Ways2Manage

The Secret to Tasting Great

2013-06-26T21:06:00.001+05:30

Submitted by: Unknown

by (author unknown)

via Very Demotivational

http://cheezburger.com/7604039936?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+VeryDemotivational+%28Very+deMotivational%29

Life, four billion years later -Andrew Boggess

2013-05-31T00:21:00.005+05:30

Life, four billion years later

-Andrew Boggess

by (author unknown)

via I Love Charts

http://ilovecharts.tumblr.com/post/51725217431/life-four-billion-years-later-andrew-boggess

gemmacorrell: One of my pieces for the Cats and Cartoonists...

2013-05-31T00:21:00.003+05:30

gemmacorrell:

One of my pieces for the Cats and Cartoonists exhibition at Orbital Comics, London, this July.

by joberholtzer

via I Love Charts

http://ilovecharts.tumblr.com/post/51650706958/gemmacorrell-one-of-my-pieces-for-the-cats-and

Beatquake: the Music Listening Activity across Facebook over 90 days

2013-05-31T00:21:00.001+05:30

Mapping Music on Facebook [facebookstories.com] by Stamen Design for Facebook shows the dynamic characteristics of the typical listening activity across Facebook.

Inspired by the dynamic movement of a graphic equalizer, Beatquake maps the popularity of the top three most popular songs in the U.S., each day over the course of 90 days, by way of vertically moving particles.

Colored layers, each representing one song, rise and fall over geographic locations to correspond with the number of plays in that area. The texture of the map is driven by BPMs (beats per minute), and thus changes as one song overtakes another in popularity.

Watch the movie below. More information about the design process behind this project can be found here.

by (author unknown)

via information aesthetics

http://infosthetics.com/archives/2013/05/beatquake_music_listening_activity_across_facebook_over_90_days.html

Here’s The Thing: Kristen Wiig

2013-03-24T18:51:00.001+05:30

Alec talks with Kristen Wiig — who catered, did floral design, answered phones at a law firm and handed out peach samples at a farmer’s market — all before landing her current gig, as a cast member on Saturday Night Live.

Kristen says she loves performing, but admits there’s also a “big part of me that’s just like: don’t look at me.” Kristen talks about auditioning for SNL, and the prospect of life beyond SNL: “I mean that’s my family, it’s my heart, it’s New York to me.”

Kristen Wiig

Monday, April 09, 2012

by Barry Ritholtz

via The Big Picture

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2013/03/heres-the-thing-kristen-wiig/

Why your small business should embrace the NCAA bracket - Globe and Mail

2013-03-21T10:06:00.001+05:30

Globe and Mail

Why your small business should embrace the NCAA bracket

Globe and Mail

Clay Hebert, founder of the Spindows.com, figured out a way to revolutionize the traditional office pool while attending Seth Godin's Alternative MBA program. In an article on the Young Entrepreneur Council website, he explains that instead of throwing ...

Back to Thinking Managers' Guru Watch

by (author unknown)

via Thinking Managers - Guru Watch

http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNESnx10QFWDa5oY9fq72N42u9ewZw&url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-tools/small-business-briefing/why-your-small-business-should-embrace-the-ncaa-bracket/article10000737/

See The Floor Plans From Your Favorite TV Homes

2013-03-07T23:51:00.001+05:30

We know the layout of Monica's kitchen on "Friends" and the exact color of Homer's sofa on "The Simpsons."

But did you ever wonder what the other parts of their homes looked like?

Artist Iñaki Aliste Lizarralde has created amazingly complete floor plans for some of our favorite shows over the years, and was kind enough to share them with us (they're also available on Etsy).

Get to know your favorite TV characters in a whole new light.

Ted Mosby is in the eighth season of explaining to his kids how he met their mother. Here's Ted's NYC apartment, which he shared with a rotation of other characters on the show.

HBO's "Sex and the City" was loosely based on a book by Candace Bushnell. Carrie Bradshaw lived in this spacious one-bedroom on the Upper East Side, although it must have been tough to afford on a writer's salary.

Monica and Rachel shared this fantastic apartment on "Friends." Monica supposedly inherited it from her grandmother; otherwise we can't imagine how she would have been able to afford it.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Please follow The Life on Twitter and Facebook.

by Max Rosenberg

via Business Insider

http://www.businessinsider.com/floor-plans-of-homes-from-tv-shows-2013-3?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+businessinsider+%28Business+Insider%29

10 Significant Trends in Finance

2013-01-14T23:54:00.001+05:30

My Sunday Washington Post Business Section column is out, and its a doozy: Rather than do the usual forecasts for the new year silliness, I thought it might be interesting to look instead at the major trends driving the world of finance.

Its called 10 trends to watch in ﬁnance for 2013, and the concept behind it is that most people are so busy guessing what might happen in the future, they forget to understand what is happening right now.

My position is understanding precisely what just occurred is much more important than guessing about the future:

“It’s a winter ritual: Seers, prognosticators and other gurus tell us which stocks to buy for the year ahead, where they think the Dow will close in December and which momentous events will take place.

