Stanford Business School Success Lesson

A Stanford University School of Business study of MBA's 20 years after graduation, found grade-point average in school did not predict success in business. The most successful individuals were those who were comfortable talking to anybody - secretaries, colleagues, bosses, customers and strangers.

Secret Stock Tip

Want the inside track on future stock performance? Find out how much stock the boss is holding. A study by Watson Wyatt Worldwide of 261 large capitalization companies, found that companies performing above average were headed by CEOs who held an average of $8.1 million in company stock. Chiefs of companies performing below average held $4.5 million in stock. Results held true even for low growth, lackluster industries. Who knows better how a company is going to perform in the coming year than its CEO, and their personal stock holding reflects this insider's knowledge.

Global Success

Two shoe salesman were sent overseas to scout out new markets. Their first stop was a country where everyone went barefoot. The first salesman sent back a telegram to the home office saying, "Leaving tomorrow. No one wears shoes." The second salesman's telegram read, "Great market potential. No competition." (Lair Ribeiro, Success is No Accident, St. Martin's Press).

Women in Business

Percent of women in the US labor force: 46%
Percent of women in managerial, professional positions: 49%
Percent of women corporate officers: 11%
Percent of women board directors: 11%
Percent of women top earners: 3%
Percent of women Fortune 500 CEOs: 2%
Source: Catalyst/Knight Ridder/Tribune 1999

What Young Women Want at Work

A study by Simmons College found that young women will work long hours as long as their job is stimulating and has potential for advancement. Young women value personal growth more than money when choosing a career, most want both family and career, and they'll wait to have children until their career is established. Their job choice is influenced more by their mothers than their fathers, counselors or media ads. They want personal contact with employers when being recruited. And most felt confident about their job seeking strengths, but say they need to develop their competitiveness and analytic abilities.

Women and Men Equal in Technology

A survey of 1,000 workers by Hewlett-Packard and Working Women magazine found that 76% of men and 76% of women believe the sexes are equally adept at adopting technology. The survey also found that being technologically skilled offered advancement opportunities for 62% of working women. And it found, as in other areas of life, that more women (61%) will ask for help when it's needed, than men (50%), half of whom choose to figure it out on their own.

Working Moms Raise Healthy Children

Children of women working outside the home suffer no permanent harm because of their mother's absence. Based on a study of 6000 youngsters, "I found there was no difference between children whose mothers were employed vs. children whose mothers were not employed during the first three years," said Elizabeth Harvey, a psychologist at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Her study was based on statistics gathered by the National Longitudinal Study of Youth which did in-depth interviews with 12,000 children. The conclusion: Number of hours spent away from home is not as important as the quality of parenting when children are with their parents. Both employed and non-employed parents can create healthy and well-developed children, if they make good use of the time they do have together. Quality of parenting matters a lot more than quantity.

Working Fathers' Dilemma

A national survey found that 70% of American working men have a conflict in balancing work and family life, up 10% from 5 years ago. James Levine, Director of The Fatherhood Project at the Families and Work Institute in NY, said, "Everybody knows working mothers have conflicts, but we found guys were feeling much the same as women were. Women don't have a monopoly on guilt; men also feel guilty about being away from home so much." Yet many men are afraid to raise the issue with their supervisor. Although it's slow, more and more companies are realizing that the need to pay attention to male employee's role in their families. Suggestions for Dads: Make good use of the family time you do have. Give each child at least some one-to-one attention. Wives need alone time and special attention too. A little regular affection at home goes a long way with kids and spouses.

It Pays to Be Good

The Boston College Center for Work and Family studied the connection between employee and community corporate policies with business success. Their report shows a strong, direct link between family friendly work policies and programs promoting community involvement, with business success. When an employer is seen as being employee and community-friendly, it's rewarded with community support, offering a new, life-affirming, competitive edge in the 21st century.

An Arthur Andersen study of 2,800 employees found that when a company's leadership is serious about ethical standards that make employees feel fairly treated, and where ethical behavior is rewarded, is more successful than companies who focus on punishing wrongdoing. "The worst situation is to have workers believe the ethics guidelines exist primarily to protect management from blame," says Andersen's Barbara Toffler. "This breeds cynicism and actually promotes unethical behavior."

The Green Bottom Line

The auto and oil companies are starting to see the green of profit in having green environmentally conscious policies. William Clay Ford, Jr., new chairman of Ford Motor Co. drives a battery-powered pickup and promises a "new environmental ethic." The international oil giant, British Petroleum, plans to cut its greenhouse gas emissions 10% below 1990 levels by 2010 - double the target set in Kyoto by the world's industrial nations last year. Royal Dutch Shell, another billion dollar international oil company, plans to spend more than a half billion dollars on renewable energy technology in the next five years. Lee Iaccocca and Robert Stemple, former chairmen of Chrysler and GM are now involved in producing electric-powered vehicles. There's a growing awareness and concern over environmentally destructive corporate policies, that are too costly, financially and environmentally. As Mr. Ford said, "preserving the environment is not only the right thing to do, it's the best thing to do from a long-term business perspective."

Social Causes Create Pride and Profit

Social causes are a great way for companies to build loyalty, pride and productivity. A survey by Roper Starch Worldwide found that 90% of employees in companies with a social cause feel proud of their company and 87% feel loyal. In companies without a social cause only 56% feel proud and 67% feel loyal. That means that social causes increase company pride in employees by 34% and loyalty by 10%. Loyalty and pride translate into higher productivity, passion and profit. It pays to be good.