Business for Rookies

The last week of class is here. What a journey this has been. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a part of a school that ties higher education with spiritual progress. Relatively speaking, there’s not many places that would allow for such an education to exist. The freedoms we are afforded should not be taken for granted. What stood out to me the most from the last 14 weeks is the idea of having a why and writing it down. I think back on the very first week of the semester when we listened to a devotional from the BYU Pathway President. He urged everyone to not only think about why they are taking courses to further their education but that we should also write it down. In thinking about my “why”, I have a couple of things that come to mind. Firstly, I want to ensure that my children (at the beginning of the semester I had one son, and now my wife and I are expecting another boy) know the great value of higher education. I want them to see that their father prioritizes educatio...

The past couple of weeks have been filled with the idea of giving thanks. Having just celebrated Thanksgiving, that makes sense and is what should be expected. However, this year has been unlike any year before. It would be easy to have a negative attitude going into the holiday season with all the troubles that the world has offered throughout this year. Through a worldwide pandemic and a tumultuous presidential election, it can be difficult to find things to be grateful for. I greatly appreciated the call to #givethanks on social media from President Nelson. This week, I was able to read words from the late President Thomas S. Monson. He talked about having an “attitude of gratitude”. In spite of all the things that are wrong in the world, we can still be thankful for all that is right. This has been the most stressful year of my life. But I feel that it is ending on a very good note, especially when I reflect on the things that I am grateful for. When upon life’s billows you are tem...

Since the average Joe relies on the stock market to grow his wealth, the companies he invests in have to be honest and true. When companies are dishonest, they inevitably go under. People want to invest their money into growing and trustworthy companies. No one wants to wake up with a large portion of their retirement account gone because a company was being dishonest just so they could meet their profit projections. Virtue and integrity are vital to an economy because without them money would not be invested in the market, wherein lies the highest potential returns. According to Charles Handy’s “What’s a Business For?” Harvard Business Review Article, the “real justification” for why businesses exist is to make a profit in order to do “something more or better.” Money should be viewed as a means to an end. It’s important and necessary for a business to have, but shouldn’t be the sole purpose behind a company. Handy provided a couple of solutions to correcting the public’s view of busi...