Leigh Steinberg And A Greener Globe

I recently read with great interest about Leigh Steinberg and his efforts to help create a greener globe. I remember growing up in the Bay Area in the 70s. Mr. Steinberg was the “golden boy”, who took sports agency, then in its infancy, and turned into the incredible machine that it is today. He represented some of the greatest athletes of the time, including: Joe Montana, Warren Moon, Steve Young and Steve Bartowski. The movie Jerry Maguire was fashioned after this legendary man.

The article was announcing Leigh Steinberg’s 23rd Annual Super Bowl Party. But, more importantly, the article talked about how Mr. Steinberg is promoting the “greening up of sports”. He’s participating with and communicating through The Sporting Green Alliance, which is promoting the use of sustainable technologies in arenas and stadia around the world.

Sports events, in general, don’t seem to ever run out of steam. Yes, event tickets drop off every now and then, but there is a fascination with sports that transcends logic. I think it could very well be that we put athletes on a pedestal. They achieve super human feats that are, in our minds, unimaginable. Yet, they seemingly perform these feats with ease.

After reading this article, I started doing a little more research into Leigh Steinberg. I found a number of fascinating information about Mr. Steinberg. He’s clearly a man of great integrity, with a passion for giving back to the world. One gentleman that I actually spoke with knew Leigh when he first signed up Steve Bartowski. Leigh was a visionary even at that time … recommending that anybody he represented donate money to their alma mater or to their community. I read someplace that the amount of charitable donations now exceeds $250 Million. Take that back to the Wall Street.

The whole notion of giving and sustainability is, of course, part of the grander scheme of life. Most people during economic downturn will turn inward and refuse to participate. Mr. Steinberg seems to have accelerated his efforts in these areas. In fact, many corporate sponsors pulled out of the Super Bowl event, including Playboy Enterprises and Sports Illustrated canned their annual parties.

The invitation only affair will sport a number of events where the proceeds will go directly to worthwhile charities. He’s also sponsoring a live video conference between our troops in Iraq and a one on one with as of yet, unannounced, celebrities. How cool is that?

American Business Culture

The American business culture is different than almost any other industrialized country. Americans are known to be hard working people, always on the go, working long hours and rushing from one activity to another. While a good work ethic is an admirable characteristic, the down side of our type A personalities is that we end up so stressed out, we end each day in an exhausted state, not knowing if we’re coming or going. Some of us have forgotten how to relax! BTW, plopping on the couch in front of the tube doesn’t count as relaxation. Our doctors warn us of the health problems that may ensue unless we stop driving ourselves so hard. Not many heed this advice and actually take steps to slow down. The principles of American business culture are far too well ingrained. Even our kids pick up on how busy one’s schedule should be.

One element of American business culture may be observed at your very first job interview. Business people don’t like to waste time and they don’t have time to waste anyway. You may wait a few minutes before being called by the interviewer (busily completing the task prior to your interview). Once you shake hands, you sit down and get right down to business. Should your prospective boss be the incorrigible type A personality and you’re not, you might feel downright uncomfortable. You might not even get the job if the interviewer sees you as too laid back!

Now let’s compare American business culture with European business culture. An American looking for a job in Europe absolutely must get up to speed on European business protocol in order to avoid an embarrassing situation which could prove to be irrecoverable. Don’t expect your first meeting with a prospective employer to be an interview, in the sense of a typical American interview. The French, in particular, are sticklers on this point. Your first meeting is full of polite conversation and should be conducted in French, if possible. This shows that you are interested enough in their culture to have a basic, if imperfect grasp of the language. You can bet the interviewer speaks English as well as you do, but this is not American business culture turf.

The purpose of this first meeting is to assess your personality and style. There may not be a single word exchanged about the position. Should you ask or remark on something that relates to the job or work, it is considered pushy and rude! A French businessman feels it’s essential that you be a likable person, one who will fit in to the organization like a family member. You may be invited to lunch, which is simply more of the same. No discussion of business takes place. Once you’ve been accepted, on a personal level, then you may be invited to dinner. That’s when business is discussed. That’s when you may receive an offer.

If you’re going to Japan on business, be prepared for culture shock. Japanese business culture is so very different from American business culture, you’ll need to thoroughly educate yourself on the expected protocol of the business meeting. For example, there a number of rituals which must be performed before you ever sit down. There is the business card presentation ritual. You’ll be embarrassed and lose points and favors if you don’t know what’s happening and what your role in the ritual is. You may be offered foods that you cannot identify, but must eat. If you refuse, no matter how graciously, you’ve delivered a terrible insult, disgraced yourself and probably won’t get the job!

We Americans are so into our American business culture, we just hate to waste time. It’s just the way we are. However, the French get 5 weeks paid vacation each year. Hmm. That’s something to think about.

Job Application For Employment

Some people have a problem finding a good job, and they don’t know why. They can’t seem to get in for a first interview and they are left feeling frustrated. I know this because I was working with a candidate who is a new college grad who was having this problem. She had good grades, was bright and personable, and she always dressed well. Though it’s not realistic that she get called back for everything single job she applied for, she should have at least gotten a few phone calls. As it turned out, the problem was with her job application.

Some students think that once you move past part time, minimum wage jobs that you will no longer have to fill out a job application. They think that their newly printed resume will take the place of the job application and it is something that they no longer have to worry about. She wasn’t filling them out, even though they were asking her to do so. She would just clip her resume over the top of the application and send it in. She was making a huge mistake and she had no idea.

It should be common sense, but there are times when someone tells us something and we just believe it because we trust him or her. Someone had told her that now that she had finished college, she didn’t have to worry about that pesky job application any longer. There may be some jobs that allow you to skip the job application, but you won’t find many of them when you are just out of college. In fact, when you first start out, you are not the one that is in demand. Once you move up and become very good at what you do, you may then be able to apply for a job without the application, and sometimes, you may find they are calling you first.

When job searching, you are going to have an easier time filling out your job application if you already have the information you need with you. If you have the information at hand, you can fill out the job application rather quickly, and you should be sure that you are not putting down the wrong phone number or perhaps forgetting an important reference or detail. Don’t be careless though, or you will have to ask for another one when you make a hasty mistake. Having the wrong information on your application is just as bad as not filling one out at all.