Monday, June 29, 2015

“On the rebound: Finding success through failure”

Jan. 21 “On the rebound: Finding success through failure”: I cut out this Globe and Mail article by Harvey Schachter on Oct. 10, 2012.  I have experienced a lot of failure in school, work, and trying to get into the TV industry.  I’m sure we can all relate to this article.  I’m sure we have all experienced in one time or another failure.  Here’s the whole article:
 
People who don't wallow in their setbacks are better equipped to be victorious later, author argues

Rebounders By Rick Newman (Ballantine, 225 pages, $31)

Most business books focus on success, seeking the elusive formula that can help people and companies find victories. But in Rebounders, American journalist Rick Newman looks at failures, and how they led to later success.

Setbacks can be secret weapons, argues Mr. Newman, chief business correspondent for U.S. News & World Report magazine. Often the pivotal points in success stories aren't the breakthrough moments when everything fell into place but the "quit points" that came before, when everything seemed in doubt.

"Many people give up when they hit such quit points - and you never hear their stories, because they don't accomplish much. For those who persist, however, those low moments of fear and failure often constitute a crucible that makes them more capable once they've endured it," he writes.

He contrasts rebounders with wallowers. Wallowers get rattled when something goes wrong because they aren't accustomed to solving their own problems. They complain, blame others, rarely question their own judgment, overestimate their abilities, and fail to move on. They wallow, often repeating their mistakes because of a failure to analyze the problem accurately and adjust.
Mr. Newman identifies Richard Fuld, former chief executive officer of Lehman Brothers, as a wallower, demonstrated by his congressional testimony blaming everyone but himself for his company's implosion.

Rebounders bounce back from adversity because their skill set allows them to analyze situations, understand how they have contributed to the difficulties, and recalibrate.

"Rebounders know how to solve problems and overcome setbacks, often because they've done it before. ... They'd rather solve problems than complain about them or blame someone else," he writes.

Each chapter introduces readers to a rebounder (many of them little-known) and uses their stories to offer useful lessons. The author offers nine attributes that are key to making the shift from failure to success:

1. Rebounders accept failure: They hate to fail, but they accept it, and try to fail productively, learning from the experience, as the inventive Thomas Edison did with his many failed experiments.

2. Rebounders compartmentalize options: They are often emotional people, with drive and passion. John Bogle, who founded Vanguard Group, was furious when he was pushed out of a previous job and even had revenge fantasies. But he didn't spend time trying to get even. Rebounders control the emotional fallout of their struggle.

3. Rebounders have a bias toward action: After Tammy Duckworth lost both legs when her U.S. military helicopter was shot down in Iraq, her first impulse was to get to work at rehabilitation and her new life. Rebounders keep pushing, keep doing.

4. Rebounders change their minds: They can discard old thinking, give up on long-held dreams, and adjust their ambitions to evolving situations. They don't cling to ideas that are proving hopeless.

5. Rebounders prepare for things to go wrong: They don't expect things to go their own way. They are cautious optimists, always aware their plans may go awry.

6. Rebounders are comfortable with discomfort: They are willing to accept hardships and inconveniences as long as they feel they are getting closer to their goal. Singer/songwriter Lucinda Williams could have signed a major recording deal years earlier if she had agreed to make the songs the music companies wanted, but she stayed true to her own vision, even if it meant often barely having the money to pay her rent.

7. Rebounders are willing to wait: They are determined to succeed on their own terms, and can accept that it might take a long time. "But rebounders don't just wait positively for a lucky break, or do the same thing over and over. They constantly learn and get better, continually improving the likelihood of success until the odds tilt in their favour," Mr. Newman observes.

8. Rebounders have heroes: Many of the rebounders he met are romantics, seeing their role as in some way historic, and they are entranced by some mentor or historical figure who they want to emulate. Vanguard's Mr. Bogle, for example, often alluded to the naval battles of Admiral Lord Nelson and named his mutual fund company after his hero's ship.

9. Rebounders have more than passion: We are told we need passion for success, but rebounders realize it requires more than that. They have a special drive and resilience that allows them to capitalize on their passion.  The lessons provide helpful takeaways for readers. But in focusing on them, I may be distorting the nature of the book. It's primarily storytelling, by a gifted writer and interviewer, who has found the experiences of some fascinating, inspirational rebounders to share. It is the stories as much as the lessons - or mingled with the lessons - that makes for an enchanting book that will linger in readers' minds.

