Do you have the mindset?

By Alex Juorio

A Letter to prospective instructors.
It may seem a bit unusual for a career consultant in engineering & business development to make an unusual turn and start something totally new.
As absurd as it may look to you, my paradigm shift happened as a consequence of being dissatisfied foot-soldier-on-demand, a mercenary of sorts.  I am not complaining for I had my share of joys: a few “hired-gun-solution” trophies here and handful of “problem-solver-sniper-shooter” medals there. Yes, the front lines are always thrilling and packed with action; it is indeed a place for the tough! But my traveling adventures reached a point that I told myself that being a lone warrior was not enough and that my time to change had come.  So here I am back in Tokyo close to my family after having roamed the world; I am now starting a new chapter in my life.  
English Mindset has been “brewing” for a long time and it was not until early November of 2010 that I decided to virtually lock myself up and promised not to leave my office until I had it done; on January 8th 2011 a new website went on-line.
We all have seen ventures start and then vanish, why?  There are numerous reasons, some say that start-ups fail for a lack of a mission,  a myopic vision or because of both. Sometimes they go under because of bad leadership or bad financing or are forced to close by catastrophic events of which one has no control. There are so many reasons and many more excuses. On the other side of the spectrum, there are other ventures that flourish and become prosperous, but why?
I feel that most entrepreneurs are obsessed with making a sizeable “bottom line” as their ultimate goal. The minute they start to deviate from that course they loose their bearings, they panic and finally succumb. 
Giving extreme consideration to only one, but important metric: the “bottom line” misses the broader picture. But such is the “status-quo” that prefers to maintain a very simplistic but universally accepted misconception: that 2 is greater than 1, but 3 is greater than 2 and 1 and thus is better than either one! Unfortunately that is how most have been indoctrinated to think. Many tend to tag a price to success and sneer at those who made less.  That is why people loose contact with the real value behind the numbers.  But, let’s recall Oscar Wilde adage: "A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.” This is so true and we must not loose sight of it.
As an MBA, I was trained to snap my whip with the most effective management techniques. Arrogantly I thought I had mastered the sciences that maximized the proverbial bottom line – I unmistakable “knew” the course and took command.  Invincible, I graduated to conquer the world – “vini, vidi, vici, stand asside I am Cesar”! 

ByTom

But today, decades after, I stand deeply humbled by my former arrogance and narrow mindedness; for I have witnessed and shared the disastrous consequences when corporations packed with gurus much “better” than myself went under! 
I have transformed myself from a foot-soldier into a Naval Commander!  Today I am set to steer our course on the right direction – I think to have learned a few good lessons!  But we must be careful to avoid following the crowds that set sail only to seek for "Paradise Island" and her "forbidden treasures" or the types that brag about their bottom line as their ultimate destination. 
Now as you stand out there considering joining our fleet, I will ask you to promise one thing before you make that commitment:
Please make every minute of your journey counts because our accomplishments are based on our shared belief that success is happening right now! 


Who are we?
English Mindset is an Internet platform where students of the English language and instructors meet and the results of that interaction translates into a value added experience for the student and the instructor. We will provide the infrastructure so you have all the resources to plan and conduct your classes successfully.  But this is not a job for anyone; to become an instructor at English Mindset you must buy into our values.  
Allow me to explain: 

• You must be a firm believer that you are an agent of change. That your work will have a significant impact on your students and consequently your efforts will help them improve their lives.  
• We aim to create long term relationships based on trust, respect, tolerance and kindness.  We equally offer the same respect to all those who come within our sphere of influence for we don’t take our values for granted, we act on them. 

What is in it for you at English Mindset?

• A place where you can stand tall for being amongst those who like you, care for others and want to make a real impact
• Become part of an international community of instructors who collaborate to make us all successful; a true culture of synergy where the sum of our collective efforts produce greater results than sum of our individual(istic) efforts, that is 1 + 1 > 2 
• You will be able share your work related experiences, your joys and struggles with the world and learn from that.  Our blog, website and social media channels are open for you to express your thoughts  and broadcast your goodwill. 
• You will be able to earn money to support your livelihood, but equally important you will also be able to help those who cannot afford to pay for our programs.  These persons will be able to access the same tools we use to teach our paying students and all that from within our own website. 
• At English Mindset you will find an environment that is conducive to continuous learning and discovery; where trustworthiness is our common currency.

If you look around our websites you can already begin to see sings that we are working to fill those expectations; please visit our video channels, our self-study corner and our soon to be expanded page for featured sites and blogs.  
It is not our intention to become a one stop destination for all the English language needs, but we will at least offer our visitors veritable information and point them in the right direction when they seek our help.
Finally, as we learn to recognize each other’s strengths and weaknesses we will be able to proactively draw from our reserves to solve our problems when setbacks occur. 
I also believe that we are all capable of continuously strengthening our significant others through our own example, and as you become an advocate of our shared goodwill, you will understand why the path to success is effectively now and the rest is a forgone conclusion. 
Welcome on board!