Condensed Mission Statement

Helping people to build and develop their skills in becoming more effective in the jobs/tasks that they do (both in the public sector and private sector) by modeling faith, family values, and integrity in all areas of life.

For more information about my Personal Mission statement see Post: Mission Statement

HBDI

This is my HBDI Profile. I have included much information out this profile type. For additional information about the HBDI you can visit their website.









This explanation will describe each of the quadrants in descending order of your preference.


The thinking style quadrant you most prefer, based upon your responses to the HBDI@ Survey, is the A Quadrant, with a value of 102. Descriptors in this thinking style which you selected are Logical, Analytical and Rational. These descriptors represent a general overview of your mental preferences in day-to-day life. Work Elements you strongly relate to in this quadrant include Analytical, Technical, Problem solving and Financial. These Elements reflect your mental preferences at work. Work references may align completely with general preferences, or they may stem from situations unique to one's working environment. In the forced-choice, Adjective Pairs section of the Survey, 46% of your responses registered in the A Quadrant. For comparison purposes, your A Quadrant Profile Score represents 33% of your total Profile.


By only a slight margin, your Conservative, Controlled and Planning, Administrative and
next most preferred is the B Quadrant, with 95 points. In this thinking style, you selected
Reader as descriptive of you. Work Elements you identified as ones you do well include
Implementation. In Adjective Pairs 33% of your responses registered in the B Quadrant,
compared to 31 % of your overall Profile.


Your next most preferred is the C Quadrant, with 57 points. In this quadrant you selected Intuitive and Reader, with Spiritual representing your 'Key Descriptor' - the one most descriptive of you. Work Elements you identified as ones you do well include Teaching. 8% of your Adjective Pairs responses fell in the C Quadrant, compared to 19% of your Profile.


Your least preferred quadrant, based upon your Survey responses, is the D Quadrant, with a value of 54. In this quadrant you selected lntuitive as characteristic of you. 13% of your Adjective Pairs responses fell in the D Quadrant, compared to 18% of your Profile.


The Adjective Pairs result tells us something about how we react when under pressure. This may or may not be consistent with our general behavior. The distribution of your responses to these questions into the A, B, C and D Quadrants was 11 - 8 - 2 - 3 respectively. This distribution is noticeably different from your profile (as you may have noticed in the percentage
comparisons above). This is neither a good nor bad quality, but it suggests that you may respond quite differently when under pressure than at other times. Some people with this characteristic also find that people see them more like the Adjective Pair distribution than the Profile.








This is a double dominant profile with primaries in the Left mode - Upper Left A and Lower Left B quadrants.
It is the most common profde in the general population, and the most common profile for males. The profile is characterized by a logical, analytical, technical orientation and is effective in rational problem solving from the Upper Left A quadrant. Lower Left B quadrant preferences include planning, organizing, implementing and administrative activities. In this profile, the processing modes of Upper Left A and Lower Left B would clearly be the most preferred; the interpersonal, emotional and spiritual modes of Lower Right C and the holistic, creative and synthesizing modes of Upper Right D would be at the secondary level, yet functional. This
profile is typical of those occupations in technical fields, such as engineering and manufacturing; financial positions, middle managers and, in general, those positions for which left mode processing is clearly most important and where right mode processing is necessary, yet secondary. Work that is considered a "Turn On" would include: accomplishing, analyzing data, making things work, building things, establishing order, and attending to details.
Most comfortable communication approaches may include:
* Brief clear and precise info
* Well articulated ideas presented in a logical format
* Step-by-step unfolding of the topic
* Explanation in writing
But may overlook:
* Eye-tueye contact
* Visuals
* An overview
* The personal touch and informality
The most natural problem solving strategies would include:
* Reengineering
* Factual analysis
* Logic
* A step by-step process
* Timelines
* Organization
But may not consider:
* Interactive brainstorming
* New ideas
* Team processes
* Feelings
To make a decision a person with this profile may ask:
* Do I have all the facts?
* Has all the research been completed?
* Will I be in control?
But may overlook:
* Asking for otheis opinions
* Looking at the overall picture

Class Weekend 12/13 and 12/14

Well,





I have just finished another class weekend. This weekend was dual focused. The first part was on Business Strategy (including Marketing) and the other part was on the HDBI Assessment.





I found both topics very interesting (except the Marketing). In the Strategy session we received an article which was extremely relevant I have attached the link Why America Needs an Economic Strategy. We also discussed a new book which was released titled The World is FLAT.





We also discussed in lenght about Porters Five Forces Model:

See my next post for info about my HDBI.

