December 2019 — NIMBLE FOUNDATION BLOG

How to be a good listener, to be popular, and to be respected?

Loved breeds happiness. And when you make others happy, you are loved. There is a close bond between love and happiness. So, how does listening help you in being loved and being happy? This is the subject of our discussion in this essay. The feeling that you are being loved brings you satisfaction. It enhances your self esteem and results in happiness. When others care for you, you feel important and when they listen to you, you feel significant and elated which adds to your happiness. Same is true when you listen to them.

Let’s deal with the subject by considering the following 3 questions:

What is good listening?
How does it help you to being loved?
How does it help you to be happy?

Question 1. What is good listening?

i) Ask question only to ensure understanding.

It requires you to put your agenda aside and totally devote to understanding and assimilating what is being said. You don’t listen to give a reply, but you just listen to understand. The moment you become keen to give a reply, your mind will start analyzing the speech from your own perspective. It will hinder your ‘objective’ understanding. You should, add comments, seek clarifications or ask question only after listening, understand and assimilating what is said.

ii) You should always be self-aware and live in present.

There should be no thoughts about the past nor should you think about future, when conversing with someone.

iii) Body language is important post of communication.

You need also to understand the body language of the speaker. And, this would include eye contact, posture, facial expression etc.

iv) Listening needs to be non-judgmental.

You must not allow your likes and dislikes or personal prejudice to affect the meaning the speakers wants to project.

v) Listening is more important than speaking.

To be listened is so important for the people that many a times they will like to be heard rather than just granted the request what they requested.

vi) Learn the process of active listening.

Active listening calls for you to listen about 80% of the time without interruption balance 20% of the time you may ask questions. This will indeed be an attribute of good listening.

vii) Assumptions misguide and sometimes these are dangerous!

You need to make it known to the speaker that you are attentively listening. Thus, your nods with your head and words like ‘Yes’hmm ‘I see, I agree go long way to make be you an adept active listener.

viii) Relaxed mind is more receptive.

You will indeed enjoy your choice of active listening with the results that you will derive from the activity.

Question 2. How does active listening help you to being loved?
Now we can consider how listening actively makes others happy and make you in turn happy. They not only respect you but they love you if you actively listen to what they say.

Try to reflect what the speaker is feeling be at the same plane.

The speaker feels that he/she are important when you carefully listen to them. They are reassured that you care for them. In turn they will care for you. The speaker thinks that they have some worthy ideas that is being expressed. And if you don’t listen to them with due attention, they will feel let down. But if on the other hand you not only listen but make it known that you have listened, the speaker will feel elated and happy and so will you be.

Respect is always mutual, you have to earn respect. You have to make others happy to receive positive vibes making you happy in return.
Besides, better listening rids you of any bitter discussion. You understand that these are futile. Avoiding arguing, you also avoid bitterness which often is the result of trying to win an agreement. Active listening empowers you to hold your opinion without any offence. Because of your listening skills you are in a position to offer you opinion in a relevant manner. When your conversation with everyone becomes more meaningful, both of you enjoy it. Undoubtedly it brings happiness.

Exchange of ideas in such a situation brings about a lot of learning on both sides. Continuous learning raises your self –esteem which in turn makes you satisfied with yourself and be contented.

In fact, even between the spouses the problem starts with one not listening to other. One feels ignored and the problem starts. Left unattended, it grows into unmanageable differences. If we are unhappy at home or at the work, place life is messed up.

Children too turn rebellious because they feel that parents don’t try to understand them. In the fast changing world today maintaining good relations is more challenging than ever. Yet good relationship is emanating from better understanding which forms the foundation of respect and love.
So if you want to be loved by others listen to them and make them feel that they are loved. If you want to gain happiness distribute the same among others who will gladly reciprocate.

Question 3. How does Good Listening help you to be Happy?

Every living being has physiological needs and safety needs. Living being must have food to live and is keen to care for life. That part is survival story. No happiness is involved. But, after survival needs are fulfilled, psychological needs come to the fore for human beings.
As social entities, humans want to have a feeling of belonging. It’s an experience that they belong to a community, a family or a group gives them a feeling of satisfaction. If they are alone and uncared their psychological craving of togetherness disturbs them.
Good listening helps you to have cordial relations with your family and friends. When you listen to them they come closer to you, they experience that you are giving them importance. By listening you reassure them of their significance. Inwardly they feel obliged to you as you are fulfilling their psychological need of heart to heart communication.
As we discussed earlier ability to express your ideas give a great satisfaction. However, you approve of your ability only if the listeners pay attention, understand and when possible and needed, take action. Likewise when you are actively listening, the speaker feels comfortable and satisfied with his skill of expression. In turn the process fosters better relation and love for each other. This is particularly important among the family members and close friends.

