Skip to main content

Articles

The importance of immediate action, even when it's a scary convo with your boss

Andrew Badham - 2018-11-21 11:38:04

There’s a simple question I like to ask students at the end of a class, “What’s one action you’ll do tomorrow to move towards your goal?” It seems like a mundane question, but it’s rather important. When people decide to make a change but fail to take any substantive actions to effect that change, they might actually further entrench their old behaviours, according to The JournaI of Personality and Social Psychology. For example, if you decided to be less la... Read more

Creating Meaning at work and why that matters

Andrew Badham - 2018-11-09 15:39:08

It’s certainly not a new idea that people have a desire to work for more than just their paycheques, that they need some motivation to pursue beyond the prospect of a raise. Of course, quantifying just how much people are willing to pursue meaning over salary is no easy task; nevertheless, a team from Better Up decided to take on the challenge. What they found was surprising. The average respondent was willing to part with 23% of their future earnings for more guaranteed meaning on a day... Read more

If you want people to listen, speak with a deeper voice

Andrew Badham - 2018-10-18 08:43:24

The power of your voice is something I try to impress upon the folks in our classes. So much is said of appropriate body language and positioning in the room, yet – in my opinion – your voice is by far the more important factor. Your voice conveys how you feel about the subject matter of your discussion; it draws the listener’s attention to those parts you wish to highlight to them; it defines and represents you, the speaker, to the audience. Part of that representation is yo... Read more

How optimism could kill your start-up

Andrew Badham - 2018-10-09 08:20:44

A recent study published in the European Economic Review had, what I assume many people found to be, counterintuitive findings. Optimism and entrepreneurship don’t mix. In short, entrepreneurs with above average reported levels of optimism earned 30% less than those without rose tinted specs; a hard pill to swallow for believers in the law of attraction. Those who find this new information hard to believe might have a simple question quite rightly permeating their brains: How could optim... Read more

To become a better speaker focus on intent

Andrew Badham - 2018-10-04 15:46:52

My high-scool, like many others, had a variety of inter-house events, both in sports and the arts. It was a privilege we were afforded that allowed almost every boy to excel in at least one activity. Of course, the sheer variety of events meant that not every house would have many boys talented in each, which was the scenario I found myself in my Matric year. I belonged to one of the smaller houses, and as such, I happened to be the only boy who took drama. So, the task of writing, directing... Read more