The Power of Positive Culture in your Business

What kind of culture do you have in your business?  Is it a culture that embraces diversity, inclusion, and openness?  Or is a toxic culture?  The answer to this is important because it determines whether your company will be GREAT or MEDIOCRE.  For Free Agents and Entrepreneurs, culture should be the first thing you develop into your start-up not something done later. Company Culture once developed needs to be maintained and monitored towards greatness (SEE GRAPH). If you don't build a positive culture into your business, the inevitable consequences will greatly affect your business later.

SOURCE: Corporate Culture – Integrating Yourself – A study by Artur Victoria | Artur Victoria | Pulse | LinkedIn

Why worry about culture?  We would say the answer would be the same as in the question, "Why worry about strategy?" Because culture is just as important as strategy in having a competitive advantage in the MarketPlace.  Whether it is the Bro-Culture in Technology, Hollywood sexual harassment scandals or Venture Capitalists stepping down due to sexual harassment, the root cause of many of these issues we are seeing in the news is the failure to maintain and enforce a positive culture. In many of these cases, we doubt management or employees said one of our Corporate Values was sexual harassment. But the looming question is where was the leadership in these companies?  A couple of current head-lining examples are The Weinstein Company and Uber. It was known for decades that Harvey Weinstein in Hollywood had harassment issues but no one took a strong stance against him due to a culture of fear. I was moved and realized this culture of fear at The Weinstein Company when reading an article from Mira Sorvino on the current Weinstein Scandal. What are the risks of a toxic culture?  Scanning the news, Uber has been the posterboy for toxic cultures in technology. The management failures that occurred are too many to discuss in this article.  But to show you why Uber is a great current example of a toxic culture case study, we have included several links on the Uber scandal. It's something that is too lengthy to explain on this platform.

1. MANAGEMENT RESIGNATIONS - The cost of bad leadership
2. BRO-CULTURE AND FINANCIALS – Effect of Toxic Culture on Financials
3. CONTROVERSY TIMELINE – Events leading to Uber Scandal

What are some of the easy signs you have a toxic culture?

• your company is mired in political bureaucracy and infighting.
• your employees leave early or run out the door when their shift ends.
• your employees seem disengaged and don't give any feedback anymore.
• your employees aren't having fun and don't believe you have an inclusive environment.
• your managers are stuck in their offices and not practicing MBWA.
• the favorite meeting place for employees is the Human Resource Department.

If you see any of these signs at your company, the writing is on the wall for a failing business.  Below are some resources on corporate culture and the bottom line on culture from several of the most well-known Business and Leadership Gurus.  The Bottom Line for Entrepreneurs and Free Agents:  Don't risk a scandal because you did not use the Power of Positive Culture in your Business!

Best Regards & Success,

Chief Free Agent #1

P.S.  Check out our new community!

MUST READ if you are in Technology or Hollywood, Entrepreneur, HR or VC!

SOURCE: http://www.brandandmortar.com/life/importance-corporate-culture/

We are thankful for all the Free Agents and Entrepreneurs that build this economy! What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving Day?

"Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings. Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. I am grateful for what I am and have. Thanksgiving is a time of togetherness and gratitude."

--William Arthur Ward--

As Thanksgiving Day approaches and Christmas follows soon after, it is a time for reflection and a time to give Thanks for all we have.  For some of us, this may be difficult.  2017 has turned out to be a year of World and Political chaos, mass shootings, economic uncertainty, and natural disasters never seen before. But in a great country like the U.S.A., we have learned to pick ourselves up and overcome insurmountable obstacles.

I would like to get the conversation going and share what I am thankful for this Thanksgiving Day. Several major thanks are for a healthy Family, the opportunity to start a great business, thankful for my Team at Freeagentglobal.com, and for all the people who have supported us this year. This is important for me to say "Thank You" as a leader and servant of the community, the Nation, and the World. We sometimes forget to say this in the hustle and bustle of Life and Business. Especially during Thanksgiving, we have to be thankful for what we have.

Our Community of Free Agents and Entrepreneurs are important to us in our business and the economy. Did you know this statistic about this demographic group? Since the end of the Great Recession, small businesses (fewer than 500 employees) have created 62 percent (8.3 million) of the net new private-sector jobs (13.4 million), matching their historic rate over the last 25 years (Source:  Bureau of Labor Statistics, Business Employment Dynamics). This means small businesses create 2 out of 3 net new private-sector jobs. Based on this statistic, the importance of growing this demographic group is obvious.  At Freeagentglobal.com, we are passionate and focused on helping this important demographic group succeed through our global business platform. We will be expanding our business and our social media efforts in 2018 to develop and grow our Community of Free Agents and Entrepreneurs.  Don't forget to follow us on Twitter @freeagentglobal to get these major announcements first as followers. We sincerely appreciate and thank you!

