Advice from orientation

There are lots of good bits of advice that i've run across in orientation, and I'm thinking that I should write them down and collect them, rather than forget them and learn these lessons the hard way. These things are probably nearly all clichés, but the fact of the matter is they wouldn't have made it into popular consciousness if they weren't worth anything.

Looking back over the scribbled notes that I took through orientation, the things that stick out are that a lot of an individual's success depends on that person's ability to be professional. Surprisingly, it turns out that being professional is a lot about character. These things are 'soft skills,' meaning that you can't really learn them from a textbook or take a test on them per se, but that you can put yourself in situations where you have lots of opportunities to work on building these traits and making them habitual. The traits of the professional, so that I don't forget, included: Responsibility, Purpose, Consideration of others, Appearance or bearing, Knowledge, Creativity and flexibility, Honesty, Self-regulation, and Respect of others. Not exactly book learning, but things that I will definitely be trying to work on here in school.

In one of the assignments for the first day of school, basically all of the readings were advice on being successful in school or the business world in some way. A lot of it was good and useful stuff, and so I think i'll jot down some of the real keepers here: Ask for advice from professors. Make friends with them. Mix big and little courses. Learn effective time management. Participate in extracurricular activities. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. Follow your heart, and things will work out well for you. Build networks of different people, and use them to provide advice and ideas. Interact with them outside of formal settings, be yourself.

And finally, some gems of wisdom from the business moguls of the world:
"You're right not because others agree with you, but because your facts are right." Warren Buffett
"Make a fool of yourself. Otherwise you won't survive" Richard Branson
"Recognize the skills and traits you don't possess, and hire people who have them." Howard Schultz
"Have the courage to stick with a tough job." A.G. Lafley
"Follow your own instincts, not those of people who see the world differently." Sumner Redstone
"Be nice, do your best- and most important, keep it in perspective." Meg Whitman
"Be yourself." Jack Welch
"Don't listen to naysayers." Sallie Krawcheck
"Don't limit yourself by past expectations." Vivek Paul
"When you negotiate, leave a little something on the table." Dick Parsons
"When 'everyone knows' something to be true, nobody knows nothin'." Andy Grove
"When everything gets real complicated and you feel overwhelmed, think about it this way: You gotta do three things. First, get the cow out of the ditch. Second, fin out how the cow got into the ditch. Third, make sure you do whatever it takes so the cow doesn't go into the ditch again." Anne Mulcahy
"All you really own are ideas and the confidence to write them down." Brian Grazer
"The real discipline comes in saying no to the wrong opportunities." Jim Collins
"Get good- or get out." Peter Drucker


Having said that, I think I'll put in a few more hours studying and then go enjoy my weekend.