Good posture, such as keeping shoulder blades down, head straight, and feet parallel, helps you appear larger and more confident. Avoiding swaying, which can signal nervousness, is also crucial.

Stand Tall and Steady

Show your hands and gesture broadly to appear more self-assured.For virtual meetings, place your hands on the desk or in front of you. Maintaining strong eye contact is also emphasized.

Show Your Hands

Using these techniques can make you look more confident and less nervous when speaking in public.

The key to conquering body language while communicating is to be "big, balanced, and still," one expert says. 

career

Career

corporateculture

Corporate Culture

communication

Communication

teamwork

Teamwork

videos

Videos

Two Simple Body Language Tips

By far the dominant reason for not releasing sooner was a reluctance to trade the dream of success for the reality of feedback.

How do you trade the dream for the reality?

entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship

business

Business

creativity

Creativity

startup

Startups

Why Creators Struggle To Release Projects (and Why People In General Don’t Take Action)

Attitude matters the most. If you have the courage, perseverance and grit and slightly higher than average intelligence, you are way more likely to achieve your goal, than if you have high intelligence, but none of the other things. In the latter - you are just a lazy, high intelligent person. But success comes to the people who are willing to go the extra mile and do not easily give up.

Attitude is more than intelligence

Most of the successful people have this internal and insatiable curiosity. Curiosity allows you to develop a fresh perspective on the things around you. The more information you have, the higher the chance of making unique connections that nobody really sees except you. Think of an AI - the more information it has, the higher the chance of it being good. The other key aspect is processing the information the right way, but more on that later!You prefer deepstash over mindlessly scrolling on facebook/tiktok/instagram - that is already saying a lot about you, so keep going!

Have a multifaceted curiosity

Sometimes we are tempted to not go 100% especially if we are already winning. But that is a mistake. Never underestimate your opponent and never give him unnecessary chances of winning. If we are to draw parallels from chess, there are many lost games that were COMPLETELY won. That's because once you think you won, you start playing less attention and that's exactly when your OPPONENT flips the game and wins. No matter how hard your winning position is, STAY AWARE. This also translates to real life.

Try as hard as possible

History is full of such examples. The smallest chances might cause the biggest wins over time. All the big companies such as Apple or Microsoft, all relied at some point on a small detail to become what they are. For Microsoft it might have been the option in the contract with IBM that allowed them to sell their product to other companies and not solely on IBM. For Apple it might have been the 1984 commercial that made them stand out so much from the other companies.The point is that you should give your best at all times, you do not know which small detail might make you a winning behemoth.

The biggest wins were accomplished by the smallest chances

Some of the essential things required to be successful. It is all in your head.

productivity

Productivity

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

A recipe for success

Avoid overshadowing your superiors. Instead, make them feel superior by letting them take credit for your ideas and achievements.

Law 1: Never Outshine the Master

Learn How to Use EnemiesBe cautious with friends, as they may betray you. Enemies, on the other hand, can be valuable allies if properly managed.

Law 2: Never Put Too Much Trust in Friends

Keep your plans hidden to maintain an aura of mystery and unpredictability. This way, you can outmaneuver your opponents without them seeing it coming.

Law 3: Conceal Your Intentions

the more mysterious and powerful you appear. Speak only when necessary and choose your words carefully

Law 4: Always Say Less than Necessary The less you say

Your reputation is your most valuable asset. Protect it at all costs by maintaining a positive image and controlling how others perceive you.

Law 5: So Much Depends on Reputation  Guard it with Your Life

Ensure you are constantly in the spotlight, as attention brings power. Create a memorable persona and use dramatic tactics to draw attention to yourself.

Law 6: Court Attention at All Costs

Delegate tasks to others while taking credit for their accomplishments. This establishes your authority and ensures you receive recognition.