Thank you again to all the Free Agents and Entrepreneurs growing our community and our economy.  This includes all the SMBs, freelancers, Mompreneurs, Solopreneurs, Olderpreneurs, Gig Economy workers, Contractors, Twitter Followers, Customers, financial Partners, Vendors, and Venture Capitalists.  Did we miss anyone?  We appreciate you too!!!  Let us know what you are thankful for?

Have a Safe and Happy Thanksgiving Day from the Freeagentglobal.com Team!

2017 "Best in the West" Venture Capital rankings

These are the results of Freeagentglobal.com's 2017 "Best in the West" Venture Capital rankings.  For more information on methodology, visit our community blog link at 2017 VC ranking blog.

The Social Capital Team beat out eight of their VC peers to achieve #1 ranking in OVM and QVM!

DISCLAIMER: Freeagentglobal.com has no investment in or from any of these venture capital firms in our annual rankings.

#1 in Portfolio Mindshare - Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)

"It's always about mindshare, not market share."

-Ron Johnson-

     #1 in Portfolio Growth - Social Capital     

"Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together."

-James Cash Penney-

#1 in Diversity Metric - KPCB

"Diversity: the art of thinking independently together."

-Malcolm Forbes-

#1 in Qualitative Values Metric (QVM) -  Social Capital     

“True leaders don't look at just the outward appearances in the selection of team members, they look at one's core values and heart.” 

-Farshad Asl-

#1 in Overall VC Metric (OVM) -  Social Capital     

"Leadership is a privilege to better the lives of others. It is not an opportunity to satisfy personal greed."

-Mwai Kibaki-

NOTE: For inquiries or questions about the ranking methodology, please email our Engagement Team at engagementteam@freeagentglobal.com. Thank you for your business!

Is Social Media really that social? Social Media is killing our off-line relationships.

The Noise within Social Media - Can you hear yourself?

The SOCIAL in Social Media seems to have a positive connotation when you think about it. But are we really that social when we are on Social Media? Do you say hello to everyone or are you interacting with others offline? Isn't that what Social Media is about when we are on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or LinkedIn? For reference, I looked up the definition of social on an online dictionary.

Wikipedia defines social as "The term social refers to a characteristic of living organisms as applied to populations of humans and other animals. It always refers to the interaction of organisms with other organisms and to their collective co-existence, irrespective of whether they are aware of it or not, and irrespective of whether the interaction is voluntary or involuntary."

Interactions can be in many forms including selling, regular conversations, likes/dislikes or comments. The dark side of Social Media are people are more brash and they often lose sight of common sense and etiquette. Have you ever seen an episode of FLAME WARS happen before your eyes? 😆😇😈😍😼  Yeah, you know those posters with no common sense or decency. You can call them Trolls or Flamers.  Or you can look in the mirror and that might be you.  Psychologists call this occurrence as online disinhibition effect. The negative consequences of online disinhibition effect should not be ignored and is often a sign of a larger social issue.  It's a disturbing trend we see a lot more of in Social Media.

Millennials are the most tech-savvy generation in the world today.  But have you noticed the disturbing trend among Millennials when it comes to offline versus online relationships.  Go on a college campus and you will experience this disturbing trend.  Students are looking down at their smart phones or tablets. They most likely won't look up to acknowledge you or even say "Hello" when you past them.  But they might text you about the latest gadget or twitter about the latest fad or trend.  Millennials are replacing offline interactions with online interactions at a disturbing rate.

Some other funny social quirks of technology.  Have you ever got that automated DM on Twitter when you follow someone? But then no follow-up on a attempted social interaction.  I think in the age of Artificial Intelligence we could do a lot better. Classic example of high-tech with no high-touch.  Another example is when I go to the bank, I use the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) and manage my accounts online.  But once in a while, I like to go inside the bank and say "Hello" to a human being to process a more difficult banking transaction.  We call it a mixed strategy of high-tech and high-touch. A strategy that is interdependent on one another and involves the human side of technology.

So what can we do to ensure Social Media does not kill our off-line relationships? Here are some of my suggestions and you may want to add a few of your own:

• NEVER replace your offline relationships with your online relationships.  Reality will catch up to you inevitably in the end.

• Be NICE to each other when we are on Social Media.  Realize we are all humans and we make mistakes online and offline.  If nothing else, agree to disagree.

• LIVE for the moment!  When you are in Church, in a meeting, or on a date, TURN OFF all your gadgets and Social Media.  Nothing more annoying or damaging to a real relationship than to be ignored because of Social Media.

• REALIZE that we live in reality and the need to interact with people in the real world is a basic skill and necessity. Social Media should be another tool and outlet for interaction.

• PAUSE your Social Media for a moment when someone approaches you. Whether that someone is a strange, family or friend, look up and acknowledge them, then say "Hello" and smile.

I found a great YouTube video on Social Media which is a TEDx talk by Allison Graham. 😁  After watching it, go out and spend some time to ensure Social Media is not killing your off-line relationships.

Have a GREAT week from the Freeagentglobal.com Team!

How social media makes us unsocial | Allison Graham | TEDxSMU

Best Regards & Success,

Chief Free Agent #1

P.S.  Check out our new community!