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He sings, he strums, and he works at Best Buy. view!
www.youtube.com/bestbuy - Musician and Best Buy employee, Keith Parsons, rocks his Best Buy holiday campaign audition.
43 Comments
- Vindexus, on 06/30/2009, -1/+24Tiger Woods: Keep it simple
Age: 33
No. 1-ranked golfer
When I was young, maybe 6 or 7 years old, I'd play on the Navy golf course with my pop. My dad would say, "Okay, where do you want to hit the ball?" I'd pick a spot and say I want to hit it there. He'd shrug and say, "Fine, then figure out how to do it." He didn't position my arm, adjust my feet, or change my thinking. He just said go ahead and hit the darn ball. My dad's advice to me was to simplify. He knew that at my age I couldn't digest all of golf's intricacies. He kept it simple: If you want to hit the ball to a particular spot, figure out a way to do it. Even today, when I'm struggling with my game, I can still hear him say, "Pick a spot and just hit it." When I'm making adjustments during a round, I know some of the television commentators theorize that I'm changing this or moving that, but really what I'm doing is listening to Pop.
Jim Sinegal: Show, don't tell
Age: 73
Co-founder and CEO, Costco Wholesale
About 40 years ago I became a vice president at FedMart, a discount retailer. I started working there when I was 18. The company's founder, Sol Price, taught me a lesson that was pretty simple, but also true: If you're going to go to the trouble of hiring someone, it's because you can't do the job yourself -- so you'd better show them how you would do it.
Sol spent day and night teaching us. He'd go home to have dinner, then come back to the warehouses. If he saw a piece of trash on the floor, he'd pick it up. If he noticed that a display was too high or an aisle wasn't wide enough, he'd fix it. As employees, we were tested every day, and if something wasn't done properly, he'd be certain to show us how to do it. Some people believe that you should say something just once. But I think you get a message across by communicating it every day. That's why I'm always walking the floors of different Costcos and talking to employees about the tasks at hand. It's not just because I love to hear the registers ring! Sol taught me that a good manager must also be a good teacher. A lot of very bright people lose sight of that.
Mort Zuckerman: Do what you love
Age: 72
Chairman, Boston Properties; chairman, editor-in-chief, U.S. News and World Report
The best advice I ever got came from one of my professors at the Harvard Business School. He told a story about how George Bernard Shaw was working as a clerk in a dry-goods store in Dublin, and he decided to give himself three years to go and write plays in London. And if it didn't work out he could always go back and be a clerk in a dry-goods store. The way I interpreted his advice was to really do what you love. I was anticipating that I would be practicing law, which to me was the functional equivalent to working as a clerk in a dry-goods store.
So I decided I was going to give myself three years to try something that I was always interested in. I was always fascinated by urban life, and I grew up in Montreal, where the residential areas were closer to the downtown part of the city. The father of one of my best friends was in the real estate business, and I thought he had a wonderful life because he traveled a lot and seemed to be building things. And I really liked building things. (And as I once said when I was a teacher, he also had a lot of women chasing him, which I thought came out of the profession. A student then asked me, "Well, has it worked?" And I said, "Well, I travel an awful lot.") So I went into a field that I really liked. I got a job in Boston with Cabot Cabot & Forbes, in real estate development. Since I loved both urban life and journalism -- I was a journalism addict when I was 12 years old -- all I did was pursue those two careers. And I feel as if I've never worked a day in my life.
Lloyd Blankfein: Empower a subordinate
Age: 54
Chairman and CEO, Goldman Sachs
When I was put in charge of sales and trading at Goldman's commodities unit [in 1984], it was a big deal for me. My first month on the job, things started going badly in the P&L. When I went in to my boss for help, he asked, "What do you think we should do here?" I wanted to sound totally in control, so I went right into this Chuck Yeager voice -- you know, The Right Stuff. I used my most fake-confident voice, and I gave it my best shot. He said, "Okay, that's a good idea." It was smart of him to ask my opinion instead of telling me what to do. He knew that if my plan worked, I'd feel more confident. If it didn't work, the pressure on me would ease because he had endorsed my idea. Just as I was walking out of his office, he said, "Oh, just one more thing. Why don't you walk to the men's room and throw cold water on your face? You're looking green." So I learned two things: First, it's good to solicit your people's opinions before you give them yours. And second, your people will be very influenced by how you carry yourself under stress.
