Everyone has weaknesses and pain points, and pushing them tends to throw us off balance. "Hot buttons" are anything that triggers an involuntary emotional reaction in you, making you mad (negative "hot buttons") or inspiring (positive "hot buttons"). When someone pushes one of our hot buttons, two things happen: our attention is diverted from other, sometimes more important things, and the...

Hundreds of vacancies for entry-level professionals have been opened by leading investment banks amid rising investment activity and associated emotional burnout among employees, Bloomberg news agency reported. Recruiting agency Odyssey Search Partners reports that 1,342 vacancies for investment analysts have already been opened in New York, 1,214 - in London and 588 - in Hong Kong. HSBC...

Communicating with an irrational person is a skill comparable in difficulty to competing in the Olympics, and you'll have a better chance of success if you start training early and build up some decent mental muscle. Technique #1. Change the attitude. When an irrational person attacks (with words), your first instinct is to hit back. But that won't work. So don't think of it as an attack....

Imagine if you dialed 911 and the operator also panicked and did not send anyone to you. If everyone agreed with everyone else, we would still be afraid of falling off the edge of the earth. Being able to think has literally changed the world. In order to calm down and mind your own business, you must learn to separate your thoughts and feelings from those of others. So, differentiation is the...

Chances are your company already has a mission statement. Perhaps it adorns the walls of your office or, conversely, it sits on a shelf or in a desk drawer somewhere. If this is the case and you haven't seen or heard anything about your mission statement in a long time, it's time to review it. Unlike a vision and strategy, which can be achieved over time, a mission cannot be fully realised. It is...

Sometimes we think that everyone around us is to blame for our troubles. Surprisingly, our worst enemy is ourselves. And it is because of our self-destructive behaviour that relationships often break down - at work or in the family. There is a way out - it's time to learn to work on our mistakes. Don't give up too quickly Sometimes we get inspired by novelty, and when we get into the boring and...

One of the world's largest consulting firms, McKinsey, has announced that Bob Sternfels has been elected as the new global managing partner, the de facto head of the company. He will succeed the current head of McKinsey, Kevin Sneader, on 1 July 2021. Mr Sternfels, like the previous heads of the company, will be contracted for three years. He has worked at McKinsey for 26 years; at the time of...

Organisations spend a lot of time meticulously developing strategic plans to compete successfully in the marketplace. However, most executives estimate the success rate of these plans to be between 25% and 35% at best, while less optimistic experts cite a very low figure of 10%. Why is it so difficult? Myth 1: Execution means sticking to the plan Mike Tyson summed up his attitude towards enemy...

Some people seem to possess a magic wand when it comes to persuading others. In reality, it's not magic, but a science that can be learned. The human brain has three layers. The lower layer, the reptilian brain, provides the "hit or run" response. The middle layer, the mammalian brain, is the reservoir of emotion. The upper one, the primate brain, is responsible for the rational assessment of a...