HW for 3/11

A main point from the Collins' reading was the importance of getting the right people 'on the bus' when taking a company from good to great. You should ask yourself who before you are asking what should we do? People need to know if they are able to handle what is being asked from them before they jump on board. As Collins says you need A players who will deliver A+ work. Having the right and best people for your company is important because it allows you to adapt to a changing world. Without the right people heading your projects, it does not matter what type of vision they have for the company because they were not right for the job to begin with. To find the right people for the job, it is important to engage them in debates and to ask them the right questions as that will allow you to gage their inherent capabilities. I can easily relate to this as I am looking for a job now-the whole point of the application and follow up interview process is based around a company's desire to get the right people for the job. If they took on the mentality 'we will take anyone and then teach them', they would drive the company into the ground. Based on my resume, a company would decide if I would possibly qualify for a position and then based on my interviewing and people skills, they could decide if I was the 'right' person. As all companies are striving to go from good to great, potential employees, such as myself, are striving to be those 'right' people.

An important point we can take from the Drucker reading is the importance of establishing the right financial focus for a growing new venture. The lack of an appropriate financial focus is the greatest threat to a new venture. This is important because growth in a new venture requires adding more financial services rather than taking them out, meaning profits should be one of the last focuses instead of the first as some entrepreneurs believe. Healthy new ventures require more and more financial feeding- more cash and more capital. It is important to know how to raise cash and to know how much cash a venture will need ahead of time because you do not want to find yourself in a crisis situation. In thinking about putting a new venture in the right market, not only do you need a good gage of cash flow but you also need the right management. Drucker goes on to talk about the management team and this can relate to the other reading this week as Collins' teaches on the necessity for the right people to run a company/venture. As important as the right financial focus is, the right people behind it and driving that financial focus is just as crucial. After all, a new venture will not just grow on its own, rather it needs the right people with the right focus as well to help guide it. The venture cannot sustain a large management team so the need for exactly the right people is especially crucial with a new and growing venture.

One of the important points from class this week was to be a friendly person and approach things in a friendly way. It is a lot easier to get things done when you do so in a friendly, rather than aggressive way. Having negative feelings towards others often makes achieving results you want much more difficult. When you relate to people positively and in a friendly manner, you are also more likely to be appreciated and respected. It is easy to look down upon people when they do not have positive attitudes and they are unpleasant to be around. Friendly behavior and mannerisms in society are important because it helps people reach their goals faster and in a more appropriate manner. It is common knowledge that being rude and having anger towards people really never advances you in life, never mind the fact that you become an unenjoyable person to be around. I have always been taught the importance of being friendly to everyone, to people whom you may even dislike. Personally, I would rather be friendly to people because it is easier to do than being rude as well as my belief that if I am friendly to them, they will return the favor. For me, going along with being friendly, is the importance of smiling. When you smile at people, it lets them know you are not only an approachable person, but a friendly person.

A second point from class was the importance of cooperation. Within society, we have a lot of examples of poor cooperation among business deals, meaning ones that lack consultation. There are also many examples of poor cooperation among groups of friends where one person is too pushy or one person is completely indifferent. It is important to cooperate and work together to come to decisions that reflect the good and benefit of the group. Without cooperative situations and the belief and understanding that cooperation is important within our world, people would be completely selfish, only live for themselves and we would be amongst utter chaos. Being a communications major here at Vanderbilt, one of the most important things I have learned about being an effective communicator, is being able to cooperate. For example, some of the classes I have taken here like Interpersonal Communication and Small Group Communication heavily focused on the aspect and importance of cooperation amongst peers and how effective cooperation leads to better business relationships.