Business Lessons from sucessful entrepreneurs and business leaders: LunchLearning.com

Reading time: 2 - 4 minutes

Video Time: 28 minutes 19 seconds

Business is receptive to people of all specialties, educations and paths. While many people choose to focus themselves early on, there are just as many people who a long, meandering route and find that business was the proper fit for them all along. The long way around is rarely a detriment, however. Skills are built up, people are met and perspectives altered from going a different way. Ann Moore, the CEO of Time Inc. and named one of the most powerful women in America by Fortune Magazine, is one of those people.

Growing up in a family with strong teaching and medical leanings, she betrayed her family’s expectations by briefly studying math before moving to political science with the intention of going into law. However, it wasn’t until she graduated and found her first job after graduation did she find her true passion lay in business.

Even after joining Time, the variety of experiences and learning opportunities didn’t narrow. She found herself working in the finance department and, after a year, took a path that few trod and chose to work with magazines rather than its rapidly growing cable TV department. From there, she further developed her skills and expanded her abilities. This process made her a powerful asset no matter where she worked.

This interview outlines her growth in a compelling fashion. Learning is something that should be constantly happening. But even more importantly, working outside of your desired field, or even before you know what you want to do, can build critical skills. People from different places bring different skills that can offer highly unique synergies that could actually be core competencies once they are properly applied. A lack of focus can drive things just as strongly as a tight focus.

Reading time: 3 - 4 minutes

Video Time: 35 minutes 25 seconds

Marissa Mayer (@MarissaMayer on Twitter) is the Vice President of Search Product and User Experience at Google. She has become a much recognized face of Google, often seen in interviews and speeches discussing Google’s current goals and achievements. In this speech given at Google Press Day in Paris, Mayer goes into detail about Google’s past, present, and future goals as a company.

Mayer begins the lecture with a quick introduction to the components of the search experience, which are specifically: comprehensiveness, relevance, speed, and user experience. Mayer stresses how Google has focused on each component to fine tune the overall search experience. When she describes the early days of Google, she marvels at how much Google and the internet have grown. When search first began, people were ready to sort through many websites to find the information they needed, but Google put its focus on relevance, aiming to place the best results first. This made Google extremely popular, just through people spreading the word, without any real advertisements.

Mayer explains how as information has increased rapidly on the web, it has become even more necessary to use search, and things like relevance and ranking become extremely important. She talks about how much information seeking has changed since search and the internet were introduced. At one point, we would have gone to the library, or asked other people when information was needed. Now, Google can answer a question in under a second. And despite using a lot of new features and capabilities, Google has remained clean and simple. Mayer describes many of these current capabilities in detail, for example things like spell correction, alternate queries, and sitelinks, all help make search more efficient and effective.

So, what will the future look like at Google? Google is working on answering questions even faster, according to Mayer, their goal is the speed of light. Of course, there are also numerous new features that Google is trying out. Developments in cross-language search which uses translation to search multiple languages, or universal search which offers up multiple types of links like images and videos that are all the most relevant to your search. One very interesting new capability is personalization, which takes a person’s search history and uses it to make search more relevant to the individual. The last ten minutes of the video includes a question and answer portion, which focuses on Google’s new developments.

It’s incredibly exciting to see what Google is coming up with to broaden and sharpen our search experience! So, enjoy this intriguing video about the future of search, and of course, Happy Learning!

Reading time: 3 - 5 minutes

Video Time: 22 minutes 2 seconds

Let’s start off a week of important women in business with Sheryl Sandberg. It’s clear to anyone in the business-world that Sandberg has a pretty impressive resume. Currently the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, her past jobs include Vice President of Global Online Sales and Operations at Google, and Chief of Staff for the U.S. Department of the Treasury. This year she ranked #22 on the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business by Fortune.

In this eloquent speech at a Stanford Business School Banquet entitled “Faces of Change, ” Sandberg tackles the topic of “Women in Management.” Sandberg’s speech is a perfect way to start off this week’s topic, because in it she offers us practical advice on how to make the business-world more equal. While Sandberg asserts that much has changed already and we must appreciate this, there is so much more needed. Sandberg illustrates how women continue to struggle for equality in the work-world, currently earning on average only 80% of what men make, despite earning 60% of bachelors degrees awarded. On the Wall Street Journal’s current list of the top 30 wage earners, only one woman is on this list. She explains how women are still underrepresented in top positions of power in our society, and that women who have successful careers are less likely to be married or stay married than men with successful careers.

So, how do we change things, how do we make things more equal? Sandberg gives women advice on how to stay in the work force, even while balancing the demands of a family. Her pieces of advice fall under three categories: pretend you’re a guy, don’t leave until you leave, and make your partner a real partner.

