Right Attitudes

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Archives for March 2007

Inspirational Quotations #162

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A wise man is superior to any insults which can be put upon him, and the best reply to unseemly behavior is patience and moderation.
—Moliere (French Playwright)

Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do, and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.
—George S. Patton (American Military Leader)

Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (Roman Philosopher)

None are so hopelessly enslaved, as those who falsely believe they are free. The truth has been kept from the depth of their minds by masters who rule them with lies. They feed them on falsehoods till wrong looks like right in their eyes.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (German Poet)

We become what we think about all day long. The question is, ‘What do you think about?’
—Wayne Dyer (American Motivational Writer)

One can make a day of any size, and regulate the rising and the setting of his own sun and the brightness of its shining.
—John Muir (Scottish-born American Naturalist)

Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes … but no plans.
—Peter Drucker (Austrian-born Management Consultant)

The hopeful man sees success where others see failure; sunshine where others see shadows and storm.
—Orison Swett Marden (American New Thought Writer)

Act as though what you do makes a difference. It does.
—William James (American Philosopher)

Physical Well-Being for High Performance

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In an article entitled “The Making of a Corporate Athlete” in the January, 2001, issue of the Harvard Business Review, authors Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz describe executives as “corporate athletes.” They explain the concept of recovering energy to bring the body, emotions, mind and spirit to a peak form and thus sustain high performance over the long haul.

Practices for Renewing Physical Energy

Physical Well-Being for High Performance The authors consider physical well-being as fundamental to the high performance state of an executive. Here is a (paraphrased) list of six healthy practices they recommend for renewing physical energy.

  1. Eat multiple small-meals a day. Eating just one or two meals a day with long periods in between may slowdown metabolism.
  2. Never skip breakfast. Eating breakfast early in the morning helps maintain metabolism during the morning.
  3. Eat a balanced diet.
  4. Reduce the consumption of sugars. Sugars represent empty calories and cause “energy-depleting spikes in blood glucose levels.”
  5. Drink at least 1.5 litres (four 12-ounce glasses) of water every day, even if you do not feel thirsty.
  6. Exercise regularly. The authors recommend “three to four 20- to 30-minute cardiovascular workouts a week, including at least two sessions of intervals—short bursts of intense exertion followed by brief recovery periods.”

Call for Action

Renewing Physical Energy In the face of ever-increasing demands to perform, deliver and excel, both at work and outside, it is easy for us to ignore our physical well-being; most of us do.

Critically examine your current lifestyle and fitness level: your eating and sleeping habits, your relaxation and entertainment choices, and, your commitment to physical and brain exercises. In consultation with people around you, viz., family, friends, bosses and physicians make the right choices to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Pick physical activities that work for you and you will enjoy. Get to and stay in the ‘Zone’.

Presentation Skills #4: On Handouts

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Handouts or takeaways can enhance the core content of a presentation or speech and serve as sources of information for reference and recall. Here are a few guidelines to consider for distributing handouts.

  • As a general guideline, do not distribute handouts prior to a presentation if the audience is likely to become absorbed in the handouts and ignore your verbal presentation. For instance, if you are training college students on interviewing skills, consider distributing your handouts after the seminar.
  • When the audience is likely to be more serious or needs to study charts or illustrations to participate meaningfully, do distribute your handouts before commencing your presentation. Your audience can follow along your verbal presentation and make notes on the handouts.

Handouts for Pre-reading

Quite often, handouts may also serve as pre-reading material to help the audience study the content beforehand and prepare for your presentation. Suppose that you will lead a presentation for approval of a new steering wheel design. If you distribute a PowerPoint file with illustrations and key features of your new design, the electronics, dashboard, manufacturing and assembly teams can review your design ahead of time. This facilitates brainstorming and informed decision-making during the design approval presentation.

Survey your Audience

Survey the audience prior to your presentation. Depending on the nature of your audience and the purpose of your interaction, distribute handouts when appropriate.

Wondering what to read next?

