Politeness for Children

Here's a great little piece on politeness for children http://www.hireananny.org/blog/proper-etiquette-rules-for-any-child-perhaps-yours sent to me by the marketing department of "Hire a Nanny." Discussed here are politeness suggestions for dining, phone etiquette, conversation, using politeness expressions, talking "nicely," and showing gratitude. Not surprisingly, these are the same topics discussed for politeness in general.

Leadership

Leading Questions about Leadership

Here is a brief but very clever excerpt from a new book by Teri and Mike Gamble, Leading with Communication (Sage, 2013).

What is leadership? Who is a leader? Do you have what it takes to be a leader? Though questions like these are asked over and over again, many of us remain confused about leadership’s nature and our own potential for leadership. For example, where do you stand when it comes to answering this question: Can we all exercise leadership, or is it reserved only for those “special” persons at an organization’s top?

Because of our society’s “culture of celebrity” many of us regard leaders as being special people—extremely attractive, charismatic, and personable individuals who others find themselves attracted to and decide to follow. Such a perception makes Ashton Kutcher and Lady Gaga leaders. After all, millions of people have chosen to follow each of them on Twitter. We need only point to the number of citizens who vote for candidates they believe are good looking and who they would like to be friends with rather than supporting various candidates because they approve of their policies and believe they will change things for the better as proof of the culture of celebrity in action.

  
Focusing on just an individual, however, while ignoring the social process of leadership can blind us to the roles we play. While one person may possess the formal authority and even pretend to know all the answers, many people need to contribute leadership if the formal leader and his or her followers and organization are to succeed. Thus, leadership depends on communication and interaction between leaders and followers. So, do you want others just to follow you, or are you ready to work with them to help drive change? We hope you choose the latter.

 Here are some more to think about. When called on to lead, can you . . .

    
         Focus on the big picture

         Identify opportunities

         Mobilize followers

         Gather information

         Consider options and consequences

         Work collaboratively to shape the future

If you answer yes to each of these questions, you are up to the challenges exercising leadership presents!

Bullying: helping a child

Here is a brief list of things to do to help a child who is bullied. As you'll see it revoles largely around communication and can easily be applied to other age groups in other situations. Bullying is not limited to the school yard.  http://www.gonannies.com/blog/2013/how-to-help-a-child-who-is-being-bullied/

30 Blogs on How to Handle Difficult People | Nanny Service

Here is a great collection of blogs addressing the general area of dealing with difficult people. There seems to be something here for everyone--we all seem to have to deal with difficult people at one time or another.
30 Blogs on How to Handle Difficult People | Nanny Service

Online Bullying

Here's a wonderful post on bullying sent to me by the author. http://www.needtoknowit.org/selfdefense/school-bullying
It contains practical how-to advice.

Ethics of Advertising

 

In a recent article of The Ethicist in the NYTimes (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/magazine/laptop-prop.html?ref=theethicist&_r=0 ) a question was raised about the ethics of laptops being positioned in front of television newscasters if they are there to convey the impression of being up-to-the-minute (but not for actual use). It’s an interesting example of artifactual communication being used to influence credibility.

            A second part of the question concerned the ethics of displaying the computer company logo. Is this advertising (product placement), the writer asked, ethical for a news show? In the answer to this question Chuck Klosterman, the ethicist, says that the display of a logo or the mention of a particular designer’s name does not constitute advertisement if there is no payment and if the person has no intention of advertising. This, it seems to me, is true from only one point of view, that of the sender. The sender—the wearer of the designer’s clothes or the laptop user—may not think advertising and so one can say from that point of view that there is no advertising. But, the receiver is being influenced; to the receiver, the network user’s computer logo is an advertisement and may well influence buying behavior. This, it also seems, is one of the reasons so many designers put their name in clear view. Isn't this a distinction worth making?

 

Speech Rehearsal

Speech Rehearsal

Often we advise students to rehearse their speeches five or six times which often seems to students to be a lot. In a recent NYTimes (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/magazine/jerry-seinfeld-intends-to-die-standing-up.html) article, it noted that Seinfeld (a communication major from Queens College, btw) rehearsed his five-minute set for the Tonight Show 200 times. Now, that’s a lot.