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	<title>Bob Selden is the author of “What To Do When You Become The Boss”, a practical “how to” for managers.  If you have a management challenge, visit Bob at www.whenyoubecometheboss.com to find an answer.

Alternatively, you can phone Bob on +41 61 921 66 51 between 9 and 5 (GMT +1)</title>
	<link>http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/author/index/503/Bob-Selden.php</link>
	<description>Bob Selden is the author of “What To Do When You Become The Boss”, a practical “how to” for managers.  If you have a management challenge, visit Bob at www.whenyoubecometheboss.com to find an answer.

Alternatively, you can phone Bob on +41 61 921 66 51 between 9 and 5 (GMT +1) - Latest business
news &amp; management advice on how best to build your own business -
Free, independent business articles on Strategy, eBusiness, Change
Management &amp; much, much more.</description>
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	<pubDate>Tue, 07 Sep 2010 12:23:20 +0000</pubDate>
	<managingEditor>admin@buildyourownbusiness.biz</managingEditor>
	<webMaster>admin@buildyourownbusiness.biz</webMaster>    
	<item>
      <title><strong>Customer Relationship Management - system or attitude?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[A colleague recently lamented to me &amp;quot;I was so annoyed that the XYZ coffee shop in the ABC Centre took sooooo long to give me a second coffee one morning, even though I was close to the machine and kept looking expectantly, I decided to ‘punish’ them by going elsewhere for a year.  
 
At an average of three coffees a day @ $3.20 each = $9.60 a day for about 220 working days a year, that could cost them $2,112 a year.  (That's why my new office now has a cappuccino machine!!)  Given that I was traveling a fair bit, I figured their poor service cost them at least $800 to $900 for the year that I gave them a miss.”
 
Do you know how much business each individual customer brings you?  More importantly, do your front line staff know?  I wonder what impact it would have on the staff at this coffee shop if they knew that every regular customer had the potential to bring them at least $2,000 gross revenue each year.  Do the staff know how many “regular” customers they have per day?  And, what does it take to turn a “drop in” or “first timer” into a regular customer?

How would the staff respond to customers if every time someone came in they had at front of mind “this customer is paying $3.20, but they could be worth $2,000 to our business”.

It’s been said that your first time customer, even your first time visitor (say, to your website) is always the highest cost to you.  You've had to spend your hard earned advertising dollars to get them.  But it's the repeat customers that really provide the best returns.  If they keep coming back to check out your site, your products, your services, or your information, you’ve clearly developed a relationship with them. You have established credibility and trust.  Once you've done this, the chance that these repeat visitors will buy from you increases exponentially.

Building customer relationships, whether you sell single cups of coffee, jet airliners or major service deals, depends on [URL=htt ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>What's your new boss like?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[With the number of people being laid off at the moment, there's a good chance that you may have a new boss. At the very least you're likely to know someone who has a new boss, or perhaps you have just taken on a new management role yourself. 

What influences the relationship between the new boss and the group? Do these influences impact the performance of individuals or the entire group?

A new study in the Leadership Quarterly (Ballinger, Schoorman and Lehman, April 2009), throws some light on the issue. The authors found that when a new leader takes over, several things can happen. 

Groups where key performers had high quality relationships with the departing leader suffer a drop in performance. This is because key performers, who impact the performance of the whole group, apparently have trouble forming a relationship with the new leader. This is even more so when the succession comes as a surprise to the group.

Crucially, employee's expectation of the relationship they are going to have with their new boss are predictive of the subsequent strength of that relationship. Yet group members may not evaluate new group leaders fairly based solely on characteristics of the new group leader.

They also found that new relationships are driven both by the behaviour of the new leader and the willingness of the group member to engage in the relationship. But leaders who can achieve early success can overcome the potential damage of emotionally charged succession processes. 

These results may not come as a surprise. However they provide some important messages for new managers and their people.

First, it is clear that relationships with a new boss do not start with a blank slate. As this study indicates, they are very much influenced by the quality of the relationship with the previous boss and employee expectations of the relationship they are likely to have with the new boss. 

So as a new boss, what can one do to manage these challenges?

One sugges ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>20 is the magic number</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[With all the talk lately about the exorbitant salaries of CEOs, there was a good news story that hit the airwaves recently. CEO of Japan Air Lines, Haruka Nishimatsu was reported to receive $90,000 annual salary. Yes, that's right, not $9 million, not even $900,000, but $90,000. And there are no bonuses or share options attached. In fact Nishimatsu gets paid less than his pilots (JAL is one of the worlds top 10 airlines).

What's more, he doesn't receive any executive perks. In fact, he lines up in the staff canteen with his fellow workers for lunch each day and even catches a bus to work.

JAL was going through some very tough times in 2007 when Nishimatsu was appointed CEO. Jobs were cut. People were asked to take early retirement. As he commented &amp;quot;The employees who took early retirement are the same age as me. I thought I should share the pain with them. So I changed my salary.&amp;quot; Now that's really &amp;quot;walking the talk&amp;quot;.

By comparison, CEOs of large U.S. corporations averaged $10.8 million in total compensation in 2006, more than 364 times the pay of the average U.S. worker, according to the latest survey by United for a Fair Economy. In 2007, the CEO of a Standard &amp;amp; Poor's 500 company received, on average, $14.2 million in total compensation, according to The Corporate Library, a corporate governance research firm. The median compensation package received was $8.8 million.

For specifics, take Richard Fuld of failed bank Lehman Brothers, who made $37 million in 2007. And Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs, who got $70 million in 2007.

What is the appropriate rate of pay for a CEO?

There's been a lot of discussion by governments around the world about taking measures to limit the pay to CEOs and senior executives. This is seen as one measure that might mitigate another financial crisis meltdown in the future. Nothing concrete has happened yet.

No one seems to have come up with the magic formula.

At the heart of the problem, i ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>You're the boss, now what?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Congratuations! You scored that big promotion and have moved up from the world of prospecting and sales quotas. You now have the nice office with the large desk—and all the managerial responsibilities to go with it. But just because you were a star seller, it doesn't mean you'll automatically be a star manager too. And, sadly enough, many organizations don't provide their newly promoted managers the proper training—even though one could cost them as much as one million dollars in lost productivity.

Do organizations realize this? 

A Bottom Line Situation 

Despite the obvious impact an ineffective manager has on an organization's profitability, many still pay little attention to training and supporting supervisors and managers, particularly in their first managerial role. The general contention seems to be that because the new manager was an excellent technical or professional operator, they will automatically make a good manager.

Organizations that do spend money on management training, tend to allocate it to their middle and senior managers. Yet, it is the new manager who is most motivated and ready to learn. He or she is only too fully aware of the challenges facing them, whilst often managers at a higher level see management training as a waste of their time. 

Train From the Get-Go 

Do organizations have to spend a fortune on highly tuned development training programs for new managers? No. 

For starters, new managers generally start at different times, so waiting to get a suitably sized group together for training is both inefficient and ineffective (often the new manager can be in the role for sometime before attending the training).

There are three factors that are most important when training new managers: 

• Firstly, the training must be timely—ideally started before commencing in the new role, but at latest as the person takes up their role. 

• Secondly, the training must suit the new manager's learning style. So for in ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Are you controlling the recession ir is it controlling you?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[When the going gets tough, we can either say “Well, that’s life, I can’t do much about it”. Or, we can say “Things are tough, but I can win through”.
 
It all depends on how we view the world.  
 
Studies have shown that we are either positive or negative based on what’s known as our “locus of control”. Locus of control refers to a person's belief about what causes the good or bad results in his or her life, either in general or in a specific area such as health or business.  It can either be internal (meaning the person believes that they control them self and their life), or external (meaning they believe that their environment, some higher power, or other people control their decisions and their life).
 
Our locus of control is learned and therefore, can be changed. My experience in working as a coach to club, national and international rowing coaches, shows that coaches can change their behaviour with their athletes, and improve the positive outlook they display and the performance of their athletes within 12 months! 
 
This also works for example, with managers who want to improve the motivation of their team. It may also work for you in looking for the positives in these tough times.
 
How do we change our locus of control and consequently, outlook? 
 
There are many training programs available. But, if you want a very simple method that you can start applying straight away, then changing the words you use in every day conversations can have a major impact.
 
For instance, getting rid of the word “don’t” from your vocabulary and replacing it with the positive image of what you are suggesting, starts to make you far more positive in your outlook. Take a look at the following short statements and see what images you get when you read each one …
 
• Don't drop it.
• Don't walk on the grass.
• In case of fire do not use lifts (elevators).
 
In the first statement, the only image that comes to mind is the picture  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/42/4204/Are-you-controlling-the-recession-ir-is-it-controlling-you.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/42/4204/Are-you-controlling-the-recession-ir-is-it-controlling-you.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Why isn't good leadership recognised?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Why isn’t good leadership recognized?

He goes cycling at lunch time, leaves work early (apparently 7.30 pm is early for Americans) and takes a &amp;quot;bottom up&amp;quot; approach to leadership.  Who is he?  James L . Jones, President Obama's national security advisor. 

When asked by reporters about other White House officials who work deep into the night, he responded &amp;quot;Congratulations.  To me that means you're not organized&amp;quot;.

I can relate to the sniping by other White House staff about Jones' work hours.  As a newly appointed senior manager in a large regional bank some years back, I used to leave no later than 6.pm.  I heard from trusted colleagues that people were saying &amp;quot;that he's not working hard enough&amp;quot;, or &amp;quot;he does not seem to be pulling his weight&amp;quot;.  However I started work at 7am whereas others started around 9am or even later.

The bank had a culture of working late into the night.  In fact there's a story (true) about a young man who was regularly seen by the CEO as one of the last to leave - this man was made PA to the CEO and eventually became CEO!  It seems that sometimes, it's not what you achieve that's important, but how you're seen.  

Jones displays a different style of leadership, as he calls it a &amp;quot;bottom up&amp;quot; approach.  He takes a back seat, letting others take the limelight.  He encourages his people to make decisions.  He [URL=http://www.nationallearning.com.au/management/whos-got-the-monkey-now-part-two.html]delegates[/URL] to key aides.  He regularly asks for other's opinions before giving his own.  He's even sent staff members to the Oval Office on his behalf for meetings with the President.  As Jones commented, &amp;quot;You can be a leader that takes charge of every meeting and takes charge of every issue and rides it to conclusion and play a very dominant role.  For me that has the effect of muting voices.&amp;quot;

What a refreshing change from many of the so called leaders we often see in polit ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Managers must harness power and politics</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Competition for resources - internal and external - means power and politics become even greater issues for managers in today’s tough economic times.

Add to that the closer scrutiny of performance, particularly in terms of cost-management, and managers face some real challenges. 

Many employees are busy “keeping their heads down” in the hope that they will not be targeted for redundancy.  So, although people are still motivated, their motivation seems to come from job security rather than job-fulfillment and satisfaction.

In such an environment, the calls for the manager to add the “leadership” string to his or her management bow are long and loud. 

But, just what is meant by “leadership”? Does it differ from “management”? And most importantly, how does one “do leadership”? 

Let’s start with management.  Management is what one gets paid to do, i.e. to achieve certain tasks using the available resources.  Management success is seen through the eyes of the organisation.  Management is therefore mandatory (probably under pain of death!). 

Leadership on the other hand, is only seen through the eyes of others – peers, colleagues, staff and other key stakeholders - those whom we need to influence, but without the authority of our position.  

Leadership is optional, but obviously highly desirable and even more so in today’s climate.  The temptation for many mangers is to focus more on the management function, which whilst important, looks more at short term results.

Leadership within the group or team is evident when people are highly motivated, working co-operatively and performing at their best.

One further factor distinguishes leadership.  Unlike management, it does not reside in one person – it is more a condition or function rather than a role.  As Charles Handy once described it – leadership is “distributed” throughout the manager’s group or team.  Although leadership may start with the manager, it’s  ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Service with a smile</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[There have been a couple of interesting service stories in the press over the last week.  Getting front line staff to provide excellent, even good customer service seems to be the perennial management challenge.  This appears even more challenging when times are tough and businesses are scrambling for that extra sale.

What are the latest attempts at meeting this challenge?

The first is an old one that has been tried before and is now being trotted out once again.  In the US, Delta Airlines has revived its “Red Coats” customer support service (dropped in 2005 when Delta was in Chapter 11).  For those in the US old enough to remember, “Red Coats” was probably named after the US railway’s “Red Caps” – the porters who provided excellent service to rail passengers (they’re still around in some places, but who travels by rail anymore?)

The idea behind the Red Coats service is that these people will be out with the customers answering questions and helping out, rather than behind the counter.  And they will be able to issue boarding passes from hand-held machines.  Like their counter colleagues, they will not however have access to the airline’s computer data to check on customer details, flyer-frequency etc.  They won’t have any more responsibility than their counter staff colleagues, but, they will be paid more!

Along similar lines, American Airlines are to give bonuses of $100 to $200 to customer service representatives who meet certain service satisfaction goals (perhaps this is tipping by another name?)

A different approach is being tried in Japan.  Tokyo railway workers at Keihin Express Railway Co. have the option of checking the degree of their smile on a “smile meter”.  Using a digital camera on top of their PCs, customer service staff are able to get a reading on how well they are smiling before they start their service shift.  The smiling rating goes from “0” (grim faced) to “100” (a very broad smile).  Company ma ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>15 years in the making!</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Actually, it probably started a little earlier than that. In 1974 the US Securities and Exchange Commission introduced deregulation of brokerage commission costs. Prior to this, it would cost a broker or trader approximately $1 commission per traded share. Today that figure is somewhat like $0.01 per share. So one can readily see that trading in shares today is a far less expensive way to bolster ones finances than it was all those years ago.

So, what's been 15 years coming? It's the recession. A recession we had to have. But what has that got to do with the cost of share trading? And why did it have to happen?

