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EDITION 769
10 JUNE 2019
As another week slips by, here are 10 things which caught my attention and may have escaped yours. This newsletter is sent to 50,000+ subscribers each Monday. Please share on social media and forward to your colleagues and friends so they can subscribe, learn and engage. I'd be very grateful if you did.
1. How to manage a micromanager. Micromanagement is about lack of trust. The person who is micromanaging doesn’t believe anyone can do something as well as he or she can. Once you understand this, you’ll be better able to manage a micromanaging boss. [MORE]
2. Who will be the next PM? Donald Trump may have been elected by just 46% of 63 million Americans, but Britain’s next prime minister will be chosen by 124,000 members of a benighted Conservative party. And those members must choose between two candidates selected by their party’s 314 MPs. At the moment, the most likely outcome is Boris Johnson and Michael Gove being offered to members, and Johnson being chosen. My advice is to start drinking as soon as you see the opening credits for this election’s TV debates. Then keep doing it until the mid-2030s. Editor
3. Why we should make time for distraction. Instead of resisting the urge to check your favourite websites or apps while you should be working (or feel guilty about caving in), we’re better off building such time into our days. Such “productive distraction” can help you build structure into your day, and it allows you to take advantage of the benefits of such breaks. Taking intentional pauses from our main projects allows our minds to explore new ideas and, in turn, can boost creativity. Discover more on this subject on 10/10, our acclaimed leadership development and mentoring programme. [MORE]
4. Nice work if you can get it. Peers in the House of Lords can claim £305 a day for travel if they sign in on arrival, although no record is kept of when they depart. Last year, 88 peers (around one in nine) didn’t speak, hold any government post or sit on any committee; and 46 didn’t register a single vote. One non-voter claimed £25,000 while another peer voted just once and claimed £41,000. Two peers claimed more than £70,000. The median claim was £30,180; 116 claimed nothing at all. The biggest claim was from former Labour minister Jack Cunningham, Baron Cunningham of Felling, for £75,122, of which £23,108 was for air travel. The Times
5. Most of us want pay transparency. More than half of workers in the UK say they support pay transparency measures such as making monthly income and tax returns publicly available. A YouGov survey on behalf of Indeed found 56% of respondents would favour such moves to reduce pay inequality, trading their privacy for data on how their colleagues are paid. The Institute for Public Policy Research think tank has previously called for transparency measures to help tackle gender, ethnicity and disability pay gaps in the UK. Finland, Sweden and Norway currently impose similar requirements. The Guardian
6. When we can’t ‘be ourselves’ at work. Employees who feel they must hide their true identity at work are more likely to behave unethically on the job, according to researchers from Northwestern Kellogg, Cal State, and University of Houston. Tension between your work and non-work identities induces the feeling that you are inauthentic and that you have split yourself in two, which in turn encourages dishonest behaviour, the researchers found. While bringing your “whole self” to work may not always be realistic (or advisable), the study suggests companies benefit by making sure employees feel like they have control over their identity at work. LinkedIn
7. Young can no longer afford to move to cities. High rents in English cities are forcing young people to stay in small towns with limited prospects, the Resolution Foundation has warned. The think tank says the number of people aged 25 to 34 starting a new job and moving home has fallen by 40% over the past two decades. The Guardian
8. It’s anyone’s guess as to who’s ahead in the polls. Conflicting national polls this week showed either the Lib Dems or the Brexit Party in the lead. A YouGov poll for The Times had the Lib Dems on 24%, followed by the Brexit Party on 22%. The Tories and Labour were tied at 19%. The Opinium poll in The Observer put the Brexit Party in the lead with 26%. Labour was second with 22%, followed by the Tories on 17% and then the Lib Dems on 16%. Sky
9. Ultimate limit of human endurance defined. US researchers say they have found a formula for the top limit of human physical endurance after studying data from a 3,000-mile run, the Tour de France and other ultimate athletic events. The team, from Duke University, say the average person can expend at most 2.5 times the body’s resting metabolic rate per day – around 4,000 calories. BBC
10. The bottom line. Even in her last week as Tory leader, Theresa May was not spared attack - this time, the choice of gifts for the visiting US president and First Lady. Donald Trump’s gift from the PM was a framed draft of the Atlantic Charter, agreed in 1941 by Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, while his wife Melania was given a tea set. The First Lady is married to one of the most unpleasant men in modern history - so she will need something stronger than tea. Editor
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