It's About Values

US Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer was appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton in 1994. He is known for his pragmatic approach to constitutional law and is generally associated with the more liberal side of the Court. He is the author of Making Our Democracy Work: A Judge's View. This is what he has to say on the Constitution:

It's About Values

Lack of Management Skills Hitting UK Competitiveness

The UK is suffering from a leadership and management skills deficit which is hitting the country’s competitiveness, according to the CIPD.

Responding to the government’s Skills for Sustainable Growth consultation, the institute said that much of the public spending on skills is failing to have the desired effect because of poor management is hitting employees’ motivation and engagement. On the other hand, good management could have a “skills multiplier effect” that would boost capability across the board.

Stephanie Bird, CIPD director of public policy and HR capability, said: ‘we are concerned that too much spending on skills – by government and employers alike – is being wasted because managers lack the skills to engage, motivate, coach and develop people in the workplace.’

Bird pointed out that the UK invests less in management development than its main international competitors and that its managers are rated less positively by employees.

“This is clearly a shared problem which requires action by both employers and government,” said Bird. “However, government can play a powerful role in ‘nudging’ investment in leadership and people management skills. Such investment is crucial if we are to unlock the wasted skills spending and individual potential that is holding Britain back in the productivity stakes.”

For more, see: http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/pm/articles/2010/09/uk-lack-of-management-skills-hitting-competitiveness-warns-cipd.htm

Lack of Management Skills Hitting UK Competitiveness

Don't Fear Failure

Issue:

Fearing failure, you anticipate only positive outcomes. When the inevitable misstep takes place, you're caught without a quick plan to right the wrong.

Solution: 

Take a lesson from expert kayakers: flips are going to happen. Practice the rolls that put you back in control and avoid capsizing.

For more, see: http://executiveeducation.wharton.upenn.edu/wharton-at-work/1010/dont-fear-failure-1010.cfm

Don't Fear Failure

Team USA gets Inspiration from a True Patriot

Safe to say, Major Dan Rooney will have a more leisurely view of the 38th Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor than he had the last time the biennial event was staged. Two years ago as the U.S. faced off against Europe in Kentucky, Rooney, an F-16 fighter pilot with the Oklahoma Air National Guard, was in Baghdad, watching the event on the Armed Forces Network while taking a break from his tour of duty. This time around, he has travelled to Wales to watch in person as an invited guest of U.S. captain Corey Pavin. The captain even asked Rooney to talk to his team Tuesday night after dinner.

So what would a Ryder Cup golfer have in common with a man who spends part of his life piloting fighter jets? A lot, actually. When Rooney climbs into the cockpit of  a single-seat, single-engine F-16, he said there is not a more individualistic endeavour in the world. But in truth, every time he flies, he is a significant cog in a powerful team, with many others on the ground and in the air depending on him.

“You become one,” he says of his inherent mission. “When I’m up there in the black skies of Iraq delivering weapons to kids, they’re trusting their lives to me. A lot of accountability exists there.”

Team USA gets Inspiration from a True Patriot