Submit Blog Login Last Submitted Blogs RSS Archive Contact  
Business Fables and Management Lessons
 
 
 

Business Fables and Management Lessons
Powerful lessons for CEOs, executives, leaders, managers and marketers on business, management, corporate strategies, leadership, and decision making tools, drawn from famous fables and stories.
Language: English
RSS Feeds for this Blog
Statistics
Unique Visitors: 233
Total Unique Visitors: 343768
Visitors Out: 2464
Total Visitors Out: 4072
 
 
Articles
Effective Delegation of Work
2007-10-04 09:18:00
Effective managers and leaders know that they can climb greater heights and achieve remarkable goals only if they delegate work to the good, able and talented people around them. The logic is simple – if they are able to rope in more brains and bodies to do the tasks, they are able to get more things done within the same time frame. Having these tasks out of the managers' hands will free up ...
 
Workaholics with No Balanced Life
2007-09-21 13:22:00
There is no indefinite job security. Market conditions fluctuate so fast that workers would rather play it safe by working into the good books of the employer. What better way to do that than to be the first person to step into the office and the last to leave. What started out as pure work enthusiasts end up being workaholics. Workaholics' lives center around work and nothing else. ...
 
My Boss is an Idiot
2007-09-14 08:34:00
Working hard and being extremely competent in what you do is not the key to getting a promotion. Not when you have an idiot and a fool as a boss, supervisor or manager. All of us may at one time or other work with bosses who belong to that “no-brain, no-skill” category, and our favorite happy-hour conversations always center upon how these bosses got to that position of power in the first ...
 
Control and Overcome Procrastination
2007-09-04 07:25:00
Procrastination – putting off till tomorrow things that we should do today. At some point in our lives, we are either guilty of procrastination or know of friends or colleagues who are. Is procrastination a bad thing? Would you call procrastinators lazy? Are they poor decision makers? Would you marry or stay married to a procrastinator? As you will read, we do not view procrastination as ...
 
Self Help, Perseverance and Success
2007-08-24 10:17:00
A startup business crumbles after 2 years and needs a couple of million dollars of funds to keep it afloat. Entrepreneur A seeks financial help from banks, negotiates scheme of arrangement with creditors, and when all these don't materialize, he prays that a white knight will come to his rescue. Entrepreneur B adopts a similar approach with banks and creditors. However, instead of waiting ...
 
Higher Purpose and Job Satisfaction
2007-08-15 07:31:00
A purpose is a mission statement. An organization invariably has one, which it expects every employee to live up to. Sure, the employee will do what he is told to do, but he is motivated to work for a different reason. He works because he has to support a family; he has to work in order to survive. Although the employee is committed to the work, there is no alignment between the employee's ...
 
Turn Adversity into Opportunity
2007-08-08 08:12:00
A life without obstacles is as good as dead. Whether they are everyday problems or crisis situations, how we handle them will determine how good we are as a leader. The weak leaders crumble when the odds stack up and surrender even before any attempt to overcome the obstacles. The great and successful leaders on the other hand see adversity as a challenge. Against all odds, they rise above ...
 
Teamwork - A Competitive Advantage
2007-07-31 10:01:00
To value the importance of teamwork, we have to appreciate the value of every individual. Many managers think that they are good team players. When they get into action, they begin to “take charge” of the whole process and dictate their beliefs. They are deaf to other people's inputs and suggestions. Sometimes, they may ask for ideas from the members and appear receptive. At the back of ...
 
Boss's pet and Favoritism
2007-07-18 10:36:00
Favoritism is a human trait found in many relationships, e.g., parent-children, teacher-students. As long as there are two persons we have to interact with, it is in our nature to compare and favor one over the other. CEOs, employers, bosses and managers who deny that they have pet employees are deceiving themselves. They should accept that they have, but be skillful enough to manage the ...
 
Value Ideas and Staff Suggestions
2007-07-11 08:24:00
Many of the success stories begin with simple ideas. In the course of work, your employees or staff may likewise have creative ideas and innovative solutions to carry out their work more effectively and efficiently. Sometimes, they improvise the processes without the Management being aware of it. It could very well be that the same improvisation can be applied to other work processes across ...
 
Problem Solving: Define Problem
2007-06-27 09:09:00
One mistake that people often make when they are faced with a situation is to jump straight into finding solutions, giving little thought to defining the problem. For example, a hotel manager saw a sudden dip in occupancy rate, and asked the staff to propose “ways to increase the occupancy rate.” Everyone went full steam into publicity, promotional offers, events and other gimmicks. Months ...
 
The Boss is Always Right
2007-06-16 02:13:00
In many places of work, there is only one rule – “The Boss is Always Right” or “The Boss is Never Wrong”. What if we know that the Boss is wrong? Well, simple ... refer back to the rule. All around us, we see and hear of double standards and inequality. The recent case of celebrity heiress Paris Hilton being released after three days in Los Angeles jail sparked fierce debates on the ...
 
