Six ways to succeed with a new staff

Author: Benny Sisko Getting promoted into a CIO role is exciting… until you need to start managing people!  Benny Sisko provides you with six tips for being successful with your new staff. —————————————————————————————————- For the new CIO, assuming responsibility for a staff can sometimes seem like a daunting challenge, especially if you've come up through the IT ranks.  While there are certainly many ways to screw it up, there are also many ways to succeed.  Here are six tips gleaned from my own sometimes painfully acquired experience. Establish a vision No matter how long you've been a CIO, your team has to know that you have big things - or at least a direction - in mind.  No one wants to work toward unclear goals that may or may not line up with the overall organizational strategy. Make sure that you continually communicate a vision to your staff and make sure that they have enough knowledge and information to be able to take part in informing that vision. Get the right people on the team Only lazy employees want other lazy employees around and employees with bad attitudes can destroy a team. Perhaps the hardest decisions that have to be made are those revolving around the people side of the organization.  After all, if a router goes bad, you don't mind chucking it out the door, but even the most negative or the laziest employee still needs a livelihood and it's far from easy to make the ultimate decision regarding the fate of another person. That said, there comes a point when you can't put it off anymore. If you have a boat anchor on your staff that's bringing down the entire team and you've exhausted your other options, it's time to end the employer/employee relationship and bring someone in that can do the job and with a good attitude.  I've gone through this process and it's painful, but almost two years after I fired one-quarter of my staff, I now have a team on the ground that I trust. Our customer feedback ratings are through the roof, overall productivity is higher and no one on the staff feels like they're pulling more weight than someone else. I'm constantly stopped in the hallway to be told about the "service with a smile" that our staff gets from the new people.  The lesson: In the short run, letting people go is a gut-wrenching activity, but it's sometime the right thing to do. Delegate… or at least try to Right or wrong, my level of delegating is directly proportional to my faith in my staff. At the end of the day, I'm the one on the hook for making sure that IT's priorities are met so if I don't trust, it's hard to let go. With a robust, trustworthy staff it's been much easier to delegate in a way that makes sense for both me and the staff.  For those CIOs that have risen through the ranks, this is probably one of the most difficult behaviors to learn. We're taught to be hands-on problem solvers and all of a sudden, we're supposed to be expecting <gasp>  other people to do it for us!  Here's the ugly truth: If you don't learn to delegate, one of two things will happen: 1) Your staff will quit; 2) You will be in the unemployment line. Involve others in key discussions As the CIO, it's really easy to get stuck in a rut of attending the high level meetings yourself.  Of course, you should attend these meetings, but don't hog the glory. In my organization, my number two attends executive meetings when I'm away and, on occasion, joins me even when I'm attending. Our organization is also in the midst of a strategic planning dialog.  I've invited another manager on my team - below my number two - to take part in these discussions with me. My goal is to broaden his horizons beyond his day-to-day world and the effort is definitely paying off.  In the past year, he's clearly begun to have a better understanding of the "why" behind my actions in ways that I could never explain in words. Clearly define priorities. This goes along with defining a vision, but whereas defining a vision is a sort of up-front activity, priority definition is an ongoing effort and can be harder than it sounds.  Remember, what you say to someone is only half of the story.  What they hear is the other half and can be wildly different.  When you assign a project or task, make sure the receiver understands its priority against other tasks and the full scope.  Obviously, over time, you'll learn to read each other better and might not have to be quite as detailed, but make sure you both understand your communication limits before you start making assumptions. Overshare information I schedule my staff meeting for immediately after executive staff meetings.  During my staff meetings, I share as much as possible with my staff.  Obviously, I don't go into sensitive personnel issues or other items that could be problematic.  However, my staff knew immediately from me that we wouldn't be getting raises this year and why.  Some people in other departments didn't know until an email went out a couple of weeks later.  I can tell you that my staff reacted very, very well to the bad news.  No one was mad or angry with the company.  I asked them why they weren't mad and they told me that I'd been keeping them well-apprised of our budget difficulties so they weren't surprised in the least by the salary news.  I operate on the principle that I never want my boss to be surprised… on the flip side, I don't want my staff to be unpleasantly surprised, either. Listen and don't be afraid to back down This one is the most important point, so I've saved it for last.  When it comes to your job, listen twice as much as you talk.  When it comes to staff, listen to their concerns and listen to their sometimes vehement pushback.  If they're right, give in.  If they're wrong, don't.  I've been on both sides of this before.  In a previous position, I had two members of my staff in my office arguing that they could not possibly complete the project list that I had put before them in the time frame I specified.  Not once did they provide me with good reasons beyond "we can't do it" so I stood my ground.  In my current position, I had a staff member raise concerns about an upgrade schedule I had proposed.  She came to me with a bulleted list of items that would be affected and reasons why waiting a month made more sense.  She was right so I backed down and we changed the schedule.  In both cases, the end result was fantastic.  In "project list" example I listed, on my last day, one of the people that had been pushing back thanked me for pushing them to new heights both in their skill levels and in the way that they were perceived by the organization. Summary I'm definitely not claiming to be some sort of superhuman here; for every success story, there are many more "teachable moments" that have probably helped me to learn more than all of the successes combined.  But, when it comes to managing my staff, these are six items that have served me well.

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10 great ideas from five great bosses

By John McKee
Depending on the news you hear, it may seem like this economy is still going downhill or perhaps the bottom has finally been reached. But either way, there's no doubt that more organizations are going to fail before we're truly moving continually forward again.

However, while many organizations struggle, there are still great success stories out there. Leaders who see opportunities where others see roadblocks generally lead those operations. Not coincidently, their teams are usually both more positive and more productive than competitors' teams.

