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Nagesh Belludi

The Puppy Theory: Giving Feedback Too Late

October 28, 2009 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

A common mistake we make in giving feedback to others is that we tend to defer corrective (negative) feedback. We put off criticism until the problem escalates or, as managers, wait until the employee’s performance review discussions. This predisposition is often rooted in the fear that negative feedback will offend the other and thus affect our rapport with the other.

Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz offers a ‘puppy theory’ on timing feedback:

I have the puppy theory. When the puppy pees on the carpet, you say something right then because you don’t say six months later, “Remember that day, January 12th, when you peed on the carpet?” That doesn’t make any sense. “This is what’s on my mind. This is quick feedback.”

Immediate Feedback is Most Useful

I have previously discussed that effective feedback has three aspects: (1) initiate a personal conversation and make sure the other is ready to hear it, (2) explain his behavior, and, (3) help him understand the consequences of his behavior.

Do not neglect or defer feedback. Address problems while they are small. Immediate feedback ensures that the other accepts your feedback, understands his behavior and attempts to correct.

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Filed Under: Managing People, Sharpening Your Skills Tagged With: Conversations, Feedback

Inspirational Quotations #295

October 25, 2009 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have was once among the things only hoped for.
—Epicurus (Ancient Greek Philosopher)

It takes a person who is wide awake to make his dream come true.
—Roger Babson (American Entre)

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.
—Abraham Lincoln (American Head of State)

It’s not what you are that holds you back, it’s what you think you’re not.
—Unknown

Many people dream of success. To me success can only be achieved through repeated failures and introspections. In fact, success represents 1% of your work that results from the 99% that is called failure.
—Soichiro Honda (Japanese Inventor)

The best portion of a good man’s life: his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love.
—William Wordsworth (English Poet)

You can’t behave in a calm, rational manner. You’ve got to be out there on the lunatic fringe.
—Jack Welch (American Businessperson)

The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches, but to reveal to him his own.
—Benjamin Disraeli (British Head of State)

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.
—Albert Einstein (German-born Theoretical Physicist)

How important it is to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes.
—Maya Angelou (American Poet)

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotations #294

October 18, 2009 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Hate the sin & not the sinner is a percept which, though easy enough to understand, is rarely practiced, and therefore the poison of hatred spreads in the world.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (Indian Hindu Political leader)

Those who are fired with an enthusiastic idea and who allow it to take hold and dominate their thoughts find that new worlds open for them. As long as enthusiasm holds out, so will new opportunities.
—Norman Vincent Peale (American Clergyman, Self-Help Author)

Fear collides with our most conservative self and allows us to stop before we try, dismiss before we think, mock before we imagine.
—Carol Lloyd

A prudent question is one-half of wisdom.
—Francis Bacon (English Philosopher)

Chance favors the prepared mind.
—Louis Pasteur (French Biologist)

The delight we inspire in others, has this enchanting peculiarity. That, unlike any other reflection, returns to us more radiant than ever.
—Victor Hugo (French Novelist)

Practice no vice because it’s trivial… Neglect no virtue because it’s so.
—Chinese Proverb

To be able to stand not knowing long enough for something alive to take shape.
—Lynda Barry (American Cartoonist)

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotations #293

October 11, 2009 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

It is better to live rich than to die rich.
—Samuel Johnson (British Essayist)

A person should contemplate the workings of the universe with reverence and introspection. In this way expression is given to the effects of these laws upon his own person. This is the source of a hidden power.
—I. Ching

Everywhere in the universe, what we call life and movement results from a continual conflict of forces or impulses. Whenever that active antagonism ceases, the immobility and inertia, which are death, result.
—Albert Pike (American Military Leader)

Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It’s the transition that’s troublesome.
—Isaac Asimov (Russian-born American Children’s Books Writer)

When we feel love and kindness toward others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us also to develop inner happiness and peace.
—The 14th Dalai Lama (Tibetan Buddhist Religious Leader)

You have not converted a man because you have silenced him.
—John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn (British Political leader)

If you want to test your memory, try to recall what you were worrying about one year ago today.
—E. Joseph Cossman

The mind has to be empty to see clearly.
—Jiddu Krishnamurti (Indian Philosopher)

We are fallible. We certainly haven’t attained perfection. But we can strive for it, and the virtue is in the striving.
—Carlos P. Romulo (Philippine Diplomat)

Love is energy of life.
—Robert Browning (English Poet)

It is better to live richly than to die rich.
—Muriel Strode (American Author, Businesswoman)

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotations

How to Write Email Subject Lines that Persuade

October 7, 2009 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Writing great email Subject lines is the single most important skill you can develop to improve your effectiveness with email communication. The Subject line is the first—and occasionally the only—element of an email that readers notice. By writing a persuasive subject line, you can help your readers identify the importance of your message and drive action.

