What should you do if you really cannot get on with your boss at work?  Maybe there has been a breakdown in trust, in communication or in respect.    In any event it is ruining your time at work and making you frustrated and unhappy. Let’s call your manager “John” and see how we can…

Pastimes to Challenge and Entertain Thinkers relish the challenge and stimulation of brilliant games. They enjoy games for the pure thrill of exercising their minds and judgments in pursuit of victory. You can take pleasure in any number of great games. Here is a selection of recommended pastimes. Add them to your Christmas list: 1. Chess Chess is…

Let’s be clear.  Your email is not your work; it is simply a tool to help you do your work.  But like any tool it can be ineffective or even dangerous when used wrongly.  Here is how to make email your servant not your master. 1.  Check your email inbox at set intervals. Do not have…

An important speech can be a worry. The keys for success are good preparation and confident delivery. If you have prepared your talk well and memorised the key points then you are ready to give a great performance. And it is a performance. Giving a talk should be much more than simply conveying…

If you have to give a keynote speech, an after-dinner talk, or an address to a group of customers or colleagues then preparation leads to success. Here are some key tips: 1. Investigate the audience. Find out as much as you can about your audience, their interests and their likely mood. What is it that they will…

I told my friend Graham that I often cycle the two miles from my house to the town centre but unfortunately there is a big hill on the route. He replied, ‘You mean fortunately.’ He explained that I should be glad of the extra exercise that the hill provided. My attitude to the hill…

Many of the rules that apply in businesses were set years ago and have endured by force of habit. A good example is the QWERTY keyboard, which is in use on all desktop computers. The original QWERTY layout of keys on the typewriter keyboard was designed in the 1870s to slow down the…

Babies are wonderful bundles of joy. They are easy to love. Nature has cunningly designed them to be irresistible. This helps new parents cope with the hardships of getting up at night and caring for their infant’s immediate needs, which tend to be food, drink, exhalation of wind and clean diapers. So far so…

Leaders have more power than they realize. They can patiently create a climate of creativity or they can crush it in a series of subtle comments and gestures. Their actions send powerful signals. Their responses to suggestions and ideas are deciphered by staff as encouragement or rejection. If you want to…

Let me give you what might seem a strange piece of advice – be lucky. Sometimes you have good luck and sometimes you have bad luck. But do you have a choice? Can you make your own luck? Dr. Richard Wiseman has studied why some people are lucky and others are not. He advises that…

Most people and most organisations operate in a comfortable rut that limits their possibilities, their thinking and their achievements. If you want a more interesting life then you have to take some risks. If you want to be more adventurous in your thinking then you should be more adventurous in your activities. Deliberately push…

If you are going for an interview as a prospective employee then you should do some research.  Read the job description and requirements carefully.  Browse the web site to see how the organization presents itself.  Search for news items and comments about the company on news sites and blogs. For the interview itself you should dress…

If you work in a large organization and are ambitious for career progression then here are a number of things that you can do to assist your journey. 1.  Do your job well. I know that this is stating the obvious but it is the starting point.   For promotion it is a necessary but not a…

Nobody plans to become poor and yet a great many people end up poor.  Here are some of the best known ways of ensuring a life of penury: 1.  ‘We don’t need no education…’ If you drop out of school or fail to achieve a basic education then you will severely restrict your chances of employment.  What…

How many times have you been bored rigid by conference speakers?How can you make sure that your presentations engage and interest your audience? How can you really get your message across?Here are some great ways to liven up your pitch and avoid boring your audience to tears: 1. Throw away PowerPoint. PowerPoint presentations are the norm…