Over my 30+ years working with business leaders and professionals, I've been able to see which ideas will work in almost any arena. Here are 10 tactics I've garnered from some of the finest pros I've worked with. See if any of them could help you improve your rate of success.


1: Become a small picture kind of boss
 It's critical that you help everyone understand the overall goals and objectives of the organization. But don't forget that the best leaders also bring those goals down to the smallest details of individual jobs. Learn to help everyone, at every level, understand how his or her specific contribution can make the whole organization more successful.

2: Nuke the Blackberry when at home
It won't surprise you that many execs tell me their organization can't run without them. They say it's imperative that they take a message and help "fix" things. But you might be surprised to learn the percentage of bosses who never check messages or emails after hours. Yet these folks are generally highly rated and successful, and -- this is important -- they often work in the same industry or even company as those who tell me that they must be available at all times.

3: Stop treating vacations as an option
Almost like it's some kind of badge of honor, many managers frequently note how little time off they take each year. On the other hand, others get creative with their vacation planning. They look forward to getting away from the shop to recharge and clear their minds. They tell me that their breaks make them more effective and creative. Care to guess which group I've seen moving up the ladder most quickly?

4: Improve the preparation for hiring new players
Most organizations do really crappy interviewing. Many who interview potential new hires admit to not being well prepared. They say they figured someone else in the process would have done much better. Now more than ever, it's important that anyone joining your organization is well screened and the best fit for the opening. HR studies show that 60% of new hires fail in the first 12 months.

5: Develop your memory
Think back to the first time someone important remembered your name. It felt pretty good, right? Like you counted. The best leaders remember names, job roles, hobbies, partner's names, and more. Watching them go through a series of meetings, it can be amazing just how good their memories are. And it pays off. People work harder for those who care enough to remember personal things about them.

6: Exercise your body as well as your mind
Regularly scheduled forms of body work are a hallmark of the best bosses. The body needs to be exercised and maintained so that you can function at peak performance. Yoga, for example helps to release stress. That's good emotionally too, of course, but it also helps our posture because we have a tendency to hold stress in the front of our body. So it helps us to walk and sit taller; breath better, and have more energy to take on the demands of the job. And keep this in mind: If you were choosing between two candidates for a promotion, would you pick the one who looked fit and alert or the one who looked tired and worn out?

7: Learn these words: "I made a mistake"
And then say them as required. When you are confident enough to admit your screw-ups, it's a great signal to team members that you are real and that you get it. This encourages them to be just as honest, reducing the fudging and BS so prevalent in many organizations. This makes it less likely that you'll get one of those surprises that cause people to reach for purple pills in the top left-hand drawer.

8: Track how you spend your time
The finest managers spend their time where the best payoff is likely to come. However, many leaders, despite their best intentions, spend too much of their time on problems or dealing with problem people. To see how you're doing, I suggest that you regularly take out your calendar and review how much of your time you spent with what and who. If you see a pattern in your behavior -- like too much time dealing with the whiny guy who always has troubles in his department and not with the positive individual who always delivers on her commitments -- make some changes to your time management.

9: Don't demi-task
Do you listen 100 percent of the time or are you usually mentally engaged in several things at once? Top dogs know that nobody can multitask effectively over the long haul. They've figured out how to focus with laser-like precision. And their team members come to know that their boss is really hot and can't be bluffed. This makes the team better at being clear and precise in their communications to you, and it saves both time and energy for everyone.

10: Celebrate success
Whining doesn't create change. Managing by berating is counterproductive. Even in downtimes, you can probably find something that's doing well. Cite it during your meetings or in emails. And name the responsible individuals. What you choose to focus on gets the most attention from others on your team. When you celebrate the little wins, you encourage more of the same behavior from others. And soon, you'll have bigger things to celebrate.

The Power of Positive Thinking !!!

Positive thinking is a mental attitude that admits into the mind thoughts, words and images that are conductive to growth, expansion and success. It is a mental attitude that expects good and favorable results. A positive mind anticipates happiness, joy, health and a successful outcome of every situation and action. Whatever the mind expects, it finds.


Not everyone accepts or believes in positive thinking. Some consider the subject as just nonsense, and others scoff at people who believe and accept it. Among the people who accept it, not many know how to use it effectively to get results. Yet, it seems that many are becoming attracted to this subject, as evidenced by the many books, lectures and courses about it. This is a subject that is gaining popularity.

It is quite common to hear people say: "Think positive!", to someone who feels down and worried. Most people do not take these words seriously, as they do not know what they really mean, or do not consider them as useful and effective. How many people do you know, who stop to think what the power of positive thinking means?

The following story illustrates how this power works:
Allan applied for a new job, but as his self-esteem was low, and he considered himself as a failure and unworthy of success, he was sure that he was not going to get the job. He had a negative attitude towards himself, and believed that the other applicants were better and more qualified than him. Allan manifested this attitude, due to his negative past experiences with job interviews.

His mind was filled with negative thoughts and fears concerning the job for the whole week before the job interview. He was sure he would be rejected. On the day of the interview he got up late, and to his horror he discovered that the shirt he had planned to wear was dirty, and the other one needed ironing. As it was already too late, he went out wearing a shirt full of wrinkles.

During the interview he was tense, displayed a negative attitude, worried about his shirt, and felt hungry because he did not have enough time to eat breakfast. All this distracted his mind and made it difficult for him to focus on the interview. His overall behavior made a bad impression, and consequently he materialized his fear and did not get the job.

Jim applied for the same job too, but approached the matter in a different way. He was sure that he was going to get the job. During the week preceding the interview he often visualized himself making a good impression and getting the job.

