Category: News for the Sector

Mentoring – who can take it, and who should deal it?

This is a potentially complicated topic. I had always heard “don’t get an old dog to teach new tricks”. Meaning? It wasn’t exactly in the company’s best interest to have begruntled employees showing the ropes to the new employees. How could it be? So – this begs the question, how do you choose who teaches who? How to discern between the happy – or not – so – happy employees. And, even worse – is there much of a choice?

These are where my thoughts go with the topic. This article, however, takes a different route – it installs the importance of actually wanting to learn. It seems that the new generation of workers doesn’t heed well to help from others. How can you relate to this? How does your company deal with mentoring?

Let the debate begin!

Click to the original article

Excerpts from the original article:

Behind nearly every person who’s achieved success in their field, you’ll find a mentor who helped them get there. For outpatient coder and auditor Sundae Yomes, that person is Claudia Kernaghan. Yomes said her career in the health industry would have stalled without her more experienced colleague’s help.

“I was working as a medical biller and was given the opportunity to transfer into coding, but I had no experience,” Yomes said. “I was determined to be successful, though, and luckily, Claudia took me under her wing and taught me the guidelines and how to use my coding books. It was her guidance and encouragement that helped me attain my first coding credential.”

Today, Yomes is the Las Vegas chapter president of the American Academy of Professional Coders, and mentors other workers every chance she gets.

“I tell people it’s essential to meet up with others and find the right person you click with and can forge a strong friendship with,” she said. “You have to have trust with your mentor and know that they have your best interest at heart.”

As Yomes’ career development shows, mentorships are invaluable. Unfortunately, many millennial workers forgo such relationships, sometimes out of pride, said Adam Smiley Poswolsky, millennial workplace expert and author of The Quarter-Life Breakthrough: Invent Your Own Path, Find Meaningful Work, and Build a Life That Matters.

“Young people are very self-motivated and determined. Often, they want to prove to themselves they can make anything happen. That’s understandable, but not an effective way of approaching career growth,” Poswolsky told HuffPost. “Asking for advice is not a sign of weakness; it shows you care about your job and building your career capital. The more you invest in mentorship, the more you learn.”

Finding and maintaining a mentor relationship is especially important for women. More men than women say they interact with senior leaders at least once a week ― which all too often keeps women at lower levels in their companies, according to research by the management consulting firm McKinsey and the nonprofit Lean In.

Below, Poswolsky and other workplace experts share their best advice for finding a senior workplace ally.

1. Look for someone who has five or 10 years on you in the field.

Kate Snowise, a psychologist and executive coach, encourages clients to look for people who are five to 10 years ahead of them in their careers and in a role they aspire to.

Once you’ve spotted a few prospective mentors, ask them if they wouldn’t mind sparing an hour for coffee to discuss how they ended up where they are in their careers.

“Most people are actually complimented by such an act. In the midst of a busy working world, it is nice to know that someone admires you for where you have gotten and what you have achieved,” Snowise said. “The worst that can happen is you hear nothing back, and the best is that it may be the start a highly beneficial relationship that helps you plan and navigate your own career.”

2. If your workplace has a formal mentorship program, sign up.

Ideally, your workplace values each person’s professional development and has created institutional programs to help connect newer staff with higher-ups.

Mentorship programs are especially important in the wake of recent high-profile workplace sexual harassment scandals. As The New York Times reported, many men in high-powered positions admit they’re less likely to mentor women, fearing that one-on-one interaction with female subordinates could be misinterpreted or gossiped about by others.

“Mentor programs can counter any misconceptions of favoritism or inappropriate activity by being transparent, outlining policies and being structured with the help of HR,” said Lynn Taylor, a national workplace expert and author of Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant; How to Manage Childish Boss Behavior & Thrive in Your Job.

Plus, Taylor said, such programs also serve to benefit the company.

“Excellent retention, word-of-mouth, talent acquisition and solid growth can be direct results of well-planned mentorship programs,” Taylor said. “They’re the hallmarks of great employers.”

3. Imagine you’re assembling your personal board of directors.

If no mentorship program exists at your job, give your mentor search some direction by pretending you’re searching for investors in you and your future career, Poswolsky said.

“I encourage millennials to build their own board of directors made up of four or five mentors they can turn to for professional and personal advice,” he said. “Find people who have experience in the area you want to work … whose character and leadership qualities you admire.”

Your mentors should be people you actually want to have a conversation with, Poswolsky explained.

“This isn’t supposed to feel like homework; it’s supposed to be fun,” he said. “The best mentor is someone who will tell like it is, even if that means admitting what they don’t like about their job, or what’s not working at their company. Instead of picking the most senior person at your company, look for someone who will give you honest and thoughtful feedback.”

4. Look for mentors outside your office, too.

Cast an even wider net by going to local networking events and perusing online resources, said Hannah Becker, a millennial career blogger at The Motivated Millennial.

“Online resources are helpful because finding a knowledgeable and supportive mentor in one’s field or organization can be really challenging,” she said. “A few mentor-matching resources I recommend are eMentor for military veterans and MicroMentor for entrepreneurs.”

And don’t forget about LinkedIn’s resources. Late last year, the online resume juggernaut rolled out its Career Advice mentoring program, which aims to connect users with mentors and coaches in their fields, free of charge.

5. Remember, your mentor also benefits from the relationship.

You may feel like your mentor-mentee relationship is one-sided, with you reaping the career benefits and your mentor losing out on valuable time, but that’s not entirely the case. Giving back and helping others actually has amazing benefits for the person doing the giving, Snowise said.

“Research has demonstrated that mentors have higher levels of reported job satisfaction than their colleagues who don’t mentor,” she said. “And if they’re mentoring within your organization, it can lead to better feelings of greater connection and understanding what is happening throughout organization levels.”

What’s more, you may even be able to offer some reverse mentorship to your more senior workplace allies.

“With increasing numbers of millennials now in the workforce, a younger mentee can be a benefit to an older mentor by keeping them up-to-date with millennial trends, technology, and fresh and new perspectives,” Snowise said. “It pays off for everyone.”

And the human voice?

Click to the original site.

This is a short audio track that I discovered, and quite enjoyed. A gentleman not voicing his opinion, moreover he is sharing an anecdote which shows his opinion.

The title? What has happened to the human voice?

Before listening… what do you think the man will address with his story?

Before you read or listen, think about just that: What HAS happened with the human voice?

Do you have a say in things?
Do you like to give your opinion?
Do you think the article is about anything different? About what?

