The Business

FPEC EDUCATION & MEDIA

Part 1 - Qualities

The Business

Preface

He is quick, thinking in clear images; I am slow, thinking in broken images. -Robert Graves, In Broken Images

This book is intended as a companion to the eLearning series The Business from FPEC Education & Media. It includes some of the classroom material that has been used and developed in producing The Business. The material is all original and written for use chiey with students at the University of Bors and course participants at the Volvo Group. It is not some great work of depth or meaning, but rather an organic and living process that will need constant revision and updating. I suggest in browsing its pages that you, the reader, use it as a platform for your own thoughts and models, rather than accepting it wholesale as a tailormade business language solution. In short, the world and that of commerce is changing. Rather faster than we can ever perceive. Tiny changes are taking place now that will build a world we barely recognize sooner than we can possibly anticipate. It is in this spirit of constant adaption and re-evaluation that this tome is offered. I hope it provides some growth, stimulation, and - dare I say it - fun.

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Chapter 1

Reading

This article was written as I rst collated vocabulary for what became The Business. It demonstrates how difcult and often arbitrary the divisions of qualities truly are, as many have changed allegiance by the time of the eLearning. These are after all indenite categories, useful in approaching difcult material, i.e. just who we are and how to describe ourselves.

Know who you are!

Describing yourself and others is denitely Step One in successful business communication. From the meet and greet on its the be-all and end-all of building and maintaining business relationships. Weve all been there. From the very rst contact to the very last in a job you are asked to describe and evaluate your personal qualities. Youre asked to self-audit and review yourself. From the SWOT and off

So what could be more natural than starting there if youre going to sharpen up your business communication skills. Theres no easier question than How would you describe yourself? Or is there? In fact, we all nd this deceptively simple question rather disarming. And for that reason alone its worth looking at! Its difcult to know what degree of honesty to employ. We dont like to come over as too pushy or arrogant. At the same time, we dont want to seem like pushovers! Lets run through some of the out-and-out top qualities looked for in job candidates by employers and see if that doesnt help us in concocting our own fruitful mix of adjectives that packs the right punch. Integrity. In an information age where individuals can tweet their way around the world and out their employers on Facebook at the touch of a telephone, your moral and ethical make-up is a key quality. Your honesty and ability to make the right moral and ethical judgements is invaluable. Keeping your word and doing the right thing is what makes you trustworthy. Seasoned professional whose honesty and integrity provide for effective leadership and optimal business relationships. Adaptability. Todays society is changing at an incredible rate. Consider the advancements in telephone technology in the past ten years alone. Being receptive to change and open to new ideas is critical. A business needs to meet change with open arms, and it needs its staff to change with it. Who knows what tomorrows team or project might be? Traditional job titles have all but disappeared...

each individual, team, group, division or whatever its calling itself is asked to analyze its strengths and weaknesses, its good points and bad points, its pros and cons.

Highly adaptable, mobile, positive, resilient, patient risk-taker who is open to new ideas.

Work Ethic. Application, we used to call it. Todays workplace follows us everywhere, from the ofce to the home, on the move and standing still. Its not only enough to be hard-working however. Being efcient and resourceful is key, especially when the divisions between work and your private life are blurred. You need to be organized in order to be efcient. Moreover, you need to be consistent and deliver time and time again. Not giving up is another crucial trait. Keep at it! There will be setbacks... Productive worker with solid work ethic who exerts optimal effort in successfully completing tasks. Dependability. Everybody loves a sure thing. Someone or something you can always rely on. Always there. Never late. You can always fall back on me. Yes, every business needs a mix, but a dependable workhorse is irreplaceable. Once again, as work/private life balance is difcult to pin down, it can be hard to nd people you can truly rely on. Any place. Any time. Dependable, responsible contributor committed to excellence and success.

Loyalty. No more jobs for life means loyalty is hard to come by. A exible workplace means a mix of employees, consultants and people on a project basis. In this mix who or what are people loyal to? It can be hard to tell. Any business needs its loyal few. Loyalty is priceless. Loyal and dedicated manager with an excellent work record. Positive Attitude. A positive attitude is infectious. Even if you do not like what people say, its difcult not to be carried away by their energy and passion. Its a delight to see someone who gives 100% to whatever they do. Theres no doubt that getup-and-go can take you a long, long way! Energetic performer consistently cited for unbridled passion for work, sunny disposition, and upbeat, positive attitude. Professionalism. An elusive attribute that is tough to pin down. What is it that makes someone appear professional? It is not only being able to do your job, but doing it in a fair and even-handed manner; refusing to be drawn into pettiness or ofce politics. A consummate profes-