In the evening before the interview he prepared the clothes he was going to wear, and went to sleep a little earlier. On day of the interview he woke up earlier than usual, and had ample time to eat breakfast, and then to arrive to the interview before the scheduled time.

He got the job because he made a good impression. He had also of course, the proper qualifications for the job, but so had Allan.

What do we learn from these two stories? Is there any magic employed here? No, it is all natural. When the attitude is positive we entertain pleasant feelings and constructive images, and see in our mind's eye what we really want to happen. This brings brightness to the eyes, more energy and happiness. The whole being broadcasts good will, happiness and success. Even the health is affected in a beneficial way. We walk tall and the voice is more powerful. Our body language shows the way you feel inside.

Positive and negative thinking are both contagious.


All of us affect, in one way or another, the people we meet. This happens instinctively and on a subconscious level, through thoughts and feelings transference, and through body language. People sense our aura and are affected by our thoughts, and vice versa. Is it any wonder that we want to be around positive people and avoid negative ones? People are more disposed to help us if we are positive, and they dislike and avoid anyone broadcasting negativity.

Negative thoughts, words and attitude bring up negative and unhappy moods and actions. When the mind is negative, poisons are released into the blood, which cause more unhappiness and negativity. This is the way to failure, frustration and disappointment.

Practical Instructions:

In order to turn the mind toward the positive, inner work and training are required. Attitude and thoughts do not change overnight.

Read about this subject, think about its benefits and persuade yourself to try it. The power of thoughts is a mighty power that is always shaping our life. This shaping is usually done subconsciously, but it is possible to make the process a conscious one. Even if the idea seems strange give it a try, as you have nothing to lose, but only to gain. Ignore what others might say or think about you, if they discover that you are changing the way you think.

Always visualize only favorable and beneficial situations. Use positive words in your inner dialogues or when talking with others. Smile a little more, as this helps to think positively. Disregard any feelings of laziness or a desire to quit. If you persevere, you will transform the way your mind thinks.

Once a negative thought enters your mind, you have to be aware of it and endeavor to replace it with a constructive one. The negative thought will try again to enter your mind, and then you have to replace it again with a positive one. It is as if there are two pictures in front of you, and you choose to look at one of them and disregard the other. Persistence will eventually teach your mind to think positively and ignore negative thoughts.

In case you feel any inner resistance when replacing negative thoughts with positive ones, do not give up, but keep looking only at the beneficial, good and happy thoughts in your mind.

It does not matter what your circumstances are at the present moment. Think positively, expect only favorable results and situations, and circumstances will change accordingly. It may take some time for the changes to take place, but eventually they do.

Another method to employ is the repetition of affirmations. It is a method which resembles creative visualization, and which can be used in conjunction with it.

about the power of concentration, will power, self-discipline and peace of mind also contribute to the development of a positive mind, and are recommended for reading and practicing.

How To Succeed ?

1. Don't talk negatively about people behind their backs.


2. If you gossip, people won't confide in you.
Mind your own business.

3. Try to work for someone who'll challenge your powers.


4. You'll learn more in a year than 4 years of college.

5. Successful bosses have good communication skills.
They learn from people, including their employees.


6. Work in such a way that makes your boss look good.
It's not flattery


7. On downsizing, the first to go are those with few friends.
Bosses prefer competent people whom they respect.


8. Dress for the job you want, not the one you have.
Let your dress reflect professionalism.


9. Workout to get in good physical shape.
Unless exceptionally skilled, the unhealthy are at a comparative disadvantage.


10. Personal integrity is crucial.
tell nothing but the truth.
Bosses can forgive mistakes but if you lie, you're gone


11. Be on time.
Try to arrive few minutes early.
It saves you from stress.
You'll be much relaxed & work better


12. Strive your best to keep a deadline.
If you cannot meet it, then apologize & ask for an extension


13. Don't take things personally.
If some people are unhappy with you, it's their problem.
But always strive to give your best.


14. If you must correct someone, don't get personal about it.
Do it never in front of others


15. Spend some time alone every day.

What's the mission of my life?
What do I want to be?
and how to go about it.

16. As you move along Plan A of your career, maintain a Plan B as well as an alternative course to rely


Always remember that the secret of success is passion. Always think big. Spread love & joy.
You'll have blissful years ahead

7 Key Steps for Personal Goal Setting.

1. Attitude
What are the attitudes and habits that are holding you back from reaching greater heights? How is this attitude affecting you, your career and your relationship with your family? Make specific points to change this attitude that is affecting the way you behave.your attitude determines how far you can go in life. Take time to confront your negative attitude and make a plan to change it. This area of personal goal setting is one of the most important.


2. Career
In the course of interviewing hundreds of candidates, I am sometimes surprised at the number of candidates that do not have career goals. Where do you want to be in 3 years time? Where do you see yourself in 5 years time? How will you get there? What are the skills you need? What are the potential barriers? As a career builder newbie, you may not have all the answers. In that case, seek someone you can talk to or better yet – mentor you.

3. Education
Continuous education is important for success in life. Not just your career. And education should not be just for the sake of career promotions although people often do that. You may want to learn new things that can enrich your life. Learning is a process, a journey – not a destination. You should never stop learning in order to improve.

4. Family
How much time do you want to spend with your family? What are some of the things that you have neglected to do for them the past year? Something that you have always wanted to do for them – perhaps a holiday? Put these down in writing. It may seem simple but trust me this is one area where it is challenging for personal goal setting. Sometimes we misplace our priorities.

5. Financial
How much money do you want to save by when? What would be the big-ticket items that you would like to buy? A house? A car? How much do you plan to earn by when? Having a financial goal is crucial in enjoying the material side of things. Financial rewards are directly related to our careers. Therefore, they are important in your personal goal setting.

