Thursday, November 28, 2019

Lessons on charm from Marvelous Mrs. Maisel actress Rachel Brosnahan

Lessons on charm from Marvelous Mrs. Maisel actress Rachel BrosnahanLessons on charm from Marvelous Mrs. Maisel actress Rachel BrosnahanIt is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are eitzu sich charming or tedious. ?Oscar Wilde,Lady Windermeres FanCan one learn to be charming or do you have to be born with it? It seems like some humans are just gifted with an innate sense of enchantment. They walk into a room and you are simply drawn to them and if you are lucky enough to speak with them, you never want to stop. They have that amazing quality of making you feel like you are the most interesting person in the world.For example, one could never teach themselves to be as charming as Audrey Hepburn. She spoke with one of those beautiful but perplexing accents (as it welchesnt quite British but it welchesnt really anything else), walked like a ballerina and had a Yorkie named Mr.Famous that she would ride around with on her bicycle. If I did that last one, my friends would no t speak to me. But was Hepburn always that whimsical or did she teach herself to be that lovely?Another famously charming and charismatic lady who went by the name of Marilyn Monroe was a firm believer that charisma was something you could absolutely create. Behavioral expert and author Olivia Fox Cabane summed it up in this video in which she talked about the legendary actress walking through Grand Central unrecognized because she wasnt on.What Marilyn wanted to show was that just by deciding to, she could either be glamorous Miss Monroe or plain Norma Jean Baker (her real name). On the subway, she was Norma Jean, but when she resurfaced on to the busy New York sidewalks, she decided to turn into Marilyn. So she looked around and she teasingly asked the photographer, So, do you want to see her?TheMarilyn? And then, he said, there were no grand gestures, she just fluffed up her hair and struck a pose. And yet, with this simple shift, she suddenly became magnetic. An aura of magic se emed to ripple out from her and everything stopped. Time stood still, as did the people around her, who stared in amazement as they suddenly recognized a star standing in their midstSo perhaps we can all manage to incorporate a little more charm into our personality, we just have to work on it. I recently came across the embodiment of charm when I had the pleasure of meeting actress Rachel Brosnahan, who plays the titular character in the marvelous The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (and if you havent watched it, then you arent very marvelous.) It was the absolute grossest of New York days and yet sunshine seemed to surround her in a halo. It was at an event for the newAmericanExpressCash Magnet Card which the actress had partnered with.From the minute I walked into the room to meet her, the Emmy winner put me immediately at ease. She complimented my now wet hat and made me immediately feel at ease. Something charming people are really good at is making you feel that they are genuinely glad to be meeting you (wet hat smell and all.)She also threw in just the right amount of vulnerability talking about some of her neuroses and Type-A personality flaws. A little bit of self-deprecation is a wonderful tool when you are meeting someone for the first time. It puts you on a relatable level, even when you are a beautiful Emmy-winning actress with the most pristine, alabaster complexion I have ever seen.She was generally interested in what I had to say and part of that was due to her excellent use of eye contact. Eye contact is something I am always working on as I feel like I abflug strong and then get lazy about it. But as Brosnahan went around that room that night and talked with the many different attendees she looked at each one of them like they were the only one there.Brosnahan, like many actresses, is also very expressive with her body, especially her hands. Psychologists believe that hand gestures actually help you communicate more effectively.Hand gestures are really a powerful aspect of communication, from both the speakers and the listeners end, Dr. Carol Kinsey Goman, body language expert and Ladders contributor said. In a 2015study analyzing TED Talks,it was found that the most popular speakers used an average of around 465 hand gestures,. This is almost twice as many as the least popular speakers used. Jazz hands for the win.Within five minutes of meeting her, I wanted to do anything I could to please her so much so that I didnt even hesitate when she told me to try a recipe she had made for the event. It was her familys famous cheese mound. Now, most people would not hesitate to eat a piece of cheese from a person on the street much less the star of an Amazon Prime series. But I am not most people (I prefer my cheese from Netflix miniseries stars.) No, but actually cheese is not my favorite. The stinkier the cheese, the harder it is to pronounce the name, or the more tiny the French village it was made in,by 80-year-old nuns, the farther away I walk. At wine and cheese parties I really find the cheese part to be a distracting inclusion.So eating blue cheese, much less a mound of it, is not usually something I would do for a stranger. Maybe for a significant other or you know if the pope asked me or if there was some sort of ransom situation that required me for some reason to eat a lot of cheese but for the woman who gave us The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel all hesitations around the potential of dairy-related intolerances disappeared. Now that is the art of charm.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Definition of Magic Realism in Fiction Writing

Definition of Magic Realism in Fiction WritingDefinition of Magic Realism in Fiction WritingThe term magic realism describes contemporary fiction, usually associated with Latin America, whose narrative blends magical or fantastical elements with reality. Magic realist writers include Gabriel Garca Mrquez, Alejo Carpentier, and Isabel Allende. First Use The term was coined first by German art critic Franz Roh in 1925, but it was Alejo Carpentier who gave the term its current definition, in the prolog to his book El Reino de estlnder Mundo. The marvelous, he writes, in a translated version, begins to be unmistakably marvelous when it arises from an unexpected alteration of reality (the miracle), from a privileged revelation of reality, an unaccustomed insight that is singularly favored by the unexpected richness of reality or an amplification of the scale and categories or reality, perceived with particular intensity by virtue of an exaltation of the spirit that leads it to a kind of extreme state estado lmite. Gullivers Travels As the poet Dana Gioia reminds us in his article, Gabriel Garca Mrquez and Magic Realism, the narrative strategy we know as magic realism long predates the term One already sees the key elements of Magic Realism in Gullivers Travels (1726) ...Likewise Nikolai Gogols short story, The Nose (1842) ... fulfills virtually every requirement of this purportedly contemporary style. One finds similar precedents in Dickens, Balzac, Dostoyevsky, Maupassant, Kafka, Bulgakov, Calvino, Cheever, Singer, and others. But Carpentiers intention was to differentiate lo real Maravilloso americano from the European surrealist movement. In his mind, the fantastic in Latin America was not achieved by transