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When Bosses Go Bad
Bad managers can make a person’s professional life miserable. How can you make sure you’re not one?
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HBO CEO Resigning Amid AT&T Restructuring
7 years ago
Monday, June 12, 2006
Saturday, June 03, 2006
CareerJournal | How Cultural Compatibility Can Enhance Your Success
CareerJournal How Cultural Compatibility Can Enhance Your Success
Rather than focusing on the pay level for a new position, how many employees you'll manage or travel requirements, ask a different set of questions,.
Start by learning what kind of behavior the company rewards. Ask questions, such as, "Who succeeds at this company?" "What accomplishments are celebrated there?" or "How do you determine what's a failure?" says Carol Kinsey Gorman, a Berkeley, Calif.-based industrial psychologist, and author of "This Isn't The Company I Joined" (John Wiley & Sons, 1997). "Those kinds of questions help you frame up the definition of the culture there," she says.
Sometimes, clues about corporate culture are evident before an interview starts. "I had my own idea of corporate culture," says Sonia Taylor, an account manager at Allison & Partners, a San Francisco-based public-relations agency about a recent job search. "I was gung-ho, aggressive, loud and, at times, blunt."
But at the new company she was eyeing, "everything from attitudes to dress was different. I noticed co-workers coming in wearing open-toed shoes, no pantyhose, and much more eye-catching outfits. Even the clients came in for meetings dressed in jeans and without a tie."
Ms. Taylor was concerned that the company was too individualistic for her - based on that first impression and her previous experiences in the executive world. These cues prompted her to ask additional questions about the company's culture before entertaining a job offer.
Rather than focusing on the pay level for a new position, how many employees you'll manage or travel requirements, ask a different set of questions,.
Start by learning what kind of behavior the company rewards. Ask questions, such as, "Who succeeds at this company?" "What accomplishments are celebrated there?" or "How do you determine what's a failure?" says Carol Kinsey Gorman, a Berkeley, Calif.-based industrial psychologist, and author of "This Isn't The Company I Joined" (John Wiley & Sons, 1997). "Those kinds of questions help you frame up the definition of the culture there," she says.
Sometimes, clues about corporate culture are evident before an interview starts. "I had my own idea of corporate culture," says Sonia Taylor, an account manager at Allison & Partners, a San Francisco-based public-relations agency about a recent job search. "I was gung-ho, aggressive, loud and, at times, blunt."
But at the new company she was eyeing, "everything from attitudes to dress was different. I noticed co-workers coming in wearing open-toed shoes, no pantyhose, and much more eye-catching outfits. Even the clients came in for meetings dressed in jeans and without a tie."
Ms. Taylor was concerned that the company was too individualistic for her - based on that first impression and her previous experiences in the executive world. These cues prompted her to ask additional questions about the company's culture before entertaining a job offer.
Workthing
Workthing: "Top questions to ask
Workthing polled several recruitment firms on the top questions for candidates to ask at interview
To find out about the company
Workthing polled several recruitment firms on the top questions for candidates to ask at interview
To find out about the company
Our advice is to ask lots of open-ended questions which would encourage the
employer to talk. Questions like: 'What is the vision for the company?' and 'How
would you describe the culture in the business?'
You can also find out a lot about the company by directing questions to the
interviewer in their capacity as an employee. For example: 'What attracted you
(the interviewer) to join the company?' or 'How long have you been here and what
has made you stay so long?'
Ask for more information on the company. If you have secured financial
statements, then ask for more information about them. Engage the interviewer in
a discussion about them. It is important to do this even if the position is a
non-financial one. It shows that you have keen business sense. Also, it shows
that you're aware that the meeting involves two parties. Similarly, ask
questions on the company's vision, mission statement, and strategy for the
coming years.
Office Team
In organisations with flatter structures, be careful when asking about
promotion. A better way to tackle this would be 'how can you see the role
developing?' Other questions to ask are: 'what circumstances have led you to be
recruiting?' and 'how long do people stay in the role?'
Working Careers
To find out about the role
Find out if there are consistencies between your ambitions and the direction
of the job by asking, for example, what development opportunities there are in
the role.
Cooper Lomaz Recruitment
1 I have read the job description, can you expand on the job I will be doing?
2 What type of training is provided?
3 How do you see me in the role?
4 Do you have performance targets?
5 How will I know that I am doing well?
6 What are team members achieving?
Working Careers
It's important that you find out about the role in the wider context of the
organisation. Asking questions about the organisation and the role will give you
an idea of whether it is indeed the right job for you. Questions like: 'What
will the scope for learning and development be?' and 'What are the opportunities
for progression?' allow you to determine whether the job will take your career
in the direction you have chosen for yourself.
Questions like: 'What can you tell me about my boss?' and 'Can you tell me
about the management/leadership style within the business?' should give you an
idea of whether the organisation's values and the way it operates will suit you.
It's important that candidates inform themselves about what they're letting
themselves in for. Often people will see a job advertised, and think I'd love to
work for that company, without knowing what the reality of life inside that
company is like.
