Hey You Millennials – Want to Be Taken Seriously? Wear a Tie

Last week, I attended a business workshop on revving up your business, and this week I’ve met with a handful of young adults interested in sharing their ideas, and growing their businesses.

Instantly upon meeting them I knew I’d be going away empty handed. Within seconds of meeting these individuals on separate occasions, I already felt that they just weren’t serious about their own success – so why entrust them with my success?

How’d I know this so fast?

None were dressed for success.

Hey, don’t get me wrong – I have my favourite pair of torn and worn blue jeans, soft and cuddly warm fleece hoodies, and occasionally on weekends I’ve been known to skip shaving, and maybe not even comb my hair.

But when meeting someone for business or professional purposes, unless you’re a well known rock star and already have a bank account bigger than mine, you’d better be wearing a tie.

Okay, a tie is a bit over the top in this modern era of corporate casual dress.

But ripped blue jeans, tattered T-shirts, and uncontrolled body hair are just too relaxed for making that all important first impression.

Even when I do conference calls from the comfort of my home, I dress professionally – and I don’t have a video phone.

I find I’m in more of a professional mindset when I dress like a professional, so I can ask the tough questions and figure out pretty quickly if you’re worth my time – or not.

Maybe that’s my secret advantage – just dressing for success. Perhaps those still in their pyjamas are more ready for bed, than talking business, so when the tough questions need to be answered, they yawn away any attempts of winning me over?

That’s great if I’m negotiating a better price – but really sucks for them because they just got taken to the cleaners.

What’s worse – for us both – is we feel our time was wasted, because my bias is to not take anyone seriously if they themselves don’t take themselves seriously.

And the easiest way to show me how seriously you need and want my business, is really very simple – dress professionally.

So listen up you millennials – I know who you are – sitting there in your parent’s basement, sipping on your diet caffeine free flavourless colas, wearing torn jeans that are three-sizes too large and your favourite Justin Bieber or Katy Perry T-shirt – drop the useless cola, put on some decent clothes, and dress like you know a thing or two about being a professional.

And then, I’ll treat you like one.

End of story.

Investing Is Easy, Getting Investors Isn’t

With the success of entrepreneur investment shows Shark Tank and Dragon’s Den, you’d think if you came up with a great idea, getting someone to back that great idea would be easy.

Think again.

These are tough times. Millions of people have been displaced in this economy than ever before – even the Great Depression of the 1930’s wasn’t so bad.

Which makes me wonder why the bean counters that track our economy STILL refuse to call this period in economic time what it really is – a depression – but that’s another story.

I’m in the process of raising funds for what will be the next big thing. We know it will be the next big thing, because we’ve based it on the successes of other companies, combined those successful elements, and created something which no one is doing here.

We’ve got a sound business plan, lots of additional documentation, and we’re in the process of forming our teams, of handpicked people to lead us to success.

When I mention in passing what it is I do, people perk up, and immediately show interest.

When I go to potential investors, they to show immediate interest, but when it comes to putting their money where their mouth is, they suddenly become very quiet and defensive.

Or worse, they try to sell me on their investment ideas, so that I become the investor.

Like my bank – or now former bank.

A great way to lose a client is to say “no.”

A sure way to lose a client, is to continue to try to sell them on a product or service, without actually HEARING them and their needs.

My bank, BMO Bank of Montreal, kept trying to sign me up for a business account, without any inclination of whether they would even consider providing a business loan, or business line of credit. They wanted to hook me by the nose, by getting me to sign on for a business account product AND THEN they’d talk about business loans and lines of credit.

I don’t want to start a business account until I know the bank is fully behind me, or at the very least, has the best business products suited for my business.

And I felt like I was in a used car dealership, as the young Asian kid, with horrible English, continued to ask me to sign up for a business account, completely ignoring my needs for start-up funding.

Small Business Banker for GTA Central – or at least that’s what it says on her business card – didn’t even have current literature I could review with her on current business banking information. When I initially if she had any information, she pointed me to the website – which although useful, wasn’t why I took the time to come in and meet with my branch.

Upon my telling her directly that she wasn’t very helpful, she got up and brought me BMO Bank of Montreal’s Better Business Banking Guide, which was dated 2011 and already had pen markings from others she had tried her sales pitch on.

And again, although we’re looking for the best financial institution to deal with, we’re looking for more than just a place to invest our business dollars.

We’re looking for a place which provides the financial support services which a business needs, not just an account number to make some banker earn her commission.

Maybe I’m old fashioned, but I believe in building relationships, and working with people to achieve great things. I don’t believe in just buying a product or service from just anyone, and hoping for the best.

BMO Bank of Montreal lost my business, because they failed to listen to my needs. I got a pre-rehearsed sales pitch, instead of someone actually hearing what I was looking for.

