Personality Development and Character Ethics

"The Character Ethic taught that there are basic principles of effective living, and that people can only experience true success and enduring happiness as they learn and integrate these principles in to their basic character. But shortly after World War I the basic view of success shifted from the Character Ethic to what we might call the Personality Ethic. Success became more a function of personality, of public image, of attitudes and behaviours, skills and techniques, that lubricate the process of human interaction"

"If we want to make relatively minor changes in our lives, we can perhaps appropriately focus on our attitudes and behaviors. But if we want to make significant, quantum change, we need to work on basic paradigms"

Quoted from "7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey.

These quotes have great relevance in today's professional world. Let us not get carried away by the shallow "Personality Development" capsule solutions. Before you attend any such programs and before you send your child for such programs make sure that the team behind the training has hands on experience and a right vision about "Character Ethics"

The Continuous Improvement Formula

The Continuous Improvement Formula
By: Brian Tracy

Put Your Career on the Fast Track
There are many things you can do to put your career onto the fast track. You can set clear, specific goals for each area of your life and then make plans to accomplish them. You can plan your work and work your plan.

Ask For Greater Responsibility
You can accept 100% responsibility for everything you are and everything you become. You can refuse to make excuses or to blame others. You can tell your boss that you want greater responsibilities and then when you get them, put your whole heart into doing an excellent job.

Utilize Your Inborn Talents
In the parable of the talents in the New Testament, Jesus says, "Oh good and faithful servant, you have been faithful over small things. I will make you master over large things."

If you too will carry out every assignment to the very best of your ability, you will be given larger and more important things to do and you'll be paid more as a result.

Dedicate Yourself to Continuous Improvement
The key to long term success is for you to dedicate yourself to continuous improvement. If you become one tenth of one percent more productive each day, that amounts to 1/1000th improvement per working day. Is that possible? Of course it is!

Improve A Little At A Time
If you become one tenth of one percent more productive each day, that amounts to one half of one percent more productive each week. One half of one percent more productive each week amounts to two percent more productive each month and 26% more productive each year.

The cumulative effect if becoming a tiny bit better at your field and more productive amounts to a tremendous increase in your value and your output over time.

How to Double Your Productivity
Twenty-six percent more productive each year, with compounding, amounts to doubling your overall productivity and performance every 2.7 years. If you become 26% more productive each year, with compounding, times 10 years, you will be 1004% more productive over the next decade. That is an increase of ten times over ten years.

The Reason For All Great Successes
This is called the Law of Accumulation, or the Principle of Incremental Improvement. It is the primary reason for all great success stories. By the yard, it's hard. But inch by inch, anything's a cinch!

Become A 1000% Person
Make a decision, right now, to be a 1000% person. Commit yourself to continuous personal and professional development. Read, listen to audio programs and take additional courses. This process will completely transform your life.

Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to put these ideas into action immediately.

First, make a plan to become a little bit better every single day. Learn and apply one new idea each day to help you to become more productive and effective at your work. The incremental effect will amaze you.

Second, be patient. Don't expect overnight changes or instant results. Remember the story of the tortoise and the hare. Become a little bit better each day and your future will take care of itself.

 (Received by email from  Abdul jabbar Palam 19th December 2010)

Human body: An amazing creation

Today morning I was performing a simple breathing exercise.

During the exercise one thought just struck my mind. "Why Allah has given two holes to my nose?".
Till now I don't have any answer for this question. Can anyone help me out?

Later in the afternoon I was sitting with my Boss. One of my Colleague came to see him with a bandage on his right thumb. My Boss asked him, "What happened to your thumb?". My colleague explained what happened was a simple cut while removing his nail and it got a bit serious after 10 days from the day he made the cut.

My boss told him the following: Beware of your thumb!

The whole human civilization is built with the help of the thumb of human beings. One of the biggest difference between man and other mammals is the presence of thumb. Consider a situation where the thumb got cut for someone. He can not hold a pen properly and write. He can not hold tools in the factory or in an operation theater!
My Boss mentioned the case of his old friend who had to change the stream of study from medicine to engineering when his friend's thumb got removed after an accident!

Similar is the case with everything on our body and / or everything in this universe. The more you think about the intricacies of creation, you get more amazed!

