“What is your core competency?”

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🌟 Svend Hollensen writes in his book that all companies need a set of competitive advantages to succeed in the market. However, many senior managers mistakenly believe that factors such as access to cheaper raw materials are the source of competitive advantage.

🌟 But examining major companies like IBM, Apple, Microsoft, and others shows that their competitive advantage comes not from the resources they possess but from their core competencies.

🌟 For example, IBM’s ability to design highly advanced machines, Apple’s ability to create new communication technologies, and Microsoft’s ability to integrate artificial intelligence into office software are all examples of core competencies.

🌟 A core competency has three characteristics:

1️⃣ A core competency aligns with the company’s vision and mission. For example, Apple’s access to low‑cost factories in China is not a core competency because Apple’s vision is not to produce cheap phones. In contrast, Apple’s ability to enhance the security of its devices is a core competency because creating an unhackable phone is part of Apple’s mission.

2️⃣ A core competency is built through years of accumulated experience and cannot be purchased. A key point is that competitors cannot easily imitate it. Therefore, a core competency must grow from within the company, not be bought from outside. This is why Google requires its engineers to spend part of their workday on personal projects—so their learning and experience in software design grow and eventually become a core competency of the company.

3️⃣ A core competency can be transferred across the entire company. A true core competency can be used in all products and services, not just one brand or product line. For example, Amazon’s ability to offer personalized recommendations based on previous purchases is one of its core competencies. Amazon uses this capability both in its online store and in its physical stores.

“Watch out for your employees’ imitation”

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🌟 Brian Tracy writes in The 12 Principles of Great Leadership: Professional leaders are those who, over time, become role models for their employees. Staff members imitate their leader’s values, behaviors, decision‑making style, and even their way of speaking.

🌟 For this reason, professional leaders always behave in ways that make them good examples for their teams, teaching them the right values, culture, behaviors, and communication styles.

🌟 In reality, these leaders fully understand that everything they say and everything they do is examined and analyzed by their employees. As a result, they are always careful about their behavior, speech, and decisions.

🌟 This is why professional leaders strive to become strong role models through the following desirable behaviors:

1️⃣ Optimism about the future, especially in the toughest situations. 2️⃣ Commitment to the company’s obligations, principles, and work values. 3️⃣ Support for creative and innovative ideas. 4️⃣ Creating an environment where all employees can participate and share opinions. 5️⃣ Promoting a customer‑centric culture across the entire organization. 6️⃣ Paying special attention to the company’s brand and fostering a culture of brand support among all employees. 7️⃣ Encouraging responsibility, self‑motivation, personal development, and work ethic. 8️⃣ Building friendliness and unity among employees and avoiding unnecessary conflicts or arguments.

“Men, women, and the division of the negotiation pie”

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🌟 Leigh Thompson writes in The Mind and Heart of the Negotiator (published in Persian as 53 Principles of Negotiation): What is the difference between men and women when negotiating? You might feel, as I did, that this question could lead to biased answers — but I want to share the results of a scientific study on this topic.

🌟 When men and women negotiate face‑to‑face, men tend to claim a larger share of the negotiation pie. The reason for this difference lies in their initial demands, not in their negotiation skills.

🌟 More precisely, the root of the difference is in the opening offers: women typically do not ask for as much as men do.

🌟 This behavioral gap persists even when men and women are placed in identical roles. For example, Professor Linda Babcock noticed this pattern and published a book titled Women Don’t Ask.

🌟 In this book, she presents new perspectives on gender differences in negotiation and provides extensive evidence — especially regarding men’s tendency to ask for more and women’s tendency to settle for less.

🌟 Babcock argues that the positive, stereotypical image we hold of women — as kind, agreeable, and easy to manage — can actually harm them in negotiations. These common perceptions lead women to request a smaller share of the negotiation pie.

🌟 She continues: we must change this situation and help women increase their share of the negotiation pie.

