The Advantages of English as an International Language

English is the language of business and offers unique advantages for international commerce and business education. As a communication medium, the ability to share ideas and conduct transactions across multiple continents helps speed up trade and idea sharing that often leads to wealth generation. The building of international relevance in the business world is fostered by connecting people and their ideas.

Consider the purpose of communication and its impact on the transference of information. When two people share similarities of a language, they need fewer feedback loops to understanding the conversation. Using the same language lowers the time it takes to propose and clarify propositions within daily interactions. This process of knowledge sharing speeds up exponentially and can increase the profitability that people will enhance knowledge.

American companies have an advantage because of the commonality English as a business language (Cavaliere, Glasscock, & Sen, 2014). The more English is used around the world, and the more likely the U.S will be advantaged from present and future business contracts. International commerce becomes more plausible when two companies can communicate and integrate easily. A similarity of language can create similarity of thought and purpose.

Language is embedded with codes, symbols, patterns of thinking and values. When a particular language is spoken in different cultures and locations, the people’s culture will begin to align with the values of that language. The more the people speak a particular language, the more they are going to find similarities with others who speak that language.

In the education arena, opportunities for employment in English speaking companies support English education.  English as a business language ensures that the majority of the great ideas and opportunities are supported by using the mental framework set out by the semantic structure of the language itself. Language changes the way we think and understand problems.

Using English as an international business language also helps in educating and employing individuals with American businesses. Graduating students will associate opportunity and education with English speaking companies. The eventual result is the attraction of talent to an opportunity like a magnet is attracted to metal objects.

The way we think is related to the way we talk and use words. Speaking in a particular language activates various centers in our brains and becomes part of our memories and thought processes. Using English as a business language helps people to understand the same perspectives and values that made America an economic powerhouse. Ease of communication speeds up the transference of knowledge, ideas and collaboration with other entities and countries. The commonality of language can encourage higher business theory development and marketing effectiveness.

Cavaliere, F., Glasscock, K. & Sen, K. (2014). The englishization of business: does this help or hinder teaching global business? Education, 135 (2). 

Emergent Transformational Leadership-Battlefield to Business

Leadership is such a critical aspect of team success that without it they will ultimately fail. Companies spend millions a year selecting, grooming and developing leaders. Organizations that seek to transform their operations should keep an eye out for transformational leadership that can adjust and change to new environments. Whether one is seeking a business executive or the next military officer understanding emergent transformational leadership as it works in live situations is beneficial for recruitment.

Groups, regardless of type, will eventually form a command structure. It is one of the most natural occurrences in both civilized and uncivilized society. The kind of leadership, poor or high, will determine the values of the group and how well it performs under pressure. Whether discussing business or the military, ensuring the right type of leaders makes their way forward helps in developing high functioning teams.

Research into military teams highlights how transformational grassroots military leadership emerges from within the ranks when times are tough. Traits of emergent transformational leadership includes: visionary, leads by example, empowering others, sincerity of purpose, moral value system, genuine car for others, compassion, self-sacrificing, and self-efficacy (Bangari & Singh, 2014).

The confident but compassionate leader runs contrary to cultural fallacies that believe effective leadership is a domination game only. Transformational leaders create followers where power oriented leaders rely too heavily on formal position or fear that limits loyalty. Having the “golden touch” with others will still being driven toward goals seems to make a significant difference in outcomes.

Selecting and fostering leadership in business and military occupations is important because they can inspire followers to raise their performance to accomplish objectives above and beyond themselves. Ensuring that the people with the right characteristics are brought forward and develop a sense of responsibility for others helps in solidifying social bonds and promotes loyalty.

Bangari, R. & Sngh, V. (2014). Establishing a framework of transformational grassroots military leadership: lessons from high-intensity, high-risk operational environments. The Journal for Decision Makers, 39 (3).

Eating and Fitness-Seeking Alternatives of Habit

You are busting your rump at the gym and running five miles a day, but you are not achieving your fitness goals. The result is you are not losing weight, staying the same, or worse gaining weight! The problem isn’t how much you work out but what you put in your mouth. Finding healthy alternatives will make a big difference in whether or not you will be able to achieve your desired body shape.

If you look at the average person in this country you will find that approximately 75% are overweight or obese. The problem has become such an epidemic that laws and regulations are being passed to counter the danger. This may be one of the first generations to decline in lifespan.

The problem lies in many areas and can be broken down into sedentary lifestyle and overeating. There are many ways to further break this down into average calories burned and the type of food eaten. Between the two food is likely the hardest challenge to overcome.

