Lesson 14

Taking this course later in my schooling has had many benefits for me. I can see how this course would be important for those just beginning in the business management degree path, however, I really felt like I was able to self reflect and experience a deeper purpose to some of the activities. I was surprised to find this was a course focused on me, as opposed to the 101 of how to begin a business. Because I have taken other business courses in the past few semesters, I was able to take the knowledge I have learned and apply it directly to me personally as I completed the assignments in this course.

I feel like the focus of this course was to discover ourselves; meaning our talents, our ambitions, our weaknesses. This same discovering is imperative to anyone who wants to be successful in their career, or even their life, whether they decide to begin their own company or not. Reading about the way successful people think and act, as well as some of their failures enables us to pattern our efforts after their experiences. The opportunity to feel as though a mentor as been where you are and to see how they have overcome hurdles and challenges is invaluable in our individual growth.

In providing my last words of advice or direction, I would say to someone who wants to travel on a crazy entrepreneur journey would be to enjoy the ride! Learn all you can about the decisions you will need to make, but then trust your gut (or the promptings of the Holy Ghost). After interviewing my brother for this class about his own business endeavors, I learned a valuable lesson of being prepared. Preparation allows you to have the advantage or the upper hand, so to speak. Preparation allows decisions to be made confidently and intentionally, as opposed to reacting to a situation. Even though finding the time to balance everything, taking the time to prepare will yield more benefits than rash decision making.

Finding a passion is always the goal when starting a business. It seems more fun to work for yourself than for someone else. However, having your own business is a lot of hard work. Probably more so than people imagine when they are going into it. Keep your eyes open and don’t be afraid to be flexible, if needed. Strive to find the balance necessary for you to feel like you can be in control. Good luck!

Lesson 13

I liked reading the case study about Randy Haykin. To me, the most interesting and useful parts of the case study were his personal reflections about leadership. Reading about his toughest hurdle as a leader where he felt like he let people down in start up company. Even though the risks of being an entrepreneur are apparent, it is still difficult for all involved when the company doesn't perform as expected. I also liked Haykin's rawness about finding a balance between his work life and personal life. I too, often times feel as he described in doing the simplest things take so much effort as there is so much going on. In the different classes I have taken, the concept of learning to prioritize and sticking to the top priorities is so important. Each person must decide where to spend their time and how to balance all they have going in their life.

Lesson 12

During the reading, I really liked the quote by Muhammad Yunus, "before I conclude my remarks I simply wish to encourage all of you to remember irrespective of what you learn in school always be ready to unlearn and relearn." Wow! Love this! The older I get, I see how this statement is so true; especially the relearning part. We don't want to sit idly by believing that we know all there is to know. It is so important to keep developing and learning and even more so when in business for yourself. There will always be ways to improve and do things more efficiently and more effectively.

I love the word unlearn. I think we might get set in learned ways that may be simply traditions or something of ease, but through unlearning that particulate way of doing something, we can learn a new way, even a better way.

Lesson 11

This week's material got me to think about my own family and the sacrifices my children and husband have had to make while I worked outside the home, volunteered in their school and held demanding church callings. Often times, I was dragging the kids with me somewhere and they would just have to deal with it. However, I think it taught them that service and giving to others were a good thing. I remember having special traditions or moments that we could share. This helped make the harder times a little easier. Luckily, I was able to have some flexibility when working so that I could be with my children when they really needed me, and conversely, when I really needed to be or do something else, they understood that also.

Lesson 10

This week I was able to interview my brother about a business that he has owned. He is my little brother by many years and he matured long after I was out of the house living with my own family. It was awesome to talk to him about something that he is so passionate about and loves. His hard work was definitely noticed. We were able to discuss some different business concepts and goals. It was a very special interview I was able to have with him.

Lesson 9

The story about a Message to Garcia was an awesome read. I am going to share that with my children as they are just starting out in the work force. It is such a great reminder of what type of employee they can be that will get them noticed, trusted and respected.

