Made Moon Blog

Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co (KKR) was set up in the seventies and orginally the company’s specialization was in leveraged buyouts. Pushing on, aiming to make the businesses in their portfolio have less environmental impact, KKR have established an exceptional green project which has dramatically changed the method by which business concerns and environmental agencies work. Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co’s Henry Kravis and the New York based Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) merged last year, with the mission of making green business practices a mainstream concept. The coalition wanted to tackle crucial issues affecting the environment, for example toxic emissions, toxic waste, intemperate consumption of water resources, and hazardous chemicals.

Eco-efficiency (a term originally advocated by the WBCSD) fashions the framework for their mission, using techniques like using clean energy, maximum use of renewable resources and optimizing data centers for efficiency. Simple and effective, but the management did not grasp the full benefits of the project until the head of the program and global public affairs, Ken Mehlman, studied the program when it had been functioning for a year.

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Only then did Ken Mehlman observe that eco-efficiency was not just protecting the local environment, but in addition it was helping to save businesses a great deal of money, and so the project turned into almost an instant hit. To date, Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co and Ken Mehlman have succeeded in getting well-nigh all of their firms engaged in eco-efficiency principles. If you consider that this portfolio of companies has a value of 86,000,000,000 dollars, you can be certain this wasn’t a simple achievement.

The Green Portfolio project has evolved beyond its initial remit and currently includes new and innovative enterprises. For instance, Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co linked up with the Environmental Defense Fund’s Climate Corps Program a venture which instructs students taking a Master’s in Business Administration how to encourage cost-efficient, environmentally friendly techniques.

Lately, Ken Mehlman has been working closely with KKR to develop a series of products that firms can utilize to quantify and manage resources. This type of data is crucial as any business may easily evaluate all of their day to day activities and ascertain precisely how any problems may be solved while at the same time tracking their progress. The business community has been totally revolutionized by the ground breaking work of Henry Kravis, the KKC, and the Environmental Defense Fund. So, in conclusion, the work of these organizations has made green business practice not only viable, but commercially desirable, and their revolutionary ideas are setting a new standard in today’s community.

Today, sustained philanthropism is even more called for than ever before in history. Chances are you will have seen Mr. Naveen Jain in connection with him being the CEO & co-founder of Intelius, Inc. the predictive intelligence company. As well as having made the Forbes 400 Richest in America list 2000, this maverick entrepreneur has been given diverse distinguished awards including the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, the Albert Einstein Technology Medal, and the WSA Industry Achievement Award, to cite but only three. Nonetheless things categorically develop further from there. That’s because Naveen Jain and his family are likewise as enthusiastic about philanthropy and will try to help out as frequently as they are able to.

All our anticipations for the years to come are manifested in our youth. Naveen Jain also views children as constituting the focus point of his enterprises, and he takes every occasion he gets to aid them. This, too, is the chief reason why he is always thoroughly leveraging every chance available to him to support them, whenever even remotely feasible. Hence Naveen Jain, his kin and his staff at Intelius have decided to follow up in earnest: they are pledging their time and effort to charities such as the University Preparatory Academy, the Overlake Service League, and TreeHouse. Of course they will give a great amount of monetary support, but most importantly, they pledge their time and attention to those children who need it the most. What’s more, he backs the Children’s Hospital, hoping to improve children’s health. With Jain being a graduate of XLRI Jamshedpur and the Indian Institute of Technology, it’s no wonder that professional training is an exceedingly high status in his charitable worldview. This also encompasses causes and charitable organizations that may range from the regional to the international. Therefore Intelius and its CEO are assisting voluntary organizations and charities e.g. the Bellevue Boys and Girls Club, Child Rights and You (CRY) and the Indian American Education Foundation. Feeding the world’s hungry represents an additional significant challenge to Naveen Jain and his folks and to him, it makes not one jot of difference. Although he is aware that the enterprise of finding food for all the planet’s unnourished is a titanic one, he also understands that the unachievable can actually become realizable when the whole world toils in concert. If this business leader obtains his objectives, the final curtain will come down on hunger and neediness in the world at some time. You would imagine that functioning as the man in charge of a spectacularly successful business as well as being a committed husband and parent would leave him little free time for benevolent activities. Regardless Naveen Jain sees to it that each one of his charitable efforts may rely on as much aid as he can plausibly give. Indeed this indefatigably idealistic entrepreneur is surely more than just a business leader. He is, even more importantly, a perfectly unique individual and a genuine community hero.

As a natural part of my empowerment consulting practice, I often find myself in discussions with my clients about their jobs and careers. Sometimes we talk about new jobs or job opportunities; sometimes we talk about promotions; sometimes we talk about careers over the long-term.

