achieving such a goal is as important, if not more, than simply being "great" in a given field of skill.

In the case of Tyler Hansbrough, his college career is more about effectiveness than greatness. His determination and ability to lead his team to comeback victories, consistent superior performance, and a national championship with a veteran roster all overshadow those elements of personal greatness, or lack thereof. His effectiveness, more so than his skill level, represents the value he can provide a potential team in the NBA, as well as any other environment where he can apply his "soft" and versatile capabilities following graduation.

When thinking about our own potential, we may not always have the capacity to obtain greatness, but with the right focus and commitment, we can dedicate ourselves to always achieving more valuable effectiveness.

Adventures with Intrapreneurship

Alexandra Levitt's column a week or two ago really struck a chord with me. For about a dozen years, I have progressed rather effectively in my career, in large part due to the application of what Levitt and others call "Intraprenuership" to solve problems and improve processes and operations for my various employers.

Even if you are not in a job that directly aligns with your passions and interests, noticing opportunities to maximize your abilities through creative solutions that improve efficiencies, expand product and service offerings to customers, or generate revenue, savings, and/or publicity are a great way to build value with your employer in today's environment. They also enable you to identify opportunities within the employer for advancement you may not have thought of.

Businesses committed to success will embrace the initiative of their employees at all levels to develop ways on the inside to increase productivity and profitability. If you are ready to take ownership and put in the effort to bring an idea of yours into a reality, intrapreneurship is a great opportunity that can start anytime.

Hey Graduates! It's about results!

Today's Raleigh News & Observer features a great article on three NC State students who built a low-cost, quick response testing system for Tuberculosis. Their creation, which they have transformed into a new business to refine and eventually mass produce, presents significant advantages and benefits throughout the world, particularly in developing countries where reducing the time to analyze TB test results would expedite delivery of drugs necessary to treat it and reduce mortality.

For these three students, their work ethic, passion, and ability to develop creative solutions are all on display in a substantive matter that is relatable, one way or another, to just about everyone. While they are going out on their own for now, there is no doubt that their experience and impact will likely secure them future opportunities in their chosen fields for the foreseeable future, regardless of the general job climate.

In other words, they have already succeeded at the big trend every soon-to-be-graduates seems to be focused on: personal branding.

To be honest, I really don't understand the reason why there is such a focus on this. After all, is there really a need to give yourself a professional identity when the reality of the job opportunities available to new graduates (in any market) are fairly limited? Branding, or identity, is an ongoing process, and it seems to me that it would be best to present yourself as possessing the basic character traits any employer would want (i.e., work ethic, detail-orientation, endurance, obedience, loyalty) than try to define yourself in an employer or mentor may find a little presumptuous.

There are exceptions, as with these kids from NC State. Note, however, that their identity is represented by what the accomplishments they have made and the potential for the results they achieved.

Before you start thinking about your brand, you should ask yourself, "do I really have any results I can bring forward?" A degree is not a result, but rather a credential, and it does not separate yourself out. While the potential for success is important, a record of achievement is far more valuable, and in these times, it may serve to separate those who earn the available jobs from those who will continue to sit on the sidelines.

There is no substitute for achievement, and there is no better way to prove it than with results. For every graduate, this should be the focus of their pitch to potential employers.

Passion critical to career choices, especially for today's young women

Last Sunday, Fox & Friends featured a story that did not surprise me. Honestly, I expected it sooner.

It appears that many of the young women in New York City who held lucrative positions as investment analysts and real estate agents, now disposed from those opportunities by the financial meltdown, were entering another high-profile and potentially-lucrative line of work: stripping.

Eventually, we will hear that the trend even extends to other questionable professions for these women. It is very unfortunate, but again, not surprising.

I don't know much about stripping, but I do know a little about dancing. For the most part, I have my sisters to thank me for this as they both attended dance classes and performed in numerous recitals and productions throughout their childhoods. One of them, the younger of the two, developed an unbelievable passion for the art. Eventually, she decided that dance would be her focus in college in beyond.

This is not the "safest" career choice by a long shot. Professional theatrical dancing is an extremely competitive industry where very few talents in a a pretty large pool make a successful living off our dream. Dancers with a lifetime of training from renowned performer, choreographers, and teachers have a slim chance to reaching Broadway or a position with a renowned company in ballet or other forms.

My sister didn't even have those benefits. Her instructors at the dance schools she attended back home in Tennessee did their best, but we did not live in a major city. She had little more than one dance school option at a time, taking what they were able to give her. With the exception of summer camps and Governor's School, she was very limited in exposure to the professional circus awaiting her.

