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Monthly Archives: October 2007
Inspirational Quotations #193
True wisdom is less presuming than folly.
The wise man doubteth often, and changeth his mind;
the fool is obstinate, and doubteth not;
he knoweth all things but his own ignorance.
* Akhenaton
Either I will find a way, or I will make one.
* Philip Sidney
Be courageous and bold. When you look back on your life,
you’ll regret the things you didn’t do more than the ones you did.
* Unknown
Only necessity understood, and bondage to
the highest is identical with true freedom.
* William James
I touch the future, I teach.
* Christa McAuliffe
It takes as much time to wish as to plan.
* Unknown
We need to learn to set our course by the stars,
not by the lights of every passing ship.
* Omar Bradley
Laughter is the shock absorber that softens and minimizes the bumps of life.
* Anonymous
What love we’ve given, we’ll have forever.
What love we fail to give, will be lost for all eternity.
* Leo Buscaglia
Visit www.Inspiration.RightAttitudes.com for my compilation of inspirational quotations by author and topic. You may also subscribe to the weekly newsletter of inspirational quotations by sending a blank email to iqml-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
*Keyword(s): Inspiration, Quotations
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You Have a Pile of Reading Material at Your Desk?
In this ‘information overload’ era, you confront a sizeable quantity of reading material everyday: books, magazines, newspapers, memos, reports, and so forth. You are incessantly pressed for time. Consequently, you probably have a stack of reading material accumulating at a corner of your desk.
Here are four habits to help manage your reading material.
Preview
Preview memos, magazine- and newsletter-articles. Scrutinize the table of contents, and for each article that may seem interesting, scan through section-headings, introductory and concluding paragraphs, illustrations and keywords in boldface or italics. If you ought to read an article, tear-away or photocopy the relevant pages and add them to a ‘To Read’ folder.- Preview books before buying or borrowing a book. Check reviews on Amazon.com or other websites. Scan the jacket cover, table of contents and chapter headings. After obtaining the book, focus on reading only chapters and sections that are relevant to your interests.
Organize
Discard old reading material. If your reading material expands into a disorganized—and perhaps intimidating—pile, consider discarding the older articles, likely at the bottom of your pile. The content of these articles may no longer be relevant. In addition, you will probably never get to reading them.- Classify for priority. Assess the importance of every article and organize your reading material into two or three groups. This way, if your reading stack gets unmanageable, you may discard the least-important group.
Expand Comprehension
Read with purpose. Throughout your reading, ask yourself questions such as “What are the key details discussed here? How are these details relevant? What are the take-away ideas? What can I learn? How can I change?”- Read the first and last lines of each paragraph to help grasp the premise of the entire paragraph. Check the summary or highlights first.
- Study tables, illustrations, graphics and charts carefully. Characteristically, these visual elements contain comprehensive information that may summarize entire sections of text.
Stay On Top
Carry your ‘To Read’ folder in your briefcase or bag so you can read while waiting for an appointment with your dentist or at an airport waiting to board your flight.- Set aside time for reading. Dedicate convenient times for reading activities and add these times to your calendar. Even brief periods of focused reading can be very productive.
Concluding Thoughts
In this fast-paced world, reading can be overwhelming. By prioritizing and adopting the above habits, you can make significant improvements to your ability to read more quickly and efficiently.
***See other articles related to time management, personal organization, reading, general communication, productivity, ideas for impact, career success
Inspirational Quotations #192
Whatever expensive toy you give your little child,
they will always like the box better.
* Olive Redmond
Our life is what our thoughts make it.
* Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
A dream is your creative vision for your life in the future.
You must break out of your current comfort zone and become
comfortable with the unfamiliar and the unknown.
* Denis Waitley
Humor is laughing at what you haven’t got when you ought to have it.
* Unknown
Love doesn’t make the world go round.
Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.
* Franklin P. Jones
When we don’t speak up about something through cowardice we must remember,
Silence is not always golden, sometimes it’s just plain yellow.
* Unknown
We are each of us angels with only one wing,
and we can only fly by embracing one another.
* Luciano Decrescenzo
There is no rule more invariable than that we
are paid for our suspicions by finding what we suspect.
* Henry David Thoreau
The greatest secret of success in life is for
a person to be ready when their opportunity comes.
* Benjamin Disraeli
Visit www.Inspiration.RightAttitudes.com for my compilation of inspirational quotations by author and topic. You may also subscribe to the weekly newsletter of inspirational quotations by sending a blank email to iqml-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
*Keyword(s): Inspiration, Quotations
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Ideas for Impact #20: Stephen King’s Tips for Writing Better
Stephen King “On Writing”
Blogger Henrik Edberg at the ‘Positivity Blog’ shares the following tips from celebrated science-fiction writer Stephen King’s book “On Writing.”