Besides, when you speak, you say what you already know. No doubt it satisfies your need for expression, but you don’t learn anything new. But listening gives you the opportunity to learn what you don’t know. Learning gives a great satisfaction and enhances your self esteem. When your self esteem is high you wish to do greater things. Self-esteem enables you to venture on the new turf, start new project. Maslow’s theory of happiness is recognized as the last word in respect of this great wishful emotion-happiness.
“There is a clear distinction between love and respect or esteem. The ability to feel self-esteem springs from being embraced by families and communities”. Further, you become more creative which again contributes to your confidence.
Good listening also helps you to mitigate your personal ego. Because when you are full of ego, you tend to behave as if you know all and therefore you shun listening, much less active listening.

Actualization makes you really happy. And what is actualization? Maslow defines actualization as “what a man can be, he must be. This need may be referred to the desire for self-fulfillment. So discovery of self, understanding the capabilities and then doing what it takes to actualize yourself will grant the best results. But this cannot take place unless you are a good listener.

Further, survey reveals that you tend to perceive situations, people and their reality more accurately if you are good listeners.
With all the advantages described above there remains no doubt that listening and its resultant process will make you one, who understands the world and the people better. This understanding will make you happier, more than your expectations.

Thanks for reading.

How to Change Your Attitude?

Changing attitude is your choice but this choice is critical, because it controls your life.

1. What is Attitude?

Attitude is your response to a situation, circumstance, person or an object. But the detailed definition of attitude would be; a predisposition or tendency to respond positively or negatively to a situation, circumstance, person, idea or an object. It influences a person’s choice of action and response to challenges, incentives, rewards etc. These are called stimuli. Stimuli are challenges, incentives and rewards. Four major components of attitude are –

Emotions and feelings
Cognitive – belief or opinions held consciously
Inclination for action , spontaneity
Evaluative – positive or negative response to the stimuli

The first 3 components influence or determine the 4^th component.
The importance of Attitude can hardly be exaggerated
It controls our lives. This is why it is extremely important. We must also understand the difference between positive and negative attitude. It is important to know what these both can do for us.

2. Importance of Positive Attitude.
Positive attitude brings strength, energy, motivation and initiative.
Person with a positive attitude will ask “How something can be done?”, rather than saying, “It is very difficult. We don’t know whether it can be done or not.”
It gives you power over your circumstances rather than your circumstances having power over you. That’s the power of positive attitude; it gives YOU the power. You control circumstances, rather than circumstances affecting you or your behavior.
It is also an understanding of the fact that nothing can change until you change. Therefore, everything changes once you change. You have to identify what are your habits, what are the things that are holding you back. And you have to overcome those, and to overcome those, you have to change.

3. You can train your mind for The Attitude you choose.
It is necessary to train your mind to see good in everything. To see something positive, so that it encourages you to go ahead in whatever you are trying to do. Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you react to it. Let’s make it positive.
It will be a good idea, to decide and say it to yourself every morning that you will face everything that comes to you today with a positive attitude. All things about you are important and you should give importance to all those things. Only when you are careful about everything around you, others will give you the respect you deserve.
While positive attitude will help you in every aspect of life, negative mind will never give you a positive life. It will create only negativity. Further, negative thoughts create negative situations.

4. Negative attitude is disastrous.
A bad attitude leads you nowhere. You cannot go very far until you change it. Therefore, if you identify that your attitude needs some enhancement, do it sooner than later. A person with negative attitude sees difficulty in every opportunity. Whereas a positive thinker, sees an opportunity in every difficulty. This is a big difference. How can you change? You have to figure it out for yourself. Because it depends on your habits.
Positive thoughts are good, but they are not enough. They have to be followed with positive feelings and positive actions. Actions are most important. Without actions you cannot have the benefits of positive attitude. Attitude has to be supplemented and supported by respective actions.
The only disability in life is bad attitude. There is no reason why you should live with a disability which is under your control. There are some difficulties we have to live with. But it’s not so with your attitude. Your attitude is something you can change and the best thing is to change it. Whenever you feel pain in your life, think about its full form –
P – Positive
A – Attitude
I – In
N – Negative situation

5. Believe in yourself for positivity.
If you have a tendency to self-doubt it keeps giving more negative energy to feed on. That means you are actually attracting negativity. One American in his grey years said “my life has been full of misfortunes which never took place”.
Another man had said, “I don’t have time to hate people who hate me, because I am too busy loving people who love me”.

