I am Arduino Mancini, and this is my blog.
I offer insights and training tools for people who want to develop effective thinking and improve their performance, at work and in private life.
Training, career management, glass ceiling, job search, boss and people management, critical thinking, negotiation, gender diversity are just some of the topics we will discuss: at the bottom, to the right, you find the post’s categories.
To complete the panorama of the tools at your disposal, you will find reviews of books and movies, training courses and coaching programmes for people, groups and organisations.
A characteristic of this blog?
I believe that the task of a blogger is not to dispense truth, but to leave the reader at least a doubt to be kept within his notes: and questions to share with the tibicon community.
Read from you soon!
Now, let me confess something. What you see in the cartoon is a type of upward delegation which I never managed to eliminate, as a manager. Why? When I needed to send out a letter signed by me, I couldn’t stop myself from reading it one last time. In some (very few) cases, just on principle. […]
I want to add a few comments. Which works better, in your experience? A pat on the back or a kick in the butt? If I’ve tickled your interest, you can learn more in the e-learning course Improving staff performance. Enjoy!
This scene stems from my first presentation as a business manager: the names are irrelevant. Indeed, none of those who participated in that meeting is still with the organisation, as far as I know. The presentation took place one week after I’d been hired, and it was about a strategic decision that was to entail considerable […]
How often have you heard that? The truth is that supervisors tend to refrain from praising, for two reasons. The first is that praising is complicated and can be damaging: better hold back. No action, no mistakes, right? The second reason is that for many managers their staff are invisible: they don’t notice the people or their […]
Changing people’s behaviour is an art. As we already know, the reprimand is used to change undesired behaviour. And as a loyal reader of my blog, you are undoubtedly familiar with both the constructive reprimand and the destructive reprimand. But what do you do when you want to reinforce a behaviour you wholeheartedly approve? I know, of […]
Who doesn’t remember a terrible reprimand for quite questionable reasons, received at some point in life by a ham-fisted boss? Not to mention how embarrassed we’ve felt when, having climbed up into the position of a boss and being fully entitled to reprimand ourselves, we’ve seen our ham-fisted reprimand meet with the astonished glance of […]
My experience tells me that there is a clear correlation between the level of complaint and the level of commitment to work. The greater a person’s tendency to complain, the less they are committed to overcoming difficulties and – above all – the less they manage to develop an effective strategy to achieve objectives. In […]
Some time ago I was thinking about how dangerous praise can be: I’m sure you’ll find the following story quite instructive. Goods duly delivered. Enjoy your holiday. Excellent emergency management! Congratulations. Thank you. I hope you’ll remember that when you’re approving salary raises! These text messages exchanged were in a few minutes by a manager and […]
Want a nice career? Want to be a leader? Then you need to learn to reprimand. How? There are different styles. There’s the shouted reprimand, the whispered one, which ends with a slow exhale from the nose (“remember that I have an infallible memory …”), the one that starts with good intentions (“I have to […]
I’ve been working as a consultant for 10 years now, and I think I have gained quite some experience on how (especially small and medium-sized) organizations and employees deal with business management. To plan or not to plan a budget? And what about objectives? Should we assign them, especially to the sales force, or is […]