Customer Service Lessons From An Airport Employee

Sometimes amazing things happen during our travels, but if you don’t take the time to notice and get excited about it, you might miss it. 

On a recent trip, something amazing happened. It was a long day. Up at 4:00am to leave for a long day of flying and connecting flights, no problems, until baggage, where there was a bunch of people still standing around when everybody else seemed to have picked up their bags and left.

It was a curious situation, but the man behind the counter was very much on top of it. He came out and made a couple of announcements and apologized profusely for the bags not being there which had us all curious.

Apparently there was some sort of technical problem in the back, the conveyer belt had stopped and jammed on something. The amazing thing was after two announcements and then apologizing multiple times, all of a sudden, from underneath where all the bags were coming out on the belt, an airport employee pops out. 

He had literally pushed every single one of the bags out, there were probably 25 or 30 of us standing there that didn’t have bags yet. He had pushed all those bags manually, by hand, and was literally handing them to the people as they came up to get them, and the gentleman who had made all the overhead announcements was also helping.

This was a great example of customer service. They could have made all of us wait until the belt was fixed, or unjammed, or whatever had happened, or until the entire system was fixed. But that airport employee took it upon himself to actually do something about it, to go above and beyond, and fix the problem in the best way possible at that time, so as not to inconvenience people any more than necessary. 

It was one of the highest levels of customer service I’ve seen in a long time. 

The marketing message and business lesson, is that we have to think about what our employees and team members are doing that are wowing customers. What are we instilling in our internal clients, in our employees, in our VA’s, and in all of those people on our team doing customer related functions? 

What are we instilling in them to give them the confidence and the ability to go out and do those kinds of things on their own that make a huge difference for our customers and for clients?

There were a lot of people on that plane that were tired, who had been traveling all day, and who just really wanted to get their belongings and leave. Nobody was complaining loudly, or even really had a chance to become irate, because of the level of customer service from the airport employees.

We should all think a little bit more about what we empower our employees to do in this regard and if we are not doing enough, how can we empower them to do more of the things that make great impressions on our clients and all those who do business with us? 

As tired weary travelers who had been on the road for a few days and had a few more to go, it was really, really refreshing and made a huge difference in everyone’s day.

Hopefully, you are doing things like this in your business and your employees are also doing things for you, and on your behalf. 

You should test, check, and measure, and find out what needs to be done, so you can empower people, give them a chance to stretch and grow, and see what kind of miracles your team is produinge for your customers and clients.

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Brain Power - A Key to Success in Life

We are all working in different industries. Some of us are entrepreneur; some of us are serving companies or some of us are having different means for our survival. In whatever field you are, the love for the work is imperative to survive and grow in your career. In this fast moving world, everyone expects that you will be hard-working unless your intelligence is far beyond the average men. But what really makes the difference, is thinking in a creative manner.

Some people call it smart work. Whatever be the name, no one can deny the immense power of ideas or more specifically creative ideas. We have read many books on creative ideas. There are number of strategies that have been evolved to boost your creative ideas. I feel and strongly believe that creative ideas come from your true love of your work. You have to have indigenous love towards your work. Make shift profession based on demand of money cannot make you immensely successful in your career. Of course, there are other factors associated in your success. One among them is your family support. Without a support from your family, you will never be able to concentrate and give 100% to your work. I would like to elaborate on this particular point in detail.

Family support and peace of life are imperative in your career growth and as well as to your health. These two factors must walk hand in hand and one cannot exist without the other one. All creative ideas come from a relaxed mind, which is not possible without a peaceful life. And here we can correlate the science. The brain cells or neurons are always producing electricity. A specific device called Electroencephalograph can measure these electric waves. It has been observed that this electricity produced by neurons follow a particular cycle. Based on the cycle’s rate, the scientists have segregated the brain into four different states i.e. Beta, Alpha, Theta and Delta.

Beta State – The cycle rate here is 12-30 Hz. This is the state, when we are wake and conscious. As you can understand, we generally remain in beta state during our daily routine work. Where beta is required to work meticulously, too much of beta makes us tired, restless and anxious. This is the reason that why people are so much stressed now a days. A very good example of this is driving in a very crowded road in a city for long time. This makes the cycle frequency high making the state as Beta. And this is why we feel very tired after a prolonged drive in a crowded city.

Alpha State –The cycle rate in this state is lower than Beta i.e. 7.5 to 12 Hz. This state is achieved in relaxation, light meditation and day dreaming. During this state, we achieve high imagination and concentration. In this phase, our memory power gets increased. In this phase, the outlook for life gets changed and it brings higher possibility of getting success in life. This state is also the source of creative visualization.

Theta State – In theta state, the cycle rate is 4 Hz to 7.5 Hz. Theta is called to be the doorway towards our unconscious state or Delta state. This is a subconscious state. Before sleeping or just after we wake up from sleep, we get into the state of theta. This is the state, where we all come out of profound creative ideas. This state is also achieved in our dream. This is the reason that we can remember a dream just after we wake up and thereafter we forget the same.

Delta State – The cycle rate in this state is 0.5 Hz to 4 Hz. This state is arrived in our deep and dreamless sleep. This is the state of unconsciousness.

