The best managers have a fundamentally different understanding of workplace, company, and team dynamics. See what they get right.


1. Business is an ecosystem, not a battlefield.

Average bosses see business as a conflict between companies, departments and groups. They build huge armies of "troops" to order about, demonize competitors as "enemies," and treat customers as "territory" to be conquered.

Extraordinary bosses see business as a symbiosis where the most diverse firm is most likely to survive and thrive. They naturally create teams that adapt easily to new markets and can quickly form partnerships with other companies, customers ... and even competitors.

2. A company is a community, not a machine.

Average bosses consider their company to be a machine with employees as cogs. They create rigid structures with rigid rules and then try to maintain control by "pulling levers" and "steering the ship."

Extraordinary bosses see their company as a collection of individual hopes and dreams, all connected to a higher purpose. They inspire employees to dedicate themselves to the success of their peers and therefore to the community–and company–at large.

3. Management is service, not control.

Average bosses want employees to do exactly what they're told. They're hyper-aware of anything that smacks of insubordination and create environments where individual initiative is squelched by the "wait and see what the boss says" mentality.

Extraordinary bosses set a general direction and then commit themselves to obtaining the resources that their employees need to get the job done. They push decision making downward, allowing teams form their own rules and intervening only in emergencies.

4. My employees are my peers, not my children.

Average bosses see employees as inferior, immature beings who simply can't be trusted if not overseen by a patriarchal management. Employees take their cues from this attitude, expend energy on looking busy and covering their behinds.

Extraordinary bosses treat every employee as if he or she were the most important person in the firm. Excellence is expected everywhere, from the loading dock to the boardroom. As a result, employees at all levels take charge of their own destinies.

5. Motivation comes from vision, not from fear.

Average bosses see fear--of getting fired, of ridicule, of loss of privilege--as a crucial way to motivate people. As a result, employees and managers alike become paralyzed and unable to make risky decisions.

Extraordinary bosses inspire people to see a better future and how they'll be a part of it. As a result, employees work harder because they believe in the organization's goals, truly enjoy what they're doing and (of course) know they'll share in the rewards.

6. Change equals growth, not pain.

Average bosses see change as both complicated and threatening, something to be endured only when a firm is in desperate shape. They subconsciously torpedo change ... until it's too late.

Extraordinary bosses see change as an inevitable part of life. While they don't value change for its own sake, they know that success is only possible if employees and organization embrace new ideas and new ways of doing business.

7. Technology offers empowerment, not automation.

Average bosses adhere to the old IT-centric view that technology is primarily a way to strengthen management control and increase predictability. They install centralized computer systems that dehumanize and antagonize employees.

Extraordinary bosses see technology as a way to free human beings to be creative and to build better relationships. They adapt their back-office systems to the tools, like smartphones and tablets, that people actually want to use.

8. Work should be fun, not mere toil.

Average bosses buy into the notion that work is, at best, a necessary evil. They fully expect employees to resent having to work, and therefore tend to subconsciously define themselves as oppressors and their employees as victims. Everyone then behaves accordingly.

Extraordinary bosses see work as something that should be inherently enjoyable–and believe therefore that the most important job of manager is, as far as possible, to put people in jobs that can and will make them truly happy.

Original article can be found here:
http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/8-core-beliefs-of-extraordinary-bosses.html

Recruiters warn applicants to be vigilant with their online profiles if they want employment..

(For original link click here)

International government agencies are doing it. Online advertisers are doing it. Stalker-types are doing it. And that company you just submitted a CV to for a job is probably scouring your MySpace, Facebook or Twitter account at this very moment to figure out who you really are.

Yet young jobseekers and teenagers — the most tech-savvy people of this digital age — are least aware of it. Oblivious to the professional, and to some extent, social consequences, their online profiles hold all kinds of sensitive information and pictures that could affect their employability.

"We have had a situation where a client working in a very conservative industry had interviewed a candidate, prepared a job offer, and after viewing profiles on social networks retracted it," said Jennifer Campori, Charterhouse Partnership's managing director for Europe and the Middle East.

"The client claimed the photos on the site were unacceptable to the calibre of person they wished to hire," added the head of the boutique recruitment agency.

However, as the desire for fame and attention grows, we see more people inviting members of the public to get a glimpse of the most intimate moments of their lives.

Yet, recruitment professionals are warning young graduate jobseekers as well as those in the workforce to become increasingly vigilant about how they build their personal online brand because watchful eyes may be upon them.

The virtual reality

"I think people need to be aware of the power of the internet and realise that their actions can have a longer term impact on their social and professional career," said Campori.

But this has yet to impact these youngsters and become a reality, said Jackie Smith, 19, a first year student at the Rochester Institute of Technology Dubai.

