By David Hakala on March 19, 2008
Website link: http://www.hrworld.com/features/top-10-leadership-qualities-031908/
Leadership can be defined as one's ability to get others to willingly follow. Every organization needs leaders at every level. Leaders can be found and nurtured if you look for the following character traits.
A leader with vision has a clear, vivid picture of where to go, as well as a firm grasp on what success looks like and how to achieve it. But it’s not enough to have a vision; leaders must also share it and act upon it. Jack Welch, former chairman and CEO of General Electric Co., said, "Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision and relentlessly drive it to completion."
A leader must be able to communicate his or her vision in terms that cause followers to buy into it. He or she must communicate clearly and passionately, as passion is contagious.
A good leader must have the discipline to work toward his or her vision single-mindedly, as well as to direct his or her actions and those of the team toward the goal. Action is the mark of a leader. A leader does not suffer “analysis paralysis” but is always doing something in pursuit of the vision, inspiring others to do the same.
Integrity is the integration of outward actions and inner values. A person of integrity is the same on the outside and on the inside. Such an individual can be trusted because he or she never veers from inner values, even when it might be expeditious to do so. A leader must have the trust of followers and therefore must display integrity.
Honest dealings, predictable reactions, well-controlled emotions, and an absence of tantrums and harsh outbursts are all signs of integrity. A leader who is centered in integrity will be more approachable by followers.
Dedication means spending whatever time or energy is necessary to accomplish the task at hand. A leader inspires dedication by example, doing whatever it takes to complete the next step toward the vision. By setting an excellent example, leaders can show followers that there are no nine-to-five jobs on the team, only opportunities to achieve something great.
Magnanimity means giving credit where it is due. A magnanimous leader ensures that credit for successes is spread as widely as possible throughout the company. Conversely, a good leader takes personal responsibility for failures. This sort of reverse magnanimity helps other people feel good about themselves and draws the team closer together. To spread the fame and take the blame is a hallmark of effective leadership.
Leaders with humility recognize that they are no better or worse than other members of the team. A humble leader is not self-effacing but rather tries to elevate everyone. Leaders with humility also understand that their status does not make them a god. Mahatma Gandhi is a role model for Indian leaders, and he pursued a “follower-centric” leadership role.
Openness means being able to listen to new ideas, even if they do not conform to the usual way of thinking. Good leaders are able to suspend judgment while listening to others’ ideas, as well as accept new ways of doing things that someone else thought of. Openness builds mutual respect and trust between leaders and followers, and it also keeps the team well supplied with new ideas that can further its vision.
Creativity is the ability to think differently, to get outside of the box that constrains solutions. Creativity gives leaders the ability to see things that others have not seen and thus lead followers in new directions. The most important question that a leader can ask is, “What if … ?” Possibly the worst thing a leader can say is, “I know this is a dumb question ... ”
Fairness means dealing with others consistently and justly. A leader must check all the facts and hear everyone out before passing judgment. He or she must avoid leaping to conclusions based on incomplete evidence. When people feel they that are being treated fairly, they reward a leader with loyalty and dedication.
Assertiveness is not the same as aggressiveness. Rather, it is the ability to clearly state what one expects so that there will be no misunderstandings. A leader must be assertive to get the desired results. Along with assertiveness comes the responsibility to clearly understand what followers expect from their leader.
Many leaders have difficulty striking the right amount of assertiveness, according to a study in the February 2007 issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, published by the APA (American Psychological Association). It seems that being underassertive or overassertive may be the most common weakness among aspiring leaders.
A sense of humor is vital to relieve tension and boredom, as well as to defuse hostility. Effective leaders know how to use humor to energize followers. Humor is a form of power that provides some control over the work environment. And simply put, humor fosters good camaraderie.
Intrinsic traits such as intelligence, good looks, height and so on are not necessary to become a leader. Anyone can cultivate the proper leadership traits.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
12 Key Qualities of a Great Employee
What are the top twelve qualities employers want? According to national surveys we have developed a list of the top twelve qualities employers look for in employees.
Before you read our list why not jot down your own list of qualities you think are important. See how closely yours matches the survey.
Here is the list from the survey:
Positive Attitude
Employers value an employee who is cheerful and upbeat with a “can do” attitude. A good sense of humor is also a must.
Communication Skills
Excellent written and verbal skills are a must. Express yourself clearly and accurately, in writing and in speaking. Employers value good sentence structure, essay and report making skills. Build a good vocabulary and perfect your spelling. Your good communication skills reflects positively on the company if you are hired.
Computer Skills
Today knowing how to operate a computer is essential. Many jobs require at the least e-mailing and word processing skills.
Strong Work Ethic
A hard working employee is a very valued employee. Finish what you start even when the going gets tough.
Honesty and Integrity
Do not “borrow” company supplies, products or personal equipment with out employer permission. Just because you use it at work doesn’t mean it belongs to you. No lying, cheating or stealing. Gove a full days work for a full days pay. Personal phone calls are for your break time.
Punctuality
Arrive at work on time. Return from breaks and lunch on time as well. In the rare instances when employees cannot avoid being late to work or are unable to work as scheduled, they should notify their supervisor as soon as possible in advance of the anticipated tardiness or absence.
Flexibility and Adaptability
Willingness to get involved with numerous projects, to help and encourage others, and to find creative solutions to difficult problems. It is necessary to adapt to change quickly and easily. Ability to quickly learn new things. Not getting discouraged by setbacks. Following through on those projects you may not care for. Able to let go, take charge and capitalize on the opportunities presented.
Analytical and Problem Solving Skills
Don’t shy away from creativity. Many employees fear taking on new task feeling they may fail or have an extra workload. Employers look for employees who come up with creative ways to solve problems. Think outside the box.
Interpersonal Skills
Getting along with others, being kind, friendly easy to talk to. Practice the golden rule: “Treat others as you would like to be treated.” Don’t forget your dress and grooming are very important. Make sure your clothes are clean and neat, your hair is combed, and shower and use deodorant.
Team Work Skills
A good employee is able to work as part of a team to accomplish company goals. Being able to listen and work with group ideas.
