Employers want to select, retain and promote individuals who are dependable, resourceful, ethical and good communicators. Gone are the days when possessing a degree or high technical abilities would act as a gateway to a dream job. Today, demanding employers want more from employees than knowledge and experience. While these “hard skills” can make a […]
Some cities in our part of the world can sweep you off your feet: Beirut reins you in with its mosaical chaos; Cairo charms you with its sea of smiles; Istanbul is magnetic with its spectacular culture; and Medina soothes you with its ambient spirituality. But Dubai? Dubai strikes you with its unparalleled ambition. In […]
Success is a relevant thing, but there is no doubt about one other thing, that the most successful people in life are the ones with the most empathy. Empathy is the art of putting yourself in other people’s shoes. You get to see what they see, and feel what they feel. This doesn’t mean that […]
Hundreds and hundreds of articles are written about communication. In almost every soft skills training, no matter what topic we’re discussing, communication is addressed. Is communication overly communicated as a topic? The answer is a definite NO. Why? I believe lack of effective communication is still the number one reason for most of the problems […]
It was a windy May afternoon in 1954 at Oxford. A far bigger crowd than would normally have been seen at the university’s stadium gathered there because word had gone round lecture halls, coffee shops, pubs and places that something historical was going to happen. An attempt was to be made on the four-minute mile […]
As part of a weekend retreat organized by the Rotary clubs of Lebanon, I once delivered an introductory session on public speaking to a highly energetic crowd of university students. The session took place in a hotel ballroom in the picturesque town of Ehden, it was packed with more than 130 attendees and half of […]
Culture is usually defined as being ‘characterized by refined taste, manners, and good education’. An indispensable addition to this definition in today’s ever growing world of international melting pots, would be the ability to use the stated ‘refined taste, manners, and good education’ in appreciating and coping with other culturally diverse tastes, manners and schools […]
What is Emotional Intelligence? The ability to understand, express, predict and influence the emotional behavior of yourself and others is Emotional Intelligence. “Emotions” & “Intelligence”, these two words pose the same question in my mind as what came first, the egg or the chicken. Humans being more intelligent have emotions more complex than animals. There […]
Seeing kids in malls acting all restless is the norm rather than the exception these days. With high intakes of sugar and high addiction to iPads, it becomes rather tiresome to scold children after breaking into a tantrum in the middle of the crowds. Do you know when I feel like getting into a tantrum […]
“The art and science of questions is the source of all knowledge.” – Thomas Berger As Learning and Development professionals, we certainly know that the usefulness of the knowledge we acquire, and that the effectiveness of the actions we take depends on the quality of questions we ask. Asking questions is an important skill we […]