Strategic Dimensions
To find out how well you've performed
I suggest that people ask for feedback at the end of the interview. For
example, what's the next step in the hiring process, what sort of chance do I
have, and so on. This shows that you're open-minded and mature enough to handle
any criticism and advice. It also shows that you're mature enough to learn.
Interviews have changed. It's not a secretive process anymore, where the company
invites you in to screen you. It's now a transaction. Asking for feedback tells
the interviewer that you see yourself as an equal party in a transaction.
Office Team
You must always close the sales process, so ask 'how do you see me fitting
in?' and 'what is the next step [in the recruitment process]?'
Working Careers
To impress your potential employers
Ask questions that are focused on embodying your enthusiasm, as well as your
willingness and ability:
1 What is the team working on at the moment?
2 Can I meet the team?
3 Can I look around?
4 What are your strategies for growth?
5 How soon do you want an employee in place?
6 If there was one major achievement that you would like to see happen within
the role from the outset, what would it be?
7 Can you describe what made the last person successful in this role?
8 What are the immediate improvements or priorities that need to be applied to
this role?
9 What changes would you like to see in the way the job is performed?
10 To ensure I would be able to hit the ground running would you be able to
supply any procedures, literature or other supporting information in preparation
for my first day in the role?
Ask The Headhunter: Due Diligence
Ask The Headhunter: Due Diligence
When you're considering a job offer, how's your "due diligence"? Do you do it in the job interview, or do you actually spend some time researching the company in advance, so you can form a clear judgment about it?
Most people research a prospective employer minimally. Some go no farther than reading a want ad or a job description, and asking the manager a few questions in the job interview. If they already know something about the company, they rely on their intuition. Usually, they're so glad to have a job offer that they fall prey to wishful thinking. But, it isn't just candidates that fail to carefully investigate employers. Companies usually don't check out job candidates very carefully, either. Diligence is typically lacking on both sides of the decision process.
In my opinion, the failure to research and understand one another is one of the key reasons why companies lay off employees and why workers quit jobs. They have no idea what they're getting into until it's too late.
Proper due diligence is extensive and detailed. How far you go with it is up to you. But, when you're considering an employer, I suggest that your minimum research should include the following.
Read:
The company's annual and quarterly SEC filings. (If you need help interpreting the financials, get it.)
The company's marketing and product brochures.
Articles about the company in the general business press and in industry-specific publications.
Articles about the company's industry, including its competitors. (The industry's problems are the company's problems, too.)
Competitors' marketing and product brochures.
The company's web site.
Competitors' web sites.
Talk with:
The hiring manager.
At least two people on the manager's team.
At least two people and managers in departments that would influence your success on the job (e.g., manufacturing, accounting, marketing).
At least one customer of the company. (Call a purchasing manager and ask his opinion of the company as a vendor.)
At least one vendor of the company. (Call the sales rep who handles the company and ask his opinion about it.)
At least one competitor of the company. (Call one of its sales reps, or a manager in a department related to the one you'd join. Be frank. Explain that you're considering a job there. What's their advice?)
At least two ex-employees of the company. (Find them through your own contacts, or ask current employees for names.)
Research is a funny thing. When it's part of our jobs, we do it thoroughly. When we need to do it for our own protection, we often skip it or we get sloppy. (We "trust our instincts".) As you do your research on a company, ask yourself:
What do I need to know?
What are the best sources of this information?
How good is each source?
Who can save me a lot of time by giving me the real inside scoop?
Have I really been thorough?
What could go wrong if I don't get good answers to my questions?
If all of this seems a bit much, remember that next to our friends and families, our employers represent the most important relationships we have. Remember that other people who have important relationships with your prospective employer practice due diligence: bankers, realtors, customers, vendors, venture capitalists and stock analysts. Can you afford to ignore it?
When you're considering a job offer, how's your "due diligence"? Do you do it in the job interview, or do you actually spend some time researching the company in advance, so you can form a clear judgment about it?
Most people research a prospective employer minimally. Some go no farther than reading a want ad or a job description, and asking the manager a few questions in the job interview. If they already know something about the company, they rely on their intuition. Usually, they're so glad to have a job offer that they fall prey to wishful thinking. But, it isn't just candidates that fail to carefully investigate employers. Companies usually don't check out job candidates very carefully, either. Diligence is typically lacking on both sides of the decision process.
In my opinion, the failure to research and understand one another is one of the key reasons why companies lay off employees and why workers quit jobs. They have no idea what they're getting into until it's too late.
Proper due diligence is extensive and detailed. How far you go with it is up to you. But, when you're considering an employer, I suggest that your minimum research should include the following.
Read:
The company's annual and quarterly SEC filings. (If you need help interpreting the financials, get it.)
The company's marketing and product brochures.
Articles about the company in the general business press and in industry-specific publications.
Articles about the company's industry, including its competitors. (The industry's problems are the company's problems, too.)
Competitors' marketing and product brochures.
The company's web site.
Competitors' web sites.
Talk with:
The hiring manager.
At least two people on the manager's team.
At least two people and managers in departments that would influence your success on the job (e.g., manufacturing, accounting, marketing).
