Body Language: Giving Good & Bad Messages

Much is made of using body language to project strength and competence in the workplace, but as any FBI profiler will tell you, nonverbal cues are an indicator of larger underlying truths that shouldn’t be swept under the rug.

Given our sometimes brief workplace interactions, nonverbal communication plays very large role in our communications.

Meetings, presentations and hallway encounters offer precious little time to present yourself, but trying to mask your deficiencies with hand gestures, eye contact or a well-timed touch on the arm is like taking Panadol not bothering to think about the reason behind your pain. Plus, you also risk coming off as inauthentic. Here are some things to look out for:

Poor eye contact: Wandering eyes suggest you may have something to hide. If you have trouble being forthright with a teammate or manager, you have to ask, “Am I representing myself honestly, or is this job a stretch for me?” (Either in terms of qualifications or interest.)

Not smiling: When you aren’t smiling very often, there’s a good chance that you aren’t at ease. Do you have enough passion for the job you are doing that you feel a connection with your coworkers? Is your manager making any effort to make you comfortable? What might that say about your working relationship?

Slouching: When people are excited to meet someone or to make their point, they generally stand or sit up straight or even lean forward. If you regularly aren’t energetic or confident when in a meeting or presentation, you should be wondering, “Have I chosen a job that is something that I’m excited to get up and do most days? Is this person (or company) for whom I’m working someone I really respect?”

Simon Turner

The Five Minds of a Manager

Does your management job seem impossible? If so, that's not surprising. Your many roles are so often contradictory.

You can, however, triumph over managerial obstacles, despite conflicting expectations, if you focus less on what you should do and more on how you should think. Successful managers think their way through their jobs, using five different mind-sets that allow them to deal adeptly with the world around them:

1) A reflective mind-set allows you to be thoughtful, to see familiar experiences in a new light, setting the stage for insights and innovative products and services.

2) An analytical mind-set ensures that you make decisions based on in-depth data--both quantitative and qualitative.

3) A worldly mind-set provides you with cultural and social insights essential to operating in diverse regions, serving varied customer segments.

4) A collaborative mind-set enables you to orchestrate relationships among individuals and teams producing your products and services.

5) An action mind-set energizes you to create and expedite the best plans for achieving your strategic goals.

The key to your managerial effectiveness? Regularly access all five mind-sets, not in any particular order, but by cycling through each as needed. And don't go it alone. When you collaborate with colleagues by interweaving your collective mind-sets, you--and your organization--will excel.

How to Improve Your Time Management

Feel like time is your adversary rather than your ally? Maybe you need to get a little better at managing the sucker. Dumb Little Man offers 11 tips for improving time-management, including these little gems:

1) Concentrate on One Thing: The human mind works more efficiently when it is focused. As we’ve seen before multitasking is actually a disadvantage to productivity. Focus on one thing and get it done. Take care not to bleed tasks into each other. At times, multitasking may seem like a more efficient route, but it is probably not.

2) Avoid Procrastination at All Costs: When trying to be more productive and trying to save time, procrastination should be avoided like nothing else. It is the ultimate productivity-killer.

3) Set Personal Deadlines: Nobody likes deadlines. They cause stress, aggravation, worry, and, more stress. A guaranteed way to alleviate some of this stress is to set your own earlier deadlines. Be realistic but demanding of yourself. Challenge yourself and reward yourself for a meeting a difficult challenge.

What methods do you use to manage your time? I’m still a fan of the "to-do list". I make a list of three or four things I must get done each day. It doesn’t seem overwhelming, and I get great satisfaction from crossing them off.

Simon Turner simon@marquetteturner.com.au

3 Simple Ideas That Made Millions

Sometimes a single brainstorm can change the course of a career. Here are 3 people who turned brilliant ideas into big career moves—and the pitches they used to close the deal.

IDEA 1
Microsoft Xbox: Beating Sony at Its Own Game
The Product: Electronic gaming platform
The Genius: Game Programmer Seamus Blackley
The Story: In early 1999, Microsoft hired Blackley to work on software that would make games easier to implement on PCs. At the time, industry analysts were calling the then-new Sony Playstation an "alternative computing platform" and saying it represented a long-term threat to Microsoft's software dominance. Microsoft had recently bought the WebTV set-top box, which was proving to be a huge flop in the market. Blackley took advantage of management's paranoia about WebTV's failure and the threat from Sony and co-wrote a proposal suggesting that Microsoft regain the initiative by producing its own gaming console. Executives bit, and the Xbox is now the mainstay of Microsoft's $4.6 billion a year Entertainment and Devices division Blackley later left Microsoft and today represents video game developers at the Creative Artists Agency.

Basic Sell: "If you don't buy this idea, we'll eventually get screwed."
Advantage: Fear is a wonderful motivator.
Disadvantage: There's a fine line between "out of the box" thinking and "out of your mind" thinking. (Hint: If you suspect your idea isn't being bought because of a conspiracy against you, you're probably out of your mind.)


IDEA 2
MTV's The Real World: Reinventing the Sitcom
The Product: Reality television
The Geniuses: Daytime soap producer Mary-Ellis Bunim, TV newsman Jonathan Murray
The Story: In the early 1990s, Bunim (Search for Tomorrow, As the World Turns) and Murray (WXIA-TV, Atlanta) observed that production costs for situation comedies and drama were rising, yet the expansion of cable channels meant they were also generating less advertising revenue. MTV was changing formats at the time, moving away from its mainstay music videos. Since the network's more successful VJs had the look and feel of actual college students, Bunim and Murray pitched the idea that young viewers would prefer to watch the dating exploits of real-life peers rather than professional actors.

The combination of low production costs and conceptual similarity to MTV's existing "personality" lowered the risk for MTV execs. The network debuted The Real World in 1992, creating a new genre—reality TV—which has become a massive cash-cow for the network television industry. Bunim and Murray went on to a string of hits, including Road Rules and The Simple Life, creating a franchise that generates around $30 million in yearly revenue, according to Hoovers.

Basic Sell: "This idea will simultaneously reduce costs and increase revenue."
Advantage: Appeals to both visionaries and bean-counters.
Disadvantage: Cheaper and faster doesn't always mean better.


IDEA 3
Tom Peters: Redefining Management
The Product: Books and speaking engagements
The Genius: McKinsey consultant Tom Peters
The Story: In the 1970s and earlier, most business books were dry tomes written with the academic market in mind. In 1981, Peters co-wrote a book that changed all of that. In Search of Excellence expressed Peters' observation that successful corporations had eliminated hierarchical decision-making processes in favor of "empowering" decision-making at lower levels of the corporate structure. The idea of a more democratic workplace resonated with the ex-hippie Baby Boomers who were just then entering the executive ranks. When sales of the book spiked, Peters flogged the concept mercilessly, and it was later turned into a series of PBS television specials. In the process, Peters became arguably the world's most popular management guru. Twenty-five years later he still commands speaking fees in the high five figures.

Basic Sell: "Your intuition and experience tell you that this idea makes sense."
Advantage: Buyers are already emotionally inclined to your idea.
Disadvantage: You must be a living example of your idea. For example, if you're selling ideas for financial success, you'd better know how to look and act successful.