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Story: The Old German Dog

Self Improvement, Wisdom, Professionalism, Inspirational Stories, Positivity, Leadership, Management, Stress, Optimism and Peace, Productivity.

An old German Shepherd dog starts chasing rabbits and before long, discovers that he's lost. Wandering about, he notices a panther heading rapidly in his direction with the intention of having lunch.

The old German Shepherd thinks, "Oh, oh! I'm in deep trouble now!"

Noticing some bones on the ground close by, he immediately settles down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat. Just as the panther is about to leap, the old German Shepherd exclaims loudly,

"Boy, that was one delicious panther! I wonder, if there are any more around here?"

Hearing this, the young panther halts his attack in mid-strike, a look of terror comes over him and he slinks away into the trees.

"Whew!," says the panther, "That was close! That old German Shepherd nearly had me!"

Meanwhile, a squirrel who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree, figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the panther. So, off he goes.

The squirrel soon catches up with the panther, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the panther.

The young panther is furious at being made a fool of and says,

"Here, squirrel, hop on my back and see what's going to happen to that conniving canine!"

Now, the old German Shepherd sees the panther coming with the squirrel on his back and thinks, "What am I going to do now?," but instead of running, the dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hasn't seen them yet, and just when they get close enough to hear, the old German Shepherd says...

"Where's that squirrel? I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another panther!"

Rest...you know what could have happened next.......

Moral of this story...

Don't mess with the old dogs... Age and skill will always overcome youth and treachery!

Insight and brilliance only come with age and experience.

Of course, I am in no way insinuating that you are old, just 'youthfully challenged'.

You did notice the size of the print, didn't you?

We can do no great things, only small things with great Love"...

-Mother Teresa

M Junaid Tahir
Read my Blog : http://paradigmwisdom.blogspot.com/

Story: Knowing where to tap

Self Improvement, Wisdom, Professionalism, Inspirational Stories, Positivity, Leadership, Management, Stress, Optimism and Peace, Productivity.

A giant ship engine failed. The ship's owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure but how to fix the engine.

Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was a young. He carried a large bag of tools with him, and when he arrived, he immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom.

Two of the ship's owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what to do. After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life. He carefully put his hammer away.

The engine was fixed! A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for ten thousand dollars.

"What?!" the owners exclaimed. "He hardly did anything!" So they wrote the old man a note saying, "Please send us an itemized bill."

The man sent a bill that read:

Tapping with a hammer....................... $ 2.00

Knowing where to tap.......................... $ 9,998.00

Effort is important, but knowing where to make an effort in your life makes all the difference

M Junaid Tahir
Read my Blog : http://paradigmwisdom.blogspot.com/

Story: The Officer's inspection :)

Self Improvement, Wisdom, Professionalism, Inspirational Stories, Positivity, Leadership, Management, Stress, Optimism and Peace, Productivity.

A municipality officer stopped at corps fields in Texas , and talked with an old farmer. He told the farmer, "I need to inspect your ranch for illegally grown drugs."  The farmer said, "Okay , but don't go in that field over there.....", as he pointed out the location.

The municipality officer verbally exploded saying, " Mister, I have the authority of the Federal Government with me !" Reaching into his rear pants pocket, he removed his badge and proudly displayed it to the farmer.  "See this badge?! This badge means I am allowed to go wherever I wish. on any land !!  No questions asked or answers given!! Have I made myself clear......do you understand ?!!"
The farmer nodded politely, apologized, and went about his chores.

A short time later, the old farmer heard loud screams, looked up, and saw the municipality officer running for his life, being chased by the farmer's BIG BULL. With every step the bull was gaining ground on the officer, and it seemed likely that he'd sure enough get gored before he reached safety. The officer was clearly terrified.  The farmer threw down his tools, ran to the fence and yelled at the top of his lungs.....
"Your badge, show him your BADGE !!! J J J

Moral:

1- Dont show arrogance while using your authority. Use it with logic and common sense.

2- Let the other person speak if he wants to say something. It clarifies doubts & confusions

M Junaid Tahir
Read my Blog : http://paradigmwisdom.blogspot.com/

Thoughts, Feelings and Logics

Self Improvement, Wisdom, Professionalism, Inspirational Stories, Positivity, Leadership, Management, Stress, Optimism and Peace, Productivity.