Initiative and Motivation
Be a self-starter. Have an enthusiastic and positive attitude in the workplace. Being a hard worker as opposed to a lazy one.
Loyalty
Always speak well of the workplace, supervisor or job. Don’t discuss confidential matters with anyone who is not authorized to know.
How well did your list match up?
Put these qualities into practice and you will maximize your chances of getting employed or promoted. Also it goes along without saying anyone who possess theses qualities would be an asset to any company!
In today's world we know that energy matters. One of the top industries is the Oilfield Industry. The Oilfield Directory hosts a Job Bank of oilfield positions. These jobs range from rig workers to secretaries, roughnecks to executives. If you are an employer and have a job please post it here. We welcome Job Seekers, this is the place to find your new career. Click on Oilfield Jobs.
Before you read our list why not jot down your own list of qualities you think are important. See how closely yours matches the survey.
Here is the list from the survey:
Positive Attitude
Employers value an employee who is cheerful and upbeat with a “can do” attitude. A good sense of humor is also a must.
Communication Skills
Excellent written and verbal skills are a must. Express yourself clearly and accurately, in writing and in speaking. Employers value good sentence structure, essay and report making skills. Build a good vocabulary and perfect your spelling. Your good communication skills reflects positively on the company if you are hired.
Computer Skills
Today knowing how to operate a computer is essential. Many jobs require at the least e-mailing and word processing skills.
Strong Work Ethic
A hard working employee is a very valued employee. Finish what you start even when the going gets tough.
Honesty and Integrity
Do not “borrow” company supplies, products or personal equipment with out employer permission. Just because you use it at work doesn’t mean it belongs to you. No lying, cheating or stealing. Gove a full days work for a full days pay. Personal phone calls are for your break time.
Punctuality
Arrive at work on time. Return from breaks and lunch on time as well. In the rare instances when employees cannot avoid being late to work or are unable to work as scheduled, they should notify their supervisor as soon as possible in advance of the anticipated tardiness or absence.
Flexibility and Adaptability
Willingness to get involved with numerous projects, to help and encourage others, and to find creative solutions to difficult problems. It is necessary to adapt to change quickly and easily. Ability to quickly learn new things. Not getting discouraged by setbacks. Following through on those projects you may not care for. Able to let go, take charge and capitalize on the opportunities presented.
Analytical and Problem Solving Skills
Don’t shy away from creativity. Many employees fear taking on new task feeling they may fail or have an extra workload. Employers look for employees who come up with creative ways to solve problems. Think outside the box.
Interpersonal Skills
Getting along with others, being kind, friendly easy to talk to. Practice the golden rule: “Treat others as you would like to be treated.” Don’t forget your dress and grooming are very important. Make sure your clothes are clean and neat, your hair is combed, and shower and use deodorant.
Team Work Skills
A good employee is able to work as part of a team to accomplish company goals. Being able to listen and work with group ideas.
Initiative and Motivation
Be a self-starter. Have an enthusiastic and positive attitude in the workplace. Being a hard worker as opposed to a lazy one.
Loyalty
Always speak well of the workplace, supervisor or job. Don’t discuss confidential matters with anyone who is not authorized to know.
How well did your list match up?
Put these qualities into practice and you will maximize your chances of getting employed or promoted. Also it goes along without saying anyone who possess theses qualities would be an asset to any company!
In today's world we know that energy matters. One of the top industries is the Oilfield Industry. The Oilfield Directory hosts a Job Bank of oilfield positions. These jobs range from rig workers to secretaries, roughnecks to executives. If you are an employer and have a job please post it here. We welcome Job Seekers, this is the place to find your new career. Click on Oilfield Jobs.
Friday, November 19, 2010
BUILDING A DECISION TREE IN TREEPLAN
TreePlan is a decision tree add-in for Microsoft Excel 2000–2010 (Windows) and Microsoft Excel 2004 (Macintosh).
TreePlan helps you build a decision tree diagram in an Excel worksheet using dialog boxes. Decision trees are useful for analyzing sequential decision problems under uncertainty. Your decision tree model may include various controllable alternatives (e.g., whether to introduce a new product, whether to bid on a new project) and uncontrollable uncertainties (e.g., possible demand for a product, whether you're awarded a contract), arranged in chronological order. TreePlan automatically includes formulas for summing cash flows to obtain outcome values and for calculating rollback values for determining the optimal strategy.
You can start TreePlan either by choosing Tools | Decision Tree from the menu bar (Excel 2003 and earlier versions), by choosing Add-ins | Decision Tree (Excel 2007 or 2010), or by pressing Ctrl+ Shift +T (hold down the Ctrl and Shift keys and press T). If the worksheet doesn't have a decision tree, TreePlan prompts you with a dialog box with three options; choose New Tree to begin a new tree. TreePlan draws a default initial decision tree with its upper left corner at the selected cell. For example, the figure below shows the initial tree when cell C3 is selected before creating the new tree. (Note that TreePlan writes over existing values in the spreadsheet: begin your tree to the right of the area where your data is stored, and do not subsequently add or delete rows or columns in the tree-diagram area.)
Build up a tree by adding or modifying branches or nodes in the default tree. To change the branch labels or probabilities, click on the cell containing the label or probability and type the new label or probability. To modify the structure of the tree (e.g., add or delete branches or nodes in the tree), select the node or the cell containing the node in the tree to modify, and press Ctrl+Shift+T. TreePlan will then present a dialog box showing the available commands.
For example, to add an event node to the top branch of the tree shown above, select the square cell (cell G4) next to the vertical line at the end of a terminal branch and press Ctrl+Shift+T. TreePlan then presents this dialog box.
To add an event node to the branch, we change the selected terminal node to an event node by selecting Change to event node in the dialog box, selecting the number of branches (here two), and pressing OK. TreePlan then redraws the tree with a chance node in place of the terminal node.