1. Pretend you’re a guy. This basically comes down to confidence. Put simply, men are more likely to overestimate their achievements and are more likely to attribute their accomplishments to talent instead of luck. Sandberg encourages women to be proud of their success. Along with confidence, Sanberg emphasizes the importance of women negotiating in the workplace; make sure you’re getting paid what you’re worth!

2. Don’t leave until you leave. Sandberg describes the issues involved with women who want to start a family and sometimes make premature decisions about their jobs because of this. She urges these women not to slow down because of future plans, and not to make apprehensive decisions. If you decide that you don’t want to leave your work, do not slow down. Continue to strive, take that promotion.

3. Make your partner a real partner. Sandberg illustrates how, according to research, in most married households women do the majority of housework and childcare even if they work full-time. These women are essentially working two jobs. The importance of having a truly equal partner in a marriage is essential to making women more equal in our society and specifically in the workplace.

Sandberg doesn’t sugarcoat it. She’s hopeful, but doesn’t deny that it’ll be hard work. She hopes to see women have more choices in the near future, but doesn’t forget the fact that men need more choices too. For instance, if a man wants to be a stay-at-home dad, he should be able to, but as of right now this is not a common choice for males.

So, enjoy this inspirational and informative speech, and hopefully you’ll learn a little about what you can do as an individual to promote equality in our workforce. Happy Learning!

Thanks for joining LunchLearning.com today! Enjoy your Lunch!

Reading time: 2 - 4 minutes

Video Time: 19 minutes 30 seconds

Well this is it for me, its been great sharing with you this week. I want to end my series with a look towards the FUTURE. In today’s video Jane McGonigal (@avantgame on Twitter), and a researcher at the Institute for the Future, talks about how the social aspects of online gaming can be transposed onto the real world. She believes that the social networks in online games which allow players to effectively communicate to one another will eventually become the foundation for how we will use technology in the future. As an example Jane’s social game World Without Oil shows how people can effectively create multiple solutions to a large problem in a short period of time. Her game also demonstrates how people can use new technology to creatively solve problems when given the right means to achieve a goal.

New technology helps create better products and helps small businesses advertise in inexpensive ways. Technology like Google, Facebook and Twitter give entrepreneurs the resources to target specific consumers and streamline marketing. What might sound silly now, like making the real world mirror video games, might be as normal as checking an e-mail in the future. Technology and business go hand and hand and the partnership between these two economic giants help drive change. I picked this video to remind you that technology is your friend so play nice. I hope you enjoy it!

Happy Learning and Game On!

Reading time: 3 - 5 minutes

Video Time: 1 hour 34 seconds****Q&A starts at the 40 minute mark****

Mary Robinson’s resume of civil service work is impressive; she was President of Ireland from 1990-1997 and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997-2002. In this in-depth interview with Fred Andrle at Ohio State University, she discusses eloquently her continuing global human rights efforts.

One issue tackled right off the bat is the role of women in politics. The question of whether or not female leaders are inherently different or better than male leaders is raised, and while Robinson contends throughout the interview that women do bring a different perspective to the table than men, she’s quick to point out her view doesn’t mean that one gender is inherently better than the other in the realm of civil service. Her assertion that having more women in political and leadership positions is essential to progress is a simple but extremely relevant claim. The contributions females can and have made to public service are indispensable and we must continue to support and promote the progress of female leaders. Clearly, the issue of the role of women in the world comes up often in this interview, and there is much for us to learn as Robinson talks about her experience with women’s issues across the globe.

Robinson earnestly encourages us to become more active in our communities, and to research ways that we can affect global issues like human rights and poverty, and despite her knowledge of some very devastating situations throughout the world, she remains optimistic. Her thoughtful and often quick-witted answers illustrate her extensive knowledge and wide-ranging experience, and will certainly keep you intrigued throughout the interview. Hopefully her optimism and enthusiasm will inspire you to make a difference in your life and your community either through your own efforts at giving back or with ideas as to how you can create, or tailor your own business, in a way that helps address these world concerns.

Important points to focus on in the interview:

1. Her story of “the light in the window” while she was the President of Ireland, which shows her creativity in leadership.
2. The discussion of her efforts with the Council of Women World Leaders and other important organizations.
3. Her reaction to how the U.S. perceives the possibility of a woman president and the issue of sexism.
4. The discussion on women’s health issues, in which she passionately argues that this needs to become a priority.
5. The issue of global poverty, what efforts have been made to combat it and specifically how the private sector has become involved.
6. Her suggestions on how the individual can get involved in global issues and make a difference –Take notes!
7. Her discussion of the much accepted notion that the education of adolescent girls is essential to the success of developing nations.
8. The final twenty minutes of the interview which is the question and answer portion- it starts off with the problem of poverty here in the U.S. and what we as individuals can do to help.

Enjoy, and happy learning!

