#Leadership : Craft a Legal, Effective Employee Social Media Policy With These 5 Steps…Social Media has the Power to Boost a Brand’s Image, Reinforce Relationships with Customers and Increase Sales. When Abused by Employees, however, It can Cause Irreversible Damage.

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Take KitchenAid, for example. In October of 2012, the company tweeted out an offensive comment about President Barack Obama’s grandmother. As a result, it faced a huge backlash and received a plethora of negative media attention. This happened simply because an employee tweeted his or her opinion from the brand account, rather than from a personal one.

Close-up of businessman preparing bomb in office

Just this past summer, Anthony Cumia from the popular radio show “Opie & Anthony” was fired for tweeting profane remarks about a woman who allegedly confronted him on the street. It reflected poorly upon SiriusXM, the company that broadcasts the show. Not wanting to face overwhelming criticism, SiriusXM immediately terminated their relationship with Cumia.

There are countless examples of social media faux pas over the years. They can easily happen anytime, and to any brand.

To protect your company, you must create and enforce social media policies. These policies should let employees know what can and can’t be said, as well as how to act appropriately on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest or any other site your company utilizes.

To get started on a social media policy, study and consider implementing the following instructions:

1. Research state and federal rules on free speech.
Though social media policies are imperative, they may end up getting companies in trouble. Large corporations such as General Motors and Target have been asked to revise their policies because they went too far.

Before writing one, it’s important to look into federal and state laws regarding speech on sites such as Facebook and Twitter, along with rules for accessing employees’ personal accounts. Business owners putting the policy together can research social media laws on the National Labor Relations Board or, better yet, hire a lawyer who specializes in it.

 

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2. Involve employees every step of the way.
A social media policy should not be produced without input from employees. Ask employees what they’re comfortable with, which might include whether they want to sign their initials on posts, and if they’d be fine with refraining from talking about the company on their personal accounts.

You may also want to specify when social media can be used at work, as well as how employees are expected to interact with customers online. Throughout the process, employees should be encouraged to ask questions. When the document is completed, employees need to sign off on it to ensure that they are on board with the new rules.

3. Tailor the policy to the job.
Instead of handing out the same social media policy to everyone, you may want to tailor it according to what department someone is in. Employees who manage the different accounts will need a more specific set of directions and guidelines, while those in sales, IT or HR would just require a policy regarding their personal use.

4. Include business privacy issues.
A big reason for formulating a social media policy is to protect a brand’s privacy. If company practices and secrets are revealed online, it can give competitors an edge and cause extensive damage.

The policy should highlight what would hurt the company and why. Employees must know where to draw the line when revealing information about the company. For example, it might be fine to post photos of the business’ office and holiday parties online, but it would be detrimental to disclose how many sales were made in the fourth quarter.

For a good frame of reference on setting rules for privacy concerns, check out the “What You Should Never Disclose” section of Best Buy’s social media policy.

5. Preparing to write the policy.
A social media policy should be seen as a helpful addition to the company. It is not meant to make employees feel stifled or condescended to.

Before you start thinking about the rules you’re going to include in the policy, determine what positive results you hope to achieve. Perhaps you want employees to feel free to post on the various accounts. Or you want to improve customer service online.

By keeping these goals in mind, you can decide upon the best ways to phrase and formulate social media policies.

 

Entrepreneur.com | March 12, 2015 | Michael Roy

 

#Leadership : Leadership Lessons From The Man Who Runs The U.S. Olympic Track Team….CEO Max Siegel Shares his Strategies for Managing a Team on a High-Stakes Project: the Olympics.

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At this moment, 129 American track and field athletes are settling into their living quarters in Rio de Janeiro as part of the 555-person strong Team U.S.A. They are getting acclimated to the weather and training daily, using every last minute to prepare physically and mentally for one of the most important events of their lives. But behind the scenes, Max Siegel has been planning this moment for years.

Olympics 2016

Siegel is the CEO of U.S.A. Track and Field (USATF), the governing body for runners in the U.S. The nonprofit organization serves 41 million people who love to run—from amateurs to professionals—providing them with opportunities to compete in marathons and races. Siegel has been instrumental in helping the organization take on a more entrepreneurial outlook, building the sport into a brand and helping lock down sponsorship deals. On top of that, Siegel must also help discover the nation’s Olympians and give them the support that they need to thrive at the Games.

Max Siegel

The final list of qualifying athletes is decided right before the Olympics begin. These individuals represent a wide range of disciplines, including marathon runners, sprinters, high jumpers, pole vaulters, shot-putters, and more. “There’s literally a month between the time that people qualify and we go to the Games,” Siegel says. “The very last race in our Olympic trials ends, and they go directly to Olympic training camp.”

Once the team is selected, Siegel and his staff spin into action, managing the elaborate logistics of bringing the team to the host country. Though Siegel’s tips for leading a group of runners to success might seem specific to the sports world’s greatest show on earth, we think they can be useful to any professionals who manage projects that are short but intense, with many moving parts (think organizing a conference or overseeing a quarterly earnings report).