🌟 She refers to Professor Howard Raiffa’s book The Art and Science of Negotiation, noting that some of the 38 traits of an effective negotiator — such as assertiveness, decisiveness, and competitiveness — align more with stereotypically masculine behavior, while others — such as empathy and nonverbal communication — align more with stereotypically feminine behavior.

🌟 Recognizing that women excel in many traits of a skilled negotiator, Babcock concludes: when women become aware of this reality, they perform far better and become much stronger negotiators.

🌟 She ends by saying: the issue is not that men exploit women or take more advantages; rather, as Louis Pasteur said, “Chance favors the prepared mind.” If women enter negotiations with a prepared mind, their chances of success increase.

“What should you do so that employees respect you”

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🌟 Every manager dreams of influencing their employees to achieve the organization’s goals while also earning their respect. One of the great skills of successful leaders is that they manage to achieve both ideals simultaneously — and they do so by following certain principles and practices, which this text explains.

🌟 Find your own leadership style Knowing clearly whether you lead your team through your technical expertise or through your charisma and personal presence helps your people trust you and respect you.

🌟 Be compassionate toward your people — and show it Nothing destroys a manager’s influence and respect faster than ignoring employees or failing to value their dignity.

🌟 Increase your knowledge as much as possible The more a manager understands the organization and its environment, the better their decisions will be — and this naturally increases their credibility.

🌟 Invest in yourself Great leaders are lifelong learners. By learning new things, they invest in their own growth.

🌟 Manage your brand As a leader, you must actively manage your personal and organizational brand by gathering feedback from customers and stakeholders and improving your reputation.

🌟 Focus on the future Great leaders visualize the future and align the organization’s energy toward achieving long‑term goals.

🌟 Know your people well A good manager knows what their employees enjoy, their hobbies, their children’s names, and — most importantly — what they excel at. Employees love leaders who truly know them.

🌟 Support your employees’ professional growth A leader must create opportunities for employees to grow, because individual success leads to organizational success.

🌟 Praise your people generously When employees perform well, acknowledge them — whether publicly, privately, or even through small but meaningful gifts.

🌟 Show your people that you have their back If they feel supported, they will support you in critical moments.

🌟 Surround yourself with the best As the saying goes, “No one knows everything.” Bring in strong people who complement your weaknesses and make the team stronger.

🌟 Listen first, then speak Great leaders listen more than they talk. They gather information, think carefully, and then decide.

🌟 Take risks Without risk, there is no reward. Employees admire courageous leaders and are willing to go the extra mile for them.

🌟 Always pursue the best and the greatest Great leaders constantly seek improvement. They believe their best work is ahead of them and that their biggest successes lie in the future.

“Beware of the temptation to expand your brand”

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🌟 Brian Till writes in his book “Creating Popular Brands”: Although the secret to building a successful brand is maintaining its consistency and focus, in reality, once a brand becomes famous and widely loved, its owner often tries to profit from that success by using the brand to introduce other products.

🌟 Although this behavior may seem justifiable in practice, it is not acceptable in the science of branding. In other words, even if a company that has spent millions of dollars building its brand feels entitled to use it for launching new products, from a branding perspective this means wasting all the investment made on the brand.

🌟 For example, Heinz, after gaining massive popularity in the ketchup market, decided to add products like mayonnaise, baked beans, and even vinegar to its portfolio. But it failed in most of these categories and eventually had to discontinue many of them.

🌟 As a result, Heinz paid two separate costs: – the cost of developing and launching new products that were soon discontinued, – and the cost of maintaining its brand strength in the ketchup market.

🌟 This is why managers who care about protecting their brand’s power are extremely cautious and selective when deciding to expand their product line.

🌟 Heinz survived because it quickly removed unrelated products, but many brands lack the courage to do so — and eventually disappear from the market altogether.

🌟 Another example is the brand Healthy Choice, which first became known for ready-to-eat cold meals. When customers welcomed the brand, managers expanded it to cakes and wafers under the same name.

