I just returned from “Mihai Viteazul” National College in Bucharest where I gave a lecture as a guest of Leaders Foundation. I have been asked what I would do if I were in their situation. I think that together with taking seriously formal education is getting social experiences at all kinds from getting a job, taking a summer course, volunteering or (should mom and dad have plenty of cash) going around the world for one year. This would allow that the social part of one’s brain be programmed in a way closer to his/her nature. Failing to do this would allow other people (such as your first employer!!) to install in their programs without any resistance. Think the way we install software and pop-up jumps saying that some existing program won’t let you install just anything!

Real Case:

The story, part one

A month ago, a friend of mine had an incident with his 3-years old VW Polo. As one of his employees was driving on one of the few and short motorways in Romania the car overheated and stopped.

My friend went to find out at the dealer what was wrong with it and soon discovered that the engine is destroyed beyond repair. The car’s mileage was 30000 km and had all checkups done properly as suggested in that authorized dealers service shop and everything under driver’s control were OK when problem occurred. The manufacturer warranty has just expired and the dealer immediately volunteered to make him a good offer for a new engine. However, my friend was less than happy to invest in a new engine for his old Polo an amount pretty close to the market value of the car. So he, furiously, requested a letter from VW stating that the Polo engines are designed to work properly for only 30000 km. (more…)

Two months ago I was talking to a friend who works in company involved in a merger. He mentioned about their management request that sales people should allocate time in the field to simply get know their counterparts from the other merging company in their territory.

I was wondering then why? Pretty often sales people within the same company either do not know each other or (if they know) do not work well together or care about their colleagues (not to mention that sometimes they truly hate each other). It may be nice that they are aware about who their colleagues are but is quite unlikely to provide any benefit in the short or medium run. It is so funny how during business as usual management do not really care who knows whom but in a merger situation they want everyone to know everyone to show progress through the process. It’s a kind of “keep’em busy until we figure out what to do next!” (more…)

I was talking the other day with a fellow trainer about his move from corporation to a solo trainer job. He expressed his satisfaction about getting rid of what he called “employee brainwashing” tactics of his former corporations which he admitted he’s not supposed to talk about during his training. Even more, he confessed to be actually giving his hand to such brainwashing during the trainings he delivers. (more…)

TRUE STORY:

There was once a medical rep that came to his colleagues and proposed to play a football game against (possibly) their biggest competitor. In a macho style atmosphere (they knew nothing about football capabilities of the others) the majority of his colleagues subscribed and a place and a date have been set. (more…)