Keeping the above four states in mind, Alpha and Theta States are the most important ones. If one can achieve alpha state, he can get rid of much of his\her stress in life. This also allows him to concentrate and succeed in all works. There are number of ways we can get into the state of Alpha. The most famous of all is meditation. At least 15 minutes of mediation daily can keep away your stress, increase your perseverance power, concentration, imaginary power and in turn possibility of getting success in life. The well-known Silva Method is also based on the power of Alpha state.

Theta is another state where the seed of success is hidden. If you can sow it properly, no one can stop you from getting success in life. Accessing extra-sensory information is possible in the state of theta. For example, if you are lost in parking space to find out a vacant slot, you can get into the state of theta to get this information. There are numerous ways suggested by different people to get into the state of theta. Deep mediation also can achieve theta state. Remember that theta is a state of deep relaxation and only can be arrived with a proper mediation technique.

Overall, the alpha state is much easier to arrive than that of a theta state. Theta state needs some guidance and practice. Thus all of us should strive to get into this state as frequently as possible to make ourselves successful in life and live a healthy life without much stress. Hereafter if you are trying to take a nap in your office and get caught, explain the benefit of it to your boss!

By Suvendu Manna

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Boost Morale With Team Building Activities

Is your team struggling with communication or trust issues? Very often those issues boil down to personalities - a misunderstanding of different personalities. Team building activities that focus on personality styles can be a great way to boost morale and reduce conflict. By understanding the personality temperaments of coworkers, you can identify team characteristics and open lines of communication.

Many people learn by doing, not by hearing. You can build teamwork and improve communication while having fun with team building activities. Interactive team building sessions boost learning and can stretch your training dollars even further. Each of us has characteristics that make us different from others, and each of us has strengths that help us succeed. People often ask us to "build trust" within their team. That's like asking your personal trainer to build muscle for you. A team building company can provide you with tools and resources necessary to create the right environment. Fortunately or unfortunately, you have to do the sit-ups yourself. Interactive team activities can help team members identify their dominate personality traits and strengths in a memorable way so that communication with and the ability to gain cooperation from others is easier.

Psychologists tell us there are four main personality temperaments. Whether you favor Myers-Briggs, DiSC or Personality Traits, they all group personalities in common ways. If you want to gain buy-in with your co-workers, you may need to pull from the attributes that are a stretch for you. Stretch your comfort zone to build trust. For example, have you ever observed these two distinct personality styles on a Monday morning: one comes in very energetic, bubbling over with details about their weekend and questions about yours. The other is ready for the day's agenda, very task focused and wants to get down to business. A simple explanation and understanding of these two different types will reduce conflict and build trust.

Team activities are designed to build more of a team atmosphere, help individuals learn how and why people act "that way" and how to deal more effectively with each other. The end result includes improved trust and respect among co-workers and managers, which ultimately results in increased effectiveness. And when you combine that with philanthropic team activities, your team is sure to feel more connected. Build a team atmosphere by giving back. The Rescue Bear is a great example of how you can tie all these things together. Team members learn about personality styles through a series of fun team activities; and in the end, they've built teddy bears that are donated to local fire departments or emergency personnel.

So if you want to boost morale and reduce conflict, stretch your comfort zone to build trust and use interactive sessions to build a team atmosphere by giving back. By developing an understanding of personality styles, your team will feel valued. When people feel valued in an organization, they are more likely to contribute ideas and energy and be an even more productive member of the team.

By Colette Johnston

 

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11 Success Quotes

These success quotes have all challenged my thinking, opened up a new perspective or inspired and motivated me to keep going at one time or another. I hope they can do the same for you!

1.The last of the human freedoms is to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances. - Viktor Frankl

2.Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.  - Arnold Bennet

3.Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved. - Helen Keller

4.Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer. Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance and a lack of harmony and proportion is more readily seen. - Leonardo da Vinci

5.You don't become enormously successful without encountering some really interesting problems. - Mark Victor Hansen 

6.What we see depends mainly on what we look for. - Sir John Lubbock 

7. Judge each day not by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant. -Robert Louis Stevenson

8. Dear God of second chances and new beginnings, here I am again… - Nancy Spielberg

9. If you will call your troubles experiences, and remember that every experience develops some latent force within you, you will grow vigorous and happy, however adverse your circumstances may seem to be. -James Russell Miller

10.There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. -Richard Bach 

 

11. I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do. -Edward Everett Hale

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Harnessing Positive Thinking

"I'm never going to be able to do this job; I'm just not smart enough."

"Why does my boss want me to present at the trade show? I'm a terrible public speaker, and I'll just embarrass the company."

"I wish I could stick up for myself at work; in every meeting, I let the others walk over my ideas. I'm never going to get ahead."

Many of us have negative thoughts like these, sometimes on a regular basis. When we have these thoughts, our confidence, mood and outlook become negative too.

The problem with these negative thoughts is that they can be self-fulfilling. Inside our heads, we talk ourselves into believing that we're not good enough. And, because of this, these thoughts drag down our personal lives, our relationships, and our careers.

This is why consciously doing the opposite - using positive affirmations - can be helpful. In this article, we'll explore how you can use affirmations to drive positive change, both in your career, and in your life in general.

Why Use Affirmations?

Affirmations are positive, specific statements that help you to overcome self-sabotaging, negative thoughts. They help you visualize, and believe in, what you're affirming to yourself, helping you to make positive changes to your life and career.