Most importantly, how would you apply this to your work situation?

After the transcript, this «conversation» continues.

Transcript:

Studs Terkel (ST)

ST: What has happened to the human voice? Vox humana. Hollering, shouting, quiet, talking, buzz. I was leaving the airport, this is in Atlanta. You know you leave the gate, you take a train that took you to the concourse of your choice. And I get into this train — dead silence. A few people seated or standing. Up above, you hear a voice, that once was a human voice, but no longer, now it talks like a machine. Concourse one: Fortworth, Dallas, Lubbock — that kind of voice. Just then the doors are about to close, pneumatic doors, one young couple rush in and push open the doors and get in. Without missing a beat, that voice above says, ’Because of late entry we’re delayed 30 seconds.’ The people looked at that couple as though the couple had committed mass murder you know. And the couple was shrinking like this, you know. Now I’m known for my talking — I’m gabby — so I say, ’George Orwell, your time has come and gone.’ I expect a laugh… dead silence. And now they look at me, and I’m with the couple, the three of us, are at the Hill of Calvary on Good Friday. And then I say, ’My god, where is the human voice?’ And just then there’s a little baby… maybe the baby’s about a year old or something. And I say ’Sir or Madame,’ to the baby, ’what is your opinion of the human species?’ Well what does the baby do? The baby starts giggling. I say, ’Thank god, the sound of a human voice.’

In this case, the observations had more to do with the automation and lack of personalisation of the services which surround us. Well – I stand to be corrected – lack of humanisation of the services surrounding us.

Personally – I can’t stand calling someone and having to spend what seems like ages answering automated messages in order to finally get (speak) to the person.

And you?

Where do you most notice the lack of humanisation with a service which you use with frequency? This is a very specific question, perhaps you would like to broaden the scope, feel free to. For example – an apartment building using a general service vs. hiring their own doorman (so to say – perhaps janitor – but not really – I’m referring to the position of the «portero»).

Going back to the matter of applying this to your work situation. Are there any processes which you feel should not have been personalized?

In Elingua, our job is to try and automize everything that can and should be automised. However, it is, in our opinion, of utmost importance that training be personal. Everyone should have an opportunity to use their voice.

Do you not agree?

Anyways – I’d love to hear your stories – go ahead and share! If you’d like correction – as always: empresas@metodoelingua.es

IT IS NO LONGER NECESSARY TO COMPLY WITH A 75% OF THE TIME ON THE PLATFORM

SPANISH BELOW

The sentence dealing with the amount of time connected to the learning platform has been published.

I’ll begin with the news: IT IS NO LONGER NECESSARY TO COMPLY WITH A 75% OF THE TIME ON THE PLATFORM. Now for my explanation…

Those who don’t know what I’m speaking about: It’s possible to solicit the return of the amount paid for a training course if certain prerequisites are adhered to. You may find more information by following this link on our web.

Para poder evitar el fraude, se había impuesto algunas nuevas normas, que incluía medir el tiempo que cada alumno pase en la plataforma de formación. Esta norma no estaba tan clara, y, para poder cumplir, todos exigían que cumpliese un 75% de lo que se había puesto de alta en el curso (por ejemplo – si el curso era de 50 horas, el alumno tendría que pasar 37,5 horas en la plataforma).

This may seem as something simple – but for the students it wasn’t, and, of course, it affected the day to day of many people. The worse thing was that, in some cases, it seemed as some students were doing whatever necessary to comply with these policies, then to follow their own learning needs and goals.

You can access news written on this topic here.

How does this effect Elingua?

We are now able to concentrate on what we esteem as necessary. Well, as in everything, this policy kept us on our tip toes. It is possible that, just as part of their course, any given student would spend that much time on the platform, but the vast majority not. Why not? Because, as contemplated, apart from the online course, in order for one to advance with their studies, one needs:

Study time (off line)
Preparation for the classes
Classes with the teacher
Time to dedicate to the practice and assimilation of knowledge, outside of class

In English, each individual student has their own training necessities, and our course, of course, is designed precisely to reach each individual. To have to comply with norms created for all, was an ingredient to the formula which we didn’t like so much. It is not a good idea to advance in too much of a hurry only in order to comply with norms. We recommend advancing at a rate in which you may practice and assimilate.

What did we do to combat this norm? In my opinion – we reinvented the wheel. We went full speed ahead and created content just for that – to practice and assimilate, apart from the course in itself, but, on the platform. All of our students could choose to invest time in doing fun exercises, participate in debates, forums, comment on interesting articles. It worked. Our students continued to advance at an adequate rate in their courses all the while complying with the norms set out by SEPE.

Now, how does this new sentence affect us? Good – on our behalf – we shall continue to create fun and entertaining content, although I’m sure that this takes a weight off of our shoulders in so far as our communications with our students concerning their compliance, and our students may have a little bit more room to breathe.

Nothing more for today.

Ya se ha publicado una sentencia que trataba sobre tiempo de conexión en plataforma para las actividades formativas bonificadas por las empresas ante el SEPE

Empiezo con las nuevas: NO ES NECESARIO CUMPLIR UN 75% DEL TIEMPO EN PLATAFORMA. Ahora mi explico…

Los que no saben de lo que hablo: Es posible bonificar los cursos que se imparten en las empresas siempre que se cumplan ciertos requisitos. Se puede informar sobre las bonificaciones en este enlace.

Para poder evitar el fraude, se había impuesto algunas nuevas normas, que incluía medir el tiempo que cada alumno registre en la plataforma de formación. Esta norma no estaba tan clara, y, para poder cumplir, todos exigían que cumpliese un 75% de las horas comunicadas ante el SEPE (por ejemplo – si el curso era de 50 horas, el alumno tendría que realizar 37,5 horas en la plataforma).

Esto puede parecer algo trivial – pero para los alumnos no lo era, y, como no, afectaba bastante el día a día de muchas personas. Lo peor de todo es que en algunos casos, parecía que estaban haciendo lo necesario para cumplir con Tripartita en vez de cumplir con sus metas de aprendizaje.

Aquí podéis acceder a una noticia bien escrita sobre el tema.

¿Cómo nos afecta la noticia en Elingua?

