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2010 Executive Tidbits
Price of denim jeans: 47% under $25, 37% $25-50, and 16% over $50. |
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Check out Keith's other site:
Virtual Writing Coach |
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The
Executive Connection SM
a publication of The Virtual Executive
Coach SM
"Vision + Accountability = Success!"
www.virtualexecutivecoach.com
May, 2009
In This Issue:
1. Preview
2. Executive Summary
3. Jobless in America
4. Helpful Hints
1. Preview
The Executive Connection explores the creative and analytical
process of business development, team-building, and executive
development. We are an interactive community of executives
and small business owners who desire to network with like-minded
high-performance executives to enhance our knowledge,
skills, and aptitudes in the competitive business world.
Published monthly, the Newsletter offers coaching suggestions
around the topics of: business development, financing,
marketing, networking, incorporations, mergers, human
resources, governmental regulations, and tax laws. Topics
are presented from the perspective of Keith Barton and
represent only his ideas on creating and running your
business.
Because we are an interactive community of executives
and business owners, other viewpoints are welcomed and
may be printed in future monthly newsletters with permission
from Keith Barton.
2. Executive Summary
May, 2009
Dear Executive Connection Subscriber,
This month's newsletter features: Jobless in America
3. Jobless in America
I am saddened that my consulting business is up 30% in
2009 due to worries about losing one's job, having lost
a job, or working for a company that one no longer can
support its corporate values and behavior. Fortune 500's
current issue ranks the top 500 firms in every which way
but Sunday in terms of revenues, profits, return on investment,
price-earnings ratios, return on shareholder's equity,
market value, equity, employees, growth in profits, growth
in revenue, etc. Interesting that fifty years ago when
the rankings first appeared that energy, manufacturing,
construction, and durables were the big winners. Everyone
knows by now that durables (GM, Ford) and insurance (AIG),
construction were the big losers. Not surprisingly, consumables
(food) and household products (P&G, J&J) remained recession
proof.
The rankings mask the human loss of dignity when someone
loses their job and ability to feed their family. It's
depressing to hear stories from people that go to job
fairs, only to stare at thousands of other 50-plus year
olds staring back at them with blank looks. We are told
that we are a nation of talent, work ethic, and resolve;
yet, my job counseling lately is a meager attempt to turn
losers into winners again.
Take Jeff, a father of three, who worked as a truck driver
in Austin, where the housing market was crushed with sub-zero
loans and out of control inflated prices. He is behind
three months on his mortgage, the children pulled from
private school and being home schooled, shopping at Costco
(big Fortune 500 winner this year) and counting pennies.
His wife is working a daycare job with three-year-olds
making $10 an hour, unemployment benefits are running
out, and his 401k is now a 104k. Tell Jeff and his family
that he needs to keep hope while his savings is disappearing
faster than Houdini.
Jeff is out of sync with corporate America. He doesn't
own a Blackberry, doesn't use Twitter, text messages,
or have a laptop. Yet he drove durable goods to the loading
docks of stores across Texas for twenty years so that
we could buy consumable health items, food, and laundry
detergent. Rail is cheaper and has replaced trucking as
the transporter of durable and consumables in America
today. All Jeff knows is how to drive, stay on schedule,
and feed his family. Take this away from him and he is
reduced to a statistic that now approaches 8% and climbing
higher.
As I go over my litany of assurances that there is still
hope, Jeff's eyes glaze over and there is a lump in his
throat. The American dream for Jeff is replaced by his
personal nightmare that he cannot help his children go
to college, buy a car, or pay their rent. His wife's salary
barely pays for food and clothes. Jeff goes to outsourcing
sessions provided by his company that tell him how to
construct a resume (Jeff never needed a resume) that has
defined him the past twenty years, but no longer is relevant
in today's high tech economy. Jeff attends sessions that
teach him how to interview for jobs that don't call him
for interviews; he is asked to take courses in Office
Suite and inventory control when he doesn't even type;
he is asked to take a community college course in Business
Management 101 taught by a retired corporate exec who
is eons away from understanding Jeff and his need for
personal significance.
