Your Optimism Might Be Stifling Your Team
I admit that I'm prone to an optimistic outlook, a belief that most problems can be tackled with hard work and the right mindset. I've read the research that indicates that positive thinkers tend to do better in school, work and life. Perhaps I even assumed that optimism was infectious and that people wanted to work with a confident, hopeful leader. In the true spirit of optimism, how could this possibly go wrong? Then I found out from a colleague that he didn't find my optimism nearly as reassuring as I did. We were in the middle of a high-stakes research project with a small window of opportunity to write an article for a prominent academic publication. To pull this off, we needed to complete a complex analysis, do a round of additional research, and actually write the article, all while working on several other projects and operating on a thin budget. To me, this seemed like a feasible, interesting challenge, and I enthusiastically dove in. Then at one critical meeting, a more junior colleague turned to me and said, "Liz, I need you to stop saying that!" "Saying what?" I asked. "Saying that thing you always say --- 'How hard can it be?'" I looked puzzled. He explained, "You say that all the time. 'How hard can it be? We can do this. After all, how hard can it be?'" I recognized what he was saying and began to explain my logic: While I was working for Oracle Corporation, a small but rapidly growing company, I had been thrown into...

Why is most communication training misleading?
Why is most communication training misleading?

Why do the same words mean different things to different people?
Why do the same words mean different things to different people?

Why IT Struggles to Innovate, and How IT Management Can Fix It

It seems that it's virtually impossible for IT management to meet all business demands with current budgets, resources, and approaches. But the business keeps changing and IT needs to respond rapidly and innovate in order to stay relevant to the organization. Why does IT struggle to innovate? According to Gartner and other analyst reports: 80%-85% of IT budgets are spent just ssKeeping the Lights Onss (KTLO) Backlogs are compounding annually at a rate of 10%-20% 42% of the initial cost of an application is spent year after year to maintain it Download this eBook to learn how IT management in enterprise companies is dealing with the issues and costs of application maintenance. Request Free!

What is cooperative communication?
What is cooperative communication?

What You Need To Know About Conversational Cons

There are lots of ways to look at conversations and discussions. One way is to categorize conversations as being either "good faith" conversations, or "bad faith" conversations. What we want to do is be party to the former, and try to avoid the latter, since bad faith conversations are the ones..

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The Essentials of Finance - Free Kit

The Essentials of Finance, brings together the latest in information, coverage of important developments, and expert commentary to help with your Finance related decisions. The following kit contents will help you get the most out of your Finance research: 8 Rules for Investing in a New Accounting System A New Approach to Fighting Insurance Fraud T&E Expense Management and the Social Media Enterprise Managing Financial Performance Request Free!

Should Human Resources (HR) Get Out Of The Business Of Performance Evaluations? (Video)

Human resources is almost always the hub for keeping track of performance reviews and evaluations. In one sense, it makes sense to standardize and document centrally, but it puts HR in a difficult position: having to and"enforce” procedures over people (managers and executives) over whom they have NO authority.

In this article and video, we …

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Righting your ship after job loss, Part II : Jobs
Layoffs abound. Here are some suggestions on how to manage your life if you've experienced a job loss. (29-Apr-2013)

Q1 2013 B2B Social Insights Report: Marketing Executives on Twitter

Despite all the technology available, your ability to reach, engage, and influence marketing executives at leading brands and agencies is still limited. While buyer personas, surveys, and search marketing data can get you in the ballpark, we believe social media insights are now a “must-have” for understanding senior marketers in a way that becomes truly actionable. With this in mind, Leadtail developed the B2B Social Insights Report: Marketing Executives on Twitter to provide social media insights into the patterns and behaviors of marketing decision makers. Using Leadtail’s B2B Social Marketing technology to analyze data from Twitter, this report reveals insights about marketing executives to help you answer questions such as: Which social networks should you invest your time and effort in? Is mobile something that you should prioritize? Which media publications should you advertise with? What topics should you create content around? Who should you get to speak at your events? Armed with these social media insights, you can now take a more informed look at your strategy for reaching, engaging, and influencing marketing decision makers to take the actions you care most about.  Request Free!

Learning To Manage Your Anger In Customer Service Situations
Customers DO try to andquot;get your goat". Learn about the techniques you can use to keep your own temper and anger in check.

Learn To Fight Fair LearnBytes Helpcard (Download)

Learn To Fight Fair Helpcard

When you argue, is your goal to win even if the other person gets hurt?

If so, you are at risk of losing the people who are most important in your life, at home and at work. Divorces are way to frequent and one reason is that coupl..

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Influencing Your Boss - Getting Heard LearnBytes Helpcard (Download)

Secrets Of Getting A Raise, Or Getting Ideas Across To Boss - Getting Heard LearnBytes Helpcard

Do you want a raise? More responsibility? Want to be taken seriously by your manager or boss? Here's how!

It's a common complaint and It feels lousy. "I can't get my b..

Price: $7.95

Expert's Takes On Customer Issues in 2013
2013 predictions and trends in customer service. What the experts are saying.

Customer Service Zone Free Library For Better Customer Service
Customer Service Zone - The place to get help and learn about customer service issues. Learn about difficult customers, and develop your customer service skills.

3 Ways LinkedIn Just Made It Easier to Find a Job
If you're unemployed, or know someone who is, I want to tell you about the new, useful ways the LinkedIn Jobs page lets you search for employment. As you likely know, LinkedIn is the largest professional networking site. I'm a longtime fan, so I was eager to see whether its enhancements for job seekers were merely hype or truly helpful. A few weeks back, I reviewed the new Social Jobs app on Facebook and though it had some practical features for job hunters I felt it was too laborious. By contrast, LinkedIn's new features really do make looking for work easier (22-Apr-2013)

10 LinkedIn Tips to Get You the Job
LinkedIn brands itself as the social network for professionals and a lot of people do use it successfully for sharing information and news about their companies or discussing key issues in their industry. But what can LinkedIn do for the jobseeking professional? Many of us are not as clued in to all of LinkedIn's different features as we might be. However, it's worth getting to know this social network better as it has a surprising number of tools for helping your job search. Here are ten ways in which we can use LinkedIn in our pursuit for the right career. (22-Apr-2013)

01-Introduction To Our Free Video Course On Customer Service – Angry Customers

Welcome to our free learning series on dealing with upset, difficult and irate customers. In this first of the series, we explain where we are going with the series, and what you will learn.

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