Ya podemos volver a centrarnos en lo necesario. Bueno, como todo, esta exigencia nos ha hecho ponernos las pilas. Es posible que, solo porque si, cualquier alumno hubiese pasado este tiempo en plataforma, pero, en la gran mayoría de ellos no. ¿Por qué no? Porque, está contemplado, que, aparte del tiempo en el curso online, para poder avanzar en tu aprendizaje, precisas:

Tiempo de estudio off line.
Preparación de las clases.
Las clases con tu profesor.
El tiempo que dedicas para practicar y asimilar los nuevos conocimientos fuera de clase.

En el inglés, cada alumno tiene sus propias necesidades formativas, y nuestro curso, como no, está diseñado precisamente para poder llegar a cada uno. Tener que pasar por el aro de cumplir porque si, no era un ingrediente de la fórmula que nos gustó mucho. No es apropiado avanzar demasiado deprisa solamente para cumplir. Nosotros recomendamos avanzar a la vez que puedas practicar, asimilar.

¿Qué hicimos para combatir la norma? Re-inventar la rueda pienso yo. Nos pusimos manos a la obra para crear contenido precisamente para ello – practicar y asimilar, ajena al curso en sí, pero en plataforma. Todos nuestros alumnos podían elegir invertir algo de tiempo en realizar ejercicios lúdicos, participar en debates, foros, comentar sobre artículos interesantes. Funcionó. Nuestros alumnos seguían avanzando adecuadamente en sus cursos y cumpliendo con las exigencias SEPE.

Ahora, ¿cómo nos afecta la sentencia? Bueno – por nuestra parte – seguiremos creando contenido lúdico y entretenido, pero igual nos quitaremos un peso de encima en cuanto a nuestras comunicaciones de cumplimiento de tiempo en plataforma, y nuestros alumnos podrán respirar un poco más.

Nada más por hoy.

Embarassed?

This is something I love to write about… you see, I think it’s quite Spanish! But, are you letting this sentiment get in the way of progressing in your career? Are you letting it impede you from practicing your English? How about in your relationships… does it get in your way?

A little bit of anything, or, better said, not too much of anything… is probably good. I mean… avoid extremes, right?

I didn’t find too many interesting sources, just the «obvious» thoughts, studies and reflections… but I thought this one was at least… complete. So, enjoy!

WIKIHOW… seems like a great source to enjoy your English with.

Suggested homework…

Why don’t you write to me about a personal anecdote, and tell me how you dealt with it?
Did you follow any of the suggested steps to take?
Do you think that this is a relevant article for the workplace?
Look at the questions that people wrote, would you have answered in a similar way?
What questions would you ask the expert?

How to Deal With Embarrassment

Everyone gets embarrassed at some point in time because everyone makes mistakes. Embarrassment may be the result of unwanted attention, a mistake, or being placed in a situation that makes you uncomfortable. You may feel like you want to hide away until the embarrassment passes, but there are better ways to deal with embarrassment. You can try to understand your feelings of embarrassment better, learn to laugh at yourself, and be compassionate to yourself when you become embarrassed.

Method 1

Dealing with Embarrassing Situations

Evaluate the situation. How you handle an embarrassing situation depends on what has happened to embarrass you. For example, if you did something wrong, like made an inappropriate comment to a friend, you may feel embarrassed because you should not have said what you did. But if you feel embarrassed because you did something by accident, like tripping and falling in front of a large group of people, that is a different situation. Each situation requires a slightly different approach to overcome the feelings of embarrassment.^[1]

Apologize if necessary. If you did something wrong, you will need to apologize for your mistake. Having to apologize might make you feel a bit more embarrassed, but it is necessary to deal with the original embarrassment and move forward. Make sure that your apology is sincere and direct.^[2]

Try saying something like, “I am sorry that I did/said that. I didn’t mean it. I will try to be more thoughtful in the future.”

Forgive yourself and stop beating yourself up. After you have apologized (if it was necessary), you need to forgive yourself for what you did or said. Forgiving yourself is an important step in dealing with embarrassment because it will help you to stop beating yourself up. By forgiving yourself, you are sending yourself the message that you made an honest mistake and it is nothing to dwell on.^[3]

Try telling yourself something like, “I forgive myself for what I did. I am only human and I am bound to make mistakes sometimes.”

Distract yourself and others. While you don’t want to ignore the embarrassing thing that you did or said, after you have evaluated it and dealt with the situation you should move on. You can help yourself and other move past the embarrassing thing by changing the subject or inviting them to do something else.^[4]

For example, after you have apologized and forgiven yourself for saying something inappropriate to a friend, ask them if they watched the news last night. Or, pay them a compliment. Say something like, “Hey, I love your outfit. Where did you get it?”

Method 2

Dealing with Past Embarrassments

Reflect on your most embarrassing moments. While it may be painful to review the most embarrassing things that have ever happened to you, it can help you to put other embarrassing moments into perspective. Make a list of the top 5 most embarrassing things that have ever happened to you and compare them to your most recent embarrassment.^[5]

Laugh at yourself. After you have made your list of embarrassing moments, allow yourself to laugh at yourself. Laughing at things that you done can be a cleansing experience. By looking at them as silly things that happened in your past, you can help yourself to move past feelings of embarrassment.^[6]

For example, if you once walked through the lunch room with your skirt tucked into your underwear, try to laugh about the experience. Try to see it from an outsider’s perspective and remove yourself from the negative feelings. Realize that it was just a silly mistake that probably made people do a double take or possibly even a spit take.

Try discussing embarrassing moments with a trusted friend. It might make it easier for you to laugh at someone if you tell the story to someone who was not there and it can also be a good way for you to hear about someone else’s embarrassing moments.

Be compassionate towards yourself. If you can’t bring yourself to laugh at what you did, try being compassionate towards yourself. Acknowledge your embarrassment and talk to yourself like a good friend. Give yourself permission to feel embarrassed and understand the pain that that situation has caused for you.^[7]

Try to remind yourself of who you are and what your core values are. This can help you to ground yourself and brush off some embarrassment and with self-compassion.

Focus on the present. Once you have comforted yourself through laughter or compassion, bring yourself back into the present moment. Recognize that the embarrassing moment is in the past. Try to focus your attention on what is happening in your life right now. Where are you? What are you doing? Who are you with? How do you feel? Changing your focus to the here and now may help you to stop dwelling on things that happened to you in the past.^[8]

Keep trying to be your best. Although embarrassment can be painful, it may also be useful for personal development. If you did or said something wrong that has caused you to feel embarrassed, think about what you can do to avoid doing or saying something similar in the future. If you made an honest mistake that could have happened to anyone, recognize that you did not do anything wrong and move on.

