Rothacker Reviews

Awe

The song Independence Day is one of Martina McBride's signature hits. Pat Benetar joins Martina in this rendition. Watch Martina watch Pat.

  

Youth's Creativity and Expression

With a little help from Patsy Cline, one of the greatest female vocalists who ever lived, two young girls put together a simple video. It's not earth-shattering or stunning and it didn't get many miles in the viral universe of the Internet. But it is creative and perhaps more importantly, expressive (not to mention, I bet the girls had a boatload of fun).

Unless a youth's attempt at expression is illegal, immoral or dangerous, adults in position of influence, should be supportive and offer encouragement. At the least, as adults, we shouldn't be obstacles. Who's to say that little girl, your daughter, the one holding the pretend microphone in front of the mirror lip syncing to Shakira, will not be the next Patsy Cline?

 

USF's President Judy Genshaft's Pay Raise

The Tampa Tribune reported today the University of South Florida offered President Judy Genshaft a contract extension and that she accepted. In the first paragraph it reported the dollar value of the raise. In the second paragraph it mentioned that her contract makes her one of the highest paid public university execs in the country, at a university where professor pay is at the bottom.

I wonder if this tactic, combined with the article's title, It Pays to be USF's Genshaft, is designed to incite its readers. You know, bad economy, average Joe out of work, average Joe who is working is not getting a raise, etc, etc, etc. If so, it didn't work with me.

This is good for USF and it's good for its President!

My opinion is not based upon an in depth analysis of Ms. Genshaft's performance over the last ten years. It's not based upon detailed knowledge of USF and its inner-workings. And it's not based upon some kind of personal connection to Ms. Genshaft or USF. It's based upon perception.

I am an average Joe Tampa citizen...an average Joe out of work Tampa citizen. My opinion is simply based upon how both USF and Ms. Genshaft make me feel.

I have a peripheral sense of awareness when it comes to USF. I do not study its programs, its community involvement or its day to day activities. But my ears perk up when I hear its received a large grant, when I read about its research work, when I see it sending research vessels out into the Gulf, when I see how it deals with a problem football coach or when I learn about its work with a local organization that battles against domestic violence. Just an average citizen with a gut feeling that makes me feel proud to have a university like USF in my backyard.

I am of the belief that for a city or region to thrive, it must be anchored by a credible university determined to graduate people determined to make a difference. For example, Stanford University and Silicone Valley or The University of Texas and Austin, TX. As far as the Tampa Bay area, we have the university with the right person at the helm. I believe it's the region's inability to truly connect with the school and to connect its resources with our area. Again, average Joe, average gut feeling. It's not like I can hop up on a stage and lay out a formalized plan.

To be real, in the grand scheme of the importance of USF and the right person leading it to our community in contrast with say a home shopping network, real estate development company or electronics maker in relationship to our community, Ms. Genshaft is underpaid.

I'd like to not arbitrarily dismiss the problem with low professor salaries at USF. While there is no worthwhile relationship between their low national average and that of USF's President, it's something that must be improved upon for the university to get to the next level.

Aleks Zavaleta

I'll soon transport you to Roadtrip Nation where Aleks Zavaleta talks about getting off the streets, joining Loco Bloco, and eventually going on to become its executive director.

In this four minute video you'll see, hear and feel the gift of passion and connection that God has given Aleks. Most of you will notice that her message to stay in and complete school is directed toward youth. Most of you plan to go to college, are in college or have graduated, so you're thirst needs will not be quenched from this particular well of Aleks' inspiration. While the importance of Aleks' message cannot be overstated, it was something else that Aleks said that caught my attention.

At 2:38 Aleks says, "When I realized that the power of elders organizing young people and giving them the tools to organize young people and that I wanted to do that."

"When I realized that the power of elders..." To me, this signifies the ability to be open, listen and absorb. These words tell me that Aleks is a story seeker. If a person can negotiate the obstacles that she has and prosper, imagine what you can do. The power of story cannot be overstated...continue to work on yours.

Aleks Zavaleta's story

One of the Best Non-Fiction Book Intro's Ever

From How YOU are like Shampoo for College Graduates: The complete Personal Branding System to Define, Position, and Market Yourself and Land a Job You Love, by Benda Bence.

The job of a non-fiction book introduction or opening is to establish relevancy and hook the reader. In the case of branding for me personally, I do not need to be hooked. Unless the author immediately pukes out three paragraphs of corporate speak, I'm digging into the book. Relevancy however, sets a much different tone for me. It causes me to pay closer attention and makes the book that much more interesting.

In How YOU are like Shampoo for College Students, the first story in the Introduction is brilliant! I'd love to recite it for you, but I can't. Its relationship to this book is similar to the ending of a suspense-thriller.

Here's what I can tell you: Everyone has a personal brand. We all have the power to guide our brand to desired outcomes. Brenda uses a very, very prominent person from history to illustrate this. The encouraging thing is that fictitious high school senior, little Suzy McBee, has more wherewithall today to develop her brand than this most famous person from history did.

