Communicate, delegate and stay relevant: The Great War’s leadership lessons October 26, 2014 Military history is fertile ground for lessons in leadership. Scores of chief executives surveyed by Forbes cited Sun Tzu’s The Art of War as their favourite business book (with Oracle’s chairman Larry Ellison apparently applying the tome’s lessons in his company’s software standoff with SAP), while City folk taking Cass Business School’s executive Leadership course [...]
Contracts for star employees: The top five mistakes October 23, 2014 Be careful with bonus entitlements, and try to avoid long periods of notice. Star employees often have high salaries and exceptional benefits, and may also have “special” provisions in their contracts that could cost you if things go wrong. Hiring big names is a fraught business at the best of times, as Liverpool’s signing [...]
How to get employer support for an EMBA October 22, 2014 CORPORATE sponsorship for the Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) course has fallen in recent years. In 2007, 34 per cent of students received full financial sponsorship from their employers (according to the EMBA Council), but by 2011, the figure had dropped to 27 per cent – and it has continued to decline since. The [...]
Why an MBA can help change your career October 22, 2014 It's not unusual to change your career these days. A 2012 survey by Future Workplace found that 91 per cent of millennials (those born between 1977 and 1997) expect to stay in a job for less than three years. And if you are looking to make a career pivot – changing your role radically, taking [...]
From cut-price gym fees to stop-smoking programmes: The dark side of staff health schemes October 22, 2014 Remember the look of successful businessmen of the past? With a self-satisfied grin and a greasy face, they’d sit down to enjoy a fine meal, with a swollen gut testing the strength of their belt. To no one’s dismay, these rounded figures have largely disappeared from the corporate scene. Still, we shouldn’t be overenthusiastic about [...]
Goal-based investing: Why it pays to look at the big picture October 21, 2014 There’s no golden rule, but don’t be afraid to take risks. The casual observer might think that the only way to invest is to seek the highest possible return on a single pot of money, chasing the latest themes in markets and following certain star fund managers. But the experts say that goal-based investing [...]
Why leaders should use social media October 21, 2014 You can build brand trust by engaging directly with your customers, so don’t be shy. Few chief executives of companies on the FTSE 350 stock index have a presence on social media. While nearly all of them recognise the importance of digital media to their organisations, they still resist using it themselves. They talk [...]
This market storm may not be over – CNBC Comment October 20, 2014 I simply can’t resist the temptation to draw parallels between markets and the autumn storms in the UK last week. The tempest is back. Yes, it was a quiet summer, with volatility in equity, FX and bond markets dropping to multi-year lows. But the lashing of the first storm is still painful, and the finger-pointing [...]
How inflation data prints affect financial markets – Daily FX Tips & Picks October 20, 2014 WITH most market participants expecting a rate increase in the US during 2015, this Wednesday’s inflation figure will be very interesting. Markets anticipate that US inflation will show an annual growth of 1.6 per cent, while the reading that excludes food and energy price changes (the “core” measure) is expected to have increased by 1.7 [...]
Five simple tips on how to build a resilient career October 20, 2014 Being the “yes” person and trying to go it alone will get you nowhere. The City is renowned for its tough working environment. So having resilience is vital to avoid burnout and to help you deal with setbacks or rejection. Building layers of defence will help you anticipate future difficulties, and ensure that self-doubt [...]