Bouncing Back

7 Tip Offs that Politics Run Rampant in Your Company

info@bouncing-back.net (Jeannie Bauer) — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 11:42:15 -0500

In the past, I've written about those oh-so-painful days in my career when the organization was ruled by political hacks instead of worthy leaders. Fortunately, this was a smaller total percentage of my career than the more productive and rewarding days when I had good to great management. Since today is Friday, I decided to have some fun and write down a few of the absurd and humorous things I encountered during my days of ugly office politics. So, just to confirm your worst fears, you'll know your office is run by evil politicos when any of the following are true:

1. Your executive-level leader in Human Resources is married to the evil boss, and somehow the employee is always wrong in every dispute;

2. The mid-level boss you admire (but who seems to be excluded from the inner circle) doubles his group's profits and productivity over the past quarter and is attacked viciously by the evil boss for not tripling profits and productivity;

3. The mid-level manager you despise (but who seems to be part of the inner circle) is congratulated for persevering in the face of significant quarterly losses, which were undoubtedly caused by the poor performance of the mid-level boss you admire;

4. You perform a herculean feat and successfully bring home a major win for your company, but since "it's all part of your job," there's no consideration of a bonus or promotion for you;

5. The peer you really hate comes in on Monday morning bragging about how he played golf with the "big boys" over the weekend, and a month later he is promoted;

6. The organization works really hard all year to achieve the stated company goals and earn the incentives promised in a published bonus plan -- then, management regrets to inform you that circumstances have changed in the new year and all funding for the bonus plan has been reallocated (except for executive bonuses, of course);

7. You and some of your very smart and dedicated peers produce a $10 billion, state-of-the-art communications system on time and on budget, and your reward is an afternoon off to attend a group movie event at the local theater -- oh, and by the way, even a clerk who arrived on the job a week ago gets the same reward because management is fair and values all employees equally!

OK, I admit it! That last example really hurt my head when it happened! After 5 years of high-risk entrepreneurial commitment (funding could have been pulled in the early years and we would have lost our jobs), I couldn't believe they weren't a little more respectful as to who the key contributors had actually been at all levels.

But then, that's the point of my list today -- management based on office politics is ugly, unreasonable, irrational, and wrong! However, afterwards, it's ever so wonderful to move out of the shadow of politics and back into the light of common sense and good judgment! If any of my list of tip offs sound familiar to you, you may want to seriously think about your options for moving to a better place.

The Greatest Real Estate Tool Ever (Part 3)

info@bouncing-back.net (Jeannie Bauer) — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 06:36:31 -0500

In Part 1 and Part 2 of this entry, I discussed how Zillow.com can be infinitely useful in helping you determine an accurate market value for your home when you're thinking about selling. On the other side as a home buyer, Zillow.com also offers unique benefits that I found to be extremely useful in my search for my next home to purchase. Of course, when buying a new home, you can use all of Zillow.com's estimating features to determine a reasonable market price for the home you want to purchase. But, as a buyer, you can really make use of the satellite map feature! In my case, as I've mentioned before, I need a property that can accommodate horse facilities. By looking at properties via satellite imagery, I can instantly assess how the home has been situated relative to the overall property dimensions. For example, a 1 acre lot can very adequately accommodate extensive horse facilities if the home has been built near the street, with contiguous open space reserved at the back of the lot. In other cases, a 2-1/2 acre property might be unsuitable for horses if the home has been sited at the very center of the lot, leaving smaller margins around all four sides. Now, while horses might not be your particular concern, you may instead be very particular about privacy, proximity to other homes, traffic from main thoroughfares or density of the surrounding community. You'll see so much information by looking down on the neighborhood from up above! Give it a try, and you'll soon love the satellite mapping capability of Zillow.com as much as I do!

OK, over the past three days, I've shared my love of Zillow.com with all of you, and I hope you've seen the power provided by this free, unrestricted and professional website. To be fair, I'd also like to share the possible things to watch out for when using the data offered up by Zillow.com. First of all, the website creators themselves acknowledge that the Zestimator's output is only as good as the automated online information recorded and published by the local property tax assessor's office. In my case, they report that the Phoenix, Arizona market has a very robust and advanced tax assessor online capability. So Zillow.com may be more useful to me and to people in other metropolitan areas than it is in rural areas or smaller communities. This should improve over time as more and more public property tax data becomes automated.

Second, as also reported directly by Zillow.com, their Zestimate may be generically skewed within an area (up to 20% high or low) based on the estimating models used by the county tax assessor. Since Zillow.com also calculates actual home sales into its model, this price skewing should also decrease over time as more and more actual home sales date is calculated into the model.

Finally, as I noted when describing the Zestimate for my own home, the tax assessor treats property improvements and additions of square footage in a different manner than the originally built square footage of the home. Whenever you use Zillow.com to estimate the price of a home you're considering buying or selling, you should always verify the square footage used in calculating the Zestimate -- incorrect square footage puts you completely in the wrong ballpark when it comes to comparable home prices. I've looked at literally dozens of homes over the past few months on Zillow.com, and I've found numerous older homes that have more square footage reported in their MLS listing than that recognized by Zillow.com. These homes have obviously seen improvements and expansions over their previous lives.

Well, those are my thoughts on this very interesting real estate tool. If and when I finally put my home up for sale and purchase a less expensive property, I will be an extremely knowledgeable consumer! And now, you can be too.