While there's limited research into the effectiveness of using affirmations in a general setting, there is evidence that the use of positive affirmations can successfully treat people with low self-esteem, depression, and other mental health conditions.

For instance, in a study by researchers at Northwestern State University, Natchitoches, people who used positive affirmations for two weeks experienced higher self-esteem than at the beginning of the study.

So try looking at positive affirmations this way - many of us do repetitive exercises to improve our body's physical health and condition. Affirmations are like exercises for our mind and outlook; these positive mental repetitions can reprogram our thinking patterns so that, over time, we begin to think, and act, in a new way.

Key Points

-Affirmations are positive statements that can help you overcome self-sabotaging, negative thoughts.

-To use affirmations, first analyze the thoughts or behaviors you'd like to change in your own life and career.

-Next, come up with positive, credible, present tense statements that are the opposite of these thoughts. Repeat your affirmations several times a day, especially when you find yourself slipping into a negative thinking pattern, or engaging in a negative behavior.

-Remember that affirmations are most effective when used alongside other strategies, such as visualization and goal setting.

Before you know it the positive thoughts will become a habit.  Then when you have a negative thought, you will notice it and catch yourself much easier.  At this point an awareness has been established and you can then make a choice to encourage the positive thoughts and to the negative thoughts say, "Thank you for sharing" and carry on!

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Is Your Temper Killing Your Success?

One of the first tests in determining a level of your own personal emotional security is your proficiency in handling stressful and pressure packed situations. To create a successful communicative working atmosphere and a harmonious home environment, you need to maintain a level of emotional self-control when challenged with difficult decisions, tasks, and personnel interactions. 

What is the danger of “losing it” in the workplace and at home? The primary consequence is a serious deterioration in communication between all individuals involved in an emotional meltdown taking place. If you are part of an organization where leaders and colleagues become emotional volcanoes when faced with stress and difficult decisions, constructive communication immediately declines. 

The behavioral culprit that spurs this decline is typically verbal abuse and is a key indicator in evaluating your ability or inability to handle situations in a mature and professional manner. Think about it…how can a person think clearly and respond rationally when he or she is being verbally attacked? The person can’t, and as a result, any chance of proactive communication is gone. In addition, the desire to avoid further communication with the attacking individual is initiated because no one wants to be on the receiving end of verbal abuse. 

Whether this occurs at work or at home, a consistent series of events takes place: Subsequent to the verbal abuse being initiated, communication deteriorates and the flow of information breaks down. If the flow of information breaks down, how could any organization be efficient, productive, and profitable? They can’t. On the home front, why would a child want to listen to a parent if that parent has the tendency of belittling and verbally humiliating the child? They will not. As a result, the child avoids and turns off any desire to listen, and typically responds with the same tone and degrading verbiage as the parent. Thus, the child learns to handle stress and conflict in the same manner as the parent, resulting in a new future verbally abusive parent. 

Show Your Inner Strength

Former Saturday Night Live star Cheri Oteri would humorously say in one of her skits, “Simmer Down.” Performance under pressure is the key to determining your inner strength, confidence, and emotional stability. I define “performance under pressure” as “an indication of one’s professionalism,” and I define professionalism as “emotional patience.” It is paramount that your behavior reflects a high degree of professionalism when dealing with conflict, stress, and pressure. The key is being patient with your emotions and how you react to them. This emotional patience stems from your security with your personal core values, which provide the inner strength to be proficient at handling difficult situations. 

For example, if you squeeze a tomato, what comes out? Grapefruit juice? Apple juice? Orange juice? Of course not! Tomato juice comes out. The same is true with human beings. When a person is squeezed (i.e. put under stress and pressure), what’s inside comes out. So if an individual is internally frustrated, resentful, discontent, and jealous, to name a few destructive characteristics, I doubt seriously that the individual would display a kind, loving, and compassionate demeanor when put under emotional pressure.

Patience is still a virtue, and emotional reactivity to any situation is the barometer in evaluating your success with that virtue. Personal core values provide the building blocks to solidify a foundation of strength against life’s pressures and stresses, and to maintain a high level of professionalism that demonstrates superior leadership. Have fun, be that positive example, and enjoy the stress relieving benefits of simmering down.

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Author : Jay Rifenbary

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Help Your Child Overcome School Stress

"Help Your Child Overcome School Stress"

After “No Child Left Behind” from the Bush era, the public schools drastically changed. For better or worse, they have changed. Now kids begin routine standardized testing in elementary school nation-wide. This puts a lot of stress on kids today at a very young age, when they are still learning how to cope with stressors. 

Whether your child is in elementary school or college, nerves are nerves and academic & social pressure from school achievements & acceptability is great at all ages. While you may feel helpless because things like standardized testing are out of our control as parents, there is so much you can do for your child at home to help them prepare emotionally for these stressors. 

Ways You Can Help Your Kids:

1. Know the signs of stress: changes in sleep patterns or nightmares, difficulty focusing, paying attention or remembering things you ask of them. Ie. you ask them to take out the trash and then wash their hands and help you set the table and they get as far as step one & forget two & three. Forgetfulness is a common side effect of an overwhelmed mind.

2. At the first sign of stress talk to your kids about it. Ask them how they feel about their classes and the test a teacher gives. If you only tell them to study harder you may be increasing their felt stress; this won’t help them absorb what they are trying to learn. While they may need to be encouraged to study they do need to also be encouraged to recognize their feelings so they can let them out. If they are too nervous before the exam they will likely do poorly no matter how well they studied. 