Try not to get hung up on what you did or said because dwelling on it can be more painful than the initial experience.^[9]

Consider seeing a therapist. If you still cannot get past your feelings of embarrassment despite your best efforts, consider seeing a therapist for help. You may be dealing with something that requires ongoing work or your embarrassment may be related to other thinking patterns such as rumination or possibly low self-esteem.

Method 3

Understanding Embarrassment

Recognize that embarrassment is normal. Feeling embarrassed can make you feel like something is wrong with you or you are all alone, but it is important to remember that these feelings are not accurate. Embarrassment is a normal feeling just like being happy, sad, mad, etc. When you are feeling embarrassed, remember that everyone feels embarrassed at some point in time.

To see that embarrassment is something that everyone feels, ask your parents or another trusted person to tell you about a time when they got embarrassed.^[10]

Learn that it is okay if people know you are embarrassed. One of the worst things about feeling embarrassment is when people know you are embarrassed. Knowing that others know you are embarrassed can make feel even more embarrassed. This is because embarrassment makes you feel exposed or vulnerable due to the fear of being judged by others.^[11] Unlike shame, which can be both a public and private event, embarrassment is mostly a public event.^[12] Try to remind yourself that there is nothing wrong with people knowing that you are embarrassed about something because it is a normal emotion.

One way to address the perceived judgement of others is to be realistic and ask yourself if others are judging you or if you are judging yourself^[13].

Understand that some embarrassment can be helpful. While being embarrassed is never a fun experience, occasional minor embarrassment can be helpful. Some research has found that people who blush when they do or say something wrong may be seen as more trustworthy. This is because those people are demonstrating their awareness of social rules. So if you blush on occasion when you make a minor mistake, don’t dwell on it because it may actually make people see you in a more positive light.^[14]

Consider the relationship between embarrassment and perfectionism. Perfectionism can contribute to feelings of embarrassment. You may be holding yourself to unrealistically high standards that cause you to feel like you are failing if you do not live up to them. These feelings of failure may lead to embarrassment, so it is important to set realistic standards for yourself.^[15]

Remind yourself that you are your biggest critic. While it may seem like the world is watching and judging you, that is not a realistic perspective. Think about how much you pay attention to little things that other people say and do. It is unlikely that you scrutinize others the same way that you do to yourself.^[16]

Think about the relationship between embarrassment and confidence. Confident people tend to experience less embarrassment than people who lack confidence.^[17]If you have low self-confidence, you might experience more embarrassment or more severe feelings of embarrassment than you should. Try to build up your self-confidence in order to reduce the amount of embarrassment that you feel on a daily basis.

If you are extremely self-conscious, you may even find yourself dealing with shame, which is not the same thing as embarrassment. Shame is the result of a poor self-image, which can be caused by often feeling embarrassed.^[18] Consider talking with a therapist if you feel like embarrassment has left you with feelings of shame.

New! Make a stranger’s day. Answer a question.

Question

How to handle the embarrassment when you have fallen in front of a large crowed very awkwardly?

Jessica B. Casey

M.A, Clinical Mental Health Counseling

Expert Answer

Ouch! I think we’ve all been there once or twice. You have a few choice in how to deal with it. Some people use humor, such as, “Whoops! Should have skipped that last beer.” Others like to to be direct such as, “Oh my gosh — well that was embarrassing — anyway…” Or you could also just excuse yourself to compose yourself in a place that isn’t so public then return when you’re ready. Either way it’s important to remember that falling is a totally normal and human thing to do and it just happens sometimes.

Question

I am definitely a perfectionist, and I hold standards for myself that are far too high. Any advice as to how to not make these super high standards in the first place?

Jessica B. Casey

M.A, Clinical Mental Health Counseling

Expert Answer

It’s ok to have high goals and standards. The trouble comes when you have an uncomfortable or poor reaction to not meeting those standards. Try some exercises in self-compassion and radical self-acceptance. Also check out our articles on self-love and acceptance. These can all help you to alter how you think about ‘failure’ and perfection and thus help you to cope when things aren’t working out perfectly.

Question

What can I do if I did something embarrassing in front of my friend? I am going to back to school soon and I am afraid to see him.

wikiHow Contributor

Community Answer

Be confident that your friend is over it too and ignore what happened. If he raises it, just say something like: «Yeah, that was dumb wasn’t it but I’m so over it and hope you are too». Then leave it at that and change the subject. It is great that you have had a break, other things will have taken over his thoughts since the act.

Question

I’m embarrassed by my dad who sends me to school on a motorcycle while my friends come with fancy cars. What can I do?

wikiHow Contributor

Community Answer

C’mon, your dad sounds super awesome! You get to be dropped off at school on a motorcycle? That’s super cool. If those people are your true friends they will think it’s cool too. Just don’t talk about it and they won’t bring it up. You really are lucky, you just don’t realize it yet.

Question

What can I do when people tease me at school and laugh at me?

wikiHow Contributor

Community Answer

If they laugh at you, laugh with them about yourself. They will get bored and stop. It’s not fun for people who tease you if it doesn’t get to you.

Question

I cried at school all day long. How do I overcome this embarassment?

wikiHow Contributor

Community Answer

Remind yourself that crying is normal and shows that you’ve got feelings. Everyone has been in your position at some point in time, so they will understand. Also, some people find that talking to friends or family members about their embarrassment helps them feel better.

Question

People at school will imitate my voice and things like that. How can I stop them or at least not feel embarrassed about it?

wikiHow Contributor

Community Answer

Tell them how you feel. If they don’t stop, tell someone you trust, and be confident. This happens to everyone, don’t worry.

Question

How do I stop embarrassing yourself?

wikiHow Contributor

Community Answer

We all embarrass ourselves now and then. It’s part of being human. Just laugh it off with an «Oops! Sorry about that!» and carry on. Don’t be so hard on yourself.

Question

I smoked weed at school and started crying and was doing funny things in front of my schoolmates. Now I’m afraid everyone will judge me if I go back to school. How do I overcome the embarrassment?

wikiHow Contributor

Community Answer

We all do embarrassing things now and then. Laugh it off, and your classmates will too. But in the future, try to stop smoking weed, and it won’t happen again.

Question

What can I do about constant teasing at school because of an embarrassing incident?

wikiHow Contributor

Community Answer

First, know that everybody gets teased once in a while, and that it’s okay to laugh at yourself. Ignore those that tease you, and know that they are probably trying to deal with their own issues.