"Everyone has things on Facebook that can't be erased and once my generation starts looking for jobs I think it will hit some people hard," she said. "We don't yet see our posts as a threat because we haven't entered the workforce and it hasn't become a reality," Smith added.

However, it is not only the youth grappling with the realities of their online posts. The concept of somebody monitoring online activities is still somewhat generally hard to fathom psychologically said, Annie Crookes, senior lecturer of Psychology at Middlesex University Dubai.

"It is hard to visualise that there are people out there, like employers, watching what you are doing," said Crookes.

"It is difficult to comprehend what that means because as humans we are used to face to face communication," she added.

Crookes added that a recent study conducted on students' attitudes towards privacy showed no correlation between the amounts of personal information they revealed on SNS.

"These were the same people putting intimate personal details out there on the net and suggesting they still have a level of privacy," she said. "They didn't realise and weren't fully conscious or comprehend how much information about them people can access," Crookes added.

Raising awareness

Yet if the online self-portrait has now become as important as some suggest it is, why are career service departments at universities slow to act on raising awareness, Smith asked.

"During freshman orientation tutors talk to us about how employers will evaluate our GPA, but they don't tell us we will be evaluated on our social networking character which is becoming even more important," she said.

However, some institutions have integrated it into their curriculum. At Murdoch University, Dubai, students in media and public relations courses are exposed to the realities of social networking, said Chris Pilgrim, head of student affairs.

He said the career services department, which Pilgrim oversees, aims to bring all students to a level of understanding that social media can be either friend or foe when it comes to sustainable employability. "We try to make them understand that they shouldn't post online what they wouldn't reveal to a potential employer or put on their CV," said Pilgrim.

He added that postgraduate students are more conscious of portraying themselves as employable professionals through social media compared to their undergraduate counterparts. "I've seen many jaws drop when I start talking to some students about this," he said. "There is probably a lack of understanding of the magnitude of social media and that potential employers are using it to check out potential candidates," added Pilgrim.

Staying safe

However, some students exercise a level of caution when it comes to what they reveal online, for concern over their safety, not because they are mindful of their professional image.

"Some people will stalk Facebook profiles because they can and because people ignore their privacy settings; letting everyone know exactly where they are and what they are doing through applications like foursquare," said Mohammad Obaid, a student at the University of Wollongong in Dubai. "When you join SNS you are asking to be stalked and I've thought about that, which is why I try to keep my settings as private as possible," he added.

Yet, for Khalifa Al Muhairi, a student at the American University in Dubai, signing up to SNS with a fake name was the way to go.

"I don't use my real name because I don't like everyone to know who I am for many reasons which can lead to personal problems," he said.

However, as a photographer, Al Muhairi believes it important to have a professional online profile to gain exposure to help in a job search. "It is important not to combine online personal matters with work because some things need to be kept private, but if it's all out there on the net there is no privacy any more," he added.

This is GULF

* Local calls are free
* Petrol is cheaper than water, Payment for drainage too.
* Any building construction finishes in 3 months .
* Unqualified get more salary than Qualified
* Show-off matters more than real quality & performance .
* Labourers are paid less than what they can earn back in their own country.
* Companies can kick out their employees without any reason .
* Wastas (recommendation) are more powerful than money .
* Cleaners have more Wasta than officers .
* Watchman has more Rights than the Building Owner.
* Office boy & Drivers have more influence on Boss than Manager.
* Gulf climate changes so fast, in one hour u can see raining, dust storm, hot / humid / chilling weather.
* Gulf is located in desert, still u find greenery everywhere .
* If u can ' t earn money in the Gulf, u can ' t earn anywhere in the world .
* In Gulf, time goes very fast, Friday to Friday comes u never know, its sooo fast.
* Every bachelor has a dream of getting married and buying a house in thier own countries.
* U love your parents, friends, relatives 100 times more than when you were together.
* Being at home is more painful than being at work.
* Gulf girls sing Hindi songs but don ' t understand anything.
* A ladies hair saloon every 5 meters.
* Food/Grocery delivery to the car.
* A Starbucks every 10 meters.
* Hard Rock Cafe with no alcohol.
* In one single flat sharing with 5 families.
* A Shopping Mall located every 2 km.
* Highway lanes differentiated for slow & fast drivers .
* Getting a license is more difficult than buying a car .
* Smashed cars are more than bugs.
* Parking charge: 2 Dirham for 1 hour - 5 Dirham for 2 hours & so on .
* No Queues for women .

TRAFFIC SIGNAL IN GULF:
* GREEN : Signal to go for Indians.
* YELLOW : Signal to go for Egyptians and Pakistanis, Americans, Europeans.
* RED : Signal to go for Kuwaitis, Saudis , Palestinians & Lebanese...
IF YOU ' RE SAYING ' NO ' THEN YOU ARE HIDING THE TRUTH.......