EDITION 804
10 FEBRUARY 2020

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 handle an unpredictable boss. It can be hard to deal with a manager who acts like Jekyll and Hyde. You never know if the friend or the bully will show up. Whatever you do, don’t take it personally; you may have just said something that triggered a larger issue for them, or maybe you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. READ MORE  >>

2.  Making criticism work for you. Negative feedback from your manager or peer can be demotivating, but taking criticism constructively can propel your career to the next level. Assume best intentions, take time to process the information, and restate the feedback to ensure you both are on the same page. Maintain a relaxed body language as it will make you look less defensive. Schedule a follow-up conversation: This will show that you are serious about improving your performance. Most importantly, find a mentor and discuss the feedback - it will give you a fresh perspective. Forbes

3.   Johnson’s level-up pledge ‘will take ten years’. Boris Johnson’s pledge to “level up” the UK economically by spending on infrastructure will take ten years to offset the negative impact of Brexit, the country’s oldest economic think-tank is warning. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research says the positive impact on the economy will be less than 0.5% of GDP in the long run, compared with an estimated 3%-4% cost of Brexit. Financial Times

4.  What’s sapping UK productivity. Britain's productivity growth hasn't been this slow since before the start of the Industrial Revolution. That's according to researchers from the University of Sussex and Loughborough University, who claim this trend has severe consequences for living standards. They said productivity growth has slowed due to a combination of the lasting effects of the 2008 financial crisis; weaker gains in the technology sphere following the boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s; and Brexit uncertainty. Economists believe growth in productivity is essential for boosting GDP and increasing wages. The Guardian

5.  Is happiness the key to productivity. Lacklustre productivity is an issue employers and governments far and wide are struggling to address. Economists believe that solving the productivity problem would unlock higher wage growth, better living standards and overall economic growth, The Telegraph reports. But what's the main driver of productivity? Simple: Happiness. Numerous studies have come to this conclusion – for example a 2015 study by the Social Market Foundation discovered that happiness could lift productivity by up to 20%. Now we've cracked that one, here's the next problem to solve: How to make employees happy. READ MORE >>

6.  9 million Brits pull a sickie. Some 9 million people claimed sick days last year because they found their jobs "too painful", a survey has suggested. Released on National Sickie Day, the first Monday of February when more employees call in sick than any other day all year, the Kantar survey also revealed that 12 million workers went to work when genuinely unwell, raising concerns about work culture and workloads. It comes just days after Friday 31 January, considered the most popular day of the year for workers to quit their job. BBC

7.  The firms failing on ethnic diversity. More than a third of Britain’s largest listed companies have no ethnic representation on their boards, according to a government-backed review. Firms have been accused of dragging their feet over targets to have at least one director from an ethnic minority by 2021, after research found that just 53 FTSE 100 companies had a director of colour. Mining firm Glencore and housebuilders Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon are among those firms that have failed to improve board diversity. Financial Times

8.  A life hack to enjoy downtime. Having too many tasks, commitments and to-do lists constantly running in the back of your mind can lead to “attention residue” according to research by the University of Washington. Beyond making it hard to relax, that the undesirable state can have broad impact: You might not be as efficient in your work, you might not be as good a listener, you may get overwhelmed more easily, you might make errors, or struggle with decisions and your ability to process information. Scheduling a “Get Your Life In Order” (GYLIO) session with yourself to group personal tasks and tackle them at a designates time can reduce attention residue, boost your performance and help quiet your mind. BBC

9.  Leadership required at the Palace. Prince Charles was accused of hypocrisy for flying his private helicopter 125 miles from Highgrove to Cambridge – where he gave a lecture to students on the perils of man-made emissions. Reportedly, he then flew 53 miles to Sandringham, to see the Queen. Clarence House said the Prince is not personally involved in his travel arrangements, and all his flights are offset. Evening Standard

10. The bottom line. Daniel Craig will be paid £25m to reprise the role of British secret Service agent James Bond for the fifth and final time in No Time To Die, released in April. At around three hours in duration, the film, which is still being edited, should be the longest-running in the franchise. Daily Mail