Author: Nadia K

Posted in Books, Data Analysis, life, Quotes, TED talks

Hans Rosling: How much do you know about the world?

Posted on by Nadia K

I can’t believe that just recently I was introduced and had the chance to watch Hans Rosling’s Ted talk of how much misconception there is in the world about the current poverty rates and the rate of world’s population growth. The talk was recorded in 2014, so some 6 years ago and I don’t think there is much of difference in people’s understanding about the world.

Hans Rosling, unfortunately no longer among us, was a professor of global health at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute and his work was focused on eliminating the myths about the developed and developing world, the poverty state and the overall state of the world.

He is using remarkable visual representation to interpret the statistical data and show a worldview, which is not as dramatic as we wish to think and the world is in much better state than we wish to admit.

In his book Factfulness, Hans Rosling, together with his two long-time collaborators Ola and Anna, provides an explanation of why most people share the misconceptions and what causes the distortion of our perspective.

When things are getting better we often don’t hear about them. This gives us a systematically too-negative impression of the world around us, which is very stressful.”

― Hans Rosling, Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World—and Why Things Are Better Than You Think

Book cover of Factfulness : ten reasons we're wrong about the world--and why things are better than you think

Every group of people I ask thinks the world is more frightening, more violent, and more hopeless—in short, more dramatic—than it really is.

― Hans Rosling, Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World—and Why Things Are Better Than You Think

Posted in Inspirational, life, Motivation, Quotes

Maya Angelou: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said …” – Inspirational Quote

Posted on by Nadia K

Of course, we don’t want to make other people feel miserable or unhappy. So, how do we make them feel good and improve their spirit?

Here are 10 ways to make other people feel special:

  1. Start with smiling – Being positive with others makes them relaxed and opened for collaboration.
  2. Compliment on their appearance – Noticing their shiny healthy hair or being fit and in good shape will do amazing things for their motivation to continue take good care of them selves.
  3. Show appreciation – Frequently express how much you enjoy your interactions and how much your collaborations were beneficial to you.
  4. Support their ambitions – Help them maintain Growth mindset, learn from mistakes and continue dreaming & growing.
  5. Give them undivided attention – Listen wholeheartedly and show empathy and support.
  6. Give them public recognition – Post on social media, or give kudos during team meetings or family gatherings. Showing appreciation in public is a great way to display how much you value the other person.
  7. Share your tips and tricks – Sharing your secret resources make other people feel very special and if they listen to you as a mentor, it is another way to motivate them to reach higher levels of their potential.
  8. Show vulnerability – Share mistakes and silly thing you have made in the past, and how you recovered and learned from them. This will encourage them to share and be vulnerable as well and realize they are not alone in how they are feeling.
  9. Take part in their project – Offer support and help with a big project they are working on before they start feeling overwhelmed.
  10. Offer to do something special – just the two of you: go for a walk, coffee or spend time outside of the daily routine schedule and focus on other things that matter outside of work or study.

When we help to make people feel special, we make better connections, foster kindness, motivate and inspire growth. Who did You Help today?

Posted in communication, Management, Motivation, success, Workplace

Why and How we Should Use Pygmalion Effect to Boost Productivity

Posted on by Nadia K

The Pygmalion effect, or Rosenthal effect, is a psychological phenomenon where higher expectations lead proportionally to improved higher performance, which makes this method important for improving the overall productivity, including increase considerably the employee’s or student’s efficiency and help an organization grow.

Variety of studies show that people will improve, or drop, to the levels which their teachers of managers believe them to be capable. In order to implement this method in practice, it is up to the managers or teachers to have high expectations for their employees or students, and regularly communicate those expectations.

“Organizational Leaders understandably have an influence on the success of employees, and can play a part in that success or failure, at times, without even realizing it. Positive expectations are important to ensure a positive outcome, as the belief itself can affect the giver and the receiver. Managers not only shape the expectations and the performance of the subordinates but also influence their attitude towards their jobs and themselves, if managers are unskilled it leaves a scar on the employees and the overall unit performance of the company decreases and their reputations as coaches is harmed, on the other hand if the managers can induce confidence and make the subordinates believe in themselves, their capabilities will grow and the growth of the firm happens. “

Here are a few steps to start boosting student’s or employee’s performance:

  • Express confidence in their talent and abilities – to remind them about previous records of success and history of accomplishments.
  • Celebrate Accomplishments – to recognize what’s working well and why, develop a growth mindset and motivate.
  • Assume Good Intent – Listen to what’s being said and try to understand it and don’t “read between the lines” & ask for clarification if needed.
  • Show Empathy – to build emotional connection: listen carefully, put yourself in the other person’s shoes, allow sharing vulnerabilities, build trust and offer help.
  • Think Long Term – focus on what the long term result will be and support consistency.