3. Sometimes it helps to set appropriate study times & positive reinforcements such as rewards not just for doing well but for studying & reaching out for extra help, etc. 

4. If your children are in high school & college I would encourage you to also be mindful of the warning signs of drug use as nation-wide there is an epidemic in substance abuse to push academic achievement. Namely the abuse of prescribed or illegally bought ADD medications for their “upper” effects which allow the student to tax their body & stay up past their time “focused.” However, things learned under the influence cannot be remembered accurately or for long term sober & these drugs are habit forming (which can of course worsen your child’s stress levels to an even more unhealthy level).

My children are two of the most wonderful men today, both in college working hard and I know that many days they are extremely stressed out by their studies. The best thing I can do for them is listen, being involved is the most important thing for a parent to be.

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Author : by Mark Dworkin LCSW 

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Preventing Child Abuse

The reason why parents hire nannies is to keep watch over their kids while they are away from home. Sadly, the very nannies that parents hire are the ones who commit child abuse to the children, without the parents knowing it. If you notice your child being afraid of going back home right after school or changes in school performance, this may prompt you to something about it. Any display of infantile behavior like thumb-sucking, nail-biting, head-banging, rocking, and other disturbing behaviors which he does not normally do, these are signs that there must be something troubling your child. This may be due to emotional abuse.

Sometimes, parents have to hire a nanny to leave their kids with. To get to know the nanny applicants, they are interviewed, screened, and hired by agencies. Unfortunately, some parents do not have the luxury of time to be with their children and talk to them. Usually, parents are not aware of what is happening to their kids lives. Because of this, most parents do not know that their children are already in pain from an abusive nanny. You will see that there are actually many types of abuse and the most common are emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse and medical abuse.

When you think that your children are being abused, you can talk to them alone and ask them nicely about the day. Any signs of fear or worry are the things you should watch out for. Try to reassure her that you wont tell anyone or that you are there to protect her. Inspect the child for any bruises, burns or perhaps injuries.

If you do not want your child to suffer from the negative consequences of child abuse, do whatever you can to prevent it from happening. To do this, it is not that easy because even family members or people whom you think you can entrust your child to have the possibility of committing this crime.

These days, there is that most important gadget used and that is the nanny cam. This also available online too. There are so many different places that you can put the surveillance cameras such as in the living room, kitchen, within the childs nursery room, playroom, etc. The kind of camera that you can tuck it anywhere in your house, or you can select a nanny cam which can be placed inside a stuffed toy, figurine, or any other home daccor is the wireless camera. Take time to look for the best surveillance camera for your needs because it can absolutely help you look after your child even when you are away from home.

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The Five Principles of Performance

Much of success is about performance. It’s about what we do and what we are able to inspire others to do. There are some simple performance principles I have learned in my life, and I want to share them with you. They really bring success, and what it takes to be successful, into sharp focus. They are also the basis for developing and maintaining an expectation of success.

The Five Principles of Performance

1. We generally get from ourselves and others what we expect. It is a huge fact that you will either live up or down to your own expectations. If you expect to lose, you will. If you expect to be average, you will be average. If you expect to feel bad, you probably will. If you expect to feel great, nothing will slow you down. And what is true for you is true for others. Your expectations for others will become what they deliver and achieve. As Gandhi said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

2. The difference between good and excellent companies is training. The only thing worse than training employees and losing them is to not train them and keep them! A football team would not be very successful if they did not train, practice, and prepare for their opponents. When you think of training as practice and preparation, it makes you wonder how businesses survive that do not make significant training investments in their people. Actually, companies that do not train their people and invest in their ability don’t last. They operate from a competitive disadvantage and are eventually gobbled up and defeated in the marketplace. If you want to improve and move from good to excellent, a good training strategy will be the key to success.

3. You find what you look for in life. If you look for the good things in life, you will find them. If you look for opportunities to grow and prosper, you will find them. If you look for positive, enthusiastic friends and associates who will support you, you will find them. On the other hand, if you look for ways to cheat, you will cheat. If you look for ways to justify leaving your spouse, you will find them. If you look for justifiable reasons to hold a grudge against another person, you will find those, too. It is a natural tendency of us all to look for things that will justify what we think we need or want. If you are not living by the foundation stones of honesty, character, integrity, faith, love, and loyalty, you will be drawn to seeking selfish gratification, and that leads to misery and unfulfilled dreams. Whatever you have will never be enough. Always look for the good and for ways to help others.

4. Never make a promise without a plan. Far too many people make promises they can never keep. They may have the best intentions in the world to keep their promise, but if they have not made a plan to keep it, they will not be able to do it. Business leaders who make promises to their employees will not honor them if they do not create a plan on how the promises will be kept. If you make a future commitment, you must understand and be willing to do whatever it takes to complete that commitment. One of the reasons marriage commitments fail so frequently is because the husband and wife do not understand what it takes to have a great marriage. They do not plan for or understand the sacrifices each must make for the other to enable a long-lasting relationship.

5. Happiness, joy, and gratitude are universal if we know what to look for. I believe you can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want. All people want happiness and joy in their life, but you have to know what produces real happiness and how to do the things that produce it. The moment you begin to worry about the things you want and the things you don’t have in life is the moment you will lose your gratitude for what you actually have. If you are ungrateful, you will never be satisfied or content or joyful about your life. The greatest source of happiness is the ability to be grateful at all times.

