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20 JANUARY 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 overcome a bad first impression. A bad first impression can be hard to shake. But changing how others view you is not impossible. Here are four ways to overturn entrenched beliefs: READ MORE >>

2.  Women CEOs remain rare. Women struggle to progress to leadership roles in Europe’s biggest companies, according to a new study. Although women take up one third of executive board seats, only 28 companies listed on the STOXX 600 index have a woman as CEO. In the UK, women make up just over one in 20 chief executives of FTSE 100 companies, as diversity legislation and binding quotas fall short. Companies in Norway and France score best on gender diversity, with the UK ranked fourth, while women are least represented in Switzerland and Spain. Reuters

3.  The least-productive time of day. Does your productivity slump in the afternoon? Well you're not alone – researchers have pinpointed the least-productive time of day: 2:17pm. They found more than a third of workers start to experience a drowsy feeling at this time. Sleep experts believe this is because we "try to recuperate in one block at night, despite the fact that we’re designed to recover in shorter periods more often". They advise workers take 20 minutes at lunchtime to have a stroll or eat lunch with a "vacant mind space". Yahoo

4.  The best way to negotiate? Don’t. Common negotiating wisdom encourages people to be aggressive and get the most possible out of a deal, but new research suggests that a softer approach - or not negotiating at all - can lead to better results. Researchers have noted that what follows a negotiation is often relationships based, such as working with your boss after negotiating a new salary, versus goods based, like buying a used car. The researchers say a bitter negotiation can harm the “post-agreement performance,” ultimately damaging the overall value of what was agreed upon. The New York Times

5.  Parents hit by ‘always on’ culture. More parents are falling victim to the “always on” working culture, according to a new report. The 2020 Modern Families Index found that 44% of parents check their emails or do other work at night, blaming modern technology. Surveying more than 3,000 parents from across the UK, over half of respondents said blurring the boundaries between work and home led to arguments with their children or partner. Despite a rise in flexible working policies, the research highlighted that these are not always effective in reducing the workload for parents. BBC

6.  The world’s biggest health crisis. The World Health Organisation has released its list of the most urgent health priorities this decade. The 13 health challenges include: addressing climate change, ensuring the safety of health care workers in conflict-stricken regions, eliminating the health equity gap between the rich and poor, and stopping the spread of infectious disease. The WHO also singled out earning the public’s trust, particularly around vaccinations and other medicines; reducing the shortage of health care workers; and promoting healthier food and smoking cessation. World Health Organisation

7.  Unlimited time off will burn you out. Unlimited time off, a fashionable perk among start-ups - may sound divine, but it could lead you to work more. The amount of time employees can take off still depends on their workloads, managers and organisation culture. That’s why the practice may actually result in people taking fewer holidays. Instead, some companies have switched to minimum leave policies to prevent burnout. BBC

8.  Just 32% of young Britons have a second language. A report published by the Higher Education Policy Institute cites an EU-wide survey showing that just 32% of young people in the UK say they are able to read or write in more than one language, making the UK the worst performer in Europe. In the next worst country, Hungary, the figure is 71%. In France it is 79% and more than 90% in Germany. The Guardian

9.  11% drinkers started Dry January. Four in five adults admit to drinking alcohol more than they want to at times, as 11 per cent of drinkers took on Dry January 2020. However, 29% of those have since admitted to having failed the challenge within the first week. YouGov

10. The bottom line. Have you ever wanted to know the exact age of maximum human unhappiness? It’s 47.2. But we do get happier as we get older, although we are never quite as happy as we are/were in our 20s. National Bureau of Economic Research