Last Minute - The Lethbridge Journal

More documents

Recommendations

Info

May 8th, 2012 Did anyone check out that new Avengers movie this weekend? I know I didn’t. Even though I think it’s going to be a good movie, I just can’t pay money to sit in a full theater with a bunch of stinky, yapping kids. I’m not really a hard-core movie fan like that. I prefer a sofa and a beer as opposed to pitching a tent out in the parking lot of a mall for hours, then sitting in the theater for an hour, and then having a person sit next to you spilling popcorn on you while sneezing in your face simultaneously. I know, I have high standards, and that’s why I do home movie reviews. Submitted to the Lethbridge Journal Underworld Awakening - After being held in a coma-like state for fifteen years, vampire Selene learns that she has a fourteen-year-old vampire/Lycan hybrid daughter, Nissa, and when she finds her, they must stop BioCom from creating super Lycans that will kill them all. Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Stephen Rea, Michael Ealy, Theo James. Review- Now I know that description sounds like a piece of garbage movie, but it’s actually not that bad. If you’re a fan of the other movies in the series, and even though it’s not a very long movie, you will still enjoy it. I complained about the 3D moments in a previous article, and yeah that’s terrible, but all in all it’s worth a rental. If you don’t like vampires and werewolves though, you may want to go watch The Vow again instead. May 15th, 2012 The Grey - In Alaska, an oil drilling team struggle to survive after a plane crash strands them in the wild. Hunting the humans is a pack of wolves that see them as intruders. Starring: Liam Neeson, Dallas Roberts, Frank Grillo, Dermot Mulroney. Review – Sounds like a basic struggle in the wilderness movie right? Well that’s what I thought until I saw it. I think this it’s one of the best movies of its kind, it has the right plot, the right cast and then instead of being bored watching some regular people walking around in the snow, you get a huge pack of wolves trying to kill them at the same time. Definitely worth watching. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• 8 LETHBRIDGE JOURNAL • WEEK OF MAY 11, 2012 • www.lethbridgejournal.ca
What about Jack? By Greg Stonehocker Submitted to the Lethbridge Journal For those of you that don’t know Jack. . . let me introduce you. Jack Welch is the former CEO of General Electric, known for his track record of success, enormous love of people, fierce passion for winning, author of two best-selling books, and his unique management practices. One of his more famous management practices was that he used to get rid of the bottom 20 per cent of his employees each year. While some see this as a harsh way to handle business, Welch had both strategic and practical reasons for following this mandate. First, he realized this type of ‘pruning’ was necessary for GE’s success. So he made it part of the overall company plan. He knew that in order for GE to be the best, he had to have the best people working on the job for him – and enough room to replace those who didn’t work out. Second, Jack believed in a company culture that rewarded performance. As others have pointed out, a lot of Jack’s ‘firings’ were mutual. Some employees simply didn’t like his aggressive style, his penchant for numbers and details, his vision for the company, or his standard of accountability for every department. Sometimes, company culture clashes with an employee’s value system. Sometimes the employee is constantly at odds with the overall culture and ultimate mission of the company. Despite the wishes of some government and union types, owners need to replace unproductive workers with people who can actually do the job so the company can survive. So let’s say you’ve decided to raise company standards. You’ve developed a clear mission, you’ve established the rules of a positive company culture and you’ve got a new attitude toward your customers and suppliers. But some of your team aren’t with the program. Some never will be. What do you do? The best thing to do is stay the course. If you’ve ever segmented your customers into As, Bs, Cs and Ds, you could also apply the same rationale to your employees. Some may not be up to your standards, but others will be attracted to a company that knows what it wants and where it is going. So how do you set the standard in your business? Well for those of you who haven’t set standards, you need to start today. Take a cue from Jack. Not only will you benefit long-term, you will also allow others to achieve success in their own right. 1. Establish your own Vision, Mission and Culture for your company – Jack was a big believer in a culture based on innovation, efficiency and continuous improvement. He also believed in rewarding results, from awarding employee bonuses based on innovation to allowing staff to participate in stock option compensation. What are you a big believer of for your business? Does your company have incentives or reward employee performance? The key is to make it true and meaningful for you! 2. Develop strong leadership – Without strong direction, your business will be like a ship without a rudder. This doesn’t mean you need to be an autocrat or a dictator. Just the opposite. I’m talking more in terms of ‘quality’ here. Passion and the ability to take total responsibility are important keys. 3. Have a common goal – Both you and your team need to know what the goal of the business is. When Jack ran GE, he had 12 businesses under the GE umbrella. All had their own goals and objectives – but each operated under the overall GE Vision and Mission. That helped all team members to see the ‘big picture,’ one they could be part of and adapt to their specific situations. 