At least one customer of the company. (Call a purchasing manager and ask his opinion of the company as a vendor.)
At least one vendor of the company. (Call the sales rep who handles the company and ask his opinion about it.)
At least one competitor of the company. (Call one of its sales reps, or a manager in a department related to the one you'd join. Be frank. Explain that you're considering a job there. What's their advice?)
At least two ex-employees of the company. (Find them through your own contacts, or ask current employees for names.)
Research is a funny thing. When it's part of our jobs, we do it thoroughly. When we need to do it for our own protection, we often skip it or we get sloppy. (We "trust our instincts".) As you do your research on a company, ask yourself:
What do I need to know?
What are the best sources of this information?
How good is each source?
Who can save me a lot of time by giving me the real inside scoop?
Have I really been thorough?
What could go wrong if I don't get good answers to my questions?
If all of this seems a bit much, remember that next to our friends and families, our employers represent the most important relationships we have. Remember that other people who have important relationships with your prospective employer practice due diligence: bankers, realtors, customers, vendors, venture capitalists and stock analysts. Can you afford to ignore it?
NewYorkBusiness.com - Powered by Crain's New York Business
NewYorkBusiness.com - Powered by Crain's New York Business: "Clock ticking for Time Inc.
Publisher races to bring titles into e-age, restart growth
By Matthew Flamm
Published on May 29, 2006
After three rounds of job cuts and a critical personnel change at its flagship magazine, Time Inc. stands poised to enter a brave new world of swimsuit shoots that appear on cell phones and advertising that bleeds seamlessly across print and electronic formats.
The changes are part of the company's long-awaited response to the surge in digital media that has magazine executives everywhere reaching for their Maalox.
continued below
advertisement
With its chief executive, Ann Moore, under pressure to return the company to growth, the No. 1 magazine publisher is attempting to outrun the new media avalanche and transform its world-famous titles into brands that can be consumed in whatever fashion readers like.
The transition can't happen fast enough. Profits for the Time Warner division plummeted in the first quarter, and namesake title Time is in danger of becoming obsolete. The question among some industry observers is whether the storied publisher waited too long before starting down the digital path.
'This is the first year [Time Inc.] has finally gotten that there are too many things changing at the same time, and that [the situation] isn't going back to the way it was,' says Peter Kreisky, chairman of Kreisky Media Consultancy.
Extending its brands
Executives at Time Inc. insist that the company is ready to extend its brands into the digital sphere and provide readers and marketers with a range of choices. A new corporate sales and marketing division is working to create advertising packages that will cut across titles and formats, including including podcasts and cell phones.
"We're going to deliver audiences through many brands at one time," says Robin Domeniconi, president of the new division. "Our job is to leverage our brands however the consumer wants them."
The company has little choice but to change. Time Inc. has been hit by a combination of forces since Ms. Moore took the reins in 2002 from Don Logan, who is famous for presiding over 41 consecutive quarters of profit growth.
The publisher's signature male-oriented titles Sports Illustrated, Fortune and Time suffered double-digit declines in advertising pages last year, as mainstay categories, particularly automotive, cut back on spending or shifted dollars to the Internet.
Business magazines such as Fortune and Money fell out of favor, while the growth of cable television and the Internet raised questions about newsweeklies. This year, advertising at Sports Illustrated has stabilized, and Time's ad pages grew 5% through April. Still, management is rethinking Time's mission, naming Richard Stengel the latest top editor of the newsmagazine.
Women's titles Real Simple, In Style and People have largely kept Time Inc. aloft.
Last year, with their help--and a boost from the book group--earnings for Time Warner's publishing division rose 5% to $1.3 billion, off revenue that increased 5% to $5.8 billion. For the first quarter of this year, revenue for the publishing division was flat at $1.1 billion, with earnings off 12% to $116 million. Revenue was not counted from the book group, which was sold.
"You have to become a content company," says Mark Edmiston, managing director of AdMedia Partners Inc., a mergers and acquisitions firm. "You can't make money anymore selling ad pages and giving away circulation."
Time Inc. has already had some successes with its new model.
CNNMoney.com, which combines content from four business titles, has become the third-largest business portal, up from eighth place, since launching in January.
Sports Illustrated's Web site, SI.com, has rolled out video downloads for iPods and mobile phones. So far this year, its ad revenue is up 100%.
Keeping promises is key
Industry insiders say that it remains to be seen how well the rest of Time Inc. can deliver on its promises to market brands, as opposed to magazines, especially when people are worried about their future.
The recent rounds of layoffs were notable for targeting the business side, including high-level publishing executives. Last week, Ms. Moore offered tepid reassurance to anxious staffers, writing in a companywide memo, "We do hope the majority of eliminations is behind us."
Says a former executive who recently left the company, "Employees are yessing the key executives to death for fear of losing their jobs."
Observers also point out that Time Inc. has a tradition of fiefdoms and decentralized operations, which make it harder to get different parts of the company to work together.
"They have not been good at [cross-media, cross-title programs]," says Roberta Garfinkle, director of print strategy at TargetCast, a media planning agency. "We're looking forward to hearing how they can make it better."
