When you go to a bank to get money out, you can only get money out if you’ve already got money in the account. If your account is zero, and you still ask the bank clerk for money, they’ll laugh at you and tell you to go away! Now imagine [...]
In my time as a trainer, I have come across far too many people who believe they cannot say “NO” to people at work. They normally believe: It’s rude to say “NO”You can’t say “NO” to senior peopleSaying “NO” is a sign of being irresponsible These beliefs are wrong. In [...]
Do you spend more time than you would like to in meetings? If yes, then read this. I’ve been to so many companies and spoken to so many people who have too many meetings. People not only complain that they spend too much time in meetings, they also complain that [...]
Have you ever heard “inspirational” phrases like the following: Believe in yourself Be in the moment Don’t quit Open your mind I’m sure you’ve seen a lot of them. And I’m pretty sure hardly any of them have inspired you to action beyond anything more tham simply nodding your head [...]
If you’ve ever worked with people from other cultures, then at some point you’ve probably judged their behaviour as confusing, inappropriate, strange or maybe even rude. And people from other cultures have probably judged you in a similar way. Culture is a lot like a set of rules you use [...]
Several years ago, I was sitting in the London office of one of my client’s, speaking to their Global HR Director. She was complaining to me about the “mysterious” behaviour of her colleagues in China. For example, she would schedule training months in advance for teams in China. Yet just [...]
Given that so many people at so many companies complain about having too many meetings, the answer to this question is probably no. The biggest reason time-wasting meetings exist is because no one prevents them. So the next time you receive an invitation, consider the following questions: – Is the [...]
We all use email. A lot of us hate using it, but we still have to use it. And for a lot of us, that is about as much care as we normally put into email; just enough to get the job done. But email can be a deadly weapon. [...]
You know how it goes. You’re really, really busy. In fact, you’re too busy. You don’t have the time to take on anymore work. But then all of a sudden, someone really senior instructs you to do yet more work. What can you do? The reality is, it doesn’t matter [...]
If you take more than a second to start answering this question, then you probably haven’t put much thought to it before. And most likely you frequently find yourself being pushed by others to do things you don’t feel comfortable with. For example, it’s Friday afternoon and you’re looking forward [...]