Reading time: 3 - 5 minutes

Video Time: variesSorry, but there seems to be no way to disable the auto-start on these!!****Q&A starts in the third part (only the first two questions are related to skin care)****

Today, Fortune magazine’s America’s Top-Paid Female CEOs sheds light on the growing number of women leading companies across America, an achievement that I’m certain will only continue, bringing with it the kind of diversity in business, that reflects the actual diversity of our world. Three cheers to business women across the world!

Searching for a video of a female speaker for today’s show, I stumbled on the story, so what better story to highlight then that of Andrea Jung, Chairwoman and CEO of Avon. In this “fireside chat” of sorts, Andrea talks a little about her life as the child of Chinese immigrants, her start in the retail business and her path to the top seat at Avon.

She’s a great casual speaker, her story is one that many men and women, no doubt, can relate to: starting out small, working hard, and dreaming big. Enjoy this three part “Breaking the Glass Ceiling” chat with Andrea Jung of Avon.

Reading time: 2 - 2 minutes

Video Time: 56 minutes 52 seconds****Q&A starts at 23:30****

A crisis can either wreck or strengthen any business leader, and in the recent history of the Xerox Corporation, crisis has certainly NOT been a stranger. To navigate through accounting scandals and lags in sales, Xerox relied on its employees and its customers to help turn around the company. In this talk, keynote speaker, Anne Mulcahy, Xerox’ current Chairwoman of the Board, speaks to an audience of students, faculty and professionals at the Darden school about how her company re-shaped itself in the face of multiple difficulties, and placed itself on its current path.

Anne’s leadership talk is inspiring, and her candid discussion about her trials and tribulations with Xerox shed light on the importance of communicating with staff and a discussion about “real” planning instead of “pie-in-the-sky” ideas.

Believing in your leader is key. See how Anne Mulcahy did it at Xerox.

Reading time: 4 - 6 minutes

Video Time: 38 minutes 05 seconds

Cisco Systems’ CTO Padmasree Warrior is among the most-respected female leaders in technology today. In this keynote, given in 2009 at a “Women In The Forefront Luncheon” sponsored by The Chicago Network, Padmasree speaks about the evolution of technology in our daily lives (with a particular focus on media and communication) and where it’s going in the future.

By listening to today’s LunchLearning.com episode, you’ll learn insight as to where Cisco feels the future of communication is, and how their R&D efforts might affect how we interact with one another in the next 10+years. I really enjoyed Padmasree’s engaging style, and she provides some great innovation fodder for technology newbies as well as those already in the business. She also tosses out a brief mention of Twitter (she is @Padmasree on Twitter) and emphasizes how companies need to enable these new collaboration tools entering the marketplace.

Make sure you stick around to the end of this one, she’s got some really great secrets to somewhat obvious lessons, but the application of these secrets are gems!

Great talk. Here are a few things you’ll learn in this presentation:

1. How millennials are already impacting the evolution of the “second” internet and the workplace in general
2. Asychronous vs. sysnchronous communication
3. Virtualization and cloud computing
4. Building/creating content to consume as a community (neat idea!) and interactive television
5. How countries are skipping the “fixed” internet and going directly to mobile communication and computing
6. Short mentions of some of science and technology’s trail-blazing women, including Ada Lovelace, credited as the world’s very first computer programmer.
7. What women need to do to continue to blaze trails using today’s technology AND old technology (communities), as well as the increasing role of listening, mentoring and transparency in life

From Padmasree’s Cisco bio: “Under Warrior’s leadership, Motorola was awarded the 2004 National Medal of Technology by the President of the United States, the first time the company had received this honor. Recently, the Economic Times ranked her as the 11th Most Influential Global Indian, and the United States Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce recognized her with its prestigious Excellence Award.

Warrior is also a strong and vocal advocate for women and minorities in math, science and engineering. In 2007, she was inducted into the Women in Information Technology International Hall of Fame, and received the YWCA Metropolitan Chicago Outstanding Woman of Achievement Award. She has been recognized as a role model by many organizations, including the Girl Scouts Illinois Crossroads Council, Notre Dame Girls High School, the South Asian Women Leadership Forum and as a Science Spectrum Trailblazer. In 2001 she was one of six women nationwide selected to receive the “Women Elevating Science and Technology” award from Working Woman magazine.”

Reading time: 1 - 2 minutes

Video Time: 26 minutes 43 seconds

Quick panel discussion with several Stanford alums who went on to do some pretty cool things as woman entrepreneurs. This one is from 2003. . .you’ll note that Gina Bianchini is now CEO of Ning.com. Panelists include: Jennifer Gill Roberts, Gina Bianchini, Melissa Parsons, Bette Pearlin, Varsha Rao.

The panel discusses work/life balance, challenges and opportunities for women in the workplace. Good panel discussion.