Get to the point. Do not waste your reader’s time with too much back-story, long intros or longer anecdotes about your life. Reduce the noise.
- Write a draft. Then let it rest. King recommends that you crank out a first draft and then put it in your drawer to let it rest. This enables you to get out of the mindset you had when you wrote the draft and get a more detached and clear perspective on the text.
- Cut down your text. When you revisit your text, it is time to kill your darlings and remove all the superfluous words and sentences. Removing will de-clutter your text and often get your message through with more clarity and a bigger emotional punch.
- Be relatable and honest. One of the keys to doing that is to have an honest voice and honest characters with both bad and good sides to them. People we can relate to with all of their faults, passions, fears, weaknesses and good moments. Another key to being honest and relatable is keeping a conversational style.
- Write a lot. To become a better writer you probably—and not so surprisingly—need to write more.
Call for Action
Communication is all about the audience: it is about leading the audience to comprehend a message and identify your point of view. The above writing tips will help you focus on your message–be it in a speech, a blog post, an essay or an email.
To add to the above tips, as we have discussed in an earlier blog article, the most effective start to the communication process is to begin at the end and enumerate the outcome–the conclusions the audience should draw. This helps you collect and present ideas logically and thus lead the audience to those desired conclusions.
***See other articles related to persuasion, written communication, general communication, verbal communication, public speaking, presentation skills
Inspirational Quotations #191
A leader is someone who creates infectious enthusiasm.
* Ted Turner
Winning is a habit.
Unfortunately, so is losing.
* Vincent T. Lombardi
All our young lives we search for someone to love.
Someone who makes us complete. We chose partners.
We change partners. We dance to a song of heartbreak and hope.
All the while wondering if there is someone,
somewhere who might be searching for us?
* Mother Theresa
Pain is only weakness leaving your body, so don’t give up
because it hurts keep going cause it makes you stonger.
* Brandon Moore
Remember Yesterday
Dream of Tomorrow
But Live for Today.
* Anonymous
There is no off position on the genius switch.
* David Letterman
Chance is always powerful.
Let your hook be always cast;
in the pool where you least
expect it, there will be a fish.
* Ovid
May you live all the days of your life.
* Jonathan Swift
The crisis of yesterday is the joke of tomorrow.
* H G Wells
When one door of happiness closes, another opens;
but often we look so long at the closed door
we do not see the one which has been opened for us.
* Helen Keller
Visit www.Inspiration.RightAttitudes.com for my compilation of inspirational quotations by author and topic. You may also subscribe to the weekly newsletter of inspirational quotations by sending a blank email to iqml-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
*Keyword(s): Inspiration, Quotations
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Ideas for Impact #19: The Best Advice You Can Offer
A newer employee recently approached you for advice on a particularly thorny personal problem she was facing at work. She had an idea for tackling her problem. You had discouraged her idea citing a couple of reasons and offered your own idea as the best solution to her problem. “Advice from years of experience,” you had added. She had nodded her head in agreement.
A couple of weeks later, you discover that she had disregarded your advice and pursued her original idea. You are now annoyed at her and grumble: “Such a waste of my time! Why do people come to me for advice when they don’t intend to pay attention to my ideas? Nobody seems to respect words of wisdom anymore.”
Does the above experience sound familiar? Aren’t we often all-too-eager to offer others advice?
In the above narrative, the newer employee may not have wanted to take the suggested approach—she followed her own idea to manage her problem. Herein is one fundamental reality about offering advice: people rarely listen to others’ advice if they see a contradiction in their advice. In other words, the best advice you can offer others is the advice that they come up with themselves.
Mary Kay Ash on the Art of Listening
Mary Kay Ash, American entrepreneur and founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics discusses the art of listening in her book ‘People Management.’
Some of the most successful people-managers are also the best listeners.
[One manager] had been hired by a large corporation to assume the role of sales manager. But he knew absolutely nothing about the specifics of the business. When salespeople would go to him for answers, there wasn’t anything he could tell them–because he didn’t know anything! Nonetheless, this man really knew how to listen. So no matter what they would ask him, he’d answer, “What do you think you ought to do?” They’d come up with a solution; he’d agree; and they’d leave satisfied. They thought he was fantastic. He taught me this valuable listening technique, and I have been applying it ever since.
Many of the problems I hear don’t require me to offer solutions. I solve most of them by just listening and letting the grieving party do the talking. If I listen long enough, the person will generally come up with an adequate solution.
Call for Action
When a person approaches you for advice, he/she may have some faint idea to tackle the problem at hand.
Or, the person has already developed an idea. He/she would like you to serve as a ‘sounding-board’ for the idea–to reinforce the idea and confirm that this approach is appropriate.
After listening attentively to the person’s thoughts, ask “What do you think you ought to do?” Skilfully, lead the thought-process and encourage him/her to develop the solution. With this buy-in, the person will more likely follow your—really, his/her own—advice.