Respect and appreciate your feelings, but don't allow them to completely dominate you. Let your feelings inform you, enhancing and expanding your experience of life, but don't let them imprison you.

Your feelings are essential, and connect your awareness to the very core of who you are. Yet your thoughts, reasoning and discipline are important as well.
...
Pay close attention when your feelings tell you to act or to avoid action. Just don't let those feelings be the only deciding factor.

Your feelings will tell you things that your logical mind cannot. And your logical mind gives you valuable knowledge and abilities that go beyond the realm of feelings.

You are indeed fortunate to be able to think and to feel. Allow your thoughts and your feelings to challenge and to strengthen each other.

Live your life with ever increasing levels of richness. Think, feel, and fulfill the best that's within you.

Ralph Marston - The Daily Motivator

M Junaid Tahir
Read my Blog : http://paradigmwisdom.blogspot.com/

How to Overcome Fear

Self Improvement, Wisdom, Professionalism, Inspirational Stories, Positivity, Leadership, Management, Stress, Optimism and Peace, Productivity.

By Junaid Tahir
Fear is one of the major blocking obstacles against your success. You tend to compromise with your circumstances and prefer to continue your status quo condition because you are afraid of making decisions. Since you lack in courage you cannot move forward in your life with liberty.

On the other hand successful people are those who take risks in life. Successful people understand that taking risks will lead them experience new horizons in their field, will give them more vision and more confidence, give them wisdom and success by exposing them to more and more challenges and consequently help them achieve their dreams. Such people keep taking new risks in order to achieve what they want to achieve. Whenever there is a doubtful situation they take the next baby step in order to determine whether it is fine to move ahead. In case they fail, they take one step back and re-determine their direction using their analytical skills.

So if you would like to live a successful life, you must defeat your fears. The reasons for being under the clouds of fear might be because of several doubts or unanswered questions in your mind. In this article, I have compiled and answered a few of such queries in order to boost your confidence level:

Question: Do I have enough info in making this decision?

Answer: You may or may not have the full information as of now. However you can gather all the facts by consulting the right professionals, by reading books, by discussing with your friends and well-wishers, by posting your questions to online forums, by studying the market and by taking advice from experienced people. Once you have collected all the information, write it on a piece of paper; positive points on one side and negative points on another side. Now read them slowly with full focus. Once done, you are all set for making the decision.

Question: What if I fail?

Answer: Consider the worst case scenario as this gives you inner strength and makes you prepare for it. However if the worst case as per your thinking is a serious disaster then reduce your risks by reducing your goals, your investment, energies, efforts etc. Change some of the points from your original plan and re-asses the worst case.

Question: Do I have the capability to do it:
Answer: See if you can learn it by reading, training, counseling or brain storming. Believe in your inner powers. List down the capabilities required for a specific task and start polishing yourself in each domain one by one. This might take some time but once you learn and polish your skills you will be able to make wonders in your domain.

Question: What will people say?
Answer: People will comment any way. It's your life and you have all the authority to do what you want to do in order to achieve what you want to achieve. Don't worry about social factors, instead focus on your plans and decisions. Evil social factors will die their death one by one once you start producing the results. Strengthen your thoughts, avoid the unnecessary criticism and you will be able to set new trends in your domain.

Question: Is anyone else afraid of same thing?
Answer: Yes everyone is afraid of failures but only bold people make bold moves to accomplish things. Remember, common people see things while they are happening whereas smart people make things happen.

Question: What If I am trapped in tragic Situation:

Answer: To overcome a tragic fearful situation is to think of a genius person and imagine how he would have acted under the same condition. You will definitely get a new idea to try.

Closing my article by emphasizing one more time to throw your fears away, convert your risks into new opportunities, execute your plans and live like an independent and prosperous soul. Your inner confidence, your guts and your will power can make things happen. If others can do it you can do it too so believe in the power of now and go ahead and grab the success.

