Good Listening Habits “Learn to listen. Opportunity sometimes knocks very softly” “A wise person talks little, and an ignorant one talks much.” Eliminate distractions. Shut the door or the window. Rearrange the seating. Put the speaker at ease. Start with a chat – “How is the family?”. “I hear you have a new dog.” Ask…

Become a Leader Accept new responsibilities – A good leader will inspire people to share and support their vision and values.         Leaders can be recognized because their teams give superior performances. Inspire your people to achieve. What motivates some people may not work for others.         Set high standards – Positivity and encouragement will…

“Delegation means delegating responsibility, authority, and accountability.”          You delegate to improve your efficiency and to give more time for your high-priority tasks, such as spending time talking to your people and clients. You delegate to develop your people into better teams and to improve efficiency by placing decision-making authority in the hands of the…

Beating the Competition “Hard-nosed competition is the best assurance of a healthy business. Aim to exceed your rivals in all facets of activity.”          Set up a research section. Constantly research your products, your services, and your markets and react swiftly to any changes needed.               Invest in new technologies. Set up strong alliances with…

“Plans are only good intentions until you carry them out.” “A plan is not a static thing – it’s dynamic, and changes must be made to respond to changing environments.”          As a leader, it’s your job to make sure the organisation survives and lives within the budget – for a commercial organisation good profits…

“There is nothing like a dream to help plan your future.” Advancing in your career          Get to know your corporate culture – read the annual reports.          Get yourself a mentor or two.          Be ambitious. Work hard and give more than what is expected.          Learn the skills of questioning and listening.         …

“We tend to worry more about the things we cannot see than the ones we can see.” Signs of Burnout: Lack of motivation and low productivity.          Complaining about the job. Feeling depressed, and resentful.          Dreading certain tasks. Panic attacks, irritability, and nervousness.          Feeling tired with persistent headaches. Lack of appetite, unable to…

Reaching an agreement MANAGEMENT TIPS – I am closing down Moss Memories and starting a new series of blogs called Management Tips. These will be brief checklists and guidelines largely from my book titled “Managing for Tomorrow” published by Moss Associates Ltd and the Singapore Institute of Management University.         Having carried out workshops for…

There are 50 titles in this series of blogs 1 Moss Memories 2 Washington DC 3 The Quake 4 The Coup 5 The March-Past 6 Taiwan 1984/86 7 PNG 1987 8 Jaffna, Sri Lanka 1978 9 Apia, Samoa 1980 Laos 1989 11 2nd World War 12 After Cyclone Ofa 13 Haiphong, Vietnam 1985 14 Jakarta,…

Professor Ronald Henry Schwass was seconded from Massey University to the Ministry of  Foreign Affairs and Trade as their Professor of Agriculture.          For twenty years he helped set up agricultural faculties at Universities in Asia and the Pacific as part of New Zealand aid programmes.          If anyone deserved to be awarded a Knighthood…