What can I tell someone who is depressed, angry, and displaced
from a third of his life? Networking is foreign to Jeff
who spent his life driving a one-hundred thousand dollar
rig across country in the a.m. hours and his only course
of conversation is talking to a fellow trucker at 5 a.m.
around coffee and grits. He's never heard of TARP, CARP,
SEC, AIG, nor does he care. He's out of work, reduced
to a statistic, and mad as hell. John Rich wrote a song,
Closing Detroit Down; the video has been featured
on Hannity's America. Kris Kristofferson and
Mickey Rourke graciously gave their time to the video
which describes thousands of Jeffs across this country,
who now must rely on government handouts which further
erode their dignity and self-respect.
Helpful Hints:
- What can life coaching offer Jeff in this composite
scenario? How would you begin the session? Would you
see Jeff if he couldn't pay you?
- The 2008 recession is real. For a review, look
at the February 2009 issue of Fortune for
the stories of "The New Jobless".
- Make the argument that counseling is more important to Jeff
than life or business coaching.
SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
The Executive Connection SM is a free publication.
If you want to continue to receive this Newsletter, you
can SUBSCRIBE
by clicking here or by sending a blank email message
to keith_barton@att.net
with the words SUBSCRIBE TO THE EXECUTIVE CONNECTION in
the subject line.
To
UNSUBSCRIBE click here or send a message to keith_barton@att.net
with the word UNSUBSCRIBE TO THE EXECUTIVE CONNECTION
in the subject line.
Be assured your name and email address are confidential.
We do not sell, rent or share our mailing list with anyone.
Contact Information:
Keith Barton, Ph.D.
Voice: 281-583-5005
Fax: 281-583-5008
Web: http://www.virtualexecutivecoach.com
E-Mail: keith_barton@att.net
(c) Copyright 2009, Virtual Executive Coach SM
and A. Keith Barton, Ph.D.
All rights reserved.
Distribution Rights:
The Executive Connection SM is copyrighted,
but you may retransmit or distribute it to whomever you
wish as long as not a single word is changed, added, or
deleted, including the contact information. However, you
may not copy it to a web site.
Republication of The Executive Connection SM
in paper media is encouraged and permitted by individuals,
organizations and associations, as long as the issue is
reprinted in its entirety, without change, and includes
the contact information.
With advance permission, we are happy to edit an issue
to fit your space requirements. Republication also is
encouraged under other circumstances. However, the advance
permission of
A. Keith Barton, Ph.D. must be obtained in the event that
changes in the text are desired.
The Executive Connection SM
Mission:
The Executive Connection SM is dedicated to
helping first-time business owners and executives to recognize
resistance to change, while they create and manage their
own businesses. My goal is to help you transform your
vision into a successful business venture with the addition
of accountability structures and silent partner.
The Executive Connection SM is a publication
of The Virtual Executive Coach SM and Keith
Barton, Ph.D.
We would like The Executive Connection SM to
be as interactive as possible. If you have feedback, comments,
topics you would like addressed, or can suggest additional
resources to benefit us all, please email us at any time.
Send your e-mail to keith_barton@att.net.
Please forward this issue to anyone you think would find
The Executive Connection SM interesting and
beneficial. Your recommendation helps us keep growing,
and ensures an excellent exchange of information and techniques.
Archives:
You can read previous issues of The Executive Connection
SM in our archive section.
About Keith Barton, Ph.D
Dr. Barton received his Ph.D. in 1972 from the University
of Texas at Austin and has been a practicing therapist
for over thirty years. He is a graduate of MentorCoach
and is accepting new clients.
He has been an adjunct professor at the University of
South Carolina, consultant to Fortune 500 companies in
executive development, founded and managed Texas Community
Living Ventures, Inc., in 1986 for providing group home
services to persons with mental retardation. Keith founded
and has been running a clinical practice in Northwest Houston since 1990.
He writes part-time with the goal of completing one novel
a year. His desire to coach others derives from his passionate
interest in helping others become attuned to their creative
powers of storytelling.
Dr. Barton has training in coaching, cognitive and family
therapy and health psychology. He has published articles,
made presentations and conducted workshops about:
Small Business Development
Employee Wellness Programs
Anxiety and achievement
Stress management
Self-esteem
Communication skills
Leadership styles
Core values in the workplace
Executive Development
High-performance groups
Physician support groups
Writer support groups
© 2009 The Virtual Executive Coach SM
and Keith Barton.
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