6. Health – Physical/Mental
If you aren't healthy physically and mentally, you won't be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor. What are the steps you are willing to take in order to achieve optimum physical and mental health? Do you plan to run X number of days in a week? Meditate an hour each day? What are the measurements you would use for the goals in this area?

7. Personal/Social
Allocate time for yourself too. Set a goal to achieve this for yourself. This is your time for the things you enjoy. Is it getting together with friends? Or it could be meeting new friends. Some people measure their success by the amount of free time they have for themselves to pursue their hobbies.
These are some of the areas you can consider when considering your personal goal setting. If you are ambitious enough – choose each of these areas and start writing some goals for these to be achieved for the year.

Failure : A great Teacher

Many people want to change their fortunes yet don't know how to begin. Others have a desperate desire to make life altering changes but have a tremendous fear of failure. In our childhood we attempted many things but probably didn't succeed the first time we tried. Take riding a bicycle for example. None of us are born with the immediate skill to be able to ride yet we all seem to have accomplished this task. For some of us, we need to return to times of yesteryear to get a grasp of why we are now so averse to attempt new things, learn new things, or to begin a new journey through life.


Part of our hesitation to attempt or change is that we are afraid that we might fail. When we were infants, learning to walk, no one told us to fear multiple attempts to walk. What we did instead was to pick ourselves up and gallantly try again. How many times did we fall down? No doubt, many, many times.

Success isn't something that most experience right from their first attempt. Most of us are probably familiar with how failure haunted Abraham Lincoln, or Thomas Edison. Did these people give up? No.

Failure is the best teacher we have when you take advantage of all the lessons to be learned. What failure teaches us, all other teachers collectively can't teach us. It's a universal fact that to accept failure is the most Herculean task even for the strongest souls. It's human nature to think that when we fail, its not because of us, but because of someone else's fault. This is regressive thinking. Its just a cover up most of the people use to run away from their mistakes and resultant failure.

The alternative school of thought says ? failures are just the part of our lives to be taken into stride and not to be forgotten?. When we fail, its not because we are lacking in something. It could just be because we are not approaching our things in a right manner. Failure teaches us, how to recognize our follies. It tells us how to act upon our weaknesses to turn them into our strengths. It is rightly said if one has achieved success in the first attempt, he has a lot left to learn because that success wont teach the person how to react in case if something goes wrong. As a teacher failure teaches us how and why we went wrong and how can we convert our wrongs into rights.

Failures are the stepping stones of success. Only if one has seen failures, one will come to know how sweet success is. Fear of failure is the biggest obstacle one can face in the path of success. Once we start treating failure as that teacher who is always there to guide us through the rough paths, we will lose all that fear for it.

Success can only shower upon those who have it in them to face failures gallantly and learn from them what they want to teach. Once we connect with our teacher called failure, being successful is just a matter of time.

"I didn't fail the test 100 times, I just found 100 ways to do it wrong"