Ironically, I went next door to the neighbouring Bank of Nova Scotia, and immediately met with the Branch Manager, who actually listened to my needs, and provided some real information which I could use.

Maybe they’ll earn my respect – and my business.

Which is a great loss to BMO Bank of Montreal, because we will be huge. 

Has Our Digital World Destroyed the Next Generation?

As I grow my new business, I’m talking to all sorts of folks who are looking for work, and want to join my fledgling new venture.

But I’m noticing a disturbing trend with many of the young adults I’m talking too – sort of a lacklustre aloofness. It’s as if they are just floating through life, without a care in the world.

I’m not unsympathetic, when I was in my early twenties I was still very much discovering myself. 

But at least I was trying different things, taking on the adventures the world tossed my way openly, as I feasted on all the new things I was learning about the world around me, and myself.

But kids today seem to lack that sense of self-exploration which my generation had. They are too tied to their mobile devices, their tech toys, and their small circles of close friends which are also tied to their mobile tech toys.

Has our digital world destroyed the next generation?

Are kids today so enveloped in technology, they have forgotten the world around them?

I’m building an on-demand television network, so when someone tells me they've always wanted to be on television, shoot a camera, edit a video, or just work within a television production, and I ask them why, I expect a long-winded answer.

Usually when someone is really interested in something, you can’t shut them up. If someone asks you about something you are passionate about, you should be able to go on, and on, and on – like the Energizer Bunny. 

But when I ask young adults why they've always wanted to be a TV reporter, host, producer or any other role we have, I usually get a deadpan answer more fitting for someone about to have a root canal than talk about their life-long dream.

When I ask them what they watch, read or listen to for inspiration in their self-admitted life-long dream, they usually tell me they don’t watch, read or listen to anything of the sort.

Even before I did my graduate work in broadcast journalism, while I was doing my undergraduate degree in a completely different field, I watched every major newscast, listened to various radio news shows, read all the daily papers, numerous magazines, and biographies of all the big name reporters, news anchors, publishers and producers.

If someone asked me why I wanted to be a journalist, I’d light up like a tree at Christmas, talking up a storm about the business which fuelled the fire of my soul.

These days, the only thing apparently igniting the souls of our future generations are their tech toys.

They are nose-deep buried in their mobile devices, texting tweeting and updating their social networks.

Although to a degree, I’m also buried in my mobile tech toys, I still have a passion, an interest – hell – a life – outside and away from my digital world.

Although I’m starting a digital media company, I know there is more to it than just being immersed in the digital world – as with any technology-based company.

No matter how dependent upon technology we all become, end of the day, it’s not iPhones, BlackBerry phones, laptops or tablets which make the world work – it’s people.

There’s an old saying, that those who are exceptionally good at what they do, have a real passion for what they do. They don’t just go to work, they go to play.

I've always believed in that – and hoped my passion for my work shone through in my work’s quality.

However, I’m concerned that future generations are so digitally distracted, they lack any passion for what they do.

Not just because the quality of their work suffers, but ultimately their lives suffer too.

What’s the Value of Human Resources Anyway?

As I build the next big thing in digital media, and I plan the departments, teams and people, I’m forced to put value judgments on those bodies in cubicles.

Although none of us wants to be just a number, end of the day in business, often that’s what we are.

I've never had great experiences with any Human Resources team. Personally, I've met some really nice, friendly and creative people on those teams. Unfortunately, when it comes to actually doing their jobs, they aren't very nice, friendly or creative – or worse – they use those attributes to their personal advantage.

Isn't it odd, that when major Fortune 500 corporations do mass lay-offs, you rarely, if ever, hear about anyone from Human Resources getting a pink slip?

Note that I've never been laid off from a Fortune 500 company, so this isn't sour grapes – I’m merely stating the facts.

Headlines scream about thousands of front office (that means administrative, secretary-type gigs) getting the boot, middle management, even the occasional C-Level executive, but I can’t remember when I've heard of anyone in the Human Resources department being let go.

It makes some sense, naturally we’ll all do whatever we can to protect our income, and if you happen to have an inside scoop on a massive hiring or firing phase within a company – which Human Resources does – you’ll use that to your advantage.

Though Human Resources is supposed to manage the most valuable resources any company has – it’s people.

However, they don’t do that very well. Most people I've worked with in Human Resources are not people persons. They don’t communicate well with others, lead people on, and are horrible at managing time leaving things – often really important things – to the last minute or after-the-fact.

There was one company which I worked at for quite a while, and from the moment they offered me the job, I just knew their Human Resources department was a pickle of problems.

When I was first offered the job, the hiring manager offered me the gig, and said human resources would be in touch over the next day or so with the paperwork. A week passed and I hadn't heard back from anyone, so I called the hiring manager, asking if there was a problem?