ALWAYS LOOK FOR TALENT

While the Olympic Games happen once every four years, Siegel says his team is constantly preparing for it. Finding the highest-caliber athletes for the Games means being on the lookout for elite runners, recruiting them, and preparing them to compete in the Olympic trials when the time comes. This means tracking students as young as middle- and high-school age who show serious promise. “There’s a pretty robust and thorough analysis of the talent,” he says, explaining that he has experts on staff who are single-handedly focused on assessing every aspect of an athlete’s capabilities.

Siegel says that USATF is extremely judicious about only reaching out to people they really believe will have a successful career in sports because of the sacrifices demanded. Teens may postpone higher education, and those who do go to college will struggle to balance their studies and the rigors of training. Of course, not all athletes are young. The U.S. is sending runners in their forties to Rio, including Bernard Lagat, who qualified for his fifth Olympics at the age of 41. These more seasoned athletes also have to give things up, including time at their jobs or with their families.

Chaunté Lowe in 2016

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EQUIP YOUR TEAM

Once the team is chosen, Siegel needs to make sure that they have every resource at their disposal to succeed. Since the team comes together right before the Olympic Games, USATF must equip itself in advance with tools. “When they matriculate into our program, we give them support,” he says. “This means coaching, training, medical attention, and biomechanical sports-science help.”

But tools aren’t just physical. To prepare teams to go overseas for events, USATF also helps with language and cultural training. Since the athletes will be ambassadors for their country, it is important that they understand the nuances of local culture. This is particularly useful to athletes who are young or not particularly well-traveled.

Since Olympic athletes are not paid by the International Olympic Committee to appear at the games, they need to generate their own funds to attend. Many runners rely on prize money from other races or seek out sponsorship or endorsement deals. In his time as CEO, Siegel has made it a priority to make USAFT more attractive to companies. “It’s been about creating a brand that’s connected to the idea of excellence,” he says. “This has allowed us to partner with best-in-class companies like Visa, Rosetta Stone, and Hershey.”

Nike has always been one of the USATF’s biggest sponsors. But over the last five years, Siegel has helped negotiate a contract with the brand that has been called one of the most lucrative deals in Olympic history: It ensures that every qualifying athlete will receive a sum of money. (He declined to tell me exactly how much.) “Athletes that make our World Championship or Olympic teams get pretty significant compensation,” Siegel says. In return, Nike will outfit Team U.S.A. for the Olympic Games.

In addition to snagging funds for individual athletes, Siegel also pushed through a separate contract for USATF with Nike that’s worth a reported $500 million and will be in effect from 2017 to 2040. This has improved his organization’s ability to support its entire constituency of runners.

Justin Gatlin

ON GAME DAY, ELIMINATE DISTRACTIONS

Finally, the team heads to the Olympics. Once on site, the USATF’s main goal is to ensure that athletes focus on their event. This means cutting out any possible worry or distraction.

One of the competitors’ biggest sources of concern is their families. While spouses, parents, and siblings often come to show their support and participate in the historic moment, Olympians can lose focus by imagining what their loved ones might be up to, or worrying that they might not be enjoying themselves. So in 2012, Siegel launched a new program in which one group of USATF staff is entirely devoted to making sure families are comfortable and occupied. Staff members take these relatives sightseeing, for instance, and shuttle them to events.”The athletes have grandma and grandpa there, whom they love,” Siegel explains. “They’re worried about them and whether they will be able to get from point A to point B. They feel an emotional obligation to them.”

Siegel has also had to manage some of the crises surrounding the Rio Games, including the Zika virus. His strategy has been to keep all the athletes informed of the latest health information from the World Health Organization and National Institutes of Health. “We don’t want them to be distracted by the media,” he says.

USE THE MOMENTUM TO KEEP MOVING FORWARD

Because the USATF’s Olympic team comes together so late, the organization doesn’t have much time to promote them before the Games begin and get the public excited about them like they are for, say, swimmers and gymnasts. New elite runners come to the world’s attention as their events unfold, so Siegel’s responsibility is to keep enthusiasm (and sponsorship interest) high after the Games. “Stars are born, and you need to ride that momentum afterwards,” he says.

Over the course of the Games, Siegel and his staff familiarize themselves with the athletes’ personal stories so they can keep these narratives alive when they return to the U.S. The USATF pitches these individuals hard to television, social media, newspapers, and magazines. “They might have a unique backstory or an interesting way that they train,” he says. “We don’t want to waste the moment.”

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FastCompany.com | August 2, 2016 | ELIZABETH SEGRAN

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Your #Career : 4 Ways To Bounce Back When You’re Treated Unfairly At Work…You can Get Even, Or you can Take the High Road—Where the Outlook’s Much Better for your Health and Career.

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Depending on how you see it, there’s more than just death and taxes on the short list of things life throws at pretty much everybody. There’s also unfairness (which cynics might even see as the umbrella term for both death and taxes), as many a parent has informed a 5-year-old who’s too young to know what taxes are but has no trouble grasping what’s not fair.

Free- Barbed Wire

But simply accepting that life isn’t fair doesn’t mean we respond to its injustices with perfect equanimity—especially where our careers are concerned. Maybe you’ve been passed up for a promotion you deserved. Or management made a big decision impacting your job without you having a say. Maybe you were just disrespected by a colleague.

Organizational researchers like the University of Georgia’s Jason Colquitt call these types of offenses “distributive,” “procedural,” and “interpersonal” injustice, respectively. And they’ve been linked to lower levels of self-esteem, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and performance.