The Greatest Real Estate Tool Ever (Part 2)

info@bouncing-back.net (Jeannie Bauer) — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 14:45:40 -0500

In Part 1 of this entry, I introduced the website Zillow.com and discussed the significant functionality provided at the website for free and without registration. Next, I'd like to explain how the Zestimator (market price estimation tool) algorithm works. The Zestimator algorithm uses property tax records developed by the local tax assessor as its primary information source. While this information source offers broad-based and consistent home valuations, there are also weaknesses found in this method. For example, tax assessor records often don't consider improvements made on older properties. Also, by lumping all home prices into one algorithm, you're bound to skew some of the pricing outputs and generate inaccuracies. Fortunately, the nice people at Zillow.com have taken these potential inaccuracies into account, and they have provided tools for you to tailor your Zestimate to incorporate your personal knowledge about the property and neighborhood. When I researched the Zestimate for my own home, I made several changes to my Zestimate in order to more accurately calculate my home's likely market value. First, I noted that my house had a 700 sq ft improvement added on after it was initially built which was not reflected in the tax assessors database. Square footage is the single biggest factor in pricing your home relative to others in the neighborhood and adding 700 sq ft to my Zestimate made a big change in its projected value.

Second, my property has nice horse facilities which are not included in the tax assessors records and which have a specific resale value in the marketplace. The Zestimator update tools allows you to add specific home improvements into your estimate. This is especially useful when an improvement is not specifically reflected in the calculation of square footage inside the home, such as swimming pools, outdoor entertainment facilities, sports courts, etc.

The third factor I elected to update provided the most interesting and useful feedback to me. The Zestimator uses comparable home sales which are closest in distance to your property in order to estimate the "comps" part of your Zestimate. In most cases, this makes sense as equally sized homes within a neighborhood are often more similar in value than equally sized homes found in other neighborhoods. However, in my case, I have a two-acre property whereas most of my neighbors have 3/4 to 1 acre properties. This extra acre has significant value in a suburban setting (such as my area) and was not being given enough credit in my baseline Zestimate. By using the update tools for your Zestimate, you can choose your own "comps" in lieu of the "comps" chosen for you by the Zestimator. The software will show you twenty to thirty "comps" within a several mile radius of your property, and you can pick ten properties which best match the characteristics of your property.

In my case, when selecting my own "comps," I choose ten properties with a minimum of 1.5 acres of land and which were close to my home's square footage. It was very eye-opening to see how the dollars /sq ft average price went way up when additional acreage was included in my home's Zestimate. You see, realtors view all property from the perspective of dollars /sq ft -- for example, a $500,000 home with 2500 square feet has a value of $200 per sq ft. When realtors prepare "comps" for you to consider in setting a price for your home, they often go no further than this calculation. In my case, using this metric without considering the additional value of the land would have seriously undervalued my property!

In summary, when using the Zestimator to estimate the market value of a home, you should definitely consider whether accurate underlying factors have been used in calculating your estimate. These factors may include previous additions of square footage that are not on the tax assessor's records, other property improvements that may exist on the property and whether the Zestimator-generated "comps" are good comparables for your property.

In the third and final part of this entry (Part 3), I'll review how Zillow.com can help you as a home buyer, and I'll also discuss a few of the limitations of the Zillow.com model. Until then, don't hesitate to visit Zillow.com at the link provided above to check it out for yourself!

The Greatest Real Estate Tool Ever (Part 1)

info@bouncing-back.net (Jeannie Bauer) — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 11:47:00 -0500

For the past several months, I've been considering the pros and cons of selling my house and purchasing a less expensive property. My plan is to use my current substantial equity (resulting from the crazy 2004-2005 price increases) to buy down my mortgage in a new property that is less expensive to begin with, thereby doubly reducing my monthly mortgage expense. Since I have horses, my search for a new property will be slightly more complicated than the average buyer as I will need a home with acreage. Early in my evaluation process, I discovered the single most amazing and useful real estate website I ever could have hoped for: Zillow.com. Before I tell you more about Zillow.com, let me assure you that I have absolutely no association with the website and have no financial incentive for telling you about their features. OK, with that fine print out of the way, get prepared to be blown away!

I first heard about Zillow.com on a popular cable business news show -- Your World with Neil Cavuto. Since the website was reviewed on such a high profile show, I decided to check it out and was very pleased to find that no registration is required! If you've ever tried to find web-based real estate tools, you know the most common model is a registration requirement (complete with phone number) before allowing you access to the online tools. Afterwards, you can expect repeated follow-up emails and phone calls from real estate agents looking for your business! Personally, I don't want an agent pushing me to act when I'm still in my decision-making stage, so I never register to use these tools. [Get a clue, agents... Most of us are onto your registration agenda!]

In contrast, Zillow.com is completely open for immediate and frequent use and requires no personal information to take advantage of the bountiful data they have compiled. Zillow.com's core functionality is to calculate accurate market price estimates for any address entered into the Zillow.com Zestimator. According to the website, a Zestimate is calculated using property tax records from the local tax assessor, combined with sales data drawn from recently completed home sales. The resulting Zestimate is an amazing array of information for the individual property that pops out of the Zestimator, including:

v  Current Zestimate (estimated market price, including a predicted price range surrounding the Zestimate);

v  Property Details (no. of bedrooms, no. of bathrooms, square footage, lot size, year built);

v  Satellite Map (shows general neighborhood, streets, and Zestimate prices/ property details for all neighboring properties); and

v  Recent Comparable Sales (in table form, shows comparable prices, date of sale, square footage, lot size, and year built).

