Wanted: paradise island ‘caretaker’

It was describing as “the best job in the world”. It was wanted someone to work on a tropical island off the Queensland cost. The candidate must be willing to swim, snorkel, dive and sail. The salary offered was U$130,000 for six months and a rent-free in a three-bedroom villa, complete with proof.

The new recruit will work for 12 hours a months - feeding fishes, collecting the island’s mail, prepare a blog, a photo diary and video updates to attract tourists to the area.

Do you want this job? It’s too late, the candidate selected was Ben Southall and he already moved to the island with his girlfriend.

This news was a marketing strategy to promote turism in Queensland , Autralia, through a search of a candidate to the best job of the world: take care of the paradise.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/7823812.stm

Is nepotism so bad?

Nepotism is a very controversial subject. Is it really so bad? This article gives some examples of succeed and unsucceed cases of nepotism and points out some comments about this practice. In the cases that it worked, we saw that family members had knowledge, responsibility and qualifications that made them worth the position, but on the cases that it fails the members were not prepared and caused morale problems.

Professionals of Human Resources says that this situation must be address very carefully, for example, it’s not good hiring family members without alerting others in the organization. These members need to be watched and closely controlled.

There are situations that nepotism is impossible to avoid, as in specialized service from family business.

Businessman should take care to do not give promotion to a member of his family less qualified than others members of his company. It includes privilege between co-workers that get marriage.

In a company the family members should work harder than anyone else and prove their worth to others and to themselves. According to the article, nepotism works well if people already have a good grasp on their family relationship in the first place.

Source: www.forbes.com/2009/06/19/ceo-executive-hiring-ceonewtork-leadership-nepotism.html

HOW TO BEHAVE AT YOUR FIRST JOB

You’re lucky you got one in this economy. Don’t mess it up.

This article gives useful clues to behave in a new job. Some of them are:

1 – Dress professionally in your first day, then observes what everyone is wearing and tone it down;

2 – Be sure you’ve got a clear understanding of what’s expected. Write down all the details;

3 – Don’t promise you’ll finish a job quickly just to impress your manager. Be realistic and keep your manager up to date on your progress;

4 – Ask for feedback;

5 – Before you run to the boss with a problem, try to find a solution on your own.

6 – When you’re in a meeting, participate sharing your thoughts and opinions;

7 – Never behave as if small tasks are beneath you. At some point everyone needs to file or make photocopies. Your objective is to make your boss’ job easier.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/2009/06/17/first-job-advice-leadership-carreers-employment.html

WHAT DO MARKET MOVES MEAN FOR YOU

According to this article the fluctuation of share prices affect all of us. They affect our pension, our child’s nest-egg, the value of our home, etc. the text explains the difference of savings on a bank account and do an investment. Investments can go down in value as well as up. However, we should be aware when we do investments in short terms, as in housing market, and long terms, as pension fund and nest-eggs for children.
The worth of this kind of investment are not foreseeable. So people should rebalance where theses funds are invested. According to Mr. Butler it is the fool who jumps.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/business/766139.stm

Publish: 2008/10/10 10:34:33 GMT

The seven principles you must know about public speaking

This week I read an article written by Richard Zeoh about public speaking.This article was written for leaders who need to speak in public, but itwill be very useful for our final presentation.The author says that the majority of effective public speakers are trainedto be so; he observed some common qualities among them and wrote thefollowing seven essential principles to do well in public speaking:1. Stop trying to be a great speaker – you should focus on the speakingand let go of the public; try to be relaxed, comfortable and authentic.Never try do be someone you’re not.2. Stop trying to be perfect. When you make a mistake, no one cares butyou – most people really hear about 20% of speaker’s message; the other80% they internalize visually. People want to hear someone real.3. Visualize. If you can see it you can speak it – the best way to fightanxiety and become more comfortable is by practicing in your mind. Imagineyou’re talking to public and being successful.4. Be disciplined. Practice makes good – The more you practice, moreprepared and self-confident you will be.5. Describe. Make it personal – talk about your experience, other people,triumphs, tragedies and every day humorous.6. Inspire. Speak to serve – the main focus can be in the audience. Youshould teach, motive or entertain them.7. Build anticipation: Leave your audience wanting more – make yourpresentation a bit shorter than they expect. You will win their attentionand interest.