 By Zig Ziglar

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Be a Modern Hero

We live in troubled times. The news is filled with violence, economic turmoil, political gridlock, and, it seems, the almost total abandonment of fundamental values such as courtesy, integrity, respect, modesty, accountability, cooperation, and optimism. Are we on a slippery slope to total chaos? Is there any hope for our children to live in a peaceful, civilized society? Is there anything you and I can do?

I’ll let you in on a secret: in the entire history of the world, the future has seldom ever looked brighter than it does right now.

What?! What about all of the bad news? What about riots and falling stocks, and incivility?

The truth is that we have always had trouble of one kind or another. That is the nature of human existence. Charles Dickens summed up our days as well as his with the classic phrase: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." True heroes, past and present, are not defined by the circumstances in which they find themselves. They are heroes because of what they do in spite of their circumstances—because of how they improve, build, and lift themselves and others. They refuse to be simply swept along with the tide of pessimism. Instead, they see opportunities, bolster hope, and provide vision.

We truly live in amazing times. I remember distinctly the day that my father purchased one of the first hand-held calculators that came on the market in the early 1970’s. It was about the size of a pack of 3X5 cards. It could add, subtract, multiply and divide. That’s it. At the time, it seemed like a modern miracle. Today, I can reach into my pocket and pull out a device that is smaller than that original calculator. Not only can it add, subtract, multiply and divide, I can use it to carry on a conversation with any of my friends, virtually anywhere, at the push of a button. But that’s not all. I can use the device to record audio and video with resolutions unheard of in 1970. I can ask any question or search for any fact and receive immediate answers through the world wide web. I can purchase a book and instantly read it on my device. I can put the equivalent of 1000 LP records full of songs or other audio recordings on the device and instantly retrieve the specific item I want to listen to. I can keep my calendar, address book, to-do list, and personal reminders on the device and have it remind me of important events. I can watch movies, pay bills, instantly send and receive electronic mail, and even hold a video conference with someone on the other side of the world—and, I can do all this while walking around unhindered by wires or cords.

We live in a day of astounding technological wonders, and we’ve made similar advances in medicine, exploration, science, and social equality over the past 40 years. Generally speaking, we live at a higher standard of living, have more freedom, and have more educational opportunities than ever in the history of the world. What will the next 40 years bring? The future has never looked brighter. So, why aren’t we hearing about this from the news media? Because their job is to search out and expose things in our society that need to change. The mistake people make is assuming that what is on the news is all the news there is. Not true. There are plenty of amazing, wonderful, positive things going on if we’ll just watch for them.

How can you be one of the heroes of our day? Look for good news, for it is all around you. Search for opportunities to better your neighborhood and society. Incorporate fundamental virtues such as honesty, respect, kindness, and positive expectation into your own life. Be an example of the kind of person you hope to see in others. Soon people will follow your lead. For just as pessimism and incivility can infect and drag our society down, so likewise can your vision of a bright future coupled with integrity, responsibility, and courtesy tend to elevate and improve those around you.

Can we really make a difference? Yes! The combined efforts of each of us—building hope, providing vision, encouraging civility—can have a lasting and powerful impact.

Success Tip: Be a modern hero. Go against the grain of pessimistic whining. Visualize a bright future. Spread good news. Become the person you want to see in others. Build, lift, encourage—and change the world.

By Bill Mansell

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Take Control of Your Time

Time is strange commodity. We often talk of saving time, spending time, running out of time, or not having enough time - as if time were money in a bank account. The reality is that we each receive a check for 24 hours each day. No one is given any more or less than anyone else. It can be neither saved nor stored. It must be used, all of it, every day.

The big question of life is: are you going to invest your time wisely, or waste it frivolously? Time management is nothing more than focusing on this all-important question. Some people shun the thought of time management because they think it means they have to work all of the time or be productive every minute. That's not it at all. Time management is simply deciding what you value the most, and then spending your time on those things. Spending the day at the lake with your family, for example, can be an excellent time investment. It all depends on what you have decided in advance is your highest priority.

The most life-changing thing you will do is to sit down with yourself and write out what your highest priorities are. Then, plan goals, activities, and events that will support those things that you value most. This might take you several hours at the beginning, and as much as an hour per week going forward. But, it will change your life! Make your plan balanced and achievable. Plan for all areas that are important to you: from professional development to recreation, family, financial, social, and spiritual. Set aside chunks of time that you can invest in the most important things to you. With your priorities and your plan in mind, frequently ask yourself: what is the best use of my time right now? And then do it.

Most people never take the time to make this critical investment in themselves. As a result, they wander through life, unconsciously frittering away their valuable time on useless, meaningless activities.

For example, the average Indian today watches 44 hours of television per week. Think about that. That's more time than most people spend on the job. Now for the most startling fact: most of that time is spent watching something that they don't even like or enjoy. That's right. Many get so trapped in the TV habit that they spend much of their time flipping through channels looking for something, anything, to watch. I'm not saying that TV is bad. There are some great programs. The key to television is to use your power. If you will look on your remote control, there is a button that says POWER. When you have a quality program that you want to see, use your power and watch it. When it is over (and this is the most important skill) use your power again, and turn it off. Channel surfing is the biggest time waster of all.

