Archives for April 2009

Warren Buffett’s Rule of Thumb on Personal Integrity

April 30, 2009 By Nagesh Belludi

On occasion, personal integrity and ethical conduct can be challenging. Greed, selfishness, distrust and other inclinations can result in misrepresentations, deliberate omission of facts to throw a positive spin on things, purposeful oversight, misuse of information and self-interested behavior.

Warren Buffett, one of the world’s most successful investors and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, directs that all his employees follow this rule of ethics in every undertaking.

“… I want employees to ask themselves whether they are willing to have any contemplated act appear the next day on the front page of their local paper—to be read by their spouses, children and friends—with the reporting done by an informed and critical reporter.”

The key to personal integrity is to gather all the relevant data, define the “right thing,” exercise prudence and standup for what is right. Good intentions do not necessarily translate to action. Your thoughts and actions define your credibility at work and in the society.

Credit: Warren Buffett’s picture courtesy of user ‘trackrecord’ on flickr.com

Inspirational Quotations #269

April 27, 2009 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through the experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.
—Helen Keller (American Author)

The saddest failures in life are those that come from not putting forth the power and will to succeed.
—Edwin Percy Whipple (American Essayist)

Nobody can prevent you from choosing to be exceptional.
—Mark Sanborn

Love begins with a smile, grows with a kiss, and ends with a teardrop.
—Unknown

You know you’ve achieved perfection in design, not when you have nothing more to add, but when you have nothing more to take away.
—Antoine de Saint-Exupery (French Novelist, Aviator)

All our knowledge begins with the senses, proceeds then to the understanding, and ends with reason. There is nothing higher than reason.
—Immanuel Kant (Prussian German Philosopher)

To listen well is as powerful a means of communication and influence as to talk well.
—John Marshall (American Judge)

Day and night, dawn and dusk, winter and spring, come and depart again and again. Time sports and life ebbs away. And yet, one leaves not the gusts of desires.
—Adi Shankaracharya (Indian Hindu Philosopher)

The one thing we can never get enough of is love. And the one thing we never give enough is love.
—Henry Miller (American Novelist)

One’s philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes. In the long run, we shape our lives and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And, the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.
—Eleanor Roosevelt (American First Lady)

From what we get, we can make a living. What we give, however, makes a life.
—Arthur Ashe (American Sportsperson)

Inspirational Quotations #268

April 20, 2009 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men who can dream of things that never were and ask why not?”.”
—John F. Kennedy (American Head of State)

Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.
—Ronald Reagan (American Head of State)

Mistakes are not just the spice of life. Mistakes are life. Mistakes are not to be tolerated. They are to be encouraged.
—Tom Peters (American Management Consultant)

The wise should surrender speech in mind, mind in the knowing self, the knowing self in the Spirit of the universe, and the Spirit of the universe in the Spirit of peace.
—The Upanishads

If you want your eggs hatched, sit on them yourself.
—Haitian Proverb

It’s not what happens to you, but what you do about it.
—W. O. Mitchell (Canadian Novelist)

If you realize that you aren’t as wise today as you thought you were yesterday, you’re wiser today.
—Anonymous

I now appreciate all that I have. I am grateful for the smallest things today. I can always find something in my life for which to be grateful. I give thanks for everything that is now coming into my life. I rejoice in the wonders of life.
—Unknown

More are the names of God and infinite are the forms through which He may be approached. In whatever name and form you worship Him, through them you will realise Him.
—Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (Indian Hindu Philosopher)

Happiness is to be found along the way, not at the end of the road, for then the journey is over and it is too late. Today, this hour, this minute is the day, the hour, the minute for each of us to sense the fact that life is good, with all of its trials and troubles, and perhaps more interesting because of them.
—Robert R. Updegraff

People Want Their Thinking to Count

April 16, 2009 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Everybody Desires to be Heard

Last week, a manager complained that his boss constantly pushes his ideas with a “here’s what I want you to do” even though the manager is a subject expert. A wife criticized her husband for never asking for her opinions; “every idea, every decision has to be his—not mine, not even ours,” she grumbled.

In coaching people, one of the most common grievances I hear is that people feel they have lost their right to be heard—their spouses, parents, friends, partners, bosses, and significant others do not “listen.” In fact, one of the foremost reasons for job dissatisfaction is that employees believe their bosses do not care for their employees’ opinions. Lack of respect and consideration can strain professional and personal relationships.

