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| Volume 8, Issue 7 |
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In This Issue:
 Why some presentations … um-ah … stink
 With bold steps, fed chief quiets some criticism
 Bringing the discipline of finance to HR
Spreadsheet "worst practices"
To keep key staff, act like a grandparent
 Why does talent walk?
 Of MySpace & money: Don't try to muzzle millennials' salary talk
The best managers are the best listeners
 Culture shift: The ultimate hiring blunder
 Six free BlackBerry downloads you don't want to miss
 The reason for high oil prices
 Nine ways to reduce stress
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Why some presentations … um-ah … stink
Andy Craig is a presentation coach and owner of Elevator Speech, Inc. His clients include Microsoft, CA (Computer Associates), Deloitte, Humana, Reebok, Ingram Micro, Petrobras
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It was 9:15 a.m. on a typical day of presentation coaching.
My video camera was fixed on a software company executive, and I was sipping Starbuck’s. Forty minutes and more than 300 “um-ah” stammers later, I thought: “Why do so many great executives give such crummy presentations?” Here’s why: presentations in
corporate America are created backwards. Tell me if this sounds familiar: You’re assigned a date for a presentation. To customers, partners, employees, analysts, industry peers, whomever. You follow one of three paths: One, you email your marketing
department for a suitable PowerPoint presentation you can use with this group. After reviewing the slides, you think about how you’re going to talk to each one. Two, you...
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With bold steps, fed chief quiets some criticism
Ben S. Bernanke, left, speaking in Washington with Senator Wayne Allard as Senator Christopher Dodd, center, and Senator Charles Schumer discuss monetary
policy with the Treasury official Robert Steel (back to camera). Doug Mills/The New York Times
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Over a frantic weekend in mid-March, Ben S. Bernanke rewrote the rule book as chairman of the Federal Reserve.
Like a military commander applying overwhelming force, he took steps then and over the next two months that some at the central bank are now calling the Bernanke Doctrine. Today, Mr. Bernanke appears to have quieted many critics, especially on Wall Street,
who earlier said he was overly academic and slow to react to market conditions. But at the same time, new criticisms have surfaced that Mr. Bernanke has fanned inflation and contributed to the decline of the dollar by aggressively cutting interest rates. Some
say he has put at risk billions in public funds by accepting devalued assets like mortgages and auto loans as collateral for loans to financial institutions. And by thrusting the Fed into new realms of intervention and regulation, he has raised
questions about whether he is threatening the Fed’s independence. “It has been a really head-spinning range of unprecedented and bold actions,” said Charles W. Calomiris, professor of finance and economics at Columbia Business School, referring
to the Fed’s lending activities. “That is exactly as it should be. But I’m not saying that it’s without some cost and without some risk.” Timothy F. Geithner, president of
the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and a close Bernanke ally, defines the Fed chief’s “doctrine” as the overpowering use of...
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Bringing the discipline of finance to HR
Bringing the Discipline of Finance to HR For finance professionals, a sidestep into human resources can benefit both the company and, believe it or not, their own career prospects.
Rather than work their way up through the ranks of finance, a small but growing number of finance professionals is taking a career road less traveled — the one that runs through human resources. The desire by senior managers to gain a competitive edge in
the tough, global business environment is driving more companies to adopt "a leading-edge business practice," according to David de Wetter, head of the human-resources transformation practice at Watson Wyatt Worldwide. "Companies
increasingly want people in HR who understand finance and business." To get that edge, many senior executives now demand that...
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Spreadsheet "worst practices"
Here's how finance executives abuse the most-useful of computer programs — and how to do better.
There's little doubt that electronic spreadsheets are the most widely-used financial software application. But they are also the most-abused. It takes some effort — often a lot of effort — to develop and maintain sound, proper, and effective spreadsheet
practices. The spreadsheet's very ease of use encourages sloppy habits, and even seasoned finance professionals can find themselves falling into bad habits. At its worst, spreadsheet sloppiness, reflected in poor design, difficult manipulation, and
lack of documentation, can lead an auditor to declare that a company has ineffective controls over some aspect of financial reporting. But even less serious spreadsheet follies can cause major headaches. So what are some of the pitfalls of spreadsheet
abuse, and what would a properly constructed spreadsheet look like without them? Many common pitfalls may be detected in the following simple example...
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To keep key staff, act like a grandparent
For CFOs, building relationships with high-achieving managers two levels down can help keep them on board and prepare the company for departures of department leaders.
Is there anything quite like the love of a grandparent to make a young person feel warm, happy, and secure? Why, no. But what, you may ask, does that have to do with corporate finance? It's this: for corporate finance departments — currently besieged
by the twin demographic demons of looming baby-boomer retirements and a relative paucity of younger people to step in as replacements — retaining the talent they do have should be of the highest priority. And any CFO who believes that should start
acting like a grandparent, according to Tom Gimbel, chief executive of The LaSalle Network, a Chicago-based executive-search firm that also provides succession-planning consultation. The idea behind "corporate grandparenting" is...
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Why does talent walk?
Myra White teaches managing workplace performance and organizational behavior at Harvard University and is a clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School. She is the author of "Follow the Yellow Brick Road: A Harvard Psychologist's
Guide to Becoming a Superstar", a book based on her research into how over 60 well-known people became superstars.
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Retaining talent is a serious concern for organizations. Each time a talented knowledge worker walks out the door, they take valuable expertise and organizational knowledge with them.
In the past this wasn't a concern. People were considered replaceable. Organizational assets consisted of tangible things like the property and equipment that an organization owned. Not any more. Now people, particularly talented ones, are often an
organization's most valuable present and future assets. So why are organizations having so much trouble hanging onto talent? Why do talent become so disillusioned and leave? At the core of the problem is the fact that...