10 things I can never remember how to do in Excel

Author: Jody Gilbert If your Excel skills are perennially rusty, this cheat sheet will help you knock out basic tasks without forcing you to scramble back up the learning curve. Like a lot of business software users, I'm a generalist. On any given day, my job may require a little number crunching and word processing, and maybe some page layout, slide show creation, or report building. For the most part, the various Office apps make it easy to meet these needs. But certain tasks just don't come up often enough for me to keep them in my head. (Yes, I'm blaming the tasks here.) Excel is a good example. I use it every day, but I seldom need to do more than enter data or a simple formula. So when a job requires something a little more sophisticated, I waste a certain amount of time trying to remember how I got it to work before. Then I waste even more time trying to extract a useful answer from online help. Frustrating, unproductive, and a little embarrassing. So I made a list of a few Excel techniques I occasionally need but inevitably forget. This is bunny stuff, and not for you power users out there. But if you're a casual Excel user (or you're on the help desk but don't spend much time in Excel yourself), maybe this list will help you cut to the chase. Note: This cheat sheet is also available as a PDF download. 1: Toggle the display of formulas When you need to see what's going on under the hood of a worksheet, you may want to turn on Excel's formula display. There's a convoluted way to do this via Excel options (and Excel 2007 offers the Show Formulas button in the Formula Auditing group of the Formulas tab - if you want to remember that). But you can toggle the display on the fly just by pressing [Ctrl] ~. If you select a cell whose formula you want to troubleshoot before turning on the display, Excel will also show you the dependent cells for the formula. 2: Convert a formula to its results Sometimes, you may need to replace a formula with its results - either to preserve a static value or to optimize your sheet by reducing calculations. There's a pretty simple trick for this, but a word of warning: Be sure you really want to wipe out a formula before you do it. (There could be undesirable consequences.) In fact, a good practice is to create a backup copy of the workbook as a safety net in case things go awry. To convert a formula, click in its cell and press [F2] to enable in-cell editing. Next, press [F9] to calculate the formula and display its results. Then, hit [Enter], and your formula will be replaced by the value it produced. You can also copy the formula and use Paste Special | Values to paste the results someplace else, leaving the formula intact in its original location. 3: Create a copy of an existing worksheet Excel offers an efficient way to copy a worksheet, either within the current book or into a different one - handy when you need to start a new sheet that includes some or all of the data and/or formatting of an existing sheet. It works like this: Right-click on the sheet tab of the sheet you want to copy. Choose Move Or Copy. Select the Create A Copy check box in the bottom-left corner of the Move Or Copy dialog box. Choose a different workbook, if desired, from the To Book drop-down list. (That other workbook must be open to show up in the list.) You can also select New Workbook. In the Before Sheet list box, specify where you want the copied sheet to go within the specified workbook. Click OK. 4: Start a new line within a cell This may seem beyond simplistic - until the day you can't remember how to do it. If you need to create a multiple-line entry in a cell, you can't just press [Enter] to insert a line break, since that will propel you into the next cell. Instead, you have to press [Alt][Enter]. 5: Unhide hidden rows or columns From time to time, someone will send me a worksheet with hidden rows or columns. I usually don't need to see the data, so of course I forget how to unhide it on the rare occasions when I do need to see it. It's easy, though: Highlight the row above and the row below the hidden row(s) - or the column to the left and to the right of the hidden column(s). Then, you can reveal the data in various ways: Press [Shift][Ctrl]0 (that's a zero). Right-click the selection and choose Unhide. Choose Column (or Row) from the Format menu and then select Unhide. In Excel 2007, go to the Cells group on the Home tab, click Format, choose Hide & Unhide, and select Unhide Rows or Unhide Columns. 6: Enter a fraction in a cell Say you type 1/4 in a cell, wanting to enter the fraction one-fourth. Ordinarily, Excel will turn the value into a date - 4-Jan. To prevent that, just preface your entry with a zero and a space: 0 1/4. Excel will leave your fraction alone. Without the zero, you'll see 1/4/2009 (or whatever year you happen to be in) in the Formula bar. With the zero, you'll see 0.25. 7: Simultaneously copy data into noncontiguous cells To copy data from one cell into adjacent cells, you just drag the cell's fill handle across the cells where you want the copied data to appear. But sometimes, you'll need to copy data into cells that are scattered around the worksheet. The most efficient way to handle that task is to copy the desired data, hold down [Ctrl], and select all the other cells where you want to paste the data. Then, press [Ctrl]V and Excel will insert the copied data into each of the selected cells. 8: Simultaneously enter data into noncontiguous cells Similar to the previous trick, you can save time when you need to enter the same data into cells that aren't next to each other. Start by holding down the Ctrl key and selecting all the cells into which you want to enter data. Then, type your data and press [Ctrl][Enter]. Excel will insert the data into all of the cells in the noncontiguous selection. 9: Enter text in the same location in multiple worksheets This may not come up all that often, but it's a cool trick when you need it. Let's say that you're entering month names as column headers at the top of a sheet - and you want them to appear on your other sheets as well. Click in the cell where you'll be entering January. Then hold down [Ctrl] and click on the sheet tabs of the other sheets where you want the month names to appear. This will group the sheets so that what you do now affects all of them. Go ahead and type January. Then (another cool trick coming…), drag the cell's fill handle to the right across the next 11 cells. Excel recognizes that January is the first item in a built-in series, so it will insert the rest of the month names for you. To complete the process, right-click on one of the selected sheet tabs and choose Ungroup Sheets from the shortcut menu. If you check those sheets, you'll see your month names have been entered in all of them. 10: Transpose data from a row to a column, or vice-versa Once in a while, I'll set up a worksheet using one structure that seems to make sense, only to realize it would make a whole lot more sense if the rows were columns and the columns were rows. And apparently I'm not alone in this befuddlement, because Excel provides a Transpose option to facilitate the necessary flip-flopping of data: Select the range of cells you want to transpose and click Copy or press [Ctrl]C. Click in a new location (not overlapping your selection). Go to Edit | Paste Special and select the Transpose check box. In Excel 2007, click Paste in the Clipboard group of the Home tab and select Transpose. You can then delete your original, wrong-structured data.

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10 Linux features Windows should have by default