Signature Themes

I recently read a book call Strenght Finder. The premise of the book is that instead of continually tring to overcome you weakness, you should focus on you strenghts. As a tool to help you idenify your strenghts it offers an on-line assessment which consist of over 150 questions. These questions narrow down (from as list of 34) 5 "Signature Themes" when might be your strenghts.

Below is the results I aquired let me know what you think of them.

Many years of research conducted by The Gallup Organization suggest that the most effective people are those who understand their strengths and behaviors. These people are best able to develop strategies to meet and exceed the demands of their daily lives, their careers, and their families.
A review of the knowledge and skills you have acquired can provide a basic sense of your abilities, but an awareness and understanding of your natural talents will provide true insight into the core reasons behind your consistent successes.
Your Signature Themes report presents your five most dominant themes of talent, in the rank order revealed by your responses to StrengthsFinder. Of the 34 themes measured, these are your "top five."
Your Signature Themes are very important in maximizing the talents that lead to your successes. By focusing on your Signature Themes, separately and in combination, you can identify your talents, build them into strengths, and enjoy personal and career success through consistent, near-perfect performance.

Learner
You love to learn. The subject matter that interests you most will be determined by your other themes and experiences, but whatever the subject, you will always be drawn to the process of learning. The process, more than the content or the result, is especially exciting for you. You are energized by the steady and deliberate journey from ignorance to competence. The thrill of the first few facts, the early efforts to recite or practice what you have learned, the growing confidence of a skill mastered—this is the process that entices you. Your excitement leads you to engage in adult learning experiences—yoga or piano lessons or graduate classes. It enables you to thrive in dynamic work environments where you are asked to take on short project assignments and are expected to learn a lot about the new subject matter in a short period of time and then move on to the next one. This Learner theme does not necessarily mean that you seek to become the subject matter expert, or that you are striving for the respect that accompanies a professional or academic credential. The outcome of the learning is less significant than the “getting there.”

Context
You look back. You look back because that is where the answers lie. You look back to understand the present. From your vantage point the present is unstable, a confusing clamor of competing voices. It is only by casting your mind back to an earlier time, a time when the plans were being drawn up, that the present regains its stability. The earlier time was a simpler time. It was a time of blueprints. As you look back, you begin to see these blueprints emerge. You realize what the initial intentions were. These blueprints or intentions have since become so embellished that they are almost unrecognizable, but now this Context theme reveals them again. This understanding brings you confidence. No longer disoriented, you make better decisions because you sense the underlying structure. You become a better partner because you understand how your colleagues came to be who they are. And counterintuitively you become wiser about the future because you saw its seeds being sown in the past. Faced with new people and new situations, it will take you a little time to orient yourself, but you must give yourself this time. You must discipline yourself to ask the questions and allow the blueprints to emerge because no matter what the situation, if you haven’t seen the blueprints, you will have less confidence in your decisions.

Relator
Relator describes your attitude toward your relationships. In simple terms, the Relator theme pulls you toward people you already know. You do not necessarily shy away from meeting new people—in fact, you may have other themes that cause you to enjoy the thrill of turning strangers into friends—but you do derive a great deal of pleasure and strength from being around your close friends. You are comfortable with intimacy. Once the initial connection has been made, you deliberately encourage a deepening of the relationship. You want to understand their feelings, their goals, their fears, and their dreams; and you want them to understand yours. You know that this kind of closeness implies a certain amount of risk—you might be taken advantage of—but you are willing to accept that risk. For you a relationship has value only if it is genuine. And the only way to know that is to entrust yourself to the other person. The more you share with each other, the more you risk together. The more you risk together, the more each of you proves your caring is genuine. These are your steps toward real friendship, and you take them willingly.

Deliberative
You are careful. You are vigilant. You are a private person. You know that the world is an unpredictable place. Everything may seem in order, but beneath the surface you sense the many risks. Rather than denying these risks, you draw each one out into the open. Then each risk can be identified, assessed, and ultimately reduced. Thus, you are a fairly serious person who approaches life with a certain reserve. For example, you like to plan ahead so as to anticipate what might go wrong. You select your friends cautiously and keep your own counsel when the conversation turns to personal matters. You are careful not to give too much praise and recognition, lest it be misconstrued. If some people don’t like you because you are not as effusive as others, then so be it. For you, life is not a popularity contest. Life is something of a minefield. Others can run through it recklessly if they so choose, but you take a different approach. You identify the dangers, weigh their relative impact, and then place your feet deliberately. You walk with care.