🌟 Since these products sold poorly, the managers refused to discontinue them, and eventually the brand weakened so much that it lost its position even in the cold‑meal market — and disappeared entirely.

“Generation Z’s challenge in communication”

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🌟 Generation Z (born 1997–2010) constantly hears from their supervisors that they don’t know how to behave in the workplace. Jodie Foster, the Oscar‑winning actress, has said this generation doesn’t use proper grammar and arrives late to work. Likewise, Alex Mahon, the head of a major British TV network, has said the youngest generation entering the workforce lacks the skills to debate, disagree, or work alongside people with different viewpoints. Yet this youngest workforce does not completely deny its own shortcomings.

🌟 New data collected exclusively by Fortune shows that young workers are fully aware of where they make mistakes. Sixty‑five percent of Gen Z employees admit they don’t know what to talk about with their colleagues. In addition, Gen Z participants who do not have a spouse, pet, or child say they struggle to connect with coworkers who are in different life stages.

🌟 So even though Gen Z employees know that bonding with senior colleagues can elevate their career game, they still hold back and leave the responsibility for initiating social conversations to older generations: three‑quarters of newly hired young workers say they only engage in conversation with senior colleagues if the seniors initiate it first.

🌟 Small talk may seem like something everyone knows how to do, but it is one of the basic soft skills Gen Z has not learned. Employers now have to make up for this lost time. For example, Deloitte offers additional training programs for newly hired young employees who lack confidence in basic tasks such as presenting or speaking in meetings.

🌟 Meanwhile, companies with work‑from‑home policies are asking younger employees to come into the office. For example, Cisco in the UK and Ireland has no mandatory in‑office requirement — except for Gen Z, who must be present at least three days a week.

“Seven definitions of ‘strategy’ from the perspective of management thought leaders”

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1️⃣ Jack Welch Strategy means making clear and precise decisions about how we will compete with others.

2️⃣ Michael Porter Strategy means doing what others do with fewer resources (more efficiently) and doing things that no one else does.

3️⃣ Sharon Oster Having a strategy means that when our set of decisions is observed, a specific pattern can be identified in them.

4️⃣ Alfred Chandler Strategy means determining long‑term goals for the organization, preparing appropriate action plans, and allocating the necessary resources to achieve those goals.

5️⃣ Hoffer & Schendel Strategy consists of activities that ensure alignment between the organization’s internal resources and capabilities and the opportunities and threats of the external environment.

6️⃣ Henry Mintzberg Mintzberg believes concepts like strategy cannot be captured in a single definition and that multiple definitions must be accepted. He proposes five characteristics for defining strategy: 🔹 Strategy as a Plan 🔹 Strategy as a Ploy 🔹 Strategy as a Pattern 🔹 Strategy as a Position 🔹 Strategy as a Perspective

7️⃣ Pisano Pisano states that strategy is nothing more than a commitment to a specific behavioral pattern in order to compete, and it leads to a fundamental assumption: what leads to winning.

“Leadership technique: Don’t give rewards regularly!”

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🌟 Scientists conducted an interesting experiment on the reward mechanism. They conditioned two pigeons so that after pecking a rod, they would receive food — but with one difference: The first pigeon received food after exactly three pecks. The second pigeon sometimes received food after two pecks, sometimes after three, sometimes after five, or even more.

🌟 Then the scientists stopped giving food altogether. What happened? The first pigeon tried a few times with its usual three pecks, and when nothing appeared, it quickly gave up. But the second pigeon — which had never received food on a fixed schedule — kept pecking for much longer. It tried two pecks, then five, then three, and so on.

🌟 Through many experiments on pigeons and later on humans, scientists tried to identify the best reward system in workplaces. The conclusion of all these studies was: “Give rewards irregularly.”