Author: Jack Wallen The Linux and Windows camps may be polarized, but Jack Wallen believes each OS could be improved by borrowing from the other. This week, he looks at how certain Linux features could benefit Windows. The battle between Linux and Windows will most likely rage on for years to come. I can foresee that even when all things migrate to the cloud, users in both camps will still be screaming the virtues of their favorite operating system. And, of course, I will be one of those campers (and I can bet you know just which camp I'll be in). But being in that camp does not preclude me from seeing the benefits and strengths of the Windows operating system. In my next two 10 Things articles, I am going to take pieces of each operating system and place them in the other. In this first article, I am going to share 10 features from the Linux operating system that should be in the Windows operating system. In the next article, I will go the other way. Now you should know, features will encompass literal features as well as systems and even philosophies. I don't want to leave anything out of the picture. In the end, my hope is that theoretically, at least, we'll have a much more ideal operating system. Of course, you can (and will) be the judge of that. Let's get going and start adding Linux features to Windows. Note: This article is also available as a PDF download. 1: Compiz No matter how clean Aero gets, I am not a fan of the flat, single-workspace desktop of Windows 7. Yes, it has come a long way, but it's not nearly the modern desktop that Compiz offers. Of course, many would argue that Compiz is nothing more than eye candy. I, on the other hand, would argue that many of the features Compiz offers are just as much about usability as they are eye candy. Having a 3D desktop that offers you quick access (via key combinations) to multiple workspaces is handy. Window switchers can't be beaten for ease of use. And the eye candy is just a bonus. Having Compiz on top of Windows would certainly take the experience to a level few Windows users have experienced. 2: Multi-user Yes I know you can have multiple accounts on a Windows 7 box, but that doesn't make it truly multi-user. Can you log on more than one user at a time in Windows 7? Not by default. To have concurrent user sessions for Windows 7, you have to download a third-party tool. In Linux, you can do this by default. This is a feature that should be enabled by default in Windows 7, too. 3: Log files Windows operating systems have plenty of tools that enable the administrator to read log files. But for system, administration, and security issues, the administrator must fire up the tools to see those log files. But Linux places all system log files in /var/log and allows the user (with the right permissions) to read these log files from a simple text editor. And the Linux log files are flexible in many ways. For instance, if I want to follow a system log, I can open that log in a terminal window with the tail -f command and watch as events occur. 4: Centralized application installation The new paradigm for Linux is a centralized location for installation. The Ubuntu Software Center is turning out to be the culmination of much of this work. From one source, you can search from hundreds of thousands of applications and install any one you need. And with upcoming releases of the Ubuntu Software Center (version 3 to be exact), commercial software will be available. 5: Cron I am a big fan of Cron. Cron jobs enable you to easily automate tasks. Yes, you can add third-party software on a Windows operating system to help automate tasks, but none will have the flexibility of the cron job. Cron allows you to schedule as many tasks as you like, at any time you like, from a simple command-line tool (or a GUI tool, if you so desire). And cron is available system wide — for both administrative tasks and standard user tasks. Having an automated system built in would certainly be handy. 6: Regular release cycle This is one of those areas where Microsoft could learn a serious lesson from the Linux camp. Most Linux distributions release their updated distributions on a regular basis. And even better, they stick to these schedules to the best of their ability. Take Ubuntu, for example. For each release there is a .04 and a .10 version. The .04 version is released on the fourth month of the year. The .10 version is released on the 10th month of the year. This happens like clockwork. So Ubuntu 10.04 will release April 2010 and Ubuntu 10.10 will release October 2010. Granted sometimes those releases don't start populating the mirrors until the last second of that month, but they are as regular as they can be. 7: Root user Let's face it — by default, the average user can do too much in Windows. So much so, it becomes simple for someone to write a nasty little virus that can be spread simply by opening up an attachment in an email. With the way Linux is set up, this doesn't occur. For damage to be done to a system, generally speaking the root password must be known. For example, if a user clicked on an attachment from an email, and that attachment demanded the root (or sudoers) password, that would be a quick indication that the attachment was malicious. Windows should separate the administrative user and the standard user by default. The first thing Windows users should have to do, upon starting up their new computer for the first time, is create an administrative password and a user password. 8: Pricing Okay, I'm not going to say Windows should be free. What I am going to say is that it should have one version and one price (with a nod to bulk pricing). Why do I say this? Simple. Which version should you buy? Do you need Premium or Ultimate? Which sounds better? Is "premium" better than "ultimate"? Here's an idea — just have one version for the desktop and one for the server. It works for Linux. Less confusion and frustration for the consumer, less advertising waste for Microsoft. And all those features that cause the most expensive version of Windows 7 to be thus — the average user wouldn't know how to use them anyway. 9: Installed applications I know that Microsoft doesn't include any useful applications (minus a browser) by default for a reason — to make money. But when I install Linux for the average user, I'm done. I don't have to install an office suite, an email client, or audio/visual tools. Outside of installing financial applications and the odd power-user tool (which is all handled in a single, centralized location — see #4), there's nothing more to do once the OS installation is done. Microsoft could at least include Word. 10: Hardware detection Before anyone gets bent out of shape, this is not what you're thinking. Let me set this up for you. What happens when you install a Windows operating system and something doesn't work? Say, for example, video. You thought for sure the OS would support your video card, but when the installation is complete you're stuck with good old 800×600 resolution. So you go to the device manager to see if you can find out what the card is, and you get nothing. How are you supposed to find out what drivers to download when Windows gives you no information? Oh sure, you can open up the case and check out the chipset. Or you might get lucky and find that device driver CD lying around. But what if you can't? Or what if that video is on board? If you were using Linux you could at least issue the dmesg command and get some information right away. And if dmesg didn't help out, you could always fire up the Hardware Drivers tool, which will might discover a proprietary driver you could use. In Windows, if you don't know the card, you're going to have fun finding the drivers. Although Windows hardware support is better, Linux hardware detection is better.

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10 reasons you're not closing the deal in your job search

