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The Trust Quotient — Online quiz |
| By:Jennifer Benz on Mon 12 May 2008 11:03 PM under Business, Career and Money, Communication |
This link popped up in my inbox today and I thought it was worth sharing. The quick online quiz is based on the book “The Trusted Advisor” and walks you through a self-diagnostic on your trustworthiness and credibility. An interesting exercise whether you think you know the answers already or not.
http://trustedadvisor.com/trustQuotient/dm
The 20 questions output a score and you can compare yours to the other that have taken the quiz. It will also highlight your strengths and weaknesses. This is a great tool for consultants and sales people but I think relevant for all professionals. It also speaks to how much, especially our fast-paced and ever-complicated work environments, the simple element of trust is critical.
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What we have here is a failure to communicate… |
| By:Kerrie Halmi on Mon 12 May 2008 4:02 PM under Business |
What we have here is a failure to communicate…
While this is a quote from Cool Hand Luke (a very old movie!), it is very appropriate for people in today’s business world. Business communication fails to achieve its intended purpose at least 70% of the time! One reason is how the communicator gets their message across.
Let’s say that you are trying to make a culture change. One of my clients was making a conscientious effort to shift the culture from one that was results-oriented only to one that is equally results-oriented and behaviorally-oriented. (In other words, if you meet your goals but lose 50% of your people because you were such a jerk doing it, you do not get rewarded. Makes a lot of sense, but it’s amazing how many companies fail to reward that way!) Make sure you communicate the change enough. Statistics illustrate that people need to hear a message between 4 to 21 times before it sinks in. Take into account that some people comprehend better when they hear something while others understand better when they read something. The ideal way to communicate an important message is to tell people first, and then confirm it in writing. Of course, you must also demonstrate the culture change.
Understand the importance of tone and body language. Studies have shown that only 7% of your message’s impact comes from your actual words. 38% is from your voice tone and 55% is from your body language.
These statistics have direct consequences for the channel you use. Use face-to-face communication whenever possible, as it leaves less room for misinterpretation. While e-mail is very convenient, people overuse it. I challenged one coaching client to completely stop all e-mail communications with a co-worker because they were having so much difficulty communicating. For two weeks, they either met face-to-face or by phone when they needed to talk. Their relationship was markedly improved and they saved time because of fewer miscommunications.
Take responsibility for how you are communicating your messages—do it enough, be cognizant of the impact of tone and body language and use the correct channels. By becoming more aware of how you are communicating with others, you can mitigate the number of failed communications, which directly helps your business success.
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Two Steps Forward, One Step Back |
| By:Linda Popky on Mon 12 May 2008 2:22 PM under Business, Career and Money, Careers and Job Search, Financial Independence, Management |
This week’s Business Week has a story about the fact that in this downturn most of the jobs being lost are held by men not women. (The Slump: It’s a Guy Thing, BW 5/19/08). This would be great for women if it weren’t such a bad thing.
Why? First, the reason that more men than women have lost their jobs over the last 6 months is because there are more men in manufacturing and construction to start with–industries where salaries tend to be higher than women-focused industries like education and health care. And that doesn’t include all those high-powered Wall Street types (overwhelming men) who will most likely be out of work soon due to the aftermath of the subprime mortgage mess.
This means there are still gaps in both the type of work women do and what they are typically paid to do them. We don’t live in a gender-segregated society. What impacts men impacts women, and vice versa. But until we are at the point where gender-related job losses and gains is no longer news or even relevant, Captain, we have a problem here.
One man’s loss is not another woman’s gain. We need to do a better job in looking at how to find win-win solutions so we can all move forward together.
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Inspirational Women: Women’s 2.0 Conference - Beyond the Spark [Stanford Women in Business] |
| By:Angelika Blendstrup on Sat 10 May 2008 6:28 PM under Business, Entrepreneurship |
How inspiring it was this morning, May 10, 2008, to see a whole room [tent] full of eager, young women, all determined to move forward with their ideas which will turn into full fledged businesses - and the women are counting on this. The back of the room had a clothes line hung along the wall, full of napkins, on which business plans and ideas had been developed.
The good part of the event was also that the attendees reflected the population of the Valley - Indians, Chinese, Turkish, British, Americans, Romanians, French and so on.
Lately, I’ve gone to a few events in women’s organizations, and I was surprised at the unique culture of just white women in the room, but today there were definitely lots of different nationalities and cultural varieties in the group. And what united them was their dedication, their focus and high tech.
Besides the fireside chat that was eloquently led by well-known Chris Shipley [Demo] interviewing Rachel Payne from Google.org , we got a bulleted list of good advice from entrepreneurs who had been there, who had gone up the hill and arrived panting, but victorious.
Amy Love [Protege Performance Group]:
Build an inner circle
Share your dreams - take the risk, dream big
Have confidence and energy and stay the time (hang in there…, don’t give up).
Jwala Karnik [Jwala Group]
Be open to inspiration
Open your mouth - talk to people, have the vision, be excited
Just take the first step
Maggie Hirsch [VoiceMap]
You need:
Passion - be totally committed
Focus - direct all your energy to making your business successful
Fearlessness - do things you’ve never done, just try them.
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Is there a glass ceiling? |
| By:deepika bajaj on Sat 10 May 2008 12:37 PM under Business, Corporate culture |
Successful women worldwide have one thing in common. They don’t see the glass ceiling.
I am not saying there is no glass ceiling, but worrying about it does you no good. Focus on what will benefit you, instead of concentrating on that which will bring you down.
I was recently on a panel where some successful women were sharing their experiences in a business world dominated by men. Most of them said, ” I have always worked with men and I never felt that I was different from them.”
The point is if you present yourself as a powerful, proficient businesswoman, men see you that way.
After all, the majority of men who are in a position to promote women are not stupid, they know it is to their advantage to work with capable individuals regardless of their gender.