Conflict Resolution at Work
2007-06-07 02:53:00
No two humans come out of the same mold and differences in ideas and opinions are bound to arise. Differences lead to Conflicts. When well-handled, conflicts are in effect good for the organization as they often lead to creative ideas and changes for the better. Conflicts become counterproductive when they give rise to enmity, hostility, tension, confusion and sabotage among the workers. If ...
 
Cope with Work Stress
2007-05-25 00:08:00
It has been widely believed that the most stressful jobs are those in the IT, nursing care, education, secretarial, and service industries. There are also surveys that included lawyers, engineers, marketers, and human resource personnel among the most stressed professionals. Is it true that if you are in these professions, you must necessarily feel stressful at work? Can there not be ...
 
Leaders as Role Models
2007-05-12 11:46:00
Everybody has a role model, someone who has done the same job we are doing or taken the same path of life we are traveling on. Sometimes, we are embarrassed or are too ego-conscious to admit having a role model. The reality is that without tapping on the knowledge and experience of the people who have succeeded before us, we are likely to fall into the same pits that they could have fallen ...
 
Trust Gut Instincts and Intuition
2007-05-02 06:46:00
Are decisions made by gut feelings good? Business writer Malcolm Gladwell seemed to think so. In his bestselling book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, he presented cogent arguments on how decisions made in an instant, almost without thinking, stood up better than decisions made after analytical considerations. Dotted with examples like how a fire-fighter suddenly knows when to ...
 
Dreams, Goals, and Motivation
2007-04-18 12:19:00
One of the important aspects of motivation is knowing what we want to achieve. Once we have that, we can go through a series of goal-setting steps to state, define and execute our goals. This first step of knowing what we want is by no means simple. Try asking your children what they want to achieve. You will get answers ranging from scoring the perfect grades in their examinations to being ...
 
Learn the Art of Saying NO
2007-03-12 15:09:00
“NO” is a two-letter word but one of the most powerful words in leadership, management, and career growth. Learning to say No when you really want to is one of the important skills in work survival. It is not a negative mindset of avoiding work. Instead, it is a way of gaining control over your work and personal life, making work fit into your purpose of life, and seeking fulfillment and job ...
 
Corporate Governance and Transparent Leadership
2007-02-02 08:57:00
Corporate disclosure has always been a sore point between stakeholders and the management. The decision on what must go into the public domain is difficult due in part to the reality that companies thrive primarily on well-kept business secrets of success. These are legitimate concerns although history had also uncovered improper practices which were well-hidden and protected under the cloak ...
 
Effective and Efficient Meetings
2007-01-21 11:29:00
Meetings are such a dread. Haven't you attended meetings which are totally unproductive, time-wasting, and boring? Or are you guilty of chairing such meetings? In one of my places of work, I had meetings almost round the clock. “Remember that time is money.” If you agree with Benjamin Franklin, time is a huge cost to the company. While I won't say they were all unproductive, I would ...
 
Christmas tale and generous managers
2006-12-17 11:43:00
Leadership is not an inanimate object. It has a face, and more importantly, it has a heart. The good leaders do not merely command respect, they earn it. A leader who rules with an iron fist will influence people once. A leader who rules with a kind heart will influence people for a lifetime. We like to associate with leaders who see themselves as humans, and not an extraordinary species. ...
 
Innovative marketing and packaging
2006-12-11 02:15:00
In the business environment, there are the Davids and the Goliaths. Occasionally, we read inspiring stories about how one small startup company can gobble up a large share of the pie and surprise the older boys. More often than not, they are not about David killing Goliath, but about the two of them forming strategic alliances and capitalizing on each other's strengths. It boils down to ...
 
Customer service – accept blame, own the problem
2006-12-11 01:23:00
When things go wrong, as they often do, what is your first reaction? Blame it on others. This blaming game is played even at the highest levels in the corporate offices and in our government. When complaints arise and it is obvious that the fault lies in a certain person, he gets the whole troop of officers in the department to share the blame. It sounds unfair, but it is a useful strategy. ...
 
Autocrats, dictators, and dominant bosses
2006-12-11 00:47:00
A majority of complaints and agitated office gossips are related to the bosses, either they are too incompetent, demanding, unreasonable, or autocratic. It is difficult to work under these types of managers and supervisors and the frustrations at work lead to misery and low morale and eventually disaster for the company. While many of the complaints are fair and true, we have pulled out a ...
 
Business strategy based on false assumptions
2006-12-08 09:11:00
When formulating theories and business plans, we are usually fond of qualifying them by stating the assumptions we have made. The commonly used assumption is the latin phrase “cēterīs pāribus”, basically stating that our plans are based on “all other things being equal.” Should there be a change in these variables or assumptions, our projections would be different. The critical thing to ...
 