Thanks for reading.

Silence is the loudest cry. It might takes you to the end of the road.

Don’t ignore anyone and don’t ever ignore being ignored.

Many a times we face situations when we are being ignored by people for whom we care. Likewise, it may happen the other way round. Let’s look at the various possibilities of you ignoring someone or being ignored. There could be many possibilities and different situations. Sometimes, it is not bad, while most of the times ignoring or being ignored badly hurts. In any case, it’s necessary not to ignore such situations. We must contemplate, analyze and then take necessary action. Some of the circumstances are as below.

You ignore someone without reason.

Someone ignores you – you don’t know the reason.
Someone ignores you – you don’t know the reason.
When ignoring is the best way to handle problematic situation? It requires lot of thought and application of mind which people tend to avoid.
Problems between husband and wife. Far too many and also far too little! When ignore these became giants of problem.

Bullies at the work place or in society. Bullies abound in all environments .You want to avoid them but they don’t let you do that.

Silence can be a person’s loudest cry. You know you have really hurt someone when they start ignoring you. It is worse than saying anything bad to you and is even worse than rebuking you. In other words, the feeling of being ignored is extremely disturbing.
When you are ignoring someone continuously, you are teaching him/her to live without you which is bad as you are creating a gap between yourself and the person whom you are ignoring, this may never be filled.
If anybody is ignored, it is very difficult for him/her to compromise with that idea. They will always wish that they could ignore the fact that they are being ignored.
A person may get a feeling of rather being said that they don’t like him/her instead of being ignored. Thus, one must never ignore anybody as it is very damaging and a worse feeling for the person who is being ignored.

Sometimes you ignore people not because you are mad at them but it may mean that they are not really important and worth your time. This is totally another way of thinking and worth resorting to at times. If you want to break a relationship, you start ignoring a person by all means which is needed depending on person to person and the situation.
You must let go those people who are ignoring you and your presence because you are not worth their time. But when someone is continuously ignoring you, it is better to forget about him/her.
Some people hurt you by words, some by their actions and some people hurt you by being silent. One gets hurt the maximum when someone ignores him/her even after they value that person the most. If you care for somebody and that person ignores you, is the worse feeling and one gets hurt the maximum due to this and is unable to tolerate the fact of being ignored.
When a person is ignored, he/she will start thinking that he wish he could ignore the person in return. Yet it may be very difficult.

Ignoring the signs is a good way to end up at the wrong destination. This means that if someone shows you the signs of being ignored by him/her, you should be prepared that you are in for a surprise and for something which you probably never wanted. Thus, it is said that ignoring the signs is a best way to end up at the wrong destination. If you ignore the milestones, it is not going to help you as you don’t know where you are going or heading to.
One example which comes to mind is totally different. Robert Browning saying in one of his poems highlights optimism. It goes “Take back the hope you gave, I claim, only a memory of the same”. Thus, you can ignore someone but can never change the memories that person brought into your life.
If someone is ignoring you, the best thing to do it to end the relationship and not to disturb them again .If you continue to approach that person and if he/she continues to ignore you then you should never go back to them as you are ultimately hurting yourself which should be realized as soon as possible.

Thanks for reading.

Your success in life depends on your perspective!

8 Crucial steps to develop a proper perspective.

Life is lived through your perspective, your perspective of life. Perspective for an artist or an architect is how the object looks in relation to other objects around. Likewise, ‘Perspective of Life’ is relative to what we see around and what we have to deal with in our normal day to day life.

1. Never Undermine Perspective. It is said that never underestimate the power of perspective. It can change everything. Your attitude depends on your perspective of life. You may believe that there are too many ups and downs or you may view the same as the process of growth. The findings show that people with Asperser’s are able to predict lower scores from family members, despite disagreeing with their view, and that family members often over-estimate the extent to which their relatives with Asperser’s syndrome are egocentrically anchored in their own perspective.

2. Your Perspective Guides. you about the relative importance of things. Thus, your priorities will depend on your perspective. One must keep in mind that in the environment of constant change, one may has to revisit one’s perspective often. Perspective depicts the visual effect in which objects get smaller as they get further away. It can produce an impression of depth in a drawing. Perspective helps represent flat objects as three-dimensional.

3. Time is a resource which has been equally distributed to all human beings. The moment you realize the importance of time it will reflect on your perspective and accordingly you start dealing with people and situations differently. People are a nation’s greatest resource. Nature’s bounty becomes significant only when people find it useful. It is people with their demands and abilities that turn them into ‘resources’. Hence, human resource is the ultimate resource. Healthy, educated and motivated people develop resources as per their requirements.