  1. Unlock the Power of Communication: Start with the End in Mind!
  2. An Essential Secret of Great Speakers: Pauses in Talking
  3. Never Give a Boring Presentation Again
  4. Avoid the Lectern in Presentations
  5. Jargon Has Its Place in Business Communication

Inspirational Quotations #161

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Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be and he will become as he can and should be.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (German Poet)

Change before you have to.
—Jack Welch (American Businessperson)

If you want to look like the people next door, you’re probably smothering yourself and your dreams.
—Clive Barker

You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.
—Maya Angelou (American Poet)

If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.
—Katharine Hepburn (American Actor)

In the blood of the martyrs to intolerance are the seeds of unbelief
—Walter Lippmann (American Journalist)

Genius is 1% inspiration, and 99% perspiration.
—Thomas Edison (American Inventor)

Genius is 99 percent perspiration and 1 percent inspiration.
—Thomas Edison (American Inventor)

In time of danger it is proper to be alarmed until danger be near at hand; but when we perceive that danger is near, we should oppose it as if we were not afraid.
—Hitopadesha

Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic, be enthusiastic and faithful, and you will accomplish your object. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (American Philosopher)

Speech is silvern, silence is golden; speech is human, silence is divine.
—German Proverb

What is Behavioral Interviewing?

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Behavioral interviewing is a popular approach to screening job candidates. It is based on a philosophy that assessing a candidate’s past behavior and experiences is a reliable indicator of his/her response to identical situations in the future.

Traditional Interviewing v/s Behavioral Interviewing

Screening candidates gives interviewers a glimpse into an applicant’s characteristics, skills, and experiences to determine their fit for a position. Unlike a traditional interview, which poses hypothetical questions, in behavioral interviews interviewers ask questions intended to elicit concrete examples that reveal whether the candidate demonstrated particular behaviors or skills in the past.

For example, instead of asking a candidate, “How will you deal with a team member who was not pulling his weight on a project?” as in a traditional interview, an interviewer using the behavioral interviewing technique may ask, “Describe a project where one of your teammates was not pulling his weight. What did you do? Did he change?”

Behavioral Interviewing Process

Typically, prior to the interview, an interviewer identifies a set of behavioral traits and characteristics he/she believes is essential for success on a particular assignment. He/she then selects a series of questions structured as follows:

  • Describe a time when you had to …. What did you do?
  • Give me an example of a time when you had to …?
  • Tell me about a situation in the past …

An interviewer may question the candidate’s responses and probe further:

  • What was the outcome?
  • Did you consider …?
  • How did the other person react?

Quite often, an interviewer structures questions such that a candidate cannot note the particular personality trait the interviewer seeks. Instead of allowing the candidate to theorize or generalize about events, the interviewer expects three details of each experience: (1) what was the situation, (2) how did the candidate deal with the situation, and, (3) was what the outcome.

The 'STAR' Technique to Answer Behavioral Interview Questions

Sample Behavioral Interview Questions

  • Describe a situation when your team members disagreed with your ideas or proposal on a project. What did you do?
  • Tell me about a time when you discovered a problem before anybody else on your team. What was the nature of the problem? How did you handle it? Did you ask for help?
  • What has been your most creative solution to a problem?
  • Give an example of when you had difficulty getting along with a team member. What made this person difficult to work with? How did you deal with the situation?
  • Tell me about a time when you have had to reject a customer’s request. What reasons did you give? How did you communicate?
  • What was a constructive criticism you received recently? How did you respond to it? Did your relationship with this person change?

For more questions, see my compilation of job interview questions.

For more on how to impress an interviewer by discussing your credentials and accomplishments in terms of personal success stories, see my article on the STAR technique.

Wondering what to read next?