Fifteen years ago the internet really took off. People could not only communicate instantly across the globe, but they could now also do most, if not all, financial transactions without leaving their desk (or home for that matter). 

Combine the two facts – negligible commission costs on trading of shares and the ability to trade shares on line – and you suddenly have a new industry, share trading. Note; this is &amp;quot;share trading&amp;quot; not investing. Gone are the days when people made investments for something they believed in. 

Prior to 1974, you needed a broker to buy or sell shares for you. Now everyone, you and I included, can trade shares. It's no longer people genuinely investing in companies for long-term benefit (their own and the company's. It's how much money we can make in the shortest possible time. 

Given this, it's easy to see why CEOs have set targets that are at a minimum, double digit annual increase return on investment (ROI is one key indicator that influences share price).

So, why has this led to a recession?

Organisational development practitioner, Dennis Pratt, suggests that every organisation - public or private, large or small - has six key stakeholders: customers, suppliers, owners, staff, industry and the community. Whenever the needs of one or more of these stakeholder groups are consistently exceeded at th ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Who is your customer?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Who is your customer?  To any savvy business manager, that may seem a simple or even silly question.  “Of course I know who my customers are, I wouldn’t be in business otherwise” might be the natural response.  However, one organisation who recently got this drastically (and what could have been tragically) wrong, and which almost crippled an entire country (well at least for a couple of weeks), was the US Federal Aviation Administration.

It was reported in the press recently “When a federal agency refers to the industry it oversees as its ‘customers’ a boundary has been dangerously crossed.  As representative James Oberstar, the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee rightly said, ‘The FAA’s only customer is the air-travelling public.”  

This press report highlights two important issues.  The reporter was right when saying “a boundary has been dangerously crossed”.  James Oberstar was wrong when saying “The FAA’s only customer is the air-travelling public.”  

Before looking further at the FAA and it’s “boundary” and “customer” issues, let’s start at the beginning.  As any experienced Organisation Development person will tell you, getting the answer to “Who is my customer?” correct is the foundation stone for any successful business.  

Take two examples.  

In the first, the manufacturers of popular brand name soap powders such as Persil (which by the way has been around since 1903 – now, that’s success!), have clearly identified you and I as their customer.  We are also the consumer.  Although they sell to shops and chain stores, all their marketing is aimed at getting you and I, their customers, to select their product when we enter the store, not someone else’s.  

The second case is the manufacturer of high quality furniture.  Unlike soap powder where most people (well at least those who do their own washing) can name three or four brands, you and I would be hard pressed ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>What's your balance in the Trust Bank?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[There’s a strange phenomenon happening at the moment in organisations around the globe.

As the financial crisis first took hold, people gathered together and supported one another.  It seems that the usual response to an external threat was taking place,  “We’re being attacked.  We're in this together and we can support one another through the difficulty.”  

The human instinct of fight or flight has taken over.  For example:
-	There is more sharing of information and knowledge to ensure everyone is “being kept in the loop”
-	People go out of their way to find out what others are doing and how they can help 
-	People are loyal to one another and particularly to those who might not be there at the moment
-	People get together more at a social level (for example, business lunches are back in, although now much shorter and far less expensive as people themselves are paying)

That type of behaviour is still the case in many organisations.  However, there’s a change that takes place at a particular point.  And that change seems to occur once there are lay-offs.  As soon as people are laid off, the mood and the response from those that stay, changes:
-	People become less sociable – lunches are definitely out, no matter who’s paying
-	At the lower levels, staff start to emphasise (publicly) what they are achieving (sometimes even at the expense of colleagues) – people also *spin the truth” to their advantage
-	On the other hand, some staff retreat into themselves and hope &amp;quot;that it will all go away soon&amp;quot; 
-	Managers become less visible and remote.  They are always in meetings.  When asked about &amp;quot;What's happening?&amp;quot;, very little of the real story emerges
-	There seem to be many things that are “undiscussable”

On the commercial front, organisations are cutting their marketing and training budgets – two of the most important items on any balance sheet.  Some have cut their marketing budget by 70%.  One wonders h ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Managing your boss:  4 rules to live by and 4 steps to take</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[John was a former boss of mine.  Before I started working for him, I had heard from others that he had a very good reputation and so I was really looking forward to working with him.  The office was a very busy one with lots of customer interaction and a very heavy processing workload.  After the first couple of months, I got the feeling that there was no real harmony in our relationship and I found it difficult to work out why.  John was good with the customers and well liked by other staff, but we just didn’t seem to hit it off.  

It was not until my formal performance appraisal some months later that I finally found out what the problem was.  The job I’d taken over was in a real mess and required a great deal of management skill to get it back on track, which I believed I had done well.  During my performance appraisal discussion, John acknowledged my good work in this area, but (and it was a big “but” for him) he didn’t see me doing enough marketing with potential customers.

You see, John’s pet interest was marketing and he expected all of his people to make this their number one priority.  

Do you know what your manager’s number one or [URL=http://www.nationallearning.com.au/tips/]key priorities [/URL]are?  

Although we often have performance discussions with our manager, how clear are we on the order of priority they have for each area of our performance?  How clear are they themselves about their “expectations” of us?  These “expectations” are often unwritten and in fact may be somewhat different to the formal performance requirements of the role.

So, what’s the best way to manage the relationship with your boss?  There are two aspects of this; firstly four clear action steps that you can plan for and take at the start of your working partnership and secondly, four “rules” that you should follow in all your dealings with your boss to ensure a productive working relationship is maintained.

Step One:  Agree your man ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/49/3715/Managing-your-boss--4-rules-to-live-by-and-4-steps-to-take.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/49/3715/Managing-your-boss--4-rules-to-live-by-and-4-steps-to-take.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to select your boss - a three pronged strategy</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Jane had been out of the country for over a year and returned home to start a new job as a physiotherapist in a family run business.  She was excited about the new role as the husband and wife team who ran the practice had been asking her for some time to join them as a full time employee.   

During the first week, Jane did not have as many patients as others, so she was asked to work less hours.  This seemed fair as it does take time to build a personal clientele:  However in her second week, it became obvious that Jane’s full time job was to be part time.  Her bosses were setting her up to work part time hours.  She also started to get a bit uneasy about her new boss’ management styles.  Firstly they seemed unwilling  to talk about her hours.  Then, she found her patient files had been examined without advising her, nor had she been given any subsequent feedback, either positive or negative.  Jane is someone who likes to be involved and communicated with.  Her ideal job had started to lose its shine.

Have you had an experience where you found out after starting in a new role that your boss was not all that you thought he or she might be?  Or maybe you are in the process of [URL=http://www.nationallearning.com.au/self-improvement/are-you-positive-or-negative.html]applying for a new job[/URL] right now?  Perhaps some of the following will be of help.

When applying for a new job, we are (rightly) concerned about putting our best foot forward and making sure that we are selected.  Often we neglect the fact that it is a two way street – they select us and we select them.  Unfortunately, the consequences of not selecting the right boss only become obvious once we are in the new role.  My [URL=http://www.nationallearning.com.au/management/where-have-all-the-honest-managers-gone.html]research [/URL]clearly shows that people do not leave an organisation, they leave a boss!   It is therefore vital that when you apply for a position, you not only look at the o ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/42/3700/How-to-select-your-boss--a-three-pronged-strategy.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/42/3700/How-to-select-your-boss--a-three-pronged-strategy.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Corporate Values Provide Strong Foundations for Organisational Effectivenes</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[I once worked for an organisation that seemed to embody the epitome of the ideal.  In fact, everything the management gurus suggest should be evident in the “excellent” organisation, was there.  Employees who were dedicated, management who cared about the staff (and who knew the business!) and customers who were loyal.  The organisation even had a marketing department that involved the staff in the latest advertising and promotional schemes before going public!  The corporate colours were blue and gold, and it was said that staff would die for the company if necessary and their blood would flow in the corporate colours! 

Although I thoroughly enjoyed working there (and like all the others, would have shed blood, too), I thought the halcyon environment was merely a fluke and it was my good fortune to strike it lucky.  With hindsight, I can now see the logic of why this organisation worked so well: it was the solid foundations on which this idyllic structure was built. 

Those foundations were the corporate values.  However, they were not mentioned overtly.  Nor were they written up on any brass plaques.  But evident they were.  How did this organisation succeed in having “everyone singing from the same book”?  The answer lies in the nature and extent of the training that all staff experienced which was established and supported by the CEO.  For example, everyone joining the company attended two weeks of induction training before commencing in his or her role. This even applied to senior managers, who might be responsible for managing some of their fellow trainees. 

It has taken me some years and the study of [URL=http://www.nationallearning.com.au/products/bob-selden.html]hundreds of organisations[/URL] to realise that cementing organisation values into the training fabric of an organisation can have a dramatic impact on collective performance. 

Some management writers have coined a phrase that has become more faddish than realistic – “walking  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/49/3699/Corporate-Values-Provide-Strong-Foundations-for-Organisational-Effectivenes.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/49/3699/Corporate-Values-Provide-Strong-Foundations-for-Organisational-Effectivenes.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The aging workforce – a disappearing asset?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[For as long as I can remember, commentators have suggested that all organisations should consider people their “greatest asset”.  In the boom years of the late 80s and the 90s, this “asset” thinking literally translated to “[URL=http://www.nationallearning.com.au/recognition/what-do-you-get-when-you-pay-people-to-perform.html]pay people more[/URL] and we will keep them”.  But today, despite higher salaries and benefits, we find people change employers quite regularly.  Statistics on change of employer over a working lifetime are hard to come by – estimates range between 3 and 7.  The key point however, is that people are now far more willing to change employers than ever before.

Not only do people change jobs more readily, but the workforce is aging.  Figures in the US suggest that the average working age is now 41 up from 35 in 1980.  By 2015, according to the American Association of Retired Persons, one of every five employees will be at least 55.  In the UK, the combination of declining birth rates and greater longevity means that by 2030 the number of people aged 50 and over will have reached 46 per cent of the total UK population, rising from 33 per cent in 2002.  These trends are also evident in other developed countries such as France, Germany, Spain and Japan.

An aging population means more people leaving the workforce for retirement.  On the other hand, the number of older people who work part-time is also increasing.

These trends represent two challenges for organisations.  Firstly, how do we keep our best, most experienced and knowledgeable people?  And secondly, how do we make better use of those who are considering retirement?

The answer to the first question is simple (although implementing it may be more challenging).  Treat people better, [URL=http://www.nationallearning.com.au/teams-team-building/the-secret-to-getting-your-team-engaged.html]engage them fully[/URL] and develop employee loyalty.  It is long past due that orga ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/49/3678/The-aging-workforce--a-disappearing-asset.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/49/3678/The-aging-workforce--a-disappearing-asset.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Is the world flat or round? Decisions for trainers of virtual teams.</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[That may seem a silly question. However, up until the 15th century people thought that it was flat – that’s a lot of time to exist with a major misconception. 

Why did people think that way for so long? Did it matter to them? One cannot say. However, here’s a hypothesis for you.  Pre-Columbus, people (in general) could only travel so far – often this was not even out of sight. They lived in small groups, everyone knowing everyone else and interacting daily. A problem found was a problem shared and solved. Although there were many differences between cultures, hierarchy was perhaps less layered than it was in even 20th century organisations. All of this led to a feeling of “togetherness” and a certainty that they were the only people on this flat piece of earth.

Today in the 21st century, perhaps we have that same feeling of flatness happening once again. Globalisation and enhanced forms of communication, have ensured that people can (and I use that word advisedly) have the same sort of contact as our pre 15th century forebears. Today, organisations operate across multiple countries. This has implications for both people who work together locally and those who work elsewhere, all of whom may work for the same organisation. That means that every day people have to connect with others whom they may never (or rarely) see face to face. 

How does the modern organisation cope with these challenges? Many now have matrix structures and internationally based project groups, teams and committees. Being based in [URL=http://www.nationallearning.com.au/component/option,com_fabrik/Itemid,105/fabrik,2/fabriklayout,labels-above/random,0/view,form/]Switzerland[/URL], the home of some of the larger multinationals, got me thinking on this topic and how the challenge is being faced (Swiss companies include Nestlé, Roche, Novartis, Zurich Insurance, Clariant – in fact there are at least 60 large multinationals head-quartered in Switzerland).

Take the case of o ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/42/3677/Is-the-world-flat-or-round-Decisions-for-trainers-of-virtual-teams.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/42/3677/Is-the-world-flat-or-round-Decisions-for-trainers-of-virtual-teams.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to make yourself recession-proof</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[I spoke to a friend the other day who said she was worried about her job security.  Her company’s performance over the last twelve months had not been too good and now, with the economic downturn, she was worried that there might be lay-offs.

What can you do in times like these if you have similar fears?

Well, there are some things that are within your control, and others that you may just have to manage.

Let’s start with those that you can control.

Firstly and most importantly, you need to maintain your own high level of motivation to your work.  Any drop off will be noticed.  And sometimes, this drop off can happen subconsciously as you think about the “What ifs?” rather than the current projects you are working on.  People who are not performing at their best, are the most likely to be released.

Secondly, look for opportunities where you can help your organisation grow its business and reduce costs.  For example, if you work in production, then it may be useful to get together with a colleague in marketing to see how you can help them better present your product.  Now, you might say, “Well, this happens already”.  Experience shows that often there is a gap in communication between functions on some of the often overlooked, but really important issues such as the nature of repeated customer complaints, customer enquiries on product usage, feedback from suppliers and so on.  