4. An interesting example of perspective may be attributed to the people who are very short. They have always to look up. At the same time the person who is proud and vain will tend to look down on others. So the person who is grounded will see the reality much better and will succeed in building up good relationship with the people at work place in society and at home. The proud will not.

5. ‘We cannot change the cards we are dealt, but how we play our cards is in our hand’. Thus the life may be looked as a game of cards in which our ability and our choice to choose the right path are both very important. Many a times if you are too much concerned about something, your worry about the same may lead you to wrong decisions. Within the greater game of life we are dealt many hands. Each round we are dealt again a hand. That means that life and living are non-deterministic. So the hand you are dealt has less to do with your happiness and even future success than we are tempted to think it does.

6. Never try to give any explanations to people who do not want to understand you. People only hear what they want to hear and the best examples that you may give to such people is only waste of your time. Therefore don’t do that. The “nevers” of course aren’t ironclad and don’t apply to every situation, and even when they should apply, they can be hard to follow through on! But understanding when, where, and why to apply this maxim is truly a great help in becoming a more autonomous and assertive man.

7. An important point to maintain your right perspective is that you should never compare yourself with any other person. Comparison is odious and should always be shunned. If someone has a tunnel vision, we try to offer a different perspective that has a more complete view. Sometimes, two perspectives may be completely opposite – but each is yet completely valid in different ways, much like the views from opposite sides of a room.

8. It’s necessary not to worry because worry does not solve any problems of today or even tomorrow. But it surely takes away your peace, today. Actually, solving problems is the significance of life. So, it’s necessary to re-training your mind to process life as it is. Problems are perceived because you find that things are not happening the way you want them to happen. Peace cannot be forced to stay with you but it can be achieved by proper understanding and with proper perspective.

Thanks for reading.

Carrot & Sticks – More sticks & a few carrots!

Fear, Greed & Management in 21^st Century.

The change world has witnessed in 20^th century is for more predominant than in 5 centuries earlier. But 21^st century is generating an exponential visible variance. With the change happening so fast, every organization has to keep pace surviving. Till the last century any enterprise would be satisfied by a certain percentage of incremental growth every year in production, sales or profits. That was a linear growth. But in the current century entrepreneurs are hungry for exponential growth. So the game of the business has undergone a drastic change. Accordingly the enterprise owners have changed their HR policy and motivation techniques. Fear and greed’ can be commonplace among traders and can be rather damaging if not managed properly. Fear is often observed as the reluctance to enter a trade or the closing of a winning trade prematurely.

Employee motivation till now:

Motivation has always been recognized as essential driver for management. In order to ensure that the workforce move ahead as a team and contribute to the organization’s objectives. The business leaders recognized and carried out the certain procedures for enhancing productivity and keep to the staff motivated. These were positive initiatives which can be summarized as under:

1. Recognition.

First on the list is that the employees must have the feeling that the management recognizes that they are significant part of the organization. They contribute productively to the company’s mission.

2. How recognition motivates.

A person who is made to feel important applies his/her mind while performing any task. Further, application of mind results in the person enjoying the work which in turn motivates. Person recognition is one of the keys to successful person motivation. Person recognition follows trust as a factor in person satisfaction with their supervisor and their workplace.

3. Juniors too have innovative ideas.

Listening to the juniors promotes real participative conversation. The manger is able to understand their team. They know what to communicate and how to communicate to move the wheel of progress.

4. Engagement is critical.

A policy of systematic engagement encourages staff to take help of seniors at the time when it is needed. The efficiency increases and so also the satisfaction of the staff members.

5. Shop floor learning in the best starting point.

In traditionally managed family organization the owners would make their children to start from the bottom. If it is an engineering organization, working at the shop floor would be the first step for induction in the enterprise, and then gradually upwards. This helped workers to have a positive attitude towards the organization.

6. Mentors are more important than anyone would think.

An experienced senior was given the responsibility of mentoring. The mentor would ensure that the newcomer is exposed to each department. Doing the work is the best way to understand how to perform it. This would be considered as personalized training. All newcomers would be exposed to it irrespective of who they are.

7. Who said criticism has no role to play?

Positive feedback helped to keep anyone motivated. But appropriate criticism when necessary formed a part of training. This too ensured that person did not lose direction. Taking criticism can be a difficult thing. At some point in this arts world so dependent on reviews and opinions, you will encounter a customer or audience member – maybe even a reviewer – who wants to tell you how to do things better. It can be hard to deal with; after all, nobody likes to be told they’re wrong. But it’s not all bad news because sometimes you can use criticism to give you a competitive edge.