Regardless, she made it to one of the top undergraduate institutions for dance in the country. This week, she was accepted to one of the top graduate institutions. Since graduating with her Bachelors 3 years ago, she has worked as a college recruiter and admissions counselor (for student-artists), taught dance for studios in her area, made costumes for fellow dancers, stage managed productions, and even started her own production company. Amongst those she graduated with in the Dance program, she is likely the most successful, both respect to the field of dance (albeit unconventionally) and the ability to be self-reliant.

She did take one piece of cautionary advice prior to starting school when she agreed to minor in Business. Bringing forth those skills encouraged her to diversify her interests related to her passion for dance and the performing arts. She will be prepared for a lifelong career in the industry, as a performer, choreographer, instructor, professor, company owner, etc.

In case you're wondering, she never came close to taking any clothes off on stage, not even for "artistic" reasons. I probably wouldn't allow it as her brother, but it is truly not her style. The fact that she is able to make a life out of what she loves while maintaining an attitude toward the artistic side that distances herself from commercial opportunities in her field is difficult for me to understand, but she succeeds regardless (and likely will continue to do so).

As for the fallen angels of Wall Street, the profile article suggests that these individuals are not terribly concerned with how they earn their money. While articles such as this often lend themselves to superficial impressions, one could argue that the transition from the world of corporate finance to adult entertainment was not a major issue for the people interviewed, since it does not seem that they had any strong passion with their careers in the first place.

More than likely, these individuals were focused on the power and attention their former jobs brought them. If that is the case, it is easy to see why they would swap over to something that enables the same result, though in an entirely different environment void of much except lust and physical evaluation.

There is a part of me that is very concerned about this with respect to Gen X and Gen Y female professionals as a whole. So many of them have been encouraged into fields that do not lend themselves to passion or an internal sense of desire. Does anyone really want to grow up to be a pharmaceutical salesperson? Did any of the "Ladies of Enron" who posed for Playboy after their company imploded have an interest in energy trading before it was presented in a recruitment brochure from the company or a business school?

For at least 2 generations, the best of the female gender, those who combine intellectual ability with poise and beauty, have been encouraged toward careers where the talents, as identified by others, can be best utilized. Rarely are these the talents I believe these individuals value the most themselves. My youngest sister, along with the older one, both detoured from this path. My parents played a large part, as did their strong desire to pursue careers in line with the interests and abilities they enjoyed the most (my older sister has long possessed an interest in medicine, which she relishes today as a Physical Therapist).

I still see the unfortunate trend continuing today. It is natural for women to be naturally drawn to and inspired by careers that best utilized their internal and external abilities. This is not an indictment against female dominance in public relations, marketing, journalism, accounting, sales, or a host of other industries. However, parents, mentors, and the higher education community have a responsibility to make sure that all young women of talent pursue the interests they value most as individuals, not direct them to pursuits that only serve to reinforce the worst stereotype of feminism: the pursuit of power without substance or meaning.

To conclude, please consider what I mentioned before: it is best to pursue your professional wants and maintain balance with your material needs, not vice versa. Power is a form of materialism, often represented by wealth or physical stature. Focusing on this is a want, especially when you are starting out in life, does not provide the opportunity for lasting, personal achievement. Instead, it only encourages someone to make decisions in order to maintain the position and avoid the sense of "failure." It does nothing to move us forward in a path we truly desire.

Twitter's Skill Development Benefit

Pith is a challenge for everyone, especially when you are used to the freedom to extend thoughts and arguments in the halls of academia. There is very little room in the professional world for extensive statements, especially when they are written or printed for quick dissemination by supervisors and important officials. This is especially true in the public sector.

Can Twitter's demand for short, effective comments develop an individuals ability to shorten their language in other settings and improve effectiveness with information delivery? Can the transition be made in a manner that retains the importance of grammar and prevents texting speak from gaining a non desired foothold in professional, multi-generational communication?

I definitely see the value of using Twitter as an exercise in identifying the most essential components of a message in order to compile and present for maximum effectiveness in delivery. Please let me know what you think, either on comments here or by replying to http://twitter.com/kwhunter.

Rush is Right... on college

Regardless of what I think politically, I agree with anyone who believes that Rush Limbaugh is a polarizing individual. He would probably concur as well. However, there are times that he is absolutely right without question, once you take the political ideology out of his comments.

Such is the case with the state of modern higher education. On his radio program today, Mr. Limbaugh took a call from a collegian who complained about the atmosphere of the campus and his fellow students. The monologue in response to this call provides the basis for an excellent argument against what our colleges and universities are today, applicable from numerous angles.

