1. Personal Development

Question 1

Dress-down-Friday

Answer 1

A day on which employees are allowed to wear informal clothes to work: I usually wear a suit, but on dress-down-Fridays I wear jeans, which makes it easy if I’m going away for the weekend straight from work

Question 2

Mind share

Answer 2

The amount of awareness an individual or group has about a particular person, product or service: I pop by each morning to say “hi” to my boss, and send him regular updates to try to get more of his mind share

Question 3

Office politics

Answer 3

Negative: the influence of personal relationships and preferences on the day-to-day workings and procedures of an organization: With many people setting out their own agenda in the workplace, office politics can play a major part in many companies

Question 4

Astute

Answer 4

Good at judging situations and people quickly and able to use this knowledge for personal benefit

Question 5

SMART

Answer 5

Usually Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound, an acronym used to help formulate objectives, often within corporate performance development: Make sure your job plan objectives are SMART, or you’ll just have to rewrite them

Question 6

Time-bound

Answer 6

Linked to a time frame, must be done by a certain time: All our projects are time bound and must be completed by the end of the year

Question 7

Blow your reputation

Answer 7

To cause the opinion people have of you to go down: The Director blew his reputation after being convicted of stealing money from the company

Question 8

Peter Principle

Answer 8

Lawrence Peter’s belief that employees tend to be promoted one level too far, to their level of incompetence: She was a great classroom teacher but made an awful head teacher - a perfect example of the Peter Principle in practice

Question 9

Arena

Answer 9

The quadrant of a Johari window that contains information known to oneself and to others

Question 10

Blind spot

Answer 10

The quadrant of a Johari window that contains information known to others but not to oneself

Question 11

Façade

Answer 11

The quadrant of a Johari window that contains information known to oneself but not to others

Question 12

Johari window

Answer 12

A tool designed by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham in 1955 to help people understand how they relate to and communicate with other people

Question 13

Megabucks

Answer 13

(Informal) a very large amount of money: A 5,000$ fine has very little impact on players who are earning megabucks

Question 14

Unknown

Answer 14

The quadrant of a Johari window that contains information unknown to oneself and to others

Question 15

Bid

Answer 15

An offer to do work or provide a service for a particular amount of money: They put in a bid for the building contract for the new Olympic stadium

Question 16

Broker

Answer 16

Someone whose job is to organize business deals for other people, especially a stockbroker or an insurance broker: Independent brokers can bring down your insurance costs by shopping around between suppliers

Question 17

Circulation

Answer 17

The number of copies of a newspaper or magazine sold each day, week, etc.: Most newspapers have seen their circulation decline sharply over the last decade as people get their news online

Question 18

Leverage

Answer 18

Verb (transitive): to borrow capital in order to make an investment with the expectation that the profits from it will be greater than the interest payable on the loan: We are going to leverage private sector investment through loans

Question 19

Lobby

Answer 19

Verb (intransitive/transitive): to try to influence politicians or people in authority on a particular subject: Shopkeepers have been lobbying the city council to try to overturn the ban on vehicles in the city centre

Question 20

Comfort zone

Answer 20

A situation, place or temperature that you feel comfortable in. In business, it may describe a set of behaviours where risk is avoided, leading to disappointing results: Genuinely successful people regularly step outside their comfort zone in order to achieve their objectives

Question 21

Devil’s advocate

Answer 21

Somebody who pretends to disagree with someone in order to start an argument or interesting discussion: It can be useful to have a devil’s advocate in the team to ensure that decisions are well thought through

Question 22

Glass ceiling

Answer 22

An unfair system that prevents some people, especially women, from reaching the most senior positions in a company or organization: Hillary Clinton’s candidacy is a reminder that the ultimate glass ceiling remains intact

Question 23

Headhunt

Answer 23

Verb (transitive, usually passive): to try to persuade someone to leave their job and go to work for another company: He was headhunted by a large electronics company