Think of it this way.  What’s the one thing that you have always said (to yourself or close colleagues), “If only THEY would … , we could be so much more productive and successful.”  Now’s the time to take the bit between your teeth and do something about that “If only …”

There are other ways that anyone within the business can help with promotion.  For example, some years ago I was driving home from work and heard the radio advertising a “midnight to dawn replay and celebration of a classic rock album all of next week”.  It just so happened ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/42/3645/How-to-make-yourself-recessionproof.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/42/3645/How-to-make-yourself-recessionproof.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to make first impressions count</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[I once worked with a young man, Neil.  Neil was bright, energetic and well presented.  There was only one detracting feature about Neil when you first met him – his handshake.  Shaking hands with Neil was like holding a wet fish – limp and squashy.  My boss at the time, Kendall Smith, was a very perceptive person.  Realising that in our business one had to make a good first impression, Kendall took Neil aside very soon after Neil started in the department for a chat.  

I’m told the conversation went something along these lines …

“Neil, I can see that you have a lot of potential and you present yourself very well.  There’s only one detracting feature and that’s your handshake.  People make judgments about others when they first meet and one of the factors that influences their judgment is the handshake.  I’d like to see you develop a much firmer handshake.  Here’s what I propose.  Every morning when you come into my office to say ‘Good Morning boss’, I’d like us to shake hands.  I want you to keep doing this every day until I tell you that you have got it right.”

Many years later, well after I had moved on from that department, I met Neil in the street.  And as old colleagues do, we shook hands.  Well, he practically ripped my arm off!  Either Neil had kept practising all these years or Kendall forgot to tell him to stop, I’m not sure which, but the difference was amazing.

During our discussion, I discovered that Neil was now manager of the department.  Can you put that meteoric rise down to first impressions?  Obviously not.  But, and I need to stress this, one’s image does have a major impact on how others evaluate you, both immediately and over the longer term.

There has been a tremendous amount of research done over the years on first impressions.  This research consistently shows that:
•	It takes less than 3 seconds to evaluate the other person based on their appearance, body language, demeanor, mannerisms and dres ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/55/3634/How-to-make-first-impressions-count.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/55/3634/How-to-make-first-impressions-count.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Service is the key to survival in today’s climate</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[I had an email from a colleague recently telling me about his latest service experience.  

*I was so annoyed that the XYZ coffee shop in the ABC Centre took sooooo long to give me a second coffee one morning, even though I was close to the machine and kept looking expectantly, I decided to ‘punish’ them by going elsewhere for a year.  
 
At an average of three coffees a day @ $3.20 each = $9.60 a day for about 220 working days a year, that could cost them $2,112 a year.  (That's why my new office now has a cappuccino machine!!)  Given that I was traveling a fair bit, I figured their poor service cost them at least $800 to $900 for the year that I gave them a miss.”
 
Do you know how much business each individual customer brings you?  More importantly, do your front line staff know?  I wonder what impact it would have on the staff at this coffee shop if they knew that every regular customer had the potential to bring them at least $2,000 gross revenue each year.  Do the staff know how many “regular” customers they have per day?  And, what does it take to turn a “drop in” or “first timer” into a regular customer?

How would the staff respond to customers if every time someone came in they had at front of mind “this customer is paying $3.20, but they could be worth $2,000 to our business”.

It’s been said that your first time customer, even your first time visitor (say to your website) is always the highest cost to you.  You've had to spend your hard earned advertising dollars to get them there.  But it's the repeat customers and visitors that really provide the best returns.  If they keep coming back to check out your site, your products, your services, or your information, you’ve clearly developed a relationship with them. You have established credibility and trust.  Once you've done this, the chance that these repeat visitors will buy from you increases exponentially.

Whenever you have a business totally dependent on new clien ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/34/3517/Service-is-the-key-to-survival-in-todays-climate.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/34/3517/Service-is-the-key-to-survival-in-todays-climate.php</link>
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      <title><strong>You've just been snubbed.  What now?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[So, you’ve just been told that you’ve missed out on leading that new, exciting project.  Or you find that two of your colleagues are getting a promotion over you.  Or the presentation you made to the board last week didn’t seem to go over as well as you had hoped.  

All of these events (and probably one or two you are thinking about as you read this) can lead us to feel demoralised.  The problem then escalates.  The disappointment we feel from this one event spills over into everything else we do.  Not only do we feel bad, but others around us start to notice our lethargy and things like our negative talk too.  

How can we get ourselves out of the despondent feelings and negative behaviour brought about by disappointments such as these?

There are two things that will help.  

Firstly, we need to understand the three factors that are working when we are highly motivated.  This is important so that we can aim to get them back into our life when things aren’t going so well.  Secondly, a list of helpful tips to get us started back toward normality.

All the work done by the sports psychs over the last 20 years to help athletes perform at their best, has been really helpful for us mere mortals as well.  For instance through their research, we now know that when we are performing well (and highly motivated):
•	We are being mentally stimulated, i.e. our mind is being used in a way that challenges and stimulates us (e.g. business, pleasure, creative)
•	We are emotionally well balanced, i.e. we feel happy within ourselves and we have satisfying personal relationships with friends and loved ones
•	We are physically fit – eating, sleeping and exercising well.

So, the tips to get motivated should apply to getting our mind, emotions and body quickly back into shape.  Here they are . . .

1.  How to get your mind fit again:
•	List on a sheet of paper the three or four things you do really well.
•	Then, jot down some answers to these ques ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/51/3474/Youve-just-been-snubbed--What-now.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/51/3474/Youve-just-been-snubbed--What-now.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Tough times call for tough training</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[With the downturn in the market, good staff are still surprisingly hard to find, particularly at the operator level. 

A colleague in the hospitality industry, spoke about his challenges:

“Good staff have become rare.  Everyone’s competing for the same pool of labour.  The young, often with limited education, unskilled and without any career in mind, are just working for a couple of months until they find something they like.  Our organisation is understaffed.  Sick leave is on the rise, morale is down, productivity and efficiency are low.  On top of that, the supervisors are overworked.  We are caught in a vicious circle.”

What can he do?
 
The number one solution, both short and long term, is training.
 
Often people think of &amp;quot;training&amp;quot; as only skill and knowledge building.  However there are additional plusses from good training - motivation and a positive attitude.  These can be even more important than the skill and knowledge development.
 
Training takes time and money - two resources that are in short supply at the moment.  However, both can be overcome with a little creativity.
 
Before thinking about the type, content, length of training etc, there is one principle that must be at the forefront of every manager's mind:

&amp;quot;We are training our people to be the best in the business.&amp;quot;

This is irrespective of how long they may stay with you, how junior they are, how inexperienced, or how de-motivated they might be.  
 
It must be a case of:

&amp;quot;We attract the best people.  When they leave us, they leave with far more skills than when they arrived.&amp;quot; 

People must want to work for your organisation - this requires that you build a reputation.  Your people must be seen as an asset rather than a cost.  This can only start when the CEO and top people share this view - this attitude will show in their behaviour.  Those of you reading this who are in the sales business, have probably heard of James Levenson’ ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/34/3456/Tough-times-call-for-tough-training.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/34/3456/Tough-times-call-for-tough-training.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Are you controlling the recession, or is it controlling you?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[When the going gets tough, we can either say “Well, that’s life, I can’t do much about it”.  Or, we can say “Things are tough, but I can win through”.

It all depends on how we view the world.  

Studies have shown that we are either positive or negative based on what’s known as our “locus of control”.  Locus of control refers to a person's belief about what causes the good or bad results in his or her life, either in general or in a specific area such as health or business.  It can either be internal (meaning the person believes that they control them self and their life), or external (meaning they believe that their environment, some higher power, or other people control their decisions and their life).

Our locus of control is learned and therefore, can be changed.  My experience in working as a coach to club, national and international rowing coaches, shows that coaches can change their behaviour with their athletes, and improve the positive outlook they display and the performance of their athletes within 12 months!  

This also works for example, with [URL=http://www.nationallearning.com.au/]managers[/URL] who want to improve the motivation of their team.  It may also work for you in looking for the positives in these tough times.

How do we change our locus of control and consequently, outlook?  

There are many training programs available.  But, if you want a very simple method that you can start applying straight away, then changing the words you use in every day conversations can have a major impact.

For instance, getting rid of the word “don’t” from your vocabulary and replacing it with the positive image of what you are suggesting, starts to make you far more positive in your outlook.  Take a look at the following short statements and see what images you get when you read each one …

•	Don't drop it.
•	Don't walk on the grass.
•	In case of fire do not use lifts (elevators).

In the first statement, the ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/51/3431/Are-you-controlling-the-recession-or-is-it-controlling-you.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/51/3431/Are-you-controlling-the-recession-or-is-it-controlling-you.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Are you a Leader or Manager?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Almost 100 years ago, Mary Parker Follett described a manager as “One who gets things done through people”.  This description is still used by management educators and scholars today.  However,  this could be enhanced to read: 
“One who gets the things the organisation requires the manager to get done, through the people who report to that manager”  

These additions are suggested because:
-	You become a manager when you sign on for the job
-	You only become a leader when your people say so

You are given the title of “manager” by the organisation.  People will do things for you, either well or not so well depending on how well you manage them, because of WHAT you are not WHO you are.  

Only your people, your team, the people you manage, can give you the title of “leader”.

Another way of putting it is to say that the organisation gives you your “corporate” manager’s hat when you sign on.  This lets everyone in the organisation know that you are now officially a manager.  Then, your people, when they believe in you and only when they believe in you and are prepared to follow you, give you your leadership badge, your badge of honour!

Let me make a very important point.  Managing can be described as more mechanical and so there are guidelines to follow, whereas leading is always measured through others’ perceptions.  

Here’s a quick test to gain some indication on your current status as a leader.

Once you have been in your current role for say, nine to twelve months, ask yourself:
•	“Would my people do the things I now ask them to do even if I were not their manager?”  
•	If you can truthfully answer “Yes”, then you are well on the path to becoming a leader.  

Many of you will probably answer this with a “Maybe”.  The road to leadership is a long one, but a truly rewarding one.  If you are concerned that it seems to be taking you forever to develop as a leader, keep in mind the experience of one of th ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Are you dead on the job?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[There’s a story doing the rounds at the moment about the worker who was dead at his desk for five days before anyone discovered him.  The story goes …

”Bosses of a publishing firm are trying to work out why no one noticed that one of their employees had been sitting dead at his desk for five days before anyone asked if he was feeling okay. 

George Turklebaum, 51, who had been employed as a proof-reader at a New York firm for 30 years, had a heart attack in the open-plan office he shared with 23 other workers. He quietly passed away on Monday, but nobody noticed until Saturday morning when an office cleaner asked why he was still working during the weekend. 

His boss Elliot Wachiaski said: ‘George was always the first guy in each morning and the last to leave at night, so no one found it unusual that he was in the same position all that time and didn't say anything. He was always absorbed in his work and kept much to himself.’ 

A post mortem examination revealed that he had been dead for five days after suffering a coronary. Ironically, George was proofreading manuscripts of medical textbooks when he died.”

True or not, there is an important message in this yarn.  Have you been appreciated at work lately?  Whilst pondering this question, keep in mind that appreciation is a two way street – we also need to appreciate the work of others.

We all want to be associated with a winner, be it a winning person, a winning team, a worthwhile cause or a successful organisation.  We all have sports people, teams, actors or artists that we consider “ours”.  When they do well, we bask in their reflected glory.  It’s the same at work - we want to be associated with a worthwhile, winning organisation.  Our greatest reward is receiving acknowledgment that we have contributed to making something meaningful happen.  More than anything else, people want to be valued for a job well done by those they hold in high regard.

A famous study by Lawrence  ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Creating an image – can a speech do it?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Many reading this would have watched Barack Obama address the Chicago crowd on the night he won the US Presidency.  I do not live in the US, but listening to this speech certainly moved me.  Others I have spoken to had a similar experience.  His story of Ann Nixon Cooper, the 106 year old lady and the changes she has experienced in her lifetime, was simply brilliant.

So this is probably an appropriate time to look at the impact a person’s public speeches (such as a CEO or electoral candidate) has on the audience.  

Through social science research, we have known for some time that the use of rhetoric, imagery and metaphors can positively impact how the audience perceives and acts on the message.  However a recent study has now taken this one step further.  The results of the research by James J Naidoo and Robert G. Lord in the June edition of the Leadership Quarterly, suggest that not only does the use of such tactics impact audience behaviour, used well, they also have a positive affect on how we perceive the charisma of the speaker.

Listen once again to some of the rhetoric, imagery, and metaphors candidate Barack Obama used in his now (almost) famous race speech in March …

&amp;quot;I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton's Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. 

I've gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world's poorest nations. I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slaveowners -- an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters.&amp;quot;

In a poll taken shortly after this speech, Obama was shown to be leading Hilary Clinton in the Democratic nomination race by 53 to 41 per cent.  The behavioural impact stats are there, but did the speech impact our perception ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/33/3368/Creating-an-image--can-a-speech-do-it.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/33/3368/Creating-an-image--can-a-speech-do-it.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Customer Service v’s Customer Satisfaction – What’s the Difference?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[I recently travelled on a regional train in Australia.   When booking my ticket I asked “What’s the difference between first and second class?”  The booking clerk’s response was “Oh, there’s a bit more leg room in first class”

This experience reminded me of a presentation I once attended that was given by the General Manager of a major five star hotel.  He often asks his new employees, “What’s the difference between our $300 dollar a night rooms and a $100 per night room at another local hotel?”  He knew he was in trouble if the employee responded “$200”.

The difference between [URL=http://www.whenyoubecometheboss.com/]service and satisfaction[/URL] is not “more leg room”.  Nor is it “$200”.  The difference is the feeling of satisfaction one experiences as a result of the service provided.  “Leg room” and “$200” may well be accurate facts about the service, but they are not how the client feels about the service.

As a service provider, how does one start developing this feeling of “satisfaction”?  By developing a personal relationship.  

There are at least three elements that lead to the development of a personal relationship between client and service provider:
–	the effective use of personal space 
–	making a personal connection and 
–	making the service experience memorable for the client

Take three experiences that exemplify this approach.  