  1. Job Interviewing #2: Interviewing with a Competitor of your Current Employer
  2. Interviewing Skills #3: Avoid Second-Person Answers
  3. Interviewing Skills #4: Avoid too many ‘I-I-I’ or ‘We-We-We’ answers
  4. Emotional Intelligence Is Overrated: The Problem With Measuring Concepts Such as Emotion and Intelligence
  5. The Fermi Rule: Better be Approximately Right than Precisely Wrong

How to Network

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Developing a network of business and social contacts is vital for personal and professional success. In our professional lives, our network can facilitate us secure a job, seek advice on job opportunities and work problems, get support, and ensure career progress. Statistics have shown that about three out of four United States-executives that earn more than $100,000 annually got their jobs through networking.

Steve Fishman on how to network

‘Leadership’ by William Safire and Leonard Safir attributes the following five steps for networking to an author by name Steve Fishman. My research has indicated that this is an excerpt from a ’80s issue of the ‘Success’ magazine.

  • Meet as many people as you can.
  • When you meet someone, tell him what you do. Networking is low-cost advertising.
  • Don’t do business while networking. Make a date to meet your contact for drinks or lunch.
  • Give and get. You can’t always be a buyer. Do favors. They’re like a savings account!
  • Make friends even when you don’t need them.

Call for action

Tending to our business and social network is not time-consuming as some of us might expect. Through our daily interactions, we are developing our network at all times. We never know with whom we could strike up an important conversation. Therefore, quite often, networking involves just being open to interacting with new people and staying in touch with people we already know.

Use Steve Fishman’s five guidelines to build your network. Develop a few one-minute statements that can help you introduce yourself to people you may meet. Spend a few minutes every day to call people you already know. Reach out, connect, stay in touch and develop your network. How can you help people in your network? How can you be of value to them?

Wondering what to read next?

  1. Who Told You That Everybody Was Going to Like You?
  2. Remembering Names at a Meeting
  3. How to Reduce Thanksgiving Stress
  4. Gab May Not Be a Gift at All
  5. How to … Gracefully Exit a Conversation at a Party

Inspirational Quotations #160

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Beauty is power; a smile is its sword.
—Charles Reade

Little drops of water, little grains of sand,|Make the mighty ocean, and the pleasant land:|So the little minutes, humble though they be,|Make the mighty ages of eternity.|Little deeds of kindness, little words of love,|Help to make earth happy, like Heaven above.
—Julia Abigail Fletcher Carney (American Educator)

It is a waste of energy to be angry with a man who behaves badly, just as it is to be angry with a car that won’t go.
—Bertrand A. Russell (British Philosopher)

Don’t let life discourage you; everyone who got where he is had to begin where he was.
—Richard L. Evans (American Mormon Religions Leader)

Intensity coupled with commitment is magnetic.
—Warren Bennis (American Scholar)

For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don’t believe, no proof is possible.
—Unknown

It’s good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it’s good, too, to check once in awhile and make sure that you haven’t lost the things that money can’t buy.
—George Horace Lorimer (American Editor)

The person who figures out how to harness the collective genius of his or her organization is going to blow the competition away.
—Walter Wriston

When you love someone all your saved-up wishes start coming out.
—Elizabeth Bowen (Irish Novelist)

General Electric’s Jack Welch on Acting Quickly

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General Electric's Jack Welch on Acting Quickly

Jack Welch was the Chairman and CEO of General Electric (GE) from 1981 to 2001. During Welch’s twenty-year tenure, GE grew into one of the largest and most admired companies in the world. Jack Welch is widely recognized as one of the greatest business leaders of our time. In 1999, Fortune magazine named him the ‘Manager of the Century.’

In an interview with Spencer Stuart executive headhunters Thomas Neff and James Citrin for the book “Lessons from the Top”, Jack Welch regrets not taking action quickly during his tenure at General Electric.

I think the biggest mistake I made is a fundamental one. I went too slow in everything I did. … If I had done in two years what took five, we would have been ahead of the curve even more.

You rarely do things too fast. If you think about your life and the decisions you’ve made, you can’t come up with too many where you said, “I wish I took another year to do it.” But you can sure come up with a list where you say, “I wish I had done a bunch of things six months earlier.”

