Bill Gates' father (William Gates Sr) has taken the time to collect his thoughts and collate them into a handy little book of wisdom. There are lots of stories and anecdotes that span an entire century and reach from the early 1900's all the way through to 2009.
This is a book deeply set in reality. There are reflections on surviving the depression, hard work, starting out in life and integrity. After being married for 42 years Mrs Gates passed away and there are some very nice reflective yet instructful stories from the life of Mary Gates as well.
What I really enjoyed about this book is it's honesty and it's sincerity. This is not a book about Microsoft or Bill Gates but a book about life. How to live, make the most of everyday and ultimately leave a lasting legacy through the words you say, the acts you complete and the influence you leave behind.
This is not a management book (in the purest sense). This book is a common sense guide to life packed full of wisdom and insight. The evidence that Mr Gates' experiences and philosophies work is best shown through the results of his family and legacy.
You can also check out Mr Gates own thoughts here as well.
The end of the financial year is quickly coming up in us and now is the time to look at employees performance over the past 12 months. Here are a few thoughts and musings that I have had on the subject -
There is no greater motivator than pure praise and reward.
I joined Toastmasters in April of this year (2010). I have had a lot of experience with public speaking and have no issues when talking to groups of people. But even with my love of public speaking have learnt so much it's almost unreal.
Toastmasters is great because it is a slow process of coaching and improvement. You get to watch others, listen to the commendations and recommendations and even have a turn yourself.
The safe environment of a club is great. Others in your club know how it feels and can mirror back to you both your good and not so good speaking habits and traits. Speeches are generally 5 to 7 minutes so the time is very manageable.
The first lesson I learned was the professionalism of a meeting. Every speech is timed, every member has a role or a speaking part and once the clock starts ticking everyone (should) act professionally.
Competitions are very interesting. There is a huge difference between speaking to give a speech and speaking in a competitive way. Even for the pro's the butterflies come out at competition time so Toastmasters is a great way to conquer your fears.
In our club we have one lady who has developed from not speaking to anyone at all - all the way through to being somewhat confident and able to stand in front of a group of people. I totally recommend Toastmasters as a professional development tool. For both the confident and the not confident alike.
The November issue of the HBR focuses on what we can learn from the army as far as leadership and management lessons. This is the opening quote - "Competent leaders of character are necessary for the Army to meet the challenges in the dangerous and complex security environment we face."
What I discovered years ago was the US army's manual and guidebook for leadership. The leadership mantra and philosophy is defined as follows -
"The Army uses the shorthand expression of BE-KNOW-DO to concentrate on key factors of leadership. What leaders DO emerges from who they are (BE) and what they KNOW. Leaders are prepared throughout their lifetimes with respect to BE-KNOW-DO so they will be able to act at a moment’s notice and provide leadership for whatever challenge they may face."
This is where it is at. Knowing what to do, knowing when to do it and then doing with full confidence - thats leadership.
For more detailed information I recommend you start here - http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/army/fm6-22.pdf
Have you ever been in the situation where there was something going down but no one would talk about it? Managers have secret meetings behind closed doors and the whispers and rumours run rampant around the office. Ever had one of those days?
And then to top it all off - Human Resources want to talk to everyone! Aahhhhh!
Here's my view - Human Resources shouldn't be the big ogre. If you only see your Human Resources Department went things are going badly - then things really are going badly.
Human Resources and the work they do is vital to the overall health of an organisation. The development and continual improvement of employees gives an organisation more value than the management of restructures, redundancies and dismissals.
So what would I do if I was in Human Resources?
When one setion of the New Zealand media decided that they disagreed with the strategic directiion that the CEO wanted to head in - they published ab article that equated to a roast.
Here was his response -
So what can we learn from this?
First impressions last. Lasting impressions aren't always the first impressions that you make.
The most obvious way to impress or not impress as the case may be is the way you dress. Dressing well need not break the bank nor be that hard to accomplish.
Here are my recommendations for keeping in step with fashion and how not to break the bank while you are at it -
Pair up the latest style trends with what's going cheap on your favourite auction site and you can leave an impression on people that will last longer than your wardrobe does.
