Noah Scape - a Time Management Blog by Alex J. Seltzer, SPHR

Why am I Doing This?

Why am I writing this? Good question. It seems to me to be the easiest way for me to share my passion. Until recently I didn’t know that helping people perform better, specifically with their time management, was my passion. You see, when I was growing up my parents always told me that I would go into the family business. My father started a franchise of Manpower in Altoona, PA in 1965. I joined the organization in 1980 and I’m still there today. Helping people find work that fits their skills and interest is honorable work. So it’s not like I hate the staffing business, I just like the business consulting/time management business more.

In fact, I learned the time management process that I now teach because of Manpower. When I started 30 years ago we had one office and 3 employees. It was simple and I did very well in a sales role, but by the late 80’s I was managing people and multiple offices. Things quickly became complicated.

It might also be helpful for you to know a little bit about my childhood. It wasn’t until I was 18 that I was “officially” diagnosed with dyslexia. From my perspective having that diagnosis and understanding at a younger age probably wouldn’t have made a big difference, but would have helped me understand why everything was so hard. I can tell you things, especially learning and organizing was very difficult for me. In comparison to my peers and my twin sister, I was falling behind more and more each year.

So having this understanding might help explain my enthusiasm for helping people who feel like their work is consuming them and who are getting further behind each day. I hope that I can touch at least one person with these words.

A little about me...

At age three, I fell head first from a top bunk bed leaving me with a serious head injury and 52 stitches. While no long-lasting affects were indicated at the time, it became apparent early in school that I had challenges learning. I was later diagnosed with dyslexia and Attention Deficit Disorder. The same year I was placed in a classroom for special needs children, my twin sister Alison was placed in a special classroom for gifted children.

Despite the diagnoses and all the labels, my family refused to give up. Finally, a psychologist said, “He is either retarded or a genius.” I opted to be a genius!

By the age of thirty, I accomplished more than many have in a lifetime! I currently serve as President and CEO of Manpower, Inc. of Altoona, PA. During my tenure I expanded the business from one office with 1 million in sales to over 20 million in sales and 6 strategic locations throughout Central Pennsylvania. 

However this success came with a price.  Things became chaotic as we added staff, offices and customers. I found myself overwhelmed and consistently over-promised and under-delivered. Perhaps a gift from above, I stumbled upon a flyer describing a system claiming it could bring order to my otherwise chaotic existence. I enrolled in the course and have been a passionate supporter ever since. When the opportunity presented itself to become affiliated with Priority Management nearly a dozen years later, I jumped at the chance.

I have enjoyed learning and working in the staffing business for nearly 30 years. More recently though, I discovered that my real passion lies in helping people and organizations become more efficient. I help people understand and focus on important issues rather than the urgent. I have always believed that it is imperative people understand getting the right things done is as important or more important than just getting more ‘stuff’ done.

I think that it is ironic that I find myself helping people and organizations with the very thing that challenged me early in my life.