I intend to review this book in the future. But for now I can tell you How YOU are like Shampoo for College Graduates is the best book on personal branding for young people I've ever read. Specifically personal branding and how it can help the college grad land a desired job.

I would like to see this book read beginning in the junior year of high school. Here's the thing, the college senior begins to get her act together, preparing to get a job following graduation. In addition to her major and areas of study, she lists extracuricular activities like volunteering, college clubs and work related experiences. But what if she only worked part time at Six Chicks Hamburgers? She says, "no one ever told me I needed to have all these experiences when I was a freshman!" That's one of the things Brenda's book can help underclassmen with.

The Story Seeker

Victoria graduated from Kent State University in 2003, with a degree in Marketing. Prior to a blast e-mail résumé campaign and prior to pounding the pavement in search of a job, she decided to learn more about the advertising scene in her hometown. Although Larry and Sergey had been doing their thing at Google for five years, Victoria called upon a long and trusted person to make her first connection - her Mom. Mom arranged for her to meet Mr. Jones, the director of marketing for a large, multi-state bank.

When Victoria called Mr. Jones to set an appointment, she explained her quest. She was not looking for a job. She was in search of knowledge specific to marketing in her town, its players of influence and career advice.

Upon meeting Mr. Jones, he took control of the conversation. Business people in his position have a tendency to do that. After Mr. Jones spoke about the industry, his company and specific role, Victoria asked, "How did you get to where you are today?" That opened the door for Mr. Jones to get more personal and information began to turn into stories. When the conversation was over, Victoria asked, "Can you please refer me to someone who would be willing to have a similar conversation with me?" Mr. Jones recommended the CEO of a medium sized companay and made an introductory call for Victoria the next day.

Victoria left Mr. Jones with a folder that contained her résumé, cover letter, references, business card and samples of press releases that she had written. She also included a customized newsletter that featured college related accomplishments. All material was coordinated and designed with her personal logo and the tag line: Victoria Rothacker, The Missing Piece to Your Puzzle.

This process continued for six months with Victoria meeting on average, one person per week. Due to the referrals, she stayed consistently at the CEO, owner and marketing director levels. As conducting informational interviews was a primary focus throughout this period, she scored several appointments with individuals outside of this direct line of referrals as well.

In addition to her personal information packet she brought to the interviews her portfolio of freelance work and projects completed in college. On one occassion the CEO unexpectedly invited five members of his management team to sit in on the conversation. Fortunately, Victoria came prepared with extra material. Before 5:00 p.m. on each day that she met with someone, she had a handwritten thank-you card in the mail. Depending upon the dynamics of that  particular meeting she would often include a small book as a token of her appreciation.

Throughout the process, Victoria continued to answer want ads and submit résumé's to other companies. As it turned out, she secured a position outside the circle of her informational interviews. So, why should I be telling you a story about informational interviewing if it didn't help Victoria obtain a job? Because it did.

Victoria's adventure taught her how to talk with owners and executives. It taught her how to interview and how to be interviewed. It taught her how to talk about herself and it sharpened her listening and communication skills. It also provided a broad, invaluable glimpse into the real world of business - one that most young people do not have the advantage of before starting their career. Finally, and in Victoria's case, it provided one very powerful caveat: many of the people who Victoria interviewed with, turned out to people in authority of companies whom she needed to conduct business with in her new position.

Following her six month of interviews, Victoria began a personal marketing campaign that continues to this day. She sends cards on St. Patrick's Day, Halloween and Christmas to people who she not only met originally, but to those who have come into her network since. Hand written cards are personalized and often contain career updates. The widsom that Victoria has gained, the goodwill that she's built and the influence that she's enjoyed along the way, cannot be measured. I'm sure however, if she sat down to think about it, she could total the many job offers that she's received along the way.

By now, you might have figured out that I am the proud dad of this creative, hard working young professional. The manner in which Victoria embraced her college experience (too many activities to list), the initial round of informational interviews, relentless networking and the work ethic that propelled her to a regional positon with an international company (still with that same company) have all conspired to drive an ax of awareness into my conscious. It caused me to think about our younger daugher, Carla.

Carla recently started college. What if Carla were to now become a seeker of stories, instead of waiting to graduate? We've been exploring this idea while collecting resources at our Facebook page Standing out in a Sea of Sameness.

Acting up Brings Everyone Down

Acting up Brings Everyone Down by Nick McCormick.

You love your family more than anything in the world. But did you ever have one of those weekends where your kids' fighting made you long for Monday morning? Me neither. Let's pretend we did though. So we race off to work and more often than not, we're racing into more fighting and arguing.

Until I read Acting up Brings Everyone Down, I never thought about how similar children's behavior is to the workplace behavior of managers and their employees. Fortunately Nick McCormick did. Nick calls on Joe and Wanda, the hero and heroin of his last book Lead Well and Prosper, to help illustrate the type of workplace behaviour that sucks the life out of morale and stifles productivity.

