From Greece to Grads:  How Debt Impacts the World in Which We Live

Taking a look at the international headlines is not something on the forefront of the minds of many Americans on a daily basis, but a glance every now and then may not be a bad idea.

For example, look no further than the situation in Greece.  For decades, Greece had served as an economic pillar, not only in Europe, but throughout the entire world, due to its rapid economic growth, particularly in the period following World War II.  But that growth led to rampant corruption, a situation that was magnified exponentially in conjunction with the Global Financial Crisis of 2007 and 2008 (a period from which the United States continues to dig out).  The Greek economy went into a staggering freefall, and the primary means of stopping the decline was to borrow, borrow, and borrow.some more.

It’s a situation that has stunned economists throughout the globe, and it may all come to a head on Tuesday.  On June 30, a deadline that has already been pushed back twice, Greece must pay up on its debt to the International Monetary Fund to the tune of 1.5 billion pounds ($1.7 billion dollars).  The beleaguered nation faces a myriad of options, none of them pleasant, from working out 11th hour deals with its creditors to withdrawing from the European Union (a move dubbed by many as a “Grexit”), and forsaking the Union’s stabilizing influence in order to push the ‘reset’ button, and build the economy up from its massive hole on its own.

-When you consider the impact that debt can have on the future of an entire country, it adds some perspective to the debts that individuals and families face throughout the world.   From credit card debt to mortgage debt to college-based student loan debt, and many line items in between, we are living in an age of a higher mountain of debt than we have ever seen before.

On this Sunday’s edition of “The Raja Show”, Raja, with the help of Michael Casey, Senior Columnist for the Wall Street Journal, and an expert on global economics, examines the nature of debt in our current economic society.  They’lll take an in-depth look at the situation in Greece,and discuss the lessons that you can take away from this situation to manage your own financial situation (and there ARE lessons).  While you’re probably not facing a 10-figure level of debt in your own life, the odds are that you’re feeling some kind of pinch, and it’s a pinch that could be causing you damaging stress that can be relieved if you put a simple plan in place.

High Cost…..High Reward?   Are American Colleges Worth the Price of Admission?

On this week’s edition of “The Raja Show”, Raja examines the true value of a college education.   With tuition and other costs of attending a two- or four-year school increasing drastically on an annual basis, and many recent graduates struggling mightily to find meaningful work to pay off the debt they took on to get that degree, let alone create a living for themselves, Raja examines whether or not the college degree is worth the price that students and their parents pay to get there.

-The cost of a college education, and the cost effectiveness of education at ALL age levels, has been on Raja’s mind a lot recently, and not just because of his two daughters who aren’t all that far away from being college students themselves.

Matthew Brouillette

Serving on the board of The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA), Raja gets a first-hand look at the role that the staggering amount of student debt plays in the economics of college education.   Another leader keeping his eye on how effectively Pennsylvania’s education system is serving its youth is Matt Brouillette, the President and CEO of the Commonwealth Foundation for Policy Alternatives. Since its inception in 1987, the Commonwealth Foundation has served as Pennsylvania’s primary watchdog to ensure that its fiscal resources are allocated in a way that effectively serves the needs of its constituents.

On Sunday, Matt talks with Raja about the current state of primary education in Pennsylvania, as he sees it “from the trenches” of Pennsylvania’s State Capital in Harrisburg.  Plus, with the deadline for the completion of Pennsylvania’s State Budget less than two weeks away (June 30), Matt discusses some of the critical shortfalls that have emerged, and the recommendations on how the State Legislature can remedy these in a manner that is a win-win for all parties involved.

From Horrible Bosses to Terrible Employees and Unbearable Co-Workers…..What Do You Do When The Workers Aren’t Working?

On last week’s edition of “The Raja Show”, Raja discussed the nature of leadership, including the idea of “servant leadership”, and you chimed in with your (thankfully, anonymous) stories of your worst experiences with YOUR superiors.   He also wrote about ways you can manage your boss on his blog.

(And if you missed any of that episode, you can get caught up right here!)

There’s no doubt that having an incompetent or inefficient boss can hamper the success of a company.  But what can a company do when the boss is fine, but the people under the boss are the ones who aren’t performing up to snuff?
On this episode of “The Raja Show”, Raja turns the spotlight around to discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly of employee performance in a company.   As a CEO himself, Raja will give some insight into ways that he and his leadership team strive to get the most out of the people working for his company, and offer some actionable advice as to how to get the most out of the people who work for yours.  Plus, in the case of employees for whom there doesn’t seem to be any hope of improvement, Raja will offer advice as to the best way to handle that unfortunate situation as well.

-Plus, Audrey Russo, President of the FortyX80, a spinoff organization of the Pittsburgh Technology Council, joins Raja to discuss the group’s upcoming Angel Resource Institute event, and ways that entrepreneurs can have access to angel investors that they never would have otherwise.

How To Manage Your Boss

Over two-thirds of the people surveyed in a recent Gallup Poll indicated they voluntarily quit their jobs because they felt their manager wasn’t doing a good job.   In other words, they didn’t quit their company….they quit their BOSS!

