ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNAL: LAST LECTURE EXERCISE by Glenda Caceres

While thinking about what would my last lecture be to someone wanting to begin in the entrepreneur journey, some ideas came to my mind. I will make a summary of those and also complement them with some insights I have been developing during this semester.

First step to start in this journey for me is to make the decision to START In the field to fight the battles. Turn the “I CAN” in our favorite words and believe in ourselves even when sometimes we may failed. You should understand that you are going to try over and over again throughout our life because there is not effort without error and short coming. That will help you see what you are able to do and what do you still need to learn. For sure after you take the first step no one will never say you didn´t do it because you were afraid, instead of that you will gain experience and a possibility to keep going in that path.

After you take the most difficult step which is start, now is time to see what you are made of, who you are and what you are able to achieve, I call this “What is your calling in life?”.  It is important to know what I really want to do my whole life because this will give you vision about where you want to go and what you want to achieve. You also need to understand that even when we are able to accomplish anything because of our divine nature, in our way we will always need help from others, we don´t know how or when but, we know that as there is the chance to need help from others, we can be that help for them as well even when we think we do not have the capability to help them. Think about this question: What would you like to be known for?

Now that you are in the track, it is important to set up some strong guardrails as part of your everyday life pay attention to them when circumstances tempt you to violate their boundaries. The importance to be honest in what you do is what I learned here not just lying is the problem but also how you treat those around you. I like the story of the Emperor of flower seeds what a great way to teach and to know someone, sometimes we can be like that try to fool people just to receive their grace, but how hard is to be honest, even harder recognize that you try and nothing happened as the little girl. At the end we see what happened, she was the only one who said the true and was blessed for that act of honesty.  Do you think that one small failure in integrity is not big deal? There are some times when we are about to pass over the line and are tempted to do what is not right. I like the idea we were given the list of “I will never” and “I will always” guardrails.

As we know, we need partners to run our business. It is important to learn how to recognize those around you, and to think since now what kind of companions do I want with me in my journey? A friend who is full of enthusiasm, but disappears when the going gets tough? Or Do you want a friend who will stay with you and help you when the going gets rough? I liked the story of The Travelers and the Bear, which teaches about friendship and what the friend answers to the question. I understand that is always important to be surrounded by good people those who are willing to be one with you and that will help you in what you need but also will tell you what they think you are doing and how you are doing it, a friend who will keep me awake on the journey. But it is also important that we can become that kind of friend we wait for. We know that when we work as a team is more difficult to be defeated for others and that is what we need in the business area.

The life of an entrepreneur is not easy but if we have a good attitude and work hard difficulties can be bearable. There will always be stones in the road which will help us become better or help us grow. Most of the time we just need motivation to do things, maybe we worked hard and we didn´t get what we want at the beginning but after a while will be able to recognize the blessings of that hard work. We won´t be able to get much or to see the results if we don´t try again and again until we get what we want. I liked the story of The Crow and The Pitcher and how this didn´t give up and we know the result, the crow got what he wanted at the end, but after hard work. Are we the same as the crow? When faced with problems, are we willing to try , try again?. It is important to find some kind of people we recognize as an example of trying hard for what they wanted. I am bless to have family and friends who are always working hard to achieve what they want, that help me keep going at school, job and everyday life chores.

Another important thing and that we sometimes don’t do is rest. Do we think that we are so important that without us, things won´t work? A wise man said, “No one is indispensable.” Can you be humble enough to admit that the work can function without you every now and then? I like the blessing we have to rest one day of the week from all our labors and we focus on what is most important, remember Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. Since the old times we have that teaching and it was pass through generation to generation. It is important to have a proper and balance of work and leisure, if we do that over the time we will learned how to react over certain kind of problems and hold things more lightly or not worry too much or to be more open and flexible. As it was mention in one of the stories but, humans were not created for slavery; we were created for stewardship and relationship, purpose that involve creative labor but for which creative labor is not the be all and end all.

After you learn about everything that can make your journey as entrepreneur more comfortable and secure because you already pass through experience that taught a lot you are ready to go forward in the path you choose. Nothing can assure that you will be a successful one, but either the other way. We all need to learn from something. What if you lose and do things the wrong way? Even the big ones once passed through that experience but what make them different? The difference was that they kept going even when the circumstances were tough. That teaches us that we need to be prepared we won´t lose in the way that matter most, you won´t dishonor yourself, your dream, your companions, or your God. You will be faithful to the end, and in doing so, even in defeat you will triumph.

"Paths to an Entrepreneurial Career" by Ted Zoller

What path will lead to my success, I'm going to do this very quickly. I did analysis of all the dealmaker pathways, and there were bunch of different pathways and I'm going to just interpret this, this is the hand waving portion. I thought for sure most of the people who're really successful will start out in investment banking, go to business school, go to the investment banking world and come back to - get their MBA and then get into private equity or get into venture capital and become mega financial guys. Those are the guys, that's the pathway in the top.

Then I thought the other pathway would be, the person who starts a company, then who he starts the second company, who starts the third company, serial entrepreneur, that's the pathway at the bottom. Then I saw all these other pathways when I was studying their backgrounds and it was like, who are these people? These are the guys who go to corporations, they start working for large companies and then they, ironically, as they get senior in their career start working for smaller and smaller companies, private equity-backed companies or high growth companies, they left IBM to go work for some of the companies you all admire in Silicon Valley, while ironically there was a set of profiles that came about by looking at this work. And I did this really clever kind of pathway analysis and based on that I looked at the centrality of the pathway, and sure enough going and becoming a financial engineer will lead you to become a dealmaker, but not most likely.