History teaches us that the majority of these charlatans will be wrong, and the ones who get it right are mostly lucky. If you have been reading my column for any length of time, you know to ignore them. (See 2011’s Forecaster Folly.)

When it comes to predictions, I do the following: Note down the forecasts made this month and look back at them in a year. Repeat every year. I use my desktop calendar and an e-mail Web service called Followupthen.com to keep me on track. I started doing this almost a decade ago, and I found it terribly liberating. It will be always be instructive, and, as with the class of 2008 forecasters, occasionally hilarious.

Doing this taught me to ignore the forecasts I see or read, as well as to keep the piehole in the middle of my face closed whenever anyone asks me for a forecast. I defer, saying, “I have no idea. No one does.” It is fun to watch the TV anchors’ heads spin like Linda Blair’s in “The Exorcist.”

A better use of your time? Discern what’s happening here and now. It’s been my experience that investors spend so much time worrying about what might come next that they miss what just happened..”>

The rest of the column articulates those 10 trends. (I think this may be my first front-page-of-the-business-section column!)

There are a couple of charts at the Post I pulled together from Bianco research & FRED, but the artwork is really kinda cool:

>

click for larger graphic

Jonathan Bartlett for the Washington Post

Source:

10 trends to watch in ﬁnance for 2013

Barry Ritholtz

Washington Post January 12 2012

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/10-trends-to-watch-in-nance-for-2013/2013/01/11/70b7b6c6-5477-11e2-a613-ec8d394535c6_story.html

by Barry Ritholtz

via The Big Picture

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2013/01/10-significant-trends-in-finance/

The Hundred Best Lists of All Time : The New Yorker

2013-01-12T01:03:00.001+05:30

92. The Rules

91. U.S. News and World Report’s best-college rankings

90. McDonald’s Big Mac-ingredients commercial

89. Mel Kiper’s N.F.L.-draft Big Board

88. People’s “Most Beautiful People”

87. People’s “Sexiest Man Alive”

86. Carter Chambers’s bucket list from “The Bucket List”

85. Stanley Coren’s dog-breed intelligence ranking

84. Wine Spectator’s “Top 100”

83. Maimonides’s “13 Principles of Faith”

82. Maria Kutchera’s “My Favorite Things” (“The Sound Of Music”)

81. Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”

80. Dr. James Naismith’s original 13 Rules of Basket Ball

79. Rules, Regulations, & Laws of the Sheffield Foot-Ball Club

78. The Sporting News’ “Rules of Scientific Heckling”

77. Van Halen’s 1982 tour-provisions “rider”

76. Restaurant’s “50 Best Restaurants”

75. Modern Library’s “100 Best Novels”

74. ESPN.com’s “Top 100 North American Athletes of the (20th) Century”

73. American Film Institute’s “100 Years, 100 Movies”

72. The Economist’s “Big Mac Index”

71. Casey Kasem’s “American Top 40”

70. William the Conqueror’s “The Domesday Book”

69. Inc. 5000

68. Emily’s List

67. Lloyd’s List

66. National Register of Historic Places

65. Guest List, The Marriage of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales with the Lady Diana Spencer

64. Vietnam Veterans Memorial

63. Associated Press Top 25 Football Poll

62. Billboard’s “Top 100”

61. Fortune 500

60. Rosanne Cash’s “The List”

59. Social Register

58. Mrs. Astor’s 400

57. Mayflower passenger list

56. Classic Ruy Lopez Chess Opening, a.k.a. The Spanish Opening

55. Pablo Picasso’s “Recommendations for 1913 International Exhibition of Modern Art”

54. Major Reforms Section, Republican Contract with America

53. U.S. Department of Defense’s “Iraqi 55” Most-Wanted Playing Cards

52. Catholic Online’s Saints & Angels database

51. U.S. Department of State’s designated foreign terrorist organizations

50. U.S. Department of State’s current travel warnings

49. 1927 Yankees’ opening-day lineup

48. Money’s “Best Places To Live In America”

47. The Michelin Red Guide

46. Fundamental Principles of Olympism

45. “Late Show With David Letterman” Top Ten

44. George Carlin’s “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Network Television”

43. The New York Times’ best-sellers list

42. Mr. Blackwell’s worst-dressed list

41. The Dewey Decimal System

40. Delmonico’s Menu

39. Richard Nixon’s “Enemies List”

38. Facebook friends list

37. Shit List

36. The F.B.I.’s ten-most-wanted-fugitives list

35. The Beatles' set list, Majestic Ballroom concert in Luton, U.K., April 17, 1963

34. Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index

33. Russell 2000 Index

32. Standard & Poor’s 500

31. Dow Jones Industrials

30. “The Nifty Fifty”

29. “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”

28. Forbes 400

27. The UNESCO “World Heritage List”

26. “The Spy 100”

25. The Apollo 11 surface checklist

24. Warren Buffett’s “Investment Criteria Checklist”

23. This grocery list

22. Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation

21. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

20. The U.S. Declaration of Independence list of grievances

19. The Fibonacci Sequence

18. Santa’s List!

17. Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “How Do I Love Thee?” (Sonnet 43)

16. Hasbro’s “2-Letter Scrabble Words List”

15. Kelley Blue Book

14. Dante Alighieri’s nine circles of Hell

13. Schindler’s list

12. “The Twelve Days of Christmas”

11. Marquess of Queensbury Rules

10. Robert’s Rules of Order

9. The World Wildlife Fund (endangered) species directory

8. Alcoholics Anonymous’ twelve steps

7. Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

6. Martin Luther’s "95 Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences"

5. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

4. The Ten Commandments

3. Craigslist

2. The Bill of Rights

1. The Periodic Table of Elements*

* 1 and 100 may be switched in certain states.

