Keogh & Associates Consulting, LLC
Greetings!
"A recession is a terrible thing to waste!" I believe there is always something that comes out of even the most trying and difficult challenges in life. We have been so busy that I am way behind on sending out "occasional newsletters". I'd like to catch up by sharing two short articles on how to use social networking to your advantage and a different cultural approach to recession (see below).
This little "quiz" helps me keep things in perspective; you don't actually have to take it. Just read straight through, and you'll get my point
1. Name the five wealthiest people
in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America
4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize
5. Name six Academy Award winners for best actor or actress
6. Name the last decade's worth of Superbowl winners.
None of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These were not second-rate
achievers. They are the best in their fields! But the applause dies, the awards tarnish, and
the accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.
Now, here's another quiz. See how you do
on this one and if you find it easier:
1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name 3 friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of 3 people who made you feel appreciated and special.
5. Think of 5 people you enjoy spending time with.
6. Name 3 heroes whose stories have inspired you.
.
Warm regards,
Jack
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Put the Power of Social Networking to work for you in a Recession Economy
I "discovered" Facebook a couple of years ago when I
received an invitation to be a "friend" of the teenaged niece of a family
connection in Mexico. I accepted the invitation and, to my
surprise, some twenty minutes later, I got a message from my daughter - in her
early twenties - saying "Dad, get off this site - it's for kids, not people
your age!" At that time, Facebook had a
mere 12 million members. My daughter
fretted that the site, designed for college students, had been hijacked by
teens. I marveled at the connectedness
of the younger generations - how did my daughter, at work in New
York City, realize so quickly that I had responded to an invitation
from Mexico? Then, undeterred, I went ahead and set up my
Facebook profile. I figured that one more
profile might complement my web "presence" - company website, blog, and
profiles on Linked-In and Plaxo. What,
did I learn and what could it mean to you?
Read the short (2 page) article in PDF format |
A Different Perspective on the Recession
The way people from the different countries react to these days of great
uncertainty and economic recession can give clues to cultural differences. I have
been noticing how the current global recession is perceived in Mexico and in the US.
Click here to read as a PDF fileIn the U.S.
we are trained to prepare to face hard times. The media teaches us to fear they
we will lose their jobs. This make us
think about sending out our resumes. We have come to expect and demand that the
government do something immediately to bail us out of the recession. And we expect the government make the war on terrorism go away. So, we get
upset when, despite our best personal efforts, we realize that our destiny may
not be completely within our control.
This realization makes us frustrated.
My Mexican friends and colleagues are, I think, reacting very
differently. They are more inclined to see the recession as something totally
out of their hands. They don't think
there is very much that they can do. If the United
States is in a recession, Mexico will be too - because of their
economic dependence on our financial health. They feel that the only thing they
can do is to wait for things to get better in the United
States and then work and hope for better times in Mexico.
In the meantime, they are in the hands of "destiny" and forces beyond their
control. If a job loss occurs, they will
deal with it with the help of family members and their extended social
networks. Mexicans seem to be much less personally frustrated and angry although
they are certainly as worried as Americans.
However, I sense that they know that "this too shall pass" and they do
not choose to waste emotional energy on something that they perceive to be
beyond their control. They will be more
careful how they spend their money - but they will still go ahead and enjoy
their family vacations. In
cross-cultural parlance, we refer to this approach as "fatalism".
Fatalism is not always such a bad trait. Maybe, in these difficult
times, we can learn something from our friends whose cultures are more
fatalistic - they can give us a different, maybe more useful perspective, and a
way of maintaining our peace of mind as we deal with difficult times.
Read more about how we can help in Mexico
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RECENT PROJECTS
When we first started Keogh & Associates Consulting, LLC we thought that we would "stick to our knitting" and develop a niche in the world of cross-cultural consulting. Thankfully, we chose to listen to our clients along the way. Here are some of our recent projects:
Consulting with an international non-profit organization on "membership services" and Board governance in a multicultural environment
Change Management and Teambuilding in the pharmaceutical industry
Assessing global leadership qualities for a leading financial services firm
Candidate assessment for the senior leadership position at a prestigious educational institution
Seminars on global mindset development and cross-cultural issues for a global leader in health and beauty products
Keynote presentations for corporate client events and professional associations
High Performance
Teambuilding for the Management of the biggest manufacturing plant of its kind in the petrochemical industry
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