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.
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.
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.”
|
“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.