That may not come as a shock—it’s just about impossible to avoid feeling mistreated at some point or another at work. Georgetown professor Chris Porathestimates that 98% of the thousands of workers she’s surveyed have experienced incivility at work firsthand, and 99% have seen it take place.

But the good news is that while work, like life, isn’t always fair, you don’t have to stew in your sense of being wronged. In fact, you can even use the experience to become a little more resilient for the next time you’re slighted. Here’s how.

WHY UNFAIR TREATMENT STINGS

You may feel hurt that you’ve been mistreated while at the same time wondering whether it’s petty of you to take offense. But psychologically, unfairness communicates a lot more than the act itself. Being treated unfairly violates basic human needs for autonomy, belonging, and morality. It thwarts our agency, makes us feel like we aren’t valued, and tramples on the basic social principles that bind people together.

So it’s no surprise that violating these mores reliably leads to feelings of anger, outage, and contempt—emotions that lead us to act in ways that both harm our careers and are typically inconsistent with our own values: When we’re wronged at work, many of us isolate ourselves or retaliate. And while that may lead to short-term reprieve or catharsis, the longer-term consequences are rarely good.

Instead, we need better ways to respond to mistreatment at work—strategies that can actually improve how others see us and how we see ourselves—so we can minimize the likelihood of it happening again.

1. WALK BACK FROM THE CONCLUSIONS YOU’VE JUMPED TO

Leadership gurus Chris Argyris and Peter Senge are known for introducing the“ladder of inference,” the process by which people make a sequence of assumptions about others’ intentions. It’s important to remember that injustice is in the eye of the beholder, so it’s critical to make sure you’re seeing the situation accurately.

And to do that, there’s no substitute for perspective. Talk to a trusted friend or colleague to get their point of view before taking any action. Whatever they say, the simple act of confiding in others can strengthen your relationships around the office and mitigate the negative feelings you’re experiencing.

 

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2. TAKE THE MORAL HIGH GROUND

Sometimes it’s actually okay to get up on your high horse and stay there. In fact, refusing to match slight for slight can help you sidestep the indignity you’re feeling and avoid boiling in anger. From that vantage point, you may even be able to look at the situation more critically and learn something about your coworker, your organization, or even yourself—to understand what’s happened in a more detached way.

3. LOOK FOR WHAT’S STILL GOOD, FAIR, AND RIGHT

Sure, you’ve just been treated unfairly in one context, but there are certainly others where you’re still clearly valued and respected at work. And one principlelong familiar to psychologists is our tendency to focus on the negative at the expense of the positive. So make sure you’re considering this recent mistreatment in light of other good things at work, which will help you put it into perspective.

It may be the last thing you’re inclined to do while you’re feeling upset, but consider making a list of the positive aspects of your job—the upsides that haven’tbeen affected by this incident—so you don’t act rashly.

4. FORGIVE WHOEVER’S RESPONSIBLE

This may be the hardest one yet, but it might pay off. Research suggests that forgiveness is critical for mental and physical health in the aftermath of being mistreated. You don’t need to excuse the incident or convince yourself you’re being dramatic, you just need to acknowledge that the bad thing they did to you is something you can live with—that, as Whitney Houston memorably put it, “It’s not right, but it’s okay.” Forgiveness, at any rate, can be a surprisingly powerful way of moving on without carrying a chip on your shoulder.

Let’s be real—being treated unfairly at work can be painful, upsetting, and frustrating. But it can also be an opportunity to build resilience—not just to others, but to your own, less-than-productive knee-jerk responses. So take the high road. The view is much better from there anyway.

 

FastCompany.com | August 4, 2016 | David Mayer

Your #Career : This Internship Program Only Hires Women Over 40…What Inspired you to Start the Program? Answer: Ageism Hurts, and these Women Feel Like, “Am I Worthless at 54? Am I Over the Hill at 52? Why will No One Hire Me?”

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You’ve probably seen, or at least heard of, Nancy Meyer’s latest film The Intern. Starring Anne Hathaway and Robert DeNiro, it follows a 70-something man attempting to reenter the workforce. When the retired widower has difficulty finding employment, he opts for a senior internship at a digital fashion startup.

Enternship-Wunderlich-Kaplan

“That movie was kind of an aha moment for us,” explains Dara Kaplan, president and partner of a New York City-based p.r. firm calledWunderlich Kaplan Communications (WKC). “How many times have we witnessed our friends, unable to dive back into the workforce after several years at home? Women over 40 shouldn’t be cast aside for Millennials.”

Inspired, Kaplan  and WKC’s CEO, Gwen Wunderlich, started The Enternship. The four week program, which launched this summer, aims to help women over 40 reenter the workforce by teaching them practical p.r. and digital communications skills. Eight interns in their 40s, 50s and 60s are currently participating, including a former CNN producer and a lawyer.  I caught up with the two leading women behind the initiative.

What is The Enternship? 

Kaplan: In one sentence, it’s a program to help women over 40. These women have either been bought out of their companies, chosen to jump the corporate ship or are looking to change careers and break back into the workforce. We teach them the skills they need during flexible hours. Millennial may be the buzz word du jour, but we happen not to agree.

What inspired you to start the program?