 Being a serial entrepreneur will lead you to be a dealmaker, but not most likely. What's the most likely path? Getting to the C-suite of a large company and then backing into a private company. So what we've been saying is, go start a company. It's not a bad idea to go work for a company and then go fuel a company's growth. Is that interesting? Please. Okay. Can you cut out years by doing management consulting? Well, I think consulting - as a matter of fact, consulting is one of these pathways and there's - it's actually a very common path.

 This one right here is consulting and services company, so yes. The answer is yes. I wish it was definitive, but it was an interesting pattern, I didn't - that surprised me. So don't leave the idea of working for enterprises out. I'm not saying go work for the big huge corporations necessarily, but learn something that you can leverage ultimately in the building of your of entrepreneurial career.

"Avoid the Wrong Job" by Stan Christensen

Stan Christensen, Stanford instructor and a partner at Arbor Advisors, outlines a few of the erroneous career assumptions that land workers in an ill-fitting career. Don't take a job simply to build your resume; follow your passions, rather than guessing what an employer will want. The fun should outweigh the drudgery - even in entry-level positions. Don't feel that by taking one job, you're committing to a career; people switch teams often. And remain a generalist, rather than specializing in a single pursuit, as this will retain your flexibility and keep your skills from becoming irrelevant.

"An attitude of gratitude" By President Thomas S. Monson

The first thought I had was that of percentages.  Only one in ten lepers returned to thank the Lord after he healed them.  We are asked to give one tenth of our earnings in tithing (another act of gratitude), and I have noticed where I live that about one in ten people I know are LDS.  What other area does this one in ten percent apply?  Gratitude and the gospel are rare, and in economic terms, something rare then has greater value.  Living all the laws of the gospel including gratitude and tithing are ways we differentiate ourselves as Christians and hopefully we then become tools for the Lord in our communities. 

The second thought I had was that of the Savior’s comment in Luke 9:58 “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.”  The Savior really does understand every trial we face and has experienced it.  Even he, who was divine felt so very alone on many occasions.  He had such great power and yet he was still subject to the same difficulties that we all face.  I am humbled by his example and his unconditional love.

"A New Breed of Entrepreneur" by Larry Brilliant

Young people with mammoth commercial success have bred a new kind of philanthropic entrepreneur, says Google.org's Executive Director Larry Brilliant. And Brilliant also explains his optimism in smallpox, using it as a case study on a managed disease that once killed half a billion people worldwide. Through global unity and a concentrated effort, akin to what Google.org strives to accomplish in other areas, the virus was eradicated; thanks, in equal parts, to scientific discovery and philanthropic will.

"Make It Personal and Make It Work" by Sheryl Sandberg

Connecting community and making information accessible are the two overarching threads that run through some of the most successful companies of the last century, points out Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. Here, she cites her own personal career path that began in the non-profit sector and evolved into technology, and numerous examples of companies with purpose, drive, and scalable vision, including Google, Apple, Nike, and Starbucks. She speaks of these as case studies to drive home her point on effective leadership containing a vision that will scale over time, place, and product line.

CONSTANT TRUTHS FOR CHANGING TIMES by President Thomas S. Monson

I loved the quote President Thomas S. Monson shared about luxuries and necessities. He said, "Avoid the philosophy and excuse that yesterday’s luxuries have become today’s necessities. They aren’t necessities unless we ourselves make them such." This is so prevalent in our culture. Look at cars, and phones. years ago, only people that were really well off had these luxuries, now everyone and their dog has them. One of the greatest things to learn, is to learn to do with less. Living within our means is key to financial success. I think that applies to businesses as well. We should not go in to extreme debt to finance a giant business we are launching. If we are launching a giant business, we may want to get venture capitalists, or partners that have more means at their disposal. If we are insistent on starting our own business, and owning 100% of it, I feel like it is wise to stay within our means, maybe that means you run it out of your basement until you have enough income to rent a building. Bootstraping has proven to make business more efficient at managing available resources. 

I also loved President Thomas s. Monson's call to action when he said "We cannot afford to be complacent." It is so true that we always need to be on our guard. The media around us is always influencing us, independent on weather we want it to or not. If we do not want to have thoughts about drugs, and alcohol cross our mind, we should not be listening to songs about it, or watch television shows where that is prevalent. 

“Microlending: Toward a Poverty-Free World”

1)  Describe real-life economics. What implications can this have on a society?

In society it may have a great implication since we can see a huge cliff between poverty and wealth.  The Economy is responsible of creating the world we live in and also many times this economy tells people what to do according to the role they are assigned to.

Economy as well influences in the mind-set of people and organizations making them believe that everything depends on what they have and own (wealth) more than in their capabilities (poverty).

As we can see, the economy label the human beings in the “labor” class, and this because the economy doesn’t believe that human beings are creative, that have aspiration, ambition, desires to accomplishment and they are brave enough to do new things.  There are few persons that are out of this label class, they are called entrepreneurs and those entrepreneurs are treated as royalty in this world.  Again we can see the huge cliff : there is the royalty (entrepreneurs) and those who have born to serve the royalty (Labor force). This is the misconstrued vision that the economy has been managing throughout the years but now we know that all humans being are and have the potential to be entrepreneurs to create their own opportunities to grow.

2)  What is your personal opinion of the Grameen Bank? Why do you believe it has been successful?

Well, I think the Grameen Bank was an amazing way to prove that the economy is based in erroneous misconceptions about poor people. I really like the fact that this entrepreneur could help those people in Bangladesh to develop their potential that because of the society and the barriers they constructed, have been hiding.

In my personal opinion I think it worked because with these loans, Yunus could teach those people to be self-reliant because he trusted in them. These hard-working people showed him that they were willing to work hard and develop their skills, abilities, in order to make of their villages a better place to live, breaking those barriers that the society and economy constructed. Also because of this great opportunity that these people had they could demonstrate to the whole world that everything is possible if you have the desire to improve.

3)  Do you believe that a poverty-free world is possible?  Why or why not? 

