Week 2 - Honesty and Business Ethics

This week seems to be flying by!  I have just a couple of chapters left in "The Start-up of You" by Reid Hoffmn and Ben Casnocha.  This has been a very interesting book that really focuses on the importance of networking and how networking has evolved.  My favorite chapters this week discussed how Benjamin Franklin networked way back when. He would invite intellectuals over once a week to discuss ideas.  It has been interesting to think about my own network and if all those in it are the right kind of people and I can best maintain relationships with them.

This weeks e-corner videos weren't my favorite.  In "10 Things You Must Have to Start a Business", the information was good but some of it did seem a little outdated. It was hard to know when the speaker was being facetious and when he was being serious.  I think this may be because his experience was so industry specific that it was hard to relate some of the information to general business.   I did like the "Risks in Business" because it talked about what it takes to be successful. The most important thing I got out of the video is that you need to have skin in the game otherwise, it is too easy to walk away or not care about the success of the business.

I thought the LDS Perspectives tied in very well to the topic. They stressed the importance of remembering that God should come before money and success. This will help us be successful and happy in our endeavors. We also need to remember to be people of integrity and let that be a guiding trait in our business and in those we hire.

Our case study this week was the story of Magdalena Yesil, a Turkish woman who decided at a young age that she wanted to come to America to study technology and engineering. She helped start up many ventures and was very successful. This story reminded me of the need for home/life balance. She had a multi-generational household that allowed her to spend a lot of time on her work. The majority of Americans do not have this - and yet we still allow work to monopolize out time. This can be a detriment to the family. We must see balance in all aspects of our life if we are to be truly happy.