BNET1

• The Find: If Malcolm Gladwell is right and cockiness caused the financial crisis, than Business Insider thinks the bailout only made Wall Street’s problems worse.
• The Source: John Carney writing on Business Insider.

The Takeaway: Easy reading author and popular idea man Malcolm Gladwell’s latest piece for the New Yorker is bound to stir up debate in the business blogosphere with its conclusion that the real cause of the currently unfolding financial crisis was overconfidence on Wall Street. On Business Insider today Malcolm mania is already having its effect and Carney weighs in, suggesting that if Gladwell is right (and Carney thinks he is), than the bailout only made matters worse.  Read the rest of this entry »

• The Find: Of all the times it’s a good idea to be likable, interviews probably top the list, so here are ten ways you can spoil your first impression.
• The Source: A guest post by Jonathan Littman and Marc Hershon, authors of I Hate People!, on blog Punk Rock HR.

The Takeaway: Littman and Hershon have received a lot of great buzz for their new book (including here on BNET1), which outlines how to deal with problem people at work without sapping your own energy. Now they’re applying their knowledge of annoying office workers to aid job hunters by outlining ten simple ways to make sure an interviewer hates you – avoid. Read the rest of this entry »

• The Find: 99 percent of the time at work as elsewhere the best policy is honesty, but one author explains there are a few select scenarios where a white lie is appropriate.
• The Source: Nicole Williams author of Girl on Top (yes, this is a business book) writing on the Huffington Post.

The Takeaway: When it comes to explaining yourself and your goals at work your knee jerk reaction should certainly be well-polished honesty (though not, of course, over-sharing). But Williams, author of several books aimed at young, ambitious career women, asserts that not every occasion calls for the truth and lays out five scenarios in which she gives you permission to tell a productive fib. Read the rest of this entry »

• The Find: One blog is offering a reminder to hiring managers from the better angels of recruiting: you must call every candidate who hasn’t gotten the gig, even if picking up the phone is a miserable job.
• The Source: The recruiting blog Fistful of Talent.

The Takeaway: Getting a call to say you haven’t got a job certainly sucks, but for that matter, so does making that call, and picking up the phone to say “sorry, but you haven’t succeeded” is even more painful in the current job market. Great candidates are being turned away and many job seekers are emotionally frayed after an extended and frustrating search. But as Fistful of Talent insists, that’s no excuse to bow out of you responsibilities as a hiring manager. Read the rest of this entry »

• The Find: CEO confidence surged in the second quarter, according to new data, but the question remains as to why executives are suddenly feeling so hopeful.
• The Source: The Conference Board Measure of CEO Confidence.

The Takeaway: The Conference Board asks 100 business leaders from a wide selection of industries about their outlook for their business, industry and the economy in general each quarter. When the organization crunched the numbers for the second quarter they found something puzzling. Read the rest of this entry »

Older managers in their 40s and 50s may be hardest hit by the recession, but that doesn’t mean they’re simply caving in to the pressure of one of the toughest job markets in years. In fact, if the flood of comments that came in from last week’s post on older managers and the slump is to be believed, they’re coming up with innovative solutions and supporting each other all the way. Read the rest of this entry »

• The Find: In business, as in life, we all make mistakes, but you shouldn’t mess up your apology as well.
• The Source: An interview with John Kador, communications expert and author of Effective Apology: Mending Fences, Building Bridges, and Restoring Trust on the website of Tom Peters.

The Takeaway: Humans are imperfect creatures and mistakes are inevitable, but in business how should you handle them? Your mother would probably find that an obvious question: if you messed up, than you should apologize. But Kador has another reason managers should own up to their missteps: “individuals who report that they tend to apologize make more money, and individuals who report that they are reluctant to apologize make less money.” Now that you’re convinced, how do you apologize the right way? Read the rest of this entry »

• The Find: Each economic crisis is different and experts argue that the current slump may be particularly brutal on managers in their 40s and 50s.
• The Source: An in-depth article from Knowledge@Wharton.

The Takeaway: As Tolstoy famously observed, “happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,” and perhaps the same can be said of happy and less than happy economic times. Each recession is unique and has distinct causes and victims. For the latest downturn Knowledge@Wharton has identified one particularly hard-hit group: managers in their 40s and 50s. Read the rest of this entry »

• The Find: You don’t have to be “a jump-on-the-desk-and-shout-at-the-troops type of person” to be an excellent leader, argues one long-time manager.
• The Source: John Hollon writing on The Business of Management blog.
  

The Takeaway: When Wendy Kopp, the founder and CEO of Teach for America, recently told the New York Times that when she goes out to find new teachers, what she’s looking for is “not necessarily charisma,” the comment caught Hollon’s eye. Why? Read the rest of this entry »

• The Find: Employees love flexible working, but managers are duty bound to ensure accountability: here are three ways to make sure your team stays productive wherever and whenever they work.
• The Search: Ashley Acker writing on the blog Cube Rules.

The Takeaway: Your employees may be clamoring for a results-only work environment and the right to wear Bermuda shorts in the office or come in when they please, and hey, just because you’re a manager, doesn’t mean you’re not a nice guy. You want happy employees, but you also want accountable, productive employees. So how can you keep track of your team even if you give them free rein to work when and how they please? Acker has three suggestions. Read the rest of this entry »