People Make Decisions for Their Own Reasons

“I tell you and you forget.
I show you and you remember.
I involve you and you understand.”
* Eric Butterworth

In making decisions and getting things done with people, if you are often unwilling to ask for others’ opinions, it is because you likely think you might seem vulnerable, insecure, or incapable of taking decisions on your own. Or, perhaps, you simply choose to be forceful and assert your influence. Over time, such behaviors can easily hurt others’ feelings and trigger resentment.

Recognize that people make decisions for their own reasons, not yours. They are less likely to be motivated at something that they did not choose. If you try to be forceful, they are less likely to comply.

Four Important Words: “What do you think?”

“The four most important words in business are ‘What do you think?'”
* Jeffrey Immelt, Chairman and CEO, General Electric

Be open and approachable. Develop the habit of asking, “What do you think,” before declaring, “You will do this,” or even, “We will do this.”

Expect differences of opinion; they are natural. Work on reaching decisions by building on the agreements.

People are Inclined to Support What They Help Decide

Quite often, when people realize they have little influence on the decision-making process, they withdraw from active participation. They are usually reluctant to participate actively in a process, idea, or system that they were never consulted on.

People want to support, defend, and enthusiastically work on anything that they help create or decide. Therefore, include people in decision-making at every level in every situation—at home, work and elsewhere.

Develop the indispensable art of persuasion by asking, “What do you think.” By incorporating others’ inputs, you demonstrate a sincere interest in soliciting their opinions. When people feel valued and cared for, you establish an atmosphere of open communication, ownership, and increased commitment.

Seek Hideouts for Interruption-Free Work

April 14, 2009 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

The High Cost of Interruptions

Studies suggest that,

on average, workers are interrupted once every ten and a half minutes,
once interrupted, it takes a worker 23 minutes on average to get back to the task he/she was working on, and,
workers can lose up to 28% of their workday handling unnecessary interruptions.

Interruptions derail your train of thought. Thereafter, getting back to what you were doing can be difficult. If you are sitting at your desk at work or home, the odds of being able to focus on a task and work uninterrupted are zero. Too, interruptions abound when working from (or at) home around kids, pets, or others.

Seek Remote / Undisturbed Locations for Work

Richard Nixon, former President of the United States, used the following technique to isolate himself when he wanted to focus on important work.

Richard Nixon was extremely efficient as a time manager. One of his techniques involved the use of a small private office in the Executive Office Building across the street from the White House. Armed with several yellow legal pads, Nixon would walk over to the office to work alone. His aides were under orders not to interrupt him except in the case of an emergency.

To minimize the impact of interruptions on your work, seek a hideout. Find a place where people are not likely to bother you: a vacant conference room, a desk in another office location, or, the study area at your local library. Consider coming in to work before others or work on a weekend morning. Disconnect yourself by turning off cell phones and the internet. Focus to get more things done.

Save Time by Meeting in Others’ Offices [Effective Meetings]

April 12, 2009 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Henry Ford Saved Time by Meeting Others in Their Offices

Here is a productivity technique practiced by Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company and automobile engineering pioneer.

One of his executives noticed that Ford almost always conferred with his managers in their offices instead of his own. Since, as the owner of the company, Ford could easily command them to come to him, the executive was curious about the reason for this practice. “I go to them to save time,” explained Ford. “I’ve found,” he said “that I can leave the other fellow’s office a lot quicker than I can get him to leave mine.”

Takeaway: If you tend to struggle to control the amount of time you spend in attending meetings and handling unwanted interruptions, offer to meet others in their offices. This technique discourages drop-ins and gives you a better handle on your participation: you could leave easily when you are contributing to the meeting.

