In Pursuit Of Happiness

Life insurance is something we all need, but few of us want to spend any time thinking about our own demise. It’s really not about us, but the people who depend on each of us for their survival. Life insurance is so important that the Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education has designated September as Life Insurance Awareness Month. The foundation is encouraging people to examine their life insurance policies to determine if they are adequately protected.

Life insurance is a practical way to protect your family’s financial hopes and dreams. The death of a family member can be devastating to survivors both emotionally and financially. Life insurance can provide cash to help with your family’s immediate and long-term needs. Immediate needs include funeral expenses, unpaid medical bills and taxes. Long-term needs include care for a disabled child or elderly parent expenses and, in general, the chance for members of your family to continue to live the life to which they are accustomed.

When you buy life insurance, you buy a promise of protection against financial loss caused by death. The promise is only as good as the company that stands behind it. In today’s marketplace, life insurance buyers should be concerned about both the financial strength of the insurer as well as the level of customer service the company provides.

Life insurance can be the foundation of a sound financial plan, especially given the continuing need after the death of a breadwinner. Think of it as a safety net should a wage earner die unexpectedly. In addition to that, permanent life insurance may accumulate a cash value that can be accessed while you are still living. While any loans from a policy will accrue interest and diminish the cash value and any death benefit, the proceeds could be used for any number of reasons.

Life insurance can be one of the most important purchases you make. Take some time during Life Insurance Awareness Month to examine your life insurance needs.

Give Generously

A rich man who once asked his priest, "Why does everybody call me stingy when everyone knows that when I die I will leave everything I have to this temple?"

The priest said:

"There once was a pig and a cow. The pig was unpopular and the cow was loved by all in the village. This puzzled the pig.

The pig said to the cow:

'People speak warmly of your good nature and your helpful attitude. They think you are very generous because each day you give them
milk, butter and cheese. But how about me? I give them everything I have. I give them the famous sausages, bacon and ham i.e. my entire body.
Yet no one likes me. Why is that?'

The priest continued: "Do you know what the cow answered?

The cow said, 'Perhaps it is because I give while I am still living.'


LOVE PASSIONATELY
GIVE GENEROUSLY

Regrets - Top 5

These are the top five regrets former nurse Bronnie Ware has heard from patients on their deathbeds:

1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

2. I wish I didn't work so hard.

3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

5. I wish I had let myself be happier.

Easy Lesson in Lying

It’s my opinion that lying is rampant in the workplace.

5 Reasons people lie to the boss

#1. The boss can enhance or hinder your career track

#2. The boss can control your salary

#3. The boss argues with you when you tell them the truth

#4. The boss violates confidence

#5. The boss shoots the messenger and the problem you point out becomes your problem

5 ways to spot liars at work
#1. They blame others rather than take responsibility

#2. They never correct you

#3. Guilt may cause people to talk more

#4. Insecure people are more likely to lie

#5. Highly competitive people who need to win may tell more lies

If you are the boss, people lie to you unless …

#1. You honor those who disagree with you

#2. You give opportunities to those who think otherwise

#3. You stop hanging with brown nosers

#4. You keep asking questions that get to the bottom issues

#5. You point out inconsistencies that seem like lies

People tell the boss what the boss wants to hear. If you don’t aggressively address this tendency, many will lie to you. It isn’t necessarily malicious. It’s more likely self-serving.

Business Leaders Typical Lies

Paul LaFontaine left Bertelsmann Music Group in March 1997 to advise other businesspeople about radical honesty. He has lots of work to do. "There are as many lies in business as there are people in business," he says. Here are his nominees for the five most common lies:

Lie: "People are our most important asset."
Truth: "People are our most worrisome and unpredictable asset. Our most important assets are really our financial assets."

B.S. Detector: This may be the leading lie of our times. "When management starts talking about how important people are," LaFontaine says, "you can bet there is going to be an unpopular human resources decision coming soon."