Here are a few suggestions to write a great Subject line in every email:

  • State the objective of your email in a meaningful Subject line. Give your readers a clue of what your email is about and the response you expect.
  • The best Subject lines constitute the two key attributes of the email: [Context / Project] + [Action required / Message summary] E.g., “Need MATLAB help: how can I calculate 3D distance,” “Alternator repower: recommended solution,” and “Thank you for your insightful comments at the customer forum on Friday.”
  • Avoid indistinct and elusive Subject lines like “Hi,” “One more thing…,” “FYI,” “Can you do this,” or, “Help, please???”
  • Compose the Subject line after you compose the body of an email. The process of writing the body of the email will help clarify the key message you want to convey and the action you expect.
  • Prefix the Subject with an ‘URGENT’ if the matter is urgent.
  • Do not write the entire Subject line in ALL CAPS—this is the digital equivalent of shouting. Moreover, phrases in ALL CAPS are harder to read.
  • For shorter quick messages, try composing brief, all-in-the-subject-line emails. E.g., “Friday’s lunch: rescheduled to 1:00 PM [eom]” or “Reminder: feedback reports due by noon. [eom].” Adopt a few standard conventions and abbreviations (e.g., EOM for end of message) in your team.
  • When replying to emails, change the Subject line if the context of an email thread has changed during the course of the thread or if the Subject line in the original email was irrelevant or unclear.
  • Avoid discussing multiple topics in a single email. Send multiple emails, each with its own, meaningful Subject line.

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Filed Under: Effective Communication Tagged With: Email

Inspirational Quotations #292

October 4, 2009 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

As a toy fruit or a toy elephant reminds one of the real fruit and the living animal, so do the images that are worshipped remind one of the God who is formless and eternal.
—Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (Indian Hindu Philosopher)

Man must cease attributing his problems to his environment, and learn again to exercise his will – his personal responsibility in the realm of faith and morals
—Albert Schweitzer (French Theologian)

The quality of your work, in the long run, is the deciding factor on how much your services are valued by the world.
—Orison Swett Marden (American New Thought Writer)

How can I be useful. Of what service can I be. There is something inside me. What can it be?
—Vincent van Gogh (Dutch Painter)

One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.
—Andre Gide (French Novelist)

As rain breaks through an ill-thatched house, passion will break through an unreflecting mind. As rain does not break through a well-thatched house, passion will not break through a well-reflecting mind.
—The Dhammapada (Buddhist Anthology of Verses)

I believe that you control your destiny, that you can be what you want to be. You can also stop and say, “No, I won’t do it, I won’t behave his way anymore. I’m lonely and I need people around me, maybe I have to change my methods of behaving and then you do it.”
—Leo Buscaglia (American Motivational Speaker)

The time which we have at our disposal every day is elastic; the passions that we feel expand it, those that we inspire contract it; and habit fills up what remains.
—Marcel Proust (French Novelist)

I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.
—Thomas Edison (American Inventor)

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotations

Are You Ready for a Promotion?

September 29, 2009 By Nagesh Belludi 1 Comment

Promotions Can be Stressful

Last year, researchers at the University of Warwick found that the mental health of managers typically deteriorates after a job promotion.  Part of this anxiety is attributable to,

  1. the loss of the security of a familiar role and the established relationships around the role,
  2. perceived cognitive inadequacies concerning demands of the new position, and,
  3. the uncertainty of transition and the innate human resistance to change.

The greater part of this anxiety is a common career mistake. Often, professionals take up new responsibilities for which they are not entirely prepared. Even when management judged them as qualified for the new role, without thinking through a new role before accepting the promotion, these professionals unintentionally position themselves for stressful transitions, bitterness, or eventual failure.

When Is It Time to Move On?

Do not assume that you are ready for a promotion just because you possess the right academic background, you look the part, you have the right contacts within the company, or, you have impressed your management with your capability to develop a few good ideas and articulate them well.

Here are a few questions to reflect on and assess your chance of a successful promotion or a horizontal transition.

  • Are you enthusiastic about taking on a new role? Does the new role fit into your medium- and long-term career plans?
  • Have you been performing your present duties well enough to justify a promotion?
  • Do you have a successor in mind for your current role? Have you made yourself replaceable? Are you willing to entrust your current responsibilities to a successor without a significant interruption in pace of work?
  • Are you qualified or experienced enough to do no less than, say, 40% of the new role reasonably well?
  • Have you demonstrated eagerness to gain knowledge of the new responsibilities?
  • Are you familiar with the responsibilities, autonomy, challenges, opportunities, and deliverables of the new role? Do you know how to get things done in the new role? Do you know where to get help?
  • Are you proficient with the communication, networking and interpersonal skills needed to make it in the new role? Will you get along with your peers, subordinates, and management at the new role?
  • Are you at ease with the demands on the new role: time, travel, pressures, and challenges? Can your family (or other aspects of your personal life) support this transition?
  • Can you swallow your pride if you are rejected for the new role? Are you ready to seek honest feedback about how management values you, listen, and make yourself more promotable in the future?