Mohamed El-Erian: Push beyond your comfort zone
Age: 51
CEO and co-chief investment officer, Pimco
We were living in Paris, back when my father was Egypt's ambassador to France. Each day we used to get at least four daily newspapers, from Le Figaro on the right side of the political spectrum to L'Humanité, which was the newspaper of the Communist Party. I remember asking my father, Why do we need four newspapers? He said to me, "Unless you read different points of view, your mind will eventually close, and you'll become a prisoner to a certain point of view that you'll never question."
Reading widely is particularly important right now. Most of the market research these days asks the same question: Is this the market bottom? To answer that question, they look at historical valuations and try to extrapolate from them. And most of the time that is the correct approach. However, right now we are going through major and unpredictable changes in the financial landscape. As a result, "Is this the bottom?" is the wrong question. But you have to read other people like [New York University economics professor Nouriel] Roubini, like [The Black Swan author] Nassim Taleb, and some of the behavioral-finance guys to understand why the question is wrong. The question we should be asking is, In this new world how do the historical variables morph, and what are the unintended consequences of government policy? There's a tendency for everyone to operate in a comfort zone and to want to read what is familiar to them. But if you are just used to following one person or one newspaper, you will miss these big shifts.
David Axelrod: Ignore conventional wisdom
Age: 54
Senior adviser to President Obama
Gary Hart [the former presidential candidate from Colorado] gave me the advice over beers at the Quadrangle Club at the University of Chicago in 1987, where he had just given a speech. He said Washington was one big echo chamber of conventional wisdom clanging around. He told me, "Washington is always the last to get the news." I didn't think much about his words then, but they stuck with me and helped me later in life and in the Obama campaign. There were many times when Washington conventional wisdom wrote us off or insisted we were making suicidal mistakes.
They questioned our focus on Iowa, saying we needed to run a national campaign. For most of 2007, from July to November, the conventional wisdom insisted we had blown our opportunity. Hillary Clinton had a 30-point lead. But we thought that if we won Iowa we could prevail, and we just got pummeled by people in Washington saying we were going to lose. In the spring of 2008 they said we were crazy to oppose eliminating the gas tax when our opponents were proposing it as a way to ease the crush of high gas prices. People thought we'd made this critical error. But we thought our position was honest and forthright and people would recognize a gimmick when they saw one. The interchange on those issues actually propelled us to a strong position in the North Carolina and Indiana primaries. The third time we ignored Washington was when Sarah Palin was picked. They said it was a masterstroke by McCain. But Obama said it took him four to five months to get the hang of being a candidate, so I knew it would be tough to make that adjustment in three weeks.
When I was a political reporter, the paper tried to send me here [Washington, D.C.], and I refused. In 1998, when the Monica Lewinsky story broke and reporter friends said Clinton would resign, I went to Manny's Deli in Chicago, where there was an older woman, 68. She was a cashier who had to keep working to make ends meet. She said, "This guy Clinton seems to be trying to help us, so why don't they get off his ass?" I called my reporter friends in D.C. and said they need to come to Manny's.
Tory Burch: Trust your instincts
Age: 43
Co-founder and creative director, Tory Burch
When I started my company, many people said I shouldn't launch it as a retail concept because it was too big a risk. They told me to launch as a wholesaler to test the waters -- because that was the traditional way. But Glen Senk, the CEO of Urban Outfitters and a mentor of mine who now sits on our board, told me to follow my instincts and take the risk. I wanted to create a new way of looking at retail. At the time a lot of stores were very minimalist, very clean. I wanted stores that would feel like a comfortable room in my apartment, cozy and colorful and different.
