A few years ago, some friends and I were sitting around watching parts 1 and 2 of “The Godfather”, and one point my friend Jim said, “You know, if I’m really honest with myself, I have to admit that if I was any character in this movie, it’d be Fredo.” The rest of the men in the room took a few moments to consider this, and we all grudgingly admitted to feeling the same way about ourselves.

Unfortunately, I’ve come to believe that the majority of people in America today are much more like Fredo than we’d care to admit. I continually observe behavior that I characterize as “Nation of Fredo” moments. Here’s a perfect illustration from this weekend.

I was in my bank, getting a roll of quarters so I could do laundry. I overheard the man at the next teller window complaining about the new ATMs that had recently been installed. Apparently he found them inconvenient and difficult to operate

“I’m really thinking of switching to Washington Mutual because of this,” he said.

That right there is the essence of a “Nation of Fredo” moment. It’s born of a perfect storm of being forced to acknowledge one’s own weaknesses, and anger at that very weakness, combined with an inappropriate sense of righteous indignation and misdirected hostility.

Because, seriously, what was the teller supposed to do? Call up the Chief of Operations and tell them to come down and rip out the new ATMs and put back the old ones because this guy didn’t like them? And let’s be clear, if he were really going to switch to Washington Mutual, he’d have just done it without saying anything. But switching a bank account takes a lot more time and effort than figuring out an unfamiliar ATM.

Of course, what he really meant was “I want you to placate me, or I’ll go somewhere else and without my precious business this whole bank will shut down and you’ll be out of a job!” But if he’d said that, he’d have sounded like an even bigger jackass and he knew it.

Now, I was aware of all of this at the time. As a member of society, I really should have called this guy on his bullshit. But instead I took my quarters and left without incident. That was my “Nation of Fredo” moment.

I do believe that progress is possible, through awareness. To that end, I offer this short list of indicators. If we all engage in a few moments of self-analysis, perhaps we can reduce the number of “Nation of Fredo” moments that degrade us all as a people.

If you’ve ever told a clerk “I’m taking my business elsewhere,” you’re a Fredo.

If you’ve ever waited for the guy who cut you off on the freeway to take the off-ramp before you gave him the finger, you’re a Fredo.
If you’ve ever tried to seem like a big shot by under-tipping, you’re a Fredo.

If you’ve ever criticized someone for beginning a sentence with a conjunction and you’re not an English teacher, you’re a Fredo.

If you’ve ever challenged someone on the internet to meet you and fight, you’re a Fredo.

If, after sex, you’ve ever asked a girl whether she had an orgasm or not, you’re a Fredo.

If you’ve ever invaded a sovereign nation in a misguided attempt to impress your father, you’re a Fredo.

If you’re reading this right now and thinking “This just like a quiz I once took to see which one of the girls on ‘Sex and the City’ I am,” you’re a Fredo.

If you’re reading this right now and thinking “I’m not a Fredo! I’m totally a Sonny!” Guess what? You’re a Fredo.

If you’re reading this right now and thinking “Now he’s just ripping off Jeff Foxworthy,” you’re a Fredo for knowing Jeff Foxworthy’s routines and being snooty about it.

But all is not hopeless. After all, Fredo was the sweet one, the sensitive one, the kind one. When the time came for him to die, he didn’t cry or shout or try to fight it. He got in the boat and took it like a man. If he’d accepted his weaknesses and learned to deal with them, he might have been all right. And perhaps we as a nation can do the same.

The self-help section of the bookstore is bursting with books on success. All of the self-proclaimed, self-help gurus offer to help you become some sort of enormous triumph. They claim that they can teach you to cope with being a winner. I’m no Tony Robbins but I don’t think people need to be prepared for victory. We dream about it all our lives. Maybe we need to prepare for losing? Any of these gurus who say that, “Failure is not an option,” didn’t see my NCAA Tournament picks. Failure is almost always a very, very viable option.

Everyone remembers the drill. You are ten years old. You’re standing out on the court all by yourself fantasizing about hitting the final free throw to win March Madness. As a little kid I never remember standing at the free throw line imagining missing the last shot in the big game. I never remember even being nervous about all the pressure that you are supposed to feel in this situation. I had ice water flowing through my skinny little veins. I didn’t even get flustered when the first barrage of shots I threw up were total bricks; I would always sink one before it got dark and win the big game. Like every other normal, red-blooded American kid, I also fantasized that after the game I’d do a line of coke off of a cheerleader’s butt, then after a night of drunken revelry, I’d get arrested on a DUI charge….I was an Indiana Pacer… I was preparing myself for success.

