Finance writer to offer advice in Mays lecture

By: Melissa Appel

Posted: 10/7/08

Best-selling author Marcus Buckingham will come to Mays Business School Tuesday to promote his book, "The Truth About You."

Buckingham teaches others how to find strengths and apply them to careers.

Although he spends most of his time speaking to employees in the business world, Buckingham recognized a need in the minds of college graduates.

"When you actually ask people 18 to 30 years old, 'What should you focus on in order to be successful in life-building your strengths or fixing your weaknesses?' 31 percent of Generation Y said 'build strengths' and 69 percent say 'fix my weaknesses,'" Buckingham said. "So you have a whole generation going into the workforce that believes in order to be successful they have to fix themselves."

Buckingham said the problem especially needed attention because it is one not often addressed.

"Since colleges clearly don't do the best at getting the most out of people at work, let's talk to people before they enter work," Buckingham said.

"We go to career counseling, but we don't often get much good advice. And we talk to our parents. So our parents and our teachers, frankly, tell us a lot of things we should do - 'You should do this because it looks good on a résumé'; 'you should do this because it's what I did'; 'you should do this because it's your major. There's an awful lot of 'shoulds' that come out of students."

Buckingham's response to this problem is straightforward and revolves around the central message in all of his books, he said.

"What I'm trying to do is make sure your voice inside your head is louder and more coherent than those other voices," Buckingham said. "You know yourself really well. Often, we don't have the eyes to see it or the confidence to act on it."

This is the second time Buckingham has spoken at a Texas A&M event - the Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship (CNVE) in Mays Business School had Buckingham speak at the Envision '08 last spring in San Antonio.

"The mission of the Mays Business School is 'to create knowledge and develop future ethical business leaders for a global society,'" said Lenae Huebner, assistant director of CNVE. "This mission, coupled with CNVE's mission of developing an entrepreneurial mindset, provides the perfect forum for helping tomorrow's leaders uncover their strengths and how best they can contribute to a global society."

The CNVE and Mays Business School recognize the need to spread Buckingham's message before students leave college for the real world.

"College is not a destination in itself. College is a four-year step on the road that will have a life-long impact," said CNVE Director Richard Scruggs. "Marcus's lessons about better understanding your strengths and weaknesses and aligning opportunities with those attributes could have a profound impact on each student."

Buckingham received inspiration for his books and message from his previous work for the Gallup Organization, a research company that specializes on human nature and behavior. His 16-year stay at Gallop provided him the experience with and exposure to the business world that he addresses daily.

"Gallup was a question-asking company and measured things that were hard to measure," Buckingham said. "I left in order to write books and design training and development programs that actually change the things we were measuring."

All attendees to Tuesday's talk will receive Buckingham's book "The Truth About You," which includes a "Re-Memo Pad" and a 20-minute film designed to help readers discover their personal strengths.

"The key is understanding what Marcus means by 'strength,'" Scruggs said. "A strength is not just something you are good at. It is something that gives you satisfaction, that engages you in your work, and that keeps you interested."

Tickets for the event are still on sale through the Memorial Student Center. Student tickets are $10 without the book kit or $25 with the book kit.