Recruiting Business Executives the Military Way!

The military has always fascinated me in terms of how they train leaders to make their way through challenging situations where most of us would not be able to follow. Both business and military leaders share similarities that can provide us with a better understanding of the skills needed to influence people. Marrying the two approaches creates a better executive selection process that can pay companies dividends when these leaders mature.

We must first accept that leadership is not for everyone and those who are sometimes seen as leaders are not always the best candidates. For example, self-interested personalities sometimes rise to the top but their level of leadership wanes when they seek supporters who will need to sacrifice. In my experience, the more demanding and pushy a person is, the less likely they will be able to manage large groups.

On the other hand, a follower could have innate leadership skills that come to the forefront only under certain circumstances. Seeing beyond the obvious by selecting those with leadership traits and abilities can create returns on executive development. Without humility, leaders won’t know when they are wrong, consider the needs of their followers, or think beyond themselves.

According to a study comparing leadership, it found that the military selected candidates based on traits while businesses focused on skills (Hussain and Hussan, 2015). Before moving people into intensive training programs, the military desired persons who had the innate traits to use as a platform for development. In contrast, the business world sought people who displayed high skill levels.

The same study found that successful leaders are separated from mediocre leaders by their relationship abilities. Those that have the capacity to develop working relationships with others, and rely on those relationships to achieve goals, are more successful than those than those who are only task oriented. Even though the study doesn’t mention this, it is entirely possible that task orientation has limited impact on the environment without the help of others.

Leaders set challenging goals, rally people behind those objectives, and can change their styles based on what others need. Adaptability is trait oriented but enhanced through growth in skills, knowledge and abilities. Bridging the gap between military and civilian leadership development relies on finding those with the right innate traits and helping them gain the knowledge needed to be effective.

Hussain, M. & Hassan, H. (2015). Military leadership and implication for business leaders in light of alternative theories. Pakistan Journal of Science, 67 (1).

Melt Calories Playing Beach Volleyball

Volleyball is one of those sports you don’t move more than a few feet but still reap all of the benefits of a solid work out. It won’t take much time for you to build up a good lather of sweat when you jump, bump, and spike the ball over the net. Within minutes, your heart rate will be into its fat burning zone, and the calories will start melting off.

You can burn as much as 450 calories in an hour playing volleyball. It is comparable with swimming and running. Your heart rate will rise, lower, and rise again as you wait for the ball and run to keep it from hitting the ground. Raising and lowering your heart rate has been known to strengthen your cardiovascular system.

It is hard to find sports that are both fun and fitness packed. Volleyball not only gets your heart rate up but also improves muscle tone. Natural jumping jacks, burpees, and sprints are built into the sport, and you don’t even know it. It takes lots lot of energy to chase that ball around, and you use every part of your body to score the next point.

Unlike many sports that require repetitive use of the body, volleyball uses the full range of motion. This whole range can help people develop total body fitness versus just focusing on one area of the body. As the muscles grow and develop, they do so in an even manner creating a more attractive body form. Look at the serious beach volleyball players and see their sleek and muscular design.

Few sports are as fun and as fitness directed as volleyball. Beach volleyball is one of my favorite games because the sand offers more resistance and freedom of movement than court volleyball. The jumping, running and diving in the sand will put your coordination to the test. Because you don’t even feel like you are exercising you will keep coming back for more.

Supporting San Diego Art Institute Through Brews and Oil Paintings

Local artist Jessica Siemens’ new series of oil paintings will be showcased during several events at Culture Brewing Co (CBC) in June. CBC is located at 111 S Cedros Ave, Solana Beach, CA 92075. Showcased events include a preview fundraising event June 4^th 6-9pm. CBC will donate 25% of its proceeds to the San Diego Art Institute (SDAI). Jessica and several artists will also be drawing portraits at the event for donation, with proceeds going to The SDAI Life Drawing Program. Friday, June 5th 5-9pm is the opening reception featuring beer, food and a collection of fine art paintings by Jessica Siemens. Each Monday in June from 12-9pm Jessica will be at CBC painting an 8x4 ft canvas. Feel free to come enjoy a beer and talk to her about art.  

Jessica Siemens creates large oil landscapes that capture the beauty in nature with surreal and new perspectives. Jessica teaches fine art drawing and painting at The San Diego Music & Art Cooperative www.SDMAAC.com. To view her paintings visit www.JessicaSiemens.com or to inquire about private art instruction email jess@jessicasiemens.com. For show information visitwww.CultureBrewingCo.com.

Culture Brewing Co is located at

111 S Cedros Ave, Solana Beach, CA 92075.

June 4^th 6pm-9pm

A Preview Fundraising Event where CBC will donate 25% of its proceeds to the San Diego Art Institute (SDAI). Several artists and I will also be drawing portraits at the event for donation, with proceeds going to The SDAI Life Drawing Program.

Friday, June 5th 5pm-9pm

Opening Reception featuring tasty beer, food truck and maybe even Beer Gelato made by Gelato Vero.

Mondays in June from 12pm-9pm (5/8 5/15 5/22 5/29)

Why is Learning How to Write Well in College Important?

Students often ask why they should develop strong writing skills when they are studying business, and its principles take precedence. Students have a hard time understanding how grammar, spelling, formatting, sentence structure, and focus can improve their job prospects.If they know it but can’t say it, they are going to have a hard time highlighting themselves.

