A Harvard psychologist says there’s a personality trait that’s just as important as charisma and is easier to develop

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Some people are naturally more charismatic than others.

Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, and Martin Luther King Jr. had the ability to captivate and inspire their audiences the way few other leaders could.

Yet Harvard psychologist Amy Cuddy says there’s a personality trait that’s just as important as charisma — and it’s considerably easier to develop.

That trait is what she calls “presence,” and it’s the subject of her new book by the same name.

“Presence,” as Cuddy defines it, is about being attuned to and able to express your full potential — whether in an important presentation or a conversation with your boss.

During a recent talk at the 92Y in New York City, Cuddy explained the difference between charisma and presence, and why presence isn’t something that only certain people are born with:

Charisma seems to be more about the intoxicating quality that you have on other people, as opposed to presence, which is more about the self in relation to others, and how you feel you represented yourself in a situation, and how you were able to engage. So it’s less about how others see you and more about how you see yourself Read more...

10 things I wish someone had told me when I was 20 by Nelson Wang, Quora

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This post from entrepreneurNelson Wang originally appeared on Quora as an answer to the question “What is it that nobody tells you about adult life?

My second startup had just completely failed. I came home on a Saturday night at midnight and there was a letter on my kitchen counter.

It was from a law firm threatening to sue my company.

It felt like someone kicked me in my stomach. It was one of the worst feelings in the world.

In the last 31 years of living, I wish there were a few key lessons someone taught me as I was growing up.

Here are the 10 things I felt like nobody told me about adult life:

1. The most valuable currency in the world is time

Money is valuable. Time is even more valuable.

Time is finite. Once you spend it, you cannot earn it back.

Use money to help you find more time. Time with your friends, family and loved ones. Read more…

3 Reasons Millennials Are Getting Fired A backlash to Milllennials’ mindsets at work is causing some to get fired. Here’s why.

BY J.T. O’DONNELL

Founder and CEO, CareerHMO.com
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IMAGE: Getty Images

Recently, I wrote this article explaining why Millennials aren’t getting promoted. In response to Millennial readers’ requests for a deeper understanding of how being misperceived can negatively affect their careers, I’m taking it a step further and outlining exactly what’s getting them fired.

Employers are seriously fed up.

To get a sense of how heated this has become, read this article by one irate employerand his prediction of the backlash that will soon ensue from the Millennials’ attitudes toward work.

Additionally, this survey by SmartRecruiter of 28,000 bosses detailing where Millennials are falling short is just one example of the data to support the huge disconnect costing some Millennials their jobs. Here are the key takeaways Millennials need to know.

1. Employers don’t want to be parents.

Growing up, Millennials were coached their entire lives and they unknowingly assume employers will coach them too. However, the relationship isn’t the same. An employer pays us to do a job. We are service providers. Expecting extensive training and professional development to do the job doesn’t make financial sense. In many employers’ minds (especially, small to midsized businesses with limited budgets and resources), Millennials should foot the bill to develop themselves and make themselves worth more to the employer.

read more…

 

On the anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo attack dissenting voices must be protected

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Reaffirming our commitment to protecting free expression

On the anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo attacks, PEN International has issued a statement aimed at encouraging governments to protect critical voices and freedom of expression.

IFLA and dozens of other free-speech organisations, institutes, and associations have added their signature to the statement in support of the crucial principles outlined and addressed.

The statement calls on all Governments to:

  • Uphold their international obligations to protect the rights of freedom of expression and information for all, and especially for journalists, writers, artists and human rights defenders to publish, write and speak freely;
  • Promote a safe and enabling environment for those who exercise their right to freedom of expression, and ensure that journalists, artists and human rights defenders may perform their work without interference;
  • Combat impunity for threats and violations aimed at journalists and others exercising their right to freedom of expression, and ensure impartial, timely and thorough investigations that bring the executors and masterminds behind such crimes to justice. Also ensure victims and their families have expedient access to appropriate remedies;
  • Repeal legislation which restricts the right to legitimate freedom of expression, especially vague and overbroad national security, sedition, obscenity, blasphemy and criminal defamation laws, and other legislation used to imprison, harass and silence critical voices, including on social media and online;
  • Ensure that respect for human rights is at the heart of communication surveillance policy. Laws and legal standards governing communication surveillance must therefore be updated, strengthened and brought under legislative and judicial control. Any interference can only be justified if it is clearly defined by law, pursues a legitimate aim and is strictly necessary to the aim pursued.

Read the full statement: English | français