8. Time tested principal: Give & take.

Proper compensation and reasonable periodic enhancement too were taken care of. If a person is not able to meet family expenses, there would be some kind of pressure which dissociates and breaks the bond. Give and Take highlights what effective networking, collaboration, influence, negotiation, and leadership skills have in common. This landmark book opens up an approach to success that has the power to transform not just individuals and groups, but entire organizations and communities.

9. Delegation has a new name- Out sourcing.

All organizations need to outsource some of their activities. In times gone by the owners would allow the senior managers to start such small ancillary units and use the services or products. It would provide additional income. This also served to strengthen the bonds.
In the competitive business environment today, organizations which are hungry for growth have to adopt aggressive policies. Performance, sales and the bottom line are the chief parameters for appraisals. Generally, the CEO is engaged with clear understanding of producing some specific results. His/her compensation is fixed as per the promised results. So, it becomes their duty to live up to the promise. Fat compensation command fat results. Here, starts the story of Greed and Fear. For many organizations these two tools work as the chief motivators.

Greed had its toll, as always!

Fear and greed are two primal emotions which have been used as strong motivators for people to act. Normally insurance business relies on fear, stock market on greed. But today every CEO tends to use these.

The CEO who is hired the by the management using the above two tools, he/she uses the same for their subordinates. How else they would achieve some deadly targets? Due to fierce competition in the industry CEO and all have to slog and work like automatons 24×7. The good packages become just enough to meet the growing needs of the upscale lifestyle fear of losing the job becomes rampant. The situation has its heavy toll on the working people. Meeting impossible deadlines become deadly and people suffer. The story doesn’t end here. It only begins.
Most people engaged in the enterprise work under constant pressure and become stressed. Whenever genuine results are possible, it happens, but where the situation looks impossible, window dressing is employed. Manipulative reports and figures resembling mirage are displayed. An illusion of reality is created, which may last for a short time or at times even for a longer duration. But how long can illusory, self satisfying techniques last? The best known example of deceptive reporting is the story of subprime loan sanctioned in USA due to which some of the biggest banks fell.

Thanks for reading.

4 Tips on Developing a Good Presentation

We all have to make presentations these days. Presentations, when we have to speak in Public. Undoubtedly, it is difficult and often avoided slyly. There could be various reasons, but the foremost among them is ‘Stage Fright’. Primarily stage fright occurs because of inadequate preparation and/or because of faulty preparation.

Let me give 4 important tips which will help you to prepare a good presentation.

1. Be clear about Objective:

The first tip is that you must be clear about your objective. Why you have been asked to speak on the subject and why you have accepted the invitation? Both must be understood and realized.

The best thing is to write it down. What is the expectation of your audience is something of cardinal importance. So, contemplate on it and note down the main points. It may require you to define the group, the profile, age group, gender mix, no of people, likesand dislikes or whatever other information you can gather.

2. Understand your audience:

Understanding an audience is at the core of any speaker’s reputation. It’s what drives effective marketing strategies, gets you more assignments and reconition.

But “understanding” isn’t a destination. It’s a journey. It’s a process of constant review, refinement and readjustment. Without regularly revisiting its target audience, the performance of a brand will decline at worst or stagnate at best. To ensure you have the tools and knowledge you need to understand your audience and grow your brand, we’ve constructed this guide to researching your audience, dividing it into segments and ultimately building accurate, useful buyer personas to drive your strategies.

3. Content is the King:

The next and critical step is the content. Even when you know the subject very well, you have to modify it every time you speak regarding the same subject. Redesign it, keeping in view your new audience and their objectives. Content is the king.

If you don’t have anything significant to say, anything which will improve then knowledge or something they can use in their daily life; then keep your mouth shut. In short, there must be good amount of takeaway from your speech for your audience.

One thing that has been helping speakers lately is to batch these types of activities. Have a content creation day or research day. Today, we have so many possibilities to find out stories behind any significant subject. Websites like, Wikipedia, Wiki how, Quora constitute great resource for seekers of serious research.

4. Express Effectively:

The third but most important part of your speech is your ability to express yourself effectively. Never think of impressing anyone. But you just have to express yourself. You should be able to communicate exactly what you have in mind. You are already clear about your objective and the objective of your audience. You have already gathered information which will interest them. You already know what you are going to give them as takeaways. But if you lose out in holding their attention, if your audience is not hooked by you on the subject, all knowledge might get wasted.

