The Sum

Whether you are a student or an interviewee for a job or attenting a seminar, effective listening skills are necessary. A good boss in a commercial establishment has to have good listening skills. Redressing the grievances of the employees can be achieved to a great degree by merely being a good listener. Conflict management uses this as a skill to resolve conflicts. It is an excellent social skill. If you can patiently listen to others, you will be one of the more popular persons rather than the one who has strong opinion about everything.

Listening skills can be developed. Make note of the following and try to remind yourself about the importance of the subject to gain focus:

1. Paying attention to the speaker or someone whom you meet is the way that you begin the listening. It is advisable to look directly in the eyes of the speaker, where possible.

2. Stay as relaxed and show interest in the subject and the orator or speaker.

3. Keeping your mind clear of othere subjects helps in staying on the subject being talked.

4. If you have questions, make your notes and ask at the end or when given the opportunity. This helps the speaker keep his chain of thoughts.

5. Doing your preparation helps you gain some insight into the subject which makes realting to the subject much easier. This also helps in asking better questions.

6. Distractions like visitors passing, noises in the building, conversation of others should not bother you and your focus should be on the speaker, the subject and your time being spent on the effort.

7. Body languauge such as gestures, tone of the voice, dress of the speaker, all are part of comunication which can modify the words being used or emphasis being placed on a certain aspect.

8. You can show your interest by smiles, nodding, or leaning of the head which shows to the speaker that you are interested and listening.

9. Summarizing the speakers point of view in your own words and seeking confirmation of the speaker about your summary is a good way of showing the focus and attention.

Listening: The Forgotten Skill: A Self-Teaching Guide (Wiley Self-Teaching Guides) (Book) Authors:Madelyn Burley-Allen Manufacturer:Wiley Released:February, 1995

Golf is a sport and recreation. This is one sport where you can find people of all ages and background. So is it right for you - of course, it is right for you. There is no age too late or too early for golf. Once you have the time and little investment in training and equipment, you can enter the golf club and very soon you will find social circle growing and the networking improving. There is greater liaison done in the golf course than in the offices.

You can learn golf at local golf club where professionals would provide you lessons about every aspect or you can buy training material such as DVD or Book through which you can become a self taught golfer. For equipment, you may buy preowned or new. There are several resources but I have found this website very useful. A similar useful site is http://www.book-cheap.com where you can get a variety of sports goods including that for golf.

Here are instructions which will help you through the elements of golf swing - an approach that may maximize swinging strength for straight shooting. Perfection requires a lot of practice but can be achieved. It may seem a little hard at the beginning but with practice you, too, can be swinging like a pro.

Choice of a club: Depending upon the shot you are making, one needs to choose to use a wood, an iron, a chipper or wedges, or a putter. Woods are used to hit long distance, irons are for height and accuracy, chipper or wedges for high and short shots such as shots from sand or high grass. Putters are used only on the greens or where the need is to roll the ball into a hole.

Line up for shot: Take position behind the ball so that you may be able to see your target line and direction in which you want the ball to go.

Correct Grip: Hold the club with left hand just about half an inch from the end. Now wrap fingers on the club with your left thumb downwards and in line with the head of the club. Now place right hand, just below the left hand. Place your smallest finger on top of index finger of left hand. Your ring finger of right hand should now be touching the left thumb. This is for right hander. The left handers need to adjust, accordingly.

Stance: Make a stance such that ball is lined up between the feet. Spread your legs and adjust the stance to a comfortable measure. The ball should be in the center, but parallel or slightly closer to front leg.

Set the Stance: Now bend the knees and hips, a little, but keep back straight. Keep your weight on heels, making the arms comfortably hanging.

Waggle: Line up as if you are ready to take the shot but go through the starting motion, few times, without actually hitting the ball.

Backswing: Pull the club straight back, behind the ball. Keep left arm staright and back up as fas as possible.The club would end up being over the head. For this posture, your torso should be twisted back with left leg inward bent and weight on right leg. Left arm should be pointed towards the ball. It is best to practice backswing with left arm, alone as it is supposed to carry the club. Do not pull the club nad back with right arm.

Downswing: Kepp the ball, constantly, in your view, start with shifting your weight onto left leg (just opposite of backswing). Begin the swing with moving arms staright down and towards the right knee. Ideally, the downswing ends up being closer to the body than the backswing.

Impact: Guide the club with left arm and provide power with right arm. At time of contact, the left arm should be staright and extended and the right hand index finger pointing at the ball.

Follow Through: After the impact, continue in motion and bring the club up and over your head. Extend your right arm and bring the swing behind your back. Your weight should, at this point, be on the left leg and right leg bent and foward.

Buying the equipment is an option at the early stages but eventually has to be done. Most player find it better to upgrade the equipment as their game improves and self-confidence improves.

Whether you are looking for a house, a car, HDTV, or a marriage proposal, it is the decision making process that gets involved. Briefly, it is always about looking or knowing or weighing all the alternatives. Determining what factors are important and in which order. Once you have all this, you are ready for the processing of the decision. When a decision is likely to effect you and your loved ones in the long run, it is the most pertinent to relax and take your time.

1. At any given time, you may have several decisions requiring to be made. In such a situation, make a list of all that needs to be decided.
2. Next sort them in a time frame, from earliest to the latest.
3. Next arrange them in the order of importance.
4. With each decision making opportunity, list the dependent or supporting data, people, events, documents, reports. If you feel that you will not able to decide on your own and there is help available, seek help. For seeking help, make list(s) of questions that you would like to ask those that you seek counsel of.
5. Every decision has consequences which may effect other colleagues, friends, relatives, acquaintances. Keep in view their known goals, objectives in mind and see that your choice is compatible with others’ objectives or goals This makes “selling” the decision, easier and acceptance is less of problem.
6. The time to make decision(s) requires focus and may be an uninterrupted period of time so choose that carefully.
7. As a practice, if you jot down:

• alternatives
• consquences
• possible combinations
• possible consultation or communication with those who might get effected
• do nothing

Go over these, a few times and do what seems best. You would have made a calculated decision. Remember all decisions have a time value. Delaying only may compound the situation.