Get Others to Do the Work for You, but Always Take the Credit

The 48 Laws of Power: First 10 Laws Summary

Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive, this multi-million-copy New York Times bestseller is the definitive manual for anyone interested in gaining, observing, or defending against ultimate control – from the author of The Laws of Human Nature. In the book that People magazine proclaimed “beguiling” and “fascinating,” Robert Greene and Joost Elffers have distilled three thousand years of the history of power into 48 essential laws by drawing from the philosophies of Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, and Carl Von Clausewitz and also from the lives of figures ranging from Henry Kissinger to P.T. Barnum.   Some laws teach the need for prudence (“Law 1: Never Outshine the Master”), others teach the value of confidence (“Law 28: Enter Action with Boldness”), and many recommend absolute self-preservation (“Law 15: Crush Your Enemy Totally”). Every law, though, has one thing in common: an interest in total domination. In a bold and arresting two-color package, The 48 Laws of Power is ideal whether your aim is conquest, self-defense, or simply to understand the rules of the game.

books

Books

humanresources

Human Resources

Robert Greene is an American author of books on strategy, power, and seduction. He has written six international bestsellers, including The 48 Laws of Power, The Art of Seduction, The 33 Strategies of War, The 50th Law, Mastery, and The Laws of Human Nature.

Robert Greene

The 48 Laws of Power

Mamba Mentality is a term used to describe the basketball superstar Kobe Bryant. Simply said, it is trying to improve each day even if it is by a small %.
As a matter of fact, if you improve 1% each day of the year - at the end of the 365 days you would have become 37.78 times better (1.01^365)! That's the power of small, but consistent steps for your success.

What is Mamba Mentality?

Around 2003-2004 Bryant was at a low point in his career and personal life. Just before that he was at the peak of his game and all of a sudden, he fell like he had absolutely no idea where his life is going. Until he watched a scene from Kill Bill, where an assassin killed another character with a venomous snake. He was amazed by the snake's bite, length, strength and how it shed its skin. Symbolising not only the ability, but the need to change. Inspired by this, he created an alter ego, called Black Mamba.

How the Mamba Mentality was born

Talent matters, but discipline is what most people underestimate. It would be unfair to say that Kobe Bryant was untalented, but it was not the talent that set him apart from the others. It was his discipline. He was more than disciplined, he was obsessed at becoming better at his craft. That translated outside of the game, in his personal life as well. He was the embodiment of discipline and hard work. There are numerous stories how when his teammates partied - he worked, when they were on vacation - he..worked. So it was no surprise that he was one of the best.

Discipline over talent

If you want to be great in a particular area, you have to obsess over it. A lot of people say they want to be great, but they’re not willing to make the sacrifices necessary to achieve greatness. They have other concerns, whether important or not, and they spread themselves out.

Do not be afraid to start something new. Because the first step to being good at something is to be bad. Nobody starts and becomes the best at anything - this is simply not how life works. Hence, why you should not limit yourself and instead try new things and do not be afraid to fail. There is this cliché, that the successful people failed more times than the unsuccessful even tried - but I can't emphasise enough how true this is.

Every master was once a novice

To be successful you just need to win more than you lose - that's it. It doesn't mean that you should never lose or that you should mostly win. No, you should just win more than you lose. It might be 60% (win) - 40% (lose) but surprise, surprise this is still very good. Imagine that you bet 1,000$ and you have 60% chance of winning and 40% of losing, in the long run you will easily see how far you can go with this mindset.

Win more than you lose

There was a study made that compared accomplished people (winners) vs not so well-accomplished people. The results were incredibly insightful. It is not really that the so called winners didn't lose. They still won more than the other group, but it was not by much. The difference was elsewhere:When the "winners" lost, they didn't lose that much testosterone, but when they won they gained a lot. The other group was the opposite - their testosterone levels dropped a lot when they lost, but didn't increase that much when they won.

The mindset of winners (1)

This was all caused by their perception of the reality, instead of the reality itself. The reality was that both groups lost relatively the same amount of times. However, the perception in the groups was different. The first group viewed the loss as something normal and insignificant, but the win as big achievement that they deserved. The second group perceived the situation differently, they "suffered" a lot more from the loss, than they were "happy" about the win. In order to make yourself a winner, change your perception about the winning & losing dynamic.