The more questions you answer with a “Yes” to, the better your chances for a successful promotion. Reflect on the questions you answer with a “No” to. Create a growth plan, improve your professional profile, and, ask for feedback from management on what you can do deserve a promotion.

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Filed Under: Career Development, Sharpening Your Skills Tagged With: Career Planning, Leadership Lessons, Managing the Boss, Personal Growth

Inspirational Quotations #291

September 27, 2009 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

If you have made mistakes, even serious ones,
there is always another chance for you. What we call failure is
not the falling down, but the staying down.
— Mary Pickford

Health is the greatest possession.
Contentment is the greatest treasure.
Confidence is the greatest friend.
Non-being is the greatest joy.
— The Dhammapada

Hatred is an affair of the heart;
contempt that of the head.
— Arthur Schopenhauer

It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.
— Walt Disney

If I keep a green bough in my heart, the singing bird will come.
— Chinese Proverb

Great doubts deep wisdom… Small doubts little wisdom.
— Chinese Proverb

One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all
of us tend to put off living.
We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon-
instead of enjoying the roses blooming outside our windows today.
— Dale Carnegie

You can get everything in life you want if
you will just help enough other people get what they want.
— Zig Ziglar

There was never a night or a problem that could defeat sunrise or hope.
— Bern Williams

Five great enemies to peace inhabit with us:
vice, avarice, ambition, envy, anger, and pride.
If those enemies were to be banished,
we should infallibly enjoy perpetual peace.
— Petrarch

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotations #290

September 20, 2009 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Freedom is hammered out on the anvil of discussion, dissent, and debate.
—Hubert Humphrey (American Head of State)

Wisdom is oft times nearer when we stoop than when we soar.
—William Wordsworth (English Poet)

The estimate and valor of a man consists in the heart and in the will; there his true honor lies. Valor is stability, not of arms and legs, but of courage and the soul; it does not lie in the valor of our horse, nor of our arms, but in ourselves. He that falls obstinate in his courage, if his legs fail him, fights upon his knees.
—Michel de Montaigne (French Philosopher)

Why are the words good-bye, I’m sorry, and I love you so easy to pronounce but so hard to say?
—Unknown

Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together.
—Woodrow Wilson (American Head of State)

Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won. It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours.
—Ayn Rand (Russian-born American Novelist)

The soul has this proof of its divinity: that divine things delight in it.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (Roman Philosopher)

The experiences of camp life show that a man does have a choice of action. There were enough examples, often of a heroic nature, which proved that apathy could be overcome, irritability suppressed. Man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions of psychic and physical stress. We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken away from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s way. The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity—even in the most difficult circumstances—to add a deeper meaning to life.
—Viktor Frankl (Austrian Physician)

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotations #289

September 13, 2009 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Leaders establish the vision for the future and set the strategy for getting there; they cause change. They motivate and inspire others to go in the right direction and they, along with everyone else, sacrifice to get there.
—John Kotter (American Academic)

Always be able to look back and say: “At least I did not lead no humdrum life.”
—Movie: Forrest Gump

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.
—Leo Buscaglia (American Motivational Speaker)

That government is best which governs least.
—Henry David Thoreau (American Philosopher)

Everybody wants to be somebody; nobody wants to grow.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (German Poet)

Striving for success without hard work is like trying to harvest where you haven’t planted.
—David Bly

Goodness is the only investment that never fails.
—Henry David Thoreau (American Philosopher)

Our fundamental problems are our ignorance and ego-grasping. We grasp at our identity as being our personality, memories, opinions, judgments, hopes, fears, chattering away—all revolving around this me me me me.
—Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo (British Buddhist Teacher, Nun)

As long as we believe ourselves to be even the least different from God, fear remains with us; but when we know ourselves to be the One, fear goes; of what can we be afraid?
—Swami Vivekananda (Indian Hindu Mystic)

The nearest way to glory is to strive to be what you wish to be thought to be.
—Socrates (Anceient Greek Philosopher)

I have always admired the ability to bite off more than one can chew and then chew it.
—William C. deMille (American Screenwriter)

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotations

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About: Nagesh Belludi [hire] is a St. Petersburg, Florida-based freethinker, investor, and leadership coach. He specializes in helping executives and companies ensure that the overall quality of their decision-making benefits isn’t compromised by a lack of a big-picture understanding.

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Unless otherwise stated in the individual document, the works above are © Nagesh Belludi under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license. You may quote, copy and share them freely, as long as you link back to RightAttitudes.com, don't make money with them, and don't modify the content. Enjoy!