Part of my vision came out of my experience at Ralph Lauren. When I worked there, first in public relations and then in advertising as a copywriter, I learned the importance of having a complete vision for the company, from product to marketing to store visuals. My company is an extension of me, so when I designed my stores I wanted people to feel that they were in my home. It was also something that came out of my trying to design things that I wanted myself. Everything was thought out, from the music to the candles to the couches and, of course, to the product. It gave people an idea of who we were, and it was great for quicker branding. - EMFK, on 06/29/2009, -1/+17FTA:"Mort Zuckerman: Do what you love"
Although, I would probably have added "Beware of Bernie Madoff" - SirBruce, on 06/29/2009, -3/+17My advice? Don't spread news articles you want people to read across 22 ***** pages.
- Grandpohbah, on 06/29/2009, -0/+14Best advice I have ever gotten was from Gary Busey: "Don't pet a burning dog and never fry bacon naked."
- megaton, on 06/29/2009, -0/+11Do something you don't want to do, every day.
- TalSiach, on 06/29/2009, -2/+12Tiger's dad gave him great advice! Keep it simple.
- ThraxyWaxy, on 06/30/2009, -0/+8The "underpromise and overdeliver" I got from Star Trek. In the original series Scotty always told the Captain it would take a certain amount of time even though he knew he could actually finish it in half the time, to make himself seem more valuable.
- ghatid, on 06/30/2009, -0/+8I like the "Take advice from smart people".
When asked the best advice he ever got, he gave the advice to take advice. Thanks! - kingofinternet, on 06/30/2009, -1/+8You need to take a nice long walk.
- Barbarino, on 06/29/2009, -0/+6Don't eat yellow snow...
- megaton, on 06/30/2009, -0/+5Is it the fact that it's split across 22 pages, or that each page takes more than a fraction of a second to load?
If the text and image switched instantly upon each click, would that make a difference to you? (Honest question.)
In a manner of speaking, that'd be more efficient than scrolling down, because it's a binary operation: instant next/previous, rather than scrolllll, scrollll, scrolll...
Thoughts? - doctechnical, on 06/30/2009, -0/+4Best advice I've ever got:
1) There are three ways of doing something: The right way, the wrong way, and the way the boss wants it done. [grandpa]
2) You can't please everyone, so don't waste a lot of time and effort trying. [grandpa redux]
3) You can fool some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool mom. [Cap'n Penny, you have to be from Cleveland and about as old as me to recognize the reference] - inkswamp, on 06/29/2009, -0/+4I read megaton's post as a re-wording of the "get out of your comfort zone" advice.
- inactive, on 06/30/2009, -2/+5Off a short bridge.
- glaz, on 06/30/2009, -0/+3Best advice ever is simply to be nice to people. In business, this is absolutely the ultimate secret.
- bubba9999, on 06/30/2009, -0/+3Whine less - read more.
- ThraxyWaxy, on 07/01/2009, -0/+2Dyson sphere!
- nofrickenway, on 06/30/2009, -0/+2You are a great singer, but a retarded monkey could write better lyrics.
What you need is a guy to write music for you, and get yourself some new
threads. You know some slick glasses and S**t.
-elton john
You need a big strong beefy name.
-Meatloaf
Keep trying and keep pursueing your dreams, no matter how much you suck.
-Primus
Don't forget, pump your loins children!
-Joe Strummer
Buy a pompadour hat.
-Ozzy Osbourne
--RIP Chef-- - ghatid, on 06/30/2009, -0/+2That's similar to the only thing I've ever learned from an English teacher.
He told me that my weakness is my lack of effort in doing things I don't like doing. *shrug* It's obvious, but it really helps me get through tough times.
In Chinese, there's a saying, "Harden your forehead skin". It makes absolutely no sense (even in Chinese), but it means to just do it! You ignore all consequences and do it. Those 2 things bounce around in my head whenever I come across something causing me problems. - inactive, on 06/30/2009, -1/+3The best advice I got was from a HS teacher, do what you want and make a career in the thing that pisses you off the most.
- yocouchdigga, on 06/29/2009, -2/+4Anti-advice time?
When your boss steals your ideas, roll over and take it, over and over again. - DoShurikn, on 06/30/2009, -0/+2I prefer to scroll down, since im gonna have to do it anyway (some of the page have 4-5 lines that don't show in my browser unless I scroll)
Also I dont have reload the full page content for every part of the article, and it doesn't always bring me back to top, showing me the useless website name, title and menu. - arleym, on 06/30/2009, -0/+2When I saw "Rogers" I thought it was going to be the owner of Rogers Communications in Canada. It wasn't.