I do strongly believe that we can have a poverty-free world, even though it’s a long journey.  As Yunus, I think that if economy promote and offers credits to those poor people, it would be a homogenous world. Credit should be for all and not only for people creditworthy. For me that is something ridiculous and with lack of sense.

As we can see, the marketplace is open for everybody who has the desires to demonstrate their talents but also it’s filled with greed people who only believe in making more money instead of give the opportunity to poor people to progress as a human being.

We have to create social- consciousness to the Enterprises in other that they can offer a formidable competition based in talent more than in greed.

It is also required the intromission of the Government with legislations that gives support and promotion to those people with desire of progress. 

I also think that if all people are treated the same way, we wouldn’t have social or economy labels. It wouldn’t exist poor either rich people.  Human beings are not born to suffer the misery of hunger and poverty, rather they have born to enjoy of all the resources we have nowadays and that Our Father in Heaven has created for us.

I really agreed with what Yunus said “Don’t give up dreaming, Be a dreamer and keep on trying to make the dream come true. Dream about the world you would like to have. If we all dream about a better World, I can guarantee you that we will create a better world”.

ATTITUDE ON MONEY

What is your attitude toward money?

As brother Gibson taught in his talk, money is really important in our daily life. It is true that we should not think that money is the only thing that matters in our life but it is a very useful tool these days to make good in the world. I really like when Bro. Gibson pointed out that money can make good persons better. I was touched by the story or Bro. Hunstman and how he helped the needy even when he didn’t have many resources. I do believe that we should seek for richness to make good and help our brethren.

How can your view of money affect the way you live?

I think that having a perspective of how money can affect my life if I don’t use it wisely will make me be more aware in order to prevent future disasters.  My grandma has always taught me that having debts is the worst thing ever. Thanks to her teachings, I can say that I know how to use my money wisely. I’m 23 years old and sometimes it’s pretty hard for me to have a budget or to restraint for some things I would like to buy but as she taught me, we need to prioritize and see what’s what we really need in that moment and what is something that can wait. 

Also in these past years, I’ve learned that having an amount of money saved is very good because can help us in situations in our life that we suddenly appear.  I really want someday have the enough money to be able to help my brethren in different countries around the world, and who knows, as bro. Gibson did, I can start my Music Academy for free in countries that have been hit for disasters or problems.

What rules are recommended for prospering?

I really like what bro. Gibson said:

•    Seek the Lord and have hope in him
•   Keep the commandments (tithings, fasting, etc)
• Think about money and plan how to be self-reliant
• Take advantage of leaning. Education is the key to opportunity.
• Learn the laws upon which the blessings of wealth are predicated.
•  Help those in needs.

MINI-CASE: DO YOU FOLLOW YOUR CHILD?

For as long as he could remember, David Hopkins wanted to be a successful high school football coach. He even dreamed of joining the college ranks one day. In late 2000, after having achieved an enviable win-loss record at a smaller school, he was named as the head football coach at a large West Texas high school that had a long tradition of winning state championships.

On the same day, his wife filed for divorce. She cited Hopkins’s many days on the road as the primary reason for their separation, and announced that she and her four-year-old daughter were moving back to her East Texas hometown.

If you were Hopkins, what would you do?

My answer: 

Well, if I were Hopkins first, I would talk to her and explain her the reasons why I accepted the job that I guess were pretty much thinking about how to provide better for my family and give them all what they need. Second, I would ask for forgiveness because nothing can be more than families and in this particular case, I was cheating on her not with another person but with another thing that took my time and adsorb me. Third, I will ask her to reconsider her decision for the health of our little child and for ourselves and fourth, I will promise her that I will prioritize my family beyond everything else and that I will give them more and quality time. In case the marriage couldn't be saved, I would maintain the relationship with my kid letting her know that I love her no matter what happen between her mom and I.

Comment below your thoughts and opinions!

Mini Cases: THE NIGHT OF HER FIRST DANCE RECITAL

It is the night of your seven-year-old daughter’s first dance recital. You have been promising her for weeks that you “wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

An hour before the show, the phone rings, and it is your largest customer. There has been a fire at his plant, and he wants you there immediately. He will not accept anyone else and makes it clear that you will lose his business if you do not come.

What do you do?

My answer is this:

Well, for me a promise is something that has a strong value in my life. so If I promised my daughter that I would be there to the recital and unfortunately in that specific date that I was set for her something happened at work, I would have still stayed with her. I can totally understand that work is very important for us as members of the church because allows us to be self-reliant and help us provide for our families, however, God teaches us that family is most important that anything else. If I lose the business for not going because I chose to stay in my daughter’s dance recital, then it would have been worth it. I know that the Lord will bless me if I put my family first in my life.

Comment below your opinions! :)

"Formula for Success" By President Thomas S. Monson

Something that really stood out of my mind in this reading was the Formula for success that President Monson said:

• Fill your heart with love
• Fill your mind with truth
• Fill your life with service

To watch the entire talk click here: Formula for Sucess

"Think Big" by Taylor Richards

March 21, 2011
At the Rollins Center at BYU

Taylor Richards, founder of Taylor's Boats, gives inspiring thought and proposes that we "Think Big".

"License to Pursue Dreams" by Marissa Mayer

Passion and momentum build when skilled employees have access to great tools and the time to stretch them in new directions. Marissa Mayer, Vice President of Search Products & User Experience at Google, discusses the groundbreaking company practice of setting aside 20 percent of an employee's time for creative projects. By her own assessment, nearly half of the company's most recent launches came from ideas sparked during this unstructured time.