Lie: "This was a rational decision."
Truth: "I wanted to do this."

B.S. Detector: People "want what they want just because they want it," says LaFontaine.

Lie: "We judge people by their performance."
Truth: "I judge your performance based on how much I like you."

B.S. Detector: "Why do most people who keep their jobs keep them?" LaFontaine asks. "Because the people they work for like them. And you get fired when the people you work for don't like you anymore.

Lie: "This is business, it isn't personal."
Truth: "Everything's personal."

B.S. Detector: "As people, we get mad at each other," says LaFontaine. "Attempts to avoid it are cowardly. So get mad. Then get over it and move on." LaFontaine believes that any disagreement can be handled with an honest conversation.

Lie: "The customer comes first."
Truth: "I come first."

B.S. Detector: "More often than not, 'the customer' is an abstraction," LaFontaine warns. "People take care of customers when it benefits them and ignore customers when they can get away with it. Nobody says 'I come first,' which is what's usually going on."

Smiling Tiger

The word “motivation” is one that is often confused with “manipulation.” Motivation occurs when you persuade someone to take an action in their own best interests.
Things like people preparing their homework, accepting responsibility for their performance and finishing their education, are the result of motivation.

Manipulation is persuading someone to take an action which is primarily for your benefit. Things like selling an inferior product at an inflated price or working people overtime with no extra pay are examples of manipulation. Manipulation self-destructs the individual doing the manipulating. Word gets out on manipulators and people grow less and less likely to respond in a positive manner to their manipulation. Productivity declines.

Leadership occurs when you persuade a person to take an action which is in your mutual best interests. Eisenhower said that leadership was the ability to persuade someone to do what you wanted them to do because they wanted to do it. When that happens, performance improves, productivity increases, and both parties win.

Comparing motivation to manipulation is like comparing kindness to deceit. The difference is the intent of the person. Motivation will cause people to act out of free choice and desire, while manipulation often results in forced compliance. One is ethical and long-lasting; the other is unethical and temporary.

Carlisle said, “A great man shows his greatness by the way he treats the little man.” The value you place on people determines whether you are a motivator or a manipulator of people.

Motivation is moving together for mutual advantage.

Manipulation is persuading or even subtly coercing someone to do something so that you win and they lose.

With the motivator everybody wins; with the manipulator, only the manipulator wins. And to that I might add that the victory is temporary and the price is prohibitive. Leaders and motivators are winners, manipulators are losers who produce resentment and discord.

Climbing Corporate Ladder

Graduates usually have high expectations about becoming the next millionaires in the finance industry. But I can assure you that fairy tales never come easily in this highly competitive market.

Once you step into the workforce, you should quickly forget your academic and sporting achievements, and even your so-called self esteem. In order to succeed, you must realise that banking is essentially a people-oriented business.

In short, this means you must identify the people who have the greatest power and authority to propel your career. It’s vital to know exactly what your direct boss wants, and not focus on your personal achievements.

So, forgot financial modelling and risk analysis, here are three rules I think every junior banker should follow.

Know your boss
It should be your number one goal to understand your line manager’s working style and personality because this will help to avoid future conflicts. As a senior HR person at my own firm told me recently: “In many cases, subordinates can’t fulfil their supervisors’ expectations as they don’t know what their bosses want.”

Respect the hierarchy
Generation Y employees often incorrectly consider their managers to be their buddies, especially if they are a similar age or went to the same university. But this means trampling over the firm’s hierarchy and it will ultimately backfire.

Never express your emotions in the office
In the face of criticism, youngsters often fail to control their emotions, especially if they haven’t been scolded in public before. Do not fight back against your boss under any circumstances. It is better to acknowledge and correct any problems.

Never talk bad about your boss or company
Never talk bad about your boss or company in formal or informal gathering. Negative news travel faster than lighting. Your boss will be preparing your exit faster than yu can say "Hi". You will not know what strike you.