Best wishes to all my students and readers for a happy and healthy 2010. I will be taking a break now from this blog site until sometime in April 2010.

This is taken from the HBR daily management email for December 31, 2009

4 Steps for Managing Your Invisible Resume

People’s opinions of you as a colleague or leader heavily influence hiring and
promotion decisions. But these opinions are often something you can’t see. Here are
four steps to stay on top of your invisible resume:

1. Find out what people think. Seek 360-degree feedback. Ask trusted colleagues for
frank advice about how you can improve.
2. Ask for more than basic feedback. Don’t wait for your annual performance review.
Ask your manager for substantive feedback on your performance and how you might push
forward your career.
3. Begin to rewrite your own story. If you’ve gotten some tough feedback and you’d
like to change, ask for help. Be upfront with your boss, direct reports, and
colleagues about what you’re working on and why.
4. Check your invisible resume regularly. Once is not enough. Establish channels for
ongoing feedback and periodically take the time to do a self-assessment

From the daily Harvard Business tips for December 23, 2009
There are countless opinions on how to be an effective leader, but it’s important to
not forget the basics. Here are five rules for mastering the fundamentals of
leadership:

1. Shape the future. Articulate where your company or division is going and be sure
everyone around you understands the direction.
2. Make things happen. Once you know where you’re headed, focus on the how. Again,
be sure all of your people know what it takes to execute.
3. Engage today’s talent. Make the most of your people; engage and inspire them to
do their best.
4. Build tomorrow’s talent. Find and build the talent you need for future success.
5. Invest in yourself. You can never be a perfect leader; find ways to continually
build your skills and become better.

This is to notify students that their final grades have been submitted to Student Services and should be posted on the CMD by Tuesday, December 22. Students wishing to have a break-down of their final mark can contact me after that date. Test papers will be left in my mail box at the ORGS Offices, Room N303A, SSB, on Monday December 21.

In answer to student questions.

1. The exam will cover lectures 5 (power) to the end, inclusive.

2. The take-home paper is to be at least 1000 words in total.

This is an excerpt from Thompson’s Insurance News for Monday, December 7, 2009. Distributed here with permission of the publisher.

  Company boards must consider not just shareholders’ profits but general well-being
of society - Lord Levene
   (Copyright Thompson’s World Insurance News. Not to be redistributed by individual
recipients.)
  People are demanding that boards consider not just their shareholders’ profits but
also the general well-being of society, said Lloyd’s chairman Lord Levene.
  He was speaking at the Council of Christians and Jews in London event ‘Ethical
Capitalism: What does faith have to say about economics?’
   “In an era where the chairman of a multinational firm holds more power than the
leaders of most countries, boards need to revisit who they are working for and
why.
  “We do not have to choose between principles and profits. Nor do they simply
co-exist, they are co-dependent.
  “It is not the role of business leaders to debate ethical dilemmas or the finer
points of theology. It is not our role to find new moral codes.
  “But we can and must have values - religious or otherwise - which guide not just
how we make our money but what we do with it when we have made it.”
  Business and the wider society are currently having to adapt to a strange new
world, a post-communist, multi-polar, digital age.
  “We need strong values to anchor us and to navigate a world which is fast and
getting faster.
  “What we must learn from the Victorians is to re-discover a sense of responsibility.”
 

Read the full post Posted

From the Harvard Business Publishing management e-tips for November 30,2009:

When you have to convince a hiring manager that you are the right person for the
job, try using these three tips:

1. Do research. Find out as much as you can about the interviewer, the job, and the
company before you step in the room. Don’t try to impress the interviewer by listing
all the personal details you found by googling her, but let the information you
learned shape how you answer her questions.
2. Show interest. You should of course appear interested in the job, but you should
also show interest in the interviewer. Asking her questions about herself
demonstrates that you care about people and what makes them tick.
3. Don’t forget to listen. Don’t deliver a 45-minute monologue about why you’re the
perfect person for the job. Listen to what the interviewer has to say — she will
likely give you valuable information about what kind of candidate she’s looking for.

This is from the Harvard on-line management tips for November 24, 2009.Effective leaders need to be mindful not only of their accomplishments, but of their
character as well. Humility is a key aspect of character. Here are three ways to step out of the limelight and let others shine:1. Temper authority. Don’t use authority just because you have it. Encourage your
people to make decisions, set their own goals, and take responsibility as often as
possible.
2. Promote others often. Grooming talent is good for your organization and for you
as a leader. Promote people around you, giving them opportunities to match or even
surpass your success.
3. Acknowledge the accomplishments of others. If things go well, give away the
credit. If things go poorly, take the fall. This humble approach will ensure your
team rallies behind you.