Patience

Those who do not respect your time will not respect your wisdom either.

Patience is the weapon that forces deception to reveal itself.

Why is it that I get annoyed in certain situations that I should simply disregard?  It is because of expectations.  Because of this, I sweat the small stuff.  As a director, I can't be a "small-stuff" person.  I try to be a "big stuff" person, but I still struggle with this. 

Tardiness is probably the biggest thing that I get annoyed with.  I know that I should overlook it and having lived in Los Angeles for five years, I should have had enough training in dealing with people who are tardy.  But, time and time again, I see someone who is tardy when dealing with me as someone who is insulting me.  "Your time is more valuable than mine?"  "I have to wait for you?"  I'm fine with valid reasons for delay and get irked with myself with I'm late.  I recently moved and early on, miscalculated the commute to work and for a while, I was a few minutes late for about a week.  UNACCEPTABLE!!  People who are late because they seem to think that there is not an issue with this eliminates them from my activities.  Unfortunately, this goes against the grain for the Middle Eastern culture which happens to be the biggest customer base at my Center.
Patience is a good thing.  Patient people are often kind and accepting of the faults of others.  If I've decided to be in a profession where I can help people, then I need to learn how to be patient.  As the old saying goes, "Patience is its own reward."

http://daniel-j-stone.blogspot.com (C) 2009-11

Decision Making

Champions make decisions that create the future they desire while losers make decisions that create the present they desire.

It was 2009 when I was delivering mail as a rural mail carrier for the US Post Office.  I've never thought that any job was beneath me and since collecting unemployment was a new thing for me, it was something that I wanted to remove from my life as soon as possible.  I interviewed for such places like Adidas and local government agencies only to not get an offer.  The sign in the post office about working as a rural carrier got my attention and I figured, "Why not?"

Fast forward to 2011, I now reside in Columbus, OH and recently bought my first home.  One of the prerequisites to make this happen was to have 24 consecutive months of employment history. Since I have not been with my current employer for that long, I had to use my time at the Post Office to satisfy this requirement.

Deciding to take a job because of my industrious spirit was the difference and banking on the future regardless of your age will allow you to be successful.

On the other hand, I know of a woman who gave up her full-time job with benefits to take a part-time job with the hopes of it becoming full-time.  The economy has been bad for over three years and may take 10 more years to rebound.  I realize that it is important to spend time with your children when they are young, but how will she provide for them as they grow older?

http://daniel-j-stone.blogspot.com (C) 2009-11

Comfort or Character?

Often people will not pursue an opportunity or make a change because it is more comfortable to keep things as they are and not buck the system or accept the test of their true character in the face of uncertainty.  They hold on to a situation when they need to move on or move on from a situation when challenged.

Being an "Average Joe" who has had to fight, scrape and bleed for everything that I've ever had in the past twenty years, I dare say that if you are reading this you have trouble coming your way. Not everyone looks for trouble but trouble always seems to be looking for you. 

What are you going to do when trouble finds you?  As for me, I will confront it head on since avoiding it will only prolong the situation and make it worse.  I know that I will stumble and I may fall.  But I will not give up. 

That is my advice to you:  Don't let the comfort of what you have always known to be what is known as the status quo keep you for allowing your character to accept and eventually pass the test of a troubling situation.

It is better to have tried and failed than to go through life not knowing what it would have been if you would have tried. 

http://daniel-j-stone.blogspot.com (C) 2009-11

In the spirt of "Kaizen"

Kaizen, the Japanese phrase meaning, "continuous improvement" is the cornerstone of Japanese companies that have gone on to become global powers such as Toyota.  Progress must be spun anyway you can in order to acheive kaizen.  For example, when a food service provider at a small college goes from charging its students full price for the meal plan but serve next to nothing to the students for over the two-week Winter Break to serving box meals over a four-day holiday and overcharging the students with product that the students find undesirable to providing box meals and charging what the aggreement calls for despite the box meals not meeting expectations forcing students away from campus housing, believe it or not, kaizen is taking place.  Why?  The school was charging students for meals and not providing any meals in return to charging students for meals which were provided. 

But, in the spirit of kaizen, more work must be done since the goal is to have 100% occupancy with on campus housing which is more likely to happen when students are having their expectations met.   

http://daniel-j-stone.blogspot.com (C) 2009-11

Philosophy on hiring, training equalling retention, managing and creating ownership with staff and faculty

When it comes to hiring staff and faculty, my philosophy is to hire based on the candidate's  attitude and then train them for the skill needed to do their position effectively and efficiently. It is important for me as the local hiring director to find a good fit to the company's system. Once a good fit is found, every effort is made to have employees trained to optimize retention.

Once this has been established, the atmosphere is one where staff and faculty are allowed to conduct their tasks without being hindered by being over supervised. The ownership mentality comes full circle when staff and faculty are given the opportunity to lead a training session or being given an opportunity to provide input on an upcoming meeting or operational matter. In particular, instructors are encouraged to be creative in the classroom as long as they are adhering to the Objective and
Evaluating Criteria sheets, using the established curriculum as the base and completing coursework in the time that is provided.

http://daniel-j-stone.blogspot.com (C) 2009-11

Why an International Student should come to Columbus, OH

http://daniel-j-stone.blogspot.com (C) 2009-10

E-mail etiquette- When the situation is not good

Anybody can write an email when the situation is good and the desired results have been met. But, what do you do when the situation was not good? Like, when your host institution closes up shop for the Winter Break and you have 30 international students that are expecting lunch and the main dining hall on campus is closed and the nearest restaurant is a good two miles away?


In maintaining the proper e-mail etiquette when the situation is not good, please note the following:

First, it is important to watch your tone and do not let your emotions get involved when constructing your e-mail. Even if the person is dead wrong, you do not want the person to feel that they were attacked. Next, convey understanding and empathy for their perspectives (even if you don't agree) while at the same time information is being conveyed. Lastly, a good rule of thumb is, if you don't want it on the front page of the New York Times, don't press "send".

http://daniel-j-stone.blogspot.com/ (C) 2009-11