Comments on: 10 Skills for future success

By: David

David — Wed, 23 Nov 2005 11:13:30 +0000

The clever man knows all the roads, the wise man knows the one right road.

By: eMerging

eMerging — Fri, 02 Sep 2005 13:03:09 +0000

See my post relating to this at [URL=http://www.emerging.co.za/megablog/index.php]eMerging human[/URL]. I\’ve referenced your site – hopefully my readers will bring some additional energy to your exciting project.

By: riaans

riaans — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 06:04:12 +0000

The concept of discipline is very important. To me displine is not just sticking to something and seeing it through, but also forcing yourself to better who you are and the environment of those around you.

By: riaans

riaans — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 06:03:59 +0000

By: anj

anj — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 20:58:02 +0000

I\’ve found from personal experience that many people are averse to sharing \’too much\’. This is usually because they feel that they might lose the upper hand or the advantage if they do this.On the contrary, sharing knowledge is similar to the biblical principle of giving to receive. When you freely and voluntarily share knowledge with someone you feel could benefit from it, then you open the doors for that person or someone else to reciprocate. And it often occurs in the most timeous or unexpected way.And the most exciting sharing occurs with people on the fringes of your network. This is when your mind and views get stretched in all sorts of directions.This knowledge sharing is another form of lifelong learning – and I\’ve found that no knowledge I\’ve gained from sharing has ever gone to waste. It\’s filed away somewhere in my head until the right time or event requires it.

By: Gerrit

Gerrit — Sat, 02 Jul 2005 13:26:02 +0000

The points mentioned in the article can no doubt be applied to general fields of business (in fact, I would believe many of these skills are underlying necessities for success!) To add to some of the descriptions of the skills:Adapting to change in the economic environment or in your market has been \”headline advice\” to businessmen for many years now, especially because of increased globalization. But it is a challenge for leaders to create a culture in which they can delegate quick-decision making powers to employees without fear of having to be informed later that a wrong or less effective decision was made (different from the one they would have made if he had the time for instance). One solution is to hire (e.g.) a manager who has the insight in your area of business, who share in the leader\’s vision and passion and, of course, is compensated adequately for his abilities. A business does not run itself: it is not run by a computer system or the production line robots, it is run by decision makers, strategy planners and problem-solvers. I agree wholeheartedly that \”people\” lies at the heart of any business. The comment on \”trust\” in an organization is so very true. You can easily apply it to more practical every-day scenarios: families and relationships, sport teams and even student hostels! If these groups feel they can trust each other, the rewards are reaped endlessly. Less conflict, stronger collective goal-orientation and even an increased level of satisfaction in what they do together. Again it is up to the leader to establish an environment of \”trust\”. It is his responsibility to make sure employees feel at home within the business and with each other. If the CFO seems to distrust his administrative staff, he can be sure that a few words (or thoughts!) of discontent will flow once he leaves the room.Regarding communication: another fundamental key to success! The business leader cannot possibly expect his subordinates to automatically know what his vision for the business is if it is not communicated to them regularly and in a practical way. Let your employees be (or club members, congregation goers, or whoever you have a responsibility to) and you will soon find that you need to do some damage control. A steady stream of information on what is expected of those people and regular updates on what they can expect, will make the \”team-building exercise\” so much easier. It will remove unwanted disinformation being circulated, increase the effectiveness of the system in which they work and can even give them a sense of belonging.Knowledge management I must admit is a bit more difficult to provide feedback on. From own experiences in a very strict corporate environment however, I can relate to the fact that people might feel inhibited from sharing just any knowledge, being creative or voicing their own opinions which goes against the accepted norm. In a world where your rewards are measured by the subjective opinion of a superior on a 360 degree feedback form, you might feel tempted to simply do what fits in with the group’s norm. This stifles talent and inhibits employee contributions above what is expected of them.[And o my goodness: in a fast changing world (even in e-bussines!), isn\’t innovation and talent what it is all about?!]Gerrit Penning