There’ s lots to consider when expressing yourself. Get the overview of effective expression and learn the Most Important Rule for Effective Communicating.

If you want to be a great leader you will have to get good at expressing yourself effectively to engage others and influence them.

Thanks for reading.

How to Develop a Power Packed Personality?

Six Aspects of Personality Never to be Ignored!

Hi,
Today I’ll talk to you about 6 critical aspects of one’s personality. There should never be ignored. Which are the six characteristics that define a successful person?

1. Take care of your Physical Appearance.

How do you look? How you carry yourself and the clothes that you wear. These are important. Your posture, the body language and your smile are even more important. Practice and rehearse your smile for different situations. This may appear silly. But it is not. We might not be born with beautiful look, but we can always try our best to look better than how we are now. Here are some tips that will affect your appearance greatly and help you to improve your physical appearance.

Drink a lot of Water.

Get Enough Sleep.

Eat Healthy And Nutritious Food.

Exercise Regularly.

2. After physical appearance, you must Develop a Positive Attitude.

Overcome all negative assumptions. First you have to identify these negative assumptions and then throw this art. An open mind without preconceived notions, alone can breed a positive attitude. A positive attitude is an optimistic mindset that focuses on the good. Here are some ways to develop a positive attitude.

Surround yourself with positive people. Fill your mind with positive input. Control your language. Be nice to other people.

3. Importance of communications skills should not be undermined. Third point to be emphasized is about your Communications-Skills both verbal & written. Regarding verbal, you must ensure that you sport a reasonable cordiality at all times. A smile on your face and a desire to be cordial will do the trick. Your voice quality and modulation while speaking are also very important for the efficacy of your communications. Being able to communicate effectively is perhaps the most important of all life skills. It is what enables us to pass information to other people, and to understand what is said to us.

4. Inter personal skills are very important.

Fourth notable characteristic of personality is competence in interpersonal skills. It’s necessary to be adept in interpersonal skills. Today, more than ever before. On can achieve progress only with the help and co-operation of others. That makes if necessary that we build good relations with all concerned. It so one must develop the required capacity to build good relations. People with strong interpersonal skills are often more successful in both their professional and personal lives. Interpersonal skills include a wide variety of skills, though many are centered around communication, such as listening, questioning and understanding body language. They also include the skills and attributes associated with emotional intelligence, or being able to understand and manage your own and others’ emotions.

5. Manage Time Adeptly.

Fifth distinctive feature of a successful personality is time management. Little can be achieved by anyone if his/her time is out managed productively. Only when you are and time wise you achieve something significant. Otherwise you are left behind. Growth and progress are no longer linear. They are exponential. So it’s imperative to make the best use of limited time available to us. he ability to manage your time effectively is important. Good time management leads to improved efficiency and productivity, less stress, and more success in life. Here are some benefits of managing time effectively:

Stress Relief.

More Time.

More Opportunities.

Ability to Realize Goals.

6. Writing down goals, Planning & Achieving.

Finally & the sixth distinctive quality of personality is about your goals, focus & perspective. Success can be achieved only by consistently making efforts toward realization of your goals. This can happen with your focus on what is required to be done. Perspective must not be allowed to be prejudiced. Any circumstances or situations should not impact your desire & ability to pursue your goals.

Thanks for reading.

How to Develop Your Problem Solving Ability?

7. Invaluable steps to find management solution!

There are many qualities that a Manager in today’s competitive environment must have. But themost important quality of Leadership that he / she must possess is problem solving ability. The leader must never practice “shoot the messenger of bad news”. Unfortunately many do. For a true leader anyone who brings a problem should be a ‘welcome guest’. It only when you know where the shoe pinches that you can fix it. Many new sophisticated programmes should come to the fore.

Problem solving is all about using logic, as well as imagination, to make sense of a situation and come up with an intelligent solution. In fact, the best problem solvers actively anticipate potential future problems and act to prevent them or to mitigate their effects.

Problems abound in any organization. These may be small one or big ones. Some are simple to solve with a little attention or gigantic which may scare anyone. The biggest difficulty happens to be the wish to put the problem under the carpet so that it is not visible. This emerges out of fear – that I may be blamed. But like any other evil, the small problems may sooner or later become massive in size. At that time solutions become critical. Maybe for the very existence. It is for the manager to develop a system that as soon as a problem is seen, efforts for its immediate solution are made.