Wunderlich: We were tired of watching friends and family members get passed over for their younger counterparts or denied jobs because they have “too much” experience. We received more than 600 applications for the program, and the one thing every cover letter had in common was that they felt defeated. Ageism hurts, and these women feel like, “Am I worthless at 54? Am I over the hill at 52? Why will no one hire me?”

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Who are your eight enterns?

Kaplan: We chose eight women, including a lawyer, a former CNN producer, a graphic designer and a stay-at-home mom. 99% are working moms and all are over age 40 (some are even over 60). And they are unbelievable. Take Ronni Berke, an award-winning veteran journalist and producer. She recently accepted a buyout from CNN to work on more creative projects and currently freelances as a communications strategist and content creator. She is an experienced media pro with years of experience in breaking news.

What kinds of skills do your enterns learn?

Wunderlich: Essentially, the ins and outs of public relations. We teach women how to create p.r. campaigns, write pitches and press releases, how to pitch media. There’s also hands on experience, like helping to run a party at one of our celebrity client’s house in the Hamptons. Working events helps them grow their network, which, as we all know, is what p.r. is about.

Kaplan: Social media is also explored, which we’ve found to be a major pain point for older women. They want to learn about blogging, vlogging and other emerging communication technologies — they just need a little guidance.

What is The Enternship’s ultimate goal?

Kaplan: To help women get back on their feet. It’s funny, because we’ve seen first hand what a bit of confidence can do. And while we hope to empower women to get back in the workforce, we also want to create a movement — an understanding of the value of women. We’re trying to urge other p.r. firms and female-owned businesses to hire talented, experienced women.

Why only women?

Wunderlich: It’s estimated that there are upwards of 3 million women with advanced college degrees trying to reenter the American workforce. It was clear this was who we needed to focus on.

Would you ever expand to men?

Wunderlich: Never say never, but our second Enternship training program, which starts in September, will also be focused on women.

 

Forbes.com | August 6, 2016 | Emily Siegel

 

#Leadership : The Most Profitable Industries in 2016…Some Businesses Tend to have Healthier Bottom Lines by the Very Nature of the Industries that they Operate In.

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Which U.S. industries are the most lucrative? The answer depends on how it’s measured, but based on pre-tax net profit margin, the top money-makers include specialty service providers in accounting, law, health care and real estate, according to the latest ranking from Sageworks, a financial information company.

Free- Counting Abacus

Accounting-related companies (accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll service companies) are the most profitable, with net profit amounting to 18.3 percent of sales, on average, based on a financial-statement analysis for privately held companies for the 12 months ended June 30.  Legal services firms and real-estate leasing companies are tied for second and third in profitability, with average net profit margins of 17.4 percent. These industries often make the cut for Sageworks’ annual ranking.

Sageworks Most Profitable Industries 2016

“Some businesses tend to have healthier bottom lines by the very nature of the industries that they operate in,” said Sageworks analyst James Noe. Many of the most profitable industries sell services rather than products, he noted, so their operations don’t require raw materials or other up-front costs that would wind up in the middle of their income statements and eat into the bottom line. “They don’t sell or produce finished goods,” he said. “They don’t make the tractors to sell to farmers or they don’t buy groceries to sell to consumers. In other words, you don’t need plastic to provide an audit for a company; it’s just mostly human capital that’s being utilized, and that lends to a high margin generally.”

 

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Among privately held companies across all industries, the average net profit margin for the 12 months ended June 30 was 7.7 percent.Through its cooperative data model, Sageworks collects and aggregates private-company financial statements from accounting firms, banks and credit unions. Net profit margin has been adjusted to exclude taxes and include owner compensation in excess of their market-rate salaries. These adjustments are commonly made to private-company financials in order to provide a more accurate picture of the companies’ operational performance.

Five health-related industries made Sageworks’ top 15 list of most profitable industries in 2016: outpatient care centers, physicians, dentists, medical labs and a category of other health practitioners that includes chiropractors, optometrists, physical/speech/occupational therapists and non-physician mental health services providers.

Noe said that several industries tied to medical care and professional services have made Sageworks’ list of most profitable industries in recent years. Contributing factors could include more demand for health care from the aging baby boomer population and the fact that these specialized services require workers with advanced educational degrees who are able to garner higher fees. I take 600mg of Gabapentin a day for my RLS some hours before going to sleep and it really works! I`ve finally remembered what a good night sleep is. Haven`t noticed any side effects for now, though I`ve read lots of reviews from people, who did have some negative experience.

“There are two ways to have a high profit margin,” he said. “You either have a heavy top line, or revenue, so you’ll still have a healthy bottom line despite whatever expenses you incur, or you just don’t have a lot of expenses in the middle of the income statement.”

Privately held companies offering tutoring, sports camps, driving lessons and a host of other instructional or educational services also made the list this year, with a net profit margin of 10.5 percent. Sageworks has previously noted strong growth in both sales and profitability for this industry, classified as “Other schools and instruction.”

Sageworks, a financial information company, collects and analyzes data on the performance of privately held companies and provides accounting and audit solutions.

 

Forbes.com | August 6, 2016 | Sageworks

Your #Career : Your Employees Are Already Job Hunting. What Are You Going to Do?…Whether you Know it or Not, a Lot of your Employees are probably Job-Hunting on the Job. And you Can Guarantee this is True If the Employees in Question are Millennials.