Still, I think the best advice that Rogers would have gotten was "Canadians will pay anything and sign on for any ridiculous phone plan" - UliKunkel, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1Haha. really? I hadn't heard that one before. Excellent.
- ClevelandBrown, on 06/30/2009, -1/+2I don't want to stick my penis in a vat of acid...
- fancywares319, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1i like it
- easyperson, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1Beware the advice of successful people, they do not seek company.
- bubba9999, on 06/30/2009, -1/+2Mission Accomplished?
- megaton, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1@inkswamp: Yes, thank you, though I think it's a more profound message than pushing the bounds of your comfort zone.
The reason? When people hear, "comfort zone," they think that means they should read more than one newspaper. Don't just read a different newspaper; go watch a ballet. Do something entirely unrelated to your interests.
Yes, that's pushing the bounds of your comfort zone, but really, it's so much more than that. - Soonago, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1Only the Sith deal in absolutes.
- sciencelovesyou, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1Primus Sucks! Primus Sucks! Primus Sucks!
Oh Les, you were always so self-denigrating. - inactive, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1what if you love bernie madoff?
- sciencelovesyou, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1"I told the Captain I would have this diagnostic done in an hour."
"And how long will it really take you?"
"An hour!"
"Oh, you didn't tell him how long it would really take, did you?"
"Of course I did."
"Oh, laddie, you have a lot to learn if you want people to think of you as a miracle worker."
TNG, "Relics" in case anyone else was banging their head, struggling to recall that episode. I know I did. - megaton, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1"Harden your foreskin," makes more sense.
- inactive, on 06/30/2009, -0/+0i'd much rather read 22 pages over a super long page
just like back in elementary school when i liked books with huge words since that meant fewer words per page and i felt like i had accomplished something each time i turned the page - pauliusuza, on 06/30/2009, -1/+1They do it for one reason: ad impressions.
- piattorney, on 07/26/2009, -1/+1Excellent piece, Dugg and RT
- inactive, on 06/30/2009, -1/+1cool story bro!
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- inactive, on 06/30/2009, -0/+0the best advice i can give is that absolutes are always a bad thing
- sh0x, on 06/30/2009, -0/+0“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
--Marianne Williamson - brettmjohnson, on 06/30/2009, -0/+0Education is a privilege, not a punishment.
I hated my early years in school. So did my mom - an endless stream of notes and phone calls from school:
"Brett won't remain seated in class."
"Brett jumped over desks."
"Brett's hair cannot touch his collar."
"Collarless shirts are not allowed."
"Brett didn't do his homework."
"Brett skipped steps when going up/down stairs."
"Brett read ahead in the textbook."
"Brett shot his paper at the wastebasket. (swish .. 2 points)"
and my personal favorite:
"Pants with belt-loops must have belts."
At least in prison, they take your belt away so you don't hang yourself.
In any case, I tended to view school as some sort of daily jail.
When I was in the seventh grade, my math teacher, Mr. Dighton noticed that I suffered from a fatal combination in public school - brains and boredom. He took me aside and explained the importance of education. I don't remember his exact words, but the one sentence summary:
"Education is a privilege, not a punishment."
He explained that beyond the petty rules and B.S., I could actually approach the situation from a different perspective. Rather than be the victim, I could victimize the school -- taking advantage of as much free education as possible. Since we were poor, "free" hit home.
I eventually took courses at LSU while I was in the 11th and 12th grade, at no charge, because I exhausted the school's math and science program. I was the only person in my immediate family (or previous 4 generations) to graduate from University. - inactive, on 06/30/2009, -12/+3Andrew Carnegie: "The older I get, the less I listen to what people SAY.... and the more I watch what they DO."
This especially applies to the lying POS Obama...
Obama: "I'm going to give 95% of all Americans a TAX CUT."
....a bold faced lie. He's not giving anyone a tax cut.
Obama: "I promise there won't be ANY new taxes in any form whatsoever."
....a bold faced lie. He's going to tax everyone's health care benefits.
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