Week 14       

        This semester has been filled with great lessons and advice from spiritual leaders and successful businessmen. What I have learned from the two is the importance of balance in all things. The family should always come first and be at the forefront of our life. Work will always remain and we can come back to it the next day. Also, to focus on work when we are at work and the family when we are with the family. In addition, keep a journal to track our daily progress so we can look back to realize patterns and successes and failures. This will help us to continue to make progress and keep a positive trend.

My last bit of advice for someone wanting to begin the entrepreneur journey would be to make your dream a reality. Start a plan of action and get advice from friends and family. Next, find a mentor to help you through the process of every step and to be there when things get hard.  Also, align yourself with those already in the business and see how you could potentially do it better. In addition, ask them questions pertaining to how they would handle certain situations guided by their experience.

My words of advice, direction, or caution I would you give someone if I had only one chance to give my own last lecture would be to remain faithful in everything you do and success will continually be with you. If we can align our-selves with the Lord and keep His commandments then we will prosper in the land; however, that does not mean we will not have trials nor failed prospects. It means that we will have the blessings we need to continue in our journey towards perfection and exaltation and the experience to help and uplift others.

Week 13

       What I have found to be most important int his week's readings was the importance of being a leader and learning from your failures. When we understand what it means to have lives in our hands (employees) then we will make better business decisions and calculated risk assessments.  Reading about Randy Hankins and his failed company has led me to rethink the way I look at the day to day operations and the importance of decision making.  Randy's thoughts on leadership were," a leader is someone who creates something from nothing." This could be getting others around you to support an idea or concept or solving an industry problem that has existed.  In addition, a leader will eventually be able to take a step back and listen to other ideas.  Also, a leader possesses magnetism like charisma which is an emotional element.  A good leader also has far more than just a vision he sees an endpoint and opportunities that exist before others do. 

Learning from our failures can be our greatest asset if we allow it to be.  For starters, we need to understand the dynamics of decision making and the balance between the two. If we can all learn from our mistakes, then they will never have to be repeated nor feel burdened by them.  Having a mentor will help in this process to navigate us through the resilient times.  In addition to that, failures are what you have learned not to do and thus we can turn them into what to-dos. Keeping a focus on the positivity will keep an equilibrium and strengthen the focal point for the planned vision.

These two important lessons have solidified what I have known to be true through my personal business experience and action. If we allow our experiences to help is grow, we can move along the path towards being our best selves.

           

Week 12

       

         In this week’s lesson, I have gained some new insights into the importance of helping others when in the time of need. Also, the real reason as to why one should go into business and the significance of being honest in reporting sales.  

After reading the article What’s A Business For by Charles Handy, I have realized how important virtue and integrity are so important to the economy. If we fail to report actual earnings honestly then it can have a negative impact on the business and those that work for the company.  This effect can cause job loss and hurt the local economy and the integrity of the company in the future; however, this does happen often as they report higher earnings to raise their stock portfolio.

The real justification for the existence of business is to make a profit so it can be used to do something better according to Charles Handy.  This has become a moral issue and one should not posses all the profits for himself without helping others. This also reminds me of the story about Tom Monaghan of Domino’s Pizza. He was buying every toy he could and had a home that was excessively large and realized one day that he really had not lived and was wasting his resources. He began to raise money for charities and help those around him.

Charles Handy gave two examples of how businesses can create better cooperate behavior and democracy to improve current culture in the publics' eyes. The contribution ethic is one where we can contribute to society and improve the world around us. In addition, to creating new technologies and products and improving new service businesses.

I believe that Mr. Handy has made some great points on how we can help those less fortunate to become successful.  Helping those around us is a Christ-like attribute and when shared with others it truly changes the world and helps it become a brighter place.