She was notably upset with the Human Resources team, said they should have called me by now, and said she’d get someone to call me by the end of the day.

Another couple of days pass, no call from Human Resources, but the hiring manager did call to confirm my start date.

I explained I still hadn't heard anything from Human Resources, she apologized, and said let’s clear this up now. The hiring manager conference called us all together. Right there on the other side of the phone, the director of Human Resources, the highest member of the Human Resources team for that company, promised to email me the paperwork before the end of the day.

The end of the day came, and went. I waited until mid-day the following day before following up. Again I called the hiring manager, explained I hadn't received anything, and asked her for advice.

She must have stood over the Human Resources director’s shoulders, because within 10 minutes, I had received the email.

It was a standard offer of employment template, welcome package and employment contract. I know it was a standard template, because none of it was completed. It said NEW HIRE NAME where my name presumably was to go, and NEW HIRE ADDRESS where presumably my address was to go, and NEW HIRE this and NEW HIRE that in all the other fields.

Sheesh – over a week’s worth of waiting for a standard templated new employee on-boarding package, and it wasn't even filled in – at all.

Although I was asked just to read it over,  print it out and sign it, I did the lazy Human Resources director’s job, and filled in the NEW HIRE fields with my information. Then I scanned and emailed the completed documents to my hiring manager. I didn't want to email Human Resources, because I didn't trust their team – and this was a company I hadn't even started to work for yet.

My first day on the job went smoothly, so too did my second. Then on the third day someone from Human Resources popped over to my office, to welcome me and say hi.

In all the years I've been in the workforce, no one from Human Resources pops over just to say “hi.”

We chatted for a moment, usual small talk about the job, how I was finding it, and my team. Then he asked me if I had a moment, to create a profile for their online employment tracking system, used by people outside of the company, who are applying to jobs.

He said because I heard about the job through someone else, and emailed my resume, they didn't have me on file, but wanted to update the database.

I was a little concerned, thinking maybe my job was on the line after only a couple of days. He re-assured me that everything was fine, but they like to have everyone who’s applied to work at the company in the same database.

“Just to confirm, I work here, right?” I asked.

He agreed – but still said I should be in the job applicant system.

I don’t know what Human Resources departments do, but I’m pretty sure it’s not people management, because shouldn't they be entering all their information into their own systems and forms?

I know they are supposed to be experts at employee/employer relations, employment law, and employee retention and recruitment.

But in all my experiences with them – and the story I've told in this post is just one of many horrid examples – they don’t do their jobs well – if at all.

So, as I build a digital media company from the ground up, I’m forced to ask myself – do I really need a Human Resources department? 

When You Start a Business, Everyone’ an Ideas Person

I’m starting the next big thing in digital media. We’re going to be grand. We've got a great product and service, which is just starting to become in high demand. The demand is growing, as mobile devices grow in popularity and functionality.

And I have the know-how to make it work.

We’re going to be mega-huge with a capital MEGA. I know from the reactions of those I talk to when I’m asked by strangers: “so, what do you do?

When I go to business or social functions and tell people what I’m doing, their eyes light up, all excited, as they ramble off ideas for my business to engage in.

Some of the ideas are pretty darn good. I take notes. I do – thanks to my iPhone.

Brain storming good ideas for products and services isn't hard. Even those who say they haven’t a creative bone in their bodies can come up with the most imaginative concepts.

I've got so many wonderful ideas, we’ll be good for several generations.

What I need as I start my business is good old fashioned money.

Money makes the world go ‘round, and it is the foundation for the success or failure of any business concept.

Problem is, when I ask people how they’d fund their idea, they tell me that’s my problem.

Gee – thanks!

Give me a great idea, tell me you want to be part of the next big thing, yet when I ask you how to make it happen, you tell me you don’t know?

Why don’t you tell me something I haven’t heard – like ever!??!

Every time, I ask if they have a funding formula, or idea for how to generate income on their idea, they tell me, that’s my job – they’re just the “ideas person.”

If we were all ideas persons – or for the grammatically correct – people – then nothing would ever get done.

Coke a Cola, McDonald’s, even your favourite mom and pop cafe would never exist, because although all were great ideas, money makes things happen – or not happen.

At business and social functions, I just laugh it off when I’m told money is my problem. The voice in my head though is yelling and screaming at the ideas person though.

And because –so far – no one but me can hear the voices in my head, I’m guessing it’s correct.

The voice in my head is yelling about how idiotic, stupid, dumb and some things I can’t repeat in a public, family-friendly environment, the ideas person is.

Creativity is an amazing talent.

Implementing that creativity is an even more amazing talent, because it makes it real.

And in anything in life, from business, to personal, to social worlds, making it real is the bottom line.