In Quran (41:53) Allah says: "Soon will We show them our Signs in the (furthest) regions (of the earth), and in their own souls, until it becomes manifest to them that this is the Truth....." 

Realize the elephants in ourselves

Yesterday I attended a program organized by SIGN Jeddah chapter.

Padmasree Dr. Asad Moopan was the chief guest. Sign Chairman Munawar Ali Shihab Tangal inaugurated the human resource development week named as "Alchemy 2012". Brother Rashid Gazzali Koolivayal made a remarkable speech to the audience.

Dr. Asad Moopan narrated a small but interesting story.

A baby elephant used to be tied in the curcus tent with a small rope tied to a weak stake. Years passed the baby elephant became a huge African elephant. However the system of tying the elephant to the same small rope continued.
It is surprising that the elephant who has the capacity to topple the whole circus tent in a minute is not able to realize its size and power.
This similitude is applicable to most of us. The immense potential God Almighty has deposited in us are not realized by most of the people.
The day we are able to realize the elephants in us our success is guaranteed!


Key words: personality development, human resource development, training, train the trainer, youth empowerment, women empowerment, sign youself, marching to march.........you can count on SIGN for all such programs. 

Over Confidence and the egg story of my daughter

Yesterday night my daughter Haniya came to me asked. Uppa, "do you know the story of the egg that fell down from the top of the building?". I said, no.

Her simple story went like this:
Question No.1: A hen laid an egg at the roof of a building and it fell down....Why?
I answered, but it was a wrong answer. She said, "the hen was not wise".
Question No.2: The next day the hen again laid an egg but it did not fell down. Why?
I answered, but answer was again wrong. She said, "the hen was now experienced".
Question No.2: The next day the hen again laid an egg but again it fell down. Why?
I answered and this time my answer was right. The answer obviously was "the hen was now overconfident".

Key words: Moral story, story for children, stories for children, wise man, wise man do not make mistake in the first chance, experience is the best teacher, over confidence is killing.

A Vision Slogan

A vision slogan is most recommended for a company, organization or an individual himself.
One of the very simple vision slogan came across my way is that for Hyundai construction company.
"We Build Tomorrow"
Please visit below link which explains the philosophy behind this slogan.

http://en.hdec.kr/

From now try to have a vision statement for you, your family, the voluntary organizations you work with and the company you work for.

Key words: Vision statement, Mission statement, Vision and Mission, Vision, Mission.

SKANSKA : Green Urban Development Report No.3

“The water challenge: less misuse, more reuse” Troubled waters are rising. Rapid urbanization, population growth and climate change arecausing our planet’s water to behave in less predictable ways. Several regions will be affected heavily in the years to come. In many countries and markets, not just developing, but developed as well, the issue of water is real and must be solved. In this issue, solutions on both a local and global scale, are explored, together with experts in the field.

http://www.skanska.com/Global/About%20Skanska/Our_Green_Initiative/GreenReport/GUDR3_LOW_Webb.pdf

Key words: water shortage, war for water, water scarcity, ozone depletion, climate change, river pollution, urban water problems, green technology, green initiatives, water is the elixir of life, elixir of life

Paid in full with one glass of milk

One day, a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school, found he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry.

He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house. However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door.

Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water! . She thought he looked hungry so brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it so slowly, and then asked, How much do I owe you?"

You don't owe me anything," she replied. "Mother has taught us never to accept pay for a kindness."

He said ... "Then I thank you from my heart."

As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but his faith in God and man was strong also. He had been ready to give up and quit.

Many year's later that same young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease.

Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes.

Immediately he rose and went down the hall of the hospital to her room.

Dressed in his doctor's gown he went in to see her. He recognized her at once.

He went back to the consultation room determined to do his best to save her life. From that day he gave special attention to her case.

After a long struggle, the battle was won.

Dr. Kelly requested the business office to pass the final bill to him for approval. He looked at it, then wrote something on the edge, and the bill was sent to her room. She feared to open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all. Finally she looked, and something caught her attention on the side of the bill. She read these words ...

"Paid in full with one glass of milk"

(Signed) Dr. Howard Kelly.