Illustration by Barry Blitt.

by (author unknown)

via The New Yorker

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/shouts/2012/12/the-hundred-best-lists-of-all-time.html?mobify=0

The best way to get unstuck

2012-12-01T00:41:00.001+05:30

Don't wait for the right answer and the golden path to present themselves.

This is precisely why you're stuck. Starting without seeing the end is difficult, so we often wait until we see the end, scanning relentlessly for the right way, the best way and the perfect way.

The way to get unstuck is to start down the wrong path, right now.

Step by step, page by page, interaction by interaction. As you start moving, you can't help but improve, can't help but incrementally find yourself getting back toward your north star.

You might not end up with perfect, but it's significantly more valuable than being stuck.

Don't just start. Continue. Ship. Repeat.

by Seth Godin

via Management Blogs

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2012/11/the-best-way-to-get-unstuck.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2Fsethsmainblog+%28Seth%27s+Blog%29

4 Ways to Keep Inspiration Alive

2012-12-01T00:29:00.001+05:30

We’ve all experienced it: the large bureaucracy where the employees seem to be just punching the clock.

Photo courtesy of ©iStockphoto.com/ZoneCreative

A while back I had to get my drivers license renewed. This meant a trip to the Department of Safety’s Driver Service Center. While the process was quicker and more efficient than I expected, the people working the counter seemed lifeless.No smiles. No warmth. Just marking time. It was a little depressing.

However, this happens in the private sector as well. I had a similar experience at a popular chain restaurant. I’m sure it happens in non-profits and churches as well.

In fact, it happens any time people get disconnected from the their purpose.

As a leader, here are four ways you can keep inspiration alive in your organization:

Connect people to the larger story. People want to know the organization they work for matters. They want to know it is making a difference in the world. For this to happen, you must connect them to the larger story.
Why was your organization founded? Why does it exist? What would happen if it disappeared? What is really at stake? You can’t talk about this too much.

Remind people why they matter. It’s one thing to understand the organization matters. It’s another thing to understand they matter—and they do. But they must be reminded and affirmed.
They must understand how their actions contribute to the overall mission. While this might be clear to you, it is probably not clear to them. Your role as a leader is to help them “connect the dots.”

Resist creating new policies. I have seen this over and over again in organizations. Someone makes a mistake. Rather than dealing with the problem—which is likely an exception or an anomaly—the leaders create a new policy.
Over time, these policies slow an organization down, like the ropes that rendered Gulliver immovable. The better tactic is to deal with problems and people head-on and only institute a policy if the behavior happens repeatedly or spreads beyond the original situation.

Set the pace for what you expect in others. This is ultimately your most important leadership tool. You cannot create an inspiring organization without being an inspiring person.
If you want people to be positive and upbeat, you must be positive and upbeat. If you want people to be flexible and embrace change, then you must be flexible and embrace change.

Like it or not, your people will mimic your priorities, values, and behavior. To quote Gandhi, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

While there may be a tendency for your organization to become more bureaucratic and lose inspiration as it grows, it is not inevitable. However, it does take a leader who is determined to inspire himself and then inspire others.

Question: What do you do to actively inspire those who follow you?

by (author unknown)

via Management Blogs

http://michaelhyatt.com/4-ways-to-keep-inspiration-alive.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+michaelhyatt+%28Michael+Hyatt%29

Anticipation vs. anxiety

2012-11-30T00:38:00.005+05:30

If we define anxiety as experiencing failure in advance, we can also understand its antonym, anticipation.

When you work with anticipation, you will highlight the highs. You'll double down on the things that will delight and push yourself even harder to be bold and to create your version of art. If this is going to work, might as well build something that's going to be truly worth building.

If you work with anxiety, on the other hand, you'll be covering the possible lost bets, you'll be insuring against disaster and most of all, building deniability into everything you do. When you work under the cloud of anxiety, the best strategy is to play it safe, because if (when!) it fails, you'll be blameless.

Not only is it more fun to work with anticipation, it's often a self-fulfilling point of view.

via Seth's Blog http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2012/11/anticipation-vs-anxiety.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2Fsethsmainblog+%28Seth%27s+Blog%29

Keep Your To-Do List Fresh with the 3-Day Rule

2012-11-30T00:38:00.003+05:30

A to-do list is only useful if you cross things off as often as you add tasks on. If something’s been on your list for more than three days, do one of the following:

Do it immediately. It may take you less time than you think.