Analytical
Your Analytical theme challenges other people: “Prove it. Show me why what you are claiming is true.” In the face of this kind of questioning some will find that their brilliant theories wither and die. For you, this is precisely the point. You do not necessarily want to destroy other people’s ideas, but you do insist that their theories be sound. You see yourself as objective and dispassionate. You like data because they are value free. They have no agenda. Armed with these data, you search for patterns and connections. You want to understand how certain patterns affect one another. How do they combine? What is their outcome? Does this outcome fit with the theory being offered or the situation being confronted? These are your questions. You peel the layers back until, gradually, the root cause or causes are revealed. Others see you as logical and rigorous. Over time they will come to you in order to expose someone’s “wishful thinking” or “clumsy thinking” to your refining mind. It is hoped that your analysis is never delivered too harshly. Otherwise, others may avoid you when that “wishful thinking” is their own.

EMBA 2010 DV - Assignment

EMBA 2010 DV -Assignment

Executive Summary

The context for the presentation is a one-on-one consult with a perspective client. The meeting takes place in the client’s “home-office” as he is a small business owner. The client and I have talked over the phone, this is the first face-to-face meeting we have conducted. The client and I have a mutual friend who connected us. The client would like to double his business within the next two years and is searching for a consulting firm which will guide him through the process.

The objective of the meeting is to get to know the client better and showcase some of the resources which my company has to offer. Through telephone calls I am aware of several general topics which might be of interest. The goal is to gain the client’s agreement to proceed with the next phase of the business process, which is defining specific goals and signing a contract.

I will begin the presentation by using the friendship trigger (asking about the mutual friend). I will then move into the authority Trigger and share with the client several letters of recommendation. I will proceed to cover several topics which I believe the client will be interested in. Then I will use Reason Why trigger as it is a limited time offer. Last I will close the meeting a specific request to move onto the next phase of the process.

Both the context and the purpose of the presentation will help me develop professionally. Currently within my job, whenever I present, I usually provide information or conduct a meeting. This context (one-on-one meeting with a perspective client) is something I have not had to do professionally. It is my desire one day to become an entrepreneur, running my own consulting company, catering specifically to small business. Mastering these skills will become vital to becoming successful.

Personal Mission Statement

One of the assignment I had to complete recently was to create a personal mission statement: this is the rough draft.

I will recognize new opportunities each day, learning from mistakes. Knowing that God holds all things within his hand, I have faith for today and bright hope for tomorrow. I know that I have been blessed beyond what I deserve.
I value persistence and a can-do attitude because I desire to be known as a person who can get the job done. I will use a quiet assertiveness, modeling the way for others to follow, utilizing a strong knowledge base and kindness.
I will treasure above all else my wife and my children by placing them has a higher priority than my job. I will demonstrate my love and affection through verbal acknowledgement and finding creative ways to spend time together.
I will live each day recognizing that God is in total control of my life, the challenges I face, he will grant me the wisdom to overcome.

The Golden Habaneros - A team has been formed

Here is the beginning page of the Team Constitution my team has created. We will be working as a team for the next 16 months, so we created (it was an assignment) this Team Constitution. The Document is over 30 pages long. This will give you a flavor. I have also included the Table of Contents at the end.


1. Introduction
The Golden Habaneros Team Constitution (this "Constitution") defines the vision, team values and norms, and operational guidelines of The Golden Habaneros Executive MBA Team and its members.


1.1 Purpose
The purpose of this document is to provide a framework of operational guidelines for The Golden Habaneros. This document will establish a common understanding of how the team will operate and accomplish goals as we progress through the Coles College of Business Executive MBA program. The Constitution is a shared agreement among all members of The Golden Habaneros that will be used to help us become a high performing team.


1.2 Team Name and Motto
Our team name, The Golden Habaneros, was developed during the opening residency for the Coles College EMBA program class of 2010. Our team name embodies our vision as well as the diversity of strengths we offer each other. For the team, it was important to maintain the color gold in our name. Gold represents the highest achievement, the best of the best, the elite. Many athletes spend a lifetime of training to achieve the highest honor, the gold medal. Competitive companies strive to set the gold standard in their individual industry. Our team will also follow in a similar path to achieve academic excellence.

The Habaneros portion of our name represents the uniqueness of each individual team member. It’s the “spice” or that special ingredient that we bring to each other and the program. The diversity of our strengths is what sets us apart from others. Collectively, we are “too hot” to handle. We are The Golden Habaneros.

