Today we met the most interesting person I have ever met in my life to this day. Bob Wolf is the founder of H.O.P.E. H.O.P.E. is an organization that teaches students how to learn and acquire business skills that will help them excel in life. A little background about Mr. Wolf is that he held two sales positions, one with Johnson and Johnson and one earlier in his career at Lipton. He later continued to work for two start-ups before starting H.O.P.E.

Mr. Wolf was different from the other lecturers, just on the mere fact that prior to speaking to us; he went around the classroom and introduced himself to each student individually. Mr. Wolf’s lecture reminded me of a lecture from TedTalk. He provided us with an array of valuable knowledge. Personally, the most important thing he told us was the five skills you need in life.

The five skills were first impression, presentation, communication, interpersonal, and selling. A first impression skill consists of setting the tone with a proper handshake. Giving the individual eye contact and portraying a confident aura is also the product of a first impression. Mr. Wolf stated when you first meet someone it is important to ask questions, only then can you find out information about the individual. First impressions are crucial and it helps set the tone for the remainder of the relationship. Presentation skills are the ability to put on a performance. In order to have a successful performance one must always practice. Communication skills are greatly needed in life. People listen in different ways such as eye contact, hearing, and body language. Interpersonal skills consist of manners, common courtesy, the” thank you” and “please” that so many people forget to say. Finally, selling is highly needed. The ability to market oneself is crucial to one’s success.

As the class continued, we noticed that Mr. Wolf had an acronym for almost every word. The most impressive part was that he remembers what they stood for. Examples of words were FAIL or First Approach in Learning, JOB or Just Opportunity Beginning. I believe those are great ways to explain those words. He tried to explain to us that every job has value and that we just have to find it. Some others were ARC that stood for Adaptable, Resilient, Confident or BUD that meant Better Unique Different. The one I like the most was SMILE or Simply Makes Individuals Less Edgy. I think this explains what a smile does for people and if more people smiled, the world will be a better place.

As the lecture came to a close Mr. Wolf just spoke to us about general life lessons. The one that resonated with me is the concept of the more you stir the pot, things will happen. I believe the more one is active within their own life and pursuing their goals great things will happen.

The power of people or P.O.P. has left a mark on me as well. In life you need people and Mr. Wolf expressed that. Nobody becomes effective or successful without the help of others and vice versa.

Before the class ended, Mr. Wolf held up a poster and it read, “Help, hinder, hurt you but it depends on your behavior.” In life, we only control how we react to things. Similar to the quote, depending on our attitude, our behavior, either great things or bad things could happen.