I know the true depth of information and value of a Zestimate might be hard to visualize until you've visited Zillow.com, but let me describe how I used it just this morning. Earlier today, I wanted to verify what the sales price for my current home might look like, so I typed my address and zip code into the Zestimator. The software thought for a few seconds, and then my Zestimate popped up. My Zestimate included details about my property, a Satellite map showing my property, and a table of "comps" (recent comparable home sales) used in calculating my property's value. Just for fun, I noticed the satellite map showed traces of my horses in their corrals due to the quality of the satellite imagery!

While I'll tell you a little bit more about my home's Zestimate in Part 2 of this entry, I want to focus now on the neighborhood satellite map and how fabulous it is! With each address you plug into the Zestimator, you'll get a satellite map showing the specific property and the surrounding neighborhood properties. Each property in the neighborhood has a little blue diamond over it and, with a quick click, a mini-window will pop open showing the Zestimate (price) and property details (square footage, etc.) for that specific property. In a matter of seconds, I was able to pop-up details on homes surrounding me for a few blocks in all directions to see how prices were affected by square footage, age of home, etc. Trust me, I now know what square footage is going for in this community!

In Part 2 of this entry, I'll describe how a Zestimate can be fine-tuned to present very accurate price estimates for a specific property, and in Part 3 of this entry, I'll review how Zillow.com can be of enormous value to home buyers, plus I'll mention a few of the limitations in Zillow's functionality. Until then, don't hesitate to visit Zillow.com at the link provided above to check it out for yourself!

European Companies and the Productivity of Vacations

info@bouncing-back.net (Jeannie Bauer) — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 12:45:00 -0500

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to take a few weeks or months off from your day-to-day job grind? Is it possible the Europeans might know something we Yanks haven't thought of?

It's now the month of August, and many people are taking their annual vacations at a national park, beach resort or visiting family. Most of these individuals and families will take only one week off -- stuffing a ton of vacation activities into a minimal amount of time -- and then feel compelled to rush back to their jobs. While on these rushed vacations, many will still worry about being away from their job and unavailable to handle the day-to-day crises that will inevitably emerge. Many of us feel at risk when we take time away from our careers -- perhaps a major account will blow up and take their business elsewhere; maybe an essential system or process will break down that cannot be repaired without us; or worst of all, the boss will become unhappy about these problems and decide we're not so valuable after all! I'm certain I'm not the only employee to ever feel this stress during my so-called vacation!

Which brings me to the Europeans. As August rolls around each year, I inevitably remember my German suppliers giving me advanced notice each July for their upcoming month-long company-wide shutdown. In Europe, it's common for companies to close their doors (to the greatest extent possible) for the entire month of August. All employees are give a full month of paid vacation! This undoubtedly makes American business people shudder at the sheer cost of such non-productivity.

But let's dig a little deeper and evaluate the more subtle productivity aspects of a company-wide shutdown and see how such a closure could be beneficial from a business point of view. The most obvious benefit would be the return of well-rested and re-energized employees when the company starts up again. These employees would have an extended period of rest and rejuvenation, without worrying their absence might be a source of stress for their peers and superiors. On the other side of this point, there would be no peers or superiors left high and dry without the unique skills or knowledge held by the vacationing employee.

From a cost standpoint, a company-wide shutdown also offers some benefits to the balance sheet. The annual cost of facility overhead, utilities and maintenance would be cut by one-twelfth as a result of the month-long company closure. And there would be no accounting problem associated with employees racking up extensive balances of vacation credits, a problem for American companies who have difficulty removing these liabilities from their books. [Could this be because Amercian companies make it so difficult for employees to use all of their vacation time?]

As for employees, let's talk about the significant potential gains they accrue from a company-wide closing. I truly loved my corporate career, and I always enjoyed working. Yet their were times I wished my life wasn't so restricted -- home to work, work to home, home, work, home, work, and so on without end! For example, what if I wanted to explore Australia or volunteer to help the poor in South America? Is it absolutely necessary such life experiences be closed to most working Americans as a result of a limited two week period of vacation each year? Do we really need to narrow our lives so much in order to earn the money to survive?

Yes, I know European companies are often less efficient and have higher costs than their American counterparts. But we should know what we have sacrificed for the level of productivity and profits garnered by American business. Except for the very wealthy, most of us can never dream of experiencing other parts of our world in depth -- whether across town or across the globe -- because we are chained to our jobs. And because the American work ethic holds little regard for the value of experiencing breadth and depth in our lives. Perhaps the European lifestyle and business model offers us an insight into what a well-rounded life should look like.

A World of Limited Resources

info@bouncing-back.net (Jeannie Bauer) — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 17:09:00 -0500

I was an Economics major in college. Economics is a social science that bridges mathematical-statistical concepts and human behavior. You heard that right... human behavior. Economics is almost entirely about human behavior and how people react in a world of limited resources. Think about the core economic premise of supply and demand. If there is a surplus quantity of an item, the price will fall; and if there is surplus demand for an item, the price will rise. But what does that really mean in human terms? Let's say there is a surplus quantity of corn in the marketplace. Everywhere you look, there are corn vendors hawking their wares and trying to entice buyers to purchase their corn. They begin to discount their corn and/or offer incentives for the purchase of their corn. Notice the human element? There is a surplus only because we perceives that corn is readily available -- there is price movement only because the sellers are motivated by the human drives of survival and greed.

