B-Brief
Presented by Ed Wooller - EMA Partners Atlanta – Fall 2009
Going Global: ‘Fall Back’ Time Changes Can Trip You Up
Clocks in the US and Canada ‘Fall Back’ on November 1, but not in other countries. You can count on overseas time differences being one to two hours off from what you would normally expect between October 4 and November 1. To track these time changes and schedule international calls, we use www.timeanddate.com
Tools For Tough Times: ‘Fast Track Your Job Search (and Career!)’
Regular readers of B-Brief will be familiar with some of the wisdom and advice of career coach Richard Kirby. His recent book updates and consolidates this, in a format debunking 18 myths held by many to be true that often harm job searches and whole careers.
* Career fundamentals are covered in the first section, including a chapter that describes how to use online assessments to identify your best career and job options.
* Outdated job search beliefs are disposed of, including chapters on how to effectively use the internet, work with recruiters and identify potential employers
* Becoming an outstanding job and career seeker includes key chapters on how to network, as well as job interviewing effectively.
* Tough career decisions such as educational choices and self-employment options are also addressed
To read a sample chapter, view contents, learn more about the author or purchase the book, visit www.fasttrackyourjobsearch.com
Memo to Managers (and Politicians): Respect The Chimpanzee
Many modern management practices are not suited to humankind, according to Charles Jacobs. In ‘Management Rewired’ he writes that given our genetic closeness to Chimpanzees “our emotional being is older and more deeply entrenched than our rational, logical side” and supports this with a review of recent discoveries in neuroscience.
When managers “use logic to influence people unconsciously driven by emotion, we probably aren’t going to be very successful in getting them to embrace our point of view” Even for those who are rationalists and logical thinkers, “We all make it up as we go along” says Jacobs. This updates Jane Austen’s 19th century comment in ‘Persuasion’ “How quick come the reasons for approving what we like”
“Whether we’re a chimpanzee or a corporate employee, we don’t like being controlled by others” argues Jacobs, so it’s more productive for managers to ask rather than order, and to provide information for employees to set goals and make decisions. Politicians and others involved with creating new laws and policies might also bear this in mind.
Does this mean that we should regress to a jungle-like anarchy and discard all progress? The answer will vary with one’s perspective. But experience with forces of nature suggests that we should use opportunities to work with them, rather than fight against them
Still True Today
‘I have my choice, who can wish for more? Free will enables us to do everything well, while imposition makes a light burden heavy’
(Samuel Richardson, 18th century British novelist)