Research Proposal
I have always been interested in my dad's line of work, his constant travels, and adventures. But there has always been a part of me curious, with while I was meeting all these powerful businessmen and influential world figures, why there went more women in charge. I've always seen the assistants, the receptionist, and the casual coffee running intern, but never a woman of actual power. Why is that? Why are there not more women running the show or taking charge? Women hold genuinely incredible knowledge and insight that can be useful and incredibly important. Women, just as much as men, have been enormously influential in the progress and innovation of not only the business world but society as a whole. Why should they, or we, not be given the same opportunities and responsibility as a man when we can do it just as well if not better? In my project, I will be interview my dad, who is a man in charge, as well as doing research on women of power in the business world. I will be using primary and secondary sources, such as blogs, interviews, and real-world case studies, to investigate into the question of women and their seeming lack of position in the business world. This topic is important to me because as a woman wanting to go into the business world, what obstacles will I have to be ready to face and overcome?
Personal Profile
It's a hot, sweltering Friday night, after a long day at the beach, Dad is sitting at the woven kitchen table. He is a little sunburnt on the tip of his nose and his cheeks, but nothing catastrophic. He's fresh out of a shower, wearing his usual attire of a short sleeve polo button down, khakis shorts, and Sperry flip flops. He's going in between laughing at a conversation with his best friends or watching the ESPN channel that's currently streaming on the TV in front of him. A beer in hand and a smile from cheek to cheek, he is in his element. Apart from the normal stressful fast past environment of his usual day to day life. He laughs again, cussing on of his friends for being right about an outcome of a baseball game. It's all friendly fun, these friends, who are also his closest business advisors, have been there forever, at least since I've been around. He sees that I have made my way downstairs, burnt to a crisp but tanning well thanks to my mother's beautiful tan skinned genes. “Hey, sunshine, ready to do this?” He turns his whole body towards me and smiles his huge grin. He has always been so open and friendly to everyone, different than your average businessman. He will talk to anyone about anything, no stereotyping, no premeditated judgment, just conversation. He listens intently and always gives me his fullest attention, no matter what is going on. This time is no different.
“So Dad, remember that this is for my first paper for college, so try to be as serious as possible” I hear Uncle David yell rather loudly across the room “Mad, there is absolutely no way in hell that's gonna happen.” Laughter erupts through the entire house, everyone amused but the fact of the obvious is very true, I’m never getting through this interview without a cuss word or foul language. I begin to ask him about his beginning, where he started and what tools are necessary even to begin nowadays, “In this day of age it's so competitive, you have to have a relevant business degree from a trusted school even to begin the interview process. Shit when David started, he didn't even have a college degree." ”Dad” I grunt, so much for being formal, but that was expected. “You have to have a 3.6 or higher GPA, and involvement in leadership and volunteering programs are huge for us, it makes us look good.” I asked him next, what about other than school academic programs, “what do you look for in the person themselves.” “I need to click with the person. An intern may go through 3 even 4 interviews with other employees before they even talk to me but if they don't click with me right away, it's a no. I need them to be well rounded, humble but proud, and they need to be able to talk to all kinds of people, hence all the different interviews. You fail one, you fail them all.”It seemed weird to me after hearing that that the man I knew and loved and was so kind and compassionate and understanding towards me could be kinda cruel to these interns. “Isn't that kind of mean?” "You gotta talk to talk to play the game.” That stuck with me. I asked him about the biggest strategy he's used in day to day operation, “Well, I ask myself “Does this need to happen” ”If yes, whats the fastest way to get it done.”If yes, whats the cheapest way to get it done” and then I decided which one of those questions I want to answer, based on the situation.” Seems to make sense, I thought to myself. I’ve started to notice at this point that all his answers are short and sweet, not too complicated but say enough to get his point across. “So you get to go to all the places, meet all kinds of people and do all kinds of things, but what's the worst part about traveling?” I'm expecting him to say long layovers, time zone changes or stupid airport travelers, but instead, he gets a somber expression “The worst part would absolutely be missing important milestones and events while you were growing up, those are things I'll never get back.” Mr.Chris chimes in from afar “Being a workaholic sure can be a bitch sometimes””Amen” the 2 others say almost in unison. “Ok,” I say “switching gears, what’s is your favorite memory from traveling all around the world?” “Oh God, he said, “The most memorable thing was probably the time in Singapore we did team bonding to grow as a company, and we built a paper stand for cerebral palsy kids as a kinda give back activating, that hit close to him.” I assume he is talking about my sister, but I brush it off. That's when it hit me, his favorite part could've been seeing the world or indulging in lavish goods or fantastic sightseeing, but his favorite part was helping others. He wasn't a money hungry businessman out for greed and to be the richest, although sometimes that what it seemed like. He wanted to help people, to do things for people who wouldn't have been able to do if he weren't given the position he is in now. My dad donates a good percentage of his annual income to charities and to me that's always just seemed like the reasonable thing to do, but it's not. It's not expected or required, he does it because he is in the position to help others, and this beautiful community has given him the chance to do that.