Tips

When something embarrassing happens, don’t cause a huge scene. This will only cause the event to stick in the minds of others. Stay calm and don’t freak out.
Laugh it off with your mates. Act like it doesn’t bother you and they won’t think it’s such a big deal.
Don’t obsess over little things. Minor embarrassments are nothing to dwell on. Try to brush them off and keep going.
If you have a good friend, you can tell them about your embarrassing situation and laugh about it together.
If you are buying something embarrassing for yourself, you can purchase an inexpensive birthday card with it to make it seem like it’s a gift.

Are you preparing a meeting or interview in English?

SOAR

The S.O.A.R. Answer Model

Original Article

Situation

Obstacle

Action

Results

Are you often in situations when you find yourself either speaking too much or, perhaps, not enough? When do you usually figure it out, a few hours later, or while you are actually in the situation?

This may be more of a stress factor when you are communicating in a different language, so I find it is quite useful to practice with a guideline.

You can use if for preparing a meeting, interview, telephone conversations. Basically, any situation in which you are expected to give a briefing on behavioural issues.

Let’s go through an example for an interview.

SITUATION

Give a brief description of the relevant information leading to the situation.

For example: I had been given a promotion as the department manager. Even though the department had grown over twice its original size, there was an extremely high turnover.

OBSTACLES

It’s important to capture your audience’s attention and in so doing, define the problem. Show what it is exactly that you solved.

For example: We experienced a regular increment of customer complaints which were generated through the stress of our staff that was overworked. The current staff had to train the new staff, as the turnover was over fifty percent.

ACTION

Explain what you did to solve that problem.

For example: I was able to identify specific problems and to set priorities to the tasks necessary. I did this by workflow analysis and assigning the proper work to the proper people. Following that, I ensured that each job post had a proper job description. I set up a formal plan of job mentoring in order to give the new staff the opportunity to shadow the senior staff. Throughout this entire process it was important to have regular meetings and constantly reevaluate the situation in progress.

RESULTS

Share the exact results, not only a description, but something quantifiable.

For example: The turnover went from 50 to 10 percent in the first year. Employees felt more motivated. The customer complaints were no longer regular. Our department became the most productive in the division.

Suggested homework for practice:

These questions are taken directly from the original article, which I highly recommend. Please use these as homework, it’s an excellent exercise.

Here are some behavioural questions.

Practice using the S.O.A.R. Answer Model to develop your own responses.

Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a difficult client or coworker.
Tell me about your most significant achievement in your last job.
Tell me about the most significant mistake you have made, how you handled it, and what you learned from it.
Give me an example of when you had to sell your boss on a new product, service, system, or program.
Give me an example of a problem you faced on the job and how you handled it.
Give me an example of how you dealt with an employee who was not performing up to expectations.
Give me a recent example of how you went about motivating your coworkers and subordinates.
Recall for me a time when you challenged your boss and/or company policy.
Tell me what you did in your last job to help build teamwork.

Make sure you take the time in advance of the interview to develop some strong answers to each potential question. The better prepared you are to answer questions, the more likely you will make a strong impression on your interviewer, become a master interviewee, ultimately landing that dream job.

The math behind the profile pic

Go to the original article.

Does being photogenic have anything to do with the profile pics people post? I mean, if you think you are not photogenic, you make more classic mistakes while posing or planning?

How often have you seen someone hiding behind a hand, or only showing an eye in a close-up, or with their head tilted, or, or, or…

Does it have to do with lack of self-confidence when one does not use a great picture?
As one might suspect it IS important to have a great picture – but as far as the studies go, it has nothing to do with being more or less photogenic.

This article that I came across sums up studies on how one is perceived, according to their pic.

There is quite the science behind it, but rest assured – if you follow these simple guidelines, you have nothing to worry about.

I’ve taken the following excerpt direct from his original article.
I also suggest going to the following web site: https://www.photofeeler.com/

It grades how others see you in these three profiles:

business (competent, likeable, influential)
social (confident, authentic, fun)
dating (smart, trustworthy, attractive)

Here is an overview of all the best practices for coming up with the best profile picture on social media:

Smile with teeth
Dark coloured suits, light coloured button-downs
Jawline with a shadow
Head-and-shoulders, or head to waist photo
Squinch (not fully wide eyes)
Asymmetrical composition
Unobstructed eyes

Worth trying out:

• Facing the camera (or not)
• Bright background

And things to avoid:

• Hats
• Sunglasses
• Hair, glare and shadows over the eyes
• Laughing smile
• sexiness

Suggested homework:

Do you think the photograph included is appropriate for a CV?
Why or why not?
Try uploading and running the test for yourself, comment on your thoughts and reactions?

Work Ethics to Overcome

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Work ethics to overcome

An under two minute audio of one man’s memories from the seventies.

This is under two minutes, but stop and listen to this gentleman speaking. I always try and find something for the blog that is “authentic”, for you to listen, watch, or read something that is suitable not only for the topic at hand, but also, for language learning. I think this man, from the Unites States, speaking about his job situation in the past (interview in the 70’s) is a unique example of what I want in this blog.

So… this is very short, but lovely.

Questions that I put forth to you (remember – LISTEN first, without reading the transcript!):

Do you have any natural obstacles that others may have had against you at your current – or past job?
1. How did you overcome it/ them?
2. Care to share your particular experience?
How did Dee get over his problem – careful, it may be a trick question!
Have you ever had a problem for being over efficient?
What kind of job do you think he had?
1. Do you think that the person who interviewed him had ever had a similar position?
2. Do you think it is common for the person interviewing to have ever worked in a similar job to the post they are looking to fill?

Some of these questions may seem a bit off-hand, however, I believe that the topic leads to potentially interesting conversations, so, let’s talk!

Transcript:

Dee Dickson (DD)

Dee Dickson remembers trying to get a job as a shipyard electrician in the 1970s.

(DD): The guy that was interviewing told me I was too little, that I wouldn’t get along with the guys, that they would make life hard for me. He didn’t think I needed to be doing it. And my dad said, “Well, you know, my Uncle Alf is superintendent out there. I can get you on like that.” Finally, at the end of that week I let my dad take me to see Uncle Alf. So, I went the next Monday and the guy said, “Look, I got the word from the top. I don’t like it, but you’re hired.”

Then I went to the ship. And none of the guys would work with me. They said, “These are men’s jobs. You’re taking jobs away from men who have families.” I said, “I have a family and no man and I need money.” It took about two weeks before I started proving myself. And the guys were doing better with it. They would work with me. I had several guys who told me, “You need to slow down — you’re making us look bad.” (Laughs)

You know? And I’m like, “I’m here to work!”

