The SLII Model
I recently took a class on situational leadership. The instructor advised us to immediately teach the skills we have learned to help us remember the material. So I decided to share my knowledge in this blog. The class taught me the SLII model.This model can be used on people you manage. You can even use it to assess yourself. It is a good self-assessment tool because you “help” your bosses on how they can manage you better.
This model has four strategies depending on the task. It isn’t based on the individual. This is because individuals respond differently to different tasks. Usually, when people are given a task, they fall into four categories:
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What I did During the Long Weekend
I recently moved to a new place. I wanted to be closer to work so I can save gas and live closer to my girlfriend. After I moved in, I had a hard time with my DSL connection. So my only connection to the internet was at work.
The biggest thing I saw last week was the doomsday report of how the stocks are tanking, and how we’re going to lose all our money. Since I have a lot of investments in my Roth IRA and my individual investment account, my portfolio has taken a massive hit. And thanks to the Feds lowering the interest rates, my savings account gives me a lower APY on my savings. So it seems like all my investments are either losing money or making less money.
Back in the day when I was a trader, I would freak out about this. I would let my emotions take control, and I would start short-selling and selling my laggards. My old habits almost got the best of me the past week. But I kept my cool. I think not having to constantly read about the current market conditions helped me—thanks to my no internet connection.
Once I got back my wits, I reminded myself investing is a long term deal. I was tempted to sell off some of my stocks, but I held on. I trusted my picks. I’m going to see how they’ll fare till the end of the year.
A correction or even the bear market can last only a few months. So whatever started out Jan 2008 might not be the same for Dec 2008. Who knows, maybe the market will make a strong comeback at the end of the year. We’ll never know, we can’t predict the market.
So what’s the best thing to do in a market like this? If you trust your investments, turn off the TV and computer. Don’t let the Chicken Littles control your emotions.
How to Get a Job When You’re Desperate
I used this method when finding a job. This is not a magic bullet, and it might not work for you. But if you want to find a job, you need to take aggressive steps. Finding a job can be a job itself. So if you’re stuck, try out these steps.
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7 Mistakes Recent Graduates Make When Starting Their Careers
1. Buying a home when it doesn’t make sense
There are many sites that talks about this. I’ve talked to many people that bought their house too early just because they don’t want to throw their money away on rent. Well, here is a simple rule: buy a house that costs 2.5x your annual salary. Or if you really want to see if buying a home is worth it, use a rent vs buy calculator.
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Showdown: Jack of all Trades vs The Specialist
What should you strive to be? A Jack of all trades or a specialist? Which will help you in your life and career? First, let’s describe what they are.
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Effective New Year’s Resolutions
My Thoughts on New Year’s Resolutions
Many people make New Year’s resolutions. A lot of them becomes useless because majority of the people never keep their resolutions past March. Also, I’m not so keen on this whole New Year’s resolution thing. Why slack off and wait till January 1st to start working towards your goals? You can start any time.
How to Set Your Resolutions
When most people create their resolutions, they say general statements. They might say, “I want to lose weight,” “I want to make more money,” “I want to be a better husband,” and so on. These are good resolutions. But they need a sense of direction. They need to create a plan instead of making general statements. But when they do create a plan, it is also general. For example they might say, “I’ll lose weight by going to the gym,” or “I’ll make more money by working harder.”
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Penelope Trunk: The Brazen Careerist
Penelope Trunk’s blog is what I strive my blog to be. I discovered her blog a few months after I created mine, and I was amazed at the quality of posts. She writes what I want to write about, and she is able to do it in a clear, no-nonsense way. She is able to express her thoughts much better than I can. Of course, she is a professional writer, and I write as a hobby. Also I was never a good writer, so I started my blogs to improve my writing. But that’s just my excuse.
If you don’t know about Penelope Trunk, she is a young, professional writer that also writes about career development. Like me, she writes about the new trends in career development. Her posts may be controversial and brazen, but I believe it’s the reality of the job situation today. Her blog is for millennial job seekers, but it’s relevant for people of other generations.
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Points on Good Body Language
Introduction
We all know of the statistic: 92% of our communication is nonverbal. A majority of that 92% is body language (voice tonality is the other).
I’ve been working on my body language for a long time. It’s not perfect, but it gets the job done. Growing up a shy, insecure boy left me with almost no opportunities in college (in romantic life and job life). After being unemployed for a bit, I decided to improve my soft skills.
Body language is important. One time, I went to a job interview with a company I didn’t care for. Just to experiment, I decided to consciously give bad body language. I gave the same answers that I would always give, but I made myself look meek and insecure.
I did so “bad” in that interview that they actually started to offer me advice on how to do well in interviews. I was shocked how well my experiment worked. Of course, I didn’t get the job.
I have a list of body language checks that I have learned over the years. If you have bad body language, you should be conscious of this at all times.
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The Old School Generation: What Can We Learn from the Traditionalists?
There are currently four generations we classify people in the workforce today:
- The traditionalists: Born 1922-1945.
- Baby boomers: Born 1945-1960.
- Generation X: Born 1960-1980.
- Millennials: 1980-2000.
Due to certain events and culture, each generation shaped the people in it. Each generation has both good and bad characteristics. This entry focuses on the traditionalists.
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The Way Up to the Management Chain
Let’s say you want to be promoted to a management position. So you work hard and exceed everyone’s expectations. Do you get promoted? Probably not.
To get promoted to management, you have to do all the stereotypical things: kiss ass, smooze and booze, etc. Doing a good job isn’t enough.
Why isn’t doing a good job enough? Because it is expected of everyone to do a good job. That’s why they hired you. So if you met deadlines, performed well, went above and beyond expectations, the only reward for that is a slightly bigger raise or bonus at the end of the year. Good job performance doesn’t really mean a promotion. You’re not the only one doing a good job. Almost everyone else at the company is doing a decent job.
What you need to do is expose yourself to upper management. This means you need to be known by your bosses and your bosses’ bosses. You just have to be where your bosses are. Here are some ways to create more exposure:
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