***See other articles related to advising, advice, managing people, communication skills, ideas for impact, working with others
Inspirational Quotations #190
May there always be a smile on your face and laughter in your heart.
* Unknown
No man…can be a genius;
but all men have a genius,
to be served or disobeyed at their own peril.
* Ananda Coomaraswamy
Love is not a feeling, it is a decision -
to do the very best we can for the other person.
* Unknown
The aim of life is to live,
and to live means to be aware,
joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.
* Henry Valentine Miller
If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy,
if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has
power to move you, if the simple things of nature have
a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive…
* Eleonora Duse
No matter how much it has done for your mind,
your education has been a failure if it has failed to open your heart.
* St. Frances deSale
Work joyfully and peacefully, knowing that right thoughts
and right efforts will inevitably bring about right results.
* James Allen
Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.
* Muriel Strode
What we all tend to complain about most in other people
are those things we don’t like about ourselves.
* William Wharton
Deeds, not words shall speak me.
* John Fletcher
Visit www.Inspiration.RightAttitudes.com for my compilation of inspirational quotations by author and topic. You may also subscribe to the weekly newsletter of inspirational quotations by sending a blank email to iqml-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
*Keyword(s): Inspiration, Quotations
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Interviewing Skills #4: Avoid too many ‘I-I-I’ or ‘We-We-We’ answers
A job candidate that I once interviewed claimed credit for a new customer-service strategy across her company. Following the interview, in speaking with her references, I discovered that the candidate was responsible just for implementation of a corporate-wide initiative only in her particular facility. She had done this job exceedingly well; however, the initiative was not her idea, nor was the new IT-system installed to support this initiative, as she had claimed. Further, her work was restricted to her location only. Clearly, the candidate had overstated her achievements. She had likely used too many ‘I-I-I’ answers.
One of the persistent problems with the job interview process is that candidates tend to exaggerate their achievements in their résumés and in interview discussions. Interviewing is, therefore, one of the toughest managerial-tasks: in the 30-or-45 minutes of a face-to-face interview or a telephone interview, it is very difficult to identify specifics of a candidate’s achievements and place them in a border context. A job candidate can easily distinguish himself or herself by helping the interviewer with this challenge.
Avoid Too Many ‘I-I-I’ Answers
In the modern organisation, a lot of work, and consequently, success, is a function of circumstances—of opportunities available and teamwork. Success is often about being in the right place, at a right time, with the right people and doing what is right.
When interviewing, distinguish yourself by clearly demonstrating an understanding of the role of respective contexts in your projects and their successes. Justify your achievements while acknowledging others’ contributions. Use constructs such as “the marketing manager had this great idea. I teamed-up with him, conceptualised the idea and executed the new initiatives in my engineering organisation.”
Too many ‘We-We-We’ Answers are Bad Too
On the other hand, interviewers from specific backgrounds tend to use too many we-answers. Cultural upbringing may encourage these candidates to display humility, be modest in discussing achievements and consequently avoid I-answers where possible.
I can think about numerous instances when I have requested interviewees to stop using we-answers and describe achievements specifically in terms of what the candidate did–by using the I-answers.
Balance is Key
Acknowledging the circumstances and clarifying context of successes helps interviewers develop a broader perspective of your achievements and understand your credentials easily. By carefully balancing the I-answers with we-answers, you can
- demonstrate humility and respect for the contributions of team members
- establish the bounds of your contributions and claim credit you deserve for your achievements.
***See other articles related to career success, interview questions, interviewing skills, job interviews, job search
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Interviewing Skills #3: Avoid Second-Person Answers
Consider the interview-question “Tell me about a time when you were criticized. How did you react?”
Or, a poorly-worded equivalent: “How do you handle criticism?”
In response to such questions, job-candidates frequently answer in the second-person: “When you are criticized, you need to … Instead of getting defensive, you must listen and understand the significance … Ask how you can improve ….”
Best Answers use the First-Person
In answering interview questions, the best way to impress an interviewer is to relay your credentials and accomplishments in terms of personal success stories—first-person answers alone achieve this effect. Use constructs such as “I did this …,” “my team discovered that …,” and so on.
Answering questions in the second-person amounts to advising the interviewer–that can be a turn-off.
And, by using the second-person, you sound disconnected from the topic of your answer; you cannot relay a personal experience that provides clues to the specific skills the interviewer is looking for in asking a particular question.
In interviews, use first-person answers exclusively: present lots of ‘I’ answers and the occasional ‘we’ answer. Do not answer in the second-person.
Further Reading: The ‘Point of view’ page on Wikipedia offers details on the narrative first-, second- and third-person styles.
***See other articles related to Interviewing skills, verbal communication, job interviews, interview questions
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