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Showing posts from October, 2012

To Smile or not to Smile..Power and Neuroscicence

So, you cross each other through the elevator, or halls of the company... This one never smiles.You wonder, people wonder... According to Holtz in Wall Street Journal  people who think that they are in a position of power would have a tendency to smile less, or not to smile back. According to a research from The University of California  in San Diego "a smile can embody workplace authority". The research used facial electromyography method. It recorded involuntary facial muscles movements. They concluded that "when people felt they were powerful themselves, they would rarely return a high-ranking person's smile" and "those who felt more powerless, however, automatically mimicked everyone else's smile, regardless of rank." There is a large bank on related research on UCSD 's site should you be interested in reading further on the subject. One thing is sure, there are intricacies between emotions, perceptions, culture and reactions wh...

Great Boss? Where is HR?

So, you've got a new boss. How do you like him?  You do not know what to think of him. Let's call him Full Smith. He has been your new boss for a few weeks now. You have an open mind and you wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. He sure comes across as assertive, not necessarily imposing. Just very assertive. Let's just say that lately, he has been qualified otherwise by one of his peers. We will call him assertive and aggressive at tackling his business. Assertive to the point that by his first ten days on the job he had made 80% of the women in the department cry. Crying for what? Different reasons. They were either enraged or probably "just" offended. They all said they they felt demeaned however.  And you, you are a man. Not much of a man do you think because it came to your mind that maybe you should resign. This boss never acknowledges your little accomplishments. He points out  at your failures. It is a constant reminder.  By now you feel like...