Some Recommended Articles:

7 Tips to Achieve Peace of Mind

6 Tips for Anger Management

10 Tips to Simplify Your Life

6 Tips for Resolving Conflicts

9 Tips to Make Effective Decisions

Junaid Tahir is a UAE based Telecommunications Manager. He is a passionate blogger and write articles on wisdom, stress management and leadership. His 75+ articles are available at his personal blog

Story: Power of Positive Talk & Encouragement

Self Improvement, Wisdom, Professionalism, Inspirational Stories, Positivity, Leadership, Management, Stress, Optimism and Peace, Productivity.

A man was lost while driving through the countryside. As he tried to reach for the map, he accidentally drove off the road into a ditch. Though he wasn't injured, his car was stuck deep in the mud. So the man walked to a nearby farm to ask for help. "Warwick can get you out of that ditch," said the farmer, pointing to a Person standing in a field. The man looked at the Person and looked at the farmer who just stood there repeating, "Yep, old Warwick can do the job." The man figured he had nothing to lose. The two men and the Person made their way back to the ditch. The farmer hitched the Person to the car. With a snap of the reins, he shouted, "Pull, Fred! Pull, Jack! Pull, Ted! Pull, Warwick!" Go ahead. And the Person pulled that car right out of the ditch. The man was amazed. He thanked the farmer, patted the mule, and asked, "Why did you call out all of those names before you called Warwick?" The farmer grinned and said, "Old Warwick is blind. As long as he believes he's part of a team, he doesn't mind pulling." You see all it matters is encouragement and a sense of care to say "You can do it". If so, you would witness incredible job.

M Junaid Tahir

Read my Blog : http://paradigmwisdom.blogspot.com/

Story: The unhappy young lady

Self Improvement, Wisdom, Professionalism, Inspirational Stories, Positivity, Leadership, Management, Stress, Optimism and Peace, Productivity.

The old Master instructed the unhappy young lady to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and then to drink it. "How does it taste?" the Master asked. "Very bad" Said the lady.

The Master then asked the young lady to take another handful of salt and put it in the lake. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake and when the apprentice swirled his handful of salt into the lake, the old man said, "Now drink from the lake."

As the water dripped down the young lady's chin, the Master asked, "How does it taste?" "Good!" remarked the apprentice. "Do you taste the salt?" asked the Master. "No," said the young lady.

The Master said, "The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains the same, exactly the same. But the amount we taste the 'pain' depends on the container we put it into. So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things..... Stop being a glass. Become a lake!"

source

M Junaid Tahir
Read my Blog : http://paradigmwisdom.blogspot.com/

career Junaid.Tahir management performance Professional skills

How to Evaluate Managers

Self Improvement, Wisdom, Professionalism, Inspirational Stories, Positivity, Leadership, Management, Stress, Optimism and Peace, Productivity.

By Junaid Tahir

Companies are becoming more and more concerned about cost optimization, resource tweaking and talent enhancement aspects in order to improve their revenues and services index in the market. One of the key actions is to build effective teams by reducing the 'fats' and by polishing the talented resources. Specifically middle managers are focused by the leadership because they are considered to be the most critical resources of the organization because they are micro managing things by controlling the staff ensuring quality products and services; and on the other side interacting with the senior leadership and transforming their vision into practical tasks.

So managers evaluation is one of the approaches for deciding new trainings, assigning new tasks, retaining/laying off or for annual performance reviews. Usually HR specialists are part of such evaluations but for several SMEs only department head is asked to perform the evaluation. While I was wondering what mechanism must be used by the managers in order to perform evaluation which is fair, honest and transparent, I was able to produce the below:

#	Personality Trait or Skill	Mngr-1	Mngr-2
1	Requires minimum supervision to make things happen?
2	Has positive attitude? (Problems focused or solution focused?)
3	Effectively Communicates with teams and management.
4	Responds/updates swiftly to the management for the assigned task?
5	Can take decisions independently?
6	Performs well in stressed circumstances?
7	Begins with the end in mind? Or work in day to day basis?
8	Effectively utilizes the given resources?
9	Has strong follow up with vendors/teams to complete the projects?
10	Produces effective and easy to understand reports/summaries?
11	Has knowledge of Technical Domain? (add multiple domains if required)
12	Develops Strategies by looking at the big picture?
13	Builds Strong Cohesive Teams by team building skill?
14	Avoids politics and focus on the projects/goals?
15	Effectively delegates tasks and ownership to the team members?
16	Ensures that databases are organized, error free and up to date?
17	Complies with Company Policies and Procedures?
18	Explores and learns new techniques and tools? (Self Improvement)

