Articles

Raising Adolescents26-Jul-2010

Ask any parent, and raising adolescents has to be one of the hardest jobs around. Of course, there are the times of joy and pride, but overall, it is generally a turbulent road as the teenager strives to find their ident.. Read more...

Emotional Intelligence: The 5 Core Components at Work17-Apr-2010

What is Emotional Intelligence really? As suggested in the accompanying article titled, "Emotional Intelligence: Why is it Good for Business?" according to Daniel Goleman who popularised the concept, EI is composed of 5 .. Read more...

Emotional Intelligence: Why is it Good for Business?17-Apr-2010

Emotional Intelligence (EI) was popularised in the mid 1990s, but this topic has captured the imagination of the business world especially over the last decade where we are now studying what it takes for people to be abl.. Read more...

Do I or Don't I? Self-sabotage in career decision-making10-Mar-2010

Many of us don't like our job or we're dissatisfied and we often moan about it and whinge, yet we put up with it, procrastinate, blame management or others, and put things off. How come? What stops us from taking control.. Read more...

The Great Divide; Why Depts of Education no longer relate to schools10-Dec-2009

Once upon a time, the central office for departments like the Department of Education were there to serve the schools, teachers and students that they represented. Now that has all changed. They are simply self-serving a.. Read more...

Six Basic Human Needs10-Nov-2009

Why do people do what they do? What drives them? What makes them "tick?" Furthermore, what are the basic needs that have to be satisfied in order for us to feel happiness, feel a sense of well-being and have a quality of.. Read more...

Anger -- How do you deal with it?10-Aug-2009

Anger like all emotions, is a natural human response, but expressing it aggressively can sabotage your relationships, heighten conflict and make you feel poorly. So how can we manage anger better and reduce our conflict.. Read more...

Anxiety & Depression fills the Gap between the Here and Now and the Past or Future10-Aug-2009

Whenever you move from the present and think or worry about the future, you can expect to experience anxiety. You get "stressed". Maybe you start to feel fear. You get apprehensive, become unsure or uncertain. Similarly,.. Read more...

Assertive: How to be10-Aug-2009

Many people find it difficult to say their piece as it were. There are times when being assertive might be necessary and you need to stand up for yourself. For example, what about when someone pushes in front of you in t.. Read more...

Basic Life Question: The One You Need to Answer10-Aug-2009

You may not know, but each of us has a "basic life question" which influences and impacts everything that we do in life. It impacts our choices, our behaviour, our actions. It influences the whole of our lives. So, would.. Read more...

Bullying in Schools (and other places)10-Aug-2009

Bullying: What is bullying actually? Who are these bullies and what are they on about? What are the various types of bullies? Why are they like this? What are the characteristics of bullies? What causes bullies to be lik.. Read more...

Change -- The Common Fear10-Aug-2009

What aspect of our lives do we always try to stop? What is it that we use all kinds of strategies and energy to prevent happening? The answer is -- CHANGE! (Incidentally, it is not only individuals which are notorious fo.. Read more...

Coping with the Big "R's": Retrenchmant & Redundancy"10-Aug-2009

Retrenchment and redundancy. They are very similar in that you suddenly don't have a job anymore. After the initial shock, what do you do, how do you cope? This article was initially published in the CareerOne section of.. Read more...

Customer Service -- What is it really from the Customer's Viewpoint?10-Aug-2009

If we overlook the customer's needs, we do so at our own peril. It is not rocket science. The customer is not meant to be an interference to our day -- they are meant to be our day! See what it is that customers really w.. Read more...

Fed Up? Frustrated? Bitter? Someone else the cause of your troubles?10-Aug-2009

This is how it is. We make up rules inside our heads about how people should react and behave towards us and others. When they “break” those rules, we get upset (or annoyed, resentful, frustrated, angry etc). We play it .. Read more...

Forbidden Thoughts -- How Do You Cope With Them?10-Aug-2009

Few of us would dispute the notion that humans spend time thinking thoughts we'd rather not have. Maybe not all the time, but we've all been there at some point. What do they mean? Are we sordid and sadistic or "sick" so.. Read more...

Forgiveness -- What is it and How do you do it?10-Aug-2009

Why bother with forgiveness? Is it really just a bit "old hat", or maybe just a bit "too religious"? This article gives the recipe for forgiving others and forgiving yourself. Failure to do either will rob you of a life .. Read more...

Gossipers-- How Do You Deal With Them?10-Aug-2009

Why do people indulge or participate in gossip? What do they get out of it? How do you stop it? How do you discourage it? This is an important area to deal with for most people since the damage caused by gossiping can be.. Read more...

How do you have a conversation with your staff?10-Aug-2009

This might sound like a fairly basic question, but many managers become quite anxious or stressed at the thought of having to discuss issues with their staff especially about sensitive matters (eg., poor performance). So.. Read more...

How to be a Good Manager10-Aug-2009

Basically, when it all boils down to it, there are only 3 main characteristics that go to make up an effective manager or team leader. These 3 traits keep coming up time and time again in our conversations with employees.. Read more...

Leadership -- What is it Really?10-Aug-2009

It’s easy to recognize the need for real leadership in today’s world. Just glance the headlines in any newspaper and you will notice that the quality of leadership is the first thing questioned whenever something goes aw.. Read more...

Life Purpose -- What's it All About?10-Aug-2009

There comes a time for all of us when we question what we are here for. What's our mission? What's our purpose. These are critical questions that we eventually need to answer. What are some hints about how we can find ou.. Read more...

Living and Experiencing the "Now" -- The Present Moment is all you've got10-Aug-2009

You and I have only the now, this present moment. This is what we can each know about. We cannot do much about the past; it has already happened. We do not know if there will be a tomorrow. We can experience, however, an.. Read more...

Office Humour -- Cracking a Joke may not be as Funny Afterall10-Aug-2009

The office clown has always played a beneficial role in the workplace but with increasing worker sensitivity, cracking a joke with a colleague could be seen as discriminatory or bully-like behaviour. It may sound like it.. Read more...

Resentment -- It's the worst kind of unfinished business10-Aug-2009

We've all experienced it no doubt. Resentment. However, its futile. It's destructive, and its blinding. Of all the futile and destructive emotions to which human beings are prey, perhaps the most universal and the worst .. Read more...

Stress: Practical Tips on Dealing with it10-Aug-2009

We've all experienced it. Call it stress, call it distress, call it what you will. In coping with stress and in order to ensure that you take preventative measures (prevention is better than cure!), there are a number of.. Read more...

Success -- It's About Moving Forward10-Aug-2009

Setbacks are what we all know about. In the workplace, it might be retrenchment or redundancy for example. The key though is what you do about it and how you actually handle it. In most cases, it has more to do with atti.. Read more...

Success -- It's in the effort10-Aug-2009

We all want to know how to achieve and reach our goals. How do we be successful? What's it about? Well, one thing is for sure, it's not about IQ and being bright. No, it's more about EQ -- "Emotional Intelligence". Furth.. Read more...

The Rise & Rise of Mental Health Problems at Work-10-Aug-2009

Mental health issues will take over from heart disease as the leading cause of disability and death in the next 20 years. This is now a frequently quoted statistic. Not surprisingly, these mental health issues are now em.. Read more...

When Others Get Defensive -- What do they do and what should you do?10-Aug-2009

Defensiveness in one party in an interaction tends to trigger defensiveness in the other’s response. The result is frequently an escalating spiral of defensiveness which results in aggression or alienation or perhaps cr.. Read more...