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According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average job tenure for all groups above 25 is 5.5 years. But when you look at the data around employees between 25 and 34 years old, the average job tenure shrinks to three years. Narrow that window down to only those employees between 20 and 24 years old and you’ve got an average job tenure of a miniscule 16 months.

bored-woman

What does this mean for companies? Sheer chaos. Businesses invest a great deal of effort into recruiting and training the right employees for their organizations. So when these employees jump ship, the transition process places a heavy burden on a company’s resources. Estimates of the costs around replacing an employee vary; some studies, like that by SHMR, figure that businesses are set back six to nine months’ salary on average to replace an employee, while others estimate that the cost is closer to twice their annual salary.

To make matters worse, the problem is contagious. A “quitting” environment can cast a negative pall on the culture of your company, causing other employees to question their own commitment to staying put.

Employee retention is a particularly tough challenge when it comes to millennials, who job hop far more than other age groups. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average job tenure for all groups above 25 is 5.5 years. But when you look at the data around employees between 25 and 34 years old, the average job tenure shrinks to three years. Narrow that window down to only those employees between 20 and 24 years old and you’ve got an average job tenure of a miniscule 16 months.

 

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Employee retention isn’t a one-size fits all proposition. But amongst all the various needs and wants that employees seek from their jobs, there is, in fact, one thing that appeals to employees of age-groups. This benefit goes a long way towards keeping employees engaged and focused on their current job, not their next one.

A culture of giving back.

Study after study shows that a majority of employees – especially Millennials – consider a company’s commitment to the community when making a job decision, and those who participate in workplace volunteer activities are more likely to be proud, loyal and satisfied employees.

Employees look for different things from their jobs and companies. But on balance, we all have a lot in common when it comes to certain parameters for job satisfaction. The U.S Department of Labor asserts that the best employees today want the following:

  • Career development opportunities and a chance to grow in their chosen field
  • Regular feedback on how both they and the company are doing
  • A chance to contribute directly to the organization and be recognized for doing so
  • Flexible work schedules that recognize their need for work/life balance
  • A good salary or wage and an opportunity to increase it over time
  • Benefits tailored to their individual needs

This same report suggests that companies focus on these areas of improvement:

  • Recruitment and hiring. It’s worth spending time and effort on recruiting. When there’s a good match between employees and your organization, retention is less likely to be an issue.
  • Orientation and onboarding. Again, it’s worth having good practices in place. Treating employees right in the critical early stages of employment has been proven to enhance retention.
  • Training and development. Training and development are key factors in helping employees grow with your company and stay marketable in their field.
  • Performance evaluation. When employees know what they’re doing well and where they need to improve, both they and your organization benefit.
  • Pay and benefits. While today many employees tend to rate factors such as career development higher than pay, good pay and benefits still count.
  • Internal communication. Effective communication can help ensure that employees to want to stay with your company. Employees need to know—and be reminded on a regular basis—how the organization is doing and what they can do to help.
  • Termination and outplacement. Employees who leave on good terms are much more likely to recommend your company, and in doing so, help you attract and retain future employees.

Believe it or not, a culture of social purpose can have a big impact on all of these areas. For example, skills-based volunteering provides opportunities for learning new skills and leadership training in ways that are easier, more abundant and less expensive to companies than traditional skills training. Skills-based volunteering can also provide new perches from which to access greater career responsibilities and growth, provided that company leaders utilize volunteering as an authentic training ground and onramp into higher level positions. When you go down the list, there are specific ways that a culture of giving back helps address every area of focus recommended by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Companies that engender passion create a foundation of rock-solid employee morale that is directly tied to strong retention. Engage your employees in a partnership of purpose and they’ll want to extend their stay at your company.

Ryan Scott is the Founder and CEO of Causecast, which recently released the eBook “The Company You Keep: How Smart Companies Improve Retention.”

 

Forbes.com | August 5, 2016 | Cause Integration

 

 

Your #Career : 7 Tricks to Instantly Appear Competent…People form Impressions of your Personality in a Matter of Seconds. It’s Not Necessarily Fair, But it’s Reality.

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Especially in a professional setting, one thing you’ll want to immediately appear is competent: knowledgeable, skilled, and capable. Fortunately, there are ways to make yourself seem competent as soon as you meet an interviewer, coworker, client, or boss (and sometimes even as soon as they see your photograph).

free- women at meeting

 

Here are seven easy, sneaky strategies for appearing as competent as possible:

1. Speak quickly

If you’ve got something to say, say it fast.

In one study, Brigham Young University researchers had 28 university students listen to recordings of six people whose voices had been manipulated to sound slower or faster than normal.

The student volunteers rated the speakers most competent when their voices had been sped up and least competent when their voices had been slowed down.

Robin Marchant / Getty Images

 

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2. If you’re a woman, consider wearing makeup

Research suggests that wearing makeup can make women seem more competent.

In 2011, Nancy Etcoff at Harvard University led a study in which more than 250 adults looked at photographs of 25 women with different types of makeup. One-quarter of them wore no makeup; one quarter were made to look “natural” (some makeup); one quarter were made to look “professional” (a bit more makeup than the “natural” group); and one quarter were made look “glamorous” (the most makeup).

As it turns out, judges rated the “glamorous” women the most competent and the barefaced women the least competent.