Since TreePlan decision trees are built directly in Excel, you can use Excel's commands to format your tree. For example, you can use bold or italic fonts for branch labels: select the cells you want to format and change them using Excel's formatting commands. To help you, TreePlan provides a Select dialog box that appears when you press Ctrl+Shift+T without a node selected. You can also bring up this dialog box by pressing the Select button on the Node dialog box. From here, you can select all items of a particular type in the tree. For example, if you choose Probabilities and press OK, TreePlan selects all cells containing probabilities in the tree. You can then format all of the probabilities simultaneously using Excel's formatting commands. (Because of limitations in Excel, the Select dialog box may not be available when working with very large trees.)
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Thanksgiving History and Jokes
Website link: http://www.thanksgivinghistory.net/
Thanksgiving history
Thanksgiving history is a tale worth telling especially in a humorous manner. For instance, did you know that the first Thanksgiving was held in 1621 on a big rock on the east coast and was highlighted when a Native American drove the first Plymouth into the middle of the festivities?
A little known fact in the history of Thanksgiving is that John Wayne narrated the event saying things like, "Well Pilgrim, I see your still protecting the ladies" and "Hey, Pilgrim, hand me those mashed potatoes won't you?"
As a narrator, John Wayne had a James Earl Jones quality about him, only different.
Thanksgiving history states that the first gathering among the pilgrims (Fred and Ethel Pilgrim, that is) and the Winnebago Indians, took place in 1621, as previously stated, and was regarded as a harvest festival event though there were few hippies and Jesus Freaks and rock bands at the time.
Following a harsh winter in 1620, followed by a drought, prayers for rain, and a rain that came down like cats and dogs, the autumn harvest festival featured fine foods such as turkey, giblets, gravy, mashed potatoes, lettuce, turnip & pea. Pheasants and swans were also offered and ironically, no one wanted the turkey wishbone at that time, but the kids all fought over the swan's neck.
Thanksgiving history, according to scholars, was an autumn harvest festival and was a time of overeating, dancing, drinking and merriment, which was strictly forbidden by the pilgrims' puritanical religion at the time and doomed all of the participants to an eternal life in hell or a life of wearing those ridiculous costumes with buckles on their shoes, whichever, they individually deemed harsher. The history of Thanksgiving states that pilgrims and Indians played games such as rugby, Native American soccer, badminton and Jarts.
Some older accounts of Thanksgiving history state that Pocahontas joined Captain Myles Standoffish for the first Thanksgiving celebration, but revisionist history states this isn't so as Pocahontas actually died just a few short years before the first celebration.
According to new data in regards to the history of Thanksgiving, it is now known that the body of Pocahontas was dug up for the celebration and propped up at the end of the table. She was regarded as the wise old aunt who barely spoke a word and probably had a buzz on as she was smiling the whole time.
Again in 1621, Governor William Bradford declared Thanksgiving Day as a national holiday, but since the Revolutionary War had yet to take place, no one knew what this meant.
In wasn't until George Washington was President in 1789, that he had the power, after the Revolutionary War to declare Thanksgiving as a national holiday.
After doing so, George promptly bit into a huge turkey leg and split in two his fine wooden teeth.
Thanksgiving history
Thanksgiving history is a tale worth telling especially in a humorous manner. For instance, did you know that the first Thanksgiving was held in 1621 on a big rock on the east coast and was highlighted when a Native American drove the first Plymouth into the middle of the festivities?
A little known fact in the history of Thanksgiving is that John Wayne narrated the event saying things like, "Well Pilgrim, I see your still protecting the ladies" and "Hey, Pilgrim, hand me those mashed potatoes won't you?"
As a narrator, John Wayne had a James Earl Jones quality about him, only different.
Thanksgiving history states that the first gathering among the pilgrims (Fred and Ethel Pilgrim, that is) and the Winnebago Indians, took place in 1621, as previously stated, and was regarded as a harvest festival event though there were few hippies and Jesus Freaks and rock bands at the time.
Following a harsh winter in 1620, followed by a drought, prayers for rain, and a rain that came down like cats and dogs, the autumn harvest festival featured fine foods such as turkey, giblets, gravy, mashed potatoes, lettuce, turnip & pea. Pheasants and swans were also offered and ironically, no one wanted the turkey wishbone at that time, but the kids all fought over the swan's neck.
Thanksgiving history, according to scholars, was an autumn harvest festival and was a time of overeating, dancing, drinking and merriment, which was strictly forbidden by the pilgrims' puritanical religion at the time and doomed all of the participants to an eternal life in hell or a life of wearing those ridiculous costumes with buckles on their shoes, whichever, they individually deemed harsher. The history of Thanksgiving states that pilgrims and Indians played games such as rugby, Native American soccer, badminton and Jarts.
Some older accounts of Thanksgiving history state that Pocahontas joined Captain Myles Standoffish for the first Thanksgiving celebration, but revisionist history states this isn't so as Pocahontas actually died just a few short years before the first celebration.
According to new data in regards to the history of Thanksgiving, it is now known that the body of Pocahontas was dug up for the celebration and propped up at the end of the table. She was regarded as the wise old aunt who barely spoke a word and probably had a buzz on as she was smiling the whole time.
Again in 1621, Governor William Bradford declared Thanksgiving Day as a national holiday, but since the Revolutionary War had yet to take place, no one knew what this meant.
In wasn't until George Washington was President in 1789, that he had the power, after the Revolutionary War to declare Thanksgiving as a national holiday.
After doing so, George promptly bit into a huge turkey leg and split in two his fine wooden teeth.
So, there you have the history of Thanksgiving, albeit one that is factually incorrect, full of misinformation, misdirection, miscellany and downright lies. You were actually expecting the truth? For more factually incorrect, yet humorous information regarding Thanksgiving history, check out the rest of this site. Or, not, since we don't care. We're like that, you know. In case you didn't, well now you do. And do with this what you will.
Thanksgiving Jokes
Why did the turkey cross the road? To get to the other side .
Why do you eat a turkey rather than keep it as a pet? Because otherwise it will use fowl language on you.
If pilgrims were alive today, what would they say? Do not resuscitate.
If April shower bring May flowers, what do Mayflowers bring? Pilgrims and furniture.
Why don't you let a turkey get near corn? Because they will gobble, gobble, gobble it.
What do you call it when you drop a turkey from a helicopter? Dead weight.