We had to go to school two nights a week. And I was the first apprentice who had ever become supervisor before graduation. And they were mad because I got a raise. And I got a position they thought was theirs. It’s just… I had a knack for getting stuff done on time and getting it done right. Now, I had to do some things a little differently than they did, you know? I couldn’t lift an 80-pound transformer. But I found a way to do the same things they were doing. And it kind of made me better than I probably would have been if I was a guy.

Paradox of Value

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A lovely description of the famed Paradox of Value, Adam Smith. The author, Akshita Agarwal does a great job of simplifying matters and including important vocabulary.

Can you send me your own definitions or examples of:
Value
Opportunity Cost
Concept of utility
Marginal utility

How would you describe, for example, the paradox through a modern-day situation to a child?

Transcription:

00:06 Imagine you’re on a game show, and you can choose between two prizes:
00:10 a diamond
00:12 or a bottle of water.
00:14 It’s an easy choice.
00:15 The diamonds are clearly more valuable.
00:18 Now imagine being given the same choice again,
00:20 only this time, you’re not on a game show,
00:22 but dehydrated in the desert after wandering for days.
00:26 Do you choose differently?
00:28 Why? Aren’t diamonds still more valuable?
00:31 This is the paradox of value,
00:34 famously described by pioneering economist Adam Smith.
00:38 And what it tells us is that defining value is not as simple as it seems.
00:43 On the game show, you were thinking about each item’s exchange value,
00:47 what you could obtain for them at a later time,
00:50 but in an emergency, like the desert scenario,
00:52 what matters far more is their use value,
00:56 how helpful they are in your current situation.
00:59 And because we only get to choose one of the options,
01:01 we also have to consider its opportunity cost,
01:05 or what we lose by giving up the other choice.
01:08 After all, it doesn’t matter how much you could get from selling the diamond
01:11 if you never make it out of the desert.
01:14 Most modern economists deal with the paradox of value
01:17 by attempting to unify these considerations
01:20 under the concept of utility,
01:22 how well something satisfies a person’s wants or needs.
01:25 Utility can apply to anything from the basic need for food
01:28 to the pleasure of hearing a favorite song,
01:30 and will naturally vary for different people and circumstances.
01:35 A market economy provides us with an easy way to track utility.
01:38 Put simply, the utility something has to you
01:41 is reflected by how much you’d be willing to pay for it.
01:44 Now, imagine yourself back in the desert,
01:46 only this time, you get offered a new diamond or a fresh bottle of water
01:50 every five minutes.
01:52 If you’re like most people, you’ll first choose enough water to last the trip,
01:55 and then as many diamonds as you can carry.
01:58 This is because of something called marginal utility,
02:01 and it means that when you choose between diamonds and water,
02:04 you compare utility obtained from every additional bottle of water
02:07 to every additional diamond.
02:09 And you do this each time an offer is made.
02:12 The first bottle of water is worth more to you than any amount of diamonds,
02:16 but eventually, you have all the water you need.
02:19 After a while, every additional bottle becomes a burden.
02:22 That’s when you begin to choose diamonds over water.
02:25 And it’s not just necessities like water.
02:27 When it comes to most things, the more of it you acquire,
02:30 the less useful or enjoyable every additional bit becomes.
02:34 This is the law of diminishing marginal utility.
02:37 You might gladly buy two or three helpings of your favorite food,
02:40 but the fourth would make you nauseated,
02:42 and the hundredth would spoil before you could even get to it.
02:45 Or you could pay to see the same movie over and over until you got bored of it
02:49 or spent all of your money.
02:50 Either way, you’d eventually reach a point
02:52 where the marginal utility for buying another movie ticket became zero.
02:57 Utility applies not just to buying things, but to all our decisions.
03:01 And the intuitive way to maximize it and avoid diminishing returns
03:05 is to vary the way we spend our time and resources.
03:08 After our basic needs are met,
03:10 we’d theoretically decide to invest in choices
03:13 only to the point they’re useful or enjoyable.
03:15 Of course, how effectively any of us manage to maximize utility in real life
03:19 is another matter.
03:21 But it helps to remember that the ultimate source of value comes from us,
03:25 the needs we share,
03:26 the things we enjoy,
03:28 and the choices we make.

HR VOCAB, straight from the HR Trend Institute (PART TWO)

As you know, I don’t like putting up vocabulary lists… but I’m willing to make an exception every now and then, and this, of course, is one of them. Hans has put together a list of words which should definitely come in handy. Not only the words itself, but the use of the vocabulary in the definitition.

Click to original article here.

Author: Hans Mangelschots

Understanding HR Trends; an incomplete list of Techy words (part II)

From my experience it is hard to exchange visions or brainstorm about the future when certain nouns and verbs are being used incorrectly. Sometimes they are not even known at all. Yet we all talk HR. So based on trending HR articles I made a dictionary of 60 words that possibly cross your path when you are rethinking your HR. It might help understand each other.
I ended part 1 with HR Analytics. Let’s move on.

HR automation
HR automation is the process to improve the efficiency of human resources departments through automating the manual human resource processes and eliminating information-centered risks. (Source: Ciowhitepapersreview)

HR Technology
HR technology (human resources technology) is an umbrella term for software and associated hardware for automating the human resources function in organisations. It includes employee payroll and compensation, talent acquisition and management, workforce analytics, performance management, and benefits administration. (Source: Techtarget)

HRIS
See HRMS. (Source: Webopedia)

HRMS
A Human Resources Management System (HRMS) is a software application that combines many human resources functions, including benefits administration, payroll, recruiting and training, and performance analysis and review into one package. (Source: Webopedia)

Internal communications
Internal communications (IC) is the function responsible for effective communications among the participants within an organisation. The scope of the function varies by organisation and practitioner, from producing and delivering messages and campaigns on behalf of management, to facilitating two-way dialogue and developing the communication skills of the organisation’s participants. (Source: Wikepedia)

KPI’s
A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is a measurable value that demonstrates how effectively a company is achieving key business objectives. Organisations use KPIs at multiple levels to evaluate their success at reaching targets. (Source: Klipfolio)

Learning and development
Learning and development, a subset of HR, aims to improve group and individual performance by increasing and honing skills and knowledge. Learning and development, often called training and development, forms part of an organisation’s talent management strategy and is designed to align group and individual goals and performance with the organisation’s overall vision and goals. (Source: HRzone)