sional always knows where to draw the line between work and private life. In many senses it is synonymous with maturity. Conscientious go-getter who is highly organized, dedicated, and committed to professionalism. Self-belief. They always say that if you dont believe in yourself then who will?! Condence is something we all want a piece of, when blended with humility. Todays job market is changing and feels evermore insecure. Knowing what you want and what you can deliver is a bewitching characteristic. Moreover, its the mark of a leader. Condent, hard-working employee who is committed to achieving excellence. Motivation. There is nothing worse than an energy vampire, and those lacking self-belief often lack initiative as a result. People who get on with things, can work unsupervised and actually take the initiative by suggesting some concrete courses of action are a godsend to any business. If getting paid is your only motivation then get out of the kitchen! It shows, believe you me... Highly motivated self-starter who takes initiative with minimal supervision. Willingness to Learn. Our ability and willingness to learn is the key to the success of our entire species. Whether a rst-timer or an old hand, how quickly we can take on new concepts, and whether we are willing to do so, is critical. They say you cant teach an old dog new tricks. But as were fast learning, old dogs have to learn new tricks or they are dead in the water. And long may it be so!

Well, theres a lot to digest here. And my choice of categories is in itself a limitation. I could have chosen others. If you can cover these bases then youre probably not far off the mark. Try describing yourself and pick out your strongest sides. Try thinking of successful business leaders or entrepreneurs and consider how you might describe them. One interesting exercise is let others describe you. You might just be in for a pleasant surprise...

Chapter 2

Exercises

Qualities was designed to provide ammunition for writing proles, describing candidates, job ads and letters of application. This exercise was used to produce snappy descriptions. The examples are all taken from real descriptions.

An ambitious and highly motivated self starter with 3 years sales/retail recruitment experience Target driven, hardworking and dependable and a dedicated and loyal team player, looking to add value in a professional, creative and efcient manner. Process driven, with exceptional organizational skills

2 Now choose your adjectives in twos or threes

descriptive adjectives Im a ... (highly) dedicated (highly) motivated conscientious professional (highly) experienced sales-minded* service-minded determined talented process driven* professional goal-focused* seasoned (highly) qualied

Qualities Exercises
1 Choose a noun
descriptive nouns Im a ... worker hard-worker go-getter self-starter driver communicator graduate student team player all-rounder manager executive consultant entrepreneur professional

(highly) enthusiastic hungry hard-working task-oriented*

*Note that -minded, -driven, -focused and -oriented can be combined freely.

Im a

[adj]

and

[adj]

[noun]

Im a sales-focused and talented team player...

3 Add additional phrases after who or with

descriptive phrases who ... works well in a team works well with others enjoys challenges gets results initiates change exceeds targets respects others pays attention to detail puts the the team/ business rst takes risks gives 100% adds value always puts the customer rst delivers consistently takes initiative handles pressure well knows his/her own limitations open to new ideas

with a proven track record in business development and operational management a track record of forging productive relationship with clients, colleagues and franchisees a successful track record of delivering operational excellence and business growth with a consistent record within business development, delivery and account management with exceptional organizational skills

Consistently meeting and exceeding targets and objectives...

with ... a proven track record in ... a passion for ... experience of ... assembling and maintaining a team developing and maintaining relationships delivering operational excellence excellent communication skills three years retail experience

Chapter 3

Vocabulary Builder 1
Integrity. Adaptability. Work Ethic. Dependability. Loyalty. These are the rst ve quality categories in the eLearning modules. The sheets are vocabulary builders including various forms of the words and simple, everyday phrases to match.

Integrity
Being honest sincere genuine ethical moral fair accountable process-oriented Being dishonest insincere ungenuine unethical immoral unfair unaccountable results-oriented Quality (dis)honesty (in)sincerity (un)genuineness ethics (im)morality (un)fairness (un)accountability processorientation consistency Match telling the truth saying what you mean being true to yourself doing right and wrong being good and bad not taking sides having to answer for your actions the journeys more important than the destination always the same