Final Inquiry Project
Communtiy Profile
About 6 months ago I walked into my dads new renovated headquarters building. It was a crisp, cool but not cold January morning in Jacksonville, FL. The smell of the recently installed drywall almost echoes through the air. The buzz of conversation and excitement is almost tangible, and the feeling of nervousness is evident in many of the eyes of the passer. As I walk through the narrow hallways, people are walking fast, like they are on time constricted missions, either on the phone talking forcibly to the person on the other end, or they are intently reading the stack of papers they have gripped in their hands. I walk with my hands at my sides, making sure not to touch anything or anyone, making sure not to cause more chaos than was obviously available. I see the opened door at the end of the hallway. People are going in and out of it, and I smile. I get to the door and smile when I see my dad on the phone, people anxiously waiting for him to be done so they can bombard him with questions and concerns. I smile even harder when I realize he is sitting in that orthopedic chair mom and I got him for Christmas last year. He sees me and says “That's great. I'm gonna call you back”, and hangs up his phone. Almost immediately people begin talking throwing comments his way about this and that, but he looks at them all and with a reassuring voice tells each of them everything is gonna be fine, And points to the door. Once they all leave, he looks at me and says “you ready?”
We walk into a huge conference room, at least 100 people full. These people, all extraordinarily awake and well put together for it being 9 in the morning, all stood when dad walked in, me trailing behind him, hidden behind his full stature. The group of people in the room are the most elite international business players in the world. They are the best of the best in their countries, and each of them plays the part. Most of these people are used to the interactions and meetings. They were like me, following their parents around and sitting in on meetings and calls. This is a family business for many of them, they are the sons and daughters, but mostly sons, of the people who created this business. It's in their blood. These people while having a lot in familiar work wise, are very different. They are all types of ethnicity and come from differentiating backgrounds and cultures. This group of people creates the International Business Leaders community. It's not an official community, but they all lean and support each other, they do business that helps both parties and they all strive for the same goal, power. Out of all of the people in this incredibly powerful room, my favorite person in this room right now would have to be my dad, but I guess that's a little biased.
Dad sits down, and a presenter stands in front of a huge projection screen. He went on to give a rather lengthy presentation and then say down. Everyone clapped and seemed to be agreeing with his performance. But then suddenly, someone talked about ideas, that differed from those in the presentation, but still accomplished the same goal. Many agreed and those who didn't offer their opinions and why they didn't accept. It was all so civil I was amazed. They were respectful of each other, no one was yelling, or accusing, or making an emotional argument. This community of people, worked together to find the best answer, the best conclusion.
The meeting lasted forever. I remember it being like 5 or 6 hours and they were gonna meet again to conjure the following day. I had never been interested in my dad's line of work. I had always thought “well he just sells electrical devices, light bulbs, how boring is that?” But when I got to sit in and watch, it was so much more. It was influential people, who would have probably gotten whatever they wanted, whether it pleased the others or not. But they didn't, they listened, gave insights, and wanted what would benefit the majority of the businesses. I came out of the meeting thrilled and excited. I knew this is what I wanted to do, I knew now I wanted to follow dad's footsteps, be a leader. They talked about charity options and donations, creating buildings for non-profit organizations, and not getting a penny from it. These people had the resources to change the entire world. They were rich and wealthy and powerful, but they didn't care as much about what was best for them, but what was best for everyone. This community was so much more than light bulbs, money, and greed, it is about having the resources to create something beautiful.