Wednesday, February 25, 2009

How to Successfully Manage Your Boss (And Increase Your Chances of Promotion)

Two critical skills which the highest performing managers have in spades are the ability to influence and persuade. The most obvious targets for your powers of persuasion are your team, and sometimes your peers in different departments; but just as you need to manage down or sideways, it's also critical you know how to manage upwards.


Do it well, and you'll shine. Do it badly and you could muddy your reputation and find yourself being passed over for advancement.


To help you make the right impression, here are four simple rules to remember, which will move you in the right direction.


1. Find out what the expectations are - and exceed them. Sounds obvious and simple - yet in my experience it's neither! Try to answer the following questions:


Do you actually know what your manager's top priorities are?


How clear are you about the order of priority your manager has for each area of your performance? How clear do you think your manager is about his/her expectations of you?


Sometimes expectations are written - but more often than not, they are unwritten expectations, which your boss may never have really clearly articulated to themselves, let alone you!


Put it this way - if you don't know for sure what will score you top points with this individual, you may find yourself chasing down the wrong rabbit hole.


And this is NOT about currying favour, or ingratiating yourself. This is about having a clear understanding on both sides about what is important, so you both know and agree where you should focus most of your time and attention. It actually makes your job easier.


So - if you don't know the answers to the questions above - make a date in your diary to discuss this with your boss! (And before you actually have that meeting, make sure you read technique 4!)


2. Anticipate and address a boss' concerns The trick here is a technique from what we call Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and is about being able to see the different "perceptual positions" around an issue. Put simply this means seeing something through someone else's eyes, so you understand their thoughts, feelings, worries and perspectives.


An obvious way is to ask them! And we'd definitely encourage you to fnd the right opportunities to do just that. However, sometimes there's neither time, nor is it appropriate. So what do you do then? You put yourself in their shoes. And when we say in their shoes - we mean wearing their shoes and looking through their eyes! This is not how you would feel in their shoes. You're not them!


So, this is easier said than done. But here's a few killer questions to ask yourself:

What will my boss be anxious about?

What do his bosses expect of him?

How does what I do to help him/her look good?

If I/we do "x", what might he/she be concerned about?


By answering these questions you'll be much clearer about what you need to do to both pre-empt and address their concerns. It also significantly increases their perception you really understand where they are coming from, which in turn significantly strengthens the trust and relationship between you.


3. Consistently look for ways to add value. This is a really simple rule. Bosses are more likely to listen if you speak in "can-do" language, and you are organised, and sound enthusiastic and eager to deliver results.


Look ahead when discussing a project, rather than dwelling on what's already occurred. Follow through on promises. And adopt a "no-excuses" policy. Failing to produce results almost guarantees a boss will doubt your abilities. So, if you haven't quite achieved what you set out to do - rather than saying what you've not been able to do, start with what you have achieved; be specific about what barriers there were, and summarise your plans to get back on track.


Your boss has pressures of his own. Don't add to them.


4. Know your style - and know their style; and adapt your behavior to suit their preferences. A great analogy from relationship expert Shay McConnon is that of the "hot chilli trap". What is this? It's when someone assumes that, because they love hot chilli, everyone else does too! Patently, some people do not like hot chilli!


If you're in a foreign country you at least attempt to learn "please" and "thank you" in their language and show respect for their customs. It's just courtesy. You adapt your own behavior to show respect for the differences of perception.


To assume, because we speak the same language, we see things in the same way - is quite clearly erroneous, yet we still persist in believing the mantra "treat others as you'd like to be treated."


Absolutely not! Treat others as they would like to be treated.


So what does this mean for you in your relationship with your boss? It means the more you get to understand their style and preferences, and tweak your style to match, the more likely they are to warm towards you. If you lean towards an eye for detail and precision, but your boss just wants the big picture - give it that way. What is their biggest strength? Capitalise on it. What is their central goal? How can you assist? If they are extroverts who like to talk through ideas, provide that opportunity. If they are introverts who like to be able to read through something, and ponder it first, present your proposals in a way which will help them assimilate the information and ask questions.


Respect how they like to be treated.


And what if they don't show the same respect for you?Well, that's a subject for another article!

Shona Garner is an experienced Executive and Business Coach, specialising in helping managers build top performing teams, and increase their own standing in the organisation. For a straight talking, practical guide to the top four secrets of every outstanding manager, visit http://www.increasingmanagerialsuccess.com/freereport.php

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Shona_Garner


Monday, February 23, 2009

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Antara MLM & Skim Cepat Kaya

Apa itu MLM? Multi Level Marketing... kalau betul ikut konsepnya memang akan berjaya tapi mungkin masa yang agak lama. Kena cari down-line and so on. Rasanya semua orang tahu.