	Overall Score

Following table may be used for the sake of marking:

Marks Legend
5 Marks	Demonstrates Always and Encourages Others
4 Marks	Demonstrates Always.
3 Marks	Demonstrates Most of the Times
2 Marks	Demonstrates Sometimes
1 Marks	Demonstrates Rarely
0 Marks	Does not demonstrate

In case, two or more managers are to be compared, then above table can be utilized. In case each manager is required to be evaluated separately then multiple documents for each manager can be generated where detailed talent sustaining and skill polishing strategies can be written down. Please do let me know if you think any skill to be added to the list above.

Got a Phone Interview? Make it Awesome, Not Awkward

Self Improvement, Wisdom, Professionalism, Inspirational Stories, Positivity, Leadership, Management, Stress, Optimism and Peace, Productivity.

Molly Ford

First of all, congrats on the phone interview! These calls tend to make people nervous, but since the goal of most phone interviews is to get an in-person interview, just focus on what you would focus on normally in a face-to-face interview, with a few tweaks to allow for the phone element.

Pre-Interview

Clarify the details: Since you may not be in the same time zone as the interviewer (a common reason for phone interviews), be sure to clarify the time of the interview in both your time zone and the other, and confirm who is calling whom (i.e. "I'll expect your call at 11 AM PT / 2 PM ET. My number is… ").

Use notes to your advantage: The best part about a phone interview is that you can have your notes in front of you (and the interviewer can't see them). So have a copy of your resume, extensive bullet points about the experiences or skills you want to mention, and full list of questions written out ahead of time for use during the interview. You have the gift of invisibility-use it to your advantage!

Dress the part: This is more of a mental tactic than anything else—but dress up a little bit. Looking nice puts you in the right mindset to be professional.

Make sure all systems are go: Make sure you are in a quiet place with a charged phone and a glass of water. Call your mom or a friend beforehand from the room where you plan to have the interview, making sure they can hear you with no distractions. (Note: It might be worth it to run home to take the call from your apartment, rather than trying to find a spot to do it from your office.) Also, keep your phone charger handy, just in case the interview is going so well that your charge starts to run down.

Keep the end game in mind: Before phone and in-person interviews, I like to use this trick: Think of three characteristics you would like to portray during the interview (creative, analytical, polished, intelligent, interested, whatever!). Write those three attributes at the top of your notes, and as you glance down at them during the interview, you'll have a great reminder of how you want to present yourself.

During the Interview

Don't answer questions right away: Since you can't see the body language of the interviewer, wait a half-second before starting to answer any question. Sometimes, people ask questions and then keep talking, and if both you and the interviewer begin speaking at the same time, it can be awkward to figure out who should keep going.

Slow down: Speak slowly at all times, even a tad slower than you speak in real life. Phones can intensify the pace of your words.

Use your hands: It's okay to gesture while talking, even if no one can see you. Gesturing will make the call feel more like a regular conversation, which will normalize the situation and help to calm your nerves.

Post-Interview

Say thanks: Follow up with a thank you, just like you would in a face-to-face interview. And I also think it's nice, if an assistant set up the call, to send a quick note thanking him or her for helping facilitate the interview

http://lifehacker.com/5968154/got-a-phone-interview-make-it-awesome-not-awkward?tag=careers

M Junaid Tahir
Read my Blog : http://paradigmwisdom.blogspot.com/

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Story: The Old German Dog

Story: Knowing where to tap

Story: The Officer's inspection :)

Thoughts, Feelings and Logics

How to Overcome Fear

Story: Power of Positive Talk & Encouragement

Story: The unhappy young lady

source

How to Evaluate Managers

Got a Phone Interview? Make it Awesome, Not Awkward

Pre-Interview

During the Interview

Post-Interview

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