What they miss is a perspective of how writing impacts every other action they take at work. Whether one is writing an email, creating a resume, finishing a report or preparing a speech writing is a major part of communicating in a way that improves effectiveness. If a person cannot communicate well, they are also unlikely to obtain the highest paid jobs.

Effective writing communication is a sign of clarity of thought. A person who can write concisely, powerfully, and with focus is seen as a person who understands the material. If a paper mixes topics, is hard to follow, and is full of errors it is unlikely that it will be viewed seriously. In competition with other information, a well-written paper draws more attention.

Writing reflects well on the reader, and potential employers see this writing as a reflection of the quality of the candidate. Those that can write well portray a professional image and can find themselves moving up the ranks faster.Their ideas will have more legitimacy.

Even though writing well takes a time to develop, in many cases years, it is beneficial to implement the professor’s feedback as much as possible. The more feedback a student incorporates into their papers, the faster they will learn new habits that become ingrained into their writing style. As new learning takes place again, and the quality slowly rises.

Don’t expect to be a greater writer quickly. I have written for years and consistently find mistakes, grammar issues, and ways that things can stated clearer in my  works. Most of the time, this is a direct result of not reviewing work enough times to ensure that major mistakes are discovered and fixed. With time and patience, your writing will improve as well.

Some tips on Improving Writing:

-Proofread your work a couple of times.

-Run your work through a spell and grammar checker.

-Use headings to separate major themes.

-Cover a single thought per paragraph.

-Connect paragraphs like you would connect ideas.

-Each section should have multiple paragraphs.

-Use a thesis statement in the introduction.

-Ensure the conclusion is drawn from the information in the paper. .

-Remove excess sentences that don’t contribute to the content of the paper.

-Define terms, ideas, and theories.

-Review your paper from the perspective of a reader and write accordingly.

Putting the Power Back in Pensions

Pensions are a primary source of retirement savings throughout the nation. Poor management decisions, recessions, and cronyism have depleted these funds to a point where they now become a significant risk, not only to those who rely on them, but to the local economy as well. Chicago recently became aware of the devastation of their policies when faced with a pension budget shortfall of $6 billion that neither they or the State of Illinois can afford. Difficult choices will need to be made that will likely upend entire networks of people and companies that need and profited off these pensions.

The problem with pensions is that when they go South there are few win-win situations, and reform comes with a significant cost; especially to those of older age. The cost either falls on the states, on employees, or on the national economy. As the risk of multiple pension implosion rises at a time when national debt is high, the Great Recession is coming to a close, and international strife is present it becomes necessary to tackle this problem succinctly.

It is difficult to truly wrap one's arms around this problem unless a thorough investigation is conducted to understand not only the underlining mechanics that led to the decisions which created the cash shortfall.  Only through understanding, official integrity, and strategic implementation can new approaches to retirement planning be implemented for the benefit of its most important beneficiaries.

Honest conversations are difficult because they run into the very fabric of how we view our economic and political system. There is a high level of potential fallout from questionable decision-making that is likely to be embarrassing and minimized by internal social networks. Companies could potentially close their doors and thousands of people may march on the street in complaint of the swooshing away of their concerns.

Accountability can be difficult when an entire region has a stake in how the system operates. Whether one is a judge or a janitor the money from these funds fuels the economic and political engines of the area making it challenging to find buy-in for reform; the problem turns into a crisis before action is taken. Political parties are so heavily invested in the outcome and their interpretation of events that few can rise above the rhetoric to make decisions in the best interest of all stakeholders.

Busted pension systems does allow academics an opportunity to research how and why these pension funds go bankrupt  to ensure that sound management principles are developed for future decision-making. With the support of the Justice Department, and those who support the greater good, poor decisions can be analyzed, and new "red flags" created. Academics can use this information to develop stronger models and test those models to help teach students how to handle responsibilities throughout their careers.

A thorough investigation requires the analysis of tens of thousands of documents, interviews, and comparing successful pensions with the pensions in question. Chasing specific rabbit holes to understand individual transactions is beneficial but so is taking a meta-data approach that allows research the ability to see where all these rabbit holes were dug can reveal important information. It is a mammoth undertaking but when you consider the billions of dollars lost, and the growing concern of pension problems in other areas, it is a small drop in the bucket.  

Putting the power back in pension funds means freeing them from the many interested parties that seek personal gain and ensuring a proper team of diversified and qualified professionals are in place to create checks-and-balances on official's decisions. That diversified team should be made of people that represent different political, ethnic/racial, and industry backgrounds. Their ability to see the problem from multiple vantage points makes all the difference in the success of new strategic choices.

Pension reform is a painful process of changing minds about responsibility and how to handle that responsibility. It doesn't matter if a person is a recipient of pension monies,  works for the pension system, is a political candidate, a business that receives investments, or a taxpayer that has to bail out the system because all have a vested interested in protecting our futures. Reform is in the best interest of everyone!

Pension change relies on leadership that takes the high road even when no one else is listening and there is little support for change. It is about making decisions that others are afraid to make and working toward something more idea. A leader's greatest asset is to stand back from the rhetoric, assess the situation, and create a group of collaborators that are connected by the same end goals. Putting power into pensions is about solving problems before they become unmanageable and finding new ways paths for the future.