Skim Cepat Kaya pun semua orang tahu.


Stories begin here....


Me, myself & i amat berminat nak untung cepat so bila ada orang ajak masuk dalam pelaburan internet (**** cash / ***** fund) dengan untung yang berlipat ganda, tentulah umi tak melepaskan peluang. Walid tak percaya dengan all these sort of things tapi selepas kena pujuk cair jugak. Walid bagi some amount of money yang membolehkan umi masuk 10 lot scheme. Banyak tu.... Dalam hati dah berkira-kira, tentu jadi jutawan tak lama lagi. After 1 month, BNM umumkan tutup syarikat tu tanpa umi dapat 1 sen pun. Bila dah jadi macam tu menyesal tak sudah la....


Tapi tak berhenti kat situ saje, umi terpengaruh lagi. Kali ini dengan MLM pulak, namanya tak asing lagi, ada dimana-mana, signboard besar kat Jalan Persekutuan pun ada. Bezanya kali ini, umi tak keseorangan, kali ini umi dengan walid sekali, pergi dengar taklimat di ‘somewhere’ dekat-dekat dengan IKEA (tak dekat sangat). Mula-mula, kena melabur dengan ‘some amount’, then untuk dapat pangkat yang lebih tinggi dari ‘sales manager’, kena tambah pelaburan atau cari down-line untuk dapatkan group sales amounting to RM16K (at that time).... After some thinking and disccusion, asyik nak kena tambah pelaburan atau tingkatkan group sales atau cari down-line, we decided... No more MLM and no more Skim Cepat Kaya. Whatever it is, dengan rezeki yang ada kita akan sama-sama gunakan untuk perkara yang lebih berfaedah. MLM for us bukan sesuatu yang mudah. We just don’t have talent to do marketing. Kami tahu ramai yang dah berjaya tapi we are not talented enough to do that.....


Around 1 year ago, we were approched by ‘someone’ yang diperkenalkan oleh one of walid’s friend named A***r which happened to be one of M**’s staff. Katanya program ni bagus, dah ramai yang berjaya. So pada hari yang dijanjikan, A***r datang with his family and that ‘someone’ with his wife. After an hour of explaination, the conclusion was we have to apply for loan in other to get the first bonus of RM5K. The loan amounted to RM20K ++. For us the RM20K is a big amount of money. Alhamdulillah, kali ni berjaya menepis untuk tidak mahu terlibat lagi dengan MLM.


After a few months, walid terjumpa dengan A***r dan bertanya tentang MLM tu. A***r kata dia sebenarnya tak berminat tapi wife dia yang beriya-iya sangat. Bila dah buat loan, terpaksalah cari duit untuk langsaikan loan tersebut. Sekarang produk yang dah dibeli dengan loan tu tak dapat jual dan terpaksa bayar loan bulan-bulan. Poor A***r.


Last week, one of my collegues did mention pasal savings in ASB, she could get RM7K in the first month. I thought ada skim pinjaman dari bank or apa lah. Maklumlah umi ni bukan pakar ekonomi so bila nampak macam keuntungan, terus mata hitam jadi $$$$$. He..he...he..... Tak lepas peluang, umi pergilah ke tempat yang dijanjikan, somewhere dekat dengan umi’s office. Umi beritahu walid nak balik lambat coz ada pelaburan yang bunyinya menguntungkan. Kebiasaannya walid okay aje.


Bila kawan umi tu mulakan cerita, umi dah tahu, ini mesti MLM lagi sebab ceritanya sama dengan A***r just amountnya yang dah bertambah. Instead RM5K for the first month bonus, dah bertambah ke RM7K and loan amount dah meningkat ke nearly RM32K. Why ASB at first?? Reasonnya macam ni:-


1) Pinjaman ASB lambat pulangannya, after a year belum tentu dapat RM100K. Dengan MLM boleh dapat more than RM100K.

2) Bonus pertama masuk ASB.


Memang umi tak nafikan tapi umi tak ada kebolehan untuk buat MLM. Itu saje. Risik punya risik, rupanya hampir 40% of my officemate dah masuk, dah buat pinjaman dan terpaksa langsaikan pinjaman. Semuanya diam sebab segan nak cakap, lagipun kawan sepejabat.


Apa yang umi cerita adalah pengalaman umi sendiri dan pengalaman kawan-kawan umi, mungkin kalau up-line tidak terburu-buru untuk mengejar bonus kereta, bonus umrah, bonus melancong dan lain-lain bonus, tak perlulah downline buat pinjaman.


Whatever it is, buatlah keputusan dengan bijak.




Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Khasiat Pisang

Perhatian: Jangan sekali-kali menyimpan pisang dalam peti sejuk. Lepas baca anda semua pasti akan pandang tinggi pada buah pisang.

Pisang mengandungi 3 jenis gula semulajadi - sukrosa, fruktosa dan glukosa yang digabungkan dengan gentian. Pisang memberikan tenaga kepada manusia dengan kadar segera dan berterusan. Kajian yang telah dibuat menunjukkan bahawa 2 biji pisang mempunyai cukup tenaga untuk senaman selama 90 minit. Tidak hairanlah pisang dijadikan buah utama kepada atlit terkenal dunia. Bukan itu saja, malah pisang juga amat sesuai untuk mencegah dan merawat beberapa jenis penyakit, menjadikannya amat sesuai dalam pemakanan kita seharian.

Tekanan:
Merujuk kepada survey terbaru yang dijalankan oleh MIND terhadap pesakit-pesakit tekanan jiwa, kebanyakan daripada mereka kembali pulih selepas makan pisang. Ini kerana pisang mengandungi tryptophan, iaitu sejenis protin yang bertukar kepada serotonin dalam tubuh manusia, yang menyebabkan kita tenang, mengembalikan mud dan secara amnya membuatkan kita berasa gembira.

PMS:
Lupakan pil-pil hospital - makan sahaja pisang. Vitamin B6 yang terkandung mampu meneutralkan paras glukosa dalam darah, yang boleh mengembalikan mud anda.

Anemia:
Dengan kandungan zat besi yang tinggi, pisang mampu mengawal pertumbuhan hemoglobin dalam darah, yang secara tak langsung membantu dalam kes-kes anemia.

Tekanan Darah Tinggi:
Buah tropikal unik ini mengandungi kadar potassium yang tinggi - garam rendah, menjadikannya sempurna untuk menstabilkan tekanan darah.

Kuasa Minda:
Kajian dibuat terhadap 200 pelajar di sebuah sekolah di mana semasa peperiksaan dijalankan, mereka diberi makan pisang untuk sarapan, rehat, dan makan tengahari. Keputusannya, buah pisang yang mengandungi kadar potassium yang tinggi dapat membantu pembelajaran dengan menjadikan pelajar-pelajar itu lebih cekap (alert).

Penghadaman:
Gentian tinggi, jadikan pisang sebagai diet seharian anda pasti membantu menstabilkan tindakan usus kecil dan besar.

Keletihan:
Salah satu cara terbaik untuk mengurangkan keletihan ialah dengan membuat minuman pisang susu campur madu. Pisang bertindak menyejukkan perut dan dengan bantuan madu dapat membina semula kandungan gula dalam darah yang berkurangan akibat keletihan, manakala susu pula memperbetulkan sistem hidrasi semula anda.

Panas Jantung:
Pisang mempunyai kesan anti-asid semulajadi dalam badan. Oleh itu, jika anda menghadapi rasa panas di jantung, cuba makan pisang untuk pemulihan yang baik.

Demam Pagi:
Jadikan pisang sebagai snek setiap hari untuk membantu memelihara kadar gula dalam darah untuk mengelakkan demam pagi.

Gigitan Nyamuk:
Sebelum menggunakan krim gigitan serangga, cuba sapukan kawasan bekas gigitan nyamuk dengan lapisan dalam kulit pisang. Ramai yang telah berjaya mengatasi kegatalan akibat gigitan nyamuk dengan cara ini.

Saraf:
Pisang mengandungi kadar vitamin B yang tinggi yang dapat membantu menenangkan sistem saraf anda.

Obesiti dan Tekanan Kerja:
Kajian di Institut Psikologi di Austria mendapati tekanan kerja menjadi pemangkin kepada pengambilan makanan seperti coklat dan kerepek. Berdasarkan 5,000 pesakit hospital, kajian mendapati kebanyakan pesakit obes membuat kerja-kerja tekanan tinggi. Laporan juga menyatakan, untuk mengatasi masalah ini, kita perlu mengawal kadar gula dalam darah dengan mengambil makanan karbohidrat tinggi setiap 2 jam untuk mengekalkan kadar yang stabil. Makanlah pisang.

Ulser:
Pisang amat baik dalam pencegahan ulser kerana ia bersifat lembut dan tidak mencederakan organ dalaman kita. Ia juga bertindak sebagai peneutral lebihan asid serta mengurangkan kepedihan dengan bertindak menyaluti lapisan dinding perut kita.