Mindset
The established set of attitudes held by someone. (Source: Google search)

Onboarding
Onboarding, also known as organisational socialisation, refers to the mechanism through which new employees acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and behaviours in order to become effective organisational members and insiders. (Source: Wikepedia)

Offboarding
Employee exit management or offboarding describes the consciously designed separation process when an employee leaves the company, for which he has previously worked within the scope of a work or service contract. (Source: Wikepedia)

People analytics
People analytics refers to the process of collecting, analysing and using quantitative and qualitative data about an organisation’s employees, alongside business performance data, to provide insights on business issues, solve business problems and inform business decisions and strategy. (Source: Xperthr)

Performance management
Performance management (PM) includes activities which ensure that goals are consistently being met in an effective and efficient manner. Performance management can focus on the performance of an organization, a department, employee, or even the processes to build a product or service, as well as many other areas. (Source: Wikepedia)

Personalisation
Personalisation, also known as customisation, consists of tailoring a service or a product to accommodate specific individuals, sometimes tied to groups or segments of individuals. A wide variety of organisations use personalisation to improve customer satisfaction, digital sales conversion, marketing results, branding, and improved website metrics as well as for advertising. Personalisation also is a key element in social media and recommender systems. (Source: Wikepedia)

Preboarding
Employee pre-boarding begins once an offer has been accepted by the new hire and lasts up to the first day of employment. (Source: Talcura)

Predictive analytics
Predictive analytics is a form of advanced analytics that uses both new and historical data to forecast activity, behavior and trends. It involves applying statistical analysis techniques, analytical queries and automated machine learning algorithms to data sets to create predictive models that place a numerical value — or score — on the likelihood of a particular event happening. (Source: Techtarget)

Preselection
To choose in advance usually on the basis of a particular criterion. (Source: Merriam-webster)

Recognition and rewards
Communication between management and employees which rewards them for reaching specific goals or producing high quality results in the workplace. Recognising or honouring employees for this level of service is meant to encourage repeat actions, through reinforcing the behaviour you would like to see repeated. (Source: Business dictionary)

Recruiting
The process of finding and hiring the best-qualified candidate (from within or outside of an organisation) for a job opening, in a timely and cost effective manner. The recruitment process includes analysing the requirements of a job, attracting employees to that job, screening and selecting applicants, hiring, and integrating the new employee to the organisation. (Source: Business dictionary)

Retention
An effort by a business to maintain a working environment which supports current staff in remaining with the company. Many employee retention policies are aimed at addressing the various needs of employees to enhance their job satisfaction and reduce the substantial costs involved in hiring and training new staff. (Source: Business dictionary)

SAAS
(Software As A Service) Software that is rented rather than purchased. Instead of buying applications and paying for periodic upgrades, SaaS is subscription based, and upgrades are automatic during the subscription period. When that expires, the software is no longer valid. (Source: PCmag.com)

Social
Living organisms including humans are social when they live collectively in interacting populations, whether they are aware of it, and whether the interaction is voluntary or involuntary. (Source: Wikepedia)

Staffing
That function of management, which is concerned with selecting, developing, maintaining and utilizing the manpower such that the objectives of the organisation are achieved economically and effectively. The objectives of individual employees of the organisation are accomplished to the highest degree possible, serving in the process the objectives of the community at large. (Source: Businessmanagementideas.com)

Stand alone solution
Software that is not a part of some bundled software. A program that run as a separate computer process, not an add-on of an existing process. Standalone program, a program that does not require operating system’s services to run. A portable application, which can be run without the need for installation procedure. (Source: Wikepedia)

Talent Acquisition
Talent acquisition is the process of finding and acquiring skilled human labor for organisational needs and to meet any labor requirement. When used in the context of the recruiting and HR profession, talent acquisition usually refers to the talent acquisition department or team within the Human Resources department. (Source: Quora)

Talent management
Talent management refers to the anticipation of required human capital for an organisation and the planning to meet those needs. … Talent management is the science of using strategic human resource planning to improve business value and to make it possible for companies and organisations to reach their goals. (Source: Wikepedia)

Talent Sourcing
Sourcing is a talent acquisition discipline which is focused on the identification, assessment and engagement of skilled worker candidates through proactive recruiting techniques. (Source: Wikepedia)

Usability
ISO defines usability as “The extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use.” The word “usability” also refers to methods for improving ease-of-use during the design process. (Source: Wikepedia)

User experience
The overall experience of a person using a product such as a website or computer application, especially in terms of how easy or pleasing it is to use. “If a website degrades the user experience too much, people will simply stay away. (Source: Google search)

Virtual reality
The computer-generated simulation of a three-dimensional image or environment that can be interacted with in a seemingly real or physical way by a person using special electronic equipment, such as a helmet with a screen inside or gloves fitted with sensors. (Source: Google search)

Did you recognise any of these words? Good!
These were the final 30, the first 30 you can read in part 1 of this incomplete dictionary of 60 Techy words that are being used in HR and HR innovation. Keeping this list up to date is going to be a challenge. Could you tell me which words do you think are missing in this list?

Freedom for the people? Is it possible to let the employees think for themselves?

Link to original article

Would this management strategy work in your establishment? Why or why not? do you see this appropriate only for large companies, or on the contrary, better for small companies? I’d love to see your thoughts, and any questions of use of the vocabulary!

Note, this is directly from the Harvard Business Review, so the vocabulary and spelling is American. Can you tell which words I’m referring to?

Let me know at: empresas@metodoelingua.es or, of course, leave comments.

Give Your Team the Freedom to Do the Work They Think Matters Most

Since at least the time of Frederick Taylor, the father of “scientific management,” control has been central to corporate organization: Control of costs, of prices, of investment and—not least—of people.

Control, even a perception of it, can be comforting. Moreover, it feels like what a manager should be doing: Setting targets, monitoring adherence to procedures, directing, shaping the future of the business. Control feels essential—especially if you are the boss.

Except it turns out that far from being vital, top-down control carries serious costs, many of which have been hiding in plain sight. What is more, there is an alternative. And not a pie-in-the-sky fantasy conjured up on a whiteboard, but a real, working alternative. It has been practiced to varying degrees in companies around the world for decades. And in France in particular, it is taking on the character of a movement. Companies as large as Michelin and Carrefour are questioning their control structures and seeing real results from replacing them.