HEART OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Two things stuck out to me in this interesting review. One "Japanese companies and other successful market-oriented businesses know that change is inevitable and, therefore, keep their organizations learning." "If there’s a project that everyone down the line agrees has a three-fourths chance of succeeding, the odds of getting that project through eight approval levels are one in ten. Many executives will justifiably say to themselves, why bother? (The Japanese have learned how to make rapid decisions by consensus without bogging down in layers of bureaucracy.)"   Wow! It just impresses me that someone has it figured out already.  Why don't we?  The key here is "learning," one of our purposes here on earth is to learn and with that said; companies can't stand in limbo in the market and expect to do well.  Opportunities of growth are always knocking at the door, and surrounding us yet if the mindset is to just go with the flow of the norm; it isn't saying much for a lot of businesses.  That's why entrepreneurship is such an attractive mindset; flexibility and creativeness are what some people and companies lack unfortunately.

     The other statement I liked is: A project can win the support of 99 people and then get scuttled by just one rejection. An entrepreneur, though, can be rejected 99 times but go ahead if one crucial respondent gives approval.  It is funny; this reminded me of missionary work. Our ward mission leader said for every 5 people who reject the message of the gospel there is 1 that will want it. Obviously the numbers are a little different here, but its the same principle. Missionaries as well as entrepreneurs have to be flexible and creative in their service/work sometimes. Sometimes just like in missionary work, businesses have to change things up and come up with different strategies of doing things to prosper. If it isn't broken then don't fix it. Yet if it's not working well then you need to at least adjust something.

To read the entire article click here Harvard Business Review

THE DIP BY SETH GODIN Summary

Write about the principles that you have learned. How do you want to apply them into your own business?

The principle of being the best on what you do. That is an interesting fact to think about, for us as students sometimes we think that we just need to study to finish the career, but we should try to learn as much as we can in order to be the best in what we are going to do, that will bring benefits that will be a blessing for you. Remember that people is always looking for the best of the best, they won´t go for something or someone who is not the best because there is a risk that could take a wrong one, so be the best of everything.

Quit doesn´t mean that you are a looser or a quitter. Sometime is important to quit to take a breath and them keep going.  There are cases and opportunities that will lead us to quit, that in a long term will help you to evaluate your position and what do you need to do or stop doing if you want to keep going. Maybe you need to start all over again if it is necessary for the business you should consider it unless you can recognize this as THE CUL-DE-SAC.

The big opportunity. Going to the dip is one of the most important things for me, it is not easy, it is scare and others around you will tell you to quit, but at the end the satisfaction you will get is going to be big. As we mention before there are going to be times where you need to quit instead of keep going and that doesn´t mean that you lose that means that you have the courage to start all over again if it is necessary.

The opposite of quitting isn´t “waiting around”. The idea of start all over again fresh with new ideas and changes will bring a great change for what you want to do. It is important to take the decision in the right moment and to do it thinking that this will is the best choice.

Which principles of the book do you agree or disagree with? Why? State your argument and defend it thoroughly.

Actually all the above I am agree with but the one that got my attention is the last one, quitting isn´t “waiting around”. As it was mention before quit is not a bag choice, of course it can go worse or it can go better but the important part is to do it and how to do it, the dip goes the way you want it to go because is flexible, that is something that got my attention because I thought that it was just one way but to know that our effort counts makes me feel that it worth to try.

As the example giving in the book about the employee who wanted to quit because he thought he was not growing and as a result he got a promotion, I am sure that was something unexpected but it was a good result for him, just because he had the courage to quit and to start all over again. 

I am completely agree with a new beginning, most of the time that let you learn something new and help you recognize that you can achieve more than you thought. Maybe at the beginning it can be difficult but if you work hard the process which is important also will change the end of the process.

Pretend that you’ve been asked to speak about this book at a seminar. Write your report as if it is your speech. What would you say?

The dip, a book that will help you recognize a lot of factors that you might be facing in your life, not just talking about business but also decisions, to know when to quit and when to keep going is very important.

This book not only will help you if you are interesting in business but in all areas where you can take an important decision.

As simple as to know about a favorite ice cream flavor, every detail is important in order to accomplish the goal.

If you want to be the number one but you don´t know why, the book will tell you why is important for you to being the number one.

If you are afraid of quitting, read the book you will understand why is important sometimes to let it go or start all over again.

There is always an opportunity for everyone, you just need to be ready to take it and to be able to recognize it.

Quitting is not the same as falling, they both have different meanings and to know the difference is very important specially if you think that quit means you lose everything.

I will recommend this book to be read because it will help you clear your thoughts and doubts as well. Whenever you face a problem or difficulty go over the book and analyze it.

Message to Garcia

“The world is overpopulated with planners, procrastinators and political schemers.” This was one of the main points that really stuck out to me when reading it. There really are many people who procrastinate and put things off and aren’t go getters. Many people blame it on the day and age we live in with all of the technology. Yes this is very true, but there was a part mentioned about how this was the case even before technology and TV. The writer talks about how deep down inside we all want to change the world and do something that will make a difference. The key to actually performing that would be to get up and not lay around anymore. I also really enjoyed the videos. The second video focused a lot on service. He may not have meant it that way, but that is how I took it. He talks about what people think when they first meet someone new. Automatically our brains focus on the “How and What?” How can this person benefit me, what do they bring to the table and are they worth my time? This cannot be the way we approach things; we have to see first what can we do first to help them?

To read more about this article click here.Message to Garcia Article

Leadership with a Small "L" President Kim B. Clark

Brigham Young University–Idaho Commencement

December 14, 2007

At this long-awaited and very important rite of passage in your life, Sister Clark and I extend to you our congratulations and our love.

Brothers and sisters, it is your destiny to live in a remarkable time.  It is a time of turmoil and great wickedness, but also a time of miracles and heavenly blessings.  With your future in mind, we have sought to prepare you to become disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ and leaders in your families, in the Church, and in the world around you.

The Savior described the kind of leader we hope you will become in these words:

. . . Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.

