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All roads lead to resilience in the US

07/08/2014 /

According to psychologists, the so-called resilience is our ability to bounce back when faced with a variety of challenges. It is a very complex process and none of us is perfect—we all have moments when we do not appear to be very well adapted to the conditions we are facing. By the way, research has shown that resilience is ordinary, not extraordinary. People commonly demonstrate resilience.

One example is the response of many Americans to 9/11 and individuals’ efforts to rebuild their lives. In order to develop this much more crucial soft skill in the American contemporary society, the Road2Resilience website has been launched a couple of years ago.

It represents the digital manifestation of a very big idea in order to advance the cause of national resilience by highlighting innovative ideas in emergency management, homeland security and crisis planning.

The hard road to resilience involves behaviours, thoughts and actions that can be learned and developed at every level of the American society to respond quickly and wisely to future crises.

Sunflower

Image source: CNN

Author: Teodora Danisi

7 Ways You Can Easily Increase Your Willpower

05/08/2014 /

Eric Barker from Time Online Magazine and from the blog Barking Up The Wrong Tree suggests 7 ways to increase your willpower and live a better life:

  1. “Keystone Habits” Are A Magic Bullet
  2. Do Important Things Early
  3. Improve Willpower By Not Using Willpower
  4. Use Willpower To Build Willpower
  5. Fundamentals: Eat And Sleep
  6. Procrastinating Can Improve Willpower
  7. You’re Going To Screw Up… and That’s Okay!

Read more on: 7 Ways You Can Easily Increase Your Willpower

12812421444_07b6107f53_z

Image source: Flickr – Pollobarba

Cybersecurity: Flash Memory

01/08/2014 /

The Diplocalendar 2014 realised by S. Baldi and E. Gelbstein is dedicated to “Cybersecurity: Guidelines for diplomats” and is based on the assumption that “Cyberspace is inherently insecure“.

For the month of August the attention is drawn on “Flash Memory”

Diplocalendar2014_Page_18Image: Diplofoundation

The set of images used in the Diplocalendar 2014 can also be consulted on Slideshare

Why diplomats “lie”

31/07/2014 /

During a training seminar, Ruben Brunsveld of the Stockholm Institute for Public Speaking (StIPS) asked the question: “Which words do you associate with diplomacy and diplomatic language?”

He found out that the words commonly associated with diplomacy are intrasparent, unclear, vague and even lying.

Actually, diplomatic language can be extremely confusing if you are not used to the codes. It is essential to know the context of the communication and the relationships among the people involved to understand the meaning of a “diplomatic” conversation. So why don’t they just say what they think?

In the international arena, actors coming from different backgrounds meet each other, bearing different communication styles and value systems. Diplomatic language is used to avoid mistakes and to establish “the rules of the game”.

In a field where interpersonal interaction is crucial, those rules are needed to communicate without running the risk of offending your counterpart. For sure, you have to know and practice them, taking into account that diplomats do not lie. They just “soften”.

Read the full article at http://stips.se/why-diplomats-lie/

What they say

What they mean
We believe the Dutch proposal is very interesting What a strange Dutch proposal, we will not accept it!
We understand the general idea behind your proposal We have a serious problem with how you want to implement this
We believe this proposal deserves further examination We cannot accept it in this form
We have complete understanding for the French concerns, however we feel that we should …. We disagree with the French
I hope we can be pragmatic and work towards a constructive solution Please stop whining about technicalities
I am not quite convinced the German proposal reflects the best way out for all of us. We will not accept the German proposal.
By inserting this you make it hard for me to convince my colleagues. Stop making my position difficult.
I ask your understanding for the fact that this is very important for Sweden. It is important but I cannot tell you why. Ask me at the coffee machine.
I have been instructed by my government to propose the following solution. I know this is not acceptable for you. Do not shoot the messenger.
The internal coordination process is still ongoing We did not have time to look over the document.

Self irony: how to fight the Excess of Success

29/07/2014 /

To become a successful individual has never been an easy task, and has always cost many sacrifices and endeavours to those who have undertaken the effort. That’s why those few who succeed in life, and have plenty of proofs of their success, are most of the time inclined to show it off to the rest of the world.

“Once you get at the top, you’ll stay at the top” they think, which is true most of the times. But even if being airy and full of it will never undermine a CV full of shiny stuff, it can cause irreparable harm to what other people think of you. Humbleness is not required to get to success and leadership, but since a successful leader needs to be loved – not just feared – by his team, humbleness is essential to keep being successful and get always more of it.

A practical and effective way for a smart guy to show people he understands the value of staying humble is self irony and understatement: it helps minimizing the person without undermining his role, thus showing to a team that the leader himself is able to grasp the difference between the two. It is also a cunning way to keep a team respecting Leadership without fearing the Leader.

Samuele Fazzi

1Image source: Flickr – http://bit.ly/1of5Lp1– Duncan Hull (CC BY 2.0)

Starting a New Job

24/07/2014 /

When you get a new job, elation and excitement come first and you’re enthusiastic about all the new possibilities before you.
After that, however, the panic begins. You start to get nervous about your new responsibilities, the corporate culture and the people with whom you’ll be working.
While starting a new job can be a stressful experience, this important transition doesn’t have to be full of tension and anxiety.
In this article, Mind Tools covers strategies for making this transition easier, and it offers some tips for building solid relationships with your new colleagues:

1. Give yourself 90 days to become fully effective in a new role;
2. Focus on a few quick wins;
3. Build the new skills you need;
4. Navigate the new culture;
5. Learn who’s who.

Starting a new role can cause a lot of stress. And you’ll make it harder on yourself if you try to do too much too soon. Spend plenty of time getting to know your new culture. Your boss doesn’t expect you to create full value for the company during your first few months, so take it slowly. And try to focus on a few small victories that will help you establish credibility.

Read more on: Starting a new job: getting used to your new role

new-career

Image source: Loren’s World

Posted by Camilla Sicuro.

 

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