POSTSCRIPT

Former Tesco CEO Terry Leahy offers Management in 10 Words (Crown Business, 312 pages, $32.95): Truth, loyalty, courage, values, act, balance, simple, lean, compete, and trust.

Former Business Week editor Stephen Shepard, now dean of journalism at City University of New York, shares his turbulent trip from the print to the digital age in Deadlines and Disruption (McGraw-Hill, 338 pages, $30.95).

Investigative journalist Bruce Livesey probes banks and brokerages in Thieves of Bay Street (Random House Canada, 313 pages, $32).


Jun. 16 Business news:

Gap closing 175 stores: When I read it in the newspaper, I was surprised.  Then again, there are a lot of clothing stores closing down like Mexx and Smart Set.


Jun. 17 Cash Store closing:

"Cash Store Financial Services Inc., the payday lender that has fallen into bankruptcy protection, said Friday that its shares will be delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange next month.

The stock, which is currently suspended from trading, will be removed from the TSX as of May 23 because the company no longer meets the exchange’s listing requirements, Cash Store said in a release.

Edmonton-based Cash Store, swamped with debt, has put itself up for sale as it tries to restructure its operations."



My opinion: It was years ago I thought of applying to work at these payday lender places because they're like banks.  My dad tells me they're loan sharks.  A lot of people say they are legalized loan sharks. 

I read an extensive article about it in the Globe and Mail business section.  It said that they are legalized loan sharks, but at least that these payday lender places exist.  If they didn't, people would be desperate and would go underground and go to other sources like the mob for money.

So I just want to say not everything is black and white.  However, please avoid these payday lender places at all costs.  The interests rates are very high.

City Centre: I was there on Jun. 11.  Mmmuffins closing down because their lease is up.  I was looking for a job.

Bluesnotes' will be opening where Mexx was.

Zenari's: This restaurant in Manulife Place is closing their retail section.


Scotia Place: There used to be a Treats in the food court, but it closed down. 

West Ed mall: The restaurant LA Prep closed down.  It will be replaced with Chachi.  I have never heard of it before.  Chachi will sell sandwiches and salads.


Joey's Seafood: That place closed down and will be replaced with Fat Burger.

Jun. 18 Latta Corp: I did a job interview with them.  They are a marketing and consulting firm.  One of their clients is like Telus.  I asked if they are a staffing agency because it seems like they kind of are.  They said they aren't.

I went to it.  I then remembered that I did a similar interview somewhere in 2013 or 2014.  I would have to check my records on that.

Restaurant: I did a job interview at a restaurant today.  They told me a lot of people work here and it's really busy.  I would like to work there.

Jun. 29: I didn't get a call back from the restaurant.  That's fine because I got my hours back at my current restaurant job.

Office interview: I did a job interview at an office last week.  In fall 2014, they did call me for an interview.  I had to turn them down because I was in school.  So now I get to do the interview.  It was an average interview.  Their location was in downtown.  They had a very modern atmosphere with their furniture.

The hours were full-time and the pay was good.  There was training with accounts recievable and payable. 

Gym interview: I did a phone interview here for a fitness consultant position.  It's 100% commission where you get people to sign up to your gym.  The first month is $2000 if I don't sell anything.  If I work there for 2 weeks, I would get paid $1000.

The woman on the phone already said I didn't sound sure if I wanted to work there because of the 100% commission.  She told me to think about it so we won't waste each other's time.

Retiredworker.ca: I was going through my old agenda and I found this website.  I looked up Edmonton jobs and there were none. 

Zoominfo.com: I found this website on this on my old agenda.  It's only in the US.  Here's what it says on Wikipedia:

Zoom Information Inc. was founded by Jonathan Stern in 2000 as Eliyon Technologies. The company’s investors include Venrock Associates and Skeetnut Capital.[1]

The site powers people searches for Amazon’s A9.com and Business Week. ZoomInfo also allows users to collaborate in the construction of its content by contributing information to their own profiles or building new ones where none exists. 

Their database holds 95 million profiles of business professionals and 7 million company profiles. The features of their site allow users to search based on name, company, location, and vertical segments to generate leads.

The company drew around 4.5 million monthly users and generated circa $12 million in revenue from its fee-based and subscription services in 2007.[2]


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