Schedule it. Find a time slot on your calendar when you can get the task done. If it’s important enough to have on your list, then commit to doing it at a specific time and day.

Let it die. If you’re not willing to do something immediately or schedule it for later, you won’t ever do it. Accept that it’s not really a priority and take it off your list.

Adapted from the HBR Guide to Getting the Right Work Done.

via Management Blogs http://hbr.org/tip/2012/11/29/keep-your-to-do-list-fresh-with-the-3-day-rule

Make Your To-Do List Work

2012-11-30T00:38:00.001+05:30

To-do lists can be lifesavers when it comes to managing your work. But sometimes they’re nothing more than a list of things you never get to. Here are three tips for making them better:

Bucket the work. Categorize items in a way that makes sense for you. Group them by project or difficulty level (e.g. put all the “easy” tasks in one area so you can easily knock them off when you have time). Give each bucket its own column.

Pick the right medium. You should enjoy looking at and interacting with your to-do list. Use a notebook you love or a well-designed and easy-to-use app.

Rewrite the list. Every few days create a new list, transferring unfinished tasks from the old one. This will help you keep it organized and in the right order of priority.

Adapted from the Guide to Getting the Right Work Done.

via Management Blogs http://hbr.org/tip/2012/11/14/make-your-to-do-list-work

Famous Leadership Speech by Major C. A. Bach

2011-05-25T09:54:00.000+05:30

~ Foreword ~

This is the soldier’s analysis of how to be a leader—the farewell instructions given to the student-officers at the Second Training Camp at Fort Sheridan by Major C. A. Bach, a quiet, unassuming Army officer acting as an instructor at the camp. This address to the men commissioned as officers in his battalion should be read by every young officer in the Army and every private soldier and noncommissioned officer as well. It is the best composition on the subject of “Leadership” ever recorded. Daily Times Herald, hearing of the great interest aroused, secured a copy of the address and, with the approval of Col James R. Ryan, published the speech in full on Sunday, 27 January 1918. Below is the excerpt….

LEADERSHIP

In a short time each of you men will control the lives of a certain number of other men. You will have in your charge loyal but untrained citizens, who look to you for instruction and guidance. Your word will be their law. Your most casual remark will be remembered. Your mannerism will be aped. Your clothing, your carriage, your vocabulary, your manner of command will be imitated. When you join your organization you will find there a willing body of men who ask from you nothing more than the qualities that will command their respect, their loyalty, and their obedience. They are perfectly ready and eager to follow you so long as you can convince them that you have those qualities. When the time comes that they are satisfied you do not possess them you might as well kiss yourself goodbye. Your usefulness in that organization is at an end.

From the standpoint of society, the world may be divided into leaders and followers. The professions have their leaders, the financial world has its leaders. We have religious leaders, and political leaders, and society leaders. In all this leadership it is difficult, if not impossible to separate from the element of pure leadership that selfish element of personal gain or advantage to the individual, without which such leadership would lose its value.

In a few days the great mass of you men will receive commissions as officers. These commissions will not make you leaders; they will merely make you officers. They will place you in a position where you can become leaders if you possess the proper attributes. But you must make good—not so much with the men over you as with the men under you. Men must and will follow into battle officers who are not leaders, but the driving power behind these men is not enthusiasm but discipline. They go with doubt and trembling, and with an awful fear tugging at their heartstrings that prompts the unspoken question, “What will he do next?” Such men obey the letter of their orders but no more. Of devotion to their commander, of exalted enthusiasm which scorns personal risk, of their self-sacrifice to ensure his personal safety, they know nothing. Their legs carry them forward because their brain and their training tell them they must go. Their spirit does not go with them. Great results are not achieved by cold, passive, unresponsive soldiers. They don’t go very far and they stop as soon as they can. Leadership not only demands but receives the willing, unhesitating, unfaltering obedience and loyalty of other men; and a devotion that will cause them, when the time comes, to follow their uncrowned king to hell and back again if necessary.

You will ask yourselves: “Of just what, then, does leadership consist? What must I do to become a leader? What are the attributes of leadership, and how can I cultivate them?”

Leadership is a composite of a number of qualities. Among the most important I would list self-confidence, moral ascendency, self-sacrifice, paternalism, fairness, initiative, decision, dignity, and courage.

Let me discuss these with you in detail. Self-confidence results, first, from exact knowledge; second, the ability to impart that knowledge; and, third, the feeling of superiority over others that naturally follows. All these give the officer poise. To lead, you must know—you may bluff all your men some of the time, but you can’t do it all the time. Men will not have confidence in an officer unless he knows his business, and he must know it from the ground up.

The officer should know more about paper work than his first sergeant and company clerk put together; he should know more about messing than his mess sergeant; more about diseases of the horse than his troop farrier. He should be at least as good a shot as any man in his company. If the officer does not know, and demonstrates the fact that he does not know, it is entirely human for the soldier to say to himself, “To hell with him. He doesn’t know as much about this as I do,” and calmly disregard the instructions received. There is no substitute for accurate knowledge. Become so well informed that men will hunt you up to ask questions that your brother officers will say to one another, “Ask Smith—he knows.” And not only should each officer know thoroughly the duties of his own grade, but he should study those of the two grades next above him. A twofold benefit attaches to this. He prepares himself for duties which may fall to his lot at any time during battle; he further gains a broader viewpoint which enables him to appreciate the necessity for the issuance of orders and join more intelligently in their execution.