The mindset of winners (2)

Mamba Mentality, or how to achieve great results by impeccable focus

habits

Habits

exerciseandfitness

Exercise & Fitness

Mamba Mentality: You Too Can Be GREAT

Success isn't just having lots of money, it's continuously improving who you are, how you live, how you serve, and how you relate to others without worrying about material possesions and superficial desires. It's a path of self-expansion, growth, and exploration, with no end goal but rather an endless process of discovery and transformation.

mentalhealth

Mental Health

Define Success 

"Be patient. Not greedy."

It’s a soft skill, where how you behave is more important than what you know.

Financial success is not a hard science.

Getting money and keeping money are two different skills.Getting money requires taking risks, being optimistic, and putting yourself out there.But keeping money requires the opposite of taking risk. It requires humility, and fear that what you’ve made can be taken away from you just as fast. It requires frugality and an acceptance that at least some of what you’ve made is attributable to luck, so past success can’t be relied upon to repeat indefinitely.

Getting money is one thing. Keeping it is another.

Having a strong sense of controlling one’s life is a more dependable predictor of positive feelings of wellbeing than any of the objective conditions of life we have considered.Money’s greatest intrinsic value—and this can’t be overstated—is its ability to give you control over your time. To obtain, bit by bit, a level of independence and autonomy that comes from unspent assets that give you greater control over what you can do and when you can do it.

The Intrinsic Value Of Money

"The hardest thing about this was that I loved the work. And I wanted to work hard. But doing something you love on a schedule you can’t control can feel the same as doing something you hate."

Wealth is the nice cars not purchased. The diamonds not bought. The watches not worn, the clothes forgone and the first-class upgrade declined.Wealth is financial assets that haven’t yet been converted into the stuff you see.The only way to be wealthy is to not spend the money that you do have. It’s not just the only way to accumulate wealth; it’s the very definition of wealth.

But the truth is that wealth is what you don’t see.

The first idea—simple, but easy to overlook—is that building wealth has little to do with your income or investment returns, and lots to do with your savings rate.Personal savings and frugality—finance’s conservation and efficiency—are parts of the money equation that are more in your control and have a 100% chance of being as effective in the future as they are today.A high savings rate means having lower expenses than you otherwise could, and having lower expenses means your savings go farther than they would if you spent more.

Saving Money

Savings can be created by spending less.You can spend less if you desire less.And you will desire less if you care less about what others think of you.

Money relies more on psychology than finance.

Some takeaways that resonated with me reading this book.

Doing well with money isn’t necessarily about what you know. It’s about how you behave. And behavior is hard to teach, even to really smart people. Money—investing, personal finance, and business decisions—is typically taught as a math-based field, where data and formulas tell us exactly what to do. But in the real world people don’t make financial decisions on a spreadsheet. They make them at the dinner table, or in a meeting room, where personal history, your own unique view of the world, ego, pride, marketing, and odd incentives are scrambled together. In The Psychology of Money, award-winning author Morgan Housel shares 19 short stories exploring the strange ways people think about money and teaches you how to make better sense of one of life’s most important topics.

Discover the world of business and economics.

economics

Economics

moneyandinvestments

Money & Investments

Morgan Housel is a partner at The Collaborative Fund. He is a two-time winner of the Best in Business Award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, winner of the New York Times Sidney Award, and a two-time finalist for the Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism. He lives in Seattle with his wife and two kids.

Morgan Housel

The Psychology of Money

Office politics are a reality that we all have to face, and avoiding them altogether risks not having a say in what happens. It also allows people with less experience, skill or knowledge than you to influence decisions that affect you and your team.All workplaces are political to some extent, simply because people bring their personal emotions, needs, ambitions, and insecurities into their professional lives.

Introduction

We all want to be successful, but we may not always see eye to eye on what success means or how to achieve it. This can lead to office politics, which occur when our personalities and opinions clash and become challenging to handle.We tend to be invested in the choices we make and those made about us, so we often try to influence them. We may do this directly or in sly ways.

