1. Personal Development Flashcards
Dress-down-Friday
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
Mind share
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
Office politics
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
Astute
Good at judging situations and people quickly and able to use this knowledge for personal benefit
SMART
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
Time-bound
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
Blow your reputation
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
Peter Principle
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
Arena
The quadrant of a Johari window that contains information known to oneself and to others
Blind spot
The quadrant of a Johari window that contains information known to others but not to oneself
Façade
The quadrant of a Johari window that contains information known to oneself but not to others
Johari window
A tool designed by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham in 1955 to help people understand how they relate to and communicate with other people
Megabucks
(Informal) a very large amount of money: A 5,000$ fine has very little impact on players who are earning megabucks
Unknown
The quadrant of a Johari window that contains information unknown to oneself and to others
Bid
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
Broker
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
Circulation
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
Leverage
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
Lobby
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
Comfort zone
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
Devil’s advocate
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
Glass ceiling
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
Headhunt
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
