August - September 2001  

World Bytes

The Greatest Risk is Not Taking One

by Terrance Malkinson

A Thought to Chew On

It takes courage to do things that go beyond conventional thinking and that have uncertain outcomes. Career building, for example, involves risk. These risks are related to taking on difficult assignments, questioning management, doing things differently, and standing out from your peers. There's also always the risk of financial ruin and the risk of embarrassment, not to mention risks taken when you change employers or explore other countries and cultures through foreign work assignments. And of course, the risk of failure is real and always present as well. But the personal growth and development, learning experience, and overall excitement of the career-building journey make the risks worthwhile.

Courage is an inner quality that comes through when we are faced with taking action despite uncertain outcomes. Positive values or beliefs drive you to respond. Visceral emotional responses to the risks are countered by your inner strength, which encourages you to act in spite of the uncertainty and potential discomfort or even failure. 

Each of us has a unique set of skills, experiences, desires and values. When we add courage to these, we bolster our career-building capabilities. And whether the result is success or failure, we gain as individuals and we provide inspiration for others to act with courage, too.

The opportunity and choice for career success is yours. The greatest risk to your success is to fail to act with courage. So set your course and focus on the finish.

Other Bytes and Tidbits

Here are just a few of the many things going on in and around the global engineering community.

• A study of staffing practices in foreign subsidiaries of multinational corporations is the subject of discussion of an article by Anne Harzing in Human Resource Management, 40(2): 139-158, 2001. Insights into the factors influencing the decision between hiring parent company nationals versus host country nationals are examined in detail.

• "Japan Inc. On the Treadmill" is the title of an article in Economist.com/globalexecutive (3 July 2001). The article discusses strategies that Japanese companies are using to boost productivity.

• "Globalize Yourself" and the "International MBA" are included in the 30 July 2001 issue of Economist.com/globalexecutive. Both provide career-building insights into MBA programs that will prepare you for an international career. Related to this is the release of the 12th annual edition of Which MBA? This guide, available online through the economist store, helps readers assess and compare leading business schools around the world and provides insight about what to look for when selecting a graduate business school.

• "Time to Rethink Labor Migration" is the title of an article by Robert Taylor in Financial Times (22 June 2001; go to www.CareerPoint.com). The author analyzes the often misunderstood and emotionally charged issue of the international movement of people in search of work.

• "The Right Way to Be Fired" by Laurence Stybel and Maryanne Peabody can be found in the July-August Harvard Business Review (79(7): 87-95, 2001). This article offers tips on managing this unfortunate event. By adopting an "assignment mentality," the authors say, you'll see each job as a stepping stone in career building. A related article in HR Magazine (46(6): 197-209, 2001) provides insight from a corporate point of view about how companies plan their layoff strategies.

• A major story this month was the blocking by the European Commission of General Electric Company's proposed $42B acquisition of Honeywell International. This decision ended what would have been the world's largest industrial merger — one that U.S. regulators had approved in May. Career-savvy individuals monitor and analyze issues related to such international corporate initiatives and ask such questions as: What are the key issues? What are the go/no-go decision criteria? What will the impact be on the company, employees, stockholders, and competition? They also examine the leadership styles of the decision-makers, and try to determine whether those styles, the initiatives or outcomes could signal the start of a trend for the future.

• Two books examine the leadership style and corporate values of General Electric. Business the Jack Welch Way by Stuart Crainer (published by the American Management Society, 1999, ISBN 0-8144-7033-5) discusses the 10 ingredients of General Electric CEO and Chairman Jack Welch's leadership style. Control Your Destiny or Someone Else Will by Noel M. Trichy and Strafford Sherman (published by HarperBusiness 1994, ISBN 0-88730-670-5) provides insightful discussion of the principles Jack Welch, one of the most feared and respected business leaders, used to transform GE into a vibrant organization. Reading these books will serve you well in your career building.

Terrance Malkinson is a proposal manager/documentation specialist with GE Capital IT Solutions Inc.