Dr Rob and the (ex) popstar/celebrity - part 2

The 10 contestants for the job of Pete's PA moved into a house together in north London yesterday.

The contestants were terrrrribly excited and there was lots of squealing as the girls all picked the bedrooms they wanted. It was interesting to watch as some of the smarter girls are already picking their 'best friends' - i.e. other contestants that they think are strong competition and so they want to keep them close. You know what they say: Keep your friends close and your enemies closer!

It's too early for me to have any favourites yet. But there are immediately already a few who are trying to hard and starting to get on my nerves!

Networking: A favourable review

I just came across this review today. Here's what a reviewer wrote about one of my books from last year, The Rules of Networking:

Networking, one of the most essential skills that is most highly sought after by all professionals hoping to progress in their chosen career path, or as stepping stones to land themselves in a new career. Hence, this book can be seen as a solution and answers to all the questions that you have on effective networking.

Unlike traditional, long-winded management tomes, this book is a short, step-by-step alternative which is designed to steer you safely through the unprdictable battlefield of modern working life, and more importantly to help you to attain what you want!

In this book, management guru, Dr Rob Yeung, expertly explains exactly how to network your way to the top. This easy-to-follow guide is packed not only with hints and tips, as well as advice on how to hecome the center of attention, how to ensure your fellow networkers pocket, rather than bin your business card, and how to build relationships in which people will be falling over themselves to help you achieve your goals. Rob Yeung will show you the methods on how to be a step closer to your dream goals.


Review:

Like what the sypnosis has described, the information is cut into bite size and hence, instead of being overwhelmed by the flood of information in those chunky manuals, readers will find this book easy to digest and the techniques simple to apply.

Knowing how to networking effeciently is a very crucial way to be ahead of others in today's society, which is awashed with information and knowledge. If you are unable to stand out among your peers, and make lasting impressions on others, you will find that very soon, in time to come, you will just be part of the backdrop of the society, unnoticable.

So go on, read the book!

The Rules of Entrepreneurship hits the shelves - June 2007!

I just received confirmation from my publisher that my latest book, The Rules of Entrepreneurship, hits the shelves this month!

It's packed with advice for anyone who wants to set up their own business. And one of the co-founders of The Mind Gym, Sebastian Bailey read it and said that: 'This book captures the true essence of what it takes to make it as an entrepreneur.'

I'm proud of the book and I hope you find it informative and inspiring too!

Dr Rob and the (ex) pop star/celebrity

Well, I'm going to be back on television. After doing Jade's PA last year, I've been invited back by Living TV to do a new series: Pete's PA.

The 'Pete' in question is Pete Burns, ex-frontman for 80s pop band Dead or Alive, and now fully-fledged celebrity. The media love to loathe him, but I think he's a bit of a sweetie.

I was a bit apprehensive about doing the series because Pete has a bit of a reputation for being foul-mouthed and unpleasant. But you never can trust what you read in the papers, so I thought I'd at least go meet him.

To cut a long story short, he's actually quite likeable. (Sorry if I'm shattering any media-created delusions about him). So I've signed up for a few months of PA madness. Basically, he currently uses his live-in partner as a PA. But they're getting married soon so Pete wants a proper PA to take over the duties.

Anyway, I'm filming the new series over the summer, so will report back occasionally...

The human animal

There's been a lot of coverage over the resignation of Lord Browne, one of the most highly rated business people in Britain over his lies to cover up his private life. I was asked by The Observer newspaper to comment on what drives successful people to have such lapses.

How brilliant men can be undone by power

Lord Browne resigned because he lied to a court about a trivial thing: the manner of his meeting Jeff Chevalier - a terrible error of judgment for a man in whom 97,000 employees and 1.2 million shareholders placed their trust. Why did he do it?

Psychologists point to several possible reasons: the isolation experienced by leaders at the top of big organisations; the pressure they are placed under; the effect of holding power in one's hands and the lack of restraining influences.

Browne was known as the 'Sun King' of the oil industry, a reference to Louis XIV of France, an absolute monarch who surrounded himself with fawning courtiers at the palace he built at Versailles. Like Louis, Browne was known at the highest levels in the capitals of Europe. Browne was also well received in the US and the UK, where he was on terms with the Prime Minister close enough to allow BP to be dubbed 'Blair Petroleum'.

But he was reputed, also like Louis, to be a man to whom it was unpleasant to take bad news.

Rob Yeung, a director at Talentspace, a leadership consultancy, says: 'The type of judgment you are asked to make changes as you move up an organisation. Low down an organisation, you are given much more discrete, less ambiguous problems to deal with. As you move up, there are fewer right and wrong answers.'

So what causes someone capable of dealing with these complicated decisions to make such an obvious error of judgment? Emma Farnsworth, an occupational psychologist from Blue Edge Consulting says: 'There is huge pressure if you are in the role of leader. The more successful you are, the more you expect from yourself - and the more others expect from you.'

There were few who seemed outwardly able to cope with this better than Browne in his heyday. But Yeung says: 'However much we delude ourselves to the contrary, the truth is that human beings are animals. We have quite ancient parts of our brains that control instincts like fight or flight. When things are going well, you make rational decisions, but the moment you are under pressure your dark side can come out.

' Lord Browne was a very private individual. His private life was very sensitive and it caused him to think irrationally rather than rationally.'

You can read the rest of the (fairly lengthy) piece here.

Finding your passion at work

I contribute to a website on management issues. The editor asked me to answer a question posed by one of their readers:

My wife is pressurizing me to earn a higher salary by finding another job but I want to do just the opposite. After 15 years in middle management I'm constantly tired and have long lost the zest I used to have for work. Can you offer any support/advice?

My response started:

If your wife wants a bigger salary, suggest that she goes and finds a higher paying job!

Click here to read the rest!