Inspirational Quotations #267

April 10, 2009 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Knowledge itself is power.
—Francis Bacon (English Philosopher)

We should spend as much time in thanking God for his benefits as we do in asking Him for them.
—Vincent de Paul (French Catholic Saint)

In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot.
—Mark Twain (American Humorist)

Nothing is more conducive to peace of mind than not having any opinion at all.
—Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (German Scientist)

Business is the art of extracting money from another man’s pocket without resorting to violence.
—Anonymous

Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly.
—Francis de Sales (French Catholic Saint)

Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one else has thought.
—Unknown

You cannot solve the problem with the same kind of thinking that has created the problem.
—Albert Einstein (German-born Theoretical Physicist)

In the final analysis there is no other solution to man’s progress but the day’s honest work, the day’s honest decisions, the day’s generous utterances and the day’s good deed.
—Clare Boothe Luce (American Playwright)

Men throw themselves on foreign assistances to spare their own, which, after all, are the only certain and sufficient ones.
—Michel de Montaigne (French Philosopher)

I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living, or get busy dying.
—Tim Robbins

Knowledge is power. Rather, knowledge is happiness, because to have knowledge—broad, deep knowledge—is to know true ends from false, and lofty things from low. To know the thoughts and deeds that have marked man’s progress is to feel the great heartthrobs of humanity through the centuries; and if one does not feel in these pulsations a heavenward striving, one must indeed be deaf to the harmonies of life.
—Francis Bacon (English Philosopher)

Meal Manners: Pace Yourself, Start and Finish with Others

April 8, 2009 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

When dining together, order the same number of courses as everyone else. This will help pace the dinner appropriately. If you’re just having the main course, and the fellow to your left orders a salad or appetizer in addition to the entrée, order a salad or appetizer, too.

As a guest, when your host asks you to order first, ask her for recommendations. This can hint at a price range from which to pick.
As a host, urge your guests to order first. Then, try to order as many courses for yourself as your guests to make sure everyone can begin and finish eating at about the same time.
At the table, wait until everyone is served. Begin to eat only after the host or the most important guest does. Follow this guideline for each course of the meal. Pace yourself such that you finish at about the same time as everybody else at your table.
If you are the most important guest or the host and others are served way before you are, urge the others to begin eating while the food is still hot.
Order the same number of courses as everyone else. This will help pace the dinner appropriately. If you intend to order just the main course, and the person to your left orders a salad or appetizer in addition to the entrée, you should order a salad or appetizer, too.
At buffet meals, after you get your food and sit down at an open table, wait until two or three others join you at the table before beginning to eat.

Depending on the formality and decorum appropriate to the occasion, try to stick to the above guidelines. More importantly, use common sense and make others around you comfortable.

Inspirational Quotations #266

April 6, 2009 By Nagesh Belludi 1 Comment

Be fanatics. When it comes to being and doing and dreaming the best, be maniacs.
—A. M. Rosenthal (Canadian-born American Editor)

Behavior is the mirror in which everyone shows their image.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (German Poet)

Enthusiasm is the best protection in any situation. Wholeheartedness is contagious. Give yourself, if you wish to get others.
—David Seabury

Anything worth doing is worth doing well.
—Anonymous

Don’t waste time calculating your chances of success and failure. Just fix your aim and begin.
—Guanyin

With your arms, I am strong.|With your wisdom, I am a man.|With your love, I know who I am.
—Unknown

If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man’s life, sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (American Poet)

Valor grows by daring, fear by holding back.
—Publilius Syrus (Syrian-born Latin Writer)

Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon him, and to let him know that you trust him.
—Booker T. Washington (American Educator)

Compilation of Job Interview Questions

April 4, 2009 By Nagesh Belludi 1 Comment

A couple of years ago, I compiled a list of job interview questions and loosely categorized this list by personal attributes, career performance, communication skills, team skills, managerial skills, and leadership skills.

I have since shared this list with recruiting managers (interviewers) and job candidates (interviewees) who I have coached. I suggest that recruiting managers choose eight questions on varied topics for a thirty-minute interview. Job candidates can select twenty-five questions and practice answering these questions by recording and reviewing their answers.

