When it comes to careers, we’re told to follow our passions. But you might find greater satisfaction if you work on big problems. Whether it’s an issue in education, health care, climate change, poverty, or technology; figure out how you can contribute to a solution. Choose a problem that you care about — even personally — and let this dilemma be your compass.
Get out of the office, meet people who are affected by the problem, and connect with those working in this area. Doing so shifts your attention from yourself to others. By becoming less focused on yourself, you might become happier with your work.
Eric J. Hobsbawm, einer der führenden Historiker des 20. Jahrhunderts, ist am 1. Oktober 2012 in London gestorben. Der 95-jährige Wissenschaftler und deklarierte Marxist hatte Wirtschaftsgeschichte, Sozialgeschichte, politische Geschichte und Kulturgeschichte zu komplexen Überblickswerken integriert.
Eric Hobsbawms Klassiker sei die beste Einführung in die Zeitgeschichte, die er kenne, räumt selbst Niall Ferguson ein, sein konservativer Landsmann und Historikerkollege. 
Im Mittelpunkt seiner Bücher stehen Unterdrückte, Unterprivilegierte und Schwache – Arbeiter, Landarbeiter, Rebellen, Widerstandskämpfer – und deren Weg der Emanzipation.
«Seine historischen Werke brachten Hunderttausenden Menschen Jahrhunderte britischer Geschichte näher», sagte der Vorsitzende der Labour-Partei, Ed Miliband.
We live in a world where we’re expected to be available all the time for almost any reason. But taking a vacation is important for you to get the rest and rejuvenation you need. Here are two options to achieve a mostly unplugged vacation:
Completely unplug. Yes, it can be done.And the office won’t fall apart without you. In fact, being away often allows others to step up and develop. You can achieve this by going to a remote destination, or simply turn off your gadgets and commit to yourself and others that you’re unreachable.
Schedule plug-in times. If being unreachable is truly not an option, at least put up boundaries around your available times. Choose a specified time frame when you will be accessible and stick to it.
Research participants who strongly trusted their feelings were able to predict future levels of the Dow Jones average with 25% greater accuracy than people who didn’t, says a team led by Michel Tuan Pham of Columbia Business School. In another experiment, 41% of people who trusted their feelings were able to correctly pick an American Idol winner, compared with just 24% of people with little trust in their feelings.
Relying on a gut sense allows people to tap into the brain’s unconscious syntheses of knowledge from many sources, the researchers say.
All managers need to decide how much latitude to give their employees. On one hand, micromanagement is demeaning and frustrating to capable employees. On the other, your job as a supervisor is to give your direct reports the support they need.
To determine if you´re giving employees enough latitude, ask them what decisions they feel they could make, but are not allowed to. Then, remove what impedes their ability to make those decisions, if appropriate. Make sure to communicate the boundaries. Clearly define what employees can and cannot do, or identify a core set of required standards. As long as those standards are met, people can have freedom to do what it takes to do their jobs.
(Harvard ManageMentor Online Module: Customer Focus; September 21, 2012)