1.  The effective use of personal space.
In the first I was fortunate enough to stay at the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin recently.  After taking our details at the Check In, the clerk came around from behind the counter, introduced herself by name and explained and directed us to all the things we would be likely to need during our stay.  By joining us in “our space” on our side of the counter, she was giving us a welcome that would be similar to what we would get when visiting the home of a friend.  And, without being pushy or effusive.

Using perso ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/34/3068/Customer-Service-vs-Customer-Satisfaction--Whats-the-Difference.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/34/3068/Customer-Service-vs-Customer-Satisfaction--Whats-the-Difference.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Do you know who are your customers?  </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Who is your customer?  To any savvy business manager, that may seem a simple or even silly question.  “Of course I know who my customers are, I wouldn’t be in business otherwise” might be the natural response.  However, one organisation who recently got this drastically (and what could have been tragically) wrong, and which almost crippled an entire country (well at least for a couple of weeks), was the US Federal Aviation Administration.

It was reported in the press recently “When a federal agency refers to the industry it oversees as its ‘customers’ a boundary has been dangerously crossed.  As representative James Oberstar, the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee rightly said last week, ‘The FAA’s only customer is the air-travelling public.”  

This press report highlights two important issues.  The reporter was right when saying “a boundary has been dangerously crossed”.  James Oberstar was wrong when saying “The FAA’s only customer is the air-travelling public.”  

Before looking further at the FAA and it’s “boundary” and “customer” issues, let’s start at the beginning.  As any experienced Organisation Development person will tell you, getting the answer to “Who is my customer?” correct is the foundation stone for any successful business.  

Take two examples.  

In the first, the manufacturers of popular brand name soap powders such as Persil (which by the way has been around since 1903 – now, that’s success!), have clearly identified you and I as their customer.  We are also the consumer.  Although they sell to shops and chain stores, all their marketing is aimed at getting you and I, their customers, to select their product when we enter the store, not someone else’s.  

The second case is the manufacturer of high quality furniture.  Unlike soap powder where most people (well at least those who do their own washing) can name three or four brands, you and I would be ha ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/34/3052/Do-you-know-who-are-your-customers.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/34/3052/Do-you-know-who-are-your-customers.php</link>
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      <title><strong>You’ve just been snubbed . . . What now?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[So, you’ve just been told that you’ve missed out on leading that new, exciting project.  Or you find that two of your colleagues are getting a promotion over you.  Or the presentation you made to the board last week didn’t seem to go over as well as you had hoped.  All of these events (and probably one or two you are thinking about as you read this) can lead us to feel demoralised.  The problem then escalates.  The disappointment we feel from this one event spills over into everything else we do.  Not only do we feel bad, but others around us start to notice our lethargy and things like our negative talk too.  

How can we get ourselves out of the despondent feelings and negative behaviour brought about by disappointments such as these?

There are two things that will help.  Firstly, we need to understand the three factors that are working when we are highly motivated.  This is important so that we can aim to get them back into our life when things aren’t going so well.  Secondly, a list of helpful tips to get us started back toward normality.

All the work done by the sports psychs over the last 20 years to help athletes perform at their best, has been really helpful for us mere mortals as well.  For instance through their research, we now know that when we are performing well (and highly motivated):

•	We are being mentally stimulated, i.e. our mind is being used in a way that challenges and stimulates us (e.g. business, pleasure, creative)

•	We are emotionally well balanced, i.e. we feel happy within ourselves and we have satisfying personal relationships with friends and loved ones

•	We are physically fit – eating, sleeping and exercising well.

So, the tips to get motivated should apply to getting our mind, emotions and body quickly back into shape.  Here they are . . .

1.  How to get your mind fit again:

•	List on a sheet of paper the three or four things you do really well.

•	Then, jot down some answers to these qu ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/51/2844/Youve-just-been-snubbed----What-now.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/51/2844/Youve-just-been-snubbed----What-now.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Can Emails Improve Your Customer Service And Relationships?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[How do most of your customers enter your business?  Through the front door?  By phone?  Via the web?  By email?  Chances are some of your business comes to you by email.  Or If it doesn’t initially, it’s a fair bet that you will have email contact with many of your customers during their relationship with you.

Is your email service as good as your face-to-face or phone service?  For example, do you have some standard policies and protocols that all employees must follow?  And are you taking the marketing opportunities provided by email contact?

1.  Make sure your email message is as good as your face-to-face message

My wife and I recently visited a provedore store in Lyon, France where we were met at the front door by a sales person who handed us a cane basket.  He asked whether we would like to look by ourselves or could he assist.  We took his assistance and he proceeded to show and explain some of the items we were interested in.  Once we had selected our items, he escorted us to the cash register.  As we went to exit the front door, he was there to show us out, thank us for our business and wish us well.  Our visit lasted no more than 15 minutes.  Yet it was one of the nicest retail shopping experiences I have ever had.

Buying should be an experience, not merely a purchase.

Every email exchange with a customer or potential customer should be as good as your face to face service.  Now that’s a big challenge! 

2.  Make sure your email message is clear and based on reason and logic, not emotion

Emails lack the non-verbal cues we use in our face to face discussions (it’s been suggested that non verbal cues make up 60% of the understanding of the communication).  As a result, often the intended message is miss-perceived.  Emails are also like no other form of written word.  They are not books, newspapers or such where a great deal of thought has gone into the written word (and which is often accompanied by a picture or image).  Nor are th ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/34/2820/Can-Emails-Improve-Your-Customer-Service-And-Relationships.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/34/2820/Can-Emails-Improve-Your-Customer-Service-And-Relationships.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Is business acumen a substitute for leadership?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[At the top of organisations, which are more important - management skills or business skills?  

Take the case of hedge fund managers who have been in the news lately.  Hedge funds managers are investment experts.  They generally represent a small group of very wealthy people and organisations.  They follow the financial markets in an endeavour to predict fluctuations and invest accordingly.  First set up as far back as 1949, hedge funds principal areas of investment have been:
•	Short selling stocks they think will decrease in value
•	“Fair value” – using computer systems to calculate the relative value of one stock against another and then shorting the more expensive one and buying the cheaper
•	Taking on a bankrupt company or merging companies where a profit can be seen
•	Trading stocks by taking positions on the direction markets, currencies and commodities are likely to move

As investment funds following these strategies, they have been extremely successful.  That is until recently.  Their failure to manage financial risk, has seen their performances plummet.  In some cases they have closed up shop altogether (e.g. Sailfish Capital Partners, a $2 billion fund closed in January).

However, even before the current financial crisis brought on by the sub-prime failures, some fund managers were having difficulty in another area.  Those that moved away from their original investment strategies into taking a direct role in not only ownership but also management of organisations, ran into trouble.  Is this a case of not “sticking to the knitting”, or a lack of business acumen?

The recent press reports of one such fund manager, give some clues.  Edward Lampert, a hedge fund maestro, masterminded the takeover and merger of Sears and Kmart in 2005.  It seems that Lampert has found that actually managing an organisation is a bit different to investing in its stock.  

Since gaining control of the organisation, Lampert has taken a very hand ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/49/2726/Is-business-acumen-a-substitute-for-leadership.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/49/2726/Is-business-acumen-a-substitute-for-leadership.php</link>
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      <title><strong>An open letter to young managers</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[
Dear (please put your name here …………………..),

If you are a young manager, perhaps recently graduated, then there’s a good chance you are intelligent, confident and ambitious – keen to make your mark in the world.  Chances are also high that you have high expectations of both the job and the organisation, and that you are quite independent.

Additionally, if you have been promoted from within the team, then no doubt you have some very good ideas on what needs improving.  Your own manager will see you as innovative, technologically savvy and willing to learn.  He or she may have said to colleagues “My new team leader / manager will be like a breath of fresh air for the team – just what the doctor ordered.”

All of your traits and characteristics are highly valued by your employer – probably the reason you have been promoted so quickly.  Applied appropriately, they are very positive characteristics to have and will ensure your success in your new role.

On the downside, these same characteristics that are valued so highly by your employer, may count for nothing with the people you are about to manage.  They did not appoint you.

Having worked with many experienced and not so experienced managers, I have seen what leads to success and what can impede success.  Below are my nine principles for avoiding career derailment.  They are in my own personal priority order and are what experienced managers call “learning how to learn”.

Priority #1:  Give recognition to your people for good work regularly.   Find at least one of your team doing something well every day and thank them specifically for what they have done.  This builds a positive culture within your team.

Priority #2:  Ask for help when you need it.  Use the experience within your team.  It’s easy to think that “I’m the manager.  I’m supposed to know what I’m doing, so it may make me look weak if I ask for help.”  There’s only a very slight difference betw ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/42/2722/An-open-letter-to-young-managers.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/42/2722/An-open-letter-to-young-managers.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Self Management for the New Manager</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[©2008 Bob Selden, author [URL=http://www.whenyoubecometheboss.com/home/]What To Do When You Become The Boss[/URL]

This is one of the hardest articles I have had to write.  I have written many articles on how to manage – others, but managing oneself is a bit different.  To start with, each one of us is a different and unique individual who will approach life in our own individual manner.  So, are there any general principles that perhaps apply to everyone of us?

Yes, fortunately there are.  More of that in a moment.  But first, let me explain the reason for this article.  I was asked by Colin, who was shortly to become a new manager, about what he should do when taking over his new role.  Having watched many new managers over the years and trained quite a few, I know that the new manager’s role is challenging.  Suddenly, you have moved from being a technical or professional expert where you knew most of the answers and how to really problem-solve, to being an “expert” people manager.  Well, that’s what most of the people around you expect you to be – and generally straight away!  Colin was concerned because the previous person in the role had not been very successful as a manager and as one of the brightest technical people in the organisation, big things were expected of Colin.

Here’s the advice I gave to Colin.  If you are a new manager, it may also be useful for you . . .
 
1. Monitor your work hours.  

Set a limit and stick to it.  It’s very easy to get sucked into working longer and longer hours just because you are new to the role and have so much to learn.  The law of diminishing returns will start to kick in after a certain period of time at work, i.e. the longer you work, the less you may achieve.  Far better to work more effectively in less hours.  Be particularly careful if you hear yourself saying things like “Well, I’m only new to the role, so it’s probably expected that I should take longer”.

You should also pla ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/42/2675/Self-Management-for-the-New-Manager.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/42/2675/Self-Management-for-the-New-Manager.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Managing the performance of teams.  Two critical dimensions.</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[John is confused.  He prides himself as being a fair and reasonably good manager.  This is not his first assignment as a manager, but it is certainly turning out to be his most challenging.  John had taken over the sales team almost six months ago.  Performance at the time was not up to standard and although individual performance has improved over the last six months, John just cannot get his sales people to work as a team.  What is he missing out on, or not doing so well?

Whenever you are put in charge of a “team”, the first question that must be answered is, “Is this a genuine team or merely people grouped together (perhaps for organisational convenience) and labelled a team?”  What makes a group of people a real team?  Simple answer: a common goal.

Here’s a practical example that may help you decide whether your current group of people is, or should be, a team.  Picture for a moment the games of cricket and baseball.  While they are somewhat different in their rules and the way each game is played (at least they both use a small, round ball), they do share some distinct similarities that require each game to be played by a team, not a group.

For instance in both cricket and baseball:
•	Every member has to be able to bat – the team goal is to score more runs than the opposition.
•	Every member has to be able to throw and catch a ball – they must all have at least a basic level of hand/eye coordination.  The team goal is to restrict the opposition to as few runs as possible.
•	Some members, as well as being able to bat, throw and catch, need to have specialist skills if the team is to be successful.  In baseball, for example, it’s the pitcher and catcher; in cricket it’s the bowler and wicket keeper.
•	In both games, teams can only be successful when every member of the team feels confident that he or she can rely on every other member of the team to make a competent contribution and do his or her job well.

In John’s sal ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/55/2656/Managing-the-performance-of-teams--Two-critical-dimensions.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/55/2656/Managing-the-performance-of-teams--Two-critical-dimensions.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Coaching;  How To Help People Take Commitment For Their Development</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[I recently conducted a coaching session on “How to be an effective coach” for a group of very senior financial service advisors responsible for the management and leadership of project teams that have clients of the mega rich variety.  When I asked them what they thought an ideal coach should be, I expected to get terms that describe what I would call a traditional view of a coach – i.e. someone who advises and shows others how to improve in a particular field.  The image of the traditional coach is that of a sports coach who is intent on imparting his or her knowledge to help athletes and teams improve their performance.  Now, I know that there is a wide variety of [URL=http://www.nationallearninginstitute.com/index_files/Selfimprovementformanagers.htm ]coaching types[/URL].  However, my belief is that the commonly accepted view of a coach is more of the traditional view such as:

•	Someone in charge of training an athlete or a sports team 

•	A person who gives private instruction (as in singing or acting) 

To my amazement, my group of senior financial advisors came up with quite a different list from what I expected, i.e they suggested an ideal coach is someone who:

•	Does not give advice, rather helps the person find out what they should do

•	Is a good listener

•	Has a calming affect on the person being coached (the “coachee”)

•	“Lives” with the coachee’s issues, i.e. suspends judgment and really gets involved

•	Displays a positive attitude toward the coachee

•	Is always positive about finding a solution or helping the person develop

•	Is proud of the coachee’s achievements

•	Rarely shows emotions such as anger and annoyance

•	Helps the coachee talk things through, particularly when the coachee is depressed

•	Has a caring attitude toward the coachee

•	Provides the coachee with a “comfort zone” where the person is free to say what he/she thinks and feels

Could I come up wit ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/49/2654/Coaching--How-To-Help-People-Take-Commitment-For-Their-Development.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/49/2654/Coaching--How-To-Help-People-Take-Commitment-For-Their-Development.php</link>
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      <title><strong>An ineffective manager can cost the organisation $1 million!</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[©2008 By Bob Selden, author [URL=http://www.whenyoubecometheboss.com/]“What To Do When You Become The Boss”[/URL]
The difference to the bottom line in monetary terms between a new manager with extremely poor performance and his or her counterpart who performs at an outstanding level, can be as much as $100,000.  This difference can increase to a staggering one million dollars for a middle manager - as reported by Professor Nikos Bozionelos of the Durham Business School in Management Issues, Sept 07.