If there is a little kid out there who day-dreams about screwing up the big game, a kid who stands at the line and dreams of tanking the final shot, I want to meet him. I wasn’t that original growing up. If there ever was a kid who dreamed about fucking up the final shot, he’s probably a pretty well-adjusted adult by now who has moved on to adult issues while the rest of us still think we have a shot of pitching a no-hitter in the World Series, hitting a hole-in-one at the Masters, or winning the Tour de France.

Everyone can handle success. As much as people think that Britney Spears is a waste of space, could you imagine how fucked up her life would be if she didn’t have a thick pad of American currency to break her falls? Teaching people to fail takes real talent. That’s why I have developed Failure Counseling Strategies. Not only can I help assuage your grief about totally blowing that last shot, I can make all of the losers like me feel better about not even making the team in the first place (What team did Tony Robbins take to the NCAA Championship?). Find comfort in these words of wisdom:

“Hey, at least you tried’a little.”

“You need to make more money? That’s crazy talk, man. You’ll just have to pay more taxes. Have a beer.”

“Fuck it. Just quit. You’ve got nothing to prove.”

“She must be a lesbian if she doesn’t want to go out with you. What other reason could there possibly be?”

“A winner never quits and a quitter can get a partial refund on that gym membership you never use.”

“You gotta die of something. Am I right? Care for a cigarette?”

“Sure, you could stop drinking or you could finally accept yourself for the drunk that you are. Don’t be so judgmental about yourself.”

Believe it or not, there are a lot of advantages to coming in last. For one, it makes it a lot easier to improve yourself the next time around. I mean, if losing is good enough for the Seattle Mariners, it should be good enough for me, right? I wouldn’t want the team to feel uncomfortable because I decided to become some kind of big shot success story. I just want to be, like, you know, one of the guys.

I don’t know about you but I feel better about myself already. I think that I’ll knock off for the rest of the day, hit the free happy hour buffet, and watch Sports Center. The best thing about preparing to fail is that, once you get the hang of it, it’s really easy.

I LOVE YOU,
WorkFarce

Yes indeedy…Between the flu season (death rattle 2008), my fiancée  moving into the WorkFarce compound and me resigning (five years of knowledge transfer) from my current employer, I am, in fact…BACK Yep—I will be at ERE this week. YEP- there are some exciting changes here on WORKFARCE…  YEP-  I will be video-casting my adventures. Sorry I have been so shrouded in mystery these past weeks and have not gotten you anything meaningful aside from some lame videos and a bucket full of speculation.  Sure, times have changed and I am ready —  I have joined a start-up and am ready to build a business (or at the very least help) all over again.    Maybe I’m a masochist?    Hell….maybe we all are. BUT, No mind….I will see you next week and will tell you ALL how to find me.  As Always,  I LOVE YOU, WorkFarce  

Not Many People have known who I am or what I have done for the past 10 years, but SOON you will all know. Oh and what I am About to do/go..

I LOVE YOU , 

WorkFarce 

Chad Sowash will be missed be more than just me…. he is a fine man.

He is my friend.  

He is being called up for duty in the US army for the second time in less than 3 years.  

After September 11th while I was in NYC, Chad was there for me.

In exchange, I can give him my word, as a man, to continually support his visions (as misguided as I think they may me).

Simply, as a brother, I hold nothing but admiration for what he does and will continue to do. And, if you were anywhere near Manhattan on 9/11/2001 then you would too…no matter how you view his beliefs.

Chad and I butt heads.  But it is only to make one another BETTER in all aspects of our business and personal lives.

I have worked with him for almost 10 years (on and off in different capacities)  I LOVE HIM….and pray for him, his troops and his family.

BUT for those of you who do not TRULY KNOW Chad, you SHOULD know that he has always been there for me as a friend and mentor….just maybe if you are willing and lucky enough, you will reach out to him to begin this relationship too.

When duty calls, we both rise to each others’ challenges…  I

 LOVE YOU,  

WORKFARCE      

More Corporate Career Sites
Satisfy Job Hunters’ Demands

Companies are making a greater effort to cater to job seekers by improving their recruiting sites, making then easier to navigate and more robust. A new study shows a large majority — 90% — of the most visited company career sites now provide the information job seekers value greatest — plus a simple way to find it.

Potentialpark Communications, a market-research firm based in Stockholm, ranked 102 corporate career portals according to the expectations of more than 1,250 college students, M.B.A.s and recent graduates. Features that respondents say they most want to find easily include detailed company and job profiles, descriptions of ideal candidates, insights into long-term career opportunities and a clearly defined application process.

While the survey was based on input from U.S. students and grads, the top three spots went to European companies. Deutsche Bank landed at No. 1 in the three-year-old study for the second year in a row, followed by ABN AMRO Holding NV in second place and UBS AG in third. Overall, employers that earned the highest marks in this year’s survey are investment-banking, engineering, professional-services and management-consulting firms, Potentialpark reports.