Kawalan Suhu:
Ramai yang percaya bahawa dengan memakan pisang, ia dapat menurunkan suhu kedua-dua fizikal dan emosi kepada ibu-ibu mengandung. Di Thailand sebagai contoh, ibu mengandung mengambil pisang untuk memastikan bayi yang dilahirkan itu menjadi seorang yang penyabar (cool).

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD):
Penyakit ini merupakan simptom yang terjadi akibat daripada kurangnya pendedahan kepada cahaya matahari. Pisang dapat membantu pesakit ini kerana ia mengandungi tryptophan semulajadi yang membaikpulih mud kita.

Ketagihan Rokok & Tembakau:
Pisang dapat membantu perokok yang ingin berhenti merokok. Vitamin B6, B12, potassium dan magnesium yang terdapat dalam pisang, ia dapat membantu tubuh kita dalam membaikpulih kesan nikotin terhadap tubuh.

Stres:
Potassium merupakan bahan mineral vital, yang membantu menormalkan degupan jantung, menghantar oksigen kepada otak dan mengimbangi kandungan air dalam tubuh. Bila kita stres, kadar metabolisma kita naik, menyebabkan kadar potassium menurun. Keadaan ini dapat diimbangi semula dengan bantuan snek pisang yang tinggi potassium.

Strok:
Mengikut kajian dalam buku ‘The New England Journal of Medicine‘, mengambil pisang sebagai diet harian mampu mengurangkan risiko kematian akibat strok sebanyak 40%!

Lain-lain Penyakit Kulit:
Pengamal perubatan semulajadi (alternatif) berpendapat, untuk menghilangkan pelbagai masalah kulit, termasuk jerawat, kudis, parut, kurap, dan sebagainya, ambil sekeping kulit pisang, tampalkan sebelah dalam kulit pisang itu pada tempat yang ingin dirawat dengan menggunakan plaster luka biasa atau pun plaster bedah.
Jadi, pisang memang merupakan ubat semulajadi kepada banyak penyakit. Jika dibandingkan dengan epal, pisang mempunyai 4 kali ganda kandungan protin, 2 kali karbohidrat, 3 kali fosforus, 5 kali vitamin A dan zat besi, dan 2 kali vitamin dan mineral lain. Ia juga kaya dengan potassium dan merupakan salah satu makanan terbaik yang mudah didapati.

Jadi mungkin inilah masa untuk berubah kepada kata yang biasa disebut-sebut, “Sebiji pisang sehari dapat menjauhkan doktor!”

PS: Kesimpulannya, pisanglah adalah penyebab utama kenapa monyet-monyet di hutan selalu sihat dan bahagia setiap masa dan ketika! Satu lagi; ingin kilatkan kasut?? Ambil bahagian dalam kulit pisang, sapukan secara terus kepada kasut anda, kemudian kilatkan dengan kain kering. Menakjubkan!

Dipetik dari: soleh.net

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Reunion.... An update.

Were we having fun? The answer is “NO”. We were having A REAL GREAT FUN, full with excitement and enjoyment moment. Perasaan yang sukar nak digambarkan. Most of us haven’t met since 1986, almost 23 years ago…. bet you know how the situation was at that time… How fast time flies. 23 years ago, we met and started a new friendship from various states and schools all over Malaysia. Lucky me, I have 4 other friends from the same school when we were in Standard 6, registered in STF at that time. They’re Has, Nik Lily, Ziela and Dr. Weeda. Dr. Weeda and me attended the reunion. The other 3 could not attend as they’re in Kelantan and Nik Lily is in oversea.

Most of my friends haven’t change much. Can still be recognized by looking at their faces but some can not and some can still remember the face but could not recall the names.

I brought the camera along to capture some photos of us tapi tak sempat nak tangkap gambar, lagipun dah ada 2 orang jurugambar professional yang begitu loyal tangkap gambar kita orang.

Well, RM50 is nothing compared to enjoyment that we had. The food banyak lebih coz we did not eat much, the value of money goes to “binding up the lost bond”.

Thanks to the Madams organizer yang bertungkus lumus menjayakan reunion. Looking forward to see all of you again in 2013.

I reached home at about 10.30 pm after a ‘tea-tarik” session di Restoran Syed PJ with Shana, Ieja, Puspa H (Thanks kerana tumpangkan I balik), Neng, Awin and Jo.

Puspa H dropped me kat Plaza Masallam, Shah Alam. As I stepped onto the Serena, Walid terus bising. Miscommunication ~ salah tempat tunggu. I thought he knew where I was waiting for him, rupanya dia ke tempat lain. It was just not a big matter tapi sebab he has to sent our a year old baby to baby sitter’s house to comfort kan the baby. Meragam pulak baby tu.

To conclude.... I really had my time. Tq, Tq, Tq......