SELF IMPROVEMENT AND MOTIVATION

Keeping staff morale high is hard enough - who's going to help you stay energised? MOTIVATING staff is an important function of any team leader or manager. This can sometimes be hard work and with the constant focus on others, we can sometimes forget to motivate ourselves. This in turn leads to a problem: if you aren't motivated, then it is likely that others around you will lose motivation and will not strive to take action. Before that happens, follow these seven simple steps to motivate yourself to improve your own performance. 1. MIX WITH POSITIVE PEOPLE Spend your time associating with positive people who are winners or successful in their chosen fields. People with a negative mindset love to see others fail or falter when faced with a challenge. You will learn negative thoughts and behaviours from negative people and positive thoughts and behaviours from positive people. Positive people exude positive energy and a can-do attitude. 2. ERASE A NEGATIVE MINDSET A nega

If you are not enjoying your work, your performance will suffer in the long run I WAS talking to a friend recently who was at the top of a pretty big company for several years. He was running a business that was bringing in nearly a billion dollars in revenue annually, and there were only a few layers between him and the chief executive officer. He had a great salary, tons of people reporting to him, credibility in the organisation and a pretty nice annual bonus. He was miserable. The politics at that level of the organisation was incredibly challenging. The expectations were extreme with respect to the amount of work that was generated, and the scrutiny on the weekly and monthly numbers was intense. My friend was spending every moment of his 80-hour week managing, and none leading. He had a huge organisation that counted on him for leadership and yet he was mired in the reports, the meetings and the bureaucracy. Although he wanted to take his business to the next level and be the kind

saying "thank you" at work goes a long way IMAGINE the surprise of almost 500 Operations & Technology employees at Citibank one morning when they were greeted with breakfast, personally made by their senior managers. Or how about the staff at Secured Finance who were not only served homemade food by their managers, but were also offered shoulder massages and shoe polishing services? These gestures were just some of the many surprise "thank you" activities that were specially created by managers for their staff on Citi Appreciation Day. The event is one of several initiatives that aims to embed a culture of appreciation and recognition within Citi.   "Creating job satisfaction goes beyond compensation and opportunities for career development, mobility and work-life balance. "We believe that recognising our people for effort and performance is key to engaging and motivating them. In fact, we take it a step further by empowering our people at every level

You don't have to be a gifted public speaker to be effective. You can learn the science behind the art PUBLIC speaking is defined as the act or process of making speeches in public and the art of effective oral communication with an audience. But the process of making speeches in public goes far beyond the stage time. It involves a lot of background preparation work before those speeches can be delivered. Likewise, defining public speaking as an art involves more than just oral communication. It is the entire package of the speaker, the stage, the lighting, the layout, the sound system and a whole lot of other items. This is where the conventional definitions of public speaking do not do justice to the act of delivering a great speech. Here are some of the common myths surrounding public speaking: Myth 1: Public speaking is about talking to a large audience It may not necessarily be. It could be a one-person audience or an audience of thousands. As long as you a

Maximise the potential of all employees, and not just the best performers STAR performers, or top talent, typically grab the limelight in every organisation. They are seen as being most capable of driving businesses forward, and as such they are usually a priority group when it comes to employee engagement. But what about the employees at the other end of the performance spectrum? Today, the pressure to control bottom-line costs are rising, and organisations need to maximise the potential of all workers. This includes those with lower performance levels who may be under-utilised or disenchanted but, more importantly, still capable of contributing to the success of their companies. Earlier this year, Towers Perrin, a professional services firm specialising in human resources and financial services consulting, undertook a survey that examined the differences between top talent and the developing capabilities group. The latter describes employees who have potential for improved

It's the season for get-togethers, so make sure your business card enhances your image. A BUSINESS card makes a statement about who you are and what your business is about. It needs to convey the quality of your business and give an insight into your personality. I have been handed business cards where the first thought to go through my mind was "cheap and tacky design". It didn't help that the card was made of low-quality paper. How I perceived the card then became my overall impression of the business. Don't let people think the same thing about you or your business. Here are some ideas: Use colour Use elegant shades instead of the usual black and white cards other people have. But don't use "day-glo" colours unless you are running a children's art shop. You want your business to come across as a serious and classy operation. Show your face Put your photograph on your card. It will help people remember you. The photo needs to face into th