Companies outside the U.S. most likely fared well because they have a greater need to proactively go after potential recruits, says Torgil Lenning, co-founder and chief executive officer of Potentialpark. American students and graduates are less familiar with foreign employers, he notes. “If you’re No. 2 in a market, you have to try harder,” he says.

Regardless of location, top-ranking employers excel in satisfying job hunters’ most basic needs, plus offer distinctive features, the study concludes. What’s more, employers lacking in these areas are now at a disadvantage in drawing young job seekers.

“As someone who grew up with the Internet and started using search engines more than 10 years ago, I want to find what I’m looking for very quickly,” says Benjamin R. Burney, a second-year M.B.A. at the University of Wisconsin’s School of Business. “If it takes too long, it will bug me. It doesn’t put the company in the best light.”

More employers are tailoring their career portals to appeal to recent graduates because they’re highly active and savvy Web users, says Mr. Lenning.

“We’re paying attention to voice of generation X and Y,” says Paul Clegg, director of global talent acquisition at Raytheon Corp., which holds the No. 26 spot in the ranking. “Their values are so different than the boomer generation, and in order to attract and retain them, we’ve got to shift gears.”

Meeting job hunters’ expectations is critical for employers. Company Web sites are the second most common source of new hires, preceded by referrals, according to a survey of 50 U.S. companies with 5,000 employees or more due out later this month from CareerXroads, a staffing-consulting firm.

According to the Potentialpark survey, one way that some employers are distinguishing their career portals is by adding interactive features, such as games, self-assessment quizzes and blogs. Last summer, Lockheed Martin Corp., at No. 8, added a real-time chat service that lets job hunters write to the defense company’s recruiters and get immediate responses. The virtual discussions focus on a variety of subjects and take place about 20 times a month for an hour each.

More employers are also producing videos and podcasts on career topics, the survey shows. But unlike in the past, these are now being tailored to address specific interests and concerns among job hunters. For example, Deutsche Bank’s career site features a podcast of an employee discussing what it’s like for women to work in investment banking. Another gives insight into the role technology plays at the global company.

Microsoft Corp. recently added a comical short to its video library featuring a cowboy singing and playing guitar as he describes the job of a software-design engineer. “Our feeling it doesn’t need to be boring,” says George Meng, director of staffing marketing at Microsoft Corp., which landed at No. 10 in the Potentialpark survey. Other videos follow workers as they perform various tasks, which also give insights into the technology company’s culture. Previously, its career videos were mainly of employees talking directly into the camera about only positive subjects, says Mr. Meng. “We’ve taken a different approach to have a more honest voice so it’s not all sunshine,” he explains. “Some of the [new] videos talk about the challenges employees face.”

For companies that operate around the world, an increasingly popular recruiting strategy is to create distinct Web pages that describe career opportunities in their various offices. For instance, Intel Corp.’s Web site links to information on jobs in more than 46 countries, including the kind of culture each location offers.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that the recent enhancements to corporate career sites are helping to attract larger and more qualified applicant pools. Recruiters report an increasing amount of positive feedback from job candidates during interviews. “Candidates are starting to call out our Web content as a factor in their decision to choose Microsoft,” says Mr. Meng.

To be sure, upgrading a company career site can be costly and time consuming, says Potentialpark’s Mr. Lenning. Expenses typically involve technology upgrades, legal inspection, advertising and more. Also, some popular features require regular maintenance. Blogs, for example, need to be kept fresh and engaging for job seekers, and videos depicting jobs may require changes as job functions evolve.

But given the growing importance of these sites, the investment might be worth it, says Mr. Lenning. Today’s job hunters are more Web savvy than ever and they expect employers to meet them on the same level, he explains.

Still, some corporate career sites continue to disappoint job hunters. For example, many that accept uploaded resumes do a poor job of interpreting the information, says Scott Wicke, a second-year M.B.A. at the Eli Broad College of Business at Michigan State University. He also recalls visiting one company site that required users to answer 50 questions on a range of topics before they could access any job postings. “It took close to an hour” to complete, he says.

Some employers also have gone overboard with enhancements to their career portals by adding too many graphics and links, notes Matt Dunn, a second-year Harvard Business School student. “Companies have become addicted to technology,” he says. “They’re making their sites even harder to navigate because of all the bells and whistles.”

….NY Giants wanton winning freak of a sister got an Iced-tea soaked roll of toilet paper thrown at her face.  

It hit her firmly in the eye…leaving her asking if, “Am I leading the right life?   Am I doing the best I Can?” 

If you would you help/protect your sister/brother do anything they could do to be better….. would you help the candidate find a new future?? 

Would you sacrifice?

DO EVERYTHING YOU CAN.  

I LOVE YOU,  

WORKFARCE