4. Set the rules of the game – Team members need to know what they can and can’t do. Everyone must know what game your company is playing, as well as the rules of the game. It’s up to you to create the rules and the playing field. If you don’t, your team will be without direction, and will set their own guidelines for you. 5. Have an action plan – All your team members need a position description that spells out their duties in clear and unambiguous terms. This helps define responsibilities and also helps limit jurisdictional disputes about what a person should or shouldn’t be doing. Ideally, all of this is done in a systemized way, one that can be written down, replicated and repeated. Do this by department and you’ll have an operations manual for your entire business. 6. Support risk taking – You must be willing to take risks. If not, your team will lag and not want to push boundaries. If you don’t push your team to take business risks, your company will push conservatively towards its goals. Know that risks and rewards are two sides of the same coin – and make sure your team knows that, too. 7. 100 per cent involvement and inclusion – Practice the art of inclusion. Ask your team for their opinions and listen. The key is to make sure everyone is involved and everyone gives their all to their respective jobs. In Jack’s view, “every person counts.” Every person does. And you really want them to count in moving the whole team toward the company’s objectives. And let’s not forget that Jack Welch increased GE turnover six-fold from the time he started to the time he left. He couldn’t have done it with people who didn’t buy into his vision for the company – and he had a pretty big vision for GE. Nor could he have done it with employees who underperformed and resisted change. Can you? Fullfilling a childhood dream with N-Hance By Erwin Blatter For the Lethbridge Journal Sick of working in construction in the rough circumstances of boom-town Fort McMurray, former history teacher Nikolay Rudenko contemplated a while about what to do. He decided to start his own business. In February he bought an N-Hance franchise, now he’s a specialist in refinishing floors and renewing cabinets. For now, Rudenko, 36, works from his Lethbridge home. But the new entrepreneur hopes to open his own N-Hance store within a year, preferably in downtown Lethbridge. Moreover, he wants to hire people in Medicine Hat who can concentrate on the eastern part of his franchise territory, which encompasses the cities of Taber, Brooks and Medicine Hat as well as Lethbridge. Rudenko has reason to think he will be able to reach his goals. He believes in his service because it’s simply “too good to not be successful.” “The N-Hance way of renewing wooden floor and cabinets takes only one day on average instead of one week with more traditional ways of wood services,” Rudenko claims. “The process doesn’t produce dust so you don’t have to move your furniture. It’s also almost odourless. And within two hours you don’t smell anything anymore.” But probably the most important asset of N-Hance’s way of working is that it’s not labour-intensive and therefore the costs stay relatively low. “Also, nobody is doing this in Lethbridge. The product we’re using for our service is not for sale in stores. It’s only available to franchise holders.” Rudenko’s franchise is the only one in southern Alberta. Having been in business since February, he has already done quite a few jobs. The Russian immigrant is happy he decided to start his own business. Before, he had been working in the Fort Mc- Murray oil fields for five years. As a former teacher with a degree in history, the grim circumstances up north weren’t quite his cup of tea. “Working in construction was not very exciting. But when I came to Canada in 2004 with my wife and my son, my English was not good enough to be able to teach history to Canadian kids.” Now, he has found something he likes, Rudenko says. “Working with wood has always been a hobby of mine. When I was a kid I wanted to become a carpenter.” It triggered his search for a business in wood work. “I read about N-Hance on the internet. After that I called a few franchise owners. They were all happy with their business. They said things ran smoothly.” In the end, the decision to buy a franchise was relatively easy. “Especially because N-Hance also provided the funding of the business. To me, this is all very exciting, as I have never run a business before. But obviously, I believe in the concept of N-Hance.” Rudenko might even be opening an N-Hance franchise in Fort McMurray. Some day. “But for now I’ll solely be focusing on Lethbridge. There’s still a lot of ground to be covered here.” For more information on N-Hance, call Rudenko at (403) 894-8095 or visit www.nhance.com. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • LETHBRIDGE JOURNAL • WEEK OF MAY 11, 2012 • www.lethbridgejournal.ca 19
Page 1 and 2: FEATURE STORY Linda’s heart is in
Page 3 and 4: COVER FEATURE Specializing in: Plas
Page 5 and 6: • • • • • • • • •
Page 7 and 8: We’re Family Owned & Operated Ran
Page 9 and 10: send your pictures to editor@lethbr
Page 11 and 12: Last Minute MOTHER ’S DAY Guide B
Page 13 and 14: DAILY LUNCH SPECIALS DAILY DRINK SP
Page 15 and 16: ARIES (March 21-April 19) Greet eac
Page 17: Your ultimate events calendar for e
Page 21 and 22: Stay a while, and listen! We need a
Page 23 and 24: Recruitment & Search Temporary Staf
Page 25 and 26: Virtuous woman exposed Submitted to
Page 27 and 28: By Jeff Wiebe For the Lethbridge Jo
Page 29 and 30: • • • • • • • • •
Page 31 and 32: New gym experience is platinum By J

Last Minute - The Lethbridge Journal

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?