Do organisations realise this?  

Despite the obvious impact an ineffective manager has on the organisation’s profitability, many still pay little attention to training and supporting supervisors and managers, particularly in their first managerial role.  The general contention seems to be that because the new manager was probably an excellent technical or professional operator, they will automatically make a good manager.

However, organisations that do spend money on management training, tend to allocate it to their middle and senior managers.  Yet it is the new manager who is most motivated and ready to learn.  He or she is only too fully aware of the challenge facing them, whilst often managers at a higher level see management training as a waste of their time. 

Do organisations have to spend a fortune on highly tuned development training programs for new managers?  No.  

For starters, new managers generally start at different times, so waiting to get a suitably sized group together for training is both inefficient and ineffective (often the new manager can be in the role for sometime before attending the training).

There are three factors that are most important when training new managers.  

Firstly, the training must be timely – ideally started before commencing in the new role, but at latest as the person takes up their role.  

Secondly, the training must suit the new manager’s [URL=http://www.whenyoubecometheboss.com/reviews/]lea ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/42/2641/An-ineffective-manager-can-cost-the-organisation-1-million.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/42/2641/An-ineffective-manager-can-cost-the-organisation-1-million.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Turning managers into coaches – the challenges!</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[As a trainer, turning managers into coaches is a real challenge.  We’d probably all like to think that all managers can become coaches – but can they?

There are perhaps three reasons why it is extremely difficult for managers to become coaches:
•	Managers are time bound.  Results have to be achieved to a certain standard within a certain time.  Coaching takes time.
•	Managers are performance oriented.  They have been charged with getting results.  Often the employee’s potential problem to be addressed through coaching, may not seem to relate to improved results.
•	Managers often have a personal style that is more directive than consultative.  It is thus hard to switch gears from telling and selling to listening and supporting.

Manager are time bound.  
After training managers with [URL=http://www.whenyoubecometheboss.com/about/achieve/]effective coaching skills[/URL], I often get the comment “Gee, that takes time.  Wouldn’t it be easier to just give them a suggestion of what they should do?”.  

Managers need to experience “being coached” and solving a real problem of their own, to be sold on the benefits of spending time coaching.  Only training that provides an opportunity for managers to personally experience the benefits of coaching, can sell them on the need to spend time coaching.

Managers are performance oriented.  
Andrew Mayo’s excellent recent article [URL=http://www.trainingzone.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=179243&amp;amp;d=680&amp;amp;h=608&amp;amp;f=626&amp;amp;dateformat=%25e-%25h-%25y]“Everybody wants to be a coach”[/URL] addressed the need to link coaching to performance and the organisation’s strategic intent, very well.  Andrew made the point that if coaching is to be successful (and linked to achieving performance goals as well as personal development), then it is essential to ensure the manager passes authority for solving the issue to the direct report.  Managers can see the logic in this, but can they change their nat ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/49/2624/Turning-managers-into-coaches--the-challenges.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/49/2624/Turning-managers-into-coaches--the-challenges.php</link>
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      <title><strong>So, You’d Like To Become A Good Manager</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[©2008, Bob Selden, author “What To Do When You Become The Boss”

Becoming a good manager takes time and patience. It's great when we get some initial training, but that doesn't always happen. To start, check your current status as a manager - how effective are you now? There are many self checklists available. I have included one on page 64 of “What To Do When You Become The Boss”.  Also consider having a 360 profile completed. Once again, there are many good ones on the market - you can see one that [URL=http://www.whenyoubecometheboss.com/articles/360Review/]you can do[/URL] for a very minimal cost. 

Once you have an accurate picture of your strengths and weaknesses, start by focusing on your strengths - what are you really good at? What do others say that you do well? Consciously focus on maintaining these. Put a note in your personal diary to ensue that you review one of your areas of strength at least once a week. As Peter Drucker once said “Most people think they know what they are good at. They are usually wrong. More often people know what they are not good at – and even then more people are wrong than right. And yet, a person can perform only from strength. One cannot build performance on weaknesses, let alone on something one cannot do at all.”

Now for your weaknesses – how do you manage these? Many of these are things that you will not easily change. Often managers spend an inordinate amount of time and energy trying to change things about themselves that they are unlikely to be able to change. But, there are some short cuts. My advice is to look at how you might best manage (not necessarily change) your weaknesses. For example, in my own case, I am not good at following up on detail type things. Therefore when I am working with a team, I find someone else who can do these for me. If I am working by myself, I make sure that I have a good diary system that keeps reminding me to do these things.

Additionally, for each of your wea ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/42/2603/So-Youd-Like-To-Become-A-Good-Manager.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/42/2603/So-Youd-Like-To-Become-A-Good-Manager.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Gaining Commitment Or Compliance From Your Team?  </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Rob worked as a qualified, but junior physiotherapist in a busy hospital.  He along with three of his colleagues were asked by their manager to discuss amongst themselves how they would like their rosters to be organised (i.e. who would do what shifts etc.) and put forward their proposal.  Rob and his colleagues were very happy with their final choices as they had considered all of their personal and professional needs and felt that their decision was the best for all.  A day before the new rosters were to start, Rob found out by rumour during his lunch break that their roster recommendations were not to be implemented.  Worse still, the rosters decided on by their manager did not suit any of the four.  This decision by their manager resulted in a severe lowering of morale within the team and created a culture of mistrust with management.  In future, they would be very wary of any suggestion from management.

Ever been a member of a work team where the manager threw a difficult problem over to the team to solve only to see the manager implement a completely different decision to that of the team?  If the implemented solution affected the ongoing congruence and cohesiveness of the team, how did this make you feel?  Why does this happen and is it a legitimate management strategy for group decision making?

Often this occurs because the manager does not understand the importance and nature of [URL=http://www.whenyoubecometheboss.com/about/achieve/]group decision making[/URL] within teams.  It can also occur because of the manager’s feeling of comfort with one particular style of group decision making irrespective of the circumstances or context of the problem.

Decision making within groups ranges on a continuum from “by the leader with little or no discussion” through to “complete consensus”.  Here are the stages along that continuum:

•	By the leader with little or no discussion

•	By the leader following group consultation

•	By an “exp ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/49/2427/Gaining-Commitment-Or-Compliance-From-Your-Team.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/49/2427/Gaining-Commitment-Or-Compliance-From-Your-Team.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Why Do We Have Conflict At Work? – The Ubiquitous Position Description</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[I once applied for a job as a Training Manager in a dynamic and rapidly developing organisation.  My application was successful and I was delighted to find out that one of my colleagues whom I got on with very well from my previous organisation (we occasionally had barbecues at one another’s homes) had also applied for a job with the new organisation and would be working alongside me.  Apparently and unbeknown to one another, we had both applied for the same role as Training Manager.  They had liked us both and as they were expanding rapidly, they employed both of us.  They designated my role as “Senior Training Manager” and his as “Training Manager”.  Over barbecue discussions, we both said how much we were looking forward to working together in this new and exciting environment.
 
A couple of weeks into our new roles, my colleague and I were starting to have some differences, which by the end of three months, had escalated to conflict.  Why?  We liked one another, got on well together both socially and as work colleagues in our previous organisation and shared very similar views on the role of the training function.  The problem lay in the “how” the training function was to be managed – I had my views and he had his.  Our new organisation had developed Position Descriptions for each of our new roles, but they were written in “input” terms – i.e., how we should do things rather than “output” terms, i.e.., what we were each expected to achieve.  As a result, there was major overlap in role descriptions and so our disagreements became “role conflict”.
 
One of the real problems I find with Position Descriptions is that they are often written in Input terms (i.e. what people do) rather than Outputs (i.e. what people achieve).  This is often sadly also true for PD's written in KRA (Key Result Areas) terms.  The result?  People can stick rigidly to what they are expected to do rather than looking at the bigger picture and what they need ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/49/2426/Why-Do-We-Have-Conflict-At-Work--The-Ubiquitous-Position-Description.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/49/2426/Why-Do-We-Have-Conflict-At-Work--The-Ubiquitous-Position-Description.php</link>
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      <title><strong>One Of The Nicest Stories Ever Told</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[One Of The Best Stories Ever Told

People who know me, say that I am a very positive person.  I’ve worked hard over the years at trying to find the positive in most situations and pass it on to others.  I was recently sent an email by a friend who passed on one of the nicest stories I have heard.  So in this season of giving, I’d like to share it with you.  The author is anonymous.

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning disabled children, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended.  After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question:

&amp;quot;When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do.  Where is the natural order of things in my son?&amp;quot;

The audience was stilled by the query. The father continued. &amp;quot;I believe, that when a child like Shay comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes, in the way other people treat that child.&amp;quot;

Then he told the following story.  He and Shay had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball.

Shay asked, &amp;quot;Do you think they'll let me play?&amp;quot;

Shay's father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but the father also understood that if his son were allowed to play, it would give him a much needed sense of belonging.  Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked if Shay could play.  The boy looked around for guidance and getting none, he took matters into his own hands and said, &amp;quot;We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.&amp;quot;  

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/49/2390/One-Of-The-Nicest-Stories-Ever-Told.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/49/2390/One-Of-The-Nicest-Stories-Ever-Told.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Building Relationships – How to increase your power and influence </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[©2006 The National Learning Institute

When I first started consulting, one of my business partners said to me “Bob, you know so many people in the industry and you are known to so many people, your people resources are so valuable to our business.”  I hadn’t thought of it that way before.  I’d merely been interested in making as many contacts as I possibly could so that I could build my knowledge of the industry and at the same time, help others.  

Apparently, what I had been unconsciously doing was building my network.  Now, when I think back to that experience, I can recall the countless times that these contacts asked for my advice, which I gave very freely.  The really great thing about my network was that whenever my boss or another senior manager had a difficult or challenging question that related to our industry or profession, I was able to come up with an answer.  It was merely a case of getting on the phone to one of my contacts.

Then when I started consulting, my network was invaluable in introducing me to potential clients because they could recommend both my expertise and integrity.

Developing personal networks by building positive relationships across the organisation (and externally), is one aspect that sets [URL=www.whenyoubecometheboss.com/]successful managers[/URL] apart.  These networks often survive throughout a successful manager’s career.  

Networks provide three distinct advantages:
•	Access to private information that you might not normally get
•	Access to diverse skills, knowledge and advice when you need them
•	Power – developing personal power as opposed to formal (positional) power

“You are who you know”.  Your influencing power is really enhanced when you have a wide network of people.  Successful managers call on these people when they need help, guidance or advice.  And because of the manager’s relationship with this network of people, when asked, they will most likely respond positively to ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>The Secret To Getting Your Team Engaged</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Many supervisors, [URL=http://www.whenyoubecometheboss.com/about/achieve/]managers and team leaders[/URL] bemoan the fact that their team is not totally engaged with what he or she is trying to achieve.  Is it poor communication on the boss’s part?  Lack of direction?  Lack or little motivation from the team members?  

A recent survey by the Corporate Leadership Council reported that from a study of 50,000 employees worldwide, only 11% reported that they felt fully engaged in their current work, 76% felt neither engaged nor disengaged and 13% felt fully disengaged.

Where do your team members stand?
•	Fully engaged?
•	Neither engaged nor disengaged?
•	Disengaged?

Before you answer that, or perhaps start putting the names of some of your team members into the three categories, it is worthwhile revisiting the definition of the word “engagement”.

Engagement
1.	The act of engaging, pledging, enlisting, occupying, or entering into contest.
2.	The state of being engaged, pledged or occupied; specifically, a pledge to take some one as husband or wife.
3.	That which engages; engrossing occupation; employment of the attention; obligation by pledge, promise, or contract an enterprise embarked in.

I believe we can gain some ideas about engaging our teams by taking a lead from each of the three definitions – namely, “external contest”, “pledge to take on” and “engrossing”.  

What happens in practise?  Do organisations engage their people by “defining the contest”, “getting them to pledge their commitment” and “providing engrossing challenges”?  In their studies of some 300 organisations who were actively working on engagement strategies, the Corporate Leadership Council summarised the strategies of the more successful organisations.  Can you see the three elements of engagement in their strategies?  The successful strategies were:
•	Diagnosing the urgency of the engagement challenge 
•	Determining the organizati ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Do first impressions count?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[I once worked with a young bloke named Neil.  Neil was bright, energetic and well presented.  There was only one detracting feature about Neil when you first met him – his handshake.  Shaking hands with Neil was like holding a wet fish – limp and squashy.  My boss at the time, Kendall Smith, was a very perceptive person.  Realising that in our business one had to make a good first impression, Kendall took Neil aside very soon after Neil started in the department for a chat.  

I’m told the conversation went something along these lines …

“Neil, I can see that you have a lot of potential and you present yourself very well.  There’s only one detracting feature and that’s your handshake.  People make judgments about others when they first meet and one of the factors that influences their judgment is the handshake.  I’d like to see you develop a much firmer handshake.  Here’s what I propose.  Every morning when you come into my office to say ‘Good Morning boss’, I’d like us to shake hands.  I want you to keep doing this every day until I tell you that you have got it right.”

Many years later, well after I had moved on from that department, I met Neil in the street.  And as old colleagues do, we shook hands.  Well, he practically ripped my bl..dy arm off!  Either Neil had kept practising all these years or Kendall forgot to tell him to stop, I’m not sure which, but the difference was amazing.

During our discussion, I discovered that Neil was now manager of the department.  Can you put that meteoric rise down to first impressions?  Obviously not.  But, and I need to stress this, one’s image or persona does have a major impact on how others evaluate you, both immediately and over the longer term.

