Psychology at Work - All Comments

re: Psychology at Work: Mind your language

Rob Ashton — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 14:30:09 GMT

No doubt most of us favour certainty and a ‘can do’ attitude in our business dealings. But the problem with such a blanket ban on these words and phrases is that they can actually be pretty useful.

In an ideal world, we might all know everything in the instant that we’re asked. But in reality, sometimes you need to buy time in order to double check or do some research before passing information on to a client.

Infinitely better that they should have to wait for an hour and get all the facts the first time, rather than potentially acting on misinformation you blurted out on the spot, under the pressure of not being able to say ‘if’.

Good business relationships depend on someone saying ‘I’ll get back to you’ and doing it, ‘try’ and meaning it, and ‘I don’t know – but I can find out’ as necessary, not on cutting such phrases out altogether.

re: Psychology at Work: Mind your language

Susan Ingram — Mon, 31 May 2010 20:18:52 GMT

Well said Stuart - can not believe that such an article should be written by a psychotherapist and published by Forbes! Where is appreciation for truth, authenticity and an acknowledgement of the complexities businesses are facing? I was once privileged to be present when a CEO of a large, multinational and very successful organisation visited a training course I was running. He was grilled by the course participants and most of his answers where 'The right question to ask, but I don't yet know the answer!'. He left after 30 mins and the general view was that he was a good man who knew what he was doing! That is the benefit of truth telling - you can tell the truth and be appreciated for doing it.

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re: Psychology at Work: Blair’s style typifies what went wrong with leadership

James White — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 22:00:22 GMT

Working at an investment bank is like nowhere else. The culture is very closed. Some people find it difficult to talk to friends outside the industry becuase it is impossible to understand what it is like unless you have done it. Nearly every bank got destroyed as a result of the financial crisis. Goldman Sachs is no different. This is very short term view though. Over the last 50 years they have been one of the most profitable organisations in history. Why do you think that Buffett invested when he did?

re: Psychology at Work: Climate, Copenhagen and Custard Pots

Simon Lever — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:09:26 GMT

Agree with hesitation...

I become increasingly riled at the now religeous debate that has become "man made climate change". I am a self-confessed sceptic on the matter, and yet remain open to persuasion. That which maintains my position as a sceptic more than anything else is the zealots who claim the debate is over and attempt to silence those who seek to question the IPCC claims - many of which have been clearly shown to have been manipulated. Much more reasearch needs to be conducted and published to avoid an equally unpleasant economic disaster of huge proportions by blindly assuming this inexact science is otherwise. In the meantime, if swilling out your custard pots makes you feel better, we can certainly all do our bit to conserve resources and reduce pollution, but let us not forget - CO2 is plant food, not a pollutant.

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re: Psychology at Work: Blair’s style typifies what went wrong with leadership

James Taylor (Web Ed) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:38:53 GMT

i guess at least goldman sachs has been consistent in its values - just that its only 'value' is the relentless pursuit of wealth!

graham - good point re engagement. i suppose the fact they agreed to that sunday times piece could indicate that they're finally recognising (albeit far too late perhaps) that their policy of avoiding engagement is a mistake. Although you can't help feeling they've probably made that calculation on financial rather than moral grounds...

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re: Psychology at Work: Blair’s style typifies what went wrong with leadership

David FLINT — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:05:42 GMT

The problem with Blair was not only his STYLE but his CONTENT. The most revealing moment in his premiership was his inability to answer when a Labour MP asked 'What are your political principles?'

Judging by his actions most of his principles, distrust of the public sector, enthusiasm for wealth, dislike of policy debate, were not such as he would share with the Labour party.

Government ought to have a view of the kind of society it wants to create and that society ought to be about more than money. It's past time for a rethink of political principles.

re: Psychology at Work: Blair’s style typifies what went wrong with leadership

Graham Salisbury — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:02:35 GMT

To hold up the leadership of Goldman Sachs as an examplar of good leadership does appear to be seriously flawed.

I would suggest that it is not the mark of a good leader in the 21st Century to claim (albeit obliquely) as Lloyd Blankfein (Goldman’s chairman and chief executive) has done recently to be "doing God's work." To the majority of the population, such a comment is sanctimonious in the extreme.

Also the recent widely-publicised comment of Conservative peer Lord Griffiths (vice-chairman of Goldman Sachs International and a former adviser to Margaret Thatcher (so he would say that, wouldn’t he?) that the British public should "tolerate the inequality (of bankers’ bonuses) as a way to achieve greater prosperity for all" is the opposite of the behaviour that we should expect from an outstanding leader.

Goldman Sachs may indeed try to uphold their values, but as far as the art of engaging with the wider world is concerned (surely part of the task of a good leader) they are an example to be avoided, not imitated.