Horrific Pictures of Children, by Sig Nordal, jr.

Social Media has brought the whole world closer together, but it is a sad fact that this platform is not used to create reconciliation and friendship between people, rather to build and nurture hatred between cultures.

The pictures that are being posted on LinkedIn of children that have been killed are heartbreaking for anybody to look at, and that I say irrespective of religion. It is very unfortunate that people that post these pictures, and the comments that are made tend to be argumentative, and it appears that the motive of these posts are to create more division between already divided cultures. Is it not time to change this, and is it not time to use social media, in general, to try and foster harmony and peace among people, at least to learn to respect each other? It is a mistake to assume that all Christians hate Muslims and vice versa. That is a generalization that simply does not hold any water.

There is a lot of water under the bridge in the history of man, and hundreds of thousands of men, women and children have been killed because of religious differences, and I am convinced that we can all agree that enough is enough. Peace can only be reached if people have the wisdom to come to terms with each other, albeit difficult, and try to understand each other.

We all have five pints of blood, we all have hearts, we all have our own God, and we all have emotions and feelings. We feel equally terrible when we see children being killed. Nobody should assume that a person is heartless, that is arrogance. I pray that we have the sense and vision to back our leaders in trying to reach a comprehensive solution to complicated international issues, and that can be achieved to a large extent, by the people themselves starting to respect each other. For it is clear that no political agreement will reach its objectives if the people are determined to make such an agreement is a failure because people are not prepared to let go of the past and forgive. All religions, irrespective of origin, have one thing in common, and that is to forgive. Let's not forget the basic principle of any given religion, and let's harbour that thought instead of stoking the fire to keep the hatred alive.

God bless the victims their families that have been harmed in wars wherever they may take place in this world, and let us all pray for a better life, assuming that we have the wisdom to learn from recent events.

The Pathways Series: Positive Journeys

Positive Journeys

Are you satisfied in your job? Do you feel appreciated, respected and appropriately rewarded for your efforts? Sadly, there are many who do not have such a luxury. After all who dreams of sitting at a desk day after day drowning in paperwork or dealing with members of the public, swiping grocery barcodes and ending most transactions with the immortal robotic words “Would you like cash back?”

A dream career is not always the possible choice but is is possible to work at job satisfaction. The key resides in both your expectations and attitude and these vary depending upon whether you have a job (the appeal predominantly financial) or a career (the appeal often progression and promotion). What is important is to identify the expectations you require to feel satisfied at work. The foundations for a satisfying job can include self-awareness, variety, your attitude, challenges and a sense of purpose.

Your self-awareness depends on identifying your strengths and weaknesses and choosing a job that will be geared to what you are proficient at. Your personality traits are also a factor to take into account – what motivates you and what de-motivates you? What do you value most? Your preferences and what the work will entail will reveal how much satisfaction you can achieve

Challenges are a strong motivational force even within a mundane environment. For example: improving your performance by trying to exceed your previous “best”, stretching yourself by requesting additional responsibilities and taking advantage of staff training days to glean ideas and new skills (rather than just mentally playing “Hackneyed Phrase Bingo”).

Being without challenges leads to lack of interest and inevitable boredom. Boredom is probably your own worst enemy so deal with it! Maybe ask to switch to a different department that requires your skills or learn new skills but at least change your attitude! Sitting there silently repeating “I'm bored” will only lead to a sense of low morale. Find something to alter your perspective – change where you sit, go out for lunch instead of going to the staffroom – expand your contacts by striking up conversations with those in other departments. Remember, even if your job is pretty boring, think about the purpose it is serving others.

Ultimately it is PMA (Positive Mental Attitude) that will make the greatest difference. Anger, frustration and depression lead straight to dissatisfaction in everything. PMA requires a lot of mental work but, as time goes by, you can alter your perceptions. Put the things that happened that day into context and do not dwell on setbacks! Change negative thoughts by finding the positive element of an event remembering that mistakes are ways of learning and that an obstacle is in fact a challenge to be won!

 

By Sig Nordal,Jr.

Pathways: Leadership strategies By Sig Nordal, Jr.

Pathways: Leadership Strategies

There is no magic wand that can ensure someone is an effective leader – the characteristics of an individual may be more successful in some leadership areas and weaker in others. But, you can still lead effectively if you understand the variety of approaches. The following theories of leadership can provide a good foundation.

Trait theories, although originally stating that good leadership was instinctive, now looks at how we can identify our personal traits such as empathy, assertiveness, decision making, organisational skills and develop our internal beliefs in a proactive way to be an effective leader.

Behavioural theories explore whether a leader gives orders expecting others to obey or whether they encourage teamwork to maximise results. According to Kurt Lewis in the 1930s there were autocratic leaders (who, for snap decisions, do not include other opinions for success), democratic leaders (who consult the team in varying degrees about all decisions) and laissez-faire leaders (who sit back and let the team get on with their work – a successful strategy if all the team are highly motivated and skilled).

All three styles of leadership can be appropriate at certain times but, in order to be a truly successful leader it is knowing which strategy to use in a given situation. Need a quick decision? Perhaps an autocratic style is most apt. Need the support of your team? That could result in a combination of democratic and laissez-faire styles – the key to effective leadership is knowing when to be task-oriented and when to be people-oriented.

Power and Influence Theories explore how a leader achieves results. There are legitimate, coercive and reward forms of positional power and then there is your personal power using your natural appeal and charm Your personal power is key but without expertise in your job you cannot rely upon this alone.

Contingency Theories create a more fluid way of thought for leaders. Although a possible future event may occur it is not  a foregone conclusion and does need to be factored in by team members so that “Plan B” can be actioned should matters in the project change.

The realization that there is no one correct type of leader led to theories that the best leadership style depends on the situation. These theories try to predict which style is best in which circumstance. For instance, when you need to make quick decisions, which style is best? When you need the full support of your team, is there a more effective way to lead? Should a leader be more people-oriented or task-oriented? These are all questions that contingency leadership theories try to address.

Another leadership approach assumes that the greatest motive for people are rewards and little else and thus creating a reward based task system has its uses. Despite this to be seemingly rather a dispiriting concept for some this approach can increase motivation within the workplace.

And finally,  a transformational leader who leads by example is a highly effective and  influential individual by creating inspiration for the future. By having high principles and integrity leaders build more robust and effective teams.

As with most strategies and techniques, never assume one way is the only way . Be versatile in your approaches and use the strategy that is going to be the most successful with any given project.

By Sig Nordal, Jr.