Publisher races to bring titles into e-age, restart growth
By Matthew Flamm
Published on May 29, 2006
After three rounds of job cuts and a critical personnel change at its flagship magazine, Time Inc. stands poised to enter a brave new world of swimsuit shoots that appear on cell phones and advertising that bleeds seamlessly across print and electronic formats.
The changes are part of the company's long-awaited response to the surge in digital media that has magazine executives everywhere reaching for their Maalox.
continued below
advertisement
With its chief executive, Ann Moore, under pressure to return the company to growth, the No. 1 magazine publisher is attempting to outrun the new media avalanche and transform its world-famous titles into brands that can be consumed in whatever fashion readers like.
The transition can't happen fast enough. Profits for the Time Warner division plummeted in the first quarter, and namesake title Time is in danger of becoming obsolete. The question among some industry observers is whether the storied publisher waited too long before starting down the digital path.
'This is the first year [Time Inc.] has finally gotten that there are too many things changing at the same time, and that [the situation] isn't going back to the way it was,' says Peter Kreisky, chairman of Kreisky Media Consultancy.
Extending its brands
Executives at Time Inc. insist that the company is ready to extend its brands into the digital sphere and provide readers and marketers with a range of choices. A new corporate sales and marketing division is working to create advertising packages that will cut across titles and formats, including including podcasts and cell phones.
"We're going to deliver audiences through many brands at one time," says Robin Domeniconi, president of the new division. "Our job is to leverage our brands however the consumer wants them."
The company has little choice but to change. Time Inc. has been hit by a combination of forces since Ms. Moore took the reins in 2002 from Don Logan, who is famous for presiding over 41 consecutive quarters of profit growth.
The publisher's signature male-oriented titles Sports Illustrated, Fortune and Time suffered double-digit declines in advertising pages last year, as mainstay categories, particularly automotive, cut back on spending or shifted dollars to the Internet.
Business magazines such as Fortune and Money fell out of favor, while the growth of cable television and the Internet raised questions about newsweeklies. This year, advertising at Sports Illustrated has stabilized, and Time's ad pages grew 5% through April. Still, management is rethinking Time's mission, naming Richard Stengel the latest top editor of the newsmagazine.
Women's titles Real Simple, In Style and People have largely kept Time Inc. aloft.
Last year, with their help--and a boost from the book group--earnings for Time Warner's publishing division rose 5% to $1.3 billion, off revenue that increased 5% to $5.8 billion. For the first quarter of this year, revenue for the publishing division was flat at $1.1 billion, with earnings off 12% to $116 million. Revenue was not counted from the book group, which was sold.
"You have to become a content company," says Mark Edmiston, managing director of AdMedia Partners Inc., a mergers and acquisitions firm. "You can't make money anymore selling ad pages and giving away circulation."
Time Inc. has already had some successes with its new model.
CNNMoney.com, which combines content from four business titles, has become the third-largest business portal, up from eighth place, since launching in January.
Sports Illustrated's Web site, SI.com, has rolled out video downloads for iPods and mobile phones. So far this year, its ad revenue is up 100%.
Keeping promises is key
Industry insiders say that it remains to be seen how well the rest of Time Inc. can deliver on its promises to market brands, as opposed to magazines, especially when people are worried about their future.
The recent rounds of layoffs were notable for targeting the business side, including high-level publishing executives. Last week, Ms. Moore offered tepid reassurance to anxious staffers, writing in a companywide memo, "We do hope the majority of eliminations is behind us."
Says a former executive who recently left the company, "Employees are yessing the key executives to death for fear of losing their jobs."
Observers also point out that Time Inc. has a tradition of fiefdoms and decentralized operations, which make it harder to get different parts of the company to work together.
"They have not been good at [cross-media, cross-title programs]," says Roberta Garfinkle, director of print strategy at TargetCast, a media planning agency. "We're looking forward to hearing how they can make it better."
Monday, May 29, 2006
After Enron, Corporate Wrongdoing Still Thrives: How Not to Ruin Your Life - Yahoo! Finance
After Enron, Corporate Wrongdoing Still Thrives: How Not to Ruin Your Life - Yahoo! Finance: "Many years ago, I spent the majority of my time studying the works of the Drexel Burnham Lambert and its evil junk bond empire. One part of the empire was insurance companies, which Drexel used as a blood bank to buy its overvalued (but by no means valueless) securities.
The money these Drexel guys made was stupendous. I was envious. I wanted to be rich, too. It occurred to me that I, who had a tiny amount of money put by, might be able along with some others to buy a small insurance company, loot it the way I had seen the Drexel people do it (they, of course, disputed that they did it ), and then I would be rich."
The money these Drexel guys made was stupendous. I was envious. I wanted to be rich, too. It occurred to me that I, who had a tiny amount of money put by, might be able along with some others to buy a small insurance company, loot it the way I had seen the Drexel people do it (they, of course, disputed that they did it ), and then I would be rich."