Why There Is Office Politics

The foundation for making politics work for you in a positive way is to accept it as a reality. It may change over time, as people come and go in your organization, but, chances are, it will never disappear entirely.Then, you need to develop strategies to recognize and understand political behavior and to build a strong and supportive network.These seven tips can help you to do this:

Handling The Office Politics

When navigating office politics, it's important to understand the informal power and influence within your organization. This may not always align with the formal hierarchy. Observe and identify key players by asking yourself questions like:<ul><li>Who are the true influencers?</li><li>Who has authority but does not exert it?</li><li>Who is highly respected?</li><li>Who mentors or champions others?</li><li>Who drives the business behind the scenes?</li></ul>Remember that there may be influential people without high job titles, but their opinions and actions carry weight. Take note of them in order to navigate office politics effectively.

1. Analyze the Organization Chart

To effectively identify sources of power and influence, it's crucial to understand the informal or social networks at play. Observe how individuals interact and form relationships, noting any cliques or groups. Determine if influence is based on friendship, respect, or other factors.<ol><li>Things to look for:Who gets along and who struggles to interact?</li><li>Are there any in-groups or out-groups?</li><li>What are the different types of connections?</li><li>How does influence flow between parties?</li><li>Are there any interpersonal conflicts?</li></ol>

2. Understanding the Informal Network

Now that you understand how relationships work, you can build your own social network! Here are some tips:<ul><li>Look beyond your immediate team</li><li>Cross the formal hierarchy in all directions</li><li>Be friendly with everyone, but don't align yourself too closely with one group</li><li>Get to know politically powerful people, but avoid empty flattery</li><li>Remember to base personal relationships on consent and to never break confidentiality</li></ul>With these strategies, you can build high-quality connections that will benefit both you and your career!

3. Building Connections

If you want to succeed in politics, strong Interpersonal Skills are essential. Reflect on how you handle your emotions and learn to control them. This will help you better understand others' emotions and cater to their preferences. Also, practice active listening to build better relationships.<ul><li>Develop self-regulation to think before you act and understand others' emotions.</li><li>Prioritize active listening to slow down, focus, and learn from others.</li></ul>Strong Interpersonal Skills will help you build and maintain your network in politics.

4. Develop Your "People Skills"

Your connections can help you build your brand & raise your team's profile. Communicate your achievements & ask for feedback to show honesty & integrity, value their opinions.<ul><li>Relationships can build personal brand & raise team profile</li><li>Share achievements with connections to open up opportunities</li><li>Connections can "shine" for you & act as "bridge" between teams</li><li>Be accountable for actions, show honesty & integrity</li><li>Ask for feedback from others to gain different perspectives</li><li>Important to know what's important to people in your network</li><li>Value their opinions & show appreciation for feedback</li></ul>

5. Make the Most of Your Network

Don't avoid those who engage in "bad" politics - get to know them instead. "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer," is true in the workplace. Be courteous but cautious when talking to gossips and manipulators, as they may twist your words. Understanding their motives can help you avoid or counter their negative influence . Remember, some people act badly because they feel insecure - it's a form of self-sabotage.However, be careful around individuals who exhibit Machiavellianism traits . These people tend to be clever and dangerous, so protect yourself as much as possible.

6. Be Brave – but Not Naive

You can help to make a workplace become more positive by not "fuelling the fire" and joining in negative politics.Assume everything you say will be repeated, so be careful about sharing "secrets." Stay professional and remain neutral in conflicts. <ul><li>Don't fuel negative politics</li><li>Avoid spreading rumors</li><li>Choose carefully what you reveal</li><li>Stay professional</li><li>Remain neutral and avoid arguments</li><li>Remember win-win solutions are possible</li></ul>When offering criticism, be confident and assertive without being aggressive. Consider the organization's perspective rather than just your own.