Job Interview Questions on Personal Attributes

Why do you think you are successful at what you do?
What you consider your biggest fault at work? Why do you think you have it and what are you doing about it?
What defines a challenge to you?
Describe the situation when your expectations were not met.
What is a misconception people have about you when they first meet you?
How do you maintain your passion in a place that lacks accountability?
Tell me about a time when you felt culturally ill-at-ease and how do you cope with it?
What is the single best quality that you have seen in people—a quality that you do not possess?
Tell me about yourself.
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
What was a constructive criticism you received and how did you respond to it?
Tell me about a failure. How would you know you failed in something?
Tell me about a time when your belief was challenged.
Give me an instance when your ethics have been challenged.
Give me an example when you were criticised for your personality.
If you had a month without any commitments, what would you do?
What are people most surprised to learn about you?
What do you consider to be your key values? Name a time when these values were challenged.
What is something from your past that you wish you would have done differently and why?
List three things that motivate you at work.
What is your one personal trait you most admire and why?
What motivates you to succeed?
How do you measure success?
What are you passionate about?
Which business leader do you admire? Why?
Describe a typical day at work.
Tell me about the current (non-professional) book you are reading? What did you learn from it?
Who is a prominent figure that you admire? Why?
What is your biggest regret and thus far?
What do you enjoy most about your job?
What is the one impression you want me to leave this interview with?
What do you look for in a job?
What were the high and low points in your life over the past few years?
What was the toughest integrity violation you have ever encountered, and how did you handle it?
Have you ever had to define yourself in the midst of criticism, and did you succeed?
When have you been blindsided in life, and why did it happen?

Job Interview Questions on Career Performance

What class did you like the most while you were at school? Why? How have you pursued that topic since you graduated?
When was the last time you were forced to step out of your comfort zone? What is the situation and how did you deal with it?
Suppose you discover that you missed a significant detail six hours before a project deadline. What would you do?
What you think about your current or former boss?
Was there a time where you had to choose between good opportunities? Which one did you choose?
Career-wise, was there anything in the last five years that you would have done differently?
How does your current or last job relate to the overall goals of your department or organisation?
What are you most proud of?
Tell me about a time when you personally failed. How did you handle it?
How do you feel about your career progress to date?
What would your peers at this organisation say on your second year anniversary?
When did you realise you needed a change in your career path?
What was your best mistake?
What about our position do you find most attractive? Least attractive?
Tell me about time when you overcame a problem and took initiative.
What was your most challenging work situation?
What has been your most creative solution to a problem?
What has been the highlight of your career?
What is the best idea you have ever had and why?
What is the one thing you would change about how you performed in your job in the last few years?
How have you changed the nature of your job?
Tell me about a time at work when things did not go well.
Describe the key characteristics of the business you are in.
Describe your organisation.
Describe your job. Being effective in this job means?
What are the key things that have happened since you took this job? What did you do? Why? What effect did you have? What problems developed? How did you handle these problems?
How effective do you think you have been in this job? Specifically, why do you say this? What are the performance measures? What is it about you, the job, or its context that has contributed to this level of effectiveness? What could you have done better?
What are you trying to achieve in your career? In your life?

Job Interview Questions on Communication, Conflicts

Tell me about a time when you worked with someone and had a difficult interaction or disagreement. How did you resolve it?
Describe a time when you had a conflict with a co-worker. How did you resolve it?
Tell me about a time when your powers of persuasion failed.
Give me an example of a time when you made a mistake because you did not listen well to what someone had to say.
Describe the most challenging negotiation in which you were involved. What did you do? What were the results for you? What were the results for the other party?
When a number of different people come to you with ideas about solving a problem, how do you go about using their information? Please give an example.
Tell me about a time when you have had to stand or defend a position that was not popular or easily accepted?
What was the hardest thing you had to say no to in the last two years?
Have you ever disagreed with your manager?
How do you approach resolving a conflict within a group?

Job Interview Questions on Team Skills

How would you pick a team?
What is your role on a team?
Tell me about a time when you had to deliver bad news to your team.
Tell me about a time when you let your team down.
How do you create accountability and create a strong team?
Describe a time when you were working in a team and you failed. How did you resolve the situation?
What characteristics do you look for in your team members?
Describe a situation when your team fell apart.
How would you describe your best friend?
What weaknesses do you have or experience when you are working in a team environment?
In the teams that you work with, how do you deal with disagreements between the team members?
Who was the toughest person you have worked with?
Discuss your worst team work experience.
Describe five qualities that you would want your team members to have for you to work effectively with them.
Tell me about a time when you lead a team and failed.

