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  • #2180440

    Bonjour

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    by jerry_sicilia ·

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    • #3080941

      ZT – Soft Skills in a Hard World

      by jerry_sicilia ·

      In reply to Bonjour

      People: Ramon Padilla Jr.

      Soft Skills in a Hard World

      Tags: leadership, communications, meetings, management skills, listening

      For anyone working in technology with dreams of becoming
      senior management, you might be surprised to find that while your hard
      technical skills will get you so far, it will be your softer skills that will
      take you the rest of the way.

      By soft skills, I mean those skills that are part of day to
      day life as a senior manager: Writing a
      clear and concise memorandum, listening, communicating, public speaking,
      running a meeting, conducting interviews, and managing people and resources to
      accomplish objectives.

      These skills are not found in your study guide for your MCSE
      or your Oracle Database handbook. They
      are acquired by some if they are lucky through formal education, while others
      have had to pick them up over time by modeling others. Often times, it is a combination of both.

      I was most fortunate to have a class while pursuing my
      MBA at the University of Louisville that was called ?Leadership?. It was taught by the Executive in Residence
      at the time, T. Ballard Morton. It was
      and remains the most important class I ever had in a university setting and the
      one class whose content I use every single day of my work life. I want to publicly thank Mr. Morton for
      coming up with such a class in the first place and for making such an impact in
      my life. You can read his thoughts here
      on the class and how he came up with it as well as what he stressed to us
      budding managers.

      For those of you who do not have a T. Ballard Morton in your
      life, I wanted to share a few of the golden nuggets with you that he provided
      to me during that wonderful semester under his tutelage.

      The first nugget is this book: The Elements of Style. If you
      don?t have it, go get it. If you do, reacquaint yourself with
      it. What is this book? I quote Wikipedia ?The Elements of Style (“the
      little book” ? 1918,
      “Strunk & White”) is an American
      English
      writing
      style
      guide
      originally detailing eight elementary rules of usage, ten elementary
      principles of composition, “a few matters of form” and a list of
      words or expressions described by its prescriptivist
      authors as being commonly misused. Updated editions of the
      paperback book are often required reading for American high school and college
      composition classes.? It is
      invaluable. I had lost my copy after a
      few moves and just recently reacquired it.
      It is not just must reading,
      you need to try to commit as much of it to memory as possible.

      The second gem is public speaking. You don?t need a book here per se (although there are some good
      ones out there) ? you need practice.
      How to get it? I had the luxury
      of doing a great deal of it in class before having to do it in a work setting,
      but if you can?t find a class, Toastmasters International is a great way to get it.

      The third gem: ?How to Get Your Point Across in 30 Seconds or Less? by Milo Frank. It is an oldie but a goody. I also recommend his ?How to Run a Successful Meeting in Half the
      Time?. Both books will aid in your
      effective communication with those around you.

      The fourth gem
      unfortunately is out of print but I have found a very effective replacement in
      ?Listening: The Forgotten Skill: A Self-Teaching Guide?
      by Madelyn
      Burley-Allen.

      The fifth gem is MANAGEMENT & MACHIAVELLI : A Prescription for Success in Your
      Business
      (Paperback) by Antony
      Jay
      . This book will give you some insight into
      corporate politics and is a great book for reflection on your own organization.

      The sixth gem didn?t come from his class but I
      have found it very valuable when having to run meetings using parliamentary
      procedure. ?Roberts Rules in Plain
      English? by Doris P. Zimmerman.

      Lastly, try and find a mentor. If you are fortunate, you have one working
      with you everyday; you just haven?t taken advantage of it yet. They don?t have to be in the same department
      as you or even organization. Here is an
      excellent article on finding mentors.

      I hope that by pointing out some of the tools that were
      placed in my toolbox early on in my career you too can benefit as you climb
      your way up your career ladder.

      Good luck!

    • #3080940

      ZT – Soft Skills in Hard World

      by jerry_sicilia ·

      In reply to Bonjour

      For anyone working in technology with dreams of becoming senior management, you might be surprised to find that while your hard technical skills will get you so far, it will be your softer skills that will take you the rest of the way.

      By soft skills, I mean those skills that are part of day to day life as a senior manager: Writing a clear and concise memorandum, listening, communicating, public speaking, running a meeting, conducting interviews, and managing people and resources to accomplish objectives.

      These skills are not found in your study guide for your MCSE or your Oracle Database handbook. They are acquired by some if they are lucky through formal education, while others have had to pick them up over time by modeling others. Often times, it is a combination of both.
      I was most fortunate to have a class while pursuing my MBA at the University of Louisville that was called ?Leadership?. It was taught by the Executive in Residence at the time, T. Ballard Morton. It was and remains the most important class I ever had in a university setting and the one class whose content I use every single day of my work life. I want to publicly thank Mr. Morton for coming up with such a class in the first place and for making such an impact in my life. You can read his thoughts here on the class and how he came up with it as well as what he stressed to us budding managers.

      For those of you who do not have a T. Ballard Morton in your life, I wanted to share a few of the golden nuggets with you that he provided to me during that wonderful semester under his tutelage.

      The first nugget is this book: The Elements of Style. If you don?t have it, go get it. If you do, reacquaint yourself with it. What is this book? I quote Wikipedia ?The Elements of Style (“the little book” ? 1918, “Strunk & White”) is an American English writing style guide originally detailing eight elementary rules of usage, ten elementary principles of composition, “a few matters of form” and a list of words or expressions described by its prescriptivist authors as being commonly misused. Updated editions of the paperback book are often required reading for American high school and college composition classes.? It is invaluable. I had lost my copy after a few moves and just recently reacquired it. It is not just must reading, you need to try to commit as much of it to memory as possible.

      The second gem is public speaking. You don?t need a book here per se (although there are some good ones out there) ? you need practice. How to get it? I had the luxury of doing a great deal of it in class before having to do it in a work setting, but if you can?t find a class, Toastmasters International is a great way to get it.

      The third gem: ?How to Get Your Point Across in 30 Seconds or Less? by Milo Frank. It is an oldie but a goody. I also recommend his ?How to Run a Successful Meeting in Half the Time?. Both books will aid in your effective communication with those around you.

      The fourth gem unfortunately is out of print but I have found a very effective replacement in ?Listening: The Forgotten Skill: A Self-Teaching Guide? by Madelyn Burley-Allen.

      The fifth gem is MANAGEMENT & MACHIAVELLI : A Prescription for Success in Your Business (Paperback) by Antony Jay. This book will give you some insight into corporate politics and is a great book for reflection on your own organization.

      The sixth gem didn?t come from his class but I have found it very valuable when having to run meetings using parliamentary procedure. ?Roberts Rules in Plain English? by Doris P. Zimmerman.

      Lastly, try and find a mentor. If you are fortunate, you have one working with you everyday; you just haven?t taken advantage of it yet. They don?t have to be in the same department as you or even organization. Here is an excellent article on finding mentors.

      I hope that by pointing out some of the tools that were placed in my toolbox early on in my career you too can benefit as you climb your way up your career ladder.
      Good luck!

    • #3096248

      测试中文

      by jerry_sicilia ·

      In reply to Bonjour

      测试一下这个网站是否支持中文。

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