🌟 Naturally, rewards should be given for an employee’s excellent idea or action, but behavioral scientists say rewards should not be tied to a fixed number of excellent actions. Nor should excellent actions go unrewarded. In the first case (rewarding after a fixed number of good actions), two things happen:

🌟 First, what you give today as a reward — something exciting and motivating — soon becomes an expected entitlement and loses its motivational power.

🌟 Second, if there is any delay in giving the expected reward, the employee conditioned to a fixed reward schedule stops their positive behaviors.

In the second case (giving no rewards), it is obvious that there will be no motivation to continue positive performance.

🌟 Therefore, managers are advised to make their reward system irregular. For example, an employee may receive a reward once after five positive actions, next time twice in a row for one positive action each time, and another time after three positive actions, and so on. This way: – The boundary between salary and reward becomes clear. – And if a delay occurs in the reward system, the employee will not stop their positive behaviors.

🌟 Remember: As a manager, you must motivate your team — and irregular rewards are one scientifically proven way to do so.

8 proven methods for maximizing productivity

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🌟 Time management is one of the most important skills every individual must learn to succeed in both professional and personal life. Time, as a limited resource, requires smart management to be used in the best possible way. Here, we review 8 proven methods for better time management.

1⃣ Eat That Frog Technique This technique, introduced by Brian Tracy, refers to the idea of completing the biggest and most important task of the day at the very beginning. It means tackling the most important or most challenging task as your first priority.

2⃣ Pomodoro Technique This method, introduced by Francesco, involves breaking work into 25‑minute intervals separated by short breaks. It helps improve focus and productivity while preventing fatigue and reduced work quality.

3⃣ Time Blocking In the book Atomic Habits by James Clear, time blocking is emphasized as a method for scheduling specific time blocks for different tasks or activities throughout the day. This technique reduces distractions and ensures dedicated time for important tasks.

4⃣ Two‑Minute Rule Also from Atomic Habits, this rule states that if a task can be done in two minutes or less, it should be done immediately. This prevents small tasks from piling up and turning into a mountain of unfinished work.

5⃣ Eisenhower Matrix Introduced by Stephen Covey in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, this matrix categorizes tasks based on importance and urgency into four quadrants: – Important & urgent – Important but not urgent – Urgent but not important – Neither important nor urgent This technique helps with prioritization. For example, complete important and urgent tasks first, and eliminate tasks that are neither important nor urgent.

6⃣ Task Batching Batching involves grouping similar tasks and completing them consecutively. For example, you can make all your phone calls in one time block or check and respond to all emails at a specific time. This helps optimize time and prevents fragmentation and wasted effort.

7⃣ The Power of Now Although The Power of Now focuses more on awareness and presence, its principles can also be applied to time management. This approach leads to better focus and higher productivity. For example, when performing a task, focus solely on the task at hand and set aside distracting thoughts.

8⃣ Time Audit This technique involves periodically tracking how your time is spent to identify inefficiencies. By analyzing where your time goes, you can adjust your schedule and prioritize tasks more effectively. For example, by keeping a time log, you can see how much time you spend on unproductive activities each day and reduce them.

“Don’t let your employees think only about work!”

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🌟 An article in Harvard Business Review states that even in high‑pressure work environments, it is better for both employees and their managers if individuals do not have only a work identity, and that work should not be defined so broadly that it overshadows other aspects of life.

🌟 Many organizations consider the ideal employee to be someone who dedicates their entire life to their job — something that may seem unavoidable in certain roles. However, employees are not just employees; they may also have identities such as athlete, artist, parent, and more. Employees differ in how they separate their personal and professional lives: some define everything through work, while others do not.

🌟 Research shows that when organizations allow employees to express and maintain these multiple identities, the organizations themselves benefit and can make better use of their valuable human resources. The recommendation is not only to accept this diversity and avoid seeing employees solely as workers, but even to formally encourage them to attend to other aspects of their lives. (For example, if you notice an employee is overly absorbed in work, occasionally send them on mandatory leave — it will ultimately benefit you.)