Anyone who has been a boss knows that his or her actions as a boss not only impact the employee, but also what happens in the employee’s home and the dinner table.

If you work for a company, I’m sure you’ve been there.  You may see it as a helpless feeling.  The company is a perfect fit for what you want to do with your career, but the man or woman to whom you report is a direct roadblock on the path to your happiness.   You don’t want to quit your job, or maybe you can’t afford to quit your job.

“What am I supposed to do,” you may think to yourself, “Fire my boss?” While you probably can’t actually fire your boss, you CAN manage him or her.

Flipping the script on who manages who is the perfect chance for you to take back control of your job. While the actual, literal chain of command won’t change…..he or she is STILL your boss…..you can at least manage the circumstances of your situation to the point where you can maximize your skill set in order to succeed.

Based on my experiences, the ability to successfully manage the manger centers around three core concepts.

1.     Clear and Reasonable Expectations – I’m a data guy at heart.  I like metrics, and am often leery of business elements that cannot be measured in some way.

You should be the same way when it comes to the expectations your boss has for you.  Get this in writing….NOW!  If your boss doesn’t have a written set of expectations for you, come up with your own, and ensure that your boss gives it the OK.  These expectations should be measurable and quantifiable.  They should lay out a plan for what you are expected to do for the next 12 months or so, drilling down to quarterly, monthly, weekly, or daily, as needed.  They should be something you can refer to at any point along the way to determine if you’re on your way to meeting these expectation, or, failing that, what you need to do to get there.

Most importantly, these expectations need to be reasonable.    You know the level at which you are capable of performing.  Your boss knows the level at which he or she expects you to perform.  Rarely are these two levels in alignment from Day One, as it takes a feeling out process to establish what level works for both parties.  Once the expectations are laid out, work closely and communicate frequently with your boss, especially early on, to ensure that you’re both on the same page, and customize a plan to get you at the “win-win” level you can both be happy with.

2.     Respect – Remember those adages that your parents instilled in you growing up?   Especially the one about “Treat others as you, yourself, would like to be treated”?

The same holds true for a corporate environment.  Would you dare talk down to your boss, or act disrespectful?  Probably not.   So you shouldn’t tolerate or accept any instance where your boss talks down, or acts disrespectful to you.

If you find this happening in your company, take control of the situation.   Find a one-on-one setting in which you can tell your boss that his or her behavior is not acceptable in that situation.

Same goes for any corrective feedback that your boss wishes to share with you.  If your boss has an issue with an element of your performance, instead of taking it public to other managers or employees, ensure that you are more than willing to listen to any corrective feedback he or she wants to share with you, so long as it’s in a private, one-on-one setting.

3.     Integrity – While most any company possesses a sense of integrity at its core at all times, it is a must-do for EVERYBODY in the company to conduct  themselves with integrity around the clock, starting with the company’s leadership to lead by example.  If this does NOT happen, and a leader doesn’t conduct him- or herself with the utmost integrity, you MUST communicate this to that boss ASAP.   Let that person privately know that you’re not OK with the situation at hand.  If you feel that your comments are falling on deaf ears, then don’t hesitate to take your ideas to another channel in the organization, such as HR.  It’s the primary purpose of that department, after all.

This policy should extend to your customer and client base as well.  As long as the integrity is being upheld on both sides of the coin, act as if the customer or client is ALWAYS right.  Never forget this.   But if you think the client is jeopardizing integrity, then it’s time to huddle up with your team and plan a set strategy going forward.

These are three of the ways in which YOU can take control of your situation at work, and manage YOUR boss.

Got any other recommendations on managing your boss?   Send me an email at raja@therajashow.com, or call me during the show.   I’d LOVE to hear from you !

“Horrible Bosses”:  Funny Movie, But Not So Funny When It Happens To You….What Do You Do? 

It’s often said that when an employee quits working for a company, he or she doesn’t quit the job….that person quits the boss.

In this day and age, different companies in different industries require different kinds of leadership and management styles to be successful.   Some companies require more of a hands-on approach, while others take the opposite tact…..stepping back, staying out of the way, and letting the people hired to do the work actually DO the work, jumping in only as needed.   Same goes for the employees working within the framework of the companies which employ them.

Whether your are a manager or an employee, sorting out your own individual style and situation effectively is critical to the success that both you and the company will hope to enjoy going forward.   If manager and employee are on the same page, in a manner that provides for effective and efficient productivity, then it is truly a dream situation.  But if manager and employee are at odds, then all bets are off, and, given time, the company could suffer in the long run.

But if your situation falls under the latter category, what do you do?  Do you change people (or change jobs)?  Or do you work together to rectify the situation?

On this edition of The Raja Show, Raja, himself the founder and CEO of a highly successful IT company, discusses the role that effective leadership and management play in business.  He’ll also discuss an age-old leadership philosophy that he holds dear: “servant leadership”, or the idea that leadership and power do not rest solely at the top of the organization, but that those at the top of the organization should help and support those throughout the company, from the top-down, sharing the power by developing each employee to become more productive leaders unto themselves, thus growing the company as a whole.