Author: Debra Littlejohn Shinder If your job leads fail to pan out - again and again - it might be time to rethink your approach. Deb Shinder offers some job search do's and don'ts. You've got the credentials, the education and experience, and you haven't had a problem getting job interviews — but for some reason, you can't seem to close the deal. Leads that looked promising fizzle out after the first or second interview. Is it the economy, or is it something you're doing (or not doing)? As a once-upon-a-time personnel director who's interviewed many job candidates, I've been listening to some of my friends' tales of woe regarding their recent job searches. I put together a list of some of the reasons that otherwise good candidates don't make the final cut, over and over again. Often, the problem stems from taking good, standardized advice about how to conduct a job search and implementing it in a way that ends up rubbing interviewers the wrong way. Note: This article is also available as a PDF download. 1: Do toot your own horn — but not too loudly It is absolutely appropriate to tell the interviewer about your accomplishments in a way that paints you in a positive light. What some job candidates don't understand is that when you come off as arrogant, when you sound as if you think you're better than everyone else, when you go overboard in singing your own praises, interviewers don't see that as positive. It's always better if you can let others deliver the extreme accolades, even if second-hand. A letter of reference or a magazine article that refers to you as someone who "knows more about identity management than anyone else in the world" is likely to impress hiring authorities (unless, of course, the author is your mom or your spouse). Referring to yourself that way in your own résumé is more likely to just result in raised eyebrows. You don't want them breaking out the DSM-IV after you leave to review the symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder. I actually saw a job hunter's email signature that said, "John Doe, visionary and industry thought leader." That's not a job description — it's an indicator of self-infatuation. Other terms to avoid in describing yourself include guru, foremost authority, and the ever-popular "minor god." Yes, I really saw that in a résumé and yes, I'm sure it was intended to be humorous. But it doesn't come across that way when it's embedded in a document that's supposed to be a serious summary of your suitability for a professional position. Unless you're interviewing for the job of comedy writer, keep the laughs out of the résumé and confine any witty comments to the verbal interchange — and even then, be very, very careful. Humor is always a minefield when you're dealing with someone you don't know well. What one person finds hilarious may sound silly, or even offensive, to someone else. 2: Don't expect your network to do all the work for you In today's very connected world, the value of personal networking in finding a job has been heavily emphasized. And it's absolutely true that when faced with two candidates with equal qualifications, most hiring authorities will lean toward the one who was referred by a mutual friend or acquaintance. It takes some of the "unknown" out of the equation — or at least it appears to. On the other hand, before you bring up the fact that you're best friends with the interviewer's old college roommate, it's a good idea to do some investigation and make sure there's no bad blood between the two of them. When you're unemployed, job hunting is your job — and you should put the same amount of time and effort into it that you'd put into the job itself, if not more. Don't expect your network to carry you and don't focus only on the online variety of networking. The Internet is a great resource, but don't neglect more traditional channels for job leads, either. The more people you know — both online and off — the better your chances that one of them can provide you with a productive job lead or serve as a reference whose recommendation makes the difference. 3: Do follow up — but don't be a pest When I was in my twenties, I was selected for a high level job in municipal government that I never expected to get. I didn't have any public sector experience and I was competing against more than 50 applicants, some of whom had worked for decades in public administration. About a dozen of us were chosen to interview before the whole city council — a terrifying experience at that age. Although I felt I'd done well in the interview, I was completely surprised when I got the call telling me to report to work. Months later, one of the city council members told me that the council of five was divided between me and one other candidate, and that he had the deciding vote. And the thing that tipped that decision in my favor was the fact that I was the only person who had bothered to send a brief note to each council member, thanking them for the interview, following up on one of their questions (tailored individually to each of them), and restating my interest in the job. Your follow-up strategy can make (or break) the deal. Some people take the advice to follow up on interviews as license to harass the interviewers, secretaries, HR personnel, and anyone else who might be involved in the hiring process. Daily phone calls or emails so they "won't forget you" are probably not a good idea, and I've seen it taken to that extreme. Definitely follow up once with each person who interviews you, as soon as possible after the interview. A second follow-up might be appropriate if the decision-making process drags out for several weeks. More than that and you begin to look like a pest. The old adage "all things in moderation" is a good one when it comes to following up. That also means don't go overboard in your follow-up. Tell them why you were impressed by the organization, but don't gush. Don't get personal, either. You don't want the interviewer to think you fell in love with him/her and are going to turn into a stalker. And never, ever send gifts with your thank-you note; they could be construed as attempted bribes. 4: Do be prepared — but make sure your references are prepared, too If you really want the job, you're likely to spend a lot of time trying to anticipate what you'll be asked in the interview and practicing what you'll say and how you'll say it. Part of being prepared involves having a list of references who can vouch for your capabilities and/or character. Don't just go with the first few people who come to mind or those whose addresses and phone numbers you happen to know without looking them up. (Believe it or not, that's the way some job hunters choose their references.) Decide on your references beforehand and have all that information with you when you go in to interview if you haven't already been asked for it on an application form. It's usually best not to print your references on your résumé because you may want to use different references for different jobs. It's best to choose at least some of your references from members of the industry you're trying to get hired into, if possible. Don't list your former bosses as personal references; they will already be listed in your employment history. Former co-workers are fine, especially if they happen to be well respected in the industry. Don't list Senator X or some other high-placed official who's a friend of your uncle and doesn't really know you. And no matter who your references are, tell them that you want to list them as references and ask if it's okay. Let them know what types of jobs you're applying for and when they might expect to be contacted. It can be disturbing to get a call saying, "My name is Joe Smith and I'm with the FBI. Please call me back." If your friend knows you've applied for a job with the bureau and have put him down as a reference, you'll save him a lot of grief. Otherwise, when he does find out what it's all about, he may be so annoyed with you that he won't give you the glowing reference you deserve. 