Do not panic if it turns out to be a poor decision - it will be better next time (this, of course, does not apply to marriage proposal).

Leaders are developed not born. Anyone can develop into a leader. It requires the desire and will-power to become a Leader. The Leaders develop themselves through an un-ending process of self-study, self-improvement, education, training, and experience. I will attempt to guide you through that process.

Let’s first examine the definition and concept of Leadership. Leadership as a process deals with influencing others to achieve, attain or accomplish the objectives. In the process, available resources are deployed or used or utilized, to the extent needed or required, in order to attain the set objectives or the closest possible thereto. A good Leader achieves through a communication process to seek sense of achievement amongst the team that is on task and the organization as a whole. The Leadership is requisite as the process needs someone with knowledge, education, skills, beliefs, discipline, ethics, morals and recognition to use all these attributes to bind the team together in achievement of the goals in a comprehensive, coherent, and cohesive manner. Leadership does not require title to indicate the Leader - it is rather the practice of the art and skills of Leadership that is the underlying factor. Title, necessarily brings the authority. Someone in position of authority may simply direct instead of using Leadership. Position of authority make the organization structure whereas Leadership helps achieve making a more involved, satisfied team with higher sense of belonging.

In order to be an inspiration and to be Leader one has to continuously work hard , self-education, self-training, self-improvement, follow latest developments in technology and research. These are just a few examples but not an exhaustive list. This would be a part of the acquired qualities of a Leader.

When you provide selfless service to your organization, you set a good example of a Leader. When you are perceived as a self-less devoted employee of the organization who cares for its objectives and are perceived as a colleague who cares for other employees, you are closer to be a Leader rather when employees just follow your instructions (where the employees take you as a boss).

Most people would look for a role-model, a guide, a knowledgeable colleague who knows the details about a role, job or task and has the vision to correctly implement. If you prepare (means work hard to be one who can fit into this expectation) and are recognized by others, you can be the Leader.

Qualities needed for Leadership:
Seeking self-study, self-improvement, education, training, and experience means continuously working on your qualities. In nutshell, the following qualities would need to be worked on:

• Technical Expertise - you must be technically knowledgeable must know each component of the tasks to be performed.

• Good Communication - Communicate with all at their level. Most employees need periodic re-assurance that they are doing fine vis-a-vis expectation. Most Senior people want to know the deviations from the chartered path (like budgets, standards, etc). A good Leader is able to communicate with all at their level.

• Work with others and show personal touch - Knowing the first names of employees and addressing them in first person is a good example. The concept of “corporate community” in Japanese Corporate Management is the best example.

• Lead by example - In order to Lead, a good Leader would be seen doing what is expected of others. This is a hall mark of a good Leader.

• Good Decisions - Problem solving and decision making can have a number of different tool sets. A good Leader would use the most appropriate tools and make decisions.

• Development of employees - Through role playing or otherwise, develop greater sense of responsibility amongst the employees.

• Team Building - Promote the culture of team. A good Leader promote such things like the usage of words such as “we” instead of “I”.

• Be Responsible - On one hand you have to be researching and finding new ways to improve the way things are done, on a continuous basis, on the other hand you have to take remedial measures to fix the deviations or corrections required due to stimuli created by external factors. Good Leaders take responsibility and take blame rather than blaming others or finding excuses.

Leadership is an acquired skill and can be best achieved by staying focused on the job, objectives of the organization, developing set of knowledge required to further the goals of the organization along with the development of sense of achievement, sense of responsibility and sense of belonging amongst the employees.

Our society has strength in individuality and independence of each person. We respect the idea so much that it is close to the point of “indifference”.

We (and our children) are constantly facing competition from international talent. As a matter of fact, the economic concept of “mobility of sources of production” recognizes that talent from overseas will continue to flow in because we have better reward for any level of talent.

Once we realize this and agree on this, we need to examine how and why the international talent gets here and what can be done. Another way to look at this is to follow the model that people in some overseas countries follow.

Likes and Dislikes: We allow our kids to follow their heart in deciding the career path. Academic Education is secondary in importance to Sports. Liberal Arts draw as big a crowd as the top professional schools for Law or Business. We need emphasis on mathematics and science. The children in other countries have to study mathematics and science. As a parent you can help your child gain interest in mathematics and science. Play small game around a theme which relates to the subject. Help your child develop interest and after a couple of years your child would be bright in the subjects like mathematics and science.

Treat it like a project: We are very cautious with money. Spending money on education is like having a project. What is the pay back period? Question the basics! Apply the “discounted cash flow” method to find the present value of the “investment”. The idea is not about discouraging a child from going to college and to become a carpenter, instead. The idea is to help the child understand that education, time spent on it, money spent on it, are, all valuable and you need to look at “maximizing” the returns. If a child studies mathematics and science, he can still choose to become a carpenter but if he does not study these subjects, perhaps the child has no other option.

Imagine, your child may be a year old, at present or a senior. This is a responsibility of the parent, the guardian to reinforce the ideas in a child. May be, we need to reduce the importance of independence of individual to help the individual (the child) develop into a more successful person who can compete at home and abroad with the international talent.

The fact is that in most other countries, children are getting help from the parents and we need to adjust, accordingly.