Sebastiaan ter Burg/Flickr

3. Ask for advice…

You might fear that asking for help will make you look stupid.

But recent research from Harvard Business School suggests that asking for advice can instead make you seem more competent.

In one experiment, 170 university students worked on a series of computer tasks and were told they’d be matched with a partner who would complete the same tasks. (The partner was really a computer simulation.) When they’d finished the tasks, the “partner” either said, “I hope it went well” or “I hope it went well. Do you have any advice?”

As it turns out, students who’d been asked for advice rated their “partner” more competent than those who hadn’t been asked for advice.

The researchers explain that when you ask for advice, you’re validating the person’s intelligence and experience, so they feel good about you in turn.

4. …unless you’re a man in a leadership position

While soliciting advice can generally help you look more competent, a 2015 study found that asking for help might make male leaders in particular seem less competent.

Researchers recruited 65 business students to answer questions about their experiences in “leadership ventures,” in which they participated in challenges like mountaineering in Antarctica and climbing a volcano in Ecuador. Students took turns acting as the “leader of the day.”

The researchers asked students to reflect on the behavior of the leader of the day: Some students answered questions about how often the leader sought help, while others answered questions about how competent that same leader seemed.

As it turns out, male leaders who reportedly asked for help a lot were rated less competent than male leaders who asked less often.

Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design/flickr

5. Act a little cold

We tend to judge people on two main traits when we first meet them: warmth and competence. But is it possible to be rated highly on both?

A 2009 study led by Belgian and American psychologists suggests that groups of people who are warmer are also judged as less competent.

About 80 undergrads at an American university read descriptions of two different groups. Each group fell into one of four categories: high on competence and high on warmth; high on competence and low on warmth; low on competence and high on warmth; or low on competence and low on warmth.

The participants weren’t told that the groups were competent or warm — instead they received descriptions of each group that implied these traits.

Participants were then asked to rate each group on a number of traits. Results showed that high-competence groups were seen as more competent if they were also low on warmth.

Eugenio Marongiu / Shutterstock

6. Post a profile photo taken from a distance

If you’re choosing a Facebook or LinkedIn pic, consider selecting one where you’re standing a few feet from the camera.

In multiple experiments with hundreds of participants, conducted in 2012, researchers found that 18 white men were considered more competent, trustworthy, and attractive when they were photographed from about 4.5 feet away, as opposed to about 1.5 feet away.

Adam Nurkiewicz/Getty Images

7. Make your face look slightly wider

Research from New York University and the University of Connecticut published in 2015suggests that it’s not so easy to make yourself look more competent.

That’s because perceptions of competence — at least when it comes to physical ability — depend largely on your facial structure.

In the study, participants looked at male faces whose proportions had been digitally altered, so that some looked wider than others. They were asked to choose which man they thought would win a weightlifting competition. (Presumably, they were choosing based on physical ability, or competence.)

Sure enough, men with wider faces were considered more likely to win the weightlifting competition.

While you can’t physically alter your facial structure (without getting cosmetic surgery), you can probably work a little Photoshop magic to make your face look slightly wider than it really is.

Businessinsider.com |  Shana Lebowitz | Apr. 7, 2016,

Your #Career : 7 Foods That Can Boost Productivity and Creativity….You are What you Eat. You’ve Heard that Plenty of Times Before, but Have you Ever Given it some Serious Thought? What Does it Mean, Exactly?

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Think of it this way — if you eat nothing but fried foods, chips, and soda, you’re probably going to be overweight and generally unhealthy. If you take on a vegan diet, you’ll likely be pretty lean. If you eat a lot of protein-packed foods, you’re probably going to be pretty muscular — just like the foods you eat.

Successful people spend quality time with their friends and families on Sunday nights.

But those links go beyond just physical makeup and appearance. The foods we eat, and overall dieting habits, have a serious impact on our the way our brains function. If you’ve ever heard someone use the term ‘brain food,’ this link is what they’re referring to.

There are several physiological factors that are at play when discussing diet and cognitive function — blood sugar levels, caloric intake, and the concentration of vitamins and minerals among them. The point is, what you eat can and will have an affect on how you’re able to perform throughout the day, which can mean spikes and plateaus in productivity, and being able to tackle objectives with a clear and focused mind.

After all, it’s hard to get anything done when you’re ‘hangry,’ right?

Researchers say you’ll want to focus your overall eating habits toward a fruit and vegetable-heavy diet in order to hit higher levels of engagement and become more productive. There are many foods and drinks that can also help you find a spark of creativity or a boost in engagement because of their specific compositions.

If you’re in need of a pick-me-up during the work day, the following seven foods should help you get back on track.

1. Eggs

Eggs are rich in protein, which will not only help your body build and maintain muscle, but also leave you feeling full. That means that if you have a few, you’ll stop feeling famished and be able to get back to work. But more than that, eggs contain many vital nutrients, including choline. Choline has been linked by many researchers toincreased cognitive ability, and even improved memory. Plus, they’re cheap and relatively easy to make. Hard-boil some eggs, and keep them nearby.

 

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2. Bananas

Bananas are cheap, easy to eat, and delicious. You can find them pretty much anywhere, too — from hotel continental breakfast bars, to every 7-11 or Starbucks out there. But the greatest thing about bananas is that they’re natural mood enhancers and can get your mind back on the things that count. Bananas contain chemical compounds like tyrosine that can help you calm down. Bananas also have a good dosage of potassium, which has numerous psychological and physiological effects.