I have read Elder Bednar's talk about BYUI being a Disciple Preparation Center. I love the analogy, especially because my youngest daughter is currently in the England MTC preparing to embark on her mission service in the countries of Scotland and Ireland next week. In harmony with Elder Bednar's observation that a temple is near a preparation center, my daughter was able to attend the Preston England Temple and perform service there. She said it was a wonderful experience to enjoy the spirit felt there. I also received a photo from her with the temple spires pointing heavenward with a beautiful green field and lush bushes in the foreground. The part of the picture that made my heart skip a beat was her holding her precious name tag showing she was a missionary for the Savior. It is a special time for me to have her serving.

Lesson 8

I sure loved reading and watching the material this week about not giving up and perseverance. I thought the Mormon Message with Elder Holland was so touching. As a family who has had many car troubles in our life, I sure could relate to the hopeless feeling of not having a functioning vehicle, and also the long road ahead when one is traveling across the country. We have done a few cross country moves and it is difficult and trying, at times. It was a little funny because as I was watching the video by Taylor Richards, my young adult aged daughter who attends school at BYU came into my office and informed me that he was her Bishop last semester! Small world - even in online BYUI classes.

I found "The Five Whys" such an interesting concept. I loved that he would have someone work on a task for only an hour when attempting to solve a problem. I think this concept can work for so many things. One example is when a drawer or closet needs to be cleaned out and so a timer is set for just 15 minutes or so and you only have to work for that amount of time. Often, once the timer goes off, the work continues!

Lesson 7

I really liked the opportunity to read President Hinckley's address to the Young Women called Stand True and Faithful. It was like reading the absolute instruction manual on how to survive the high school years. Even though there was so much counsel given in what a youth should and should not do, it was given with such love. The principals taught are eternal and will stand the test of time. Even though the talk was given over 20 years ago, it is very easy to see how, if these principals were followed, one could stray off the path and easily be lost.

I also liked reconnecting with the 7 Habits book. I have read it a few times now and it is always a good reminder of ways to be more productive and to think differently. I have tried to incorporate a win/win attitude with those I work with in my career, in church callings, and even my family members. We have a long standing joke in our family that came from my experience of trying to teach this win/win principle to my son many years ago when he was about 8 or 9 years old. After trying to find the best way to where he would feel that he won in a situation, he was not going to go for it. Finally, in utter frustration I informed him that I was going to win and he would just figure out how he could win using my solution. We talk about this scenario often as the experience became a great teaching tool for this concept and how difficult it can be to come up with a winning solution for all parties involved.

Lesson 6

I really liked the premise of Jan Newman's lecture to be Loyal to God and Family. He talked about duties to church and family by way of church callings and having more responsibility from time to time in those callings. Right now I am in a leadership calling which takes a lot of time. Any spare time I have, I am working on my calling. I work full time hours in a career and I take 9-12 credit hours each semester online. These two things alone leave little time for my calling. Because my children don't live at home anymore, I don't feel quite as guilty about not spending time with my family, but I would much rather be with my husband every night than in my home office completing my homework. Jan Newman's lecture reminded me not to take away my energy and effort to those things that are most important. I tend to put my effort into things that probably don't matter in the long run such as making a cute handout, or looking on line for my next YW activity idea. Instead, I should be dedicating that time to better, deeper scripture study, or visiting the YW in my ward and developing closer personal relationships with them. I appreciated the reminder to keep first things first!

Lesson 5

During this lesson it hit me just how difficult it can be to start your own business and how much is at stake. I don't know exactly what I read that made me think this way so profoundly, but realizing how much perseverance is necessary to really be successful and enjoy the freedom so many people want can be overwhelming.
I reflect a lot on my dad during this class as he was an entrepreneur at heart. Anytime he could start a business, he did! His main business was one that he didn't set out to start, but it just sort of happened because the president of the company he worked at was the same age and he felt like he would never get to the top. So he learned all he could, networked and had a couple of co-workers that would jump ship with him to begin his own company. I think about how much faith and trust those co-workers had in his vision and plan. I think much of that comes from my dad's perseverance and them watching him in the role previously gave them the confidence that he would make the new business successful. It just takes so much time and energy, but having the ability to look ahead 20 years and see the big picture can make it worth while.