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
MSN Careers - Think You've Got a Lousy Boss? - Career Advice Article
MSN Careers - Think You've Got a Lousy Boss? - Career Advice Article: "Think You've Got a Lousy Boss?
True Horror Stories From Work
By Laura Morsch, CareerBuilder.com writer
Bad bosses have become something of a pop culture phenomenon. 'The Devil Wears Prada,' Lauren Weisberger's tale of a new grad's struggle to maintain her dignity while working for an unreasonable magazine editor, spent six months on the New York Times bestseller list and will hit theaters this year. Mr. Burns, Homer's villainous boss on 'The Simpsons,' has become the manager we love to hate.
Even so, real life can sometimes be stranger than fiction. Here are some stories of truly horrendous bosses, straight from the mouths of actual workers:
Earplugs optional
At a previous position, my boss was notoriously unprofessional, making him infamous throughout the organization. In addition to partaking in the community pretzel bin while suffering from a finger fungus and perspiring so profusely that he would be sporting two-foot-long sweat stains before 9 a.m., he believed his office was a personal recording studio.
You name it -- from Van Halen to Avril Lavigne -- he was bolting it out at a high decibel level all day. But the day I heard Jessica Simpson was the day I knew it was leave my job or lose my sanity. Nothing beats a middle-aged overweight white man with a slicked-back Afro singing: 'Nothin' but a T-shirt on... never felt so beautiful, baby as I do now... now that I'm with you.'
-- Ashley, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Sticky situation
I worked for a small PR firm a few years ago. ... One day I was"
True Horror Stories From Work
By Laura Morsch, CareerBuilder.com writer
Bad bosses have become something of a pop culture phenomenon. 'The Devil Wears Prada,' Lauren Weisberger's tale of a new grad's struggle to maintain her dignity while working for an unreasonable magazine editor, spent six months on the New York Times bestseller list and will hit theaters this year. Mr. Burns, Homer's villainous boss on 'The Simpsons,' has become the manager we love to hate.
Even so, real life can sometimes be stranger than fiction. Here are some stories of truly horrendous bosses, straight from the mouths of actual workers:
Earplugs optional
At a previous position, my boss was notoriously unprofessional, making him infamous throughout the organization. In addition to partaking in the community pretzel bin while suffering from a finger fungus and perspiring so profusely that he would be sporting two-foot-long sweat stains before 9 a.m., he believed his office was a personal recording studio.
You name it -- from Van Halen to Avril Lavigne -- he was bolting it out at a high decibel level all day. But the day I heard Jessica Simpson was the day I knew it was leave my job or lose my sanity. Nothing beats a middle-aged overweight white man with a slicked-back Afro singing: 'Nothin' but a T-shirt on... never felt so beautiful, baby as I do now... now that I'm with you.'
-- Ashley, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Sticky situation
I worked for a small PR firm a few years ago. ... One day I was"
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Heuristic - Wikipedia
Heuristic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Psychology
In psychology, heuristics are simple, efficient rules of thumb which have been proposed to explain how people make decisions, come to judgments and solve problems, typically when facing complex problems or incomplete information. These rules work well under most circumstances, but in certain cases lead to systematic cognitive biases.
For instance, people may tend to perceive more expensive beers as tasting better than inexpensive ones. This finding holds true even when prices and brands are switched; putting the high price on the normally relatively inexpensive brand is enough to lead experimental participants to perceive that beer as tasting better than the beer that is normally relatively expensive. One might call this 'price implies quality' bias.
Much of the work of discovering heuristics in human decision makers was ignited by Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, who shared an important influence on behavioral finance. Critics led by Gerd Gigerenzer focus on how heuristics can be used to make principally accurate judgments rather than producing cognitive biases � heuristics that are 'fast and frugal'."
In psychology, heuristics are simple, efficient rules of thumb which have been proposed to explain how people make decisions, come to judgments and solve problems, typically when facing complex problems or incomplete information. These rules work well under most circumstances, but in certain cases lead to systematic cognitive biases.
For instance, people may tend to perceive more expensive beers as tasting better than inexpensive ones. This finding holds true even when prices and brands are switched; putting the high price on the normally relatively inexpensive brand is enough to lead experimental participants to perceive that beer as tasting better than the beer that is normally relatively expensive. One might call this 'price implies quality' bias.
Much of the work of discovering heuristics in human decision makers was ignited by Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, who shared an important influence on behavioral finance. Critics led by Gerd Gigerenzer focus on how heuristics can be used to make principally accurate judgments rather than producing cognitive biases � heuristics that are 'fast and frugal'."
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
10 Attitudes of Successful Workers - Career Advice Article
MSN Careers - 10 Attitudes of Successful Workers - Career Advice Article: "10 Attitudes of Successful Workers
By Kate Lorenz, CareerBuilder.com Editor
Why do some people seem to reach the top of the corporate ladder easily, while others remain stuck on the middle-management rung? You might think that it is just because those people have more of what it takes to succeed, like brains, talent and powerful people in their corner. But there is something else that is just as important: attitude.
Dr. Martin Seligman, an authority on optimism, discovered that attitude was a better predictor of success than I.Q., education and most other factors. He found that positive people stay healthier, have better relationships and go further in their careers. And he even found that positive people make more money.