Not only must the officer know, but he must be able to put what he knows into grammatical, interesting, forceful English. He must learn to stand on his feet and speak without embarrassment. I am told that in British training camps student officers are required to deliver 10-minute talks on any subject they may choose. That is excellent practice. For to speak clearly one must think clearly and clear, logical thinking expresses itself in definite, positive orders. While self-confidence is the result of knowing more than your men, moral ascendancy over them is based upon your belief that you are the better man. To gain and maintain this ascendancy you must have self-control, physical vitality and endurance and moral force. You must have yourself so well in hand that, even though in battle you be scared stiff, you will never show fear. For if you by so much as a hurried movement or a trembling of the hand, or a change of expression, or a hasty order hastily revoked, indicate your mental condition it will be reflected in your men in a far greater degree.

In garrison or camp many instances will arise to try your temper and wreck the sweetness of your disposition. If at such times you “fly off the handle” you have no business to be in charge of men. For men in anger say and do things that they almost invariably regret afterward. An officer should never apologize to his men; also an officer should never be guilty of an act for which his sense of justice tells him he should apologize. Another element in gaining moral ascendancy lies in the possession of enough physical vitality and endurance to withstand the hardships to which you and your men are subjected, and a dauntless spirit that enables you not only to accept them cheerfully but to minimize their magnitude.
Make light of your troubles, belittle your trials, and you will help vitally to build up within your organization an esprit whose value in time of stress cannot be measured. Moral force is the third element in gaining moral ascendancy. To exert moral force you must live clean, you must have sufficient brain power to see the right and the will to do right. Be an example to your men. An officer can be a power for good or a power for evil. Don’t preach to them—that will be worse than useless. Live the kind of life you would have them lead, and you will be surprised to see the number that will imitate you. A loud-mouthed, profane captain who is careless of his personal appearance will have a loud-mouthed, profane, dirty company. Remember what I tell you. Your company will be the reflection of yourself. If you have a rotten company it will be because you are a rotten captain. Self-sacrifice is essential to leadership. You will give, give all the time. You will give yourself physically, for the longest hours, the hardest work and the greatest responsibility is the lot of the captain. He is the first man up in the morning and the last man in at night. He works while others sleep. You will give yourself mentally, in sympathy and appreciation for the troubles of men in your charge. This one’s mother has died, and that one has lost all his savings in a bank failure. They may desire help, but more than anything else they desire sympathy. Don’t make the mistake of turning such men down with the statement that you have troubles of your own, for every time that you do, you knock a stone out of the foundation of your house. Your men are your foundation, and your house leadership will tumble about your ears unless it rests securely upon them.

Finally, you will give of your own slender financial resources. You will frequently spend your money to conserve the health and well-being of your men or to assist them when in trouble. Generally you get your money back. When I say that paternalism is essential to leadership, I use the term in its better sense. I do not now refer to that form of paternalism which robs men of initiative, self-reliance, and self-respect. I refer to the paternalism that manifests itself in a watchful care for the comfort and welfare of those in your charge. You must see that they have shelter, food, and clothing, the best that your utmost efforts can provide. You must be far more solicitous of their comfort than of your own. You must see that they have food to eat before you think of your own; that they have each as good a bed as can be provided before you consider where you will sleep. You must look after their health. You must conserve their strength by not demanding needless exertion or useless labor. And by doing all these things you are breathing life into what would be otherwise a mere machine. You are creating a soul in your organization that will make the mass respond to you as though it were one man. And that is esprit. And when your organization has this esprit you will wake up some morning and discover that the tables have been turned; that instead of your constantly looking out for them they have, without even a hint from you, taken up the task of looking out for you. You will find that a detail is always there to see that your tent, if you have one, is promptly pitched; that the most and the cleanest bedding is brought to your tent; that from some mysterious source two eggs have been added to your supper when no one else has any; that an extra man is helping your men give your horse a supergrooming; that your wishes are anticipated; that every man is Johnny-on-the-spot. And then you have arrived.
Fairness is another element without which leadership can neither be built up nor maintained. There must be first that fairness which treats all men justly. I do not say alike, for you cannot treat all men alike—that would be assuming that all men are cut from the same piece; that there is no such thing as individuality or a personal equation. You cannot treat all men alike; a punishment that would be dismissed by one man with a shrug of the shoulders is mental anguish for another. A company commander who for a given offense has a standard punishment that applies to all is either too indolent or too stupid to study the personality of his men. In his case, justice is certainly blind. Study your men as carefully as a surgeon studies a difficult case. And when you are sure of your diagnosis apply the remedy. And remember that you apply the remedy to effect a cure, not merely to see the victim squirm. It may be necessary to cut deep, but when you are satisfied as to your diagnosis don’t be divided from your purpose by any false sympathy for the patient. Hand in hand with fairness in awarding punishment walks fairness in giving credit. Everybody hates a human hog. When one of your men has accomplished an especially creditable piece of work see that he gets the proper reward. Turn heaven and earth upside down to get it for him. Don’t try to take it away from him and hog it for yourself. You may do this and get away with it, but you have lost the respect and loyalty of your men. Sooner or later your brother officer will hear of it and shun you like a leper. In war there is glory enough for all. Give the man under you his due. The man who always takes and never gives is not a leader. He is a parasite.