Once we understand that economic forces are truly a reflection of human behavior, we can see how the natural limitation of all resources affects our daily lives. After all, every farmer can only grow so many crops, every manufacturer can only produce so many goods, and every person has only so much time in the day to attend to business and home responsibilities. We each rely on economic principles to make dozens of daily decisions, trading off between our needs, wants and assets to accomplish the perfect balance that defines our lifestyle.

As you work to shape your ideal lifestyle, keep the economic principle of limited resources in mind. Specifically, if the things you can buy are limited, and if the time you have to spend is limited, where will you put your focus in order to get the most bang for your buck? Trust me, even if you're stumbling along from time to time, economics is the science of balance in human behavior, and sometime soon you'll find the right answers for you.

Negotiate to Win (But Let Your Opponent Win Too)

info@bouncing-back.net (Jeannie Bauer) — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 11:01:42 -0500

I don't know if I've ever mentioned the field I was in throughout my corporate career. I worked in the Aerospace and Software Development fields, and I was responsible for negotiating, documenting, and overseeing performance of both supplier and customer contract relationships. This position was one part legal professional (understanding and drafting detailed legal provisions in major contracts) and one part operational manager (assuring accurate specifications and schedules were contracted for and delivered by the other party). [Note: I was not a lawyer; rather, I was a trained contracts professional who sought legal review for my completed contract drafts after most details were ironed out.] By the end of my Contracts Management career (before my happy decision to work from home on a full-time basis), I was negotiating and overseeing contracts for satellite and telecom systems worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Needless to say, I've conducted my share of high-dollar, high-risk and high-stakes negotiations. Based on this experience, you probably think I believe in wrestling the other side to the ground until they've given up every last penny and they're screaming UNCLE! In fact, that would be my definition of a very poor negotiated outcome. In such a negotiation, my side might have indeed come out a few pennies or a few dollars ahead of our objectives, but we would also have created a win-lose environment with our future business partner (whether a supplier, customer, investor, etc.). In that situation, what might the future of the business transaction look like...

What if the material you're supposed to supply to the transaction ships a few days late or has quality control issues -- will your partner be understanding or will large cost and schedule overrun notices begin flowing into your inbox?...

Or, what will happen when payment or delivery is due to you, but the other side has legitimate problems with the performance of their obligations -- will they bend over backwards to meet their commitment to you or just plod along with their normal bureaucracy?...

Here's another thought, did you really read every word of fine print in the contract, statement of work, specifications and delivery schedules? -- if there's any room for interpretation (and there always is), will your partnership deteriorate into the lawyers arguing over the legally applicable but generally irrelevant fine points?

Perhaps, then, a win-lose approach to negotiations isn't the best long-term strategy. I have always believed in seeking a mutually successful or win-win outcome where both sides come away with parts of the deal they feel really excited about. Does this sound a little wimpy to some of you? Well, my negotiation strategies were never based on leaving money on the table or going easy on the other side. There is a much more clever and sophisticated approach to bringing a win-win solution to your negotiation. Here's what you do:

1. Factfind: Spend as much time as you possibly can before and during the negotiations trying to determine what aspects of the deal are important to your opponent. Look outside of the obvious price parameters and consider issues like payments (more cash, earlier in the deal), public relations (issuing joint press releases to boost reputations), customer introductions, R&D sharing and collaboration, relaxing unimportant aspects of your specification, schedule or statement of work, etc.

2. Conduct Initial Negotiations: Go through your inital rounds of negotiations to clear out the minor issues and get a better idea of the actual price range that is in play.

3. Ask Your Opponent What They Need: You're now close to completing the negotiations, and you're down to the hard sticking points for both sides. You've done your homework, and you know most of what's important to them, but you still may not know everything. So ask them this question: "What does my company have that your company would find useful? Let's put any ideas on the table."

You may be shocked at how well this strategy works, and what they'll tell you is of value to them. There are often factors at play that you would have never dreamed of! On many ocassions, I have been able to offer up items of nominal value or cost impact to my company and yet were valuable enough to my opponent to close the deal on my terms. The results? My management was happy with the terms, the other side was happy with the collateral items added to the deal, the relationship would begin on a very strong and positive note, and our downstream ability to resolve those inevitable performance issues was immeasurably enhanced.

Should You Have More House or More Life?

info@bouncing-back.net (Jeannie Bauer) — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 12:03:40 -0500

When I was first working in my professional career after college, I remember some advice that an older colleague mentioned to me. She said:

Always buy the most house you can afford. Although your money might be tight for a year or two, you'll eventually get a raise, have more money to spend, and you'll have a really nice home and investment for your efforts.

I definitely took this advice to heart and have spent my adult life consistently buying up as my housing needs have evolved over time. As a result, and thanks to the amazing home price accelerations of 2004-2005, I now have a personal net worth that will carry me through the future with ease, due primarily to the value of my current home. However, a couple of years ago, another friend of mine said something that made me question the concept of being house-rich and cash-poor. She was going through a divorce and was selling her beautiful home to buy a much less expensive home that was affordable on her income. I asked how her two teenage girls were adjusting to such dramatic changes, including the thought of losing their home. What she answered definitely rang a bell for me -- she said:

I talked to the girls about our choices. I told them we could manage to keep our large home, but everything else would be a struggle for us. There wouldn't be much spending money for clothes, vacations, movies, eating out, etc. Or, we could move to a smaller home and have plenty of cash for the fun things in life. When we talked it over, all three of us agreed that we'd rather have a little more room for those fun things in life.