Anyone can adopt the right attitude. No matter where you are from or how much innate talent you have, the right attitude can make a difference in your career. Try adopting these 10 attitudes of successful workers: "
By Kate Lorenz, CareerBuilder.com Editor
Why do some people seem to reach the top of the corporate ladder easily, while others remain stuck on the middle-management rung? You might think that it is just because those people have more of what it takes to succeed, like brains, talent and powerful people in their corner. But there is something else that is just as important: attitude.
Dr. Martin Seligman, an authority on optimism, discovered that attitude was a better predictor of success than I.Q., education and most other factors. He found that positive people stay healthier, have better relationships and go further in their careers. And he even found that positive people make more money.
Anyone can adopt the right attitude. No matter where you are from or how much innate talent you have, the right attitude can make a difference in your career. Try adopting these 10 attitudes of successful workers: "
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Women and Leadership - Newsweek - MSNBC.com
Women and Leadership - Newsweek - MSNBC.com: "12 Women Leaders on Life
They come from diverse backgrounds and work in vastly different fields, but their tales of growth and triumph show they have a lot in common."
They come from diverse backgrounds and work in vastly different fields, but their tales of growth and triumph show they have a lot in common."
Saturday, January 07, 2006
Wal-Mart deals with pair of snafus to start 2006 - Jan. 6, 2006
Wal-Mart deals with pair of snafus to start 2006 - Jan. 6, 2006: "Wal-Mart 'heartsick' over DVD grouping
No. 1 retailer apologizes for bizarre racial combinations on Web site, spoofs poor sales in song.
January 6, 2006: 11:35 AM EST
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Wal-Mart is ringing in the new year with a pair of snafus.
The retail giant apologized Thursday after its Web site directed buyers of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' and 'Planet of the Apes' DVDs to consider DVDs with African American themes."
No. 1 retailer apologizes for bizarre racial combinations on Web site, spoofs poor sales in song.
January 6, 2006: 11:35 AM EST
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Wal-Mart is ringing in the new year with a pair of snafus.
The retail giant apologized Thursday after its Web site directed buyers of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' and 'Planet of the Apes' DVDs to consider DVDs with African American themes."
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Conduct Better Interviews
How Can We Conduct Better Interviews?
Interviews are the most widely used technique in the hiring process. The need
for direct interaction with job candidates means that it is almost unheard of
for a company to make a hiring decision without first conducting an interview.
Upgrading your interviews is one of the easiest and best things you can do to
improve the quality of your hiring. The payoffs for this exercise (systematic
and accurate selection decisions) greatly outweigh the pitfalls (such as the
investment of time and the need for change management) associated with it.
Unfortunately, the typical interview is unstructured and highly
subjective, a fact that reduces its ability to accurately predict job
performance. In fact, the traditional interview offers very little to help
companies make effective hiring decisions. This is a problem, because effective
prediction requires the use of reliable tools that provide
accurate and systematic measurement of human elements that are directly related
to job requirements. In more specific terms, problems with the traditional
interview can be traced to two major types of errors that are inherent in the
process. They are:
Errors of content. There are two main sources for this type of error. First,
traditional interviews often fail to ask questions that are directly linked to
job requirements. While questions such as "Where do you see yourself in
five years?" and "Why do you want to work for our organization?"
may elicit interesting information, the answers are hard to map directly to
critical competencies that define job performance.
Secondly, lack
of structure in an interview's content often results in different
interviewers asking different questions of different applicants. This means that
applicants are essentially being evaluated using different information, making
it very hard to compare apples to apples.
Errors in process. Failure to use a standardized process--in which all
applicants are evaluated using the exact same criteria, and in which there is
some way of using information elicited from the interview to make final
ratings--greatly reduces the effectiveness of the interview as a predictive
tool. Failure to provide structure to your interviewing process opens the door
to bias, stereotypes, and other various kinds of errors associated with the
inherent subjectivity of interviews. Effective interviews hinge on the exclusive
use of job-related information to make decisions. (Furthermore, the more
subjective your evaluations are, the less legally defensible your interview
process will be.)
You should take some important steps to remove these errors, of both content
and process, to ensure you have an optimum technique for interviewing job
candidates. You should:
- Use formal techniques, such as job analysis, to define job performance and
create questions that have direct links to critical aspects of job
performance.
-
Ask the same (or very similar) questions to
each interviewee to ensure that the same basic information is collected from
each candidate.
- Use questions
that require interviewees to discuss their past behaviors in situations
that are similar to those they will face in jobs with your company.
Errors of process can be addressed by creating a procedure that requires you
to:
-
Rate each interview question individually and
combine information from multiple questions when you make final ratings.
-
Use rating scales that provide clear,
job-related anchors.
-
Require interviewers take detailed notes for
each question.
-
Use multiple interviews to assess each
candidate.
-
Provide extensive interviewer training.
SOURCE: Charles A. Handler, Ph.D., PHR, Rocket-Hire,
New Orleans, November 14, 2005.