But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;

And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: 

Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.1

The call to be a disciple-leader is a call to minister and to serve.  It is a call to lead as Christ leads.  It is leadership with a small “L”—the kind of leadership that builds and lifts and inspires through kindness and love and unselfish devotion to the Lord and His work.  It is the kind of leadership that we need at every level of every kind of organization in the world and in every ward and stake in the Church.  It is the kind of leadership you will need to build an eternal family.

The Savior’s life is full of wonderful examples and powerful principles of just this kind of leadership.  I would like to share with you today three principles of leadership that are important in any place you will work, but are especially powerful in leading a family.  I know that all of you will need these principles in your lives.

Principle #1: Lead by Example

The Savior established this principle when He said, “what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am.”2  One of the most important things that leaders do is what they do.  In your family, your most powerful influence on your children will be the example of your life.  That example includes the actions that you take and the principles and values that guide you.  Your children will watch you very, very closely.  They will learn from you and follow your example—(eventually!). 

This is wonderful news!  It means that you can lead your children in the paths of righteousness.  I know you all want your children to be obedient and faithful, to love the Lord, to have the Spirit in their lives, to receive their temple blessings, to build an eternal family, and to bless you with grandchildren!  The best way to lead them in that path is to be in that path yourselves.

You teach your children to obey the commandments of God by keeping the commandments of God.  It is important to talk with them and tell them what you are doing and why.  But it is in the doing that there is real power to shape their lives.  If you want to teach them to love the temple and to see its power and importance, put pictures of the temples on your walls, have lessons about the temple in family home evening, and go to the temple often.  In this, and every other gospel principle, your life can be a living model of what you want your children to be.

Principle #2: Lead with Vision

The Savior used this principle all throughout His ministry on earth, and He uses it now. On many, many occasions he prefaced a parable with the words, “The kingdom of heaven is like . . .”3 and then He would connect a principle from familiar day-to-day life with salvation in His kingdom.  He always held before His disciples, and holds before us, the ultimate purpose of our work and our lives.  He gives us the vision of what we should do in our daily lives and what we might accomplish eternally if we will follow Him.  One of the most important things that leaders do is to help the people they lead understand the larger meaning and purpose of their daily work. 

In your family this means teaching your children how cleaning their rooms, doing their homework, keeping the commandments, and learning to love each other is connected to exaltation in the celestial kingdom as an eternal family.  It means filling your home with the Spirit.  It means putting pictures of the Savior on the wall along with pictures of your family and teaching your children the connection between them and the Savior.

But it may also mean leading your family through times of grief and pain caused by death or illness.  It may mean teaching them and showing them that staying the course, moving forward despite the pain, is deeply connected to your family’s eternal destiny. 

Principle #3: Lead with Love

The Savior’s life, suffering, and death are testimony of His perfect love for us. Everything He has done for us, He has done because of His great love for His Father and His perfect love for us.  There is a powerful principle of leadership in John’s words about the Savior’s love: “We love him, because he first loved us.”4  Effective small “L” leaders learn to energize the people around them through love in action.

To you mothers and fathers and prospective mothers and fathers, the very most important thing you can do for your children is to love each other and support each other and help each other become everything Heavenly Father wants you to be.  You stand before God and your children as husband and wife, father and mother, equal partners in the sacred responsibility of creating an eternal family.

As the leaders of your family and faithful disciples of Christ, you will put love into action.  You will care for your children and nurture them.  Every week in family home evening you will teach them to love and serve one another and to keep the commandments God.  You will support them and encourage them and love them enough to put structure and discipline in their lives.  You will pray with them and read the scriptures with them every day.  You will lead them with love.

In conclusion, I would like to leave you with a request and my testimony.  Here is the request: When you leave here today, please take the Spirit of Ricks with you.  Please take BYU–Idaho and what it means and what it stands for with you.  You now represent the university.  I hope and pray that wherever you go, whatever you do, the people around you will see in you the principles and the purposes of BYU–Idaho and will feel the Spirit that is on this campus. 

My dear brothers and sisters, I bear witness of the Lord Jesus Christ.  He is our Savior and Redeemer.  He lives.  He is the great Exemplar of leadership.  He leads us today.  I bear witness that this is His work, His church, and His kingdom, restored to the earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith.  Gordon B. Hinckley stands today where Joseph stood.  He is the prophet of the Lord.  You have a marvelous destiny and a great work to do in the kingdom.  I pray that no matter where you go, no matter what you do, you will always be disciples of the Savior and lead by example with vision and love.  In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.

HOW TO START AN ENTREPRENUERIAL REVOLUTION

1.              Which of the “Nine Prescriptions for Creating an Entrepreneurship Ecosystem” stands out to you the most, or seems the most effective? Why?

I think that the most important for me it’s #6: Tackle Cultural change Head-On. Because thanks to this, we can see that nations as Chile and Ireland have been changed for a good cause. I think that governments can also help to change this cultural issue thanks to those successful entrepreneurs that have been working hard for their countries, facilitating programs and other stuff such as communication media as a window for future entrepreneurs who wants to work  hard to achieve those goals as well . Because of many of those successful entrepreneurs, the whole nation can be seen as a new one and it would be good for the country to have a good image for new investors (foreign).

2.              The 7th proposed “prescription” is called “Stress the Roots.” In the context of self-reliance, why would this particular prescription do so much good? Also, what relationship can you find between “stressing the roots” and the trials you have faced in your life?

This can do so much good to those new entrepreneurs who want to run a business and don’t have the funds they need as a capital. This action also helps the governments control the projects because in order that they give money to these entrepreneurs, they also ask for result avoiding with this the frauds.

However, as members of the church we have been taught that we should be self-reliant and good stewards. By knowing this, we are going to be able to manage our resources in a wisely way and will help us avoid the laziness and develop our entrepreneurial spirit.

