Tang: Rapid Yuan appreciation bad Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Donald Tang, chief executive officer at Citic Securities International Partners, talks about the outlook for Chinese currency policy, opportunities for U.S. investment in China and the outlook for the nation's economy. (Source: Bloomberg)
Tang:
Chinese currency will appreciate, the question is by how much.
US companies need a platform to harness china’s talent.
China is transforming from an exporter to a consumer.
China is developing a “social security network”.
US should proceed cautiously with China on Yuan policies.
What distinguishes merely successful people from those who are truly great? Often people think of intelligence, passion, knowledge, or education. But none of these have been good predictors of greatness: Intelligence — or its cousin, IQ — hasn't been shown to improve your odds at becoming great. Einstein aside, many individuals considered truly great actually have truly average IQs. Passion seems to help some people succeed, but it also leads many down lonely roads of false confidence (and even to the occasional asylum). To be fair, knowledge and schooling positively correlate to a number of success metrics, but they stop short of predicting greatness.
Maybe these aspects of human dynamics are merely necessary but not sufficient drivers of greatness. So what does distinguish the good from the great? To me, the one distinguishing factor is the ability to constantly think about the future. I am not talking about obsessive worry or concern over the future. Nor am I talking about predicting, forecasting, or fortune telling. I am talking about forethought.
In its simplest form, the ability to predict the future is one of the things that makes us unique. We may not be able to predict the weather next week, but in many other ways, the brain is an excellent prediction machine. Early humans, for instance, didn't need to see their prey to know the animal was ahead. They could predict its progress through its paw prints and droppings. In fact, without being able to forecast the imminent future, early humans would have been consumed by whatever beast was lying in wait in the bushes ahead. The Greeks even had a god of forethought — Prometheus, the Titan who sculpted mankind out of clay and, according to legend, brought us the gift of fire.
But let's be clear: Intuition is different than forethought. Intuition is another one of those necessary but not sufficient traits. Without intuition, the human race would have been finished a long time ago. Intuition rests on the ability of the brain to read patterns, and react accordingly. For instance, you don't need to accumulate hundreds of details about a coiled object in your path to jump out of the way. The brain decides instantly that it's a snake. Now the object may merely have been a coiled rope — and you may have jumped into the air needlessly, to the amusement of passers-by. But that is because the brain is built to react quickly. It doesn't wait for all the details.
Here's how forethought is different from intuition. To have forethought, you need an abundance of details and you must labor over them. There is no right answer when thinking about the future, merely an endless number of scenarios. It is what the Stanford economist Thomas Sowell calls "long-range thinking." Forward thinking is the brain's way to chip away at the edges of uncertainty, to make bets based on past experience. The best of the best do this incessantly.
Do not mistake forethought with rote practice: Greatness is achieved with practice, but only when the labor enables someone to look forward and consider scenarios. Malcolm Gladwell's well-read book argued that it takes roughly 10,000 hours of practice to gain expertise, but practice alone does not make someone great. There are many experts who lack greatness and for every Gates and Lennon, there are countless Johnsons and Smiths who practiced equally hard. It is the difference between a good chess player who studies each move as it is made, and a grandmaster who studies several strategies before the game even begins. It's the difference between a shortstop who only practices taking grounders, and a shortstop who also studies the scouting reports so he knows where to stand for each batter.
Forethought is how good people become great and how great people stay a step ahead.
What do you think makes someone great?
Jeffrey M. Stibel is Chairman and CEO of Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. He is an entrepreneur, a brain scientist, and the author of Wired for Thought: How the Brain Is Shaping the Future of the Internet.
Do you already know what you want your next career move to be? If so, you can jump ahead to the section on creating a skills-based resume. If you don't, you have several options.
First, make a list of what you are looking for in a new career. For instance, are you thinking about changing jobs because you no longer want to sit in a cubicle for eight hours a day? Then your list should include something like "must involve being away from my desk at least four hours per day." Similarly, you may want to have a job that doesn't require a lot of overtime. Consider your preferences for required travel or working on projects in teams or independently. You may not get everything you want, but brainstorming is a great start.
Next, conduct research using descriptions of what you are looking for in a career. Ignore jobs you know are outside of your field of interest. For instance, if somehow "lion tamer" comes up in your search - and your friend's cat makes you nervous - you should eliminate it from any further discussion.
Based on your search results, narrow research to careers that fit at least five out of 10 things you want in a new career. Pick five careers for building a skills-based resume.
University career centers can help you with the following:
Career tests to help you find what you might like to do next
Job placement
Resume review and workshops
Volunteering
Still not sure what your next move should be or need guidance in defining your career goals? Volunteer for a charity organization and/or call the career center at your old university for help. Remember to bring the list of what you are looking for in a new career position with you.
Volunteers at nonprofit organizations are often given as much responsibility as they want to have and extra guidance because they are working for free. You could learn leadership and training skills while showing newer volunteers the ropes or marketing and sales skills while helping to promote charity events. Let volunteer coordinators know what your skills are, so they can assign tasks to help you move forward.
Create a Skills-Based Resume
Step 1:List all jobs you've held. Jot down at least five tasks you performed in each job. For instance, working in teams to create ad campaigns, helping customers find the right products within your company's product line, making travel arrangements for industry conventions or negotiating prices with suppliers.
Then, under each task, write down how you completed this task. Not only will you see one-word skills such as "organizing" or "problem solving", but you'll also find the expanded details you need for adding specifics to your resume. You will not copy your job listings into your resume, but this exercise will be the basis for step three.
Step 2: Browse career sites for your skills.
Select the new career fields in which you are interested. Then, enter descriptions of your skills one at a time into the search box.This will help you determine the specific position titles that could work with the skills you have. Pick five job listings to mull over and study the full descriptions.
Step 3: Showcase skills that fit descriptions of your desired positions. Pick two skills you possess that match the job listings you selected. Create separate skills sections for your resume for each position. For instance, a resume for an event planning position could list travel planning and problem solving as skills. Skills you could use for a merchandising manager position might include organization, negotiation and/or market analysis.
After picking two of your skills per job, add five to 10 bullets under each skill with your accomplishments in this area. The bullets should be similar to the bullets in step two, but your accomplishment listings will be more detailed.
Step 4: Format your resume.
Put your name, address, and contact information at the top.
Objective - Limit your objective to one sentence that specifies an objective directed at the specific position to which you are applying. Don't write that you are looking for new experiences in a creative field. Specify what you want to do for that company.
Have a section for education below your skills. You want your skills to stand out more than your degree.
Summary of your experience. List all your post-college jobs, your dates of employment and the city and state. If you have a lengthy career history, limit your previous jobs section to where you developed the skills in your resume. Volunteer positions can be included.
Limit your entire resume to one page.
The Bottom Line
Most people will change careers at least once in their lives; some will change occupations multiple times. If you went back to school each time, you'd take on a new professional title: lifetime student. Use your professional skills to catapult you into a new career field instead.