What do you call it when you drop a turkey from a helicopter? Dead weight.
What do you call the age of a pilgrim? Pilgrimage.
What kind of cars would pilgrims drive today? Plymouth.
What kind of tan did pilgrims get at the beach? Puritan.
What kind of face does a pilgrim make when he's in pain? Pil-grimace.
What's the smallest unit of measurement in the pilgrim cookbook? Pilgram.
What's a pilgrim's mother called? Pilgranny.
In what country is Thanksgiving ironically not celebrated? Turkey.
What do you call a pilgrims vocabulary? Pilgrammar.
What do Thanksgiving and Halloween have in common? One has gobblers, the other goblins.
If you call a large turkey a gobbler what do you call a small one? Goblet.
What was the turkey suspected of? Fowl play.
Hear about the turkey that evaded the Indian? It had an arrow escape.
What is Thanksgiving for selfish people called? Thankstaking.
What do you call the evil being that comes to get pilgrims? PilGrim Reaper.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Goal Setting: The First Step to a New Career
http://www.howtointerview.com/jobinterview.html
John is interviewing for a new job. He is asked, "Why do you want to work here?" He looks surprised, then after a thoughtful pause says, "Because I saw the ad in the paper and thought it would be fun." The interviewer later asks, "Where do you see yourself five years from now?" Again, John thinks for a minute, and then hesitantly answers, "With higher pay?"
Later that day Kathleen is interviewing for the same job. When asked her goals, she leans slightly forward, and states, "I have always wanted to work in this industry, which is why I got my degree in a related field. I plan to take the following courses for certification in my field (she briefly lists courses she has taken and is planning to take to increase her credentials). Within five years, I plan to be mentoring others in my area, and to have increased job responsibility at this company because of my credentials and increased skills."
Who do you think will get the job?
The above scenario is not as far-fetched as it sounds. A surprisingly large number of people never define what their personal career goals are, or even investigate what type of work is best suited for them personally.
Define Your Goals
The first step in starting any job search is defining your goals. Simply put this means looking at "What do I want to be?" and "What am I qualified to do?" The closer these two are to each other, the greater the chances of getting the job you want (and being happy at it!). This means doing the necessary research and self-evaluation to understand what type of job is a good fit for both your interests and experience. Having well defined goals will assist you in focusing your job search and not wasting time interviewing for jobs that are unsuitable for you.
Self-Assessment: A Key to Setting Career Goals
A self-assessment can help you determine the type of job that would be a good fit for your talents and personality. The following exercises will help you not only in defining personal goals, but will also help when the company interviewer asks you the standard questions, "Why do you want to work for us?" "Where do you see yourself in five years?" and "How do you plan to reach your goals?"
Skills assessment
Take a piece of paper and make out two columns. In the first, write "skills". Under this heading, you will be listing different skills that you have collected in your lifetime, whether from formal education, college courses, personal interests, or work. Summer jobs, internships, and any jobs that you have held will include skills that should be listed. This is an area to list your greatest strengths and abilities, such as mathematical ability, communication skills, computer expertise, or creative projects completed. Skills can range the gamut from technical to physical, and will vary with a person's individual experiences.
Values/interests assessment
In the second column, write "Personal values/interests". List the values that are important to you personally, including your ideal working conditions and your "dream job". Everyone has different things that are important to him or her. Do you enjoy security, routine, and detail-oriented work? Or are you a restless, creative, independent type? Invite feedback from others who know you well, such as family, friends, and teachers, or those who have worked with you.
Are you a risk taker? Or perhaps you're a people person? How important is money to you? What about personal prestige? Do you enjoy supervising others, or following orders? Do you enjoy teaching others? Are you a team worker, or do you prefer working alone? What locations are acceptable? Is your dream to live and work in a rural setting, or in a major metropolitan center? How many hours of work per week are acceptable? The answers to these questions will help you to define what type of job you should be seeking.
Help from Uncle Sam (The Department of Labor)
In "Guide for Occupational Exploration"(1979)(1), all jobs in the US were defined as falling into one of 12 areas based on interests:
Scientific
Artistic
Working with Plants and Animals
Protective
Mechanical
Industrial
Business Detail
Selling
Accommodating (catering to one person)
Humanitarian
Leading and influencing
Physical Performing
This list can be an excellent starting place to help you define your personal interest areas.
Now look at the two lists you have made, of skills and interests. Is there an overlap, or a huge discrepancy? If the two are very different, it may mean that you have been working at a job that did not match your values, and you will want to consider changing careers. If the two overlap a lot, chances are that your interests and skills have been a good match in the jobs you have held, and you will want to consider pursuing your career in this field, or a similar field.
Using these assessments that you have done, you can now create a third list: job desired. Write down jobs that you believe you would be suited for, based on the information you have obtained. You are now ready to do the next step.
Research: Key to Defining Career Goals
You will want to research the job market and find out what skills and education are needed in the job category you are seeking. You can find good information on this from on-line sites for companies in the field, library books, trade journals, and help wanted ads. Try to find answers to questions such as:
Is a specific college degree needed? What about certifications? What kind of work experience is needed? Can I get on-the-job training? These will help you to determine educational goals that will help you reach your career goals. You will also need to consider whether you are willing to put the time, money, and effort into obtaining the necessary education for a certain career.
If hired in this job field, what are the chances of advancement? Where do I want to be in five years? Ten years? The answers to the last two questions are your personal career goals, and will determine the steps that you take after being hired.
You may want to try going on some informational interviews, in which you meet with a representative of a company in an occupation that you are interested in exploring. The goal is NOT to be hired (although that would be nice!), but to learn more about the skills, education, and background needed to work in this field. This type of interview is also a wonderful way to develop contacts in the industry as well.
Summary
One result of doing the above analysis, research, and defining of goals, is that by the time you have done this, you will have an excellent idea of:
What jobs you are interested in
What opportunities are available for someone with your skills and background
What your personal job goals are. Employers and recruiters often look more favorably on the candidate with well-defined, specific career goals.