While reading this part of the lecture, something stood out in my mind: “In fact, the hardships of resource-scarce, even hostile, environments often promote entrepreneurial resourcefulness.” I really can testify about it because I have seen it in my life. There have been days when I didn’t even had enough money to make a dinner so I had to use the little resources and my intelligence in order to create something new that can cover my needs. Sometimes it is necessary to “stress the roots” a little bit so the innovation can come up with power.

3. Based on this article, why is the relationship of plentiful resources and entrepreneurship so ironic?

I think is so ironic because if we have plentiful resources, we are not going to be able to explode all our entrepreneurial capacity. We are going to live “fine” thinking we have all what we need and we can fall in a circle of routines that might numb our senses. Having less resources will help us develop in a faster way all our skills, capacities and talents in order to look for new alternatives and innovate in the market. It’s ironic because sometimes we complain about the poor resources we have, but instead of complain we have to see those as opportunities and challenges to grow as entrepreneurs and build and solidify our character for future situations.

If you want to buy or read the entire article you can click here: Harvard Business Review

However Long and Hard the Road by Jeffrey R. Holland

"Success often depends on our ability to hang in and hang on". What a great message from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland given to the student body of Brigham Young University on January 18, 1983.

Good things to come by Jeffrey Holland

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland recalls his days as a poor young father with a broken-down family car and testifies that for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, there are better days and good things to come.

To Read the entire talk click here: Good things to come

Leadership and Capability by Carleton "Carly" Fiorina

I think leadership is about three things: capability, collaboration, and character. Let me talk briefly about those three, and then I'm going to take your questions. Capability. Of course, when we think about capability, we think about skills, we think about experiences, all of those things are important. But sometimes, the most important capability you can have  is the capability to ask a question and hear the answer.

Every time you go into a new situation, you have to ask questions to understand what's there. I tell people all the time that the single best leading indicator of whether a business is doing well or a business is doing poorly  is customer satisfaction. Customers always know what's wrong. They can't always tell you what they want, but they can always tell you what's wrong. And every time they tell you something that's wrong, it's an opportunity. So I think income statements and balance sheets are lagging indicators, very important. But an income statement or a balance sheet is a representation of decisions already made. Somebody's bought a product, that's revenue you post. A manager's made a decision, that's an expense you post. Lagging indicator. Real important, but you're looking in the rear-view mirror. They're things that tell you where a business is going. Asking the right questions of customers turns out to be really important. Customer sat is a vital leading indicator for businesses.

And if you doubt me, way back in 2002, we were going through the proxy battle and the merger, and I made the incredibly outrageous comment that Hewlett-Packard would become the leading technology company in the world, and would beat both IBM and Dell. Everyone thought I was nuts. By the way, it has since happened. But what was interesting: people said, "How do you know you can beat them?" I said, "Well, because we can replicate their cost structure, we can replicate their distribution model, and because if you'll observe, our customer sat is going up, and theirs is going down." The truth is, Dell's problems were all foreseeable. All you had to do was look at the fact that they had quit innovating, they had stopped taking risks, they were relying on the same competitive model for too long, and their customer sat was straight down. It was only a matter of time. Which is why rate of innovation, the ability to take risks, the ability to celebrate new ideas is also a leading indicator of a business. So capability: you've got to ask the right questions. Capability: you have to celebrate new ideas, take risks all the time, try new things.

Because however good the answers you have had are, every person, every organization eventually reaches a time when the old answers aren't good enough anymore. And then the only thing that works is creativity and new ideas and risk taking and innovation. The other important part about capability, I think, is to keep learning, to learn something everyday. I'm older than most of you, so I can say this with some certainty. But you know, you see people who are in their 40s and 50s, and some people at that age, or 60s, or 70s, or 80s, and some people in that age group are vibrant. And some people aren't. And a big part of that difference is, the people who keep learning, who keep trying new things are vibrant. And the people who stop learning and stop trying new things are old before their time. It is why, or maybe it's another application of something Charles Darwin said. Charles Darwin said, "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but those most adaptive to change."

Passion vs. Money by Guy Kawasaki

Passion vs. Money febrero 19, 2003
Guy Kawasaki  |  Garage Technology Ventures
Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Lecture

Whatever you build, says Kawasaki, it's about passion, and less about money. Your goals should be about changing the world, or making the world a better place, he says. He also talks about his experience growing up thinking that money was the most important thing in life. He advises students to study abroad and to spend as much time learning as possible.

Stand True and Faithful by Gordon B. Hinckley President of the Church, April 1996

I honestly loved this message so much. There are so many things I really enjoy about this talk.

"We believe in being true. How very important it is to be true to ourselves. Each of us has a thing we call conscience. We know the difference between right and wrong. We do not have to be instructed concerning what is good and what is evil. I think we know that. We know when we have done the wrong thing, and we suffer pangs of conscience. We know when we have done the right thing, and we experience a sense of happiness. To be true to ourselves means being an example of righteous living in all situations and circumstances.

Being true to ourselves means being honest. It means being honest in school. We cannot afford to cheat or do anything of that kind. Suppose that you needed a life-saving operation. You would not want that operation performed by a surgeon who had cheated in medical school, would you? Of course not. We go to school to learn and to equip ourselves for the work which we will do in the future. It is imperative that we take advantage of the opportunity to learn. The Lord has said concerning us of this Church that He expects us to study and learn. I know of no other church that has scripture instructing its people to pursue secular knowledge as well as spiritual knowledge."