Source:www.forbes.com/2009/06/03/public-speaking-tips-leadership-managing-communication.html

THEORY OF NEEDS

The theory of needs was written by Abraham Maslow in 1943. This theory describes the necessities of human being in five levels of importance. The lowest one is the physiological needs. They are related to human survival. If this level was not met, the human body cannot continue to function. Examples: breathing, sleep, food, excretion and clothing.
The second level is the safety. it is related to personal security, health and well being. Examples: security of body, of employment and resources.
The third leve is connected to sense of belonging and acceptance. Examples: friendship, family and sexual intimancy; without this, many people become susceptible to lonliness, anxiety and depression.
The fourth level is the esteem, it is the need of be respected, recognized and valued by the others. Examples: self esteem, confidence and achievement.
Finally, the last level is the self actualization that is the maximum potencial and possibilities of a human being. Examples: morality, creativity, spontaneity and lack of prejudice.
In administration studies, the theory of need is very useful to help the leaders identify what are the real necessity of their subordinates and motivate them to work.

MERGERS FAIL MORE OFTEN THAN MARRIEGES

This article compares merges with marrieges and relates that mergers fail more often than marrieges. While the divorce rates varies between 40 and 50 % in North American and Europe, 70% of mergers fails. The causes of divorces vary according to country, education levels and income. The reasons for companies merges are expantion of market share, acquisition of new lines of distribution or technology, or reduction of operating costs but the reasons of fail is a clash of personalities and priorities.
Some examples of fail corporation marriege are Daimler and Chrysler, AOL and Time Warner, Shanghi's SAIC motor Co and Koreas Sangyong Mottor Co. Examples of successful groups are: The formation of General Motors and Volkswagen with Skoda an SEAT.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/BUSINESS/05/21/merger.marriage/index.html

WHY WE CAN’T PUT FAITH IN THE NEXT GENERATION

Passing on a family business is often a painful process. But don’t be too quick to blame the youngesters

This article is about the difficulty of the chief of a family business in passing to sons or daughters the run of the company.

The first problem is to deal with the self-esteem of the elder entrepreneur. Sometimes it is associate to death; the interpreuner felt him/herself worthless without work.

Some tips given in the text to the elder entrepreuner pass the business for the heirs are: Identifing and appreciating their core competencies and sign a "symbolic" contract estipulating that, by a certain age they will move on and let the next genneration take its lumps.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/2009/04/24/family-business-succession-entrepreneurs-management-berglas.html

Centered Leadership: How Talented Women Thrive

This article is about the McKinsey Leadership Project, that is an initiative to help professional women to learn what drives and sustains successful female leaders.

This centered leadership model comprising five broad and interrelated dimensions:

1. Finding your strengths and putting them to work;
2. Managing energy - to know where your energy comes from, where it goes and what you can do to manage it;
3. Positive framing - to adopt a more constructive way to view the world;
4. Connecting - to identify who can help you grow and to builf stronger relationships;
5. Engaging - to find your voice, become self-reliant and confident and collaborate with others.

This model of leadership intend to help women to become more self-confident and effective leaders.

http://www.forbes.com/2008/10/03/talent-women-leadership-lead-cx_1003mekinsey.html

Out Of Work And Not Young Anymore

What to do in a very difficult job market when your age makes it even harder.

This article talks about the difficulties that older employees have to get a new job. According to the text there are stereotypes that paint them undesirable, as they are reluctant to learn new skills and technology, they are overqualified and demand higher salaries than their younger colleagues. On the other hand some employers says that older employees were loyal and brought much-needed skills to their jobs.