Courtsey: Asokan K.K (By E-Mail)

Time & Circumstances can change

When a bird is alive..it eats Ants, When the bird is dead.... Ants eat the bird! 

So..Time & Circumstances can change at any time..

Don’t devalue or hurt anyone in life. 

You may be powerful today..But Remember..... Time is more powerful than You!!! 

One tree makes a million match sticks....

But when the time comes.. Only one match stick is needed to burn a million trees..

So be good and do good............. 


Coutsey: 
Mr. Aboobacker (E-mail)

Work visa limits on foreigners 'critical for Nitaqat success'

Jeddah, March 6: The policy of employing foreign labor under the Nitaqat program should be strictly implemented, a Shoura Council official said yesterday.

"A foreign worker's visa should be limited up to five years and during that period a Saudi should work with him and eventually replace him. This could be a practical solution to the implementation of Nitaqat and realization of Saudization," Saad Mariq, chairman of the Shoura Council's Financial Affairs, said participating in a panel discussion at the ongoing 12th Jeddah Economic Forum.

Upgrading vocational training to meet the requirement of raising the skills and qualification of Saudi workforce was also emphasized at the session on "Transforming Employment: The Job Creation Imperative."

Turki Al-Dakhil, an Al Arabiya presenter, conducted the session.

Mariq stressed that education, qualification and training were among the key factors in making the Saudi workforce capable of replacing their overseas counterparts. "Unfortunately, the scenario showed that only 30 percent importance was being given to education, and the remaining 70 percent was divided between qualification and training," he said, adding that Saudis remained far beyond in the race for jobs because they could not fulfill the requirement of qualification and training.

"We have to train Saudis and bring them to the level of the requirements in the employment market," he said and mentioned that four million of the eight million foreign workers lacked the right qualification and skills for the jobs they did.

Mariq called on the authorities to see that every dollar or riyal invested in the economy should be equally spent on Saudi education. "Merely educating them or producing graduates is not enough. It should go in parallel with capacity building so that the economy continues to create job opportunities."

Ibrahim Al-Moaiqel, director general, Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF), said women constituted 75 percent of job seekers in the Kingdom. "While directing attention to the growing unemployment among women, I don't mean to suggest that unemployment among men should be overlooked."

The growing unemployment among Saudis is posing a serious challenge to the employers of both the public and private sectors, he said and mentioned that there is a general preference among women for teaching jobs. "When preparing the data under the Hafiz program, more than two million jobless people sent in their names for registration," he said.

Why always look around for jobs; they should also aspire to be entrepreneurs. "Entrepreneurship is the answer for new graduates," said Dalia Mogahed, executive director and senior analyst, Gallup Center for Muslim Studies. However, she cautioned that the US experience shows that as many as 90 percent startups initiated by new graduates tended to fail. "Successful are those who have five to 10 years of experience, especially managing people at work, and then they launch themselves into entrepreneurship. Such successful entrepreneurs are extraordinary and a rare breed of people." She highlighted the fact that the region has the highest unemployment among women. "What dictates the need for employment among women is economics and not social factors. Also, strangely, as men's employment goes up, women's unemployment rises."

Professor Gerhard Bosch, director of the Institute for work, skills and training (IAQ) at the university of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, speaking on the "Changing employment relationship," said innovation, training and employment were the key factors that guided the creation of 40 million jobs in Germany. "Make high investments in R&D continuously and employ young people by providing them apprenticeships," was his call to the region's employers. North America and Europe have recorded a faster integration of young people through modernization and training, he said and emphasized the need for consistently upgrading vocational training.

Nada Al-Nashif, regional director, ILO Regional office in Beirut, said the region that grew at five percent in 2011 lacked quality jobs although it did not suffer from quantity of jobs. "The Saudi labor market is faced with challenges. There is a complex task of training jobseekers with the requisite skills. We need trade, investment and training to go hand in hand to meet the requirement of labor market. Thus, we need a strong and vibrant private sector to address such issues."

Jorg Schubert, a panelist, referring to the employment markets in the region said Middle East North Africa would need to create 70 million new jobs. Of them, the GCC will have to account for 8 million and Saudi Arabia 5 million in the foreseeable future.

Courtsey: Arabnews 6th March 2012
http://arabnews.com/economy/article583690.ece