When it comes to travelling these days, the less time you can spend in line at the airport, the better. Every time you fly, your goal is to get in and out as fast as possible, with as little hassle as possible. The key is to pack light. Here are some simple travel tips to make that happen.If at all possible, the best way to travel is just with a carry-on, so you don’t have to waste all that time wading through a sea of all that checked luggage rolling around on the conveyor belt. If you have to check luggage, you still want to keep it light, and keep it to one bag only.You may be scoffing right now, but it is all entirely possible. Here’s how you do it.1. Start with a great suitcase. Something durable. Something colorful. Something with wheels and a retractable handle. Something that has lots of organized compartments and front pouches for important things you may need to access.2. Know what you need to bring, and what you need to leave behind. Make a list. Pack your suitcase the week before your vacation, and then return to it the next day with a critical eye, and take out every single thing you absolutely don’t need. No “what-ifs” allowed.3. Stick to a color palette for your clothes. Start with a neutral color that you can mix and match with lots of things, such as beige or black or cream. Then, add in color in your accessories. The goal is to make sure every single thing you pack, goes with everything else.4. Be sensible with your shoes. They take up a lot of space, and it just doesn’t make sense to bring six different pairs for different outfits. Wear your comfortable walking shoes on the plane, pack your sandals and one (yes, I said one) nice pair of shoes for going out. Throw in folding slippers for the hotel, and flip-flops for the beach, and you’ll still have lots of room for everything else.5. Pack a few scarves or light shawls, and some funky necklaces and bracelets and you can turn any dress into three or four entirely different outfits.6. Invest in a good Toiletry Kit, so you’re not bringing giant bottles of product, but just the amount you need. This will also help you get that carry-on through security if you make sure your toiletry kit is compliant with flight regulations. Most of them even come with a hook, so you can hang it on the back of the bathroom door when you’re at your hotel.7. Don’t pack books, buy a Kindle reader and leave your stack of vacation paperbacks at home.8. Don’t forget you can buy things you may need when you arrive, such as toothpaste, shampoo or sunscreen. No need to bring it from home.9. Last, but not least, invest in one of those incredible little folding nylon suitcases that are wallet sized to start, but fold out into a full sized suitcase. While it’s important to pack sensibly at the beginning of your vacation, you will need room to pack all your souvenirs for the trip home.
Hiring: The Manager’s Most Important Decision
Of all the situations that confront a manager, the most important decision to be acted on involves recruitment. The addition of an employee to your workforce is a long-term commitment. Similar to many other circumstances in life, it often is much easier to get into the relationship than it is to undo the arrangement at a later juncture. For this reason, appropriate time, resources and thoughtful consideration need to be dedicated to the recruitment process, in order to optimize your investment.Let’s suppose that there are only two types of managers; those who are insecure and those who are confident. How might these different managers approach a hiring situation and what legacy impact would that have on their organizations?The recruitment process begins by defining the requirements of the position and the development of a comprehensive Job Description. Complementing the Job Description, a profile detailing the attributes of the ideal candidate also should be crafted. If there are particular characteristics that warrant emphasis, for instance punctuality with the young cohort known as Generation Y, these should be highlighted. Finally, formulating a series of behavioural-based interview questions will encapsulate the requirements of both the position and the profile.A slate of candidates can be identified based on a review of the resumes that were received. If high quality candidates are not evident from the resumes and interviews, it is imperative that the manager resists the temptation to compromise the position.Far too often, however, managers may try to truncate the hiring process. There are a variety of reasons that might compel the manager to do this. For instance, the manager may be under significant pressure to fill the vacancy, as quickly as possible. Or, the manager may fear losing the salary allocation. Or, service levels will not be fulfilled. Or, it really isn’t that important and it’s not a perfect world, anyway.But compromising the recruitment process is not an acceptable resolution. Instead, the manager should re-initiate the process, until the right candidate is surfaced. In some instances, broader and different advertising approaches might need to be considered. This will become evermore critical as the competition for labour intensifies due to the changing demographics and the shrinking labour force.The Insecure ManagerInsecure managers have nagging doubts regarding their competencies. Although the insecure manager might be proficient at certain tasks, there resides an implicit acknowledgement that there are deficiencies with many more. The insecure manager lives in fear that the deficiencies will be exposed and that they will be declared a fraud.An insecure manager, naturally, will feel threatened by strong, competent employees who may challenge the status quo or be overly enthusiastic about inventing innovative ways to improve business functions. Such a manager will be inclined, perhaps unconsciously, to recruit weaker employees who will not be seen as a threat to them.Over time, the insecure manager assembles an operating unit that is populated by sub-optimum performers who collectively are not capable of resolving business challenges. In these circumstances, even competent employees will give up when confronted by this impenetrable inertia and debilitating ennui.Now apply this predisposition and the resulting behaviour to the organizational level. If the organization is comprised of insecure, weak managers, then it follows that they will recruit a workforce that mirrors their profile. This commits the organization to a relentless downward spiral. It, quite literally, will be an unimpeded race to the bottom.The Confident ManagerConfident managers, conversely, have assessed and recognize their personal strengths and weaknesses. They also will have identified their blind-spots. Confident managers recruit employees who will offset the manager’s weaknesses and cover their blind-spots. They are not threatened by employees who have ideas and vitality.Confident managers welcome the synergy that blossoms from divergent thinking and healthy conflict. They value competency and collaborative problem solving approaches to business challenges. They assemble an operating unit that is energetic, trusting and vibrant. They recruit action-oriented employees, not excuse-makers.These managers also have a keen eye to the future. Their recruitment strategy extends beyond merely today’s needs. Having spent time considering emergent trends, the confident manager is deliberately recruiting for tomorrow’s environment. Finally, the confident manager is purposely recruiting and grooming their possible successor.Applied to the organizational level, a cluster of confident, strong managers collectively will have orchestrated an outstanding roster of competent, high potential employees. This is a high-performance organization that creates a competitive advantage, now and in the future.It is insecurity or confidence that guides the manager’s hiring process and predilections. The results are self-evident, for both the operating unit and the organization’s legacy.