Call for Action

Procrastinators sabotage themselves. However, procrastination is a learned behavior and therefore can be unlearned.

In all spheres of life, competition has transitioned from “big-eat-small” to “fast-eat-slow.” Good ideas are relatively easy to come up with. However, quick and efficient execution is primary to the success of these ideas. When a hundred people probably have the same idea, execution in a fast timeframe is just about the only thing that matters.

Are you holding back on your ideas? Do the tasks look daunting? Do you lack confidence? Are you uncertain of the direction or afraid of failure? How can you overcome these hesitations? Develop a set of ideas to reach your goals, prioritize them, and commence working on your ideas right away. Why delay?

Wondering what to read next?

  1. Book Summary: Jack Welch, ‘The’ Man Who Broke Capitalism?
  2. Innovation Without Borders: Shatter the ‘Not Invented Here’ Mindset
  3. Easy Money, Bad Deals, Poor Timing: The General Electric Debacle // Summary of ‘Lights Out’
  4. General Electric Blame Must Be Shared: Summary of Ex-CEO Jeff Immelt’s ‘Hot Seat’
  5. Lessons from Peter Drucker: Quit What You Suck At

Seven Habits to Beat Monday Morning Blues

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Ring. Ringggg. RRRRRRING. It is 6:30 on a Monday morning. Your alarm clock goes off. You can’t bear the thought of getting out of bed and going to work. You suddenly remember that you promised your boss an important status report by noon and realize you are yet to begin a test to gather data for the report. Perhaps, you partied all weekend with family and friends, and dread going back to your uncooperative co-workers and a cold boss. You wish you could stay at home and escape from your commitments. You push the snooze button yet again as you cover yourself with your blanket.

Does the above experience sound familiar? If it does, you probably suffer from Monday morning blues. In other words, it sounds like you have the “Case of the Mondays,” to borrow a phrase from the movie ‘Office Space.’

Mondays are a bit of a drag for many of us. We feel our weekends are inadequate to accomplish everything that we want to—we tend to over-plan and underachieve. We wish we had relaxed more, completed more errands and spent more time with family and friends. When we return to work on Monday, we are hung-over from the out-of-work rhythm of the weekend.

Here are seven habits to beat Monday morning blues.

Habit 1: Prepare for Your Weekend

  • Plan all your weekend activities after consulting family and friends. Be realistic in what you can achieve; do not over-plan.
  • Before leaving work on Friday evening, clean and organize your desk and prepare a to-do list for Monday morning.

Habit 2: Have an Organized Weekend

  • Enjoy a stress-free, relaxed Sunday by planning entertainment and fun activities for Sunday. Spend time with family and friends–go shopping or walking or take your children to the science museum. Or, just be lazy. Focus on recreation on Sunday.
  • Complete your home projects and errands on Saturday. This will enable you to unwind on Sunday, before you start your workweek. Instead, if you relax on Saturday, you will realize on Sunday morning that you will need to complete all your household tasks by Sunday night. You will then hurry through Sunday and feel tired by Sunday night: you will not feel well rested on Monday morning.

Habit 3: Maintain a Regular Sleep Pattern

  • During the weekend, we tend to go to bed late and wake-up late because we are not required to be at work by 8:00am on Saturday or Sunday. With our sleep out-of-rhythm during the weekend, we find it difficult to wake-up promptly on Monday morning. Maintain your wake-up time on Saturday and Sunday mornings. If you desire to ‘catch-up with sleep,’ get to bed earlier on Friday and Saturday.
  • Try not to nap on Sunday afternoon—you will be able to get into sleep early on Sunday night and prevent drowsiness on Monday afternoon.

Habit 4: Prepare on Sunday Night

  • Pack your bags, prepare your clothes and setup the breakfast table on Sunday night. If you brought work home, pack-up and organize your workbag. You will not feel hurried or leave important papers at home on Monday morning.
  • If possible, review your agenda for the rest of the week and your to-do list for Monday morning. Reviewing your commitments will make you more conscious of your plans for the week ahead.