There are some lies that the world tries to sell us such as women don't need to study and prepare because they will stay at home raising children but this is what President Hinckley says:

"I urge each of you young women to get all of the schooling you can get. You will need it for the world into which you will move. Life is becoming so exceedingly competitive. Experts say that the average man or woman, during his or her working career, can expect to have at least five different jobs. The world is changing, and it is so very important that we equip ourselves to move with that change. But there is a bright side to all of this. No other generation in all of history has offered women so many opportunities. Your first objective should be a happy marriage, sealed in the temple of the Lord, and followed by the rearing of a good family. Education can better equip you for the realization of those ideals."

I do strongly believe that the words of President Hinckley are being fulfill nowadays. We live in a very corrupted worldm however, we must always stand true in our believes and values and always have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ because throught him, we can accomplish averything.

Also something that stood out in my mind is when President Hinckley referred to our mothers.

"Your mother is your best friend. Never forget that. She gave you life. She cared for you, nurtured you, nursed you when you were sick, and looked after your every need. Listen to her now. Talk with her candidly and confidentially. You will find that she will keep your confidence and that her wisdom will prove to be wonderful."

To watch the whole message go to General Conferences

Mastery by George Leonard

This has been a great book to help me develop my own expectative, it makes think how to be successful, I learned that exist certain principles and processes behind success that if I follow it will help me to become more successful. Whenever someone is successful in a certain area of life, what that really means is they have mastered the laws of cause and effect in that particular area. Success is not a chance; success is mastery.

I learned that mastery is the process where what was difficult becomes both easier and more pleasurable, I must gain mental discipline to travel further on my journey, and I need to be diligent with the process of mastery.

After I had climb the top of the mountain, I must climb another, I must be patient while I am applying the long-term efforts, I must demonstrate courage, and maintain flexibility in my strategies and in my actions.

Exists types that are in opposition of mastery:

The Dabbler is one who starts many new things and makes good progress initially, if I’m not constantly and actively growing I press myself harder and faster. Eventually the Obsessive burns out and move on to something else.
The obsessive, lives for the growth spurt in a skill.

The Obsessive’s learning curve rises quickly, meets obstacles, which the Obsessive tackles by redoubling his effort, getting more books and tools and trying to figure out ways to get better results faster and cheaper, and then burns out in a short while when he finds that the curve is not a straight line upwards.

The Hacker, once the Hacker has passed over the first major growth spurt and is on the first plateau he just stays there. He does not actively spend time trying to learn and grow. He just tinkers with the bit of skill he has developed and remains satisfied at that level. The Hacker’s learning curve rises quickly, meets an obstacle or two and then plateaus out on a straight line. The Hacker does not consider the need for more instruction or rising above that level. He is content with level reached and plans to stay at that level.

Keys of Mastery:

The first key is instruction. Leonard recommends that to be on the road to mastery the pupil needs an instructor. The second key is practice. Any music student has heard this over and over again. Without practice, the instruction is wasted. The third key is surrender.

The concept of surrender refers to being willing to fail at attempts to become better. The fourth key is intentionality. This is “keeping your mind in the game” or “your eye on the prize”. The idea here is to maintain a clear vision of where you are trying to go (even if you never get there).

The final key to mastery is the “edge” or the constant urge to challenge and press the limits. This is what keeps the student from complacency and keeps the student moving forward on the path.Having a conscious awareness of the process of mastery has helped me in every area of life, especially on my personal development quest to become a successful entrepreneur, and in with my possibilities, I would help others to develop their potential. 

After all, success in any endeavor is really just about mastery. 

Loyalty to God and Family by Jan Newman

March 7, 2011
Rollins Center at BYU

I really like this video because it shows us that we have to be loyal to God and our Families even when we have our plate full.

Brother Newman mentioned us that when we are single, there is plenty of time for everything such as friends, callings, school, etc; but when we get married, we make a committed with God that our family will be first beyond everything else.

He said that we will always find time for everything. And We have to know to manage it. I really love when he said the scripture in D&C 1:12 " It's require a willing heart and  mind".

It doesnt matter how much money we can make in our company and business, what really important the most is the Legacy that we are going to leave: "Our Family" and how well we have serve in the Kingdome of God.

We as Member of the Church of Jesus Christ should always show others integrity, because people outside is always looking us and if we show integrity, they will want to work with us, be with us, and our family will have a good legacy.

Three Lessons About What It Means to Be an Entrepreneur by Wences Casares

After taking a three year sailing trip to reflect on his experiences, Wences Cesares, Founder of Lemon Bank and Wanako Games, shares his three most important insights. Cesares counsels that

1) Entrepreneurship is a calling that chooses us--it is inescapable
2) Time is our most valuable asset and
3) Entrepreneurs create the most value by doing the same thing for a very long time.

WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW

Wences Casares 

mayo 01, 2007

Endeavor's Entrepreneurs' Summit

The Entrepreneur and the Family by Steven Blank

In this video, Steven Blank is trying to make us understand that Family is much more important than our career.

Someone from the audience asked him this question: "what advice do you have for balancing the demands of a family life with the boundaryless life of an entrepreneur?"

He joke with the audience telling that if they want to do startups,  they should stay single because startups can be all-consuming 24/7,  anc can suck us dry.

Steven also mentioned that for those who are married, they should set some rules in their families that are going to help them focus in what is really important.

Many times, we got dragged for the amount of work we have in our daily day and we put aside our loved ones. I have a question in my mind: is it really worth it? 

I strongly believe that it's not worth it. Not even the whole money from the world can buy a moment we lost  with our family when we dont sort appropiate the priorities in our life.

So a message from those entrepreneurs that are missing the vision: " Keep your family closer than your business, if you don't want to lose both".

TO WATCH THE ENTIRE VIDEO CLICK BELOW

Steve Blank

 Noviembre 11, 2009

  Entrepreneurial Thought Leader Lecture Series

HOW DO YOU FIND YOU PASSION AND HOW DO YOU PERSUE IT? by Randy Komisa

While thinking about this question, one question came up to my mind: how does somebody choose their passion? I know this is particular with students because I am one of them. Rather than thinking about the passion, free yourself up to think about a portfolio of passions and the task is to marry that portfolio of passions to the opportunities in front of you.