The education, credentials that you need to obtain to further your career goals
Whether you need to consider a career change to meet your goals, or look for a different job within the same industry
Whether the position offered is a good "fit" for you, based on your interests, values, and skills
Once your career goals are defined, you can go to the next step: narrowing your search to specific companies, and beginning the process of preparing for interviews.
John is interviewing for a new job. He is asked, "Why do you want to work here?" He looks surprised, then after a thoughtful pause says, "Because I saw the ad in the paper and thought it would be fun." The interviewer later asks, "Where do you see yourself five years from now?" Again, John thinks for a minute, and then hesitantly answers, "With higher pay?"
Later that day Kathleen is interviewing for the same job. When asked her goals, she leans slightly forward, and states, "I have always wanted to work in this industry, which is why I got my degree in a related field. I plan to take the following courses for certification in my field (she briefly lists courses she has taken and is planning to take to increase her credentials). Within five years, I plan to be mentoring others in my area, and to have increased job responsibility at this company because of my credentials and increased skills."
Who do you think will get the job?
The above scenario is not as far-fetched as it sounds. A surprisingly large number of people never define what their personal career goals are, or even investigate what type of work is best suited for them personally.
Define Your Goals
The first step in starting any job search is defining your goals. Simply put this means looking at "What do I want to be?" and "What am I qualified to do?" The closer these two are to each other, the greater the chances of getting the job you want (and being happy at it!). This means doing the necessary research and self-evaluation to understand what type of job is a good fit for both your interests and experience. Having well defined goals will assist you in focusing your job search and not wasting time interviewing for jobs that are unsuitable for you.
Self-Assessment: A Key to Setting Career Goals
A self-assessment can help you determine the type of job that would be a good fit for your talents and personality. The following exercises will help you not only in defining personal goals, but will also help when the company interviewer asks you the standard questions, "Why do you want to work for us?" "Where do you see yourself in five years?" and "How do you plan to reach your goals?"
Skills assessment
Take a piece of paper and make out two columns. In the first, write "skills". Under this heading, you will be listing different skills that you have collected in your lifetime, whether from formal education, college courses, personal interests, or work. Summer jobs, internships, and any jobs that you have held will include skills that should be listed. This is an area to list your greatest strengths and abilities, such as mathematical ability, communication skills, computer expertise, or creative projects completed. Skills can range the gamut from technical to physical, and will vary with a person's individual experiences.
Values/interests assessment
In the second column, write "Personal values/interests". List the values that are important to you personally, including your ideal working conditions and your "dream job". Everyone has different things that are important to him or her. Do you enjoy security, routine, and detail-oriented work? Or are you a restless, creative, independent type? Invite feedback from others who know you well, such as family, friends, and teachers, or those who have worked with you.
Are you a risk taker? Or perhaps you're a people person? How important is money to you? What about personal prestige? Do you enjoy supervising others, or following orders? Do you enjoy teaching others? Are you a team worker, or do you prefer working alone? What locations are acceptable? Is your dream to live and work in a rural setting, or in a major metropolitan center? How many hours of work per week are acceptable? The answers to these questions will help you to define what type of job you should be seeking.
Help from Uncle Sam (The Department of Labor)
In "Guide for Occupational Exploration"(1979)(1), all jobs in the US were defined as falling into one of 12 areas based on interests:
This list can be an excellent starting place to help you define your personal interest areas.
Now look at the two lists you have made, of skills and interests. Is there an overlap, or a huge discrepancy? If the two are very different, it may mean that you have been working at a job that did not match your values, and you will want to consider changing careers. If the two overlap a lot, chances are that your interests and skills have been a good match in the jobs you have held, and you will want to consider pursuing your career in this field, or a similar field.
Using these assessments that you have done, you can now create a third list: job desired. Write down jobs that you believe you would be suited for, based on the information you have obtained. You are now ready to do the next step.
Research: Key to Defining Career Goals
You will want to research the job market and find out what skills and education are needed in the job category you are seeking. You can find good information on this from on-line sites for companies in the field, library books, trade journals, and help wanted ads. Try to find answers to questions such as:
Is a specific college degree needed? What about certifications? What kind of work experience is needed? Can I get on-the-job training? These will help you to determine educational goals that will help you reach your career goals. You will also need to consider whether you are willing to put the time, money, and effort into obtaining the necessary education for a certain career.
If hired in this job field, what are the chances of advancement? Where do I want to be in five years? Ten years? The answers to the last two questions are your personal career goals, and will determine the steps that you take after being hired.
You may want to try going on some informational interviews, in which you meet with a representative of a company in an occupation that you are interested in exploring. The goal is NOT to be hired (although that would be nice!), but to learn more about the skills, education, and background needed to work in this field. This type of interview is also a wonderful way to develop contacts in the industry as well.
Summary
One result of doing the above analysis, research, and defining of goals, is that by the time you have done this, you will have an excellent idea of:
Once your career goals are defined, you can go to the next step: narrowing your search to specific companies, and beginning the process of preparing for interviews.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
HISTORY OF THE MBA
The MBA was introduced in the US at the beginning of the 20th century as a two-year postgraduate course. Its purpose was not only to provide individuals with the qualifications to advance their respective careers, but also to help business meet their need for specialized individuals well-versed in the abilities to manage in the modern business world. Most students enrolled straight after a first degree without business experience. The first year was devoted to teaching a core of business "fundamentals" with the second year focussing on education in either general management or in an area of concentration as chosen by the student.
At the time, the United States was the only country that offered such programs; the Wharton Business School, established in 1881, was the first business school in the country. However, the Tuck School of Business, established in 1942, was the first management school in the US to award a graduate degree in business. It began by offering master's degrees in the commercial sciences (the predecessor of the MBA that we know today), and in 1952 changed its degree to the Master of Business Administration. Soon, other colleges in the US began offering these programs.
In Canada, the first MBA program was established in 1948, at the University of Western Ontario (UWO), and the first MBA degree was awarded two years later. In fact, UWO's MBA program was the first MBA degree course to be offered outside the United States. Following the success of the MBA program, Canada's fist doctorate program in business administration began in 1961, also at UWO. Based on the UWO model, MBA programs began to be established in post-secondary institutions across Canada; by the late 1970s, every major provincial urban centre in Canada had at least one institution offering an MBA degree.