Much of what we eat is based on habit, and it can be difficult to change automated habits. The problem is that they are so embedded in your memories, backgrounds and ethnicity that it is strenuous to think about changing. Who doesn’t remember mac & cheese as a child or hot cocoa? Throw in a couple of pudgy pies and you might as well put a few more notches on your belt.

Yummy warm memories that taught you how to be chubby!

Finding alternatives and slowly adjusting your eating is a more successful way of getting in shape. As eating is our biggest challenge, it makes to improve this as soon as you decided to get into a fitness program. Finding small changes and adjustments through the use of alternatives can make a big difference in our overall outcome.

Consider the difference the calories in regular apple pie of 420 and low-fat apple pie of 190. Imagine if you could drop your calorie county by 50% every time you put something into your mouth. Finding alternatives may just turn fat gain into fat loss without changing the actual quantity of food. With a little research, you might be able to figure out how eat more food than before while reducing your overall calorie intake. The next time you eat breakfast have oatmeal instead of your favorite frosted cereal.

The Power of Perceiving - The Secret of Entrepreneurship

Perception is a powerful way to create opportunities. It is so powerful that it can change lives and spark opportunities in abundance. Entrepreneurship is about perceiving differences and then capitalizing on those differences through applicable market solutions. Perception is created by years of hard work that culminates into a moment of clarity and innovative inspiration.

Entrepreneurial insight is derived from connecting lots of information together in a way that creates new products or services. This development relies on experience with the product, exploring uses of the product, and finding ways to improve the product. When education, experience, motivation come together, a new perception is created that leads to innovation.

Perception is not a passive process and requires the full engagement of the individual. Finding innovative market solutions relies on gathering and interpreting information. Information can come from formal research or experimentation with different solutions. The more someone is familiar with a product or issue, the more they can perceive areas of improvement.

Entrepreneurship actively interprets information. People assume that the body takes in information from its senses and passively records that information without interpretation. Perception is strongly influenced by experience, education, cultural values that interpret information from the body’s sensory receptors (Curry, Meyer, & McKnney, (2006). Our past experiences help us create meaningful use of information.

Two people can look at the same problem and see different solutions precisely because they are interpreting information differently. Entrepreneurs have developed cognitive models that allow them to find potential solutions through a process of connecting and deconstructing information to find similarities among elements. Reconstructing elements creates new products and services.

The problem-solving model they use is learned over years to create an effective approach. This is one reason success results from years of failure. Failure is only part of the learning process of establishing a successful model. Once the model has been developed it can be applied to many other locations with higher rates of success. Thomas Edison was invented thousands of products based upon the effectiveness of his model.

The secret of entrepreneurship rests in perceiving things in new ways and finding that which no one else has yet seen. It is a process of turning the unseen into the seen. Capitalizing on the perception requires the ability to find value in the solutions and market those solutions to others. Once an effective mental model has been built it will continue to use successful processes to detect new problems and find solutions that lead to innovation.

Curry, D., Meyer, J. & McKnney, J. (2006). Seeing versus perceiving: what you see isn’t always what you get. Professional Safety, 51 (6)

Considering Culture in Your Strategic Road Map

A strategy is a roadmap that guides organizations to higher levels of performance that encourages productive growth. Executives can develop excellent business strategies that take into consideration market projection, resource allocation, human capital, and financial streams. To their own detriment, many CEOs do not factor in organizational culture into their strategies and how it impacts organizational goal attainment.

Culture should support business strategy (Eaton & Kilby, 2015). The values and semantics contained within culture should enhance business strategy through proper orientation of people's expectations. If there are contrary elements within a culture, the values should be adjusted to ensure they realign to meet organizational needs.

Consider an example of how culture can support or detract from organizational objectives. Two companies seek to become market leaders, but one company promotes employees based on patronage and the other from performance. These values become embedded into the culture of the organization and create a way of thinking that impacts daily operations.

Over time, poor values will cost the company their productivity and put them into market irrelevance and bankruptcy. Companies thrive off of their intellectual capital and when this is traded for patronage and personal gain the innovative and productive spirit dissipates.

Building a strong culture supports the achievement of organizational objectives by creating a way of thinking. An organization based in service quality should consider a culture that has focused values. Likewise, a company that relies on lean manufacturing promote efficiency.

Culture is a collective pattern of thinking that leads to action. As a whole organization, the actions of individual workers will determine whether or not a company will be successful. Developing the right culture will create social pressure to recruit, promote and perform at certain standards that helps the organization become stronger. A comprehensive strategy must include the soft cultural skills that support goal attainment.

Eaton, D & Kilby G. (2015). Does your organizational culture support your business strategy? Journal of Quality & Participation, 37 (1).