Lesson 4

I enjoyed finishing the book by Steve Hitz, The Ministry of Business. Even though I didn't feel that it had any new material I haven't already heard before, I did appreciate it being a very concise, easy, and thought provoking read. It is a book I would recommend to others because it was an easy read.  I found it a little challenging to write my Personal Constitution and writing about a fear. I don't feel like I am a deep thinker, but rather a go-getter. Taking the time to be pensive and ponder has made me feel like I am wasting time and not doing a task that should be getting done. It was really good to sit down and focus on what I want in my life and some ways that I can change and become better in order to accomplish those goals.

I really liked reading Clay Christensen’s, How Will You Measure Your Life. I have read it in the past, but it is such great material to review. As I was studying the information this week, I had the impression to share it with my children, who are all of young adult age and in college. I know they are busy in their science, math and English classes, but this is such great material for them to implement and think about in their own lives are they are making very important decisions that will impact their future.

Lesson 3

I think that this lesson has been very important. It seems so easy for people to get caught up in unethical things in their business lives and it can happen very easily if we are not guarded in our actions. Integrity is of the upmost importance. Thinking about the word rationalize and how easy it is to make excuses or reasons for choices we make that in the long run, or even immediately, can get us into many problems.
My husband is a CFO and he is very, very honest in his dealings at work. His boss has the upmost trust in him and both of them stress the importance of honesty and integrity in their workplace. They have had to let an important member of their office team go because of her dishonesty to them. I think that being honest is something many people don't think is important and they become used to telling lies, even though they don't believe they are being dishonest.

Lesson 2

I found this lesson to be a little difficult in the sense of trying to figure out 50 bucket list items. I feel like I live a life of contentment and don't often dream of things I don't feel like I can't have. I have the personality type that if I want something badly enough, I will figure out a way to do it. So, a bucket list seems like not a practical thing to have (in my mind). However, as I began to ask various people about their bucket lists I discovered that I did have many things I wanted to have or wanted to accomplish. I also loved learning about others as it gave me insight I never would have had. One simple quick question opened up a whole lot of conversation.

I also started reading the Ministering book by Steve Hitz. It has been a really interesting as I used to work for the company he started and discusses in the book. I also know a couple of the people who wrote reviews for the book as well as some of his honorable mentioned mentors. I served his daughter when they were in YW and I was in the stake YW Presidency. Even though I didn't know him very well, and he probably didn't know me at all, it has felt like I picked up a book written by an old friend due the familiarity I have.

Lesson 1

I haven’t really been looking forward to this class as I don’t want to be an entrepreneur. My father was an entrepreneur and I always liked to listen to his visions and dreams about what he was going to do next. He was very successful at his different businesses and I learned so much from him. In fact, it was my desire to actually help my dad in his businesses that I decided to go back to school for a business management degree. Unfortunately, my father passed away last year and I wasn’t able to really help with any of the businesses he had prior to his passing. My husband, on the other hand, was able to work for him and help close things out. I don’t feel like I would be a good risk taker. I enjoy working for a company and having the benefits that go along with that. However, my husband and I did have our own company for a short while and I really enjoyed working side by side with my husband in a common and important goal of earning money for our family.

After reading the material for the week, I am excited to be able to explore my talents and my goals and try to become a better person through the process. I think it will be a great foundation for anything that I do in life and will be great material to teach and pass along to my children.

On another note that has been quite a surprise is that I used to be an employee of Steve Hitz’s company in Colorado. I enjoyed working there although I didn’t have day to day contact with him. It will be interesting to read his book.