This article was originally published on December 7th, 2008. Time continues to show that Dan was right is pointing out the rise of the small business in our economy. Over the past few months I have been developing the idea of what I call the “new entrepreneur”. This is someone who starts their own business, not because they have the entrepreneurial drive to start businesses, but rather because they provide a service and they prefer to work in an independent capacity. Some of them might not even have a choice, as corporations downsize and contract out much of their work. Upon hearing about my idea, my friend Betsy recommended that I … [Read more...]
To Stay or Go? How American Professionals are Like Scottish Voters
Like many Americans, I watched the reporting on Scotland's independence referendum last week with fascination. What fascinated me, though, was how close the election was. With a final vote tally of approximately 55%/45%, the decision to stay in the UK was hardly a landslide (although David Cameron, in a post right here on LinkedIn, said that the results were "clear". Clear, yes, but hardly a mandate - you have to love how politicians spin things). There wasn't an overwhelmingly answer to the question of whether Scotland should remain part of the larger entity or go its own way. The response was decidedly mixed. There wasn't a strong … [Read more...]
Rock n’ Roll Bands and the New Entrepreneurial World
I remember reading Daniel Pink's Free Agent Nation a few years ago back and thinking, "This guy is on to something." Its description of an economy driven by the short-term partnerships of solopreneurs and freelancers turned out to be prescient. It's hard to define and a quickly-moving target. But the number of professionals working for themselves is trending up in a significant way. (here are some statistics for you). For many professionals, this new arrangement for business is overwhelming and a little scary. There's a lot of coming together and breaking apart and reforming into something new. It's conceivable to work with someone … [Read more...]
Relationships are the New Job Security
If you haven’t noticed, the way the world works has changed a lot. Daily life is going to be a lot different for my children than it was for my parents. In times of change, we yearn for security. Unfortunately, the places that we’ve traditionally found security – career, families, culture - are where most of the changes are happening. One area this is obvious is the lack of traditional job security. Flexibility = Insecurity From a historical perspective, it was way easier when you knew that someday you would take your parent’s job. Millers milled, Porters ported, Smiths smithed (I’m pretty sure I know what my forefathers did for a … [Read more...]
The Clues Hidden in the Structure of My LinkedIn Network
Updated December 2018 Back in the day, LinkedIn offered a service that let you graphically represent your LinkedIn network. It gave you a way to visualize what how your connections were linked to you and to each other. Unfortunately, it's not possible to use the service anymore. But they contained some great lessons to be pulled from what my LinkedIn network looked like back then. The Power of 2nd Level Connections Here's what mine looked like: Think about what you are seeing here. This is my personal org chart. This visually describes how I'm connected to everyone I know and how they are connected to each other. These … [Read more...]