By the late 1970s to early 1980s, there was increasing dissatisfaction--especially on the part of the business community--with two aspects of the MBA programs being offered. Firstly, teaching was viewed as being too theoretical while ignoring practical applications. Secondly, business education was criticized for being taught by individuals with little or no direct experience and/or formal education in business.
Beginning in the late 1970s, graduate business education increasingly blended theoretical with practical knowledge. Co-operative learning and exchange programs were also introduced. Moreover, the standards of business education were improved by requiring future instructors to have at least an extensive, formal business education, with preference awarded to those with direct business experience.
Today, while the traditional 2-year MBA program still exists, a significant number of business schools offer intensive 12-month or accelerated programs. As well, since the mid-1990s industry- and sector-specific MBA degrees have been offered, and programs have moved beyond simply teaching business fundamentals and disciplines into developing students' "soft" skills such as analytical, communication, leadership (broadly defined), interpersonal, networking, and teamwork abilities.
The biggest growth in recent years has been in part-time and distance MBAs that allow students to continue working at the same time. As well, there has been a growing interest in executive MBA programs that often take place in the evenings and on weekends.
At the time, the United States was the only country that offered such programs; the Wharton Business School, established in 1881, was the first business school in the country. However, the Tuck School of Business, established in 1942, was the first management school in the US to award a graduate degree in business. It began by offering master's degrees in the commercial sciences (the predecessor of the MBA that we know today), and in 1952 changed its degree to the Master of Business Administration. Soon, other colleges in the US began offering these programs.
In Canada, the first MBA program was established in 1948, at the University of Western Ontario (UWO), and the first MBA degree was awarded two years later. In fact, UWO's MBA program was the first MBA degree course to be offered outside the United States. Following the success of the MBA program, Canada's fist doctorate program in business administration began in 1961, also at UWO. Based on the UWO model, MBA programs began to be established in post-secondary institutions across Canada; by the late 1970s, every major provincial urban centre in Canada had at least one institution offering an MBA degree.
By the late 1970s to early 1980s, there was increasing dissatisfaction--especially on the part of the business community--with two aspects of the MBA programs being offered. Firstly, teaching was viewed as being too theoretical while ignoring practical applications. Secondly, business education was criticized for being taught by individuals with little or no direct experience and/or formal education in business.
Beginning in the late 1970s, graduate business education increasingly blended theoretical with practical knowledge. Co-operative learning and exchange programs were also introduced. Moreover, the standards of business education were improved by requiring future instructors to have at least an extensive, formal business education, with preference awarded to those with direct business experience.
Today, while the traditional 2-year MBA program still exists, a significant number of business schools offer intensive 12-month or accelerated programs. As well, since the mid-1990s industry- and sector-specific MBA degrees have been offered, and programs have moved beyond simply teaching business fundamentals and disciplines into developing students' "soft" skills such as analytical, communication, leadership (broadly defined), interpersonal, networking, and teamwork abilities.
The biggest growth in recent years has been in part-time and distance MBAs that allow students to continue working at the same time. As well, there has been a growing interest in executive MBA programs that often take place in the evenings and on weekends.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Regression testing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Regression testing is any type of software testing that seeks to uncover software errors after changes to the program (e.g. bugfixes or new functionality) have been made, by retesting the program. The intent of regression testing is to assure that a change, such as a bugfix, did not introduce new bugs.[1] Regression testing can be used to test the system efficiently by systematically selecting the appropriate minimum suite of tests needed to adequately cover the affected change. Common methods of regression testing include rerunning previously run tests and checking whether program behavior has changed and whether previously fixed faults have re-emerged. "One of the main reasons for regression testing is that it's often extremely difficult for a programmer to figure out how a change in one part of the software will echo in other parts of the software."[2] This is done by comparing results of previous tests to results of the current tests being run.Background
Experience has shown that as software is fixed, emergence of new and/or reemergence of old faults is quite common. Sometimes reemergence occurs because a fix gets lost through poor revision control practices (or simple human error in revision control). Often, a fix for a problem will be "fragile" in that it fixes the problem in the narrow case where it was first observed but not in more general cases which may arise over the lifetime of the software. Frequently, a fix for a problem in one area inadvertently causes a software bug in another area. Finally, it is often the case that when some feature is redesigned, some of the same mistakes that were made in the original implementation of the feature were made in the redesign.
Therefore, in most software development situations it is considered good practice that when a bug is located and fixed, a test that exposes the bug is recorded and regularly retested after subsequent changes to the program.[3] Although this may be done through manual testing procedures using programming techniques, it is often done using automated testing tools.[4] Such a test suite contains software tools that allow the testing environment to execute all the regression test cases automatically; some projects even set up automated systems to automatically re-run all regression tests at specified intervals and report any failures (which could imply a regression or an out-of-date test).[5] Common strategies are to run such a system after every successful compile (for small projects), every night, or once a week. Those strategies can be automated by an external tool, such as BuildBot or Hudson.
Regression testing is an integral part of the extreme programming software development method. In this method, design documents are replaced by extensive, repeatable, and automated testing of the entire software package at every stage in the software development cycle.
In the corporate world, regression testing has traditionally been performed by a software quality assurance team after the development team has completed work. However, defects found at this stage are the most costly to fix. This problem is being addressed by the rise of unit testing. Although developers have always written test cases as part of the development cycle, these test cases have generally been either functional tests or unit tests that verify only intended outcomes. Developer testing compels a developer to focus on unit testing and to include both positive and negative test cases.[6]
Uses
Regression testing can be used not only for testing the correctness of a program, but often also for tracking the quality of its output.[7] For instance, in the design of a compiler, regression testing could track the code size, simulation time and time of the test suite cases.
Regression testing should be part of a test plan.[8] Regression testing can be automated.