Experts agree that much of our time is wasted on unproductive activities. Generally speaking, 80% of our results come from only 20% of our activities. Here is a list of other time-wasters that can sabotage your efforts to spend your time on the most important thing.

• Telephone interruptions
• Drop-in visitors
• Unscheduled meetings
• Crises / Urgent Tasks
• Coffee-pot socializing
• Lack of clear goals
• Ineffective delegation
• Procrastination
• A cluttered desk
• The inability to say NO
• Lack of self-discipline
• Unclear communication

 

Ultimately, you have complete control of your life - how you will act, what you will think, and how you will spend your time. But we often let outside forces take over to set our objectives, limit our choices, and plan our day. Use the tools in this article to break through these constraints and take charge of your own life. It will lower your stress, reduce anxiety and guilt, and increase your happiness and productivity. Try it, what have you got to lose?

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Women In Leadership

Question raised during a recent success survey:

Why are there fewer women than men in leadership and management positions?

My perception is that this is changing, as women throughout the world are now better educated and make up a greater proportion of the working population than ever before. 

Also, as the skills previously thought to be more ‘feminine’ – the interpersonal and communication or soft skills - are now being recognised more widely as traits of good leaders. It’s apparent that the command and control culture of previous generations no longer works in today’s society and in today’s organisations, because we now expect so much more.

On the other hand, many women have come to the realisation that society’s idea of success – having it all; a partner, family, career, home, a good income, nice car and regular holidays – comes at a high price. The price is often a lack of time to enjoy life, a lack of energy and enthusiasm and a feeling that ‘there must be more to life than this!’ This realisation is causing more and more of them to examine their definition of success and to define it in a way that suits them better both personally and professionally.

Many of these women (and some men) want to lead a more balanced and satisfying life, with the time and energy to enjoy their work and home and social life and feel more fulfilled generally. To many this means not working as many hours and this includes not applying for more senior positions because of what is expected in terms of the ‘quantity’ of time they must commit to work, rather than the ‘quality.’ 

I’m not one who blame the situation on men. I actually believe They’ve brought a lot of it on themselves by buying into society’s view of how she can ‘have it all.’ 

So until they can have more serious discussions generally about how they define success and about what that means for the way they do business and the way she live their lives, then it will be difficult to change to a position where there are actually more women than men in leadership and management positions!

On the other hand, these days women are taking more personal responsibility for their own success and for getting on in business and this includes starting up new businesses themselves. In many parts of the world women entrepreneurs and female business owners are the fastest growing part of the economy!

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The education of the future - following the example of Finland

 

‘You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.’

Kahlil Gibran, On Children

We can not aim to prepare our children for the careers of the future. We live in such a dynamic world that what was a norm 10 years ago, almost certainly will not be our reality in 10 years. The education of the future is much more challenging, shifting further away from ‘spelling and formulas’ towards the development of cognitive thinking where children are given tools to develop their-own world, when their time comes.

Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, to name just a few, all started as small companies with a few people with an idea, a talent, and motivation to innovate. So, to educate leaders and innovators of the future, we need an education system that nurtures the love for learning and promotes creativity and innovation.

Finland is this century's icon of educational reform success, with its students repeatedly winning all the top results in international rankings. Some four decades after Finland overhauled its educational system, many countries try to learn from its example.

So, what are the lessons that we could learn from the Finish educational model?

1. Finnish have only public schools, the country has closed all the private ones. Before the reform, Finland had large learning differences between schools, with urban students typically outperforming their low income peers. Today, students do well regardless of their socio-economic status.

2. The Finnish vision is that every child has some talents and those who struggle in certain subjects are given an assistant to help them in their progress. No one is left behind.

3. Within their educational reform, the Finns have at first, eliminated the practice of separating students into different tracks based on their test scores, and then they eliminated the examinations altogether. Finnish children never take a standardized test. Tests are not used to compare pupils or teachers or schools to each other.

4. Children in Finland start Primary School at age seven. The idea is that before that time they learn best through play, and by the time they get to the school environment they are keen to start learning. 

5. Teaching is a prestigious career in Finland and teachers are highly valued. All teachers are required to have higher academic degrees and this guarantees the high quality of teaching.

6. The highly trained teachers have autonomy to make decisions about what and how to teach, they participate in the design of the curriculum of their class, supported by the very lean national standards (featuring fewer than 10 pages of guidance for all of mathematics, for example). The Finns also made sure that competent teachers who can shape the best learning conditions for their students are in all the schools.

7. Teachers keep the same pupils in their classroom for several years. This helps the trust develop between the teacher and the students.

8. Children study in a relaxed and informal atmosphere and teachers use methods that encourage ‘thinking’, experimenting, project work, and collaboration. In a typical classroom, students will not be sitting down listening to the teacher, they would be working with other students in small groups, completing projects or writing articles for their own magazine. The teacher nurture independence and active learning, allowing students to develop skills to understand and solve problems.

9. Finnish schools are generally small with relatively small classrooms (around 20s). All students receive a free meal daily, free health care, transport, and learning materials. They also have plenty of holidays - compared to the Europeans, Finnish children spend the fewest number of hours in the classroom.