This alternative has never had a name because—fittingly, as you’ll see—it hasn’t really had a guru. Its principles have been passed from business leader to business leader like samizdat. But more recently it has started to come into the open. We call it corporate liberation.

The idea can be stated simply enough: A liberated company allows employees complete freedom and responsibility to take actions that they—not their managers—decide are best for their company’s vision. That doesn’t mean that these firms are unmanaged. On the contrary, the specific actions that we observed in close to one hundred liberated companies prove the opposite.

For example, every morning, a liberated company’s manager would ask whether there is anything preventing her team from doing their best. That may not sound unusual, but here’s the first twist: When her team shares a problem or an opportunity with her, she will not offer a solution. Instead, she asks them to find their own—after ensuring that there isn’t something she’s doing that would get in the way.

When a new project comes in, the manager does not devise a plan to complete it. Instead, she asks the team to do so. In making these choices, she accomplishes two vital things. She places herself in service of her team, rather than above them as a supervisor, and this in turn has a direct impact on the behavior of her team: It starts to liberate them to act on their own initiative, rather than passively awaiting direction from above.

At Decathlon, a sports equipment retailer with 80,000 employees, their form of corporate liberation is strongly supported by the CEO. Yet, since corporate liberation is a philosophy and not a model, he gives latitude to the directors of each of Decathlon’s business units to co-create their unique, freedom-based organizational environment. For example, the director of one of their largest warehouses asked 150 employees to determine the “playing field” for which they have responsibility. He then asked them to transform—in teams—the organizational practices they thought were preventing them from being responsible in that field. Managers transitioned to the role of coaches in service of their teams, giving away their formal authority. As a result, today all warehouse teams manage the order fulfillment by themselves, and many teams set their own work schedules.

The results have been impressive. When Decathlon launched their workplace transformation, it had already been a leading privately held multinational with $9.11 billion in revenue in 2013. By 2017 it had grown organically to $12.79 billion worldwide. In 2017 and 2018, Decathlon was ranked the #1 Great Place to Work in France.

Michelin, the global tire manufacturing giant—with 114,000 employees—has also embarked on a corporate liberation campaign. In one of its German plants, teams self-direct most activities and managers have transitioned into the role of coaches without formal authority. Operators set their work schedules and their vacations, design and monitor their own performance indicators, do their own maintenance, and are consulted on the choice of new machinery. Michelin is a huge company in a relatively mature industry, but it has still managed to nearly double its free cash flow since 2015, to €1.509 billion ($1.75 billion) in 2017 compared to €833 million in 2015. In 2018, Michelin was ranked the #1 America’s Best Large Employer.

Human beings have certain universal psychological needs: The need to be treated as intrinsically equal, the need for personal growth, and to exercise self-direction. Each of these needs is frequently and systematically denied by traditional command-and-control managerial hierarchies. Perhaps the most important benefit of liberating an organization—because it leads in turn to all the other benefits—is the creation of an environment that feeds these universal needs, rather than stifling them.

Thus one of the most striking findings about liberated companies is the extremely high level of engagement and intrinsic motivation among employees. According to a 2017 Gallup Employee Engagement survey, 33% of U.S. employees are engaged, 51% are disengaged, and 16% are actively disengaged. Freedom-based companies, by contrast, can typically boast that more than 70% of their employees are “engaged,” according to Gallup’s data. Indeed, in liberated companies, there remain very few disengaged employees and the actively disengaged—the difficult and productivity-sapping sort that seem to be a fixture in modern corporations—leave by themselves. The collateral benefit of this high engagement is that the liberated organization outperforms the traditional one. The reason for it is not in some top-management talk about serving the “whole person.” It’s simply that feeding psychological needs lead to higher engagement and—as a consequence—to higher team productivity and initiative and increased corporate performance.

While Decathlon and Michelin are relatively new to the liberation game, the phenomenon, as noted, has been quietly under way for more than half a century. Almost all of the older freedom-based companies we have studied—such as W.L. Gore, Sun Hydraulics, USAA, Quad Graphics, and IDEO—have been competing at the top of their industries for more than two decades. But liberating a traditional company isn’t simple. Some managers make the transition into leaders serving their teams easily. Others need training to gain the skills required to abstain from telling people what to do and to listen to them instead, or to meet employee needs of trust, growth, and self-direction. Training may not suffice in some cases, where egos or heavily ingrained top-down behaviors get in the way.

We’ve studied several dozen such transformations in businesses of all sizes, industries, and geographies. If you manage a business or plan to do so, here are practical steps to build a freedom-based workplace in your own company right now.

Steps for building a freedom-based team

Lose your ego. Your employees won’t believe you trust their intelligence if you are always the one with the “best solution.”

Share the company’s vision. This isn’t specific to building a liberated workplace. Yet, given the discretion allowed in freedom-based companies, a shared vision is fundamental since it provides a common criterion for the teams to make their decisions. Qualified people don’t need to be told how to do their jobs, but especially when you set them free, they need to know why they’re doing what they’re doing—so they can do it better.

Create the respect tide—the climate in which most manager-leaders show through their actions that they respect and trust employees. It requires the manager-leaders to remove the obstacles preventing teams from doing their best.

Ask your team what’s in their way. If any organizational practice or structural element is mistrusting their intelligence, limiting their growth, or hampering their self-direction. If yes, ask them to redesign it. Be prepared to see the majority of control practices and structures—both in the hierarchical and in the support functions—gradually replaced. The respect tide will stimulate teams’ willingness to set their own work schedules or to make their own hires, and these demands affect organizational processes.

Become the guardian of the liberated team. When teams assume more responsibilities and make more decisions on their own, fewer remain for all levels of managers. Managers who accept this will be busy serving their teams while abstaining from using their formal authority.

Your employees will be willing to come to work every day to do their best, your manager-leaders will spend their days revealing employee potential, and you will enjoy dinner every night with your family knowing that your business is succeeding.

Brian Carney is Senior Vice President for Corporate Communications of Rivada Networks, an American wireless-technology start up. Brian was a member of The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board and editor of The Wall Street Journal Europe’s editorial page. His forthcoming co-authored book is Leadership without Ego: How to Stop Managing and Start Leading.

Isaac Getz is a professor of leadership and innovation at ESCP Europe Business School in Paris, France and an international speaker. His co-authored book Freedom, Inc.: How Corporate Liberation Unleashes Employee Potential and Business Performance has been instrumental to the corporate liberation movement involving hundreds of companies worldwide

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