Focus on your proven strategy
2006-11-30 14:16:00
However much we believe ourselves to be a jack-of-all-trades, we can surely identify one trade that we are better at, something that we are proud of. Similarly, in our other decision making approaches, business strategies and work processes, there are bound to be some that have consistently worked well for us. These tried and tested ones become our strengths, our forte. They are unique to us ...
 
Importance of planning
2006-11-30 14:01:00
The Ant and the Grasshopper (Illus by Arthur Rackham) In a field one summer's day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart's content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest. "Why not come and chat with me," said the Grasshopper, "instead of toiling and moiling in that way?" "I am helping to lay up food for the ...
 
Communicate truthfully and effectively
2006-11-30 13:49:00
The Monkey and the Dolphin (Illus by Arthur Rackham) A Sailor, bound on a long voyage, took with him a Monkey to amuse him while on shipboard. As he sailed off the coast of Greece, a violent tempest arose in which the ship was wrecked and he, his Monkey, and all the crew were obliged to swim for their lives. A Dolphin saw the Monkey contending with the waves, and supposing him to be a man ...
 
Value every team member
2006-11-30 13:37:00
The Lion and the Mouse (Illus by Erin O'Leary Brown) Once when a Lion was asleep a little Mouse began running up and down upon him; this soon wakened the Lion, who placed his huge paw upon him, and opened his big jaws to swallow him. "Pardon, O King," cried the little Mouse: "forgive me this time, I shall never forget it: who knows but what I may be able to do you a turn some of these days?" ...
 
Walk away from a bad deal
2006-11-30 13:22:00
The Lion in Love (Illus by Harrison Weir, John Tenniel, Ernest Griset) A Lion once fell in love with a beautiful maiden and proposed marriage to her parents. The old people did not know what to say. They did not like to give their daughter to the Lion, yet they did not wish to enrage the King of Beasts. At last the father said: "We feel highly honoured by your Majesty's proposal, but you ...
 
Give genuine appraisals
2006-11-30 13:11:00
The Fox and the Crow (Illus by Arthur Rackham) A Fox once saw a Crow fly off with a piece of cheese in its beak and settle on a branch of a tree. "That's for me, as I am a Fox," said Master Reynard, and he walked up to the foot of the tree. "Good-day, Mistress Crow," he cried. "How well you are looking today; how glossy your feathers; how bright your eye. I feel sure your voice must ...
 
Bosses who want their way
2006-11-30 12:52:00
The Wolf and the Lamb (Illus by Harrison Weir, John Tenniel, Ernest Griset) Once upon a time a Wolf was lapping at a spring on a hillside, when, looking up, what should he see but a Lamb just beginning to drink a little lower down. "There's my supper," thought he, "if only I can find some excuse to seize it." Then he called out to the Lamb, "How dare you muddle the water from which I am ...
 
Leaders must be decisive
2006-11-30 12:12:00
The Miller, His Son, and Their Ass (Illus by Arthur Rackham) A Miller and his son were driving their Ass to a neighboring fair to sell him. They had not gone far when they met with a troop of women collected round a well, talking and laughing. "Look there," cried one of them, "did you ever see such fellows, to be trudging along the road on foot when they might ride?” The old man hearing ...
 
Incentives give the extra push to succeed
2006-11-30 11:56:00
The Hare and the Hound (Illus by Arthur Rackham) A Hound started a Hare from his lair, but after a long run, gave up the chase. A goat-herd seeing him stop, mocked him, saying, "The little one is the best runner of the two." The Hound replied, "You do not see the difference between us: I was only running for a dinner, but he for his life." Moral: Incentive spurs effort. Kidding me: Do ...
 
Staff is the most valuable asset
2006-11-30 11:36:00
The Goose with the Golden Eggs One day a countryman going to the nest of his Goose found there an egg all yellow and glittering. When he took it up it was as heavy as lead and he was going to throw it away, because he thought a trick had been played upon him. But he took it home on second thoughts, and soon found to his delight that it was an egg of pure gold. Every morning the same thing ...
 
Do not fear competition
2006-11-30 11:24:00
The Fox and the Lion (Illus by Arthur Rackham) When first the Fox saw the Lion he was terribly frightened, and ran away and hid himself in the wood. Next time he came near the King of Beasts, however, he stopped at a safe distance, and watched him pass by. The third time they came near one another, the Fox went straight up to the Lion, and passed the time of day with him, asking him how his ...
 
Set realistic goals
2006-11-30 11:07:00
The Fox and the Grapes (Illus by Harrison Weir, John Tenniel, Ernest Griset) One hot summer's day a Fox was strolling through an orchard till he came to a bunch of Grapes just ripening on a vine which had been trained over a lofty branch. "Just the thing to quench my thirst," quoth he. Drawing back a few paces, he took a run and a jump, and just missed the bunch. Turning round again ...
 
 
 
 
eXTReMe Tracker