"Also as a consequence of the introduction of new bugs, program maintenance requires far more system testing per statement written than any other programming. Theoretically, after each fix one must run the entire batch of test cases previously run against the system, to ensure that it has not been damaged in an obscure way. In practice, such regression testing must indeed approximate this theoretical idea, and it is very costly."Regression tests can be broadly categorized as functional tests or unit tests. Functional tests exercise the complete program with various inputs. Unit tests exercise individual functions, subroutines, or object methods. Both functional testing tools and unit testing tools tend to be third party products that are not part of the compiler suite, and both tend to be automated. Functional tests may be a scripted series of program inputs, possibly even an automated mechanism for controlling mouse movements. Unit tests may be separate functions within the code itself, or driver layer that links to the code without altering the code being tested.
– Fred Brooks, The Mythical Man Month, p 122
References
- ^ Myers, Glenford (2004). The Art of Software Testing. Wiley. ISBN 978-0471469124.
- ^ Savenkov, Roman (2008). How to Become a Software Tester. Roman Savenkov Consulting. p. 386. ISBN 978-0-615-23372-7.
- ^ Kolawa, Adam; Huizinga, Dorota (2007). Automated Defect Prevention: Best Practices in Software Management. Wiley-IEEE Computer Society Press. p. 73. ISBN 0470042125. http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470042125.html.
- ^ Automate Regression Tests When Feasible, Automated Testing: Selected Best Practices, Elfriede Dustin, Safari Books Online
- ^ daVeiga, Nada (February 2008). "Change Code Without Fear: Utilize a Regression Safety Net". Dr. Dobb's Journal. http://www.ddj.com/development-tools/206105233;jsessionid=2HN1TRYZ4JGVAQSNDLRSKH0CJUNN2JVN.
- ^ Dudney, Bill (2004-12-08). "Developer Testing Is 'In': An interview with Alberto Savoia and Kent Beck". http://www.sys-con.com/read/47359.htm. Retrieved 2007-11-29.
- ^ Kolawa, Adam. "Regression Testing, Programmer to Programmer". Wrox. http://www.wrox.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-291252.html.
- ^ Kolawa, Adam; Huizinga, Dorota (2007). Automated Defect Prevention: Best Practices in Software Management. Wiley-IEEE Computer Society Press. p. 269. ISBN 0470042125. http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470042125.html.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Leadership styles
From Mahatma Gandhi to Winston Churchill to Martin Luther King to Rudolph Giuliani, there are as many leadership styles as there are leaders. Fortunately, businesspeople and psychologists have developed useful and simple ways to describe the main styles of leadership, and these can help aspiring leaders understand which styles they should use.
With this in mind, there are many different frameworks that have shaped our current understanding of leadership, and many of these have their place, just as long as they're used appropriately. This article looks at some of the most common frameworks, and then looks at popular styles of leadership.
Leadership Theories
Researchers have developed a number of leadership theories over the years. These can be categorized into four main types:1. Trait theories – What type of person makes a good leader?
Trait theories argue that leaders share a number of common personality traits and characteristics, and that leadership emerges from these traits. Early trait theories promoted the idea that leadership is an innate, instinctive quality that you either have or don't have. Thankfully, we've moved on from this approach, and we're learning more about what we can do as individuals to develop leadership qualities within ourselves and others.
What's more, traits are external behaviors that emerge from things going on within the leader's mind – and it's these internal beliefs and processes that are important for effective leadership.
Trait theory does, however, help us identify some qualities that are helpful when leading others and, together, these emerge as a generalized leadership style. Examples include empathy, assertiveness, good decision-making, and likability. In our article Building Tomorrow's Leaders, we discuss a series of attributes that are important for all types of leaders to develop. However, none of these traits, nor any combination of them, will guarantee success as a leader. You need more than that.
2. Behavioral theories – What does a good leader do?
Behavioral theories focus on how leaders behave. Do they dictate what needs to be done and expect cooperation? Or do they involve the team in decisions to encourage acceptance and support?
In the 1930s, Kurt Lewin developed a leadership framework based on a leader's decision-making behavior. Lewin argued that there are three types of leaders:
- Autocratic leaders make decisions without consulting their teams. This is considered appropriate when decisions genuinely need to be taken quickly, when there's no need for input, and when team agreement isn't necessary for a successful outcome.
- Democratic leaders allow the team to provide input before making a decision, although the degree of input can vary from leader to leader. This type of style is important when team agreement matters, but it can be quite difficult to manage when there are lots of different perspectives and ideas.
- Laissez-faire leaders don't interfere; they allow the team to make many of the decisions. Typically this happens when the team is highly capable and motivated, and it doesn't need close monitoring or supervision.
John Adair's Action-Centered Leadership model is another framework that's consistent with behavioral theories of leadership. Using this model, the "best" leadership style is determined by balancing task, team, and individual responsibilities. Leaders who spend time managing each of these elements will likely be more successful than those who focus mostly on only one element.
Clearly, then, how leaders behave impacts on their effectiveness. Researchers have realized, though, that many of these leadership behaviors are appropriate at different times. So, the best leaders are those who can use many different behavioral styles and use the right style for each situation.
3. Contingency theories – How does the situation influence good leadership?
The realization that there isn't one correct type of leader led to theories that the best leadership style is contingent on, or depends on, the situation. These theories try to predict which leadership style is best in which circumstance.
When a decision is needed fast, which style is preferred? When the leader needs the full support of the team, is there a better way to lead? Should a leader be more people oriented or task oriented? These are all examples of questions that contingency leadership theories try to address.
A popular contingency-based framework is the Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory, which links leadership style with the maturity of individual members of the leader's team.
4. Power and influence theories – What is the source of the leader's power?
These theories of leadership take an entirely different approach. They're based on the different ways in which leaders use power and influence to get things done, and the leadership styles that emerge as a result. Perhaps the most well known of these theories is French and Raven's Five Forms of Power. This model distinguishes between using your position to exert power, and using your personal attributes to be powerful.
French and Raven identified three types of positional power – legitimate, reward, and coercive – and two sources of personal power – expert and referent (your personal appeal and charm). The model suggests that using personal power is the better alternative and, because Expert Power (the power that comes with being a real expert in the job) is the most legitimate of these, that you should actively work on building this. Similarly, leading by example is another highly effective way to establish and sustain a positive influence with your team.
