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Wednesday, December 14, 2016

11 Outstanding Life Hacks That Everyone Should Know

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Few years ago Tim and Jack graduated from the same university, both of them started to work for the same multinational company, both of them work equally hard but today it seems that Tim's rate of success is way better than that of Jack. Tim knows almost everyone in the office and almost everyone knows Tim. This year he has been nominated for the people's choice award in the best employee category and is one of the top contender for next promotion. On the other hand very few people know Jack, in spite of all the hard work he has never been nominated for any award, he often feels ignored and is clueless about his situation.
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The example illustrated above is very common these days. Many people find themselves in the same situation as 'Jack', they work very hard but have no clue of why things don't work out positively for them. They simply think that the other person is 'luckier' or the other person is always 'at the right place at the right time'. In this post we will look at some simple but powerful hacks that will help you understand how you can stop being a 'Jack' and get yourself in the strong and positive position as 'Tim'. Here you go...

11 Outstanding Life Hacks That Everyone Should Know...

Hack#1 Remembering and calling people by their name. You are at a party with your friend and you got introduced to 8 new people whom you have not met before. The best thing you can do is remember each one of them by their name. Memorize their faces and their names. Next, time you meet them call them by their name. Knowing that a person remembers your name is a great feeling and hearing it from someone whom you have just met once is music to ears. This is a great way to create contacts in personal and business circle.

Next best thing: In addition to their name, (Hack#2) remember one unique or peculiar thing about them. So next time when you run into them you can call them by their name and also mention about their unique liking/ hobby/ activity etc. For example, Hey John, Glad to see you again. How was your trip to Utah? Guess what, John will be amazed at your memory and he will be very comfortable talking to you. You just won a friend.
Hack#3 Be Lavish In Your Praise. Suppose you visit someone’s house/ place. Within the first 5–10 minutes look around the living room/ garden carefully and find out one thing that stands out. Now, openly praise that one thing in front of your hosts. Be lavish in your praise. This will ease out a lot of nerves/ serve as an icebreaker resulting in a very open and positive conversation.

Hack#4 Anchor high, and don't give up. The more you ask for, the more you get. It's as simple as that. Suppose you think you deserve $100k salary per annum salary so when you discuss with the recruiter ask for $130k or $140k, this will give you room for negotiation and will definitely get you more than $100k.

Hack#5 How to increase affinity? While responding to someone in a conversation: Repeat a portion of what the other person just said, for example, if you ask someone "What is your favorite sport"?  And they respond "it's football". So you should respond like "Oh okay, great, so your favorite sport is football". This helps increase the affinity and the other person feels that you are really listening to him/ her.

Hack#6 Importance of Eye Contact. In one on one conversations: It is simple to keep eye contact when you are listening but it is difficult to keep eye contact when you are speaking. Get into the practice of maintaining the eye contact when you are speaking, this will allow you to have control on the conversation.

Hack#7 Connect with more and more people and build good relationships. It really helps if you have a huge power network of people. Develop an attitude to help people generously. More connections will result in more experts in your circle, you can learn a lot from them or have them help you when needed.

Hack#8 Stop reacting, start responding. You may be in a tight spot when your boss is really angry, hold on your nerve, don't be in a hurry to react. Think once, think twice, think thrice and then respond. Act wise. Don't act on impulse.

Hack#9 Don't argue with Idiots. The problem with arguing with an idiot is that there are soon two idiots: you and the person you are arguing with.

Hack#10 Learn to say 'Please' and 'Thank You'. Don't take anyone for granted and don't underestimate the power of 'Please' and 'Thank You'. If possible, learn to say Thank You in different languages, this will help you make good rapport with lot of people worldwide.

Hack#11 Share the credit. Be a team player in the right sense. Share credit of achievements with your team members and co-workers. Don't shy away from appreciating good work in public forums. This will help you build a great reputation in public.

Getting ahead of the competition is not a one-time activity. It has to be a way of life. The tips and tricks shared above can be learnt by anyone and everyone (these life hacks are equally useful for students and professionals). In order to master this art one needs to follow continuous practice and bring small changes in the way we operate and interact with people around us. Hope you find this article useful. Let us know your comments and experiences. Thank You!

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

My Boss Behaves Badly, Should I Quit My Job?

Tim is stressed and worried. His boss has been giving him a very bad time at work. Verbal abuses and too much of workload has taken a toll on Tim. He doesn't know how to handle this situation, he just wants to quit.
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Lot of people go through the same situation as Tim. Having a bad boss is one of the reason but at times there are several other reasons which may lead you into thinking whether you should quit your job? Some of the common reasons are:
  • no work-life balance
  • too much work pressure
  • lack of challenging work
  • boredom etc.
But wait contrary to the common belief, I don’t think that following are the valid reasons/ signs to leave the current company, hence let us strike them out: 
  • ·You have a bad boss
  • ·You are stressed due to work pressure
  • ·You don’t have challenging work and you are bored
  • ·You are facing harrassment at workplace
  • ·You don’t have worklife balance
If you are facing any of the above situations or challenges then DO NOT LEAVE your job. All of these situations can be fixed. There is always a work around to get rid of a bad boss. There is always a process to report harassment. There is definitely a way to manage your worklife balance and get rid of work pressure and stress. Last but not the least if you are bored that means that you need to sitting on a pile of opportunity - it is just a matter of reaching out to the right people with right intentions and engage in skill upgrade and/ or innovation.
Now coming to the point. Following are the signs that indicate moving on is on the cards…
  • You are not getting the deserved growth/ the management does not have a career growth plan for you.
  • You have salary issues/ expectations which have NOT been fixed for years now and you truly believe that you deserve what you are asking for.
  • You do not get enough opportunities to learn and experiment/ innovate.
  • You are on the pool/ bench and not able to get a project assignment. If the company has a pool policy then you may want to quit before they ask you to leave.
  • You are reading negative signals due to the drastic changes in the company policy , values or in drastic changes in the the senior management.
  • When the revenues and profit continue to go south quarter over quarter without any obvious reasons.
  • When you see that the company is stagnant while the industry/ sector is making rapid growth.
  • Lastly, when your boss or HR has given you a direct or indirect indication that its time to leave.
To summarize, I have seen many people leave in panic just because they don’t think rationally. Most times they end up in a bigger mess. I hope after reading this article you will be able to take the right decision at the right time.
I would like to end with a quote from Robert Schuller.
Lord, give me the guidance to know when to hold on and when to let go, and the grace to make the right decision with dignity - Robert Schuller.