The Difference Between Good and Bad Managers

Not all managers are good and not all are bad. Most fall somewhere in between. By having some way of understanding the differences between good and bad managers you can gauge your own. The ability to get tasks done is different than the people skills that managers need to succeed. The difference between good and bad....

Good:

Listens to employees needs

Motivates employees to perform at their best

Achieves agendas by drawing in talent

Spends the time to understanding their employees

Can develop personal relationships

Emotionally intelligent

Skillful in their work

Creates confidence

Short and long-term plan

Allows others to manager their own affairs.

Bad:

Doesn't really listen

Focused on their agenda without motivating others

Has a hard time interacting with others

People don't have confidence in their abilities

Seems to be self-focused

Emotionally closed and explosive when angry

Short-term strategies without a long-term plan

Lacks team building skills

Lacks skill and blames others

Micromanages

Tips to Detox Your Brain

You may have heard of detoxing your body by eating the right kinds of food but not of detoxing your brain. Detoxing your brain can improve your outlook on life and renew your focus on your job. A cluttered head with lots of useless toxic thoughts won't give us the best performance.

1.) Find something you enjoy that relaxes you.

Sometimes we move through our working careers and don't take time to find things that we truly enjoy. It is beneficial to find work-life balance so that we can enjoy work and and not be plagued by regret and a negative gnawing feeling that we are neglecting something.

2.) Can you lose yourself in the flow.

Those activities that are the best are the ones that help you get into the flow and forget where you are or how much time you spent on the activity. For some it might be painting while for others it could be sports. It allows you to truly just be in the moment and process your thoughts.

3.) You can connect with yourself.

Not all activities allow you to connect with yourself, your needs, and feelings. It is important to create a healthy mind be being yourself and understanding yourself. Find those activities that allow your brain to slow down and feel at peace.

Are Pension Funds in Need of New Leadership?

The Central States Pension Fund that 1,500 employers contributed to and 407,000 people rely on will likely be reduced to almost nothing. Projections are that it will be out of money in 10 years and there is no viable plan to save it. Employees are receiving this bad news now, have no way out, and the problems were present for years. Are our pension funds in need of new leadership?

Sure....managers can claim "they didn't know" but it is their job to know, managed and project possible scenarios. If they were not doing this then they were not doing their jobs and should be questioned.

Personally I love pension funds because in theory they guarantee we take care of the elderly when they can no longer can work. The problem is that other people love pension funds as well and this opens them up to all types of ethical problems and poor decisions.

As Detroit pension fiasco showed us, pension funds are so attractive that they can become part of financial lining of a city and its politicians. Scrupulous people and unethical businesses got involved, paid bribes, and wasted employees retirement money. Some got caught and some walked....no one would dare to oppose them until the FBI stepped in.

Those that raised a protest were swiped away as trouble makers.

Central States Pension Fund might be a different case but is likely based on some of the very same poor decisions that caused similar funds to go bankrupt. It didn't just run out of money one day and short-sighted decisions must have been made along the path. The employees get thrown into poverty and the business and fund managers move onto other opportunities.

I'm a capitalist at heart but I believe that when a promise is made it should be kept. A tall order in today's world! The problem is that government can't be responsible for other people's decisions. There is a growing need for ethics and values in fund leadership. The way we have been doing it isn't working and we are now seeing fund after fund implode because of poor management.

Trans Pacific Trade Deal to Help or Harm Economy?

There has been a lot of debate over the Trans-Pacific Trade Deal and whether or not it will be helpful. Let me first say there is no clear answer as all trade deals have a give and take aspect as each country focuses on what they need. It can be said that those countries that engage in isolationist views typically don't do as well as those who willingly embrace
the market.

Consider that growing countries need access to investment capital, cheaper resources, and cutting edge technologies to succeed then creating trade deals that feed American companies with what they need will make a big difference. At least in theory, but in real life it gets more complicated as local companies must be ready to compete and city governments must have the policies enacted that help businesses grow.

The problem is that some American companies have some internal work to do before they can maximize their opportunities under new treaties. They will succeed and grow if they can get their products to the market and they will fail if foreign companies have better offerings at a better price point.

The treaty really isn't the issue. The issue is our current capabilities in terms of business and governance that will determine if this treaty will allow for maximum benefits that draws opportunities to the country or if our failure to compete will cause resources to move overseas. If we are afraid then we should get moving and start putting the American spirit to work. Treaty or no treaty we cant keep away the invisible hand of the free market forever.

San Diego Becomes #9 for Entreprenuership

San Diego is quicking becoming a hot market for new businesses ventures that will draw more investment and greater activity. The Kauffman Foundation's Startup Activity report shows San Diego moving up to the 9th best start-up locations. The index looked at:

-Rate of New Entrepreneurs-
-Opportunity Share of New Entrepreneurs
-Startup Density

Movement up for San Diego means the city is improving as a place to do business. This is important for drawing in fresh talent and ensuring that new companies are growing and thriving in a way that lead to jobs a few years down the road.

As a nation we also seem to be starting more companies that we did previously. This can make a difference between a successful nation and one that fails. American must maintain its entrepreneurial approach if it wants to lead markets and maintain its competitive position against new challenges.

The Factors of Grade Inflation

Grades seem to be the primary focus of students who judge their performance by a little letter that gets noted in their transcripts. They put pressure on professors to raise those grades but don't often consider the greater significance of learning. The end result is rising grades that have little impact on learning.

There are a couple of factors that are at play that create this situation. They are 1.) the student, 2.) the professor and 3.) the university system. When one of these factors are not in alignment grades begin to inch upwards thereby reducing the quality of education.

The student

The student has a natural interest in getting the highest grade with the least amount of work. It is a natural effort and reward calculation.Asking students to think about the long-term consequences of high grades without knowledge mastery won't have much effect because many don't have this level of awareness.

The professor

Some professors simply don't care and don't want to have poor ratings by students. By giving their students high grades they get less questions, have less complaints, and in turn have less work to do. It is easier to grade lightly and avoid time consuming challenges.

The university system

Administration determines the performance networks that reward/punish professors for their work. If student complaints create havoc on professors sense of security, grade appeals are constant, and the metrics reward those professors who don't challenge their students, then most professors will get lenient.

Call for International Business Education Lesson Plans

The U.S. Chapter of the International Society for Business Education (ISBE) is seeking quality lesson plans to be published in the book Creative Teaching Ideas for International Business. The lesson plans may include international topics in any business and management courses that attempt to integrate global content. The lesson plans need to use the “Lesson Plan Format” provided in this call (See the required format attached). Subject areas needed:

International Business (general topics)

International Marketing

International Finance

International Law

International Ethics

International HR

International Entrepreneurship

International/Intercultural Communications

International Management

Language Integrations

Global Logistics – Supply chain management.

Deadline for submission: May 30, 2016.

Submit lesson plans to:

Irina Weisblat, EdD – President-elect of ISBE, at:  Irina.weisblat@ashford.edu

All submissions must be in electronic format. Submissions must include any supplemental materials (handouts, presentations, files) in their native format (i.e. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, etc.).

The primary author must be a member of ISBE. All authors will receive one free copy of the book. No other gratuity or payment will be provided.

Please address any questions to Dr. Irina Weisblat at Irina.weisblat@ashford.edu


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