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Of MySpace & money: Don't try to muzzle millennials' salary talk
You’d never discuss how much money you make, right? Dude, that attitude is so 20th century!
The 20-somethings you work with eagerly dish about salaries, bonuses and other work topics you might consider taboo. Managers tempted to forbid such talk? Don’t let them! Here's why. Younger employees of the Millennial generation don’t share the reticence
baby boomers and Gen-Xers have about discussing salary, according to a recent New York Times article. Whether bragging on MySpace.com about their raises, swapping negotiating strategies at happy hour or even comparing bonuses in the break room,
young workers aren’t shy about talking about pay. Older staff (read: management) often worry that salary talk hurts morale—and could raise awkward questions about pay equity
and fairness. So it’s understandable that they might want employees to keep a lid on it. That’s a bad idea...
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The best managers are the best listeners
5 bad habits to guard against
To be an effective listener, you must pay keen attention to the speaker. Seems like common sense but, too often, we don’t walk the talk. As managers, it’s important to model this behavior for employees
and teach by example. To check your own effectiveness, take the following listening quiz to make sure you’re not guilty of these bad habits...
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Managers spend a good part of their workday listening to other people. But bear in mind, there’s a big difference between “passive” and “active” listening.
In many cases, managers are too busy thinking about their response rather than listening to the employee’s full statement. In a business setting, this lack of attention can result in costly mistakes, wasted time, poor service and management
failure. By listening fully and in a way that shows understanding and respect for the speaker, you develop a rapport and build trust. That’s the true foundation from which you can manage and influence others. Effective listeners use a four-step process to
ensure understanding: Managers spend much of their workday listening. But too many focus not on what employees are saying, but on what they are going to say in response. That's bad for business. Share this “Memos to Managers” article with your supervisors.
They'll learn four strategies for making sure they really hear what employees say...
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Culture shift: The ultimate hiring blunder
INCENTIVE online "Culture Shift" columnist Paul Levesque is an author, seminar leader and public speaker with two decades' experience as an international business consultant specializing in the connection between employee motivation
and customer satisfaction. He is a senior consultant with Boston-based Novations Inc., and is also founder and CEO of Customer Focus Breakthroughs Inc.
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Hint: It has nothing to do with hiring candidates with the wrong qualifications or experience.
The Good News:
"We needed someone with solid technical computer skills in this department to sort out all our local network headaches. I was extremely lucky to find a whiz-kid who knows
this stuff inside out. The guy’s technical savvy just blew every other job applicant out of the water."
The Bad News:
"Turns out everybody in the department finds the guy too abrasive and cranky to deal with, so they continue to try and fix their problems themselves. Now I have as many computer problems as I did before, plus one more person on the payroll who basically
does nothing all day." It's the most costly and damaging hiring blunder of all—yet, sad to say, also the most common. It's the "temporary amnesia" that sets in during hiring interviews—when interviewers are so busy making sure each applicant has the
right technical qualifications for the job, managers forget all about checking to see if any of the applicants also have the kind of personality or value system that will
strengthen the organization's culture. [How to interview and hire for cultural alignment...]
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Six free BlackBerry downloads you don't want to miss
Get the most out of your RIM BlackBerry smartphone without ever opening your wallet. Check out the following six free downloads.
One of the best things about Research In Motion (RIM) BlackBerry smartphones is their ability to download and install external applications. Every download adds a new level of value and customization to the devices, and BlackBerry users who don't take advantage
of this functionality simply aren't getting the most out of their smartphones. But like most things in life, the best BlackBerry downloads don't come free--with the exception of the following six applications. They include...
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The reason for high oil prices
"One of the things I think is very important to realize is that the growth in the world oil consumption is not that strong." —David Kelly, chief market strategist, J.P. Morgan Funds; The Washington Post, May 4, 2008
"...There is substantial evidence that the large amount of speculation in the current market has significantly increased [oil] prices." —U.S. Senate Staff Report, The Role of Market Speculation in Rising Oil and Gas Prices, June 27, 2006
On May 13, the price of a barrel of oil briefly hit a record of $126.98 on the New York Mercantile Exchange The reason was ostensibly that Iran was cutting oil production. But there is no gas shortage. So why are prices still going up? In late
April the American Association of Petroleum Geologists held its annual invitation-only dinner in Dallas for, as my source put it, "the bigwigs" of the energy industry. During this meeting, influential and knowledgeable CEOs reached the consensus that
"oil prices will likely soon drop dramatically and the long-term price increases will be in natural gas." Of course, despite the pedigrees of those in attendance, their forming a consensus on the direction of energy prices does not mean that it's written
in stone or is even going to happen. The group is clearly bullish on natural gas. But petroleum keeps getting more expensive. [Why ?...]
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Nine ways to reduce stress
Despite all the long hours and working weekends you've been pulling, you had another rough quarter.
While what you really need is a nice, long break, if you’re an executive, chances are that your workload won't allow it. The rigorous schedule simply comes with the territory.But staring at your computer screen all day and night and eating only what
you have time for will take its toll sooner or later--you're likely to burn out. If the health consequences of a lack of activity and focus on your diet aren't a motivator, consider the impact that general exhaustion might already be having on all
your hard work. [Top Techniques Hummingbird health coaches, who counsel hundreds of executives (mostly based in North America), typically work with clients immediately
following their annual physical exams. Cold, hard numbers, such as high cholesterol and blood-pressure levels, can be hard for business types to ignore...]
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