HOLIDAYS? WORKING IS MUCH, MUCH BETTER…
On vacation, my mood plummets dramatically. Everything bores me. I must pretend to have fun and not ruin my wife’s and children’s vacation. I miss work, which I am passionate about, while the day at the beach seems meaningless, and not restful at all. As soon as I can, I escape to the city, to […]
We have a good relationship, don't we?
A medium-sized company was facing strong order growth, which needed to be supported by properly skilled staff. The HR director had built up a network of head-hunters with expertise in many different sectors. As far as engineers and project managers were concerned, he used a company he had known for years, the Italian branch of […]
When prejudice becomes blindness
In 1980, musician Abbie Conant was at the beginning of her career, playing the trombone at the Teatro Regio in Turin. At that time she decided to apply to other orchestras, 11 to be precise, all over Europe; she received only one response, from the Munich Philharmonic. “Dear Mr Abbie Conant”, began the letter. In […]
A reprimand I’d now accept without a word!
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 […]
What are the links between complaining and working?
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 […]
Sometimes praise has a price
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 […]
When your motivation is locked up in a drawer!
I received this post from my colleague Rosario Rizzo, and I’m happy to share it. A few days ago, I was in a classroom with Arduino, attending his course on sales management. We were talking about how to incentivize sales people and about their career within the company, when I remembered something that had happened […]