The trick to finding a new job is to leverage the positive attributes and squash the negative stereotypes. Some tips are:

1. Use networking tools to find a new job
2. Be enthusiastic about the job opportunities.
3. Be prepared to answer difficult questions on job interviews
4. Show you are interested in the quality of the job, do not focus on big salaries
5. Point out any new initiatives you undertook in your last position and list new technologies you've learned.
6. Talk about how you believe in teamwork - being a team player means you don't expect special treatment for having more experience.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/05/older-job-seeking-leadership-careers-basics.html

HOW TO STAY COOL ON THE JOB

This article is about how to get the best of the pressure on the job. It gives some helpful tactics to cope it. The first advice is to identify what is stressing you, the second one is to divide the stress triggers into two categories: Those you can control and those you can’t, you must to knock out the stresses you can control first and try to mollify the effects of the one’s you can’t; if it’s not possible, you should try changing how your experience it. The third step is planning, to priorize tasks and decide what is possible to do and what is not. Another advice is turn panic into a thrill. The fifth suggestion is to try a little humor and, finally, if you are going to vent, do it with caution. If all these things seem to be common sense, ask yourself: How often do you actually follow these advices?

http://www.forbes.com/2008/11/11/stress-sleep-exercise-ent-hr-cs_ml_1111stayingcool.html

HOW TO ANSWER 10 TOUGH INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

According to this article people should go prepared to an interview of job in order to avoid a disaster. They just have to identify the areas they need to improve and go self-confident for the interview.

When the interviewer asks “Tell me about yourself”, you are not supposed to tell your life history but a quick rundown of your qualifications and experience. When asked “What are your weaknesses?”, just respond identifying areas in your last work where you can improve and figure out how they can be assets to a future employer; when the interviewer asks “If you could choose any company to work for, where would you go? You just have to talk about the job and the company for which you are being interviewed - a suggested answer is “I wouldn’t have applied for this position if I didn’t sincerely want to work with your organization …”

These and others seven tips about “how to answer tough interview questions” will help candidates to conquer a new job.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/worklife/03/04/cb.answering.tough.interview.questions/index.html

DOES YOUR CARRIER FIT YOUR PERSONALITY?

People should find a carrier that complements their characters. There are six personality groups that encompass people in general. Above it is listed what jobs fit with each personality. Each one requires different education, training and qualification requirements:

- Artistic: creative by nature. People who like to express themselves through their work. They like to work without rules, with forms, designs, colors, words and patterns. Examples: Editor, graphic designer, high school drama teacher.

- Conventional: like conventional things, rules, procedures, schedules and instructions. They’re practical and like routine and order. Examples: Accountant, Actuary, Technical Writer.

- Enterprising: leaders. They like to see projects through from start to finish. They are doers more than thinkers. Examples: Advertising Sales Agent, Financial Officer, Sales Manager.

- Investigative: prefer to work alone. They solve problems and mysteries, put together pieces of a puzzle and pay extreme attention to detail.
Examples: Computer systems analyst, Librarian, Science Professor.

- Realistic: results-driven, hand-on people who like problems and solutions. Examples: Electricians, Locksmiths, Nuclear Engineer.

- Social: helping others and work with teams. They communicate well, thrive on human interaction. Examples: Family Practioner, Personal Trainer, Teacher.

What about you? Does your carrier fit your personality?

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/worklife/03/11/cb.carrer.fit.personality/index.html

WHY YOU MIGHT WANT TO WORK WEEKENDS

According to this article, to work on the weekends is very good if we change the way of thinking.

The advantages of work at weekends are: no interruptions; to reduce weekday stress because the worker will have more free time during the week for personal obligations, as child’s school play, a night at the opera or a happy hour; extra money because of overtime pay applies to weekend shifts or taking an extra job; learn time management and a better reputation because if the worker spend his/her weekend, once in a while, finishing a project or lend a hand to the boss, he/she will be recognized later.

Considering all this advantages, would people really work on the weekends? Is this good for the health/life of the workers?