Our motto “Kickin’ It Up A Notch,” was chosen because we want to exceed all expectations. It is our goal to go above and beyond in all aspects of the program.


1.3 Vision
The Golden Habaneros will become a high performing team by: leveraging the strengths of each individual team member to ameliorate the weaknesses of the other members, challenging assumptions, and promoting total collaboration within the Coles College of Business EMBA program.

This vision will be demonstrated by exemplifying a standard of excellence and graduating with honors. The Golden Habaneros will strive to earn the EMBA Class of 2010’s recognition of our dedication to teamwork for the success of each member and the team as a whole. Throughout our EMBA program we will demonstrate our commitment to approaching our assignments with energy and enthusiasm. We will create presentations that are both beneficial and memorable for our class.

We will consistently strive to achieve excellence in our academic endeavors. Through effective collaboration and superior communication with team members, we will continue to demonstrate our vision of a high performing team. It is our goal to exceed all expectations and symbolize a group of unity for others to aspire.


1.4 Mission Statement
Our mission is to constantly endeavor to achieve our vision through a commitment to excellence while maintaining integrity and ethics in our interactions with team members, classmates, and professors. Through our strengths and diversity, we will work to ensure all team members realize their full potential for the good of the EMBA Class of 2010 and ultimately for the companies with whom we work and the communities in which we live.

1. Introduction.
1.1 Purpose…...3
1.2 Team Name and Motto……..3
1.3 Vision…….3
1.4 Mission……..3
1.5 Values and Norms……….4
2. Operational Guidelines.
2.1 Assignments…………..6
2.2 Team Roles and Duties……….6
2.3 Team Matrix……..9
2.4 Tasks………10
2.5 Learning Styles……12
3. Communication.
3.1 Communication Methods…….13
3.2 Special Communication…...13
3.3 Emergency …………..13
3.4 Team Meetings……….14
3.5 Information………..14
3.6 Meeting Assignment Feedback…………14
3.7 Consistency……….14
4. Team Meetings.
4.1 Meeting Guidelines…….15
4.2 Meeting Expectation…...15
5. Decision Making
5.1 Complex Decisions………..16
5.2 Mandatory Decisions……..16
5.3 Impasse………16
5.4 Unanimous Votes…….16
6. Conflict Resolution
6.1 Personality Difference……….17
6.2 Work Style………..17
6.3 Subgroups…………17
6.4 Team vs. Single Member……….18
7. Progressive Discipline.
8. Team Coach.
9. Team Constitution Agreement
Appendix A EMBA Standards
Appendix B Team Roster
Appendix C Meeting Agenda
Appendix D Meeting Feedback
Appendix E Meeting Minutes
Appendix F Team Assignment Plan
Appendix G Corrective Action Form
Appendix H Document History
Appendix I Team Coach Agreement

Learning Styles

Here are the results of my Learning style assessment:

Learning styles - I am a Reflector/Theorist
This means I'm more prone to ... stand back, gather data, ponder and analyse, delay reaching conclusions, listen before speaking, thoughtful AND think things through in logical steps, assimilate disparate facts into coherent theories, rationally objective, reject subjectivity and flippancy.

This also means I'm less prone to:
Have a here and now attitude, gregarious, seek challenge and immediate experience, open-minded, bored with implementation. AND seek and try out new ideas, practical, down-to-earth, enjoy problem solving and decision-making quickly, bored with long discussions.

What do you think?

SO much to do, so little Time

Well ...

I obviously have not posted in a while. I would like to keep up with the posting a little better. However, only time will tell.

Here is an update (the best I can recall).

The first semester will cover two class:
GBA 7211: Business Acumen Foundations
GBA 7212: Principles of Leadership

The first week of class began on a Tuesday and lasted through the weekend. We covered a variety of topics including:
Learning styles - See Post titled Learning Styles
Introduction to Teaming
Introduction to Leadership Model
Introduction to Economics
Introduction to Quantitative Analysis

We traveled to the Ridges (see previous post)

Introduction to Accounting
Introduction to Income/Outcome
Income/Outcome Simulation - See post titled "Income/Outcome Simulation"
Introduction to Teaming II and Team Constitution
Introduction to GBA 7233 – Personal and Professional Development

It was an enjoyable weekend, however it was hard to be away from the family for so long.

Book Review (Building Trust)

This is the first book I have to read for class. As stated on previous posts one of the main concepts in the course is team and team building. Our course trust is one of the main ingredients in having a successful team.

The book has 5 main points:

T - Transparent: means to be open and readily readable. What you see is what you get.