There is another kind of fairness—that which will prevent an officer from abusing the privileges of his rank. When you exact respect from soldiers be sure you treat them with equal respect. Build up their manhood and self-respect. Don’t try to pull it down. For an officer to be overbearing and insulting in the treatment of enlisted men is the act of a coward. He ties the man to a tree with the ropes of discipline and then strikes him in the face, knowing full well that the man cannot strike back. Consideration, courtesy, and respect from officers toward enlisted men are not incompatible with discipline. They are parts of our discipline. Without initiative and decision no man can expect to lead. In maneuvers you will frequently see, when an emergency arises, certain men calmly give instant orders which later, on analysis, prove to be, if not exactly the right thing, very nearly the right thing to have done. You will see other men in emergency become badly rattled: their brains refuse to work, or they give a hasty order, revoke it; give another, revoke that; in short, show every indication of being in a blue funk. Regarding the first man you may say: “That man is a genius. He hasn’t had time to reason this thing out. He acts intuitively.” Forget it. “Genius is merely the capacity for taking infinite pains.” The man who was ready is the man who has prepared himself. He has studied beforehand the possible situation that might arise, he has made tentative plans covering such situations. When he is confronted by the emergency he is ready to meet it. He must have sufficient mental alertness to appreciate the problem that confronts him and the power of quick reasoning to determine what changes are necessary in his already formulated plan. He must have also the decision to order the execution and stick to his orders. Any reasonable order in an emergency is better than no order. The situation is there. Meet it. It is better to do something and do the wrong thing than to hesitate, hunt around for the right thing to do and wind up by doing nothing at all. And, having decided on a line of action, stick to it. Don’t vacillate. Men have no confidence in an officer who doesn’t know his own mind.
Occasionally you will be called upon to meet a situation which no reasonable human being could anticipate. If you have prepared yourself to meet other emergencies which you could anticipate, the mental training you have thereby gained will enable you to act promptly and with calmness. You must frequently act without orders from higher authority. Time will not permit you to wait for them. Here again enters the importance of studying the work of officers above you. If you have a comprehensive grasp of the entire situation and can form an idea of the general plan of your superiors, that and your previous emergency training will enable you to determine that the responsibility is yours and to issue the necessary orders without delay. The element of personal dignity is important in leadership. Be the friend of your men, but do not become their intimate. Your men should stand in awe of you—not fear. If your men presume to become familiar it is your fault, not theirs. Your actions have encouraged them to do so. And above all things, don’t cheapen yourself by courting their friendship or currying their favor. They will despise you for it. If you are worthy of their loyalty and respect and devotion they will surely give all these without asking. If you are not, nothing that you can do will win them. And then I would mention courage.

Moral courage you need as well as physical courage—that kind of moral courage which enables you to adhere without faltering to a determined course of action which your judgment has indicated as the one best suited to secure the desired results. Every time you change your orders without obvious reason you weaken your authority and impair the confidence of your men. Have the moral courage to stand by your order and see it through. Moral courage further demands that you assume the responsibility for your own acts. If your subordinates have loyally carried out your orders and the movement you directed is a failure, the failure is yours, not theirs. Yours would have been the honor had it been successful. Take the blame if it results in disaster. Don’t try to shift it to a subordinate and make him the goat. That is a cowardly act.
Furthermore, you will need moral courage to determine the fate of those under you. You will frequently be called upon for recommendations for the promotion or demotion of officers and noncommissioned officers in your immediate command. Keep clearly in mind your personal integrity and the duty you owe your country. Do not let yourself be deflected from a strict sense of justice by feeling of personal friendship. If your own brother is your second lieutenant, and you find him unfit to hold his commission, eliminate him. If you don’t, your lack of moral courage may result in the loss of valuable lives. If, on the other hand, you are called upon for a recommendation concerning a man whom, for personal reasons you thoroughly dislike, do not fail to do him full justice. Remember that your aim is the general good, not the satisfaction of an individual grudge.

And, lastly, if you aspire to leadership, I would urge you to study men. Get under their skins and find out what is inside. Some men are quite different from what they appear to be on the surface. Determine the workings of their minds. You do not know your opponent in this war in the same way. But you can know your own men. You can study each to determine wherein lies his strength and his weakness; which man can be relied upon to the last gasp and which cannot.

Know your men, know your business, know yourself.

Source: Internet

Napoleon Hill's Rules of Success !!