This statement hit me like a ton of bricks. It had never really occurred to me that you should consider keeping a greater amount of discretionary income instead of having a higher mortgage. And, yet, I had always felt very restricted in my ability to take vacations, buy furniture, eat out at nice restaurants, have an extensive wardrobe, or buy my kids the latest gadgets. I could definitely see that she had a point. Maybe having a little bit of fun along the way wasn't such a bad goal!

Now, as always, I'm talking about using good judgment in determining a trade-off between the size of one's mortgage and the size of one's discretionary spending budget. We all have to prepare for retirement and putting our kids through college. We have to be wise in building our net wealth for what's to come in the future. But, just maybe, we could seek a mortgage level that is a few hundred dollars a month less than the maximum we can afford. This few hundred dollars a month in discretionary spending could provide a lot of flexibility in our lives to enjoy the journey as we travel along.

Personally, I've been considering a move down for about the last six months. I've had the big house with the luxury appointments, and I've learned something surprising. This lovely home hasn't brought me any level of happiness beyond what I would feel living almost anywhere reasonably nice. For example, my kids make me happy, but most homes have enough bedrooms for us. My horses also make me happy, but I can find nice horse properties for much less money than my current property. Watching cable TV and cable news is a primary pastime of mine, but most homes have cable or satellite programming available. And, I love to read and work on my computer -- hmmm, easily doable in any house. So why have a gigantic mortgage and no discretionary funds? It's a darn good question!

Before I close, let me mention two things that do matter in my selection of a home: a secure and safe neighborhood and an excellent school district. These attributes contribute directly to the quality of life in my chosen home. And, there may be other uniquely important attributes to be considered in your own selection of a perfect home. So, while the investment value of your home choice may be an important consideration, perhaps my message is that it should not be the singularly decisive factor in choosing your next home.

Plant Seedlings for Tomorrow's Harvest of Success

info@bouncing-back.net (Jeannie Bauer) — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 13:15:41 -0500

The idea of planting seedlings has long been one of my philosophies about success. Basically, you never know in advance what specific tactics will lead to success in a new venture, so it's important to lay down many paths leading to your goal. I have always thought of this as planting seedlings. In nature, not every new life will have the strength and viability to grow -- some seedlings will become mighty trees, while others will die out before ever sprouting their first leaves. Ideas are very much like these seedlings. Some ideas will flourish as a result of their purely practical nature, others will find strong support and sponsorship to nourish them until they gain in strength, and many others will fall to the wayside from lack of interest or resources. Let me show you a few examples of this concept I call planting seedlings. Career Seedlings: When you're graduating from college and looking for your first job, you probably won't have strong corporate contacts to use as a job search network. You'll be starting from scratch. In this case, there may be dozens of companies with positions similar to what you're seeking. But how do you find your way in? Well, of course, you send out resumes, answer employment ads in the newspaper and online, and use your college recruiting center to interview on campus. In addition, you may use less common tactics such as offering to serve in a free internship or directly contacting hiring managers that you've seen showcased in the media. Each of these actions is a seedling you've planted. Each one may blossom into the perfect job opportunity you're seeking. What if you overlooked some of these tactics? You would be reducing the number of opportunities to be evaluated against your strengths and skills and diminishing your possibility of finding the perfect job. Thus, the more seedlings you plant, the more likely you'll be to find that one great job.

Job Seedlings: This was one of my trademark characteristics during my successful corporate career. Let's say that you have a truly great idea, but it's not an obvious fit in your company, and it will take some thought for the organization to see the significant benefits you believe are there. You can talk to your boss, and maybe she'll see the wisdom of your idea right away. However, more likely, your boss will be swamped that day and distracted with too many immediate problems. She may just set the idea aside, thinking she'll give it more thought at some uncertain future date. Assuming that your boss didn't hate the idea, you can help your boss and your organization put some energy behind your idea by talking it around to as many people as possible. Tell your friends in other departments (who will mention it to their peers and bosses), discuss its merits with your suppliers, mention it to your customers (where appropriate), and so on. When you have several people evaluating an idea in parallel, the concept can quickly gain popularity and approval across the organization. When you plant the seedlings of your idea, you'll increase the chance that someone with authority and influence will be able to give the idea the immediate attention it needs in order to benefit your company.

[Please note: I'm NOT advocating an end run on your boss, where she'll be forced to accept the idea because you've created outside pressure on her to implement the idea. This strategy should be used delicately to support the legitimate review of ideas within a busy organization.]

Financial Seedlings: Ask any financial planner for the core concepts of investment planning, and one of the top ideas will always be... financial diversification. Diversification is essentially the same concept as planting seedlings. If you take your entire nest egg and split it up across a dozen or more investments, you are reducing your risk of losing all your money on one bad investment choice. By diversifying, you'll be able to explore different types of investments and learn where you are most successful at finding winners. Over time, you'll choose more and more investments with profitable outcomes, and your portfolio will grow consistently and successfully. By planting seedlings across several investment choices, you'll increase your odds of growing a strong investment portfolio and minimizing the number of investment choices which fail.

