How To Say “This Is Crap” In Different Cultures - Erin Meyer
by Erin Meyer | 1:00 PM February 25, 2014 I had been holed up for six hours in a dark conference room with 12 managers. It was a group-coaching day and each executive had 30 minutes to describe in detail a cross-cultural challenge she was experiencing at work and to get feedback and suggestions from the others at the table. It was Willem’s turn, one of the Dutch participants, who recounted an uncomfortable snafu when working with Asian clients. “How can I fix this relationship?” Maarten, the other Dutch participant who knew Willem well, jumped in with his perspective. That evening, we had a group dinner at a cozy restaurant. Willem, with a look of surprise, reflected, “Of course, I didn’t enjoy hearing those things about myself. I thought to myself, “This Dutch culture is . . . well . . . different from my own.” Managers in different parts of the world are conditioned to give feedback in drastically different ways. What about you?
Your Weakness May Be Your Competitive Advantage - Dorie Clark
by Dorie Clark | 9:00 AM February 5, 2014 Midway through the workshop I was teaching on professional reinvention, I gave participants an assignment: create a narrative citing your professional strengths. After the break, a woman named Alison raised her hand. As Phyllis Stein, the former head of Radcliffe College Career Services, told me when I was researching my book Reinventing You, many of her highest-achieving clients are also the most self-critical. “What job are you applying for? “I used to sell medical equipment,” she said, “and now I want to do project management for medical equipment companies.” But her background was actually perfect, if only she’d tweak her perspective. When you’re trying to understand your unique abilities, it helps to think about scarcity. That strategy succeeded for me a decade ago when I was hired as the executive director of MassBike, Massachusetts’ statewide bicycling advocacy organization.
When to Make the First Move
The indispensable research blog on the science of the modern workplace, covering everything from leadership and management to the behavioral, social, and cognitive dynamics behind performance and achievement. When Michael Jordan’s agent set out to negotiate a new contract with the Chicago Bulls for his client back in the mid 90s, he anticipated that the team’s managing partner would lowball the salary offer. So the agent opted to move first and requested an ambitious $52 million per year for Jordan. After a series of back and forth talks, the parties settled for an annual paycheck just above $30 million. By making the first offer — and doing so aggressively, at that — Jordan’s agent landed his client the single highest annual salary in the history of the National Basketball Association. With this example in mind, an international team of researchers embarked on a study on the age-old debate about the wisdom of making the opening offer in negotiations. Investigators led by David D.
BrainSpade.com
Number Twins Training Area: Math calculations Description: Put your mental math and speed skills to the test. Keeps your math skills sharp and helps to boost your logical reasoning skills. Think Outside the Flock Training Area: Flexibility Description: Put your creative thinking skills to the test. Letter Drop Training Area: Verbal Fluency Description: A real brain workout. The Key Game Description: You'll love critical thinking without a net in this brain exercise. A Spoon Full of Sugar Description: Grab a spoon and your spatial skills in this brain challenge. Factory Balls Training Area: Problem Solving Description: Grab your goggles and head to the workshop. Ball Slicer Training Area: Concentration Description: Slice and dice your way to better concentration skills. Marble Jar Training Area: Pattern Recognition Description: Relax and focus in this favorite brain game. Matchmaker Description: Takes your concentration skills to a whole new level. Skyscraper Sea of Faces Training Area: Memory Jewel Thief
Who Can You Trust?
Imagine that you’re negotiating a multiyear deal to provide outsourcing services to a large company. The client tells you that her firm wants to sign on for a certain level of services, but she’d like you to be willing to deliver more on the fly, trusting that you’ll be able to work out terms for the additional resources as the need arises. Should you agree? Or imagine that a potential business partner wants to buy $12 million worth of services from you but can spend only $10 million because of temporary budget constraints. Situations such as these present dilemmas for any manager. The two scenarios above come from a friend of mine—let’s call him Rob—who is a partner at one of the world’s largest consulting firms. Success in business unquestionably requires some willingness to cooperate with and have faith in others. So when your company’s money and resources are on the line, how can you do a better job of gauging trustworthiness and thereby improve your likelihood of success?
Why MANY Smart People Don’t Get the Support They Deserve
You may have experienced this (or might have seen someone go through this situation) – you are on to something big and need a LOT of help but even people who have known you for a while are not actively supporting you in your quest. They seem to listen to everything and say encouraging words about your adventure but when it comes to doing something, they shy away from it. It bothers you because you have known these people for a LONG time and these are some people that you would totally expect 100% support from. They should be the ones that should fully understand your potential and lend their hand. What could be wrong? As part of my mini-research, I talked to dozens of people who have been through this situation. While I could find a number of reasons, none of them could be as strong as the burden of the story gap. There is a difference between a) Your true potential b) Your potential as perceived by your core group BUT, there was a limitation. You know it and you can feel it. There is a gap.
Three Mistakes to Avoid When Networking - Dorie Clark
by Dorie Clark | 12:00 PM February 18, 2014 We all know networking has the potential to dramatically enhance our careers; making new connections can introduce us to valuable new information, job opportunities, and more. But despite that fact, many of us are doing it wrong — and I don’t just mean the banal error of trading business cards at a corporate function and not following up properly. Many executives, even when they desperately want to cultivate a new contact, aren’t sure how to get noticed and make the right impression. I’ve certainly been there. Years ago, I was a speaker at a tech conference — as was a bestselling author. We’re all busy, but it’s hard to imagine the volume of requests that well-known leaders receive. Grant does get back to the people who write him — he even had to hire an assistant to help — but most people at the top don’t have the time management skills (or the desire) to pull that off. Misunderstanding the pecking order. Asking to receive before you give.
Things That Make People Happier