Naturally, the comments possess strong political sentiments (for the record, I tend to agree with them). However, that does not change the true essence of Mr. Limbaugh's point, particularly when applying his own life story (and personal dislike for attending college) to the situation at hand.

The most important point he makes is the following:

If a person does not leave college as an independent, critical thinker, it was a waste of time -- and college as a waste of time under that definition, because you don't have a lot of independent thinkers coming out of there... We all know that college is not about developing the individual. We all know that college is not about preparing individuals to pursue their own happiness with confidence, to have their own unique solutions for the problems that await them.

I absolutely agree with this. I doubt that many parents and potential college students, as they visit the institutions of their choice, think about freedom, individual creativity, or pursuit of substantive self-confidence, or ask questions that enable them to determine if the school provides an applicable environment. The tour and discussions are about majors, job placement, social life, pedigree, networking, and a host of other issues that focus least on who a student is in the singular sense.

Unlike Mr. Limbaugh, I love college and the classroom environment. I practically grew up on a campus and cannot wait for the opportunity to return there. The thought of encouraging the intellectual development of others, particularly when it comes to embracing the creativity necessary to achieve substantive success with the capacities God gave us, drives me toward this passion.

For those thinking of college, I would only recommend it if the passion for the knowledge and associated career you strive for gives you the fortitude to withstand the assault that awaits in the classroom for the first day of the first semester. Within the first week of a student's tenure, they will be challenged by faculty and fellow students to a point where they will be forced to choose between the beliefs and values that guided them so far to success and strength (which they will be told are not acceptable to achieve collegiate greatness) and the path of ideological conformity masked within a counterculture that either encourages social supremacy or non-substantive academic elitism.

Choosing to stay true to who you are does not mean that college will not change you. It is a great time to learn and grow and develop greater appreciation and understanding of your passions, especially if you can learn new ways to apply them. The classroom can be a conduit, even with the most difficult of professors, but it is not the source. Anything that will be worth knowing has to be acquired on your own.

The same is true for careers. Naturally, we all have to pay the bills, but that does not mean that we do ourselves any favors when we choose to commit ourselves to a profession or long-term plan that does not enable us to do what we want. I may not be a professor, but my employment allows me to apply the skills I enjoy most and develop the background of experience that will serve me best in providing real-world examples and perspective once the opportunity for a teaching position presents itself. At the same time, through avenues such as this and other forms of professional and public outreach, I do get to engage in teaching others about those subjects and topics that interest me most.

To conclude, Mr. Limbaugh's beliefs on the positions of the Obama Administration or practically every other political or social issue may drive you to madness or insanity. I cannot help that. However, nobody can argue with his track record of personal success and his ascension to significant prominence in American media and politics. That would have only been possible because of his determination to pursue his passions in life and discounting those conventions that only stood in his way. For every individual, this is a path to achievement worth understanding.

Start practicing your wardrobe

When it comes to interview and workplace wardrobe, understanding the applicable dress code is important. The most factor is not the clothing itself, but how you feel when wearing it. Too often, new professionals do not break out the suits and ties until they are actually in the career search process. This is a serious mistake, as evidenced by the multitude of first-time suit wearers I have witnessed when interviewing candidates for positions.

This is a serious issue for men. Women typically transition better from casual to business attire, and they have a greater variety of choices when it comes to appropriate clothing in the professional world. Us guys, on the other hand, are pretty relegated to suits, sport coats, and ties.

Looking and feeling comfortable is as important when you are trying to impress as the actual clothes you are wearing. If you feel relaxed and professional, potential employers will see it and appreciate it too. Just like with anything else, this only results from repetitive experience.

With April now upon us, if you are graduating or pursuing internships, or are searching for a new job in a more-professional environment, start practicing your wardrobe now. This does not necessarily mean wearing a suit to class or the grocery store. Start off by putting on khakis or dress pants instead of jeans and shorts. You need to feel comfortable wearing those, as well as dress shoes, around during the warmer spring and summer months when you may be used to looser and less clothing.

Eventually, sooner than later, you need to practice life in the suit. Choose an appropriate opportunity. Understand that the eyes on you will not be the first time people notice you in such clothing. In fact, one of the biggest issues we face in business attire is that people always look differently at us. Eventually, we realize this is a compliment, if suit looks right and look comfortable wearing it.

Finally, trying out your business wardrobe gives you the chance to see if any alterations need to be made. Make sure your pants are not too short or too long, and the same for shirts. If adjustments need to be made, visit a local tailor or dry cleaner that provides alteration services.

Looking professional is essential, whether you will be a "strictly business" or "business casual" environment. For everyone, especially men, the best course of action, like any other professional endeavor, is to make an effort for achievement through prior preparation.