So, the next time you're considering a new venture -- whether at work, for a career change, for your finances, or for any other personal objective -- think of how you might build multiple paths to a successful outcome. And then, plant as many seedlings as possible which have the potential to grow into your success.

Curious and Useful Thoughts on Personal Finance

info@bouncing-back.net (Jeannie Bauer) — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 16:18:48 -0500

Once again, I thought it was time to travel around the blogosphere and see what useful ideas are being posted at other people's blogs. This week, I wanted to delve deeper into the area of Personal Finance. After all, financial issues are often the most common and the most troublesome of our life problems. Here are several great blog postings that you will find worthwhile:

v  I found the entry Get Rich Slowly! at foldedspace.org a couple of months ago and thought it contained some unique insights into managing your personal finances. I was especially taken with the comments on the debt snowball strategy. v  The AllFinancialMatters blog has a very comprehensive series of posts called 24 Days to Better Finances. The series covers everything from goal-setting to banking basics to investments and the purchase of financial services.

v  At the ConsumerismCommentary blog, check out the 5-part series called The Top 25 Money Tips of All Time. These tips were compiled based on the opinions and practices of top Canadian financial planners.

v  The FreeMoneyFinance blog is absolutely packed with well-researched, well-written and informative articles. I picked the entry Save Big on College: College for Half-Price to highlight, but I recommend looking around the entire blog.

v  At the Kimmunications blog, Kim Snider posts many in-depth and useful guidelines for investing and preparing financially for retirement. I especially liked her entry You Can't Invest What You Don't Save.

I hope you'll find some useful tips in these top-rated Personal Finance blogs.

The Dead End Road of Conspicuous Consumption (Part 2)

info@bouncing-back.net (Jeannie Bauer) — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 14:09:13 -0500

In Part 1 of this entry, I discussed how we often make luxury purchases to prove to ourselves that we are worthy and important in the world. In this next discussion, I'd like to show how these feelings progress over time, arriving ultimately at a place where we believe we're not only worthy of, but actually entitled to, all of the best things in life. Let's review our daily experiences relative to luxury items. We're bombarded on TV, in movies and in magazines with images of the beautiful people who have it all. They have fashionable and expensive clothes, an expensive car, vacations at world-class resorts, an exceptional home, and the best in home furnishings throughout every room. And, they're maybe 28 to 35 years old. OK, now realistically, have we even thought through what one of these items costs? A designer outfit at $800... an international resort vacation at $3000... or one piece of exquisite furniture at $5000? Honestly, no one but the ultra wealthy can really afford all of these material goods. And, by afford, I mean the ability to purchase such items without causing harm to one's overall financial health.

But we're led to believe that anyone who matters should be able to have these things. And soon we're pursuing the purchase of these items we cannot afford... And so are all of our friends... And so is everyone we see around us! This has the effect of reinforcing our belief that anyone who matters should be able to have these things. Then, after awhile, we may begin to feel the effects of our poor financial decisions. But our feedback loop continues to tell us that others can afford these things, so we should be able to also! Thus, we have arrived at entitlement:

I am ENTITLED to all of the best of the best, just like everyone else I see around me! I will ignore the naggings of financial reality and full steam ahead! Surely everything will be OK, because I'm only doing what everyone else is doing!

When we have reached the state of financial entitlement, disaster is most likely just over the horizon. Money is a finite resource. When it's gone in all of its variations, including our savings, credit lines, home equity, investments, etc., then it's really gone. There is no easy out or safe landing. There may only be bankruptcy, foreclosure, or drastic reductions in lifestyle (if you're lucky).

This is why I believe that conspicuous consumption is a dead-end road. The purchase of luxury items does not make you a worthwhile person; it never has and it never will.

But let me conclude on a lighter note. I actually believe in the purchase of some luxury items. We work hard these days and have many responsibilities. By all means, help yourself to luxury items that bring you real pleasure. If you love your morning Starbucks and you can afford it, then go for it! Just don't be fooled into also buying luxury lotions and luxury light bulbs and luxury grass seed and luxury gasoline and... well, you get the picture! Use luxury items to bring yourself real pleasure, not to prove your self-worth to yourself or to anyone else.

The Dead End Road of Conspicuous Consumption (Part 1)

info@bouncing-back.net (Jeannie Bauer) — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 14:00:00 -0500

Like most of the subjects I cover at Bouncing Back, I have very strong and heartfelt feelings regarding the management of money and personal finances. For many people, the single biggest disaster they will face in their life will be related to money. This might include filing for personal bankruptcy or losing a home through foreclosure. In some cases, such serious financial problems can be brought on by situations beyond their control, such as an illness or death in the family. However, in many other cases, these devastating events may result from someone's poor judgment or lack of self-control. In such cases, should we see these people as deserving of their financial punishments? Or, should we look a little deeper to learn how this might have happened to the best of us? Upon closer examination, we may be surprised to learn that society and its daily messages often push us relentlessly toward spending more and more money. To understand the set-up behind this situation, we must examine the goal of advertising and marketing in our society. Marketing professionals have long understood that humans act for one of only two primary reasons -- either to increase pleasure or to reduce pain. Therefore, all marketing promotions are aimed at manipulating our perception and making us believe that we will feel greater pleasure or less pain if we buy just this one more product or service. And, after 50 years of studying human behavior, they are very good at pushing these buttons in all of us.

