All tagged Personal Code of Conduct
There’s a peculiar thing about the internet, and social media, in particular.
While it is this incredible and unparalleled form of communication, with a versatility and reach we’ve never seen before, it’s not without its issues (and material ones at that).
Central among these issues is that, while it’s ostensibly an objective and ‘fair’ medium, it also has the capacity - conceptually and practically - to set the world (or at least some relevant, targeted universe) on fire.
This months podcast deals with matters of culture.
In today's episode, I speak to the Sumo concept of Hinkaku - that is, how being a champion is about more than tangible measures of performance. It also has to do with how we behave.
This month's podcasts focus on the topic of mindset, and the kinds of traits and ideas we need to embed to achieve what we want.
In today's episode, I speak to the importance of being an optimist, to fight cynicism. Many view unbridled optimism as a weakness, because it requires a health measure of vulnerability. To the contrary, I believe it's a superpower.
This month, I'd like to speak to a few fundamental ideas about how we work and the implications of our behaviors when we work.
Today's episode focuses on Values. Our values don't simply materialize - we have to choose and exhibit those values. When we don't, we're basically choosing someone else's values.
Early in my career, I was staffed on a project with a senior consultant who had developed a stellar reputation as a “real people person”. Someone who was focused entirely on the individual and their needs and, as someone who could blend that perfect balance between what was needed for the client, the project, the firm and the individual.
I had never met this consultant, but given the ‘word on the street’, I was looking forward to it.
I saw this sign on the seatback of a British Rail train. An appropriate message - some would say pretty obvious even - but it’s the line close to the end that’s the most interesting:
Emotion, in business, is not a dirty word. It's the natural by-product of passion.
Passion is not a sign of naivety. It's an essential ingredient for success.
It’s New Years Day and many of us, myself included, will sit down and ruminate over the year ahead. What we want for ourselves, what are our plans, what are our goals. And, in doing so, many of us will plan for the difficulties and sacrifices these goals will require.
I once worked with someone who believed that success in business meant you had to be, in his words, "a cold, heartless bastard".In his world view, vulnerability and emotion were liabilities. You had to maintain a distance with your employees, enforcing a visible, tangible hierarchy, because they had to know who was boss.
The thing is we all want certainty. We all want to know that the effort we are putting in will be worth it. That the time and money and sweat and blood and tears had some merit. And that ultimately, it wasn't all for nothing. But the truth is, that that isn't life. You won't know any of that for a fact.
As parents, we always strive to do the best for our kids - to give them the comfort, the opportunities and the means that we never had. It's the natural progression of things - to always want more for our kids than what we had when we were children.
When you’re cooking a dish, it makes sense to have the best individual ingredients possible. It’s fair to say that the better the ingredients, the better the end product.
If you don’t, you’re putting the entire meal at risk. Not just the taste of it, but the entire experience (during and after).
Isn't that the truth?
Lets not lose our minds in the race to maturity, responsibility and so-called growth.
Years ago, I remember reading that if you want to tell how good or trustworthy a person is, you should observe how they treat waiters and waitresses.
Anyone who is nice to you, but not nice to their servers, is not fundamentally a good person.
