Mawi Asgedom's Blog, page 9

How to Survive Airport Delays

Many of you will be travelling over the next few days, so I'm going to share  a thought on surviving airport delays.  Over the last ten years, I've been delayed hundreds of times, as part of my speaking, author tours, or when I travelled weekly as a business consultant. One day, I was particularly upset because I wanted to get home, and then I realized a few things…

Oregon Trail: I used to play the video game Oregon Trail as a kid, and know that people used to trek across the U.S. in covered wagons, braving harsh elements, fighting for food, and enduring all manners of unexpected challenges, such as broken wagon axles. Today, even with severe delays, we make that same journey in days, and enjoy much greater safety and comfort.
Seeing Family: I thought of people like my mom. My mother, after being a refugee, didn't get to see her own mother for over 15 years.  Today, we take for granted that we can Skype, call, email, and see each other regularly. For 99% of history, moving meant that you might not see your family for years – sometimes never again.

Of course, it's still frustrating when we cannot spend the holidays with our family in the way we planned, or we miss an event that is important to us. But history clearly tells  us that we are blessed to see each other using relatively efficient and safe methods of transportation.

Happy Holidays to you, and safe travels…

Dream Time

I heard an interview recently with Steve Ross, the former CEO of Time Warner, and he shared something that inspired me.

As the story goes, Steve was at his father's deathbed when Steve's father gave him some advice, a dying father's last words of inspiration to his young son. Here was the advice.

There are 3 types of people in the world: 1) Those who get to the office and daydream all day long, without taking any action. 2) Those who show up at the office early and work all day long without taking a moment to dream. 3) Those who show up to the office, and for the first half hour sit back in their chair and just dream. The rest of the day, they take action and work.

Son, be in that third group. You'll find that there is almost no competition.

As a result of the interview, I've changed my morning routine. At least three times a week, I'll spend the first half hour of the day doing nothing but dreaming. No dream is too outlandish or crazy. I've already generated some great ideas and taken action on some of them.

How about you? What do you think of Steve's story? Are you giving yourself enough Dream Time?

To any Student who wants a Job Someday – Part Two

Last year, I wrote a blog post called A Note to any Student who wants a Job Someday, and I was startled at the huge volume of questions and emails I received from readers.  In the blog post, I argued that students should go beyond their standard school work and develop an  alternative Success GPA™ that focused on three types of key human capital: Awareness, Social, and Problem-Solving.

Inspired by the feedback from all of you, I have since:

Measured the Success GPA™ of over 500 college students and correlated their Success GPA with key outcomes such as job acquisition and on-time graduation. You can see the findings below. They're pretty amazing findings, especially the impact of Social Capital.
Written a book called The Success GPA: You are More Than Your Grades and Test Scores. You can read an excerpt and order a copy here.

I'm now building partnerships with high schools and colleges  who want to explore how The Success GPA™ drives key outcomes in their organization.  Here's the current research report.

The Impact of Siblings

Those of you who read my memoir, Of Beetles and Angels, know that I idolized my older brother Tewolde and that he permanently changed my life.

When I speak to students, I sometimes ask them to raise their hands if they have a younger brother or sister. I then tell them about my brother and challenge them to have a positive impact on their siblings. For those who don't have a younger sibling, I ask them how they can have that kind of impact on someone else in their life.

Do you have a sibling…? A close friend who is like a sibling? What could you do this week to encourage, challenge, or help them?

The Sandwich Rule

I start every speech by telling my audiences my Sandwich Rule. It goes like this…

"If you see me at an airport a year from now and tell me you liked my speech, I'll shake your hand. If you see me at the airport a year from now and tell me one specific thing you did to improve your life as a result of my speech, I'll buy you a sandwich."

How about you? Think of a speaker or author you like. If you ran into them on the street, could you tell them one specific action they've inspired you to take?

Unspoken Impact of Parents

It amazes me how often students come up to me after a speech and tell me their parents have given them the same messages I give.

Shows me that despite the doubts of parents, teenagers are really taking in many things their parents teach them – values, life perspectives, stories.

So parents, even when your students don't seem to be listening, continue to share those values and messages that are most important. Your kids may be taking in much more than you know…and they may describe to others, behind your back of course, how you have taught and inspired them.

Short Video from Recent Speech: Going to Walmart with My Father

Few things terrified me like a trip to Walmart with my dad. This is the first half of the story.

Your Worst Team?

Think of the worst team you've ever been on in your life. For me it was a school I worked at, where the teachers fought constantly with each other and no one listened to the principal. Unfortunately, the principal was me!  Leading that team was among the most humbling and frustrating experiences of my life.

How about you? If you could improve one team in your life right now, what would it be? Would it be with your boss, colleagues, or direct reports? Would it be a personal team, with your spouse, child, parent, or friend?

Last year, my company published a short book called Team Clock that offers the best model for creating healthy teams that I've ever seen.  It's 19.95 in print, but we've made it available in e-format for just .99 between now and Monday.  If you have a team that needs work, or want to prepare yourself to lead excellent teams, this book is for you:

Hannah's Bullying Story

I'm speaking at Chandler-Gilbert Community College today and just met an inspiring young woman named Hannah.  When she was growing up, Hannah was bullied for losing her hair, being Jewish, and generally, for being different. She shared her story in this 3-minute video.

Upcoming Fall Speeches

Here are some the speeches I'm giving this fall:

Today at Chandler-Gilbert Community College in the Phoenix area.
This Friday at DeKalb High School.
The annual conference for Florida Virtual School to 1600 educators later in September.
The American School in Taiwan (Can't wait to speak in Asia for the first time!)
At the NCTE annual conference in Chicago.