3. Salmon

Grizzly bears must be on to something.

Salmon has been found to have rather profound impacts on brain function, mostly due to the big concentrations of Omega fatty acids within the tissues. Those fatty acids, and the ones found in salmon in particular, are ideal for our neurons and help support healthy brain tissue. This is why fish oil pills grew so wildly in popularity, and why many doctors suggest getting plenty of fish in your diet. If you can’t seem to get any work done, have some Steelhead for lunch.

4. Tea

Yes, tea will give you a caffeine dose that will leave you more energized and raring to go, but there is also evidence that certain teas will help your memory. Green tea, in particular, has been clinically shown to have a lasting impact on brain connectivity, which refers to the communication networks located within the brain itself. Opening up those networks increases working memory, it has been found, and may even helped stave off degenerative diseases like dementia.

Perhaps all that tea is what helped the British control huge swaths of the globe for so long?

5. Wine

If you’ve ever wondered how and why some people seem to come alive after a glass or two of wine, there’s some science to back it up. Certain compounds found in wines have been tied to increased levels of cognitive performance — levels that were curiously not present when subjects drank beer or other liquors. The compound in question, called resveratrol, is commonly found in grapes, which is how wine drinkers end up reaping the benefits. Resveratrol can help give you a memory boost, and may even have anti-cancer and anti-aging effects too.

6. Dark Chocolate

Just like wine, chocolates (dark chocolates, specifically) are rich in certain compounds that are linked to increased brain function. In this case, we’re talking about high concentrations of flavanols, which are present in cocoa beans. There is evidence that flavanols can lower blood pressure, and even help regulate blood sugar, but they also are tied to memory and cognitive abilities.

7. Nuts

Can’t get enough cashews or almonds? Eat up, because there is evidence of long-term nut intake being tied to better brain health. Nuts contain all kinds of important elements in high concentrations, including vitamins and minerals. You also get healthy fats, and one of the best sources of protein outside of meats and poultry. And much like salmon, there are nuts that contain some essential and valuable fatty acids, which can help facilitate brain development and ward off age-related degeneration.

Follow Sam on Facebook and Twitter @SliceOfGinger

 

CheatSheet.com | August 4, 2016 | Sam Becker

Your #Career : How to Deal With the Office Jerk and Other Difficult People…Take the Same Approach with your Difficult Co-Workers or Boss. Match their Speed, and Slowly Apply the Brakes. This Way, they’ll be More Receptive, and More Open to the Feedback you’re Giving them Regarding their Behavior.

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Is your boss a bully? Can you not seem to avoid crossing paths with the office jerk? Are you surrounded by toxic, difficult people all day? Working with dullards and jerks can make your workweek a living hell. Not only are you having to walk on eggshells around certain people, but you also might feel like your hands are tied in trying to retaliate or avoid their wrath. It can ruin your mood, affect your life away from work, and make you miserable.

 

So, how can you get out of these types of situations? It isn’t easy — and sometimes it’s better to just find another job and wash your hands of the toxicity completely. But that’s not an option for everyone. One way you can mount a stout defense and create some space between you and the office jerk and other difficult people you work with is to get inside their heads.

What makes these people tick? Why are they acting like this? We now have a better idea.

New research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology says that it all comes down to contempt — and self-esteem. Basically, people who act out negatively toward others (be it their spouse, co-workers, friends, etc.) are doing so due to their own insecurities and self-loathing. In other words, they’re incredibly fragile underneath their tough exteriors.

 

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The psychology of difficult people

If you’ve had to deal with difficult people before or are perhaps related or married to one, you can probably see the underlying truth here. For a lot of people, putting up a tough exterior or abrasive attitude is a defense mechanism, meant to distract from the flaws lying under the surface. We see it all the time in movies and TV shows, where frightening, powerful villains are reduced to shadows of their former selves when the hero figures out that there are emotional or self-esteem issues at their core.

“Despite its importance, contempt has not been investigated at the level of personality,” reads the study, which was conducted by researcher Roberta Schriber and her team at the University of California, Davis.

“Across 6 studies using self-report and emotion elicitation in student and MTurk samples, we examined its (a) nomological network, (b) personality and behavioral correlates, and (c) implications for relationship functioning,” the study continued. “Dispositional contempt was distinguished from tendencies toward related emotions and was most associated with dispositional envy, anger, and hubristic pride.”

So, by studying students and volunteers recruited from Amazon’s MTurk platform, researchers related contempt with negative emotions you might encounter in the workplace — anger, envy, etc. And here’s the meat of the findings:

Somewhat paradoxically, dispositional contempt was related to being cold and “superior,” with associations found with narcissism, other-oriented perfectionism, and various antisocial tendencies (e.g., Disagreeableness, Machiavellianism, racism), but it was also related to being self-deprecating and emotionally fragile, with associations found with low self-esteem, insecure attachment, and feeling that others impose perfectionistic standards on oneself.

In other words, people who act out are really just insecure and are lashing out as a result.

