Office charmer: Tips for faking charisma at work July 16, 2015 Practise striking a pose and start reading works of fiction If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then so is charisma. It was German sociologist Max Weber who first opined that personal magnetism was not a God-given gift but merely the perception of those around us. Most introverts will never have [...]
The Bridge’s Saga: My business idol July 15, 2015 The fictional Scandinavian detective may be embarrassingly direct but she gets the job done IS IT acceptable to call your boss in the middle of the night?” asked Michael Brimm, emeritus professor of organisation and management at Insead, when I was doing my MBA. His daughter had just called him at 3am to say [...]
Get what you want at work – by asking for it July 14, 2015 Communicate your worth and don’t apologise for it A management position opens up, and Plato and Aristotle both ask to be considered. Plato, placing a supreme value on truth, relies on his track record to do the talking. But Aristotle knows better. He emphasises his own credibility (ethos), puts forward a consistent, well-evidenced plan [...]
Are languages useful in business? With few bilingual people in the UK, there are rewards for those willing to learn July 13, 2015 Foreign languages have long been labelled an “asset” for anyone wanting to succeed in business. But for many native English speakers, the status of their mother tongue as a lingua franca can make learning a second language seem pointless. Aside from the ability to socialise with non-English speakers and the cultural value of being able [...]
Four business books to read this summer July 12, 2015 Develop a subscription service from your sunlounger. Earlier this year, Mark Zuckerberg founded an online bookclub, promising to read a new book every two weeks. From Jeff Bezos to Zappos’s Tony Hsieh, many top business leaders are bound by a love of books. It can be hard to pack 400 pages into a punishing [...]
Three things to learn from failure: set-backs can lead to success July 9, 2015 Acknowledge what went wrong and recognise that set-backs can lead to success AS A general rule, the US Marines will act if they are 70 per cent sure of a decision. Like in business, there are no guarantees of success, but there are times when you need to act anyway. Failure is never an [...]
Three tips for improving your public speaking: Use your speech to tell stories and put statistics on slides July 8, 2015 Now in his sixth year as chancellor, George Osborne’s performance delivering yesterday’s Budget was perhaps his most assured yet. It is no secret that confidence increases with practice, but public speaking remains a bete noire for many of us. Pitches and presentations are an increasingly important part of professional life, so what can you do [...]
How to identify groupthink in your company: A lack of disruptive ideas can lead to a sense of invincibility July 7, 2015 From the Bay of Pigs to the Enron scandal, “groupthink” has been blamed for poor decisions and excessive risk in military strategy and business alike. Coined by Irving Janis in 1972, it describes a team’s favouring of consensus and dismissal of both critical evaluation and radical alternatives. But how can you distinguish between a cohesive [...]
Preparing for a workforce bred on mobile: Technology must become second-nature for firms to attract talent July 5, 2015 In case you missed the news, the Teletubbies are returning to our TVs. And they’re sporting a new look – they are now complete with touch screen bellies. Considering that (most of) the audience won’t be able to speak properly yet, this is a telling sign that the UK is now fully immersed in the [...]
Why it’s time firms gave job titles the sack, says The7stars: An obsession with hierarchies is no good for any business July 2, 2015 Talent delivery specialist, digital prophet and chief happiness officer all have something in common – they are ridiculous, but very real, job titles. For decades, people have used job titles to assert authority, get a leg up the pay ladder and define their role. But these increasingly meaningless monikers have no place in a modern [...]