There has been a tremendous amount of research done over the years on first impressions.  This research consistently shows that:
•	It takes less than 3 seconds to evaluate the other person based on their appearance, body language, deme ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>What do you get when you pay people to perform?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[I recently read a disturbing report in the daily newspaper about an air crash in Indonesia.  The article (in the Sydney Morning Herald, 12/4/07) read in part; “Pilot may have been saving fuel in crash.  A Garuda policy of preserving fuel may have been why a pilot did not abort a landing in Yogyakarta last month that killed 21 people, the head of the airline’s pilots association said.  He was concerned about Garuda’s policy of paying pilots a 3 per cent bonus if they conserved fuel.  The company is making extra payments to pilots if they can conserve fuel.  Maybe this is bothering the pilots.”

Not only is this a disturbing safety concern, for me this also raises the issue of individual pay for performance.  Individual pay for performance is contrary to teamwork and ultimately, organisational effectiveness.  If everyone is out to “do their own thing”, the consequences must surely lead to lack of consideration of others and ignoring the use of their expertise.  Elsewhere in the article, it was mentioned that the report suggested that the pilot continued to land rather than abort despite the urging of his co pilot and the airplane’s warning alarm system to abort the landing.

Many organisations today are looking to increase their bottom line by paying their people to improve individual performance.  For instance, it is now quite common for a large percentage of a person’s salary (particularly senior managers) to be based on their performance, with a smaller component made up of base salary.

Why do organisations continue to throw money at performance issues?  My contention is that if organisations were better [URL=http://www.nationallearninginstitute.com/]managed and led[/URL], then there would not be the need to offer people incentives to perform.  

Contrast this “pay for performance” approach with another article in the same paper headed “Smilers are stayers”.  The article described a small pharmaceutical company, Blackmores, that had ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Leadership  Do We Know What It Is?  4 Outputs for Leadership</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright © 2007 The National Learning Institute

A great deal of work has been done by many authors and researchers in trying to identify and define &amp;quot;leadership&amp;quot;.  The vast body of research has focused on leadership traits, habits, competencies, behaviours, styles, values, skills and characteristics.  Dave Ulrich (Ulrich, D et al, Results Based Leadership, Harvard Business Press, Boston, 1999) categorised much of the research into:

- Who leaders are - values, motives, personal traits

- What leaders know - knowledge, skills and abilities

- What leaders do - behaviours, habits, styles and competencies

However, when one looks at the vast body of research into leadership, it is mostly concerned with: - the inputs of leadership and leaders, - not the outputs  ie. what leaders achieve.

Two significant factors have led to a great deal of the confusion around the issue of &amp;quot;leadership&amp;quot; and the definition of leadership itself.

Firstly, many authors erroneously use &amp;quot;leadership&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;[URL=http://www.nationallearninginstitute.com/index_files/Leadersandmanagestipsforsuccess.htm]management[/URL]&amp;quot; interchangeably as if they were the same thing.

Secondly, a great deal of the research into leadership has been with people who are in formal organisational positions (e.g. supervisors, managers, senior executives)  the inference being that leadership is an integral part of the formal management role (Parry, K.W., Leadership Research: Themes, Implications, and a new Leadership Challenge, Leadership Research and Practice, Warriewood 1996).

Our experience in designing, developing and implementing management and [URL=http://www.nationallearning.com.au/index_files/LeadershipandManagementDevelopment.htm]leadership development programs[/URL], processes and interventions over the last twenty years has led to the development of [URL=http://www.nationallearning.com.au/index_files/LeadershipDevelopment.htm]The Leadership Benchmar ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Managers  Do You Have To Run A Motivational Training Session?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright © 2007 The National Learning Institute

So, youre a manager.  So, you know you have to run a training session or a team meeting for your team (for the first time) that needs to be motivational and youre not a professional trainer.  So what!  With a good plan and a well structured session, training can be enjoyable and most of all rewarding for both you and your team.  Heres how 

1. Get people involved in the topic before the session  issue what the professional trainers call pre-work.  This can be as simple as asking people to jot down some answers to one question about the topic.

For example, lets say that you need to improve the service to customers provided by your team, then your pre-work question might look like:

Assume that we have just had a very successful year, and that we have received heaps of feedback which suggested our service given to customers has been first rate over the last twelve months:

 What things did we do to get such great success?

 What problems or challenges did we have?

 How did we solve these problems and / or meet these challenges?

Note:  for more information on these pre-work questions, see my article [URL=http://www.nationallearninginstitute.com/index_files/motivationaltrainingworkshopsformanagers.htm]Meetings  Management Meetings  Why are they such a waste of time?  How to follow the 80/20 rule and five steps to success![/URL]

2. Agree groundrules for the session  if it is to be a discussion session, discuss and agree the role of the facilitator (you).  Ask Think about some of the more enjoyable and rewarding training sessions you have been in.  What did the facilitator / trainer do?  What did the participants do?  Ask people to quickly jot these down, then draw out the two or three things that you believe will be most important during the session for both the facilitators role and the participants.  Write these two lists up in view of everyone and stick to yours  when people get off the  ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>How Busy Are You? - A Great Tip For Effective Time Management</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright © 2007 [URL=http://www.nationallearning.com.au/]The National Learning Institute[/URL]

You receive a phone call from the CEO who asks whether youd be interested in taking on a special assignment.  In this assignment you would report directly to the CEO and participate in making some of the important strategic decisions facing the company.  This assignment would provide you personally with major growth and career opportunities.  The offer has only one catch; because the assignment is only part time requiring about one day per week, you would have to do your present job in the remaining four days.  Would you take the assignment?

Before reading any further please answer Yes or No  Would you take the assignment?

HBR (October 2002) reports that this question has been posed to hundreds of managers, most of whom believed that they already lacked the time to do their jobs properly.  Yet, ninety nine percent of them take the assignment.  Why?

Are these managers (and perhaps we could include ourselves):  Admitting that if the motivation were powerful enough, they could eliminate or do in much less time eight to ten hours worth of current activities each week without negative consequences?  Currently spending time performing unproductive, time wasting activities (that they could easily drop) to avoid or escape job related anxiety?

Like the other 99% of managers, did you answer Yes?.  If so, what activities that you currently do, could you eliminate or do less of to free up some of your time for the more important things you need to do?

As the HBR article points out, almost all managers escape some job-induced anxiety through a variety of unproductive, often unconscious, psychological mechanisms  rationalization, denial, blaming and so forth.  One of the most costly is busyness; the escape into time consuming activities that managers find less threatening to perform (though much less productive) than the tough aspects of their jobs.  I call t ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>When Is Negotiating Not Negotiating?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright © 2007 The National Learning Institute

When you left home for work this morning, did you feel ready to face the day knowing that you were going to have a number of successful negotiations?  Chances are, the word &amp;quot;negotiation&amp;quot; never entered your head.  Perhaps it should have!

We often think of negotiation as a formal process conducted behind closed doors by high powered executives, politicians or world leaders.  Yet everyday all of us negotiate. You may have to agree with colleagues on the content of a report or presentation; with a customer over a disputed invoice; with a supplier on the terms for goods or services; or with your partner on what to have for dinner tonight!  All of these things are negotiations.

Our problem is that we don't recognise them as negotiations, nor ourselves as negotiators.  As a result, we enter these discussions less prepared than we could be.  The result?  Sometimes a less-than-successful outcome!

To help make all our daily [URL=://www.nationallearning.com.au/index_files/NegotiationTraininggetNegotiatingAdvantageProfile.htm]negotiations[/URL] more successful (for both you and the other party), you need to:

- State your case clearly and appropriately

- Organise your facts

- Control the timing and pace of your discussion

- Properly assess both yours and the other parties needs

How do you carry out these four points successfully?  First, you need an understanding of some of the key principles of [URL=http://www.nationallearninginstitute.com/index_files/NegotiationTraininggetNegotiatingAdvantageProfile.htm]successful negotiation[/URL].  Try this quiz to test your knowledge of negotiating by answering &amp;quot;True/False&amp;quot; to each question.

1. Should you ask for twice the amount you need?

2. Is your aim to prevent the other party from saying &amp;quot;No&amp;quot;

3. Will a small concession relieve the pressure?

4. A &amp;quot;Win/Win&amp;quot; result is always possible.

5. Is admitting to an er ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>How To Select A Consultant - The Three Imperatives</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright © 2007 The National Learning Institute

As a manager many years ago when faced with my first challenge of selecting an external consultant, I found myself all at sea.  Fortunately for me, I intuitively hit two of the three selection targets.  The project was to produce a communication video, so it was relatively easy to see and compare what each consultant had previously produced.  I had a number of consultants to choose from, but finally chose the one that I felt most comfortable with and whose work impressed me most.  The project was succesful and in the process, I learned a lot.

Since that time, I have had to employ a number of consultants, I have been a [URL=http://www.nationallearning.com.au/index_files/BobSeldenProfile.htm]consultant myself[/URL] for almost 20 years, and I have worked with many other consultancies both large and small.  The following suggestions for selecting a consultant are based on my experience as a manager and in the consultancy field.

What are the three targets that one must hit to successfully select a consultant?  (Note; I am using the term consultant to refer to either one person or a consultancy firm).  Firstly and most obviously, the consultant must be able to actually do the work.  Secondly, the consultant must be able to fit in with the people in your organisation and particularly those who will be working on this project.  Finally, if the consultant is good, you should always improve your own knowledge as a result of the project.

1. Can the consultant do the work?  Seems obvious, but there are some traps.  For instance, I remember when starting out as a consultant in partnership with another (who was also new to the role), submitting a tender for a fairly large job and being selected in the final few for interview.  Individually, wed had some experience in the type of work, but not as a partnership, nor had we worked in the prospective clients industry.  We won the job.  Why?  The client saw in us some creat ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>So, You Want To Be A Consultant!  4 Steps To Take On The Pathway To Success</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright © 2007 The National Learning Institute

During my career as a manager and since I myself became a consultant in 1987, I have had many colleagues and acquaintances move into the consultancy profession.  Sometimes this move was by choice as a genuine career move.  In the late 90s however, the proliferation of consultants was exacerbated by the downsizing of organisations and so, people who had been cut and who were unable to find a similar role in another organisation tried the consulting path  often with little success and a great deal of pain.

The following suggestions on becoming a consultant have been developed as a result of my own experience, my advice sessions with colleagues starting out on their consultancy career journey and the lessons I have learned from watching people either succeed or fail to make the grade as a consultant.  My belief is that there are at least four things that one must do to develop a successful career as a consultant:

Firstly, decide on an [URL=http://www.nationallearninginstitute.com/]area of expertise[/URL] and &amp;quot;research it to death!&amp;quot;.  Become a real &amp;quot;expert&amp;quot; in your chosen field.  Organisations are looking for people as consultants to fill a gap in their skill base, knowledge, expertise etc and that's why they go to a consultant (otherwise they would find the expertise internally).

When starting out as a consultant, it's tempting to be able to say &amp;quot;Yep, I can do that&amp;quot; when a prospective client asks for help, even though you may not have a great deal of expertise in that area.  Sometimes the need to keep an income coming in can be a very tempting reason to take these type of jobs.  I have a colleague who eventually became quite successful, but in her early consultancy career took these type of assignments because There must be a book published on that  Ill read up on it.  My observations were that she was in fact already an expert in a particular field, but at the time was not aw ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Management Training  Myth, Magic or Mayhem?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright © 2007 The National Learning Institute

Training courses!  The most recent had been termed Management for Senior Officers and had been a minor disaster  all psychology and how to be nice to junior officers.  How to involve them, how to motivate them, how to relate to them.  Rebus had returned to his station and tried it for one day, a day of involving, of motivating, of relating.  At the end of the day, a Detective Constable had slapped a hand on Rebus back, smiling.

Bloody hard work today, John.  But Ive enjoyed it.

Take your hand off my f.ng back. Rebus had snarled.  And dont call me John.

The DCs mouth fell open.  But you said   he began, but didnt bother finishing.  The brief holiday was over.  Rebus had tried being a manager.  Tried it and loathed it.

If you are like Ian Rankins Inspector John Rebus (Tooth and Nail, by Ian Rankin, St. Martins Paperbacks, 1996, New York) who finds [URL=http://www.nationallearninginstitute.com/index_files/Leadersandmanagestipsforsuccess.htm]learning to be a manager[/URL] difficult and in fact loathes being a manager, or you love being a manager, or you merely languish in being a manager, but in any of these cases still find learning how to manage difficult, then theres some good news!  Our difficulty with learning how to be a manager is probably not to do with management per se, but the way the learning is presented to us and  the different ways in which we all like to learn.  (Mind you, managing - being responsible for the performance of others - is probably the second most challenging task one can undertake, if youll agree with me that parenting is probably the most challenging.)

If youd like to make learning to be a manager a little easier, then read on.

Each of us learns in a different way and at a different pace, but researchers have found that in general terms, we have a preference for learning through seeing, learning through listening, or learning through moving, doing and touching.  To m ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>MeetingsManagement MeetingsWhy are they a waste of time?  The 80/20 rule</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright © 2007 The National Learning Institute

How often have you sat in a meeting thinking This is such a waste of time.  I have so many others things to do.  I wish I could be somewhere else  Sound familiar?  Im sure we all have had these thoughts at one time or another and maybe for some of us, it has been very recent!

My experience as a line manager, senior manager and organisational psychologist over the last thirty years, means that I have attended and run many meetings.  In my work, one of the most common complaints I get from all levels of the organisation, is that We waste so much time here sitting around talking.  Nothing gets done as a result.  Why are so many meetings a waste of time?

My conclusion is that the vast majority of meetings: 
 Cover information that could be distributed by other means 
 Focus too much on the past  what has gone rather than what is to come 
 Do not have a clearly defined purpose with intended outcomes

So, if you have to run meetings, the first decision to make is to decide what type of meeting it is  
 Is this an information sharing meeting or a problem solving meeting?

