Entrpreneurial Blog Journal Entry
January 19-24, 2015
This
week we studied Talks given By
Sherri Dew: True Blue, Through and
Through, BYUI devotional March 16, 2004. This talk was about Integrity.
Some
things she taught that really stuck out to me. She said: “Honesty is
just the beginning of integrity. . . It is a foundational virtue upon
which all other virtues are dependant.”
“Integrity engenders confidence and peace of mind, whereas breaching integrity always has painful consequences.”
“It
is not possible to develop a relationship-any relationship with someone
you can’t trust. Trust can only be engendered in an atmosphere of
integrity. It is a Keystone that holds every organization together.”
“Anything that lacks integrity is unstable”
“James 1:8 teaches a double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”
“You
and I live in a world FILLED with pressure. How then under repeated
presuure may we avoid allowing small cracks in our integrity to form so
we may do what we came here to do?”
7 things to help us become men and women of integrity
1.Decide Today
2.Have Faith that the Lord will help you, and then diligently seek his help
3. Make covenants and keep them
4.Stand up for what you believe
5.Expect your integrity to be challenged
6. Don’t give up
7. Covenant( or renew your covenant) with Our Father and His Son to do what you came here to do
She also teaches us some specific questions she asks herself while interviewing people to works as officers at Deseret Book.
1.Can I trust this person’s motives?
2. Can I trust this person’s judgement?
3. Can I trust that he or she will tell me the truth?
Skills are imperative, integrity is even more so.
Faith activates the power of the atonement in our lives
The Savior’s perfect pattern of integrity: “Here am I, send me” to “It is finished, thy will is done”
I
loved this devotional talk. It helped me to be able to identify the
cause of why some people do what they do in business, and in life. I
learned that integrity, or the lack thereof, is what has caused so many
situations to not work how they should. To not be win/win. It was
wonderful to now be able to identify it. I think that will help me
immensely when choosing to work with/for people. It also is a good
reminder about the pressures that we face. I don’t currently have a
problem with integrity, but will be faced with experiences that will
challenge my integrity and reveal weak areas that will crack if not
remedied swiftly, thoroughly, and properly. Just focus on keeping
ourselves and our actions consistant with those of a disciple of Jesus
Christ.
We also watched a few e corner videos, two of a
man names Frank Levinson, from Finisar Corp. filmed October 31, 2001.
Here are my thoughts about one of those videos as I posted them on the
class discussion board as well.
I enjoyed watching the
“10 must haves for a start up” by Frank Levinson.
I
like his David Letterman style countdown. Overall his message is: it
is okay to keep it scrappy. I will compare this to a tree. If you take
care of your roots and the rest of the tree will flourish. If you allow
the tree to grow without thought or proper care of the roots the
consequences will be drastic and are frequently devastating.
I
interpreted his message as: Have a good head on your shoulders and a
good thought process about what your real goals are in business and how
to achieve them. Avoid putting yourself in bondage of deceit, debt and
pride. Remember business is all about people, you, your family, your
partner, your customers and your employees, etc. so treat them well.
Listen to them, evaluate and interpret what they are saying, adapt to
meet their needs and wants, listen. It will help you to continue to
become better or to handle change.
I personally like
his advice that I can do as a wife to support my husband’s relationships
with our children of making family time a priority and keep it flexible
on how to have it happen.
I really enjoyed each of
these. At first, I read about
Magdalena Yesil begrudgingly and wondered
why we were reading about her. I do not know if I got the point that
the course creators were trying to make with her story, but, I did find
wonderful examples of a woman succeeding in business as well as keeping
her life and family preferences top priority.
Magdalena Yesil
1. How did
Magdalena Yesil’s habit of lifelong learning benefit her career? I feel
that Magdalena Yesil’s never backed away from an opportunity that would
bring her joy. She worked hard; she studied and learned any and all
information necessary to make informed decisions. She was rewarded for
her diligence and persistence because she was prepared when
opportunities came her way. She also created her life. She said yes to
projects, jobs and moves that interested her. She said no to those
that were not consistent with her life, her goals and her ambitions.
She was not one to stay in opportunities that limited or stifled her.
When she says yes, she commits herself fully and learns everything she
may need to know. She has an incredible internal drive for knowledge and
understanding.
2. If you were in Yesil’s position, how would you
respond to the offer made by UVSP? I think that Yesil is a person that
thrives in new environments, new challenges etc. I think that if I was
Yesil with her history, I would decide to take the Venture Partner roll
where I could have a foot in both worlds. I would be able to learn and
understand the Venture Capatilist side of things that interests Yesil so
much without having to give up the opportunities that come to her
privately. I think that having the long-term commitment and limiting
financial restraints due to the position of being a General Partner
would cause her to be unhappy in the long term. Initially, I think she
would be thrilled, but she seems to be someone who like to be able to
take action.
3. How would you address the challenges to
family life that this kind of career would present to you? Why would you
remain or not remain in this type of career? I think this type of
career like all careers has many positive and negative benefits to
family life. I think that Yesil set up a very family oriented life.
Throughout all her career changes, she stayed located in Silicon Valley
with her husband, children and Yesil’s mother. They did not have to
move around with each new career change she made. Yesil had to travel,
probably a lot, but her family situation was set up that the children
were cared for by family. The article states that Yesil worked east
coast hours if she worked a 9-5 in New York, it would be between 6-2pm
in California. She could work and have an incredible amount of time to
be with her family. They lived modestly and saved as well. I think she
set up her life fabulously. She knew what was important to her and was
unwilling to deviate from her desired family life.
For me, I
would want to utilize the travel time as opportunities for traveling
with my family as well, because that is something that is important to
my family. If my life were set up like Yesil’s I would definitely stay
in this type of career for as long as I felt happy and my family was
thriving.
4. Magdalena pondered one more transition, from
entrepreneur to financier. What would you recommend she consider
doing? Why? I think it is a very realistic move on her part. She
worked many long hard hours. She invested her time in doing all the leg
work, she is getting older as are her children. She has lived
“modestly” and has money to invest to help her maximize her residual
income. I think it is a natural step for her to take and it appears as
it is something that interests her very much. She does not seem to be
happiest when she has many barriers to freedom of any kind. A career
with USVP as a general partner comes with severe limitations as to what
Yesil will be able to do when she feels ready for more.
