Signs of Life

Cross-posted at Sturdy Roots Blog:

I’ve just returned from a welcome and long overdue vacation to my native Southern Connecticut where I filled my lungs with sea-salted air and enjoyed the company of lifelong friends (many of whom I’ve not seen in 30 years).

And I returned to work to witness some sudden, but very positive developments; client hiring needs that were put on-hold last year are suddenly back on our radar screen. Plus, we just picked up a very interesting search for an M&A Advisor (attorney) with one of the top green/CSR-practicing brands in the world.

Interested? Click here, to learn more.

Some of you have asked us to promote our green job openings. And now that the economy is indeed showing signs of life, we will again make that a top-priority!

Thanks for your continued interest in starting and building a rewarding career in green business.

Now, let’s get ready for the ride of a lifetime!

Create Your Own Advisory Board

Cross-posted at Sturdy Roots Blog.

Earlier today, I had a very interesting phone call with a bright, highly enthusiastic (fire-in-the-belly) new business development executive. His familiarity with the information technology space is excellent. And so too is his skill at staging successful consultative processes and converting his multi-million-dollar new business prospects to sale.

What company wouldn’t want to hire this new business sales executive?

Problem is, the executive is burned out on the I/T space and he wants out. He tells me he would like nothing more than to pivot to selling green business products and services; while he has the passion for making the planet a better place to live, he knows he has neither the familiarity nor the contact base in the green space to be successful.

We all know that in this economy, the few hiring managers that have open assignments want spot-on matches to the job spec. Even if this talented sales executive has – several times over – built multi-million-dollar information technology business portfolios from scratch, his having no prior experience in the green business space may be a non-starter…

…or is it?

After listening to this executive’s concerns, I offered up an idea for him to consider:

Right now, there are tens of thousands of entrepreneurs in the world seeking seed-investment capital to start new businesses. And while the venture’s partners may be top-notch no management team completely possesses all of the familiarities an investor wants to see before cutting that first check. So entrepreneurs often mitigate the cavities in their business plans by founding an industry advisory board made up of business leaders – skilled in the art – to counsel the management team on best business practices, alert them to competitive developments or fast-moving opportunities, and help their enterprise establish a strong and unique value proposition and long-term success.

I said to this executive, think of yourself as a new business enterprise. If you know you aren’t fully versed in green business, then why not create your own advisory board to shorten your learning curve, get fully-familiar (faster) with best-practices and next-practices, and help establish the-most solid relationships with potential client-prospects.

If we think of ourselves not as executives but as entrepreneurs, we stand a greater chance of achieving our goals; that is especially the case in difficult economic times such as these. By treating his “pivot” into green business like a new venture, the executive will bridge the all-too-common gap between will and skill.

Whether between jobs or employed in a company or market space that no longer inspires, consider establishing your own advisory board to speed your transition to a career in green business.

These times call for bold action. Go for it!

Are Green Shoots Taking Root?

Cross-posted at Sturdy Roots Blog:

Could we finally be at the end of this economic meltdown? There is evidence – albeit anecdotal – to suggest we are through the worst of the long, painful recession that started in December, 2007.

Consider these green shoots:

• While the nation’s attention has been focused on the troubles at Chrysler and GM, there are some dealerships – particularly in the Northeast U.S. – that are selling a lot of new cars; last month, one Ford Lincoln Mercury franchise in Southern Connecticut surpassed 100 cars sold;
• Ahold USA, the Dutch company that owns Giant Food in the greater Washington D.C./Baltimore area and its companion brand Stop & Shop in New England reports its best quarterly profit increases in 10 years (10%). Of course, that takes into consideration deep-discounting, consumers eating out less while eating at home more, and Giant Food’s/Stop & Shop’s new self-service shopping tools like the new hand-held scanners some adventurous shoppers are using to tally their purchases (which means fewer workers are on payroll);

• Similarly, home improvement chain Lowe’s (#2 in market share) showed respectable quarterly sales improvement, while the category leader The Home Depot languished;

• Several long delayed transpo projects have been jump-started by the flow American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) stimulus funds. So there are more people working in construction (a good thing). However, it is troubling that the vast majority of the stimulus funds allocated – for new green jobs and other needs – have yet to be spent;

• And insomniacs prone to watching late-night-TV are still buying The Snuggie. (Okay, that might not be the best sign of economic recovery...just the opposite);

While hiring is a lagging-indicator, meaning that rising employment is usually the last part of an economic recovery cycle, there are signs that some unemployed people – especially talented sales people – may soon be starting new assignments.

And a majority of U.S. economists believe we may be through the worst and that the recovery will begin this summer (if it hasn’t done so, already).

Let’s hope they are right.

Renew Through Green Jobs Act of 2009 Introduced

U.S. Rep. Zack Space has introduced a bill in Congress to provide funding to institutions of higher learning to administer workforce sustainability training and education.

The Renew Through Green Jobs Act of 2009 (H.R. 1781, 111th Congress) would authorize the U.S. Secretary of Labor to award grants to institutions to provide workforce training and education in the areas of clean energy, energy efficiency, climate change mitigation, and sustainable environmental practices.

The bill was introduced in the House of Representatives on March 30, 2009.

Congressman Space, who sits on the House Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy, and Research, represents Ohio’s 18th District

Chief Sustainability Officer: Bright Green Job in a Dull Gray Economy?

Several months ago, Sturdy Roots Blog reported on the rise of The Chief Green Officer. Now, the NY Times’ Green Inc. blog reports that:

Amid mounting job woes, at least one position seems to be gaining currency: chief sustainability officer.

Read the Green Inc. blog post here.

Dan Smolen Direct Search, LLC – Executive Search for Green Business, Direct/Interactive Marketing And Consumer Insights

Dan Smolen Direct Search, LLC is an executive search firm specializing in the green business, direct/interactive marketing, and consumer insights industries.

For inquiries:

Washington, D.C.
p: +1 703 835 9900       f: +1 703 835 9966
London:
p: +44 20 3356 8575
email: info@dansmolen.com
twitter: www.twitter.com/dansmolen

 

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