The success of the Finish model is not within a competition based environment that is highly relying upon exams, but it is built on the idea that less can be more. There is a strong emphasis on relaxed schools that nurture creativity, questioning, and in-depth subject analysis. Arts, music and sports are integral part of every child’s curriculum.

It is interesting that some of the alternative schools’ founders of the last century (Steiner and Montessori) have worked on the exact same principles when shaping their schools of the future. Their knowledge of human nature and children development patterns have influenced the pioneers of educational shift that is happening during the last few decades.

Sir Ken Robinson, an internationally recognized expert in human creativity, talking about educational reform within the video "Changing Education Paradigms," invites the educational bodies to re-think their policies that advocate competition as the key driver of educational improvement. Indeed, the Finnish experience shows that focus on creativity and cooperation can lead to an education system where all children learn well.

Author : By Natasa Pantovic Nuit,

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Finding the True Meaning of Work Life Balance in Modern Times

Our daily lives are jam-packed with activities, appointments, and other responsibilities, all of which can create stress and anxiety, which may lead to family stress and conflict. Modern day families are prone to stress because family members, specifically parents, are required to work hard to provide for the needs of the family. Children, on the other hand, are exposed to various activities – friends, homework, videogames, Facebook – that take them away from their time with the family and may introduce additional stress in their lives as well. Work life balance is both a method and a goal to help families maximize quality time together. 

The Myth of Work Life Balance

The term work life balance suggests that people give equal time and attention to all aspects of their lives. However, this is unrealistic because the demands of work and family simply aren’t in balance. If your boss tells you that something is due by a certain deadline, or your child gets sick and needs to go to the doctor, those activities become a priority and balance goes out the window. The unexpected demands or unpredictable nature of modern life require a certain amount of flexibility as well as realism. You can’t always plan for the unexpected, and sometimes you just have to drop everything to complete a project. These demands lead many parents, and even children, to feel stressed out because they feel they just can’t do it all in balance. 

The sad part about this is that the ideal of work life balance is not possible, if by this you mean a perfectly predictable life that is equally balanced between work and family responsibilities. This means that parents will often spend more time at the office than in the house with family while the children will often spend more time in school, with friends, and other activities, away from the family. Further, family members cannot expect to spend equal time between work and family life. Trying to achieve that kind of balance is almost impossible nowadays. 

Understanding Life Satisfaction

Fortunately, family members can still strive to achieve work life satisfaction in lieu of work life balance. Work life satisfaction requires a focus on meaningful activities that yield a sense of satisfaction for work (or recreation) well done, rather than a perfect balance of time among several activities. Work life satisfaction does not dwell on the quantity of hours spent with each aspect of a person‘s life; instead, work life satisfaction helps a person focus on achieving quality time with the family or at work; making your time count for something important. Finally, a focus on work life satisfaction helps a person find ways to reduce stress and anxiety by focusing on outcomes rather than mere time.

Three Aspects of Work Life Satisfaction

Work life balance is the end result of a series of satisfying work life experiences. The essential components of this balance include attention to:

• Time management
• Clarity of values
• Communication

Time management focuses on allocating the limited time in a day to activities that are most important. Clarity of values helps each person be clear about what is most important to them, while communication is important to let each family member know what each person needs. Attention to these aspects will help families achieve the elusive goal of work life balance by maximizing instances of work life satisfaction.

Source : Author Dr. Mark Sirkin

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What are four essential areas of focus in a powerful team building workshop?

 

There are many ways to define a successful team, but what are some of the primary components of good teams and how can these be reinforced in team building workshops. A top four list of focus areas should include Communications- everyone is encouraged to share, Listening to others- closely related to the first idea, being good problem solvers, and cooperation. 

It has been said that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts when it comes to team effort. A successful team building workshop will help illustrate the importance of group sharing. When there is an atmosphere of encouragement, where all voices are brought into the discussion, an amazing thing happens. New ideas to old problems and unique solutions come forth. There needs to be an assumption that all ideas and opinions are valued and from these come team success. Useful team building activities will place the participants into small teams where the dynamics of this type of communications can “play out”.

Secondly, teams need to exercise good listening skills. In other words, are we “Really listening” to what others say? It’s one thing to have an opportunity to share. The question is, “is anyone listening?” We are all guilty at times of practicing selective listening and filtering out what we don’t want to hear or what we deem unimportant. When that happens, the messages that the team may need the most are effectively silenced. Team building activities that point out this flaw in listening can really enhance the overall communicative power of the group. Sue Patton Thoele speaks on this topic, “Deep listening is miraculous for both the listener and the speaker. When someone receives us with open-hearted, non-judging, intensely interested listening, our spirits expand.” I might add that the whole team effort expands as well.

Powerful team building programs will immerse the participants in situations which allow them to overcome problems and come up with solutions as a team. In a sense, the team activity should mirror real life situations. In every life some rain will fall. For every team, problems will crop up, often erupt. Successful race car driver Sebastien Bourdais said that “It’s a team… they give you everything you need to be successful, if there is a problem, they work and work and work until it is solved”. How teams deal with the problems spells the difference between the better teams and the failing teams. The better teams employ good communications and listening skills and work together to solve the problems. This some time will require a dogged determination and perseverance to “try new solutions”. Undeterred when these do not always succeed, new ideas are encouraged and some are tried. Eventually, the successful teams solve the dilemma and move on to new challenges.

