Student Presentation-Emerson

This paper was written by Emerson, a student of mine.  It examines how to be a good boss:

WRITING EXERCISE

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How to be a good boss

The occupation of a boss is to make people finish their tasks properly and timely to attend the company’s goal. For that purpose, a boss has to hire a qualified workforce for the job, define clear expectations so that employees understand what they’re are doing, teach them when necessary, and evaluate and give feedback in order to change or promote a behavior.

Before hiring a new employee, the company has to set up all the qualifications required for the position and look for professionals which fulfill those requirements. However, sometimes it’s not possible to find such a complete professional, so the company has to offer training to prepare the professional for the daily activities.

It’s important to be clear about the company’s strategy and personal goals to let the workforce understand what is expected from them. Clear guidelines will help them to perform their tasks and will allow an accurate feedback.

Eventually, the staff will have difficulties in delivering some tasks. In such cases, it’s necessary to consider if the staff is supposed to deal with this situation by judging if they were hired with the proper knowledge or if they’ve received and understood training. Sometimes new requirements appear and need to be done. In both cases, a good boss wouldn’t lose the temper and would explain what has to be done and would provide an honest evaluation.

Then comes the feedback and the opportunity to change or promote a behavior. This can be tricky because the feedback of one employee can affect all the workforce. So it’s important to have arguments to support feedback and it has to be in line with the company’s strategy and the personal goals which were previously set.

There isn’t a formula for being a good boss. What defines a good boss is the workforce’s satisfaction in their work. Employees want to feel well guided, recognized, and want to see the perspective for their careers. A good boss would be someone an employee can work with instead of working for.

What goes around comes around

"What goes around comes around."

What does it mean?

Basically, it means that what you do in life, whether positive or negative, comes back to you.  It may or may not come back to you in the same form as you expressed it, however, it will most certainly come back to you.  

So, watch your actions and pay attention to your words because what you say and do, will come back to you.  

Good advice right?


When thinking about this concept, I'm reminded of  the First Law of Thermodynamics which states:  

"The total energy of an isolated system is constant; energy can be transformed from one form to another, but cannot be created or destroyed." 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_law_of_thermodynamics)

Basically, we are what we say and we say what we are.  What we say affects us just as our actions affect us.  Make Sense?

Many artists have created music based on this concept.

Justin Timberlake wrote a song about this:

Even Bob Marley wrote about this:

 

So, be careful what you say and be careful about your actions because what goes around comes around.


     

Top of the Mornin' to You

"Top of the Mornin' to You" (GOOD MORNING!!)

Have you heard this expression before?  It's a common Irish-American greeting.

What better way to start the day then with a fun song!?

Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!!

Some things I've learned this week...

My students are teaching me new things all the time and this week is no different.  Here are some of the important things I've learned this week:

If you want to speak  better, listen more!
If you want to write better, read more!

Google 'hangout' is a great way to have a conference call.  I'm looking at this method to provide 'online' classes for some groups.  Does anyone have experience with Google hangout?  Do you find it works better than Skype?  I'm curious about this technology.

Successful companies often don't compare themselves to their competition.  In fact, many times, their competition is irrelevant.  What then, do successful companies focus on?  They focus on uncontested market space, they focus on areas in the market where there is no competition, and they make strategic moves in order to get out of the race against competition and into an area in the market where they are able to measure their success not by comparing themselves to their competitors, but by adding value for their customers! 
.....More to come on this subject soon!  I find it fascinating..how about you?

It hasn't been this cold in Curitiba for years!!

What have you learned this week?

More Food for thought!

Eat your RED fruits and Vegetables!!

Will and Would

Will is used for speaking in present about what we intend to do.

Example:  I'll go out for dinner tonight.

Won't is the opposite of will.

Example:

I won't go out for dinner tonight.

Would is used when speculating about what we might do in certain situations.

Example:

I would go out for dinner tonight but I already ate.

Wouldn't is the opposite of Would.

Example:

I told him I wouldn't go out for dinner because I already ate.

Practice:

Complete these sentences using personal information:

I would love to live in ______________________.

I would love to have _______________________.

I would love to work at ____________________.

I wouldn't like to _________________________.

A subject I would love to study is _____________.

Complete these sentences using will or would:

1.)  I _____ stay at a hotel near the beach next week.

2.)  I ________ stay at a hotel near the beach but there aren't any available rooms.

3.)  I ___________ like to spend some time with them next week.

4.)  I ________ spend some time with them next week.

5.)  I'm really tired, I think I ______________ go to bed.

6.) I ___________ go to bed if I didn't have so much work to do.

7.) I _________ go to the party on Saturday because my friend Jane is coming with me.

8.) I ___________ go to the party on Saturday but my friend Jane can't come with me.


Answers:  1.) will 2.) would 3.) would 4.) will 5.) will  6.) would 7.) will 8.) would

Fill in personal information:

What's something you'll do this week?

What's something you'd like to do this week? 

Where's somewhere you'll go this week?

Where's somewhere you'd like to go this week?

Simplier is better

In speaking and writing, the more simple words you use, the better.  You will be easier to understand and get better results from your listener.  Don't complicate your message by trying to use complicated vocabulary. As you read the words below, notice how using more complicated vocabulary doesn't necessarily acheive the desired message.

Examples:

Instead of                    Use

In the event that             if

at this point in time         now

in the order of magnitude of  about

had the opportunity to be     was

come into possession of       get