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/worklife/03/25/cb.you .want.work.weekends/index.html

HOW ARE WE SPENDING OUR MONEY

Since 2007, there is a downturn in UK. Thousands of shops have closed down. They cut prices to attract customers back, but people are not spending money freely. One of the responsibles for this phenomenon is the growth of online shopping. Consumers are turning away from traditional stores to online retails in search of bargains. Because of this one in ten shops is empty in UK.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/h/business/7965828.stm

HOW TO GET INVENTORY WHEN YOU'RE LOW ON CASH

This article advises small retailers who do not want or can the overhead of stockpiling merchandise. It’s said these retailers can:

1. to find a good lending (but they have to take care with the debts);
2. to find another job that will let them pay down their debts;
3. to convince the suppliers to open an account for them;
4. to start an account with a drop shipper.

Nowadays, the last option is very used. This is a way that the retailers advertise merchandise, sell it and after receive the customer’s money, conclude the purchase from the drop shipper via credit card and send it for the customers. The buyers do not know anything about this transaction, they just receive the order.

This model of business is used even for Amazon.com. For small retailers it doesn’t make much profit, but at least, they don’t lost money with lending or risky investments…

Source: http://askfsb.blogs.fsb.cnn.com/2009/03/27/how-to-get-inventory-when-youre-low-on-cash/

WHAT IS BETTER FOR A COMPANY?

1. What is better for a company?

a a person who knows a lot but doesn’t have a good relationship with the rest of the team.

b a person who doesn’t know a lot but who is willing to work on a team.

Between the two options, I think the better for a company is a person who doesn’t know a lot but is willing to work on a team, since this person makes an effort to learn with his/her boss and colleagues about his/her work, because knowledge is very important to develop professional activities but a good relationship with the team is fundamental to have positive results and a good atmosphere of work.

PROFESSIONAL EMAILS

Being polite when you disagree with someone is a very important interpersonal skill, even when you are the boss. Look how the message below should be changed to sound more acceptable.

From: Hal Clark (mailton: hal.clark@halco.com)
Sent: Monday, November 3 11:43 am
To: Brian Hughes
Subject: Garcia Project

Brian,

I just got your project for the Garcia account. It’s terrible! You didn’t understand anything I said. You didn’t include the prices of the security systems and you didn’t send the correct estimates for the new TV circuit. You’re going to have to do everything again, and I hope you can do it correctly this time. If Mr. Garcia receives your lousy project, we’ll probably lose our best client. I asked George to help you, because he’s a lot more competent than you. Too bad he doesn’t have time to do the whole thing alone.

I expect to see the new project on my desk next Monday morning. Or else!

Hal Clark
Chairman, Halco Inc.


From: Hal Clark (mailton: hal.clark@halco.com)
Sent: Monday, November 3 11:43 am
To: Brian Hughes
Subject: Garcia Project

Subject: Garcia Project

Brian,

I just got your project for the Garcia account. There is a misunderstanding about the information requested for Mr. Garcia. We should include the prices of the security systems and send the correct estimates for the new TV circuit. I’m sorry to have to say this, but I’m afraid we lost our best client. I asked George to help you.

Please, send me the new project as soon as you can.

Yours sincerely,

Hal Clark
Chairman, Halco Inc.

NEW LEADERSHIP QUALITIES YOU NEED IN THIS NEW WORLD

In “Third Opinion”, Dr. Saj-nicole Joni, chief executive in Cambridge International Group, presents four ways to change executive ability in a time of pervasive economic reversal.
Nowadays, time of broken finances, recession and strategic uncertainty, we need leaders who straddle both sides of the old world and can both spark innovations and execute it with efficiency.
The four steps for turning the personal leadership ability toward today reality are: check out what’s missing from your personal leadership portfolio and develop these abilities; take an inventory of the people around you; check your ability to productively engage in debate and conflict and don’t be alone. Crisis times call for a different kind of leadership fitness: Steady comportment, thoughtful optimism, patient discipline, self-knowledge and a long view.
Leaders will have an instinct and appetite for innovation along with the skill and curiosity to develop the end-to-end capability that delivers efficiently.

source: http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/news/0902/gallery.five_measures_new/index.html