If it is an information sharing meeting, then there are two guides to follow: 

1. Can the information be distributed in another way (eg email etc)?  In this case there is no need for the meeting, thus saving a lot of time. 

2. If the need to share the information must be by way of a meeting, then the focus of the meeting (and time spent) should be 
 20% past oriented - i.e. reporting on the information (e.g. results) and 
  80% future oriented  i.e. deciding what we are going to do with the information.

Using the 80/20 rule for your meetings will ensure that everyone participates and can see some real advantage to having the meeting.  By the way, if you are a participant in one of those boring meetings we mentioned earlier, it is possible to have some [URL=http://www.nationallearninginstitute.com/index_files/Negotiation ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Where have all the honest managers gone?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[©2007 The National Learning Institute.

I well remember as a young bank clerk many years ago, sitting at my desk one morning.  Around me were the sounds of hustle and bustle of a busy office  people were sipping their coffee (in those days it was instant!) opening the mail (ah, for the days before email!) and telling of the events of last evening or their trip to work that morning.  As a morning person, it was my best time of the day when I was at my most positive, creative and effective best, so I had my head down and bum up.  Time later for relaxing.  Suddenly, the air was split with an earth shattering yell.  My usually very quiet, reserved manager, had come out of his office, red in the face and yelling Who did this?  Everyone stopped dead.  When he recovered enough to tell us what the this was, I discovered to my horror that it was obviously something that I had done that had upset him.  Apparently, I had made a blunder that would impact one of our best customers most unfavourably.  I very tentatively, put my hand up Mm, mm, mm, me, Sir, I managed to stammer.  Into my office, now! he replied.  

By the time we had both sat down in his office, he had recovered his composure somewhat.  To my great surprise, he started the conversation with Bob, I really appreciate your honesty in admitting to this mistake.  I am very disappointed that it has happened, but with some luck, we can probably correct it.  Thank you for owning up to your mistake so readily.

That experience for me was bitter sweet and obviously long lasting.  It certainly had a major impact on my later mode of operating when I became a manager.  On the one hand, I was mortified to have made such a stupid mistake yet on the other hand, I had really felt good and upbeat about the way it had been handled.  I thought of that experience as I read an article in the Herald Tribune this week (Jan 3, 2007) titled 2 of 5 bosses dont keep their word.  The article reported on a soon to be released study in  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/49/1541/Where-have-all-the-honest-managers-gone.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/49/1541/Where-have-all-the-honest-managers-gone.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Whos Got The Monkey Now?  Part 2:  How To Make Delegation Work For You</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright © 2006 The National Learning Institute

In my earlier article Whos Got The Monkey Now?  How To Find Out How Well You Manage Your Time, I suggested that you may be caring for a cageful of monkeys (other peoples problems) unless you are managing your time effectively, and in particular delegating.

For managers, there are two key aspects to successful delegation: 
 Having people to whom one can delegate, and 
 Selecting the most appropriate tasks to delegate.

If you are not a manager, or do not have anyone to delegate to, then I suggest the excellent article by Beth Schneider (http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Delegate-When-There-is-No-One-to-Delegate-To&amp;amp;id=141500).

The key to delegation is to develop within your people, the &amp;quot;initiative to take action&amp;quot; so that they learn to develop their skills and knowledge to their full potential.

Managers who are successful are always good at delegating.  Less successful managers, when asked why they don't delegate more, often reply 
 &amp;quot;If only my staff were more experienced&amp;quot; or, 
 &amp;quot;I don't have enough faith in my staff to do the job properly&amp;quot; or, 
 &amp;quot;Delegation.  Sounds great in theory, but I need to have fully trained staff and I don't have the time to train them&amp;quot;.

If some of these comments sound familiar to you, then the following steps will show you how to: 
 Identify the current &amp;quot;level of initiative&amp;quot; of each of your team members. 
 Use the level of initiative ranking with your team to further develop their skills and knowledge.

When delegating, it is important to fit the task to the person and to ensure the reason for delegating is appropriate.

Firstly, let's look at the person.  Is it possible to delegate to all your team members?  For delegation purposes, team members may be classified as those who:

1. Wait until he or she is told what to do. 
2. Do what is necessary, but refer to their manager or supervisor all problems or  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/42/1526/Whos-Got-The-Monkey-Now--Part-2--How-To-Make-Delegation-Work-For-You.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/42/1526/Whos-Got-The-Monkey-Now--Part-2--How-To-Make-Delegation-Work-For-You.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Whos Got The Monkey Now?  How to find out how well you manage your time</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright © 2006 [URL=www.nationallearning.com.au]The National Learning Institute[/URL]

Are you a manager?  Would you like more available time?  Yes, then read on . . .

How come youve worked hard all day but havent started the one task that was most important to you?  As a manager, how come your daily work schedule often falls in a heap by mid-morning?

Whos got the monkey?  The answer is, you have - probably several!

Management Time: Whos got the Monkey has been the second most popular management article ever published by the Harvard Business Review (Management Time: Whos got the Monkey, by William Oncken and Donald Wass, first published by Harvard Business Review, 1974) and has been reprinted several times.  Thirty odd years later, the message Oncken and Wass sent us on management, still holds true today.

They suggested that there are three types of management-imposed time pressure  Boss, System, and Self.

Boss-imposed time pressure Activities, which must be accomplished, or well suffer the consequences!

System-imposed time pressure Those activities/requests which come from peers and colleagues. The penalties are not so severe or as swift, but we may still suffer if these things are not done.

Self-imposed time pressure Those activities we ourselves initiate or agree to do  particularly those things which have been upwardly delegated from people who report to us.  As managers, these activities impact heavily on our discretionary time, and the penalty for not doing these is stress.

Oncken and Wass used the monkey analogy to make their point.  As the manager, when someone in our team talks about a problem they want to run past us, the monkey (in other words, the problem) is very clearly on their back.  But when we respond with something like Well, I havent got time right now, but leave it with me, the monkey immediately leaps from their shoulders to ours.  We have just been on the receiving end of an excellent piece of upward delegation! ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/42/1473/Whos-Got-The-Monkey-Now--How-to-find-out-how-well-you-manage-your-time.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/42/1473/Whos-Got-The-Monkey-Now--How-to-find-out-how-well-you-manage-your-time.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Have You Been Appreciated Lately? - 6 Ways To Feel Good About Yourself</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright © 2006 The National Learning Institute

We all want to be associated with a winner, be it a winning person, a winning team, a worthwhile cause or a successful organisation.  We all have sports people, teams, actors or artists that we consider ours.  When they do well, we bask in their reflected glory.  Its the same at work - we want to be associated with a worthwhile winning organisation.  Our greatest reward is receiving acknowledgment that we have contributed to making something meaningful happen.  More than anything else, people want to be valued for a job well done by those they hold in high regard.

A famous study by Lawrence Lindahl in the 1940s came up with some surprising results.  When supervisors and their employees were asked to list What [URL=http://www.nationallearning.com.au/index_files/EmployeeFeedbackandMotivation.htm]motivates the employees[/URL]? . . .

- Employees listed appreciation of a job well done as number one and feeling in on things as number two.

- Supervisors, on the other hand, expected the employees would rank these two items as eighth and tenth respectively (supervisors thought employees would put wages as number one and promotion number two!).

These results were replicated in similar studies in the 1980s and again in the 1990s.  In another recent study, employees were asked to rank job-based incentives  personal thank-yous came first and a note of appreciation from my manager came second.  Money came in at 16th!

Praise, the thing that motivates us the most, takes so little time and costs nothing!  Famous management writer Rosabeth Moss Kantor once said Compensation is a right.  Recognition is a gift.

Have you appreciated the work of others lately?  Has the value of your own work been appreciated?  Heres a quick test - over the last week, have you:

- Told someone they have done a good job?

- Looked specifically to find someone doing something well?

- Made someone else look good rather than taking ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/51/1423/Have-You-Been-Appreciated-Lately--6-Ways-To-Feel-Good-About-Yourself.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/51/1423/Have-You-Been-Appreciated-Lately--6-Ways-To-Feel-Good-About-Yourself.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Is There An Increasing Need For Leadership, Or Is It Just Hype?  5 pointers</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright © 2006 The National Learning Institute

Of all the things that have changed over the last few centuries, and particularly the massive amount of change experienced during the last 100 years, the one constant that remains is the need for good leadership.

Whether it be for leading nations, organisations, teams or even relationships, effective leadership is sought by all.

Traditionally, the view of leadership was that there were leaders and followers  each with his or her assigned or expected role.  This is probably still true today.  However, there is a growing body of authors and researchers who suggest there might be a broader definition of leadership.  Many would suggest for example, that within organisations, we are now at a time when all employees will have to take turns at leading, where they see the need to influence others in order to achieve their goals (see my previous article Leadership  [URL=http://www.nationallearninginstitute.com/index_files/OnlineEmployeeTrainingDevelopmentServices.htm]Do We Know What It Is?  4 Pointers To Start You On The Road To Becoming A Leader[/URL]).

Even in the wider community, the leadership of groups is not the old fashioned &amp;quot;follow me&amp;quot; type.  Noted author Charles Handy (The Leader Of The Future 1996) first described this new type of leadership as &amp;quot;distributed leadership&amp;quot;.

Handy inadvertently got a look at what distributed leadership might look like when giving a presentation in the UK, Handy facetiously compared an English team to a rowing crew.

&amp;quot;Eight people going backward as fast as they can, without speaking to each other, steered by the one person who can't row.&amp;quot;

An oarsman in the audience corrected him; &amp;quot;How do you think&amp;quot; he said, &amp;quot;that we could go backward so fast, without communicating, if we were not completely confident in each other's competence, committed to the same goal, and determined to do our best to reach it?  It's the perfect descrip ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/49/1407/Is-There-An-Increasing-Need-For-Leadership-Or-Is-It-Just-Hype--5-pointers.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/49/1407/Is-There-An-Increasing-Need-For-Leadership-Or-Is-It-Just-Hype--5-pointers.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Who Do You Need to Influence the Most? - Four Simple Influencing Skills</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright © 2006 The National Learning Institute

Do you need to have:

 Your manager give you more credit for the work that you do?

 Your partner acknowledge that your ideas are really worth listening to?

 Your children accept more responsibility?

 Your friends take you seriously when you really mean it?

 Your customers buy more from you?

 Your suppliers meet your quality standards?

 Your team become more energetic?

Hey, couldnt the list go on!  Im sure many of us would like to see some or all of the above occur (and probably a few more as well).  The key to being more successful in our interpersonal endeavours, is to become more influential.  Influence is no longer considered a magic quality that is bestowed on some and not others.  Nor is it something we gain through holding a position of power.  Surprisingly, we can all improve our ability to influence others by merely sharpening the influencing skills we already have in our armoury and perhaps using them more appropriately according to the situation.

The first step in applying our influencing skills more productively, is to recognise the type of situation we are facing.  Is the person (or people) you are trying to influence at all emotional about the topic?  For example, are they worried or excited, sad or happy?  What are your feelings about the topic?  Do you have some basic needs that you must satisfy?  If either you or your influence target are at all emotional about the topic, then you are dealing with a feeling type situation.

On the other hand, if both parties see the topic or discussion as factual  i.e. logic and reason prevail over emotion, then you are in a fact situation.

So, step one is to decide Is this situation feeling or fact? As you might now expect, Feeling and Fact situations require quite different influencing skills.

Lets say that you are a parent.  You want to get your seven year old child to tidy their room.  All the reason and logic in the wo ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/42/1340/Who-Do-You-Need-to-Influence-the-Most--Four-Simple-Influencing-Skills.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/42/1340/Who-Do-You-Need-to-Influence-the-Most--Four-Simple-Influencing-Skills.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Five Of The Worst Mistakes Managers Can Make And How To Avoid Them</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright © 2006 The National Learning Institute

I well remember the first time I was corrected by a manager.  I was a young bank clerk and had received a transaction that was incorrect, from a much more senior person (a manager) in another branch of the bank.  I sent the transaction back with a note asking for it to be corrected.  Next thing I hear was my own manager shouting at me from his office.  Apparently, I had upset his good colleague and I must now go and apologise in person!  There was no discussion as to whether I was right or wrong about either the transaction or what I did  just Go immediately and apologise!  I decided then and there that when I got to be a manager, I would treat my staff differently.  Do you have some horror stories about being managed?  Here are five that have been related to me by colleagues and friends and for those of you who are managers, some suggestions on how to avoid similar mistakes.

1. Jane worked as a waitress in a classy café.  Her boss would not allow her or any of the other staff to talk to one another unless it was directly related to work.  In fact if they did, they were often chastised in front of customers.  As a further measure, he installed cameras supposedly for security, but which were used to monitor staff interaction.  When Jane and her colleagues picked up their pay, they were always lectured about what they had done wrong during the week  there was never any praise.  As you might expect, staff turnover was very high.

Whats the management principle that is being abused here?  Well, there are many, but the key one is Treat Staff As Entire People, Not Just Work Resources.  Worklife and life outside of work cannot be separated  the person is the same person, no matter where they are.  As a manager, you employ the entire person, not just their mind and body during working hours.  In fact, it is probably because of who they are as an entire person that they were originally hired.  Its often amazing wh ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/42/1331/Five-Of-The-Worst-Mistakes-Managers-Can-Make-And-How-To-Avoid-Them.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/42/1331/Five-Of-The-Worst-Mistakes-Managers-Can-Make-And-How-To-Avoid-Them.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Is There A Better Way To Give Bad News?  A 6 step process</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright © 2006 The National Learning Institute

I well remember the first time I was &amp;quot;corrected&amp;quot; by a manager.  I was a young bank clerk and had received a transaction that was incorrect, from a much more senior person (a manager) in another branch of the bank.  I sent the transaction back with a note asking for it to be corrected.  Next thing I hear was my own manager shouting at me from his office.  Apparently, I had upset his &amp;quot;good colleague&amp;quot; and I must now go and apologise in person!  There was no discussion as to whether I was right or wrong about either the transaction or what I did  just &amp;quot;Go immediately and apologise!&amp;quot;  I decided then and there that when I got to be a manager and had to correct someone, I would treat my staff quite differently.