7. Neutralize Negative Politics

"Good" politics can help you to get what you want without harming others in the process. To harness its power:<ol><li>Analyze the organization chart.</li><li>Understand the informal network.</li><li>Build relationships.</li><li>Make the most of your network.</li><li>Develop your "people skills."</li><li>Be brave – but not naive.</li><li>Neutralize negative politics.</li></ol>

Key Points

Office politics are a reality that we all have to face, and avoiding them altogether risks not having a say in what happens. It also allows people with less experience, skill or knowledge than you to influence decisions that affect you and your team. Here are some tips to face it positively.

strategy

Strategy

leadershipandmanagement

Leadership & Management

7 Tips to Face Office Politics Positively 

Understanding your personal leadership style is crucial to success. By identifying and utilizing your strengths, you can become a more effective leader. Here's a breakdown of some leadership styles 1. The Visionary Leader 2. The Diplomatic Leader 3. The Charismatic Leader 4. The Organizational Leader 5. The Innovative Leader 6. The Supportive Leader 7. The Strategic Leader 8. The Results-Oriented Leader 9. The Compassionate Leader

Understanding your personal leadership style

Known for setting ambitious goals and inspiring others to achieve them. They are decisive, assertive, and focused on achieving results.

1. The Visionary Leader

Skilled at building relationships and fostering collaboration. They prioritize harmony within the team and excel at mediating conflicts.

2. The Diplomatic Leader

Highly expressive and persuasive, they excel at motivating and inspiring others through effective communication and creative problem-solving.

3. The Charismatic Leader

Methodical and detail-oriented, they excel at planning, organizing, and optimizing processes to achieve objectives efficiently.

4. The Organizational Leader

Known for their curiosity and adaptability, they thrive on exploring new ideas, navigating change, and driving innovation.

5. The Innovative Leader

Nurturing and empathetic, they prioritize the well-being of their team members and create a supportive work environment.

6. The Supportive Leader

Visionary and forward-thinking, they excel at long-term planning, strategic thinking, and guiding their team towards future success.

7. The Strategic Leader

Ambitious and goal-driven, they focus on driving performance, making tough decisions, and achieving tangible outcomes.

8. The Results-Oriented Leader

Altruistic and community-minded, they prioritize social responsibility and advocate for positive change, inspiring others to join their cause.

9. The Compassionate Leader

These descriptions capture the essence of each leadership style, allowing you to identify and leverage your unique strengths in leadership roles.

Leadership 

The Peter Principle states that every member of a hierarchy will eventually rise to their level of incompetence, or final placement. This position is the furthest you can be promoted with the skills that you possess. In other words, employees continue to receive promotions as long as they’re competent in their current position.

The Peter Principle

As individuals, our skills and competencies vary. You might be a genius software developer, and be very proud of that fact. But this doesn’t make you the best fit for a consultancy; perhaps you might simply be unable to cope with the constant pressure of that business.Some of us are able to rise all the way to the top of a hierarchy without reaching our level of incompetence, so we switch to other hierarchies and find it there. This is called compulsive incompetence. Just look at Socrates: A great teacher; not such a great defense lawyer.

Incompetence Is Inescapable

Perhaps you’re harboring doubts about the Peter Principle, as you can recall several cases where it didn’t apply in your own workplace. If someone is promoted even though he obviously reached his level of incompetence, this must be an exception to the rule, right?Nope. That’s called a pseudo-promotion.Pseudo-promotions are just sideways shifts, leaving employees in the same place in the food chain with no real increase in power. Percussive Sublimation is what happens when someone who is already at their level of incompetence receives a promotion in another division.

The Pseudo-Promotion

A Lateral Arabesque promotes someone incompetent by offering them a shiny new job title. Take a certain Mr. Schmidt, who is now an incompetent Senior Facility Manager, even though he did the exact same job as a maintenance man. The larger the organization, the more Lateral Arabesques you’ll find.

The Lateral Arabesque

When it seems impossible that someone so incompetent can be promoted, it might be Peter’s Inversion: a nurse wakes you up to remind you to take your sleeping pill; though the goal is for you to sleep, her reminding you was more important to her.This may seem counter-intuitive, but it isn’t. Competence is both relative and subjective, as it’s something usually determined by your superior. If a rule enjoins nurses to remind every patient of his pills, the nurse followed the rules to perfection. These non-exceptions show that the Peter Principle exists in any organization with a hierarchy.

The Peter’s Inversion

The great work we’re doing now will inevitably get us promoted to a job we can’t do.

The Peter Principle: In Every Hierarchy The Cream Rises Until It Sours

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