How Will You Measure Your Life? WineTalent Book Review

What a great question, "How Will You Measure Your Life?"  Earlier this year I read some information written by Clayton Christensen and decided to read his recent book, that James Allworth and Karen Dillon contributed on.  The premise of the book is that Dr. Christensen, Professor at Harvard Business School, witnessed in his own life highly successful business people who seemed to lack a winning strategy for their personal lives.  Using business case studies and personal anecdotes, the authors examine business and personal challenges and outcomes.

Being somewhat of a management book junkie, I couldn't pass up a book written by the Harvard Business School's Professor, a HBS alum and the former editor of the Harvard Business Review.  This book outlines business successes and failures, and relates them to personal decisions and dynamics.  How Honda miscalculated the US motorcycle market and unwittingly brought the sport of motocross to us might not seem like a personal life lesson--but Christensen relates this example to his own life decisions.  What do highly technical, pocket-sized ultrasound machines have to do with personal time management?  I hadn't really connected the dots until reading this book.

The authors do a great job of dissecting business world situations and determining the root cause.  They also use similar methods to view personal situations and determine potentially successful strategies.  Yes, while Apple computer or IBM should look at some business case studies to realign their own businesses, so could many people look at their own decisions and determine what is working and what isn't--and make intelligent changes.  The idea of the book is to have an overriding strategy--perhaps a book of rules--for how to live your life.  By keeping these commandments true during your work life and your personal life you can stay true to yourself, your family and your community.  It was refreshing to read insights from highly successful business people that involved ethics, morality and personal happiness.

I would recommend this book to people who enjoy gleaning insights about how companies work, but who also like to be introspective and perhaps create their own way of managing their personal life.  If you are only looking at a self-help book that tells you how to do it, the business case studies may get in the way.

Is an MBA Worth it?

Ok, so maybe I'm a slacker, but I never went back to school after getting my bachelor's degree.  I often am doing searches for people with advanced degrees, one of which is an MBA.  I do think an MBA can be a valuable asset in your career.  But if you are on the fence about how to advance your career, take a look at this article by Dale Stephens who just published the book "Hacking Your Education".  He dissects the cost of an MBA, quickly and effectively, and explains what it might get you.  I am going to get that book for my high school children too.

How To Get A Job In The Beverage Industry (VIDEO)

How To Get A Job In The Beverage Industry (VIDEO)

Job I'm Working On: Southern California Sales Manager

Trying something new readers.  In an effort to get the word out about my searches I'm posting them here.  We'll see how this goes.

WineTalent is seeking a Southern California Sales Manager to represent a California producer in the southern part of the state.  The position requires someone with 5+ years of wine sales experience with good distributor management experience.  Strong understanding of pricing, programming and goal setting is required.  Bachelor's degree in Business, Communication, Marketing, Finance or related desired.  This person will be responsible for overseeing all sales activities in the market including chain, key accounts, retail and on-premise.  There is personnel management required for the market, so the Sales Manager must have proven supervisory experience.  Strong wine knowledge and excellent relationship building skills required.

Interested in this position?  Please visit WineTalent to find out about the process and to apply.

Wine studies grow at Napa Valley College

I've mentioned Napa Valley College's wine program before, and recommend NVC, Sonoma State and Santa Rosa Junior College for anyone wanting to get some great wine knowledge.  All of these campuses have great instructors who have real world experience.  Some others are Allan Hancock down south.  Of course I need to mention the big guys, CSU San Luis Obispo, CSU Fresno and last but not least, UC Davis.

Here's Paul Franson's recent article in the Napa Register about NVC:  Wine studies grow at Napa Valley College