Deciphering the office jerk

With this knowledge in hand, how can you go about vanquishing your toxic co-workers or socially difficult colleagues? You know that their behavior is symptomatic of poor self-esteem and insecurity, so you may need toenact a few strategies stolen from psychologists to smooth things out.

For one, keep in mind that you can’t control the other person’s feelings or behavior — you can only control your own. Use this kernel of Stoic knowledge to keep yourself composed and confident when confronted with a difficult situation. Let people vent, if need be. They may become unhinged for a short time, but genuinely listen to their concerns and see if there’s actually anything you can do to help.

Second, you’ll need to match their frequency in order to effectively communicate with them. Difficult people often don’t listen to the concerns of others because they’re not in tune with them. Imagine you’re trying to stop a freight train. You don’t stop the train all at once — that’s like hitting a brick wall and leads to disaster. You need to match the train’s speed, hop into the driver’s seat, and slowly apply the brakes.

Take the same approach with your difficult co-workers or boss. Match their speed, and slowly apply the brakes. This way, they’ll be more receptive, and more open to the feedback you’re giving them regarding their behavior.

Follow Sam on Facebook and Twitter @SliceOfGinger

 

CheatSheet.com | July 31, 2016 | Sam Becker

#Leadership : 9 Rules for Successful Time Management…Real Time Management is Not about Doing your Job Well. It is About Living your Life Well.

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When I started working for myself I knew I would have to put some limits on how much time I’d devote to my business. Without “regular hours” or a boss telling me exactly what was required of me, I was in danger of working 24 hours a day in an effort to meet all the unlimited goals my mind threw at me. I knew that would lead to burnout.

Free- Time Mans Watch

Burnout is the result of a lopsided life that focuses on one thing at the expense of everything else. I want my life to be well-rounded. And I’m sure that’s what you want, too. But whether you’re in business for yourself, like me, or you work for someone else, you probably feel overloaded and stressed at times.

Are you working too much?

Maybe you feel that you could be headed for burnout, where you lose your enthusiasm and creativity and you feel cut off from everything else you enjoy doing. Have you experienced any of the following symptoms?

  • You feel overwhelmed by everything you have to do, and you may even get that ‘BLANK’ feeling where you can’t seem to make a plan of action for what steps to follow next.
  • You’re become increasingly irritable and you lose your temper easily.
  • You feel mentally and physically exhausted at the end of the day, but the minute your head hits the pillow your thoughts bombard you, and you can’t get a good night’s sleep.
  • Taking care of normal things like eating seems like an inconvenience.
  • You feel that in spite of all your work, you’re unable to accomplish what you think you should.
  • You feel self-doubt and very little positive motivation. You just keep plodding away with no reward.
  • You push people away and don’t want anything to interfere with your work, but you get no pleasure out of your work.

If that list describes you, you can’t be doing your best, most creative work. Even worse, you’re not enjoying your life. And you can only keep that up for so long before you snap, crackle, or pop.

 

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The solution is time management.

Real time management is not about doing your job well. It is about living your life well. You should have time for everything you want to do, and that includes work, play, and just taking the time now and then to sit and stare, because that’s when you get your most creative ideas. So here are my nine rules for successful time management:

  1. Start your day right. Don’t rush into the day. Take a few minutes to sit quietly and gather your thoughts. Remember what’s really important to you and prepare yourself inwardly to meet whatever the day brings.
  2. Have a plan for what you want to accomplish. Have a set of reasonable goals for what you will be able to do that day.
  3. Break Ttsks into reasonable units. Looking at a big task can make you feel overwhelmed and hopeless. And unless you’re careful, it can keep you from doing other things you need to do. So break it up into chewable bites so you know what you’ll get done today, and what you’ll do each day over the coming week.
  4. Prioritize tasks and refuse inessential tasks. Decide what’s the best order to do things, what needs to get done no matter what, and what you can forget about. That may mean saying “no” to other people who want you to do things that you don’t have time for.
  5. Delegate if possible. For myself, I’ve put together a great team of assistants. I let them do what they’re good at so I can do what I’m good at. I don’t get burned out doing things I don’t like, and I have more creative energy for the things I’m naturally better at.
  6. Plan time for meals, exercising, and socializing. That old Puritan ethic can keep you working non-stop – until you burn out and decide to stop for good! Before that happens, make the time to do things that make your life complete.
  7. Follow a big push with relaxation. Sometimes I have to work hard to meet a deadline. Or maybe I feel inspired and I work well into the night. That’s great. But I know I can’t keep up that intensity forever. Even if you have to force yourself to take time off, do it. There’s a clever sign on a local restaurant that says, “We give our cooks time off. Do you?” That’s a question you should ask yourself.
  8. Practice the 10-minute rule. We all have tasks we dread to do. We put off starting them and they loom before us, keeping us in a state of anxiety that drains our energy. The rule is to just work on it for 10 minutes. Chances are, once you get started, you’ll keep working on it, but start out planning just 10 minutes. Do that over a number of days, and the task will get done – and off your back.
  9. End each day with a plan for tomorrow. I like to end my day by making a quick list of what I need to do the next day. Everything is fresh in my mind and clear. Then the next morning I don’t have to try to remember what I was doing and what’s needed next. It’s like I have a headstart on the day and I’m eager to get going. That’s the opposite of burnout!

 

Entrepreneur.com | August 2, 2016 | Craig Simpson