In a typical chapter, Nick sets the stage with a Joe and Wanda exchange that demonstrates childish behaviour at work. In Give 'Em an Inch, They'll Take a Mile!, Joe tests his bosses by violating the company dress code while Wanda calls him on the carpet. Nick contrasts Joe's actions with the child who will not make his bed and offers up an excuse to his mother. The analogy gives the reader a clear look into just how detrimental this type of behaviour can be. Nick recaps each chapter with suggestions on which behaviors to Do and which to not do - Don'ts.

Sort of like a free prize inside, Nick provides a Planning Your Week tutorial in the book's appendix along with a summary of all the book's Do's and Don'ts.

I like the fact that Nick not only schools employees but managers as well. This is a great method for each side to catch a glimpse into the other's world. While this is clearly a business book with succinct business lessons, I do believe there is a bonus for the reader who is also a parent: the opportunity to sneak up on your subconscious with parenting wisdom.

As you read the book you'll quickly identify with the various workplace behaviors that Nick talks about. It's the references to children's behaviour however,that will cause you to reflect on your own parenting skills. And that's a good thing. Pick Nick's book up today!

Nick provided me with a PDF doc for this review.

 

Why, oh why can't I?

A magical song played on a magical guitar by a magical minstrel.

 

 

Where Are You Going?

I came upon a child of God, he was walking along the road and I asked him "tell me where are you going...?

He looked at me and said, "I'm tired man. I've been walking for two hundred thirty five years. It started with the Revolution, the one in 1812, the Civil one - which wasn't, a Spanish one, a WW I one, a WW II one, one in Korea, a Vietnam one, one in the Persian Gulf, an Iraq one and the one in Afghanistan."

He let out a breath and said, "You know man, we've fought hard to keep this great country free and we're still fighting and we'll always fight with those from foreign shores who threaten our way of life. But I'm tired man, I'm tired of the fighting that's goin' on inside our borders. I'm talkin' bout domestic violence man. It's gotta stop man."

I asked him, "how can we do that brother?"

He said, "You know, there's all kind of domestic violence man. But if you're askin' me, I think it starts by respecting our mothers. If we do, then as we grow we'll learn to respect women. The more a boy sees a man respect a woman, the more he'll respect women. When you start to think about what women go through...ah man, don't even get me started goin' down that road. Women are to be respected. My dad taught me that and now I'm tellin' you."

"Where are you going," I asked.

He lowered his cowboy hat and said, "I'm walkin' over there to that meadow. I'm gonna kick back, close my eyes and imagine Jimi Hendrix kick out the Star Spangled Banner and then I'm gonna thank God that I live in America and I'm gonna thank Him for my brothers-n-sisters who are overseas fightin' for us. Then man, I'm gonna go home and hug my mom and then I'm gonna thank God for my mom."

He started off and then turned back, "where are you going brother?"

"You know man, I'm gonna just hang out here a bit. I'm gonna thank God for all three of my girls and then I'm gonna thank Him for those on American soil who are fighting the war against domestic violence."

 

 

So Whaddya Do?

Let's pretend that you didn't score that internship with Ryan Murphy's assistant's assistant and you didn't spend a whole season working with the cast of Glee. Let's pretend that you don't have your sights set on a career in musical comedies. Your parents want you to be an accountant. Your grandma thinks you should be a doctor. Your priest wants you to consider a career in the church. And your dog is telling you to follow your heart. You have a few interests but you're just not sure what you want to be when you grow up. So, whaddya do?

You go out and talk with people about what they do. You ask questions, you listen and you learn.

"Dave, I have no idea how to just go out and talk with people and ask questions. Matter of fact, now that you mention it, I have one question for you. So, whaddya do?"

Glad you asked. You go to Lissy Carr's Website So Whaddya Do? and learn all about informational interviewing. Lissy calls it an infoview. Lissy says, "... it helps you learn about a field or job that you might be interested in from someone who works in that field."

Author Richard Neson Bolles coined the term informational interview. I bought my first copy of Bolles' book What Color is Your Parachute? in 1981. Since then I've infoviewed somewhere around one hundred people and like to consider myself a student on the subject. Lissy Carr's tutorial on infoviews is one of the most clear, crisp and focused lessons that I've ever seen.

The So Whaddya Do? site is a Lamborghini and the infoview is its fuel. You see, the real mission is to help people find their dream career. So Lissy goes out and infoviews people in various fields to provide visitors with an in depth view into that particular profession. On the page where the videos of interviews are displayed, Lissy offers a column titled Job Jargon. There, one can find definitions to common terms in that industry, suggested reading and links to pursue additional research.

Aside from the fact that Lissy bases her site on infoviews,* what impresses me the most is a combination of razor focus and site design. This combination translates into a medium that makes her material easy to understand and easy to remember.

*In my opinion, the infoview is the most powerful way to not only land the job/career that you desire, but it will increase opportunities in the future that are difficult to comprehend in the present.