These are all very different types of conversations. Most of my clients who are in corporations are mid-level to senior-level managers, who are competent and have already proven their value to the company. I also work with clients who are outside the corporate structure or are consultants to corporations, with whom career development conversations are different.

It is common for people to want to have a career development plan. Many think that those successful individuals who have preceded them in the corporation had a plan to get where they got. Some did, but quite honestly, it is easier for them to claim that they had a plan with the benefit of hindsight and success than to produce the plan they wrote years before.

There is a whole field of professionals who offer career development resources and consulting. I think their services can be extremely valuable, especially when moving from one company to another. I am more familiar with helping people to advance and develop careers within the same company, as an integral part of my consultations. And so, that is my focus in this article.

In these client conversations about career development within the same company, I usually fairly quickly replace the concept of a “career development plan” with a “career networking plan” or a “career development networking plan.”

I’ve been working with a client who has been kicking and screaming about the idea of networking. She has been doing excellent work and feels she should be promoted based on her work. In one way, she’s absolutely correct. However, at her level in the organization, not only are there fewer openings, but a group of disparate persons with their own agendas usually decides about promotions and job changes.

When multiple persons with all different needs are involved in such a decision, there must be agreement that she is the one to promote or accept or move. Such a scenario usually requires more than doing the requisite job skills well. In most cases, the “more” comes down to ongoing activities she must be engaged in: networking and building authentic relationships.

I want to be clear, when I speak about career development networking, I do not mean to start networking to get a job that is now in the interview stage; my view is that this narrow type of networking is more appropriately called “lobbying.” Instead, I am speaking about networking over the years building relationships that are two-way, developing collaborative partnerships, feeling appreciation about interactions, expressing sincere congratulations when others are promoted, and engaging in conversations about a variety of topics.

When many individuals are all well-qualified for a job, something “more” must stand out in the final candidate. This “more” may be related to job accomplishments, but likely, the “more” is related to relationships perhaps the one who is best known, or the one who is most liked, or the one who has consistently good interactions with others.

The candidate who is well-networked is likely to increase the chances that all the decision-makers will agree, “this is the one.” There might sometimes be a thrill about a hotly contested position, but all things considered, the best transitions take place when there’s general agreement to select the final candidate.

Career Development Networking a Starting Plan

First of all, it’s important that you think of networking as two-way! This is essential. The word “networking” has become rather polluted by the way some persons are using this word. Use the word however you want, but please understand that here I am using it to mean an exchange. Be pragmatic, of course, but understand that you are only “networked” if a two-way connection is happening. This is absolutely essential to understand, if you want to make this an empowering practice.

In my empowerment consulting sessions, I’m often coaching clients about the best persons to network with, the subjects to speak about, and how to speak about the subjects. Those who are a little shy or reticent about speaking with someone at much higher levels sometimes just need this added encouragement to take the step to network.

Many successful people already understand the need to network within their company. They probably don’t need a plan. Some jobs require that individuals know, interact, and partner with others in the company, and so they are usually well-networked naturally. If the company is large, though, there are many persons outside the scope of the current job who are potentials for expanding a network.

Here is a simple approach to getting started. Make two lists of persons in your company. The first is a list of the persons you already know and like. The second is a list of the persons you believe can, at some time, help you in your career you may already know them or not. It is o.k. to have the same person on both lists; in fact, this strategy depends on that!

The intersecting subset of those two lists is the starting place. In other words, start your networking plan with the persons you like, whom you think can help you in your career. You will have more success by starting where it is easiest. Keep your lists updated over time, so that this is an organic process.

The next step is to decide, person by person, how and how often to network. Again, start where it is easiest. If you have regular meetings with someone on your target list, sit near the person, or suggest that you have lunch afterward, or take an interesting article to give to the person. If you consider you are already actively networking with this person, you may not need to adjust any actions. Just be certain to keep the person on your radar screen.

For best results, keep a journal of your networking. In your journal or on your calendar, make a notation for yourself for your next contact. By all means, do not over-commit yourself to starting to build too many new relationships at the same time. As a relationship is in the stage where either you and the other person are at ease to “call anytime,” you have built a relationship, so continuing it is easier.

Networking is as simple as such examples as I’ve just given; a networking plan is also simple. It just requires some, ummmm, planning and paying attention.

Copyright © 2006 Marshall House Jeanie Marshall, Empowerment Consultant and Coach with Marshall House, produces Guided Meditations on CD albums and MP3 downloads and writes extensively on subjects related to personal development and empowerment.
Voice of Jeanie Marshall, http://www.jmvoice.com