…sorry, I’m an idealist, hehe!

Currently I’m married, and her majesty is open to it but our current plans are based on my house; I have to remain a resident at least 2 years before I sell it. Additionally, she’s got a good gig at Cingular, and I’ve got a good gig at BellSouth.

However, you never know in this volatile world. Regardless, I’m definately open to making it happen after my 2 years is up and the real-estate industry is hopefully not in shambles, then it’s a very viable plan.

I think there is quite a dif between messing up and screwing up your brand compared to making mistakes. Making mistakes is great. God knows I’ve made billions and will make many more in the very near future. Learning a language alone is making one mistake after another. But if you don’t screw up the grammer or sentence structure or use the wrong word, nobody is going to correct you and in the end you don’t learn as much. Not to say you should go out of your way to make mistakes in the name of “learning more!” but I’m positive we are the same wave here, so I won’t delve into it. Whereas messing up your brand is a bit different as in you have to rebuild not skills or memory or something tangible, it’s an ideal that has to be rebuilt. An personafication of a person that must be reborn from the scrap that just became of your current brand due to whatever might have happened, in your power or beyond. It’s tough to explain fully and I firmly believe we could sit down to a whole day of discussing this had we the time and patience and of course actually lived anywhere near each other as to anybody I think, it’s quite an important subject.

On the negative attitudes thing.. there are people like this EVERYWHERE. There will be times when there is absolutely nothing you can do about it, and times when you can. If you can get them out of there, then go for it, if not then other work around it or cut and run as you’ll only end up wallowing in the same mud that they are… and that sucks. Some people will always think they can better themselves by cutting you down, and it sucks but that’s the price you pay for standing out and being who you are I guess. I don’t know if it’s “tougher” here in Japan (yes I’m still here..) or not, but there is a saying that *everybody* knows. Translated directly it means that “Any nail that sticks out of the wood will get hammered in”. I hear this all the time actually. But it doesn’t phase me, due to just plain confidence. I welcome the confrontation? hmmm not quite the word I’m looking for, but more of a challenging feeling.. hmm well I hope you get the idea, because I know that I can then use that as a chance to take another good look at what I am, and what I’m doing. Then it’s just a matter of improving on it. Then the people who are too busy attacking to work on themselves, just get left in the dust.
I don’t think I have all the right answers or anything, but I got a lot of opinions based on past experiences! haha.. I hope I don’t sound like I’m preachin’ on your comments here.

So… what’s stoppin’ you from taking off to another country?

One of the things the speaker drove home was, again, this has nothing to do with performance. There is no guarantee between you and the employer that your blood and sweat will ensure your continued employment. Working hard is noble, but results matter, not the effort. This concludes in that most people employed in professional positions are there because of their performance anyway, all other things notwithstanding, so it?s a ?given?.

Therefore, the reverse psychology idea of work harder isn?t the point of what he was talking about, I don?t think. Mainly because your investing in yourself, not your job. Your making sure that you stand above the crowd of talented people next to you. I see your point though? things like ?be positive, find projects that matter to the bottom line, increase the good perceptions of others towards you? all add up to productivity? but they rightly should, ya know? I mean, all of those things are good, so if BellSouth/IBM/whoever gets more out of you because of you doing those things, they are both mutually exclusively good I would think.

I totally disagree with the messing up part, though. We learn more in our failures than our successes, and that in itself is an opportunity to showcase you learn from your mistakes. Some of the best companies embrace failure; if your not screwing up, your not pushing the envelope. I hope in your case your in a place that does that because from reading your posts on lists, I know your smart so I would hope someone would nurture that attitude. Fear of failure should not be reinforced. If you don?t f?up, your not trying.

?or did I totally misconstrue your point?

Now, it?s very interesting that you bring up the point of those who would attack your brand. While I was waiting to thank the speaker, a lady asked him about that very thing. What do you do when people wish to attack your brand? They are jealous, don?t understand your success, and figure bringing you down will either elevate themselves or at least ease the pain. The speaker didn?t have an answer, but was intrigued.

I personally think that negative attitudes of bringing people down in a team is a rotten apple in the barrel syndrome, and those people need to be removed if their attitude doesn?t change very quickly. Therefore, a lot of your successes may not appear to be as noticed vs. your failures, and many will go out of their way to illustrate the former to bolster their cases. However, those in charge if they are worth their position will recognize your initiative to try and additionally see those trying to belittle your accomplishments. Someone who is constantly bringing someone else down, from my standpoint, will be recognized for what they are and in no way negatively affect your position.

I sort of see what you mean about determining your worth. Again, the speaker merely touched the iceberg, and all of those knowing who you are, determining what you want to do, and going for it once your out of your comfort zone, did really apply to current US business. Still, the speaker himself has people in utility companies in countries all over the world? so I think it?s judging more about who you are vs. what your worth.

I wish man? if I could go live in Australia or the UK or Germany or China or Japan to work for awhile, I would! Thanks for the comments man.