Another valid leadership style that's supported by power and influence theories is Transactional Leadership. This approach assumes that work is done only because it is rewarded, and for no other reason, and it therefore focuses on designing tasks and reward structures. While it may not be the most appealing leadership strategy in terms of building relationships and developing a long-term motivating work environment, it does work, and it's used in most organizations on a daily basis to get things done.
An Up-to-Date Understanding of Leadership
Within all of these theories, frameworks, and approaches to leadership, there's an underlying message that leaders need to have a variety of factors working in their favor. Effective leadership is not simply based on a set of attributes, behaviors, or influences. You must have a wide range of abilities and approaches that you can draw upon.Having said this, however, there's one leadership style that is appropriate in very many corporate situations – that of Transformational Leadership. A leader using this style:
- Has integrity.
- Sets clear goals.
- Clearly communicates a vision.
- Sets a good example.
- Expects the best from the team.
- Encourages.
- Supports.
- Recognizes good work and people.
- Provides stimulating work.
- Helps people see beyond their self-interests and focus more on team interests and needs.
- Inspires.
Having said that Transformational Leadership suits very many circumstances in business, we need to remember that there may be situations where it's not the best style. This is why it's worth knowing about the other styles shown below so that you have a greater chance of finding the right combination for the situation you find yourself in.
Popular Leadership Styles – A Glossary
The leadership theories and styles discussed so far are based on research. However, many more terms are used to describe approaches to leadership, even if these don't fit within a particular theoretical system. It's worth understanding these!1. Autocratic leadership
Autocratic leadership is an extreme form of transactional leadership, where leaders have absolute power over their workers or team. Staff and team members have little opportunity to make suggestions, even if these would be in the team's or the organization's best interest.
Most people tend to resent being treated like this. Therefore, autocratic leadership usually leads to high levels of absenteeism and staff turnover. For some routine and unskilled jobs, the style can remain effective because the advantages of control may outweigh the disadvantages.
2. Bureaucratic leadership
Bureaucratic leaders work "by the book." They follow rules rigorously, and ensure that their staff follows procedures precisely. This is a very appropriate style for work involving serious safety risks (such as working with machinery, with toxic substances, or at dangerous heights) or where large sums of money are involved (such as handling cash).
3. Charismatic leadership
A charismatic leadership style can seem similar to transformational leadership, because these leaders inspire lots of enthusiasm in their teams and are very energetic in driving others forward. However, charismatic leaders can tend to believe more in themselves than in their teams, and this creates a risk that a project, or even an entire organization, might collapse if the leader leaves. In the eyes of the followers, success is directly connected to the presence of the charismatic leader. As such, charismatic leadership carries great responsibility, and it needs a long-term commitment from the leader.
4. Democratic leadership or participative leadership
Although democratic leaders make the final decisions, they invite other members of the team to contribute to the decision-making process. This not only increases job satisfaction by involving team members, but it also helps to develop people's skills. Team members feel in control of their own destiny, so they're motivated to work hard by more than just a financial reward.
Because participation takes time, this approach can take more time, but often the end result is better. The approach can be most suitable when working as a team is essential, and when quality is more important than speed to market or productivity.
5. Laissez-faire leadership
This French phrase means "leave it be," and it's used to describe leaders who leave their team members to work on their own. It can be effective if the leader monitors what's being achieved and communicates this back to the team regularly. Most often, laissez-faire leadership is effective when individual team members are very experienced and skilled self-starters. Unfortunately, this type of leadership can also occur when managers don't apply sufficient control.
6. People-oriented leadership or relations-oriented leadership
This is the opposite of task-oriented leadership. With people-oriented leadership, leaders are totally focused on organizing, supporting, and developing the people in their teams. It's a participative style, and it tends to encourage good teamwork and creative collaboration.
In practice, most leaders use both task-oriented and people-oriented styles of leadership.
7. Servant leadership
This term, created by Robert Greenleaf in the 1970s, describes a leader who is often not formally recognized as such. When someone, at any level within an organization, leads simply by meeting the needs of the team, he or she is described as a "servant leader."
In many ways, servant leadership is a form of democratic leadership, because the whole team tends to be involved in decision making.
Supporters of the servant leadership model suggest that it's an important way to move ahead in a world where values are increasingly important, and where servant leaders achieve power on the basis of their values and ideals. Others believe that in competitive leadership situations, people who practice servant leadership can find themselves left behind by leaders using other leadership styles.
8. Task-Oriented leadership
Highly task-oriented leaders focus only on getting the job done, and they can be quite autocratic. They actively define the work and the roles required, put structures in place, plan, organize, and monitor. However, because task-oriented leaders don't tend to think much about the well-being of their teams, this approach can suffer many of the flaws of autocratic leadership, with difficulties in motivating and retaining staff.
9. Transactional leadership
This style of leadership starts with the idea that team members agree to obey their leader totally when they accept a job. The "transaction" is usually the organization paying the team members in return for their effort and compliance. The leader has a right to "punish" team members if their work doesn't meet the pre-determined standard.
Team members can do little to improve their job satisfaction under transactional leadership. The leader could give team members some control of their income/reward by using incentives that encourage even higher standards or greater productivity. Alternatively, a transactional leader could practice "management by exception" – rather than rewarding better work, the leader could take corrective action if the required standards are not met.
Transactional leadership is really a type of management, not a true leadership style, because the focus is on short-term tasks. It has serious limitations for knowledge-based or creative work.
10. Transformational leadership
As we discussed earlier, people with this leadership style are true leaders who inspire their teams constantly with a shared vision of the future. While this leader's enthusiasm is often passed onto the team, he or she can need to be supported by "detail people." That's why, in many organizations, both transactional and transformational leadership are needed. The transactional leaders (or managers) ensure that routine work is done reliably, while the transformational leaders look after initiatives that add value.
Key Points
While the transformational leadership approach is often highly effective, there's no one "right" way to lead or manage that fits all situations. To choose the most effective approach for yourself, consider the following:- The skill levels and experience of your team.
- The work involved (routine, or new and creative).
- The organizational environment (stable or radically changing, conservative or adventurous).
- You own preferred or natural style.
website link: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_84.htm
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