Habit 5: Relax as you Prepare on Monday Morning

  • Go to bed early on Sunday night and wake-up early on Monday morning. You will be able to relax as you wake-up, get prepared and have your breakfast.
  • Start from home early. Beat the traffic and listen to good music during your drive to work. By coming to work early, you can concentrate and get high-priority work done with fewer interruptions or before your co-workers stop-by your cubicle to discuss their weekends and developments from across the world.

Habit 6: Choose Work You Enjoy for Monday Morning

  • Having a productive start-of-week is critical to having a great week ahead. If you prepare your to-do list on Friday evening, you can start working as soon as you reach your desk on Monday morning. Firstly, choose the kind of work you enjoy doing for Monday morning. For example, if you like preparing illustrations, work on a presentation of your new proposal for the project workflow.
  • Secondly, avoid negative interactions that may make you feel glum at the start of the workweek. For example, avoid meeting people who may have counterarguments on your project plans or avoid working on emails or memos with arguments against your idea. Experiencing positive interactions will make you feel good about yourself and your work.

Habit 7: Organize the Rest of the Workweek

  • If possible, do not have important deadlines or schedule update meetings early in the week. If you have a major project deadline on Tuesday or need to meet your boss on Monday afternoons to discuss test results, you may not feel relaxed during the weekend. On Sunday, you will be concerned about how you will prepare for these commitments. Instead, schedule important meetings for the later part of the week. You will feel good: you have the early part of the week to prepare and you can enjoy the weekend with a sense of accomplishment.
  • Plan for fun on Monday evenings: plan on watching a movie or eating-out or taking a walk along the beach on Monday evening. You will have something to look forward to throughout the day on Monday.
  • Take a mini-break during midweek. See my earlier blog article on taking Wednesday afternoon time-offs: leave early on Wednesday and do something out-of-your-routine and relax.

Concluding Thoughts

The key to beating Monday morning blues is organizing your work for maximum leisure during the weekend. By following the above seven habits, you will enjoy relaxed weekends and prepare yourself for a week of action when your alarm clock goes-off on Monday mornings.

Wondering what to read next?

  1. Personal Energy: How to Manage It and Get More Done // Summary of ‘The Power of Full Engagement’
  2. Yes, Money Can Buy Happiness
  3. Do These Three Things In The Morning For A Better Day
  4. How to Avoid the Sunday Night Blues
  5. A Mindset Hack to Make Your Weekends More Refreshing

Inspirational Quotations #159

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Man is a rational animal—so at least I have been told. Throughout a long life, I have looked diligently for evidence in favor of this statement, but so far I have not had the good fortune to come across it, though I have searched in many countries spread over three continents.
—Bertrand A. Russell (British Philosopher)

What does not kill me makes me stronger.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (German Philosopher, Scholar)

The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time.
—Abraham Lincoln (American Head of State)

We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us, but we sip only little by little at a truth we find bitter.
—Denis Diderot (French Philosopher)

The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said.
—Peter Drucker (Austrian-born Management Consultant)

The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.
—Elbert Hubbard (American Writer)

Happiness is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness; it is generally the byproduct of other activities.
—Aldous Huxley (English Humanist)

My main job was developing talent. I was a gardener providing water and other nourishment to our top 750 people. Of course, I had to pull out some weeds, too.
—Jack Welch (American Businessperson)

In peace, love tunes the shepherd’s reed; in war, he mounts the warrior’s steed; in halls, in gay attire is seen; in hamlets, dances on the green. Love rules the court, the camp, the grove, and men below, and saints above; for love is heaven, and heaven is love.
—Walter Scott (Scottish Novelist)

One ought to look a good deal at oneself before thinking of condemning others.
—Moliere (French Playwright)

Not a day passes over the earth but men and women of no note do great deeds, speak great words, and suffer noble sorrows. Of these obscure heroes, philosophers, and martyrs the greater part will never be known till that hour when many that were great shall be small, and the small great.
—Charles Reade