“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…

               The New Zealand Journal of Agriculture was published for 55 years before being handed over to a commercial publishing house, Wilson and Horton. The first of the Government close-downs for economic reasons.          At its peak, it was sold to 156,000 families. it was a popular magazine for both city readers and for rural…

Recently I listened to a live online interview given by Susan Eisenhower the granddaughter of the late President. She had written a book titled “How Ike Led”. I was moved by her interview, her eloquence, and the way she answered questions. I am keen to read her book.          It’s easy to admire great leaders…

         Many friends have sold their houses and moved into small apartments in retirement villages – it’s both fashionable and expensive.          Downsizing has advantages but many of our house objects bring back happy memories. They are usually given away to a charity shop or they go to the dump.          During our lifetime we…

After working in the Whanganui district for six years I became tired of driving on backcountry roads, never being home with the family, and spending too many nights living in uncomfortable boarding houses in Ohakune and in Taihape pubs.      I applied for a job overseas as a Trade Commissioner and had been called down…

“We lord our glorious mountain, its cap of glistening snow, its skirts of native beauty, and the green fields down below.” From a school song.          The mountain certainly brought back happy memories and influenced the local climate.          I never reached the peak. I set off several times but a change in the weather…