Adaptability
Being exible versatile a multitasker understanding aware sensitive spontaneous open collaborative Being inexible not/non-versatile not/nonmultitasker not understanding unaware insensitive unspontaneous not open uncollaborative Quality (in)exibility versatility multitasking understanding (un)awareness (in)sensitivity spontaneity openness collaboration Match coping with change being able to do lots of things doing lots of things at the same time making sense of things picking up on things respecting others making it up as you go along not judging people/things working well with others

consistent

inconsistent

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Work Ethic
Being productive efcient organized hard-worker, hardworking disciplined thorough Being unproductive inefcient disorganized; unorganized not hard-working undisciplined not/unthorough Quality (un)productivity (in)efciency (dis)organization hard work discipline thoroughness Match getting lots done minimum input, maximum output putting things in order working lots sticking to the plan doing things completely and with care doing things in order sticking to what you know works focusing on little things

Dependability
Being reliable responsible team player punctual persistent careful Being unreliable irresponsible not a team player not punctual not persistent careless Quality (un)reliability (ir)responsibility team play punctuality persistence care Match always there answerable for actions putting the group rst always on time never giving up putting safety rst, playing safe going the same speed doing the expected being sensible; playing safe

methodical practical detail-oriented

unmethodical impractical not detail-oriented

methodicalness (im)practicality detail-orientation

steady predictable

unsteady unpredictable

steadiness (un)predictability

sensible

not sensible

common sense

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Loyalty
Being productive efcient organized hard-worker, hardworking dedicated Being unproductive inefcient disorganized; unorganized not hard-working undedicated Quality (un)productivity (in)efciency (dis)organization hard work (lacking) dedication (un)trustworthines s conscientiousness (lack of) commitment (lacking) devotion Match getting lots done minimum input, maximum output putting things in order working lots giving 100%

trustworthy conscientious committed devoted

untrustworthy unconscientious uncommitted not devoted

a go-to person doing what has to be done on a particular path; onboard giving 110%, going that extra mile true to your word

faithful

unfaithful

(un)faithfulness

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Chapter 4

Vocabulary Builder 2
Attitude. Self-Belief. Motivation. Professionalism. Willingness to Learn. These are the categories in the second Qualities eLearning unit.

Qualities
Use this vocabulary sheet to help you navigate unit 2 on qualities. It includes positive and negative adjectives, plus the quality nouns and descriptions in simple words. You can always put lacking or lack of before the quality to create a negative quality.

Self-Belief
Being condent decisive Being uncondent indecisive lacking selfesteem unassured uncomposed weak unassertive not self-aware insecure Quality condence (in)decisiveness self-esteem Match being certain/sure making up your mind easily knowing youre worth something being secure in yourself keeping your cool withstanding pressure getting your views across knowing yourself not having doubts

Attitude
Being positive enthusiastic energetic proactive passionate service-minded Being negative unenthusiastic unenergetic, apathetic reactive unpassionate, dispassionate not serviceminded pessimistic, unoptimistic Quality positivity, negativity enthusiasm energy proactiveness passion servicemindedness optimism, pessimism Match seeing the good in everything being really interested keeping on going taking initiative living for something putting the customer rst thinking everything will work out being nice not being shy having selfesteem self-assured composed strong assertive self-aware secure

self-assuredness composure strength, weakness assertiveness self-awareness (in)security

optimistic

friendly outgoing

unfriendly not outgoing

(un)friendliness outgoingness

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Motivation
Being determined driven hungry ambitious competitive results-oriented self-starter independent Being undetermined not driven not hungry unambitious uncompetitive process-oriented unmethodical dependent Quality determination drivenness hunger ambition competitiveness results orientation methodicalness independence Match sticking to your decisions needing results/ success really wanting something having goals

Professionalism
(Being) impartial mature discreet (Being) partial immature indiscreet Quality (im)partiality (im)maturity (in)discretion Match not taking sides being fully developed knowing when to speak and when not dealing with others skillfully knowing your stuff not letting emotions take over drawing the right conclusions seeing whats coming having done lots

diplomatic wanting to win knowledgeable focusing purely on goals not needing supervision not needing others updating yourself constantly having sound judgement having foresight dynamic undynamic dynamism experienced self-controlled

undiplomatic not knowledgeable not self-controlled

diplomacy knowledge self-control

having poor judgement lacking foresight inexperienced

judgement foresight experience

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Willingness to Learn
Being intelligent receptive Being unintelligent unreceptive Quality intelligence receptiveness Match being smart taking onboard stuff thinking of or doing new stuff making the most out of what youve got taking the rst step picking things up fast breaking things down thinking about things knowing youre not best

creative resourceful

uncreative unresourceful

creativity resourcefulness

having initiative

not having initiative

initiative

a quick learner analytical reective humble

not a quick learner learning not analytical unreective not humble analysis reection humility

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