5: Do be accommodating — but not obsequious It goes without saying that when you're asking someone for a job, you should be nice. Don't get into arguments with your interviewers. Don't come on too strong and judgmental with your opinions, no matter how right you believe you are. Be flexible; if an interviewer calls and asks you to reschedule, be gracious and try to accommodate their schedule. After all, they're the ones with the most power in the relationship. Even if you're the ideal candidate and they are pursuing you doggedly, don't forget that nobody is indispensible. And even if you aren't really sure you want the job, you never know when you might encounter the interviewer(s) again in a completely different context, so it can never hurt to leave a good impression. On the flip side, some job hunters take "being nice" a little too far. Don't fawn over the interviewer. Don't pretend an avid interest that you don't really have in all the same hobbies, paintings, authors, etc., that you might see evidence of in the interviewer's office. If you can find a genuine point of commonality, that's great. But fabricating one will often backfire on you. If you tell the interviewer how much you love sailing even though you've never been, you're going to feel pretty silly when you find yourself waist-deep in a conversation about masts and booms and halyards and sheets. And even though you shouldn't get into a heated debate, it's not usually a good idea to mindlessly agree with absolutely everything the interviewer says. Today's business world is about teamwork and carrying your own weight. Few hiring authorities are looking for someone who has no opinions of his/her own or who is afraid to express any of them. In fact, some want an employee who thrives on controversy. This is where it pays to do your homework beforehand. Find out what the company's general philosophy is. Are most members of the organization staid, dull "yes men" (or "yes women") who play it safe at all costs? Or do those who have risen quickly in the company exhibit more of an independent streak? Don't pretend to be something you're not, but it's perfectly acceptable to accentuate or deemphasize certain sides of your personality, depending on the tone that's set by those at the top of the organization. 6: Don't expect them to "show you the money" too early In today's economy, job candidates are more likely than ever to have money on the brain. Your bills are piling up and you need to pay them. Yes, you're interested in the job, but you want to know what it pays. You don't want to waste your time (and theirs) going through numerous interviews if the salary is too low for you to realistically consider. But this understandable concern can lead to making a sometimes-fatal mistake: bringing up money too early in the process. Somewhat like a potential spouse, a potential employer wants to be loved for something other than money. If you bring it up too soon, it may appear that that's the only thing you care about. Realistically, interviewers know that money matters, but they want a chance to hook you on the job itself — and, frankly, they want to be sure you're someone they want to hook — before getting to the subject of compensation. Your focus should be on making them want you so badly that they'll use the compensation package to try to woo you. So how do you avoid wasting your time on jobs that don't pay nearly enough? Again, do your homework. Research the average salaries for the type of position you're applying for within the industry and in that geographic region. The Internet makes this much easier than it used to be. If you're diligent enough, you may be able to find out what the job pays at that particular company. In the public sector, salaries, or at least ranges, are often pretty much set in stone by the budget, which is a public document (although for some high level positions, there is much more flexibility). It's easy to find out what the jobs pay because it's public record. In private companies, it can be more difficult. Some organizations frown heavily on employees disclosing the details of their compensation and some even make you sign nondisclosure agreements that cover the financial arrangements. Nonetheless, people like to talk. If they're well paid, they like to brag. If they're not so well paid, they like to complain. That's especially true when they believe their comments are anonymous. Some directed Web searches can turn up a wealth of "private" information, as can casual conversations with friends who have friends who work for the company. Even if you can't dig up the exact salary info, you can usually get a good idea about the pay scale based on the job description and the required qualifications. And if you find out that the last person who held the job made $50,000 less than your target salary, don't despair. Sometimes it's possible to turn an interview for one position into a springboard to a different, higher-paying position, even one that didn't previously exist — if you're good enough at selling yourself and your abilities. 7: Do clean up your online "house" Just as the Internet has provided new resources for job hunters, it has also provided new ways for employers to conduct background investigations on those candidates. If you knew that the company you want to work for might send someone to your home to see how you live, you would probably take extra steps to get the house as clean as possible, and you certainly wouldn't leave your dirty laundry lying around in the living room. But many job candidates do leave their virtual "unmentionables" in plain sight on the Internet, even when they know that potential employers can see it if they happen to drop in. Ideally, you should start thinking about your online reputation long before you need it to be pristine. Every time you post to a public forum, put up a personal Web page that's not password protected, or send a political diatribe to a widely distributed mailing list that's open to the public, you should think about whether you would be uncomfortable if it came to light during a job search. But even if you haven't been completely circumspect in the past, there are still things you can do to minimize the chances of an HR investigator coming across a photo of you drunk, dancing on the table in your underwear or that passionate post you made during the last election season about the candidate not of your choice. If you have your own Web site, scrutinize it carefully and remove anything that's questionable. If in doubt, take it out. Some forums will also allow you to remove your own posts. If you have social networking pages where you (or your friends) get a little rowdy, check the privacy settings and make sure the pages can't be viewed by the general public. For more tips, see Job Hunting? Don't Forget to Manage Your Online Rep. 8: Don't tell people about your chickens before they hatch The interviews went well. You were called back for a second and third one. You got to the point of discussing salaries and the company's pay scale seemed to fit your expectations. You received positive feedback from all the interviewers and you were really excited about the prospect of working for this company. In fact, you were so excited that you posted all about it on your blog or told your 500 closest friends on Facebook (many of whom you've never met). Suddenly, it all went sour. You got no more calls from the company and when you finally got up the nerve to check back with them, you were told that the position had been filled. What happened? Chances are that word of your premature announcement reached the wrong person. But even if it was something else entirely that caused you to lose out on the job, now you're stuck with explaining to all those friends that, ummm, no, you won't be starting work with XYZ Corporation after all. It makes you look flakey at best and at worst, it leaves people wondering what terrible blunder you made or what awful secret from your past was uncovered that caused you to be "fired" before you even started. They may even think twice before recommending you or referring you to an opening they know about. The moral: Don't celebrate until you're sure you have something to celebrate about. 9: Do upgrade to "Skills 2.0″ If you find yourself breezing through the initial interviews with HR and/or department supervisors with flying colors, but you fail to get a call-back after the more in-depth technical interviews that come next, consider brushing up on your skills. In the tech industry, in particular, things change fast, and a mastery of yesterday's technology won't get you as many points as an up-to-date skill set. If you were in the same job for a number of years and your company put off upgrading, you might have let your skills fall behind. Oddly, you're likely to find that even if hiring companies haven't upgraded to the newest hardware and software themselves, many of them want to know that you know all about it (as well as the old stuff they're currently running). That's because a) they think — or at least hope — they will eventually move up to more current technology and b) they want someone onboard who is interested in constantly learning. 10: Don't give up: The right job, like the Truth, is out there It can be easy to get discouraged if time after time, you get just so far in the application and interview process and then no further. But in times of high unemployment, it can take a while to find the right fit, no matter how qualified you might be. And remember that the higher up on the corporate food chain you're aiming, the longer it's liable to take to find a new job. Above all, don't give up and don't get sloppy. The right job for you could be the very next one you try for. In the meantime, consider alternative means of bringing in income, such as consulting or writing in your field of expertise. You might even discover that you like being your own boss and can make a living at it that's as good as or better than what you were making as a "wage slave." Flexibility is the key, and that key can open the door to a new career that makes you thankful you lost or quit your old job.

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