Global View

Over the past two weeks, I completed 40+ interviews about four senior executives at an energy firm with their CEO, peers and direct reports. Two things struck me while working through each person’s list:

1) Some people are better at giving feedback than others. Whether this is lack of experience or simply a hesitancy to provide comments about someone they work with, having interviewed more than 700 people for these reports over the past six years, it’s clear many folks struggle to constructively praise and provide guidance to others.

2) Energy firms truly are global organizations with international workforces. I spoke to people based in Houston who are English, Irish, Scottish, Dutch, Indian, Mexican and Polish. They called me from as faraway as Singapore and Nigeria.

Thomas L. Friedman nailed it in “The World is Flat.” Each day we move closer together – and not just in the energy industry. It’s true in many areas where future jobs will be: technology, medicine and automobiles, for instance.

So, if you want to be relevant in 2025 – that means everyone currently under age 50 – it would be good advice to study other cultures and languages. That person sitting next to you most likely won’t have grown up in a neighborhood like yours.

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Moving Day

Houston is one hot real estate market. Home valuations are rising – they declined little during the recession, so this is equity gain – and a ‘For Sale’ sign isn’t up long before a Realtor® returns to attach ‘Sold’ to it. Our friends around the corner decided to move and met with an agent to discuss the potential value of their home. She provided a professional recommendation and my buddy said, “We’re not in a hurry – add $10,000.” Two days later they received an offer for 100% of the asking price.

Fueled by the energy industry – especially ExxonMobil’s upcoming relocation of thousands to a 385-acre campus in The Woodlands – land-rich Houston finds itself with a sudden short supply of housing. Of course, you never know what’s around the corner. For a decade beginning in 1985, Houston endured a malaise when oil and gas giants stopped hiring and the local economy came to a standstill. While this is a much more diverse area today, long-time residents haven’t forgotten that experience.

These might be halcyon days before the fall. So, enjoy the fruits of your labor, fellow citizens, and remember to save something for tomorrow just in case. For those who fail to learn from history…

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