I still remember making a mistake as a young supervisor that cost the company I worked for $3,500.00. Of course my immediate thoughts were that I would at best be chastised and at worst be sacked. My punishment was a little loss of face as what I had done became a training bulletin to discourage… Continue reading »
Aug
19
Career Advice: You’re Never Out to Lunch – Telephone Diplomacy
Obviously we all go to lunch on most work days however when our staff are explaining why we can’t take a telephone call they should never say we are “having lunch”, “in the lunchroom” or “out to lunch”. Actually the information that inept staff or colleagues will offer over the phone is often astounding. In… Continue reading »
Jul
02
We Often Hear the term “Working Smarter” so WHAT IS WORKING SMARTER?
Working smarter is about finding new ways to get the same results in less time. Working smarter is about “doing more with less” and is the basis for increased productivity. The infamous 80/20 rule suggests that 80 percent of our results come from just 20 percent of our efforts. Conversely I have through experience found… Continue reading »
Jun
17
Effective Business Writing: Letters, Reports, Memos and Emails the B and C of the ABC Method, Brevity and Clarity
to continue Effective Business Writing… b) Brevity As with speaking one of the quickest ways to lose your audience ti to circle around the topic or by indulging in the proverbial ‘beating-about-the-bush’. There is an old sales letter adage that if you don’t capture your audiences attention in the first ten words you have lost… Continue reading »
Jun
13
Leader or Despot Which Management Style is More Like You?
Sometime back a friend asked me if I could come up with a leadership anagram. Bearing in mind that in reality our leadership or management style is probably somewhere along a continuum between despotic through democratic to laissez-faire perhaps the following anagram extremes can at least serve as reminders of the best and worst of… Continue reading »
Jun
08
Working in a Multicultural Environment “National and Family Influences” part 5
Hofstede’s findings in full can be found on the web and I recommend them as a great way to start thinking about the differences you may encounter in a multicultural or international workplace. In a particular it can explain why many around us (that come from high uncertainty avoidance societies) show anxiety about an uncertain… Continue reading »
Jun
06
Working in a Multicultural Environment “National Influences” part 4
Culture on a national level: Individualist and Collectivist Societies What are the differences between individualist and collectivist societies? Well it is “I” v.’s “We”. In individualist societies the wife and kids need me to support them v.’s in collectivist, the ‘extended’ family, parents, uncles, aunts etc., who will protect me in exchange for my loyalty.… Continue reading »
Jun
03
Working in a Multicultural Environment: Continued part 2
NATIONAL PSYCHE EXISTS… MAYBE Admittedly it is dangerous to comment or make judgments regarding another’s culture however sometimes I believe it is necessary. With that said did I once have the misfortune to listen to a young American professor while he advised a willing audience of ‘expats’ and ‘locals’ on the intricacies of dealing across… Continue reading »
Jun
03
Working in a Multicultural Environment: An Introduction
With the fluidity of borders and the rapid migration of workers from country to country there is today more than ever a pressing need in many organizations for us to work effectively with people from many cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds. Even if we work with those from similar backgrounds professional and personal characteristics mean… Continue reading »
May
25
ANT ACTION IN LEADING & MANAGING, YESSIR WE CAN LEARN FROM ANTS part 4
The collective intelligence we looked at in part 3 is also found in other ants. Experiments with one group, ‘lepticthorax’, effectively demonstrate how one individual’s behavior can influence those around it. By including each individual in the decision making process they enable or cause the simple actions by one to generate more sophisticated actions by… Continue reading »
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