Food for thought

Here you will find some insights and ideas which might be of interest for self-development and professional growth.

For those of you who work with type profiles like Myers-Briggs or Insights, this may sound familiar.
While it is true that you need different skills sets for both jobs, you don't necessarily have a character clash because you and your boss are 2 different characters, in my view.

A goal oriented 'red' boss gets irritated by a 'green' supporter type assistant because she takes decisions more slowly. Incidentally, these colour types are used by Insights Profiles and based on the Jungian archetypes. (See also one of the workshops on Insights at EUMA's 2008 Berlin conference.)

I can testify that in real life a 'red' boss and a 'green' assistant can work very well together. It is - as always - just a matter of knowing how to communicate with each other.
We share a list of do's and don'ts in communication with our team: our team members are red, orange, green and green with some blue (analytical) and we know what annoys our team members or how they prefer to receive communication. Some are quick decision makers, others need more information before they can commit.
I know that I have to communicate facts and figures, solutions not problems, and clearly formulated questions to my boss.  If I am not well prepared, I'd rather not communicate orally and I will postpone calling my boss if possible. With written communications I have the time to carefully rethink how I want to say something. So, I'd rather write a summary of all my questions before I go in a meeting with my boss.

That's the way the cooky crumbles, I can't help it. We all know each other's profiles in our team and we learn to accept the differences and to be patient with each other.

Greet Puttaert

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While EUMA Belgium was organizing its November meeting on Stress Management I was on the 3,5 hours train ride to Luxembourg. No high speed train yet on that track, more's the pity.  But it was all in good cause.  I was on my way to the EUMA Luxembourg Training Days on Friday, 20 and Saturday, 21 November.

The title "Personal Development Techniques" covered a whole range of topics which I thought were useful to reflect on two weeks before my own performance appraisal.  It was great to refresh some skills and take away new ideas. I wanted specifically to learn more about writing a Self Development Plan.

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Shakespeare already mentioned it: "Words are only words".
Research suggests that 93% of the messages in face-to-face communication are carried out in ways other than words (tone of voice,  facial expression, body posture, ...).

Another credo is: "You only get one chance to make a first impression". Be aware that the way you stand or sit, the way you look or don't look at people carries messages that customers, colleagues, ... pick up and respond to.

This and a lot more to discover in Diana Vanbrabant's point on how communication strategies can lead to success!

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If you were at the SKOJ reception of the Holiday Inn Brussels Airport in early October you already experienced the full refurbishment and the new meeting concept of the hotel. We already saw the renovated guest rooms when the hotel hosted a EUMA event in the Autumn of 2008. In the meantime, the lobby and the meeting rooms have completely transformed into very stylish spaces. The redesign in Brussels is not a one off. 

Heading into the 21st century, the brand got a bit threadbare, so the InterContinental Hotel Group (owner of the Holiday Inn brand) has refurbished hotels all over the world. An article published in Time Magazine of October 19, 2009 gives some background information on this revolution: from the chlorine pool smell in the lobby to the scent of green tea and ginger to upgraded amenities in the bathrooms.

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It is an excellent idea to combine the EasyFairs for Management Assistants with Easy Fairs Business Gifts. You can kill two birds with one stone. A striking trend at Business Gifts this year was the amount of booths offering eco-friendly gadgets: towels made out of bamboo fibres, water based batteries used in calculators (no, really), the Eco-buzz to shut down your computer with 1 click.

A few names I can recommend because I visited their booth...

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Never has "Food for Thought" been a more apt expression to describe what you can discover on TED.com. The TED community - known as TEDsters - unites scientists, technology geniuses, musicians, philosophers, inspiring speakers and overall VIPs - very Inspiring / Innovative / Interesting people who talk about their ideas/inventions/research.

This is cross-fertilisation at the highest level! 

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Inspiration Seminar by The Corporate Planner - Brussels, 4 September 2009

The best 2 hours spent on a rainy Friday morning! 

In 90' Filip Muyllaert, MD of Corporate Planner, showed 500 slides with appetizing pictures of over 60 locations and team building activities. With each location some background information on the possibilities at offer was given.

Please keep in mind that EUMA has built very good contacts with some of the sponsors mentioned in the booklet.  If you need more information on any of the venues in West-Vlaanderen, talk to Steve Desmidt at Westtoer or to Kathleen Bertier at Meeting in Brugge. EUMA spoke at length with Myriam Winnepenninckx of the Switzerland Convention & Incentive Bureau. Myriam is a fountain of knowledge with many years of experience and she can direct you to the best venues for organizing incentives and conventions in Switzerland. 
Call Steve, Kathleen or Myriam and they can find the perfect venue for your event. Be sure to mention you are a EUMA-member!

When you have a moment check out the websites of

• Château Jemeppe
  Exclusive, top range, EUMA was there for a brainstorming meeting a few years ago, it is super for top management meetings
• Gîte La Classe in Denée (near Yvoir, Profondeville, Mettet)
  An old school building superbly renovated, ideal for small groups or a weekend with friends. Superb pictures on their website
• Huyshoeve (Ramskappelle/Knokke-Heist)
  A new and charming hotel beautifully located, ideal for small groups
• Egliseum (Ieper)
  WOW-effect for customer events

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An inside look at the Seraphic Society, the secretive club of assistants to high-profile CEOs.

"In a bad economy, the society and a growing number of support groups like it are more relevant than ever", says the author Jennifer Reingold.

Xerox's Chairman and former CEO, Anne Mulcahy, comments: "In some ways the Executive Assistant trains the CEO. She taught me the protocols and had all of the knowledge about how to respond to things and who needed what. When I made mistakes, it was because I wasn't listening to her."

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