Posted in Books, Management, TED talks, Workplace

Must-Read Book: “Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t” by Simon Sinek

Posted on by Nadia K

You probably have heard about this book already in the media many times, and much has been already said and written about it since it was published in 2014, so I won’t take your time with long persuasive speech. I enjoyed the book thoroughly, learned a lot about how people grow to be good leaders, and recommend if you haven’t read it yet and want to improve your leadership skills to set time aside and read it.

I promise you, you will feel wiser and better person at the end, and will treat your team with more respect and integrity.

Posted in Inspirational, Quotes, success

Herbert Bayard Swope: “I can give you a formula for failure” – Inspirational Quote of the Week

Posted on by Nadia K

Happy Wednesday!

Today’s quote comes from Herbert Bayard Swope. He was a US journalist and editor, who was born at the of XIX century and lived until mid XX century. He was the first recipient of Pulitzer Prize for Reporting in 1917 for articles about the German Empire and is a three-times Pulitzer Prize recipient for his lifetime.

Have you ever found yourself trying to please people around you? It happens to me often … I seek to be surrounded with predominantly happy people, but pleasing them might not be always a recipe for successful relationship. Actually, pleasing is not equal to kindness, so see if you could practice the following techniques to reduce your inclination to please people:

  • Don’t pretend you agree with everyone just to be liked.
  • Don’t feel responsible for how other people feel.
  • Stop apologizing.
  • You’re in charge of how you spend your time. Don’t spend it for activities that are not part of your priorities.
  • Learn how to say NO assertively.
  • Don’t feel bad if other people are angry at you. It’s not necessary your fault and you should not compromise your values.
  • Don’t wait for compliments to feel good about yourself.
  • Don’t try to avoid conflicts at all costs.
  • Keep relationships authentic and share honestly when you feel angry, sad, embarrassed, or disappointed, and don’t try to hide your feelings.

Let me know how you feel about pleasing others and what you do to fight the inclination to agree with others, just to keep them happy.

Posted in Excel, Tutorial

Excel Video Tutorial: World Geographic Heat Map With Real Covid-19 Data

Posted on by Nadia K

Follow step-by-step tutorial on how to build a World Geographic Heat Maps in Excel, using Covid-19 data from World Health Organization.

For more tutorials please make sure to check out the complete list of videos on EZ Excel YouTube Channel. Please also leave a comment of what you would like to learn in future and subscribe to the channel. Thank you.

Posted in Excel, Tutorial

Excel Video Tutorial: How to Build Dynamic Unit Converter

Posted on by Nadia K

With this video, you can learn how to build your own dynamic Unit Converter in Excel, performing very similar to the one on Google’s result page.

GoogleUnitConversion

If you have intermediate Excel skills, you won’t have a problem to follow the step by step instructions and build the Conversion calculator by yourself.

With this mini-project, you will practice the following Excel skills:

  • Dependable drop-down lists with data validation;
  • Defining list names for ranges;
  • Creating tables;
  • Using functions like VLOOKUP, INDIRECT, CONVERT & IFERROR, and last but not least
  • Recording and using macros.

I hope you will enjoy this video and will find the project interesting!

Posted in Books, Motivation, Quotes, success

Seven Reasons You Might Fail to Become the Best in the World, defined by Seth Godin in “The Dip”

Posted on by Nadia K

In his bestselling little book “The Dip”, the famous business marketer and author Seth Godin proves that winners are really the best quitters. Godin helps us understand that winners quit fast and often, and without feeling guilty – until they commit to beating the right Dip.

Every new project, job, or hobby starts out exciting and fun until … it gets really hard, and not much fun at all. You might be in a Dip – a temporary setback that will get better if you keep pushing. But maybe it’s a total dead-end. What really sets the superstars apart is the ability to know if it’s a dead-end or temporary setback.

Winners seek out the Dip. They realize that the bigger the challenge, the bigger the reward for getting past it. If you can beat the Dip to be the best, you’ll earn profits, glory, and long-term security.

Do you quit often? Can you handle “the dip”?

Seven Reasons

 

 

If you haven’t yet, consider reading it:

The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick)