Right Attitudes » Ideas for Impact
» by Nagesh Belludi

I am traveling to Bangalore, Pune and Mysore in the middle of May. If you would like me to speak at your company, college or non-profit organization, email me via the contact form in the sidebar.

I can speak on effective communication, people skills, simple and effective writing, avoiding destructive behavior, professional etiquette, writing job descriptions, helping managers become better coaches, time management, and skills for success.

My seminars come at no charge to you or your organization.

Among the hundred blog posts I wrote in year 2008, here are the ones that received the most visitors, largely by means of Google Search and referrals.

1. The ‘STAR’ technique to answer behavioral interview questions. The best way to impress an interviewer is to discuss your credentials and accomplishments in terms of personal success stories using the ‘STAR’ technique. By following this simple technique, you can narrate direct, meaningful, personalized experiences that best identify your qualifications.
2. Jack Welch’s four types of managers. Organizations face the challenge of developing and sustaining a culture that is both values-centered and performance-driven. Nothing hurts morale more than when leaders tolerate employees who deliver results, but exhibit behaviors that are incongruent to values of the company.
3. Why the sandwich feedback technique is ineffective. The sandwich feedback method consists of praise followed by corrective feedback followed by more praise. However, the sandwich technique amounts to undercutting praise with criticism. A praise followed by criticism undermines the positive impact of praise and weakens the significance of the corrective feedback.
4. Time management: Log where time actually goes. Before you begin managing your time effectively, you need to develop an idea of how you spend time currently. Track how you use your hours and minutes during a suitably long period of time, ideally a whole week. The immediate benefit of time logging is that it induces a sense of significance of your time.
5. Keeping good eye contact. Our eyes play a major role in our interpersonal communication. The eyes express our moods and reactions more overtly than does other body language. People who keep good eye contact are usually seen as personable, self-assured and confident.

6. Overcoming procrastination: The ‘10-Minute Dash’ technique to get a task going. One of the easiest techniques to overcoming procrastination is to begin. Quite often, seemingly difficult tasks get easier once we get working on them. In short time, we get into the ‘flow’ and work towards completion.
7. Effective delegation: Delegate outcomes, not just tasks. The key to effective delegation is to approach delegation as an offer to present to a team member, not a demand to be made. Delegating outcomes–not just tasks–helps managers skillfully present assignments to their team members and empowers them to get the job done.
8. Don’t let ‘perfect’ be the enemy of ‘done’. We need to accept the prospect of compromises to our goals and aspirations. We need to acknowledge that our expectations are often excessive and uncalled for. When we develop a ‘good enough’ or ‘perfect enough’ mindset, we realize that imperfection is, after all, a negotiable outcome.
9. Never surprise your boss. Success in building a relationship with your boss begins with recognizing that this relationship hinges on open communication, cooperation, and credibility. Bosses dislike surprises–positive or negative. Keep your boss in line and suit her preferred style of communication.
10. Make your weekends feel longer. The key to making your weekend feel longer and having a relaxing time is to reorganize your plans and freeing-up time for your favorite, pleasurable activities during the weekend. By prioritizing, improvising and staying on top of things you can arrive at the end of your weekend contented and full of energy for the fresh week ahead.

Thank you very much for your continued readership and support of my work. I wish you and yours a happy, healthy and prosperous year ahead in 2009.

I am on vacation in Bangalore, India through 12-Jan-2009. During my time in India, I can conduct seminars on personal and organizational effectiveness in your company, college or non-profit organization. See this one-page circular for a list of my seminars and a brief biography of myself.

My seminars come at no charge to you or your organization. I am willing to travel to other cities if my schedule permits. Contact me via the contact form in the sidebar.

• One-page circular on my seminars (PDF File)

I believe that, in general, the spoken word has greater persuasive power than the written word. I will supplement my writing here at RightAttitudes.com with frequent podcasts on personal effectiveness.

Fundamentally, a podcast is an audio file that you can download to your computers and listen to using any audio player software. A number of our subscribers do not use high-speed internet; hence, we will use MP3 files of medium quality (bit rate of 64kbps) for smaller file sizes.

Tomorrow, on the occasion of the Indian festivals of Vijayadashami and Durga Pooja, I will release the first ‘Ideas for Impact’ podcast. In this podcast, we will discuss the importance of perspective and understanding of the big-picture in our jobs. Topics that I have in mind for future podcasts include,

• The 80-20 philosophy of prioritisation
• Humility in the context of leadership
• Problem solving by asking the right questions
• Cultivating the habit of quiet thinking

Each podcast will include a list of specific action items to help you reflect and develop the attitudes and skills described in the podcast.

I love to hear from you, get your feedback and discuss ideas for future podcasts. Thank you for your support.

***See other articles related to podcasts, ideas for impact

I am currently in Bangalore, India, visiting family and friends. I am using this opportunity to meet with several blog readers and supporters of my work at Right Attitudes. Concurrently, I am conducting seminars on behavioral communication at a few organizations around town.

If you are in Bangalore or will be here before the end of this month, I would love to connect with you:

• I could speak at your organization.
• I have contemplated the idea of a gathering of readers and supporters of Right Attitudes. We could all meet in a convenient place. Due to travel and upcoming holidays, I have had mixed responses from prospective attendees.
• We could meet one-on-one.

If you would be interested in any of these prospects, please contact me via e-mail or the contact form on my website. Please leave your telephone number and your location in Bangalore.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Quite a few regular readers of my Right Attitudes blog and its predecessor website have proposed that I use this forum to share ideas and insights from various sources. In response to your requests, I am announcing a new series of articles entitled ‘Ideas for Impact.’

Every week, I will present valuable insights drawn from a variety of sources—books, magazines, blogs, interviews, and, speeches. Each article will feature a brief summary or excerpt of ideas for personal and organisational development. Additionally, I will include a call for action that will help you reflect and act on these influential thoughts.

I hope that you will apply these practical wisdoms to change yourselves—your mindsets, thoughts and actions. I am confident that this ‘Ideas for Impact’ series of articles will further the mission of my Right Attitudes blog in leading you and your organisations to effectiveness in your personal and professional lives.

I love to hear from you and get your feedback. If you have ideas or contributions for future ‘Ideas for Impact’ articles, do not hesitate to contact me.

Do good work and enjoy life!

****See other articles related to personality development, Ideas for Impact

Based on feedback I received from blog readers and subscribers, I recently restructured my blog’s mission statements. Below are the new contents. You may also see the separate page on Blog Mission; this page is accessible from the links on the left-side pane.

Attitudes are Contagious

“Could we change our attitude,
we should not only see life differently,
but life itself would come to be different.”
- Katherine Mansfield (1888 – 1923)

Attitudes are mindsets that shape our behavior and influence our outlook to life. Our choice of thoughts and actions has a profound effect on the various constituents of our lives. Our attitudes determine the paths we choose to lead and these choices largely determine our effectiveness, prosperity, success and contentment.

Blog Mission

Through my blog, I aspire to share the many lessons that I have learned in life. I will write about things I could have done, things I should have done, and things I do now. I hope to make a difference by pointing specific steps we can take to translate the power of right attitudes into our behavior. (I am an engineer and engineers love enumerated lists of actions.)

I hope that the conversations I will initiate here will have a positive influence on your effectiveness in your personal and professional lives.

Inspirational Quotations

Every week, I post a newsletter of inspirational quotations. This newsletter currently reaches over 1300 subscribers. See my Inspirational Quotations website for a compilation of over 1500 inspirational quotations. You may subscribe to this newsletter through Yahoo! Groups.

On the left side of this page, I have a form that you can use to subscribe to my blog articles by email. You may also choose to subscribe to the feed using the XML/RSS links there.

I Love to Hear from You

Every week, I receive several emails from blog readers with questions on career choices or a difficult situation at work or with requests to review resumes or on a wide variety of topics. If I can help you in anyway, please feel free to contact me. I answer all these questions by a weekend.

Additionally, I look forward to your participation by posting opinions, raising challenging questions and suggesting topics that I can write about. I appreciate your time.

Dream big, do good work and enjoy life!

“The wisdom of the wise and the experience of the ages are perpetuated by quotations” – Benjamin Disraeli (1804 – 1881)

Our thoughts characterize our lives. We become what we think. The attitudes we develop from our thoughts can have a profound positive influence on our behavior and can foster an optimistic outlook towards life.

Inspirational quotations encapsulate man’s wisdom through the ages. They are provocative and enjoyable. The habit of comprehending these words of inspiration can permeate our lives with the right attitudes.

I have been an enthusiastic collector of inspirational quotations over the years. On a supplementary website / sub-domain (inspiration.rightattitudes.com), I have presented my collection by topic and by author. I desire that you gain motivation and strength from this presentation of my collection.

Participate

I send out a mailing of inspirational quotations every Monday. Subscribe and join over 1,200 associates that currently subscribe to my weekly mailing. FAQ is here. I look forward to your participation by subscribing to my weekly mailing of inspirational quotations and by contributing your favorite inspirational quotations for inclusion in the website.

*Keyword(s): Inspirational Quotations

“Could we change our attitude, we should not only see life differently, but life itself would come to be different.” – Katherine Mansfield (1888 – 1923)

Attitudes are mindsets that shape our behaviour and influence our outlook to life. Attitudes are contagious; our choice of thoughts and actions has a profound effect on the various constituents of our lives. Our attitudes determine the paths we choose to lead and these choices largely determine our productivity, prosperity, success and contentment.

I aspire to use this blog to share my thoughts on the power of right attitudes and on translating such thoughts into enduring skills, disciplines and actions. I hope to initiate conversations on various topics that can have a positive influence on our performance at work, our relationships, our conduct and the communities we live in.

My articles will be broadly classified into various categories: personality development, communication, leading people, managing business functions and personalities we admire. Every week, I will post a supplementary list of inspirational quotations from my inspirational quotations website. Additionally, I will have articles on my analysis of management practices and news from some of the industries I follow, viz., civil aviation, technology, services and retailing.

I look forward to your participation by posting opinions, raising challenging questions and suggesting topics that I can write about. I appreciate your time. Do good work and enjoy life!