The question that will paralyze you, two questions will paralyze people. One is, what is the passion that will paralyze you? Because now you're going to optimize amongst 10 things that seem like they might be your passion or not. The other thing is, what's the ultimate question? What is the ultimate thing that you're going to do with your life? What is the ultimate mark you're going to make? What is the farthest horizon that you can articulate? Those two questions will drive you crazy and paralyze you.

I find it the last, the second question was theorized and needed to be simplified to north, south, east, or west. What are my values? What do I care about? And to think about a horizon rather than a point on the horizon. Because the horizon by definition is always outside of your grasp. But it can give you a direction. You can know that you're heading north not south. Then comes the issue of how do you make a decision today based upon, you know, the things you need to do or feel you want to do. Well that's a foreground/background issue. No! Forget the horizon. I'm facing north. What are my opportunities facing north? What's in front of me or what's proximate? What opportunity can I create facing that direction? Forget ultimately where I go. Look right in the foreground, what's there? How do they sync up with my passion? How do they sync up with the passions that I have today? And now if it comes an issue of just choosing between right answers.

Randy said in the video about  A discussion with a good friend he has who's an analyst with UBS and they were talking they said, you know the biggest issue is not choosing between a right answer and a wrong answer. That's easy. The hardest thing to do in life is choose amongst right answers. It's the issue of optimization. Optimization will drive you crazy.

And so the issue in my mind is to make a decision based upon a set of right answers as they marry up against what you really feel here about them. And then do them. And so you got this notion of, you know, you got 10 doors in front of you you're going to walk through one. You have that immediate sense of loss. Nine doors closed. Guess what? Ten doors just opened. And if you begin to see life that way, it becomes easier to make decisions and move forward. My career makes no sense at all in the windshield. It only makes sense in the rearview mirror. And that I think applies to lots and lots and lots of people in their lives and careers. So if I was going to write an epilogue, I think I would address those two issues and try to clarify them a little bit.

To Watch the video, just click below

PERSEVERANCE by Elder James E. Faust

"Perseverance is demonstrated by those who keep going when the going gets tough, who don’t give up even when others say, “It can’t be done.”

By Elder James E. Faust 

April, 2005

For me it was interesting to learn that, we need to develop skills in order to become intrepreneurial, it is not easy and many times we will fell down but, in order to achieve what we want we need to have the courage, keep trying and do what it is necessary. As the example of those talented men even when they were born with talent they need to walk the extra mile to develop the necessary skill and be better than others because mastering a skill requires dedication, so character has to come before talent. How much dedication do you think we will need to become better in something? How much time will you give personally for this?

I like the quote: “Perseverance is far more important than skill or talent. You have to have a mindset that never gives up, no matter how tough it gets.

As president Faust mention a similar phrase: Perseverance is demonstrated by those who keep going when the going gets tough, who don’t give up even when others say, “It can’t be done.” This is not an easy task to accomplish but it is a MUST if we want to achieve something. Things won´t be easy and good at the first time, maybe we will need to try many times, but in the process we will learn and improve our skills. I also thing that it is important to have in mind the steps he mentioned:

Things you can learn that would bring opportunities and blessings to you:

1. How to organize and use time wisely
2. The importance of hard work—that you reap what you sow
3. Leadership skills.People skills. 
4. The value of gospel study. 
5. Respect for authority. 
6. The importance of prayer. 
7. Humility and dependence on the Lord 

Which of these steps do you think is the most important in your opinion? if you would re order which one would you put first?

I know that many of us are still in the beginning of the process, we still have a long way to go, but we need to keep going and keep trying until we learn what we need to leard and will be able to do what is necessary to marter our skills and goals.

MOST ENTREPRENEURS ARE NOT ROCK STARS

what do you think about this statement? Do you really believe that only rock stars can be entrepreneurs? well I will share this video with all of you and I'd love to hear what do you think and what do you learn about it.

SPREADING HAPPINESS Case by Erica Mills

This case was really interesting because it shows us the point of view of this entrepreneur Erica Mills and it shows us how she dealed to run her business.
This helped me have an idea about starting a business and about the challenges I would have to face in the market, with our clients, raising money, making decisions.

These are some questions that will help us put ourselves in the position Erica was by separating his familiar life with the business life because she was wanting to start a family with her husband.

1. How did Erica Mills’s business benefit by her willingness to listen to advice from others?

The fact that she was able to see and to listen what her friends needed and think about cards and what their necessities and opinions were, helped her a lot to have an idea in what to work with. After she knew what the people necessities were it was better for her to focus in specific things and further on develop different ideas on her own business. Since she worked before hand with ideas in a portfolio, she knew what to start with.

2. If you were in Mills’s position, would you pursue a path of slower growth or faster growth? Why?

I think that the path that Mills took was the best for her and for her business. Because of my personality maybe a slow growth is not for me, but I am sure that it all depends in what you are working on. There are some businesses that need faster growth because of the demand and other that are fine with slower growth.
I think that is important to follow a path that you feel comfortable with and that you can manage. This will of course depend on how you plan everything and are able to manage the situation and opportunity.

3. Given that you had sought faster growth, which of the four areas of possible investment would you target first? Why?

I think that increasing sales and marketing efforts is the first area I will invest in. My opinion is that if we are able to get more clients and work in marketing all the other areas will develop and be covert by effect. When a product is show with good publicity to the target market it will bring good effect at least to start than all depends on what the product will bring. There are many ways of marketing as we can see: F2F, direct publicity, Advertisement, and in this case Mills uses the effect that people spread the world.

This case is really interesting because will open up your mind as entrepreneurs. 

To download or get this case you can go to Harvard Business Review