Today, I want to specifically address the concept of conspicuous consumption. This economic theory was published in the early 20th century. It theorized that the primary motivating value behind certain purchases was simply to impress others with our wealth and success. For example, when we see a Jaguar sports car, we assume that the driver is very successful and wealthy. The theory of conspicuous consumption states that our tendency to perceive the driver as wealthy and successful was the primary motivation for the driver to purchase the car! The driver wanted to feel the pleasure of knowing that others saw him as successful and wealthy.

In the beginning of the 21st century, I believe that our societal values have shifted slightly away from the original theory of conspicuous consumption. Now, instead of wanting to know that others see us as special, we use material goods to prove to ourselves that we are special. The focus has shifted from others' perception of our worthiness to our own perception of our worthiness.

Let me explain this concept more clearly with an example from one of my favorite authors, Ayn Rand. Ayn Rand wrote the classic novels Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, among others. In addition to being an author, Ayn Rand was a philosopher who developed the body of philosophy known as Objectivism. While I'll probably write more about Ayn Rand in the future since she has been a huge influence in the development of my value system, today I want to focus on a small lesson from one of her novels.

In the book, the main characters (a couple) are eating dinner out at a very expensive restaurant. There is candlelight, white tablecloths, waiters in tuxedos, and beautiful people in exquisite evening dress. As the main female character looks around her, she has the most astonishing thought (paraphrased - I haven't looked up the actual quote):

Look at all of these people. They think this place and this dinner will make them special. They think the symbols of success will define them as being successful. Why don't they know this is wrong? This dinner makes them no different than what they were before they arrived here tonight.

Can you see how this perspective is 100% backwards from how we've been taught to think about conspicuous consumption? We admire others who have designer handbags or expensive cars -- those who eat at the best restaurants and vacation at the trendiest destinations. We want to feel that way, too. And so we spend and spend, trying to capture that sense of being worthwhile in the world. But guess what... it never works. Purchasing fine things does not make us fine people. It simply makes us people with very large and unmanageable credit card balances!

In Part 2 of this entry, I'll continue this topic by examining the next step in the pattern of conspicuous consumption -- how we come to feel entitled to having all of the best things in life.

How A Bad Boss Improves Your Career

info@bouncing-back.net (Jeannie Bauer) — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 14:00:27 -0500

As I've mentioned in earlier posts, I've had a couple of truly phenomenal bosses in my time. In one case, it was downright pitiful that I lost one of these great leaders due to his promotion, and then had him replaced by a nasty and political sleazeball. Yuck! How do you cope with going from a wonderful, fulfilling, and successful work environment to living in a dysfunctional and disillusioning one? In my case, an interesting thing happened while I was dealing with these dramatic changes. Several months after the change in management occurred, I had the opportunity to meet with my previous good boss to discuss my career progress and to ask any questions that I was interested in discussing. Being the politically correct person that I was, I delicately asked how I should modify my work style and habits as new and "different" bosses were moved into the organization. Well, he knew immediately what I was talking about, and what he said next was nothing short of eye-opening! He said:

Think of difficult people in the organization as your opportunity to build new interpersonal skills and to learn something that will serve you well over time. When you learn how to be most effective with every person's individual style, and especially with difficult personalities, you'll end up with a wide repertoire of people skills to help you to excel in any environment.

What a thought! Our usual reaction to a new and difficult boss (or any other influential and problematic person) is to tell ourselves how "wrong" that bad person is and how "right" we are in the situation. In fact, it may be true that the new person is actually bad and has poor ulterior motives. However, that person also has the power to do us harm. If we become ineffective in our position, whether in reality or merely in the perception of the new boss, then we are at risk of demotion, of losing meaningful responsibility, or of losing our job altogether. So we need to be smarter and more subtle in how we react to negative organizational changes and in dealing with difficult people of authority.

Following the advice of my good boss, we need to evaluate who the new person is, what he or she reacts negatively to, what his or her goals are, and where we might fit into that person's picture. Maybe we need to communicate more information or less often, or provide updates by email, written memo or in person; perhaps we should choose to collaborate with people the new boss trusts before taking decisive actions; possibly we need to shift and redefine responsibilities to align with the perception of roles held by the new boss. In each case, we are probing for an interaction style that will assure we handle our responsibilities successfully without hitting roadblocks caused merely by differences in the management "style" of our new boss.

Please note that I am NOT advocating you compromise your values or your work ethic to become a chameleon and jump through hoops solely to please the new boss. Frankly, I'm way too independent-minded to have ever done that, and I couldn't in good conscience recommend such actions to anyone! But I do see the fundamental brilliance behind the insight offered up by my good boss. Learn to work smarter with every personality type, especially the difficult ones, and you will be in control of your future, regardless of organizational changes or corporate politics.

Never Make Major Decisions at Night

info@bouncing-back.net (Jeannie Bauer) — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 13:49:00 -0500

If you've read About me, then you'll remember my two children were both adopted from Russia through an international adoption process. In each adoption, there was several months of paperwork required before the adoption was completed. As a result of one evening that occurred during the pre-adoption period for my first child, I learned a valuable lesson I still abide by today, even after 12 years. I learned to keep a healthy skepticism about the value and accuracy of my nighttime judgment -- and never, ever make a final important decision at night. When I decided to adopt my daughter (my first adoption), I was a single parent who worked full-time and traveled frequently. I did not have family in town, nor any particular best friends who I could rely on for help in getting through life. In general, I was a working professional who's life consisted primarily of my work, with little time for anything else.