So the manager must identify precisely the nature of the problem and define it as clearly as possible. Remain calm. Maintain poise. And take all the necessary action to solve it. What are the qualities necessary for honing this essential skill? Not one, but many! These are listed below:

1. A near perfect Management Information System: Near perfect because perfection is never achieved. Only nature is perfect. Today, increasing the growth of considerable effect on increasing productivity of public and private organizations at the world and global movement to using different types of information systems namely Management Information System (MIS) caused that Iran also moves toward this trend. This trend was encountered with successes, failures and challenges. The management information system is an integrated, computerized and machine user system providing the required information to support the operation and decision making.

2. A passionate belief in the purpose. Unless you do your best in solving problems with a strong passion you cannot master this unique but essential skill.

3. Solving a problem is a process which requires patient application of mind. You enjoy applying mind and people around you will also do the same. If excellence is your goal, there could be no easier method to follow it.

4. Dogged persistence: Persistence is the core quality that you must develop. You must understand that if any problem has to be solved, you need to pursue the action towards resolving the same with nothing less than a dogged persistence. Never ever give up!

5. Openness to learn: One must be open towards learning throughout one’s life. In fact, no one ever knows enough. There is always a lot to learn from your own experience and that of others, from books or from any other source. Individuals with a high level of openness have a general appreciation for unusual ideas and art. They are usually imaginative, rather than practical. Being creative, open to new and different ideas, and in touch with their feelings are all characteristics of these people. Individuals who score lower in openness on a career test are generally more closed-off, resistant to change, and analytical.

6. Look at your problem from different angles. Just as a photographer tries to portray the object from different angles, bringing out the life in the subject; likewise when you view the problem from different angles you will be able to chart out alternative solutions.

7. The next step is to identify the most suitable solution to the problem.

Defining the Problem: Deeply understanding a problem through research, leading to better solutions. Research can include interviewing, reading books and emails, analyzing financial data, searching your organization’s intranet, and organizing your findings.

Analyzing: Using disciplined thought processes to evaluate each possible solution. Besides listing their costs and benefits, you might apply deductive reasoning, game theory, and the rules of logic (including fallacies) to them.

Deciding: The ability to decide on a solution and move forward with it. After an appropriate amount of time, an analysis of possible solutions, and feedback from team members, a designated decider must choose and implement a solution.

A Manager can perfect the essential skill of problem solving by developing the above qualities with day to day practice.

Thanks for reading.

HOW TO USE SOCIAL MEDIA AND LEVERAGE THE SAME FOR YOUR BRAND?

Befooling people in the age of social media is losing one’s own credibility. Social media is a platform where an ordinary man can express himself/herself without spending any money or without using any influence. One doesn’t have to depend on anyone in power to use the media. Because, no power is controlling it. Should the owners of any popular site decide to exercise any control or should they try to create some kind of influence on any issue, this is bound to be construed as personal agenda. Personal Agenda is against the spirit of Social Media.

SSSocial media is fast growing only because it is free and fair. Regarding freedom, I reiterate that if there were no freedom of expression, Social Media would never have achieved the popularity it has gained in such a short time. Another very important factor in its favour is that it is participative. Anyone can start a discussion, contribute to the existing one; start a group or join one already there. Besides, it is not just confined to exchange of views or ideas. We can share pictures, movies, audio/video files etc. Undoubtedly, Social Media encourages to be social, to be creative and effective. It is a boon in this Brave New World.

Earlier, Television gained its popularity because of the ease of entertainment without the arduous task of going out to the theatre one can watch a programme news or even a movie: all sitting in the comfort of your home. But it took quite some time. Where television swayed the mind of people, lots of program producer emerged. Training institutes for training programme producers also came into being. The channel owners provided

the infrastructure and producers created such programmes as would engage the audience. Producers who applied their mind and understood the audience likes and dislikes could make such serials which continued for years. But there is a rub. Some people did find that these serials offer no value and were a ploy to engage them. The TV was termed an idiot for which I consider it is. More on this some other time.

But so far as Social Media is concerned, it is also engagement, but it is of a different kind. Here each person becomes a participant if he/she desires to be one. There are always group of people who share their views. There are people who have comments to offer. And as said above, it is not limited to discussions. Sharing of pictures, videos, knowledge on different subjects are both engaging and entertaining. It is for each one of us to make full use of this unique Free Gift.

Leveraging social media

Social media offers to great opportunity to widen your exposure. If your social media participation occurs just within the walls of social sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google+, you’re missing out on some great opportunities to benefit from social media in other marketing channels and efforts. Here are 8 great ways to start extending the power of social media beyond their individual websites. While you may do whatever it takes to increase traffic on your webside, your presence in the social media can accelerate the person.