Job Interview Questions on Managerial Skills

What was the biggest mistake you have had when delegating work?
What is your biggest weakness as a manager?
How do you know when the project is working well? If it is not, how do you address the problem?
Describe a time when you had to be assertive in giving directions to others.
Tell me how you go about delegating work? How did you keep track of delegated assignments?
Describe characteristics of a bad team member or supervisor you have worked with.
What would you do if your boss in the job came to you requesting you to do something that you know is definitely dead wrong?
What is your management style?
Tell me about a time when your relationship with a colleague broke down. What did you learn from that?
Tell me about a time when you helped someone else succeed without doing the job for them.
Describe the situation when you had to micromanage. How did you go about it? What were the results?
What is the most difficult aspect of being a manager?
Tell me about an instance when you had to work with a difficult person? What did you learn?
Give me an instance where you handled a difficult subordinate at work.
Consider me to be your employee. I am not performing well. How would you fire me? Please play it out.
Describe an experience where you motivated your followers. Why you think you were able to do it?
Tell me about when you had to work with someone you did not get along with, or someone whose personality was different from yours.
What would your subordinates say about you and your leadership style?
How do you deal with difficult personalities?
If you were the CEO of a company and had to do downsizing, what people would you layoff, and, how would you implement this?
How do you handle working with people who are not good at their jobs?
How do you evaluate the productivity / effectiveness of your subordinates? How do you get data for performance reviews?
How would you describe your managerial style? How has changed over the past five or ten years?
Give me examples of your hiring successes and disasters? Explain what you got right—and what you missed.
Can you point to any of your people who grew up with your guidance and have gone on to succeed in your own company or beyond?

Job Interview Questions on Leadership Skills

Describe the qualities of a good manager or a leader you have worked with. Why are these important?
How has your leadership style evolved from ten years ago?
Define leadership. How does a good manager differ from a good leader?
Tell me about a time when you challenged somebody else’s idea and generated a new business initiative or project.
What kinds of decisions are most difficult for you? Describe an example.
Tell me about a time when you influenced others who were not your subordinates.
Tell me about a time when you saw poor leadership at work.
When you start your own company, what qualities will you look for in people you choose to partner with?
What is the most competitive situation you have experienced? How did you handle it? What was the result?
Tell me about a time when you developed a new business opportunity. What was the impact?
Describe a failure at work, how did you deal with it, and what did you learn from it?
What will be happening in our industry five years from now?
Have you ever been caught unaware by a problem or obstacle that you had not foreseen? What happened?
Tell me about a time when you overcame a problem or took initiative to solve something.
Describe a project where you preferred a common sense approach to an analytical approach to solve a problem.
What is your leadership style? How do you build consensus without using authority?
Some people consider themselves to be ‘big picture people’ and others are ‘detail oriented.’ Which are you? Give an example of a time when you displayed this.
What do you think is the most important thing a business needs to develop?
What is the riskiest decision you have made? What was the situation? What happened?
What you think are the three qualities of a leader? Give me an example of a situation in which you exhibited each of these.
If you had to assemble a team to work on a project, which three celebrities would you choose and why?
Describe a situation when something went totally awry.
In your present position, what problems did you identify that had previously been overlooked?
How do you get new ideas?
Tell me about a time when you saw a solution before everybody else.
Tell me about the most impactful failure in your life? What did you learn from it?
Tell me a situation where you took risks.
What innovative procedures have you developed? How did you develop them? Who was involved? Where did the ideas come from?
What is the role of management in today’s global economy?
What are the toughest decisions you have had to make in the last few years?
What was your biggest management challenge, and how did you handle it?
In your career, what is the best example of you anticipating market changes that your competitors did not?
When did your curiosity lead you to probe deeply and uncover a competitive trend or marketplace dynamic that others did not see, or, did not want to see?
People frequently borrow ideas they have seen elsewhere and then apply them in a new setting. How have you done this?

Archives for April 2009

Wondering what to read next?

Everybody Desires to be Heard

People Make Decisions for Their Own Reasons

Four Important Words: “What do you think?”

People are Inclined to Support What They Help Decide

Related Articles

The High Cost of Interruptions

Seek Remote / Undisturbed Locations for Work

Wondering what to read next?

Wondering what to read next?

Wondering what to read next?

Job Interview Questions on Personal Attributes

Job Interview Questions on Career Performance

Job Interview Questions on Communication, Conflicts

Job Interview Questions on Team Skills

Job Interview Questions on Managerial Skills

Job Interview Questions on Leadership Skills

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