As managers, we all have to give feedback from time to time that we consider to be &amp;quot;bad news&amp;quot; for the employee.  Do you dread the times when you have to do this?  Or perhaps, you handle the situation ok, but the employee's performance does not seem to improve as a result of your counselling&amp;quot;?

How can we improve both the way we give negative feedback and the impact it has on the other person?

The most common mistake we make is combining bad news with good news.  &amp;quot;Andrew, I've been impressed with the way you handle the planning, time lines and follow up systems for your projects.  But, along the way, you seem to develop poor relationships with some of the key stakeholders.  As a result, many of the projects are less successful than they should be.&amp;quot;  On the surface, this sounds like a reasonable feedback message from the manager.  Will Andrew accept the feedback and will it lead to a rational discussion of how he might improve his stakeholder relationships?

No.  There are two reasons why this conversation is likely to become negative rather than positive.  Firstly, when mixing &amp;quot;good&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;bad&amp;quot; news, people are more likely to hear  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/44/1318/Is-There-A-Better-Way-To-Give-Bad-News--A-6-step-process.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/44/1318/Is-There-A-Better-Way-To-Give-Bad-News--A-6-step-process.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How To Select The Right Person For The Job</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[©2006 The National Learning Institute

Have you ever recruited someone who looked good at interview only to find out when they started that they Were not up to it or, They just didnt seem to fit in.  Most of us have made these mistakes (if you havent, then you are probably new to management).  Why? 
	We often rely too much on the interview as the main selection process, or
	We place too much emphasis on professional credentials at the expense of ability to do the job and values fit, or
	We recruit too often in our own likeness.

Whats the best way of finding out whether someone can do the job?  Try them out.  Not all of us have the resources to be able to give someone a go, unless we are recruiting for a position such as air traffic controller.  As a regular flyer, I know that I would be worried if the recruitment process for air traffic controllers relied principally on the interview!  Having worked with a number of air traffic controllers, I now rest easy knowing that a major part of the selection process is simulations of actual flight control.  So, if you have the resources, go for simulation.

Without simulations, we must still rely on the interview.  Unfortunately, numerous studies suggest that the interview (by itself) is an ineffective selection method.  Why?  Let me pose the question  How similar is an interview to the type of work the person is expected to do?  If interviewing is not a major part of the normal day to day activities of the position for which you are recruiting, then the selection interview is not replicating the work, but is merely a discussion on what the person has done or might be able to do.  Take for example the following questions, often asked:
	Tell me about your duties in your last position.
	What did you like most about the job?
	What did you like least about the job?
	Why do you want this job?
	Where do you want to be five years from now?
	How do you feel about working for a demanding boss?
	W ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/42/1308/How-To-Select-The-Right-Person-For-The-Job.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/42/1308/How-To-Select-The-Right-Person-For-The-Job.php</link>
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      <title><strong> Are You Positive or Negative? Does Your Behaviour Impact Those Around You</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright © 2006 The National Learning Institute

Some years ago, I read a report by Spiro Zavos in the sports columns of my SMH newspaper, which described the behaviour of a football coach during a very tense finals game. The antics of the losing coach gave a very good insight into why his team did not win and in fact loses many close games. In part, Zavos report read He was at his over-emotional worst at Lancaster Park on Sunday. The eyes rolled more wildly than ever, he stalked the sideline. Not even the television cameras were safe from his flaying arms. His antics sent a damaging message to his team: that the fates are conspiring against them and they are, somehow, destined to lose. And for the second week in a row they lost a critical game. The winning coach on the other hand   sat impassively in the stands. The sign he gave to his players with this emotionless posture was that if the players wanted to win, they had to do it themselves. And they did. Just.

Both these coaches were very experienced and knowledgeable about the game. Both had got their teams to the finals. But why did one coachs team always lose the close games and the other always win?

It all has to do with the positive or negative outlook we take and which can dramatically impact those around us. Often we are not aware of the messages we are sending through our actions. Psychologists call this a Locus of Control (first developed by Julian Rotter, 1966). Locus of Control refers to a persons perception of the main causes of the events in their life. For example, do you believe that your destiny is controlled by yourself (I did it myself) or by external forces such as fate or other people? (It was their fault) Put simply, if you believe that your behaviour is guided by your personal decisions and efforts, then you are said to be more internally focused, i.e. you have an internal locus of control. On the other hand, if you believe that your behaviour is guided by fate, luck, or other exter ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/51/1162/Are-You-Positive-or-Negative-Does-Your-Behaviour-Impact-Those-Around-You.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/51/1162/Are-You-Positive-or-Negative-Does-Your-Behaviour-Impact-Those-Around-You.php</link>
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      <title><strong> Email Etiquette  Whats The Missing Link ?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright © 2006 The National Learning Institute

I looked up the web on email ettiquete and found many sites, yet only one of the 10 sites on the first page of Google, dealt with the real issue around email etiquette. However, I did find that there's even a new word for it now -Netiquette. One site had 32 rules (of course with links to other pages for a fuller description) for email etiquette and yet they still missed the main point!

What is the REAL issue on email etiquette? Well, before I answer that, read the following statement:

&amp;quot;I did not say she stole the money&amp;quot;

Now read it aloud to yourself (doesnt matter if anyone else is around, they wont know what youre doing).

The key question! What is the meaning of this statement? What did you interpret from this written statement?

Did you think that:

- &amp;quot;I&amp;quot; did not say she.. , or that
- I did &amp;quot;NOT&amp;quot; say she .. , or that
- I did not &amp;quot;SAY&amp;quot; she .. , or that
- I did not say that &amp;quot;SHE&amp;quot; stole .. , or that
- I did not say that she &amp;quot;STOLE&amp;quot; the money, or that
- I did not say she stole the &amp;quot;MONEY&amp;quot;.

Starting to get the picture? You see, whenever we put words on paper (or in this case in emails) they can be interpreted in many different ways  and often are! In fact the legal profession (with apologies to anyone of a legal nature reading this) have built an entire industry on the interpretation of the written words. Signed any contracts lately? Notice that they almost never have punctuations and even when they do, they can still be interpreted by two independent people, quite differently.

By now you may have guessed what the golden rule of email etiquette should be:

&amp;quot;If the message has any emotional intent or is likely to have an impact on the receivers emotions, look for another way other than email to send it.&amp;quot;

Generally, this will mean face to face, or failing that over the phone or by video hook up, video cam et ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/33/1161/Email-Etiquette--Whats-The-Missing-Link.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/33/1161/Email-Etiquette--Whats-The-Missing-Link.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Are Happy Employees Motivated Employees?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright © 2006 Bob Selden,

When was the last time you felt excited, motivated and extremely keen to be at work? Chances are it was when you had a job or project that really interested you, you had control over what you did and the way you did it, and you didn't have any worries about &amp;quot;over zealous boss&amp;quot; interference or lack of job security. It's a great feeling and we can all probably relate stories of how and when we were most &amp;quot;motivated&amp;quot; at work.

But as managers, do we consciously try to provide this same level of motivation for all of our employees? Or, are we merely fixated on striving to achieve the deadlines, budgets and targets that are set for us (and that seem to be getting tougher and tougher and placing more and more stress on us and our people), and forgetting what it was really like when we worked in an environment that was truly &amp;quot;motivational&amp;quot;.

My challenge to practising managers, is to think back to when they were most motivated at work and identify the reasons why (list them on a sheet of paper as dot points). Then, set about implementing these same conditions for their own people. (Draw up your own list now and see how it compares with mine)

I've issued this challenge to managers over the last 20 years in management development forums and invariably their &amp;quot;motivational conditions&amp;quot; they identify are:

* Autonomy - the chance to take control over a complete project or unit of work in which I am really interested * Responsibility - for setting goals and targets and being accountable for achieving them * Recognition - for achieving meaningful results * Development - of my skills, knowledge and capabilities to their full potential

I then ask them to identify the things that really irritate and annoy them and (often) change what could have been a motivating workplace into a drudgery. They are:

* Bosses who do not recognise them for their efforts, or worse still, take the credit themselves * A  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/51/1056/Are-Happy-Employees-Motivated-Employees.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/51/1056/Are-Happy-Employees-Motivated-Employees.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Motivating Others - What's The Real Answer?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright 2006 The National Learning Institute

So, economics and statistics are the flavour of the month, or more specifically &amp;quot;Freakonomics&amp;quot; (Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, Penquin Books 2006). In a quote from Levitt's website, &amp;quot;Through forceful storytelling and wry insight, Levitt and co-author Stephen J. Dubner show that economics is, at root, the study of incentives - how people get what they want, or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing.&amp;quot; And Levitt &amp;amp; Dubner do have many interesting, amusing and sometimes disturbing (at least to me) stories to tell.

For example, take the case of the child care centre that was having difficulty with a few parents picking up their children late. It was decided to institute a late pick up fee of $3. As you might have guessed, this did not stop the late parents and in fact their numbers increased from about 8 to 20! By introducing the fee, late pick ups had just been legitimised and ameliorated the parents feeling of guilt.

Levitt and Dubner suggest that incentives, to be effective, need to have three components - economic, social and moral. In the child care case, would increasing the late fee to $100, posting the names of the late parents on a public list and running discussion groups on the implications of late pick ups for children and parents, have changed the parent's behaviour? The answer is unequivocally, &amp;quot;Yes&amp;quot;.

Another example given is cigarettes. Levitt and Dubner suggest that in the US, the tax of around $3 or so on cigarettes (economic), no smoking laws in restaurants (social) and publicising the profits being made by terrorist groups through black market cigarette sales (moral) have successfully combined all three incentive ingredients to stop people smoking. And they are right.

But (and in this case it's a big &amp;quot;but&amp;quot;) do incentives work? Do they motivate people? On the cover of their book they suggest &amp;quot;Assume nothing - qu ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/51/1055/Motivating-Others--Whats-The-Real-Answer.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/51/1055/Motivating-Others--Whats-The-Real-Answer.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Firing Someone - Does it have to be painful, for them and you?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright 2006 The National Learning Institute

The need to write this article came about through the recent experience of two of my friends. Both had been fired. One for supposed poor performance (although she had never been counselled and at the time was in fact on sick leave) and one because the start up facility she was employed by, suddenly closed down. Both were senior managers. Both were loyal, hardworking employees but are now very angry and taking legal action against their former employers. Why are they so angry? One could say it's because they have lost their jobs and this would be quite understandable. However, the main action that has triggered their anger and catapulted them down the legal pathway (in both cases), was that they were informed of their dismissals by emails. Yes, that's right by email! They were never given the courtesy of a face to face discussion.

Many managers, when faced with the challenge of firing someone, forget, or are unaware of the emotions that are experienced by the person being fired. Nor are they aware of the behaviour that most often results from these emotions. It has been well documented that the death of a loved one, a marriage or long term relationship breakup and the loss of one's job, have an equal and similar impact on one's emotions. Think for a moment about the loss of one of your dear relatives or friends through death - how did you feel? That's exactly the same feeling that people have when they suddenly and unexpectedly lose their jobs.

The psychologists tell us that there are 5 stages that people go through in this &amp;quot;grief cycle&amp;quot; - Shock, Resistance (often manifested as anger), Acceptance (of the current situation), Exploration (of new opportunities), Commitment (to a new future). Can any of these emotions be managed via email?

I can well recall the first time as a manager I had to fire someone. It was for poor performance and I was scared. I did not sleep the night before wondering what I w ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/44/1054/Firing-Someone--Does-it-have-to-be-painful-for-them-and-you.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/44/1054/Firing-Someone--Does-it-have-to-be-painful-for-them-and-you.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How Can You Tell If You Have What It Takes To Be A Leader?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright 2006 The National Learning Institute

Finding out &amp;quot;How am I doing?&amp;quot; has always been a thorny issue for managers, particularly when the issue is about &amp;quot;How good a leader am I?&amp;quot;. It's relatively easy to get feedback on results (e.g. sales, budgets etc.) but it becomes more difficult to get feedback on how we lead and manage others. Often the only feedback we get is when our boss tells us &amp;quot;something has gone wrong&amp;quot;. Or, when we do get feedback from colleagues it's often very general and likely to be more positive. Yet, research (first carried out as long ago as 1920!) clearly shows that:

* managers who seek and get regular feedback from others are among the better performing managers.

In the last decade, research has confirmed these earlier studies and additionally found that:

* managers who are accurately aware of their strengths and weaknesses are better leaders.

How can we get some realistic feedback on our performance as managers, and more specifically our ability as leaders? The simplest way is to ask others. Some of us do that from time to time in an informal way, but the accuracy and extent of the feedback depends on many variables, not the least of which is people's ability to receive and give honest feedback.

Some years ago, the &amp;quot;360 degree feedback&amp;quot; process was designed to overcome many of these inadequacies. It's called &amp;quot;360' because feedback is sought in a structured way from:

* Our manager

* Our peers

* The people that report to us

We also complete a &amp;quot;self&amp;quot; rating for comparison with the feedback of others. In other words, a 360 degree view of our performance.

The process involves each person (refered to as &amp;quot;raters&amp;quot;) completing a questionnaire that asks them how often do they see us exhibiting a number of common leadership behaviours on scales such as &amp;quot;always&amp;quot;, &amp;quot;often&amp;quot;, &amp;quot;occasionally&amp;quot;, &amp;quot;seldom&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;never&amp;qu ..]]></description>
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