LEARN MORE: Ten
Interview No-No's points up common mistakes made when assessing job
candidates. Also, information on using job
competencies.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
The McKinsey Quarterly: The McKinsey Global Survey of Business Executives , October 2005
The McKinsey Quarterly: The McKinsey Global Survey of Business Executives , October 2005: "SurveyThe McKinsey Global Survey of Business Executives , October 2005" The confidence of US executives in their economy plummeted over the past three months, according to the latest McKinsey Global Survey of Business Executives. The confidence of executives overall in the global economy was unchanged: more of our respondents are upbeat than not, by a small margin (Exhibit 1). But significant shifts occurred at the regional level; executives in China and in other developing markets (with the exception of India) also reported declining confidence in their country's economy.
enlarge exhibit
enlarge exhibit
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Dilbert Comic Strip Archive - Dilbert.com - The Mission Statement-
Dilbert Comic Strip Archive - Dilbert.com - The Official Dilbert Website by Scott Adams - Dilbert, Dogbert and Coworkers!: "We strive to efficiently coordinate high standards in paradigms in order to completely build market-driven information to exceed customer expectations "
Sunday, October 09, 2005
BW Online |Principles of Good Governance
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/02_40/b3802005.htm
Here's what we look for in evaluating boards:
INDEPENDENCE
No more than two directors should be current or former company executives, and none should do business with the company or accept consulting or legal fees from it. The audit, compensation, and nominating committees should be made up solely of independent directors.
STOCK OWNERSHIP
Each director should own an equity stake in the company worth at least $150,000, excluding stock options. The only exception: new board members who haven't had time to build a large stake.
DIRECTOR QUALITY
Boards should include at least one independent director with experience in the company's core business and one who is the CEO of an equivalent-size company. Fully employed directors should sit on no more than four boards, retirees no more than seven. Each director should attend at least 75% of all meetings.
BOARD ACTIVISM
Boards should meet regularly without management present and should evaluate their own performance every year. Audit committees should meet at least four times a year. Board should be frugal on executive pay, decisive when planning a CEO succession, diligent in oversight responsibilities, and quick to act when trouble strikes.">BW Online | October 7, 2002 | Table: Principles of Good Governance: "Principles of Good Governance
STORY TOOLS
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Cover Image: The Best and Worst Boards
Table: Best Boards
Table: Worst Boards
Table: Most Improved Boards
Table: Boards That Need Work
Table: Hall of Shame
Great Numbers, Weak Governance: Is AIG a Special Case?
Table: In the Shadow of AIG
� Find More Stories Like This
Here's what we look for in evaluating boards:
INDEPENDENCE
No more than two directors should be current or former company executives, and none should do business with the company or accept consulting or legal fees from it. The audit, compensation, and nominating committees should be made up solely of independent directors.
STOCK OWNERSHIP
Each director should own an equity stake in the company worth at least $150,000, excluding stock options. The only exception: new board members who haven't had time to build a large stake.
DIRECTOR QUALITY
Boards should include at least one independent director with experience in the company's core business and one who is the CEO of an equivalent-size company. Fully employed directors should sit on no more than four boards, retirees no more than seven. Each director should attend at least 75% of all meetings.
BOARD ACTIVISM
Boards should meet regularly without management present and should evaluate their own performance every year. Audit committees should meet at least four times a year. Board should be frugal on executive pay, decisive when planning a CEO succession, diligent in oversight responsibilities, and quick to act when trouble strikes."
Here's what we look for in evaluating boards:
INDEPENDENCE
No more than two directors should be current or former company executives, and none should do business with the company or accept consulting or legal fees from it. The audit, compensation, and nominating committees should be made up solely of independent directors.
STOCK OWNERSHIP
Each director should own an equity stake in the company worth at least $150,000, excluding stock options. The only exception: new board members who haven't had time to build a large stake.
DIRECTOR QUALITY
Boards should include at least one independent director with experience in the company's core business and one who is the CEO of an equivalent-size company. Fully employed directors should sit on no more than four boards, retirees no more than seven. Each director should attend at least 75% of all meetings.
BOARD ACTIVISM
Boards should meet regularly without management present and should evaluate their own performance every year. Audit committees should meet at least four times a year. Board should be frugal on executive pay, decisive when planning a CEO succession, diligent in oversight responsibilities, and quick to act when trouble strikes.">BW Online | October 7, 2002 | Table: Principles of Good Governance: "Principles of Good Governance
STORY TOOLS
Printer-Friendly Version
E-Mail This Story
Cover Image: The Best and Worst Boards
Table: Best Boards
Table: Worst Boards
Table: Most Improved Boards
Table: Boards That Need Work
Table: Hall of Shame
Great Numbers, Weak Governance: Is AIG a Special Case?
Table: In the Shadow of AIG
� Find More Stories Like This
Here's what we look for in evaluating boards:
INDEPENDENCE
No more than two directors should be current or former company executives, and none should do business with the company or accept consulting or legal fees from it. The audit, compensation, and nominating committees should be made up solely of independent directors.