2011-05-22T21:13:00.000+05:30

Develop Definiteness of Purpose

Success and progress towards achieving your goals in life begin with knowing where you are going. Your mental attitude gives power to everything you do. If your attitude is positive, your actions and thoughts further your ends. If your attitude is negative, you are constantly undermining your own efforts.

Establish a Mastermind Alliance

A mastermind alliance consists of two or more minds working actively together in perfect harmony toward a common definite objective. No individual has ever achieved success without the help and cooperation of others.

Use Applied Faith

Close the door to fear behind you and you will quickly see the door of faith open before you. Fear is nothing more than a state of mind, which is subject to your own direction and control. Faith will not bring you what you desire, but it will show you the way to go after it for yourself.

Go the Extra Mile

Render more and better service than you are paid for, and sooner or later you will receive compound interest from your investment. The quality of the service rendered, plus the quantity of service rendered, plus the mental attitude in which it is rendered, equals your compensation. The more you give, the more you get.

Assemble an Attractive Personality

A Positive Mental Attitude is the right mental attitude in any given situation.Courtesy is your most profitable asset… and it is absolutely free. Your personality is your greatest asset or your greatest liability because it embraces everything you control ...your mind, body, and soul.

Create Personal Initiative

It is better to act on a plan that is still weak than to delay acting at all. Procrastination is the archenemy of personal initiative. Personal Initiative is contagious..succeeds where others fail
creates work ..creates opportunity.. creates the future

Build a Positive Mental Attitude

A Positive Mental Attitude is the single most important principle of the science of success, without which you cannot get the maximum benefit from the other sixteen principles. Success attracts success and failure attracts more failure. Your mental attitude is the only thing over which you, and only you, have complete control. A positive mind finds a way it can be done... a negative mind looks for all the ways it can't be done.

Control Your Enthusiasm

To be enthusiastic-act enthusiastically! Enthusiasm is to progress toward success as gasoline is to a car's engine. It is the fuel that drives things forward.Enthusiasm stimulates your subconscious mind. By feeding your conscious mind with enthusiasm, you impress upon your subconscious that your burning desire and your plan for attaining it are certain.

Enforce Self-Discipline

Self-discipline is the process that ties together all your efforts of controlling your mind, your personal initiative, positive mental attitude and controlling your enthusiasm. Self-discipline makes you think before you act. If you don't discipline yourself, you are sure to be disciplined by others. Without self-discipline, you are as dangerous as a car running downhill without brakes or steering wheel.

Think Accurately

Thoughts have power, are under your control, and can be used wisely or unwisely.Accurate thinkers accept no political, religious, or other type of thought, regardless of its source, until it is carefully analyzed. Accurate thinkers are the masters of their emotions. Accurate thought involves two fundamentals. First you must separate facts from information. Second you must separate facts into two classes? The important and unimportant.

Control Your Attention

Keep your mind ON the things you want and OFF the things you don't want! It is much easier to focus your attention on something you believe will happen than on something you believe is unlikely. Controlled attention is the act of coordinating all the faculties of your mind and directing their combined power to a specific end.Positive and negative emotions cannot occupy your mind at the same time.

Inspire Teamwork

There is no record of any great contribution to civilization without the cooperation of others. Enthusiasm is contagious and teamwork is the inevitable result. A good football team relies more on harmonious coordination of effort than individual skill.

Learn From Adversity and Defeat

Everyone faces defeat. It may be a stepping-stone or a stumbling block, depending on the mental attitude with which it is faced. Failure and pain are one language through which nature speaks to every living creature. You are never a failure until you accept defeat as permanent and quit trying. Edison failed 10,000 times before perfecting the electric light bulb. Don't worry if you fail once.

Cultivate Creative Vision

Creative imagination has its base in the subconscious and is the medium through which you recognize new ideas and newly learned facts. Synthetic imagination springs from experience and reason; creative imagination springs from your commitment to your definite purpose. Imagination recognizes limitations. Creative vision sees no limitations.

Maintain Sound Health

To maintain a Positive Mental Attitude and develop a healthy mind and body, you must conquer fear and anxiety. Anything that affects your physical health also affects your mental health. A Positive Mental Attitude is the most important quality for sound mental and physical health. Exercise produces both physical and mental buoyancy. It clears sluggishness and dullness from body and mind.

Budget Your Time and Money

Take regular inventory of yourself to learn how and where you are spending your time and money. The secret of getting things done is: DO IT NOW! Time is too precious to be wasted on arguments and discontent. Some mistakes can be corrected, but not the mistake of wasting time. When time is gone, it's gone forever.

Use of Cosmic Habitforce

It takes a habit to replace a habit. All of your successes and failures are results of habits you have formed. The orderliness of the world of natural laws gives evidence that they are under control of a universal plan. First you get a habit, then it gets you.

Questions to expect in your next Job Interview

2011-05-16T10:02:00.000+05:30

● Tell me about your greatest strength. What’s the greatest asset you’ll bring to our company?

● What’s your greatest weakness?

● What was your least favorite position? What role did your boss play in your career at that point?

● Where do you see yourself in five years?

● What makes you stand out among your peers?