1. Social Follow Buttons on website will enhance its credibility: The first thing you’ll need to do maximize your social media presence is increase your reach. A bigger reach means a better opportunity to spread your content and reach more potential customers. While there are a number of ways to do this, one great resource at your disposal is your own website. Whatever may be your objective for the website, keep in mind your followers, friends and connections while creating, your content.

2. You can also add Social Sharing Buttons: Another great way to use your website to help leverage the power of social media and extend the reach of your content is to use social media sharing buttons. These buttons will allow website visitors and those consuming your content to easily share it with their individual networks, enabling you to reach people who may not have heard of you or your awesome content yet. Don’t hesitate to ask them to share your call for action will surely bring good results.

3. Your Existing Customer base can trigger expansion: Your business’ current customers can have some serious leverage, helping to endorse your products/services and content, thus extending your reach. Make sure the customers you have are following you in social media so they can share content and help you generate new leads and customers. Use referral mode as your secret strategy encourages your customers to refer to you their friends.

4. Social Media Intelligence is a great source for proper prospecting: Social media can still be a useful tool even after leads are passed off to the sales team. Empower your salespeople to use social media and social media intelligence as part of their processes as well. Teach them how to identify valuable information and social cues from their leads that will aid the sales process, and help them understand how they could use this information to help them engage with leads and close sales more efficiently. Motivate your people to be active on the relevant media and contribute their effects on this platform for the common cause sales.

Thanks for reading.

SELF-BELIEF IS ONE VITAL QUALITY OF YOUR PERSONALITY THAT CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE!

Eight Big Benefits of Belief (Self-Belief)

What is the definition of Self-Belief? In life it is necessary to have some beliefs. That does not mean that you need to follow any dogma or belief forced on you. You can pick your own beliefs with discretion. First, let us understand what is self-belief. What are the qualities that it inherits? Self belief is an invaluable virtue which brings great possibilities in your life. Its indications are that you:
i) Stop making any excuses for any reason what-so-ever.
ii) Do not indulge in any negative thought.
iii) Stop thinking that difficulties surround you alone. You do not jump to conclusion and take hasty actions. You express your fears to others without any hesitation, because you keep in mind that everyone has some fears.
iv) You stop procrastinating because that is indicative of your lack of confidence.
v) Stop pursing perfection. Perfection is never achieved. It only stops you from moving ahead.
Once you develop self belief and you observe that you conform to all what has been said above, you will find the following eight advantages coming to you smoothly and seamlessly.

Self-Belief is much more than self confidence. Here you believe that you can achieve what you have decided to do. Self-Belief enhances your self esteem. Here are 8 big things that will enhance your productivity and zoom you forward:

1.Self-belief enables you to hold strong conviction. All things do not happen the way you have planned or the way you expect. But strong conviction will help you to move ahead without fear of failure.

2. Self belief also helps you develop optimistic attitude which is necessary today in the wake of fast changing world. Life is becoming extremely competitive. Any opportunity missed once may never come back again. But if you have a negative attitude you will not be able to catch the fleeting possibilities.

3. Your self-belief also makes you more reliable to others. Thus you tend to build up better relations with others. Your credibility is not question. Since people can trust you they vie for good relations with you. Needless to say that for any significant project you need help from others.

4. Self-belief also helps you to be focused and self motivated. You no longer take life as it comes. You don’t depend on unknown sources to bring you luck. You carve your own destiny. Self motivation helps you to maintain enthusiasm and interest in life.

5. Your risk taking ability improves if you start relying on yourself. It is said that there are no gains if there are no risks. Your conviction helps you to take calculated risks in meeting the challenges of life. The tendency to avoid and escape facing challenging situation reduces substantially. You start realizing that difficulties form a necessary part of life.

6. Further, self-belief enables you to give and receive constructive criticism with an open mind. In the current scenario exchange of ideas and views are extremely important. The autocratic leader is not acceptable any more. So if you want to progress you have to collaborate with others from your own organization or outside outfits.

7. Self-belief helps you to be more assertive. You start caring for yourself more than pleasing others. Someone said that he doesn’t know any formula of how to succeed. The sure short formula for success has never been discovered. But there is a firm unbeatable formula for failure and that is trying to please everyone. Your self-belief will not allow you to embark on the journey of securing approvals where these are not mandatory.

8. Last but not the least, you start working on improving your self-respect. You realize that if you do not respect yourself, others will follow suit. When you’re able to raise self esteem, you become more effective and you become more productive. Now, you start managing your time very effectively. Any improper, wasteful or inadequate use of your time will hurt your self-esteem. Your productivity too suffers and so also your self-belief.

Thanks for reading.