STOCK OWNERSHIP
Each director should own an equity stake in the company worth at least $150,000, excluding stock options. The only exception: new board members who haven't had time to build a large stake.
DIRECTOR QUALITY
Boards should include at least one independent director with experience in the company's core business and one who is the CEO of an equivalent-size company. Fully employed directors should sit on no more than four boards, retirees no more than seven. Each director should attend at least 75% of all meetings.
BOARD ACTIVISM
Boards should meet regularly without management present and should evaluate their own performance every year. Audit committees should meet at least four times a year. Board should be frugal on executive pay, decisive when planning a CEO succession, diligent in oversight responsibilities, and quick to act when trouble strikes."
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Free Management Library for For-Profit and Nonprofit Organizations
Free Management Library for For-Profit and Nonprofit Organizations Great resource for management information.
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Many Women at Elite Colleges Set Career Path to Motherhood
Many Women at Elite Colleges Set Career Path to Motherhood - New York Times: "Cynthia Liu is precisely the kind of high achiever Yale wants: smart (1510 SAT), disciplined (4.0 grade point average), competitive (finalist in Texas oratory competition), musical (pianist), athletic (runner) and altruistic (hospital volunteer). And at the start of her sophomore year at Yale, Ms. Liu is full of ambition, planning to go to law school.
So will she join the long tradition of famous Ivy League graduates? Not likely. By the time she is 30, this accomplished 19-year-old expects to be a stay-at-home mom.
'My mother's always told me you can't be the best career woman and the best mother at the same time,' Ms. Liu said matter-of-factly. 'You always have to choose one over the other.'
At Yale and other top colleges, women are being groomed to take their place in an ever more diverse professional elite. It is almost taken for granted that, just as they make up half the students at these institutions, they will move into leadership roles on an equal basis with their male classmates.
There is just one problem with this scenario: many of these women say that is not what they want.
Many women at the nation's most elite colleges say they have already decided that they will put aside their careers in favor of raising children. Though some of these students are not planning to have children and some hope to have a family and work full time, many others, like Ms. Liu, say they will happily play a traditional female role, with motherhood their main commitment.
Much attention has been focused on career women who leave the work force to rear children. What seems to be changing is that while many women in college two or three decades ago expected to have full-time careers, "
So will she join the long tradition of famous Ivy League graduates? Not likely. By the time she is 30, this accomplished 19-year-old expects to be a stay-at-home mom.
'My mother's always told me you can't be the best career woman and the best mother at the same time,' Ms. Liu said matter-of-factly. 'You always have to choose one over the other.'
At Yale and other top colleges, women are being groomed to take their place in an ever more diverse professional elite. It is almost taken for granted that, just as they make up half the students at these institutions, they will move into leadership roles on an equal basis with their male classmates.
There is just one problem with this scenario: many of these women say that is not what they want.
Many women at the nation's most elite colleges say they have already decided that they will put aside their careers in favor of raising children. Though some of these students are not planning to have children and some hope to have a family and work full time, many others, like Ms. Liu, say they will happily play a traditional female role, with motherhood their main commitment.
Much attention has been focused on career women who leave the work force to rear children. What seems to be changing is that while many women in college two or three decades ago expected to have full-time careers, "
Friday, September 16, 2005
Mission Statements Work!
Mission Statements Work!Successful organizations know that it takes more than a good plan to succeed in business. It takes an empowered organization, focused on realistic goals, with impassioned leadership. It takes vision. It takes consensus. It takes a sense of purpose!
Mission Expert Helps You
Create Impassioned
Mission Statements
For Successful Organizations
Mission Expert is the first multimedia software solution for creating effective organizational mission statements.
Mission Expert Helps You
Create Impassioned
Mission Statements
For Successful Organizations
Mission Expert is the first multimedia software solution for creating effective organizational mission statements.
The Pitch Coach
The Pitch Coach: "You may have done it dozens of times: stood in front of a room full of investors and pitched your company. Maybe you raised some money. But most presentations don't persuade investors to open their wallets. Worse, entrepreneurs don't know why. 'You rarely get to hear exactly what your audience thinks,' says David Rose, 48, founding chairman of New York Angels, a group of about 60 wealthy individuals that makes early-stage investments."
Sunday, September 11, 2005
'Trust in Global Virtual Teams', Ariadne Issue 43
Main Articles: 'Trust in Global Virtual Teams', Ariadne Issue 43: "During the last few years there has been an increasing acknowledgement of the importance of trust in business interactions within the management and organisational literatures [1][2]. Trust enables cooperation and becomes the means for complexity reduction even in situations where individuals must act with uncertainty because they are in possession of ambiguous and incomplete information. It is not therefore surprising that in the current age of global and digital economy and virtuality [3] there has been an enormous interest in trust. Handy for example, has put the point quite succinctly: 'Virtuality requires trust to make it work: Technology on its own is not enough' [4]. As Lipnack and Stamps also put it, 'in the networks and virtual teams of the Information Age, trust is a 'need to have' quality in productive relationships' [5], while according to Platt [6], trust is essential to any virtual team as these teams do not have everyday interaction, and the possibility of losing trust is much higher."
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