● What have you done in your present/last position to increase your organization’s top-line?

● What have you done to reduce your department’s operational costs or to save time?

● What has been your most creative achievement at work?

● What would your current supervisors say makes you most valuable to them?

● What are the broad responsibilities of your current role?

● What aspects of your job do you consider most crucial?

● How many hours a week do you find it necessary to work in order to get your job done?

● How does your position relate to the overall goals of your department or company?

● What area of your skills do you need to improve upon in the next year?

● What does growth mean to you?

● What will you do differently at your present company if you don’t get this position?

● Can you describe how you’ve progressed through the ranks and landed in your current position?

● How have you added value to your job over time?

● What would be your next logical move in progression at your present company?

● How would you describe the amount of structure, direction, and feedback you need in order to excel?

● In terms of managing your staff, do you ‘‘expect’’ more than you ‘‘inspect,’’ or vice versa?

● How do you approach your work from the standpoint of balancing your career with your personal life?

● Why did you choose your [college/major]?

● Do you think your grades are a good indicator of your ability to succeed in business?

● What other types of positions and companies are you considering right now?

● What was the most difficult ethical decision you’ve ever had to make in your career or during your education?

● How would you describe ‘‘professional behavior’’ in the workplace?

● How do you typically stay in the information loop and monitor your staff’s performance?

● How do you typically confront subordinates when results are unacceptable?

● Tell me about your last performance appraisal. In which area were you most disappointed?

● In hindsight, how could you have improved your performance at your last position?

● Where do you disagree with your boss most often? How did you handle the last time she or he was wrong and you were right?

● How would your supervisor grade your ability to cope with last-minute change without breaking stride?

● Why do you want to work here?

● What do you know about our company?

● Can you tell me about your understanding of the job you’re applying for?

● What can you do for us if we hire you, and when should we expect to see concrete results?

● On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being you’re really excited about accepting our offer, 1 being there’s no interest), where do you stand?

● What would have to change at your present position for you to continue working there?

Source: 96 Great Interview Questions to Ask Before You Hire

2 Ways to Increase Your Chances of Success

2011-05-14T22:40:00.003+05:30

Be specific. Be precise about what you are trying to achieve and when you will do it.

Focus on what you will do, not what you won't. Focus on the substitute instead.

Source: HBR, View article...

3 Ways to Effectively Communicate Your Vision

2011-05-07T21:56:00.000+05:30

Repeat yourself. To rally people around your vision, you need to remind them of your message and reinforce what you are trying to achieve.
Make it two-way. Be sure to create dialogue around your message so that people hear it and understand it.
Put out calls to action. Be specific about what you want people to do and why.

Source: HBR, View article...

3 Ways to Encourage Meeting Participation

2011-05-07T21:46:00.000+05:30

Here are three ways to get more people involved:

Don't dominate. Let at least three people speak before you talk again.
Be positive. Demonstrate that all ideas are valuable by restating important points.
Ask directly. To get input from everyone, ask each person for their thoughts.

Source: HBR, View article...

Don't Quit : A Poem

2011-04-30T01:25:00.001+05:30

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,

When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,

When funds are low and the debts are high,

And you want to smile, but you have to sigh.

When care is pressing you down a bit.

Rest, if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns

As every one of us sometimes learns.

And many a failure turns about

When he might have won had he stuck it out:

Don't give up though the pace seems slow -

You may succeed with another blow.

Success is failure turned inside out -

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt.

And you never can tell how close you are.

It may be near when it seems so far:

So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit

It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

Source: Unknown Author

How to Build Confidence

2011-04-30T01:07:00.001+05:30

Do:

Be honest with yourself about what you know and what you still need to learn
Practice doing the things you are unsure about
Embrace new opportunities to prove you can do difficult things

Don't:

Focus excessively on whether you or not you have the ability - think instead about the value you provide
Hesitate to ask for external validation if you need it
Worry about what others think — focus on yourself, not a theoretical and judgmental audience

Source: HBR; View article...

5 Qualities of highly effective CEOs

2011-04-28T00:30:00.001+05:30

Passionate curiosity - Know more by asking right questions
Battle-hardened confidence - Deals easily with adversity
Team smarts - Understands team dynamics
A simple mind-set - Wants concise, to the point & simple information
Fearlessness - Believe in calculated informed risk taking

Source: Corner Office, View Article..

Don't Try to Change Things You Can't

2011-04-27T09:36:00.000+05:30

You're supposed to accept things you can't change but people do the exact opposite more often than they'll admit. Most people would rather bitch and moan about stuff they can’t do anything about than do the heavy lifting required to positively impact their jobs and careers for two simple reasons:

1) It’s far easier to whine and complain, and

2) Playing the victim gets them far more attention.

Source: BNET; View article...

3 Tips for Reacting to a Crisis

2011-04-23T19:05:00.000+05:30

Figure out what happened. Find out exactly what is going on and what's causing it.
Act promptly. Don't wait for all of the data to come in. Act with deliberateness and speed.
Adapt. Be prepared to alter the course if necessary.

Source: HBR; View article...