Zach Bolinger

People who have strongly influenced my career

I've learned a lot from so many people in the course of building my career. College courses, independent study, conversations with coworkers - these have all been valuable opportunities for me to build my knowledge base. Technical knowledge has been critical as I have established myself as an Information Systems professional, but I have found that the key to my success is a little more basic. No amount of technical knowledge could have helped without the lessons I've learned from these two people.

My Mom

My mom did all the things that we hate as kids but often are thankful for as adults. She corrected my grammar, did not allow foul language and required some semblance of proper manners at the dinner table. I've seen so many otherwise good workers limit their careers because they lack some of these basic characteristics. Intelligent people who don't get respect for their ideas because they cannot effectively communicate them in an e-mail. Admirable people who are dismissed as irreverent because they swear too much. Good job candidates whose professionalism is stained by talking with their mouth full. I have my mom to thank for raising me without those limitations.

My mom did a lot of encouraging things, too. I just think it's the things she stopped me from doing that have really made the difference.

Mark Stephan

When I was 16, I got a job at a pizza place. A couple months after I started working there, the manager was promoted to a regional supervisor, and Mark came in to replace him. Mark had a different set of rules, and he was very firm on them. Any time he caught me doing something wrong, he would tell me. I always felt the need to explain the reason I was misled. Mark never wanted to hear my excuses, he just wanted to know I would do things the right way in the future. On some level, I think I wanted to protect my reputation as somebody who doesn't make mistakes without a good reason. Eventually I bended to Mark's will. If he corrected me, I quickly acknowledged my mistake and did the task as he wanted it done. I submitted to him, because that's what I felt I had to do to stay employed there. Later, a new employee, Sam, was the same way I was, always wanting to explain why he made mistakes. As I watched him argue with Mark, I realized he was not doing anything to help his reputation. All the time Sam spent trying to explain his mistakes, all he did was call more attention to his mistakes. He was quite vocal in these situations. Sam was a good worker, but he ended up with a reputation as somebody who made a lot of mistakes. Even if he had good reasons for failing, people saw him talking about his shortcomings and that became a big part of how they see him.

I'm not saying one should try to hide their mistakes, and neither would Mark. If somebody points out that you made a mistake, acknowledge it, fix it, and move on. Also, I'm talking about the little day-to-day mistakes people make. If a mistake is huge or systemic, it needs to be addressed. Just don't dwell on the small stuff. It only makes the small stuff stick in people's minds.