R - Responsive: give honest feedback respectfully and nonjudgmental.

U - Use Caring: whatever I say or do comes from my heart.

S - Sincere: keeping my actions consistent with my words.

T - Trustworthy: be honest , to honor my word, and manage my agreements.

1st Day of School

On Saturday the 11th I attending my first day of class. It was a technology and orientation day. We received our laptops and instruction on how to use they web based program. We also discussed the expectations and the general class format. We will be meeting next week (Tues - Sunday) for the class kickoff. We will be placed into teams of 6-8. We will work with these teams for the next 18 months. Friday - Sunday we will be meeting at THE RIDGES, it is a retreat center in the North Georgia Mountains. We will start to develop our team charter and constitution as well as continue our teaching times. On Saturday we will be doing a simulation called Income/Outcome, this is a full day event, should be interesting I give an update after I return.

Accepted

I have been notified that I have been accepted into the class of 2010 for my EMBA from Kennesaw State University. My first class is to begin on Saturday 10/11 (yes, that's right this Sat). It is suppose to be an orientation and a technology day. It will begin at 8AM and last until the late afternoon (no later than 5PM).

Timing

Well….

As I said in my last post, I have completed everything I can do, the school as confirmed they have all my paperwork and are reviewing and doing all the other things they do. During the past few days I have really started to wonder if now is the right time to be going back school. I ask that because of what has been happening to our economy. I believe my job is relatively secure, although the short term is weak (we are laying off some hourly workforce), the mid and long term look OK. However what is the job market going to look like when I graduate in 18 months? Will my company be able to promote me or will I find a different job to offset the expenses I have accumulated? If the answers are no, then do I want to saddle myself with debt without seeing a fair chance at a potential upside? I guess this is the way banks and other financial intuitions might be feeling as well, do they want to loan money out without having a good feeling that as to what might happen in the future. Or is it that nobody wants to take the money (companies/individuals) because they are not sure what the future holds so they do not want to increase their debt load. Thankfully, I can place my trust in The Lord and not in the wisdom of man or the security of the financial markets.

Applying for Grad School

Well...

It has been a week today since I began the admissions process. Last Monday 9/29 was when I when for an interview. That was when I found out that this program (Executive MBA) began on 10/11. I had thought it began sometime in Jan 09. So beside answering the interview questions I was preoccupied with a host of other questions running through my mind, questions that I thought I would have weeks to ponder, you know: is this what I REALLY what to do, how will this affect other things we already have scheduled, is this what I REALLY what to do, is this what I REALLY what to do??? I guess you can see the basic question.

Even with being distracted, the Director of Admissions said that I had passed the interview and she felt that if I was still interested that I would make a great addition to the EMBA class, I would need to complete the admissions process, which would be possible, however I would need to begin immediately. So I began filling out paperwork for transcripts, immunization records, application for admissions, get letters of recommendation, getting a GMAT waiver, financial aid applications...

I completed all that I can as of today, we will see how it all shakes out.

An Executive MBA (is it right for me?)

Well....
During the past few years I have often ponder whether or not I should go back to school and acquire another degree. I have looked at different degree programs and thought about timing options. In the past I never felt it was the right time and I never found a degree that made sense for me to pursue. About a year ago the question came again to my mind and I decided I would explore the options in North Atlanta, since I had not done that yet. I went to an open house for the Graduate Schools at Kennesaw State University. I discovered they had a graduate degree in Applied Statistics, which looked appealing. You know I do a lot of statistics for my work already so it would most likely be a fairly easy degree to pick-up. However as I thought about it and talked with Heather and some friends I realized that it would not be very helpful it my long range goals. What are my long range goals you may ask, good question. I would like to have the flexibility to work in almost any geographic location and have the flexibility to move out of the Manufacturing Sector. Clearly a specialization degree like Applied Statistics would not support these goals. So it appeared that an MBA would most closely fit the bill, however the issue of timing is also an important factor. I do not believe Heather was pregnant with Kyle when I visited the open house at KSU. Knowing we were going to have Kyle cooled my jets a little, however since we have seen that God has blessed us with a very content child Heather and I began conversations again. We talk about the many different factors of timing, the age of our children, the activities they were involved in, the amount of extra work Heather has going to have because of my "school time". We thought about waiting a year or two, what that might mean, and many other things. The Executive MBA program was designed to best accommodate working professionals. They meet one weekend per month (Sat and Sun 8-5) with some meetings on a Friday. The program lasts 18 months. I am working out the details, school records, work schedule, ... so we will see.