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HBCU Careers Magazine
17
Each county or city has a local chamber of commerce and I highly recommend joining. One of my friends
was able to grow his business by speaking at a chamber of commerce event. Lastly, you need to create
a presence on the Internet. This can be accomplished through social media such as Facebook, Twitter,
and You Tube. In addition, you can also create your own blog site where you can share your views on
topics of your interest. Seth Godin, who has the number one ranked marketing blog, shares his insights
on marketing strategies and also provides free resources from his books. By having an online presence,
Seth Godin has authored 17 best-seller books.
Learn-ing
Learning can be described as continuous and never-ending improvement. Although you have earned
your college degree, you are not a finished product. You must commit yourself to the discipline of life-
long learning. Learning is not limited to the classroom. As an employee, you are your own brand so it
pays to invest in yourself. One of the ways in which you can learn is to read books. There are numerous
computer, smart phone and table applications that make reading more convenient today than ever
before. These apps include: iBook’s, Kindle, and Flip board, just to name a few. In addition, you can listen
to audiobooks while you are traveling in your car or during your exercise routines. President Lincoln,
considered by many to be one of our nation’s greatest presidents, was a veracious reader. Some of our
nation’s other former presidents were also know for their passion for reading with some having read
more than 100 books a year.
Regardless of where you may be in your professional career, you will never reach the point of Benjamin
Buford Blue, or better know as Bubba, in which, “You know all there is to know about the shrimping
business”. The advancements in technology have changed how businesses and employees alike operate
and engagewith customers. Experts suggest that within the next five years, themajority of the technology
we use today will be outdated. One of my professors from college, who also owns a successful speaking
and consulting business, practiced stand-up comedy to enhance his skills as a speaker and to incorporate
humor and storytelling in his presentations. In the words of Les Brown, “In order to be somebody you’ve
never been before you have to do something you’ve never done before”. Learning helps you to become
the person you want to be!
Communicat-ing
I am a big fan of the Western genre of films. In a scene in one of my favorite movies, the lead character
asserts to his fellow farm hand, “You are long on mouth and short on ears”. From what I gathered from
this statement, we are better served if we seek to listen first and speak second. Better stated, we must
first seek to understand and then to be understood. There are three key ingredients to being an effective
communicator: speaking, writing, and listening. Often the last part gets overlooked as there are courses
in college designed to improve one’s speaking and writing it is not commonplace to have an effective
listening class. Despite listening as being an overlooked skill, many business leaders cite their ability
to listen as a key reason why they have been successful in their career. It is reported that up to 90% of
career advancement opportunities are given to those with effective communication skills.
While Martin Luther King Jr. is know as one of the greatest speakers in America’s history and perhaps in
all of history; he practiced the art and science of speaking. In his “I Have a Dream” speech, it is reported
that he spent months developing his speech for smaller audiences before he delivered the final rendition
at the March on Washington. Words are powerful! Words describe and change how we view the world.