We were very excited to welcome our 100^th guest on the Carroll County Buzz, Carroll County Commissioner Richard Rothschild!  Commissioner Rothschild, from district 4, is our 3 out of 5 commissioners to join us on the show. Rothschild focused on his concerns with the Plan Maryland Forum, which is a state wide plan that will define how Maryland grows, developed by the Maryland Department of Planning in Annapolis. Planning was typically handled by local officials and locally made decisions. The concern is this plan may not be in the best interest on individual, local levels. Other counties agree and they are joining forces to propose a more balanced prospective and approach in the Plan. All Maryland counties have unique needs, strengths and weakness. Having a “blanket” plan may not address issues within each county and may even make some situations worse.

Commissioner Rothschild believes that all information is not accurately portrayed and there must be a way to tailor the Plan to address the correct issues. There is an upcoming meeting to discuss and dispute the Plan by public officials by several county officials.

We reviewed our 100 guests that have joined us on the show and although all of them were very different in their own ways, they have all found ways to succeed in their business or field. We enjoy providing a platform for business owners, non-profit organizations, community leaders, etc. to share how they have succeeded and give their personal advice to others.  We have also enjoyed our on-location shows and we look forward to many more!

Speaking of success, we shared tips from one of the most successful men in history, Steve Jobs!

Steve Jobs 12 Rules of Success:

1. Do what you love to do. Find your true passion. Make a difference. The only way to do great work is to love what you do.
2. Be different. Think different. Better to be a pirate than to join the navy.
3. Do your very best at every job. Don’t sleep! Success generates more success, so be hungry for it!
4. Perform SWOT  (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis. As soon as you join/start a company, make a list of the strengths and weaknesses of yourself and your company on a piece of paper. Don’t hesitate to throw bad apples out of the company.
5. Be entrepreneurial. Look for the next big thing. Find a set of ideas that need to be acted upon quickly and decisively and jump through that window. Sometimes the first step is the hardest one. Just take it. Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.
6. Start small, think big. Don’t worry about too many things at once. Take a handful or simple tings to begin with, and then progress to more complex ones. Think about not just tomorrow, but the future. Put a ding in the universe.
7. Strive to become a market leader. Own and control the primary technology in everything you do. If there’s a better technology available, use it regardless of whether or not everyone else is using it. Be the first, make it an industry standard.
8. People judge  you by your performance, so focus on that outcome. Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected. Advertise. If they don’t know about it, they won’t buy your product. Pay attention to design. We made the buttons on the screen look so good you‘ll want to lick them. Design is not just what is looks like and feels like. Design is how is works.
9. Ask for feedback from people with diverse backgrounds. Each one will tell you one useful thing. If you’re at the top of the chain, sometimes people won’t give you honest feedback because they’re afraid. In this case, disguise yourself, or get feedback from other sources.  Focus on those who will use your product – listen to your customers first.
10. Innovate. Innovation distinguishes a leader from a follower. Delegate. Let other top executives do 50% of your routine work to be able to spend 50% of your time on the new stuff. Say no to 1,000 things to make sure you don’t get on the wrong track…
11. Learn from failures. Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations
12. Learn continually. There’s always “one more thing” to learn. Cross-pollinate ideas with others both within and outside your company. Learn from customers, competitors and partners. If you partner with someone whom you don’t like, learn to like them – praise them and benefit from them.