Finally, you will find that great team building sessions will create the conditions where small groups can work together and see first-hand how cooperation brings their efforts to a successful conclusion. Perhaps there are vast differences in skill sets and temperaments among the team members. Instead of being a divisive feature, these differences can be seen and used as integral parts of the overall effort. Cooperation assumes that we all need to play a role. The Bible speaks of the diversity of roles in this manner, “The eye cannot say to the hand that ‘I have no need of you’ “. No, there is an important job for each team member to do and when they all cooperate in doing their part good things usually will happen.

So in summary, when a company or manager is seeking a team building program that will have valuable content, it should focus on some or all of these areas. There should be exercises to promote better communications and also listening skills. The group should learn how to persevere in group problem solving situations, and finally, a spirit of cooperation should be fostered. In the final analysis, the program should cause the team to work on the areas that will help them be a great “Team”.

Author's: Bill Resh

 

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Corporate India facing challenge to find right talent: Report

NEW DELHI: Indian employers have trouble finding the right candidate for the right job and this trend is likely to intensify in the next three years, says HR service provider Randstad.

According to Randstad India's global Work monitor Survey 2012, Indian employers have trouble finding highly qualified people and this trend is set to continue for the next three years, as the economy is showing signs of reforms.

"Corporate India is facing challenges to find the right talent and there is no denial about it. With the economy showing signs of growth, coupled with proactive reforms, the situation will accentuate further," Randstad India Managing Director and CEO E Balaji said.

The quarterly review that tracks job seekers confidence and provides a comprehensive understanding of job market, shows that 65 per cent respondents predict a challenge to find highly qualified people in their respective organisations, much higher than the world average of 48 per cent.

In addition, amongst all the countries surveyed, India has the highest employee mobility index of 142. This is in line with the findings that emerged in all the previous nine quarterly surveys conducted since first quarter of 2010.

This consistent trend over nine surveys confirms that the war for talent continues to be a major challenge for organisations in India, the report said.

Hong Kong and Malaysia follow India with indices of 137 and 135, respectively. The mobility index is least in Luxemburg, Belgium and Germany, indicating least employee churn, while the index for the US and UK is 104, implying moderate employee churn.

"If businesses have to shape their world of work with the right talent, they have to strengthen their Training and Development function. It is a good development to note that Indian businesses are working on this aspect as our survey shows," Balaji added.

As per the survey, about 75 per cent of the respondents agreed that their organisation invests additionally for their training/ education.

Moreover, about 77 per cent of surveyed respondents said that their organisation offers sufficient career opportunities.

The survey further said in India, more than half of employees (55 per cent) are overqualified and one-third are under-qualified for their current jobs. 

 

 

Source :The Economics Times (News) 

 

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The Right Moment to Close the Sale

Jamie was listening patiently to his potential customer. George had said what he was looking for, why he wanted it and what would happen if he didn’t solve the problem soon. Jamie was eager to close the deal but couldn’t tell if now was the time to ask for the sale.

Like Jamie, many sales people know there is a moment when people are ready to buy. They just don’t quite know how to identify it. Often it is because they’re listening for the clue, not watching for it. The tip off is more frequently in the client’s body language than in what he or she is saying.

Sales people often miss the tell-tale signs because they haven’t set up the situation correctly at the beginning of the interview.

Sales is the art of helping people make a purchase, rather than selling something. If sales people operate from this principle, they adapt their communication style to that of their prospective client and gather crucial information along the way.

When a client is being visited for the first time, they should be asked about the last time they made a similar purchase. Listen to the answer and pay attention to their body language – facial expressions, gestures, posture and voice tone.

The next question is key: “When you decided to buy that time, (pause) what made you buy that one?”

Notice the changes in the non-verbal behavior as they answer because the second question takes the client back to the previous moment of decision. Does the customer smile, turn a little red, make bigger gestures? These are the signs that indicate the client is ready to buy.

After verifying what the client wants and why, he or she can be presented with an appropriate solution. But when is the right moment to ask for the sale? Summarize the benefits of the proposition, demonstrating how it can meet the client’s criteria. Look at them carefully while talking. If the non verbals are the same as when they answered the second question above, they are ready to purchase.

Don’t see the signs? Don’t panic, it simply means they are not ready yet. Ask the client what else she needs to make a decision. That’s the way to determine the missing pieces and improve the proposal on the spot. Again, summarize the benefits of the offering and check the body language. If the right signs are there, go ahead and ask for the decision.

The fact that the client was not pressured to buy when they weren’t ready is a sign of attentiveness to his or her needs. Most people appreciate the consideration.

Marketing Tips to Ponder on Route to the Next Sale:

•Preparation pays
•Remember to ask yourself: “What’s in it for them?”
•Have clear objectives
•Have pricing strategy
•Brief team before a presentation; include a message on manners
•Select appropriate clothing colours; red is aggressive, blue is dominant
•Assess whether the other person is sociable or factual.
•Present accordingly
•Be personable
•Make your advantages easy to understand
•Don’t be everything to everyone
•Don’t sell; help people buy
•Shift the risk to yourself and you will profit
•To be heard, lower your voice
•After a contract is signed, give the pen to the buyer
•Email “Thank you.”
•Always leave with a plan of action, even if it is, “I will call in six months.”
•Reward your lead generators
•Work for referrals
•Partner with other companies reaching your market

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