However, I was quite serious about sharing my life with a child and had already made huge steps towards accomplishing this goal. I had sold my small townhouse and purchased a larger single-family home; I had spent a couple of months working with social workers on my home study to approve me as a legally qualified adoptive parent; and I had initiated tons of immigration paperwork to allow me to bring a child from Russia into the USA. Needless to say, I was clearly committed to my plan.

Yet, one night, as I was preparing to go to bed, I remember starting to doubt what I was doing. I began worrying that: 1) I didn't know the first thing about parenting; 2) I didn't know how I would care for a child while still working and traveling; and 3) I didn't have any idea (yet) what child would be referred to me by the adoption agency, or what health or emotional problems that child might bring into my life. As I thought about it some more, I remember literally saying to myself...

What are you possibly thinking! You won't be able to handle this! You simply cannot do this! Really, no kidding, you can't do this!

Luckily for me, I had no choice but to go to sleep with my doubts. When I awoke the next day, I never again felt concerned about completing the adoption. But I learned a valuable lesson. We are at an emotional weak point at the end of a long day. We are tired, and things will appear to be much harder to accomplish than they actually are. Further, I believe the physical darkness of the night shrinks our world and our sense of what's possible, especially when compared with the blazing freshness of a warm and sunny morning. On counterpoint, mornings find us well-rested and brimming with energy. The world seems full of possibilities, and problems shrink from the overwhelming to merely the annoying.

Since that night when I felt it was imperative to shut off one of the most important events of my life, I have noticed the common pattern of feeling greater levels of doubt at day's end. Instead of giving in to these doubts, I simply shrug them off and hold my thoughts for re-consideration in the light of day. In order to assure making the best choices in your own life, you may want to evaluate your own decision-making habits. You'll want to be sure that you make important decisions from a place of personal strength, such as the daytime, and not during a period of weakness, such as during the dark of night.

How did my decision turn out, you ask? Well, simply put, my daughter is the light and center of my life. We've been absolutely fine over the past 12 years, and she's entering high school next month as a wonderful young lady who I am immensely proud of. I simply cannot imagine how much poorer my life might have been had I let those nighttime doubts win out!

The Magic of a Great Business Leader

info@bouncing-back.net (Jeannie Bauer) — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 11:15:29 -0500

Like all of us, I've had some truly awful bosses throughout my career. Luckily, I've spent a greater portion of my time with the kind of leaders who have inspired me and filled my professional world with success. I'd like to share with you what these leaders look like and how you, too, can find such a fulfilling work environment.

Over my 20-year plus corporate career, I came to believe that certain business leaders who shepherd their organizations to exceptional levels of success might be using just a little bit of magic. That's right ... magic! Now, while I don't really believe in business magic, I have seen where certain individuals can bring a combined set of skills to their leadership positions that result in a level of organizational performance far greater than the sum of the organization's parts. This combined skill set seems to inexorably bring about a level of organizational performance far beyond mortal levels or beyond what you might have believed possible. Who are these great leaders and what are their secrets? First and foremost, these great leaders are not political! These leaders have one primary and broad-based goal -- that is, to do the right thing for their organization. In general, this means to pursue the success of the organizations according to the goals set for it. But on a more subtle level, doing the right thing will also be reflected in how this leader treats customers, employees, and suppliers. This leader's underlying sense will be that using a win-win approach with every level of stakeholders will always lead to greater net results for the organization. Thus, the daily life in such an organization, in both its internal and external interactions, will feel positive, ethical and satisfying to all involved. Now, just to clarify, these leaders will usually be savvy enough to play the right politics when absolutely necessary. But they will reserve the use of such distasteful activities for efforts such as keeping their more political peers or superiors from interfering in the operations of the organization.

Second, these great leaders believe in delegating both work and authority. They are self-confident enough to pick great people for their team, define specific objectives for their employees to accomplish, and then give these professionals the authority to get the job done. For example, I had one great boss who always seemed to be staring out his window, yet he was supremely effective in accomplishing the organization's goals. You see, he was actually spending his time thinking about how to solve the bigger problems that rose to his level of authority. He was not frittering away his time by checking on us or doing our work for us.

Finally, these leaders have excellent people skills in both their communication style and in displaying a warm, charming or approachable demeanor. Not only is it easy to understand what this boss wants you to do, but you'll also really like him while you're doing it. This final characteristic of great leaders might be the underlying quality that creates the magical aspect of great leadership. When we really like our leader and know exactly what is expected of us, most of us will rise to the occasion with incredible levels of drive and motivation. The synergy of an entire organization working at peak levels will soon create an environment where successful outcomes will seem to be greater than the sum of their inputs.

While I'm sure there are many more factors that make great leaders in business, these three factors have been the most visible to me during my career. So when it's time to look for your next new job, you'll know what kind of leadership qualities to ask about during your interview:

How are customers, employees, and suppliers viewed here?...

How does delegation of authority work in this organization?...

How accessible is the boss and what is he like to talk to?...

Although many people won't tell you what's not working in their organization during an interview, you'll be able to clearly see the truth by what is not said. Because, if the organization is run by a great leader, employees there won't be able to keep themselves from gushing about how great things are. After all, who wouldn't love working in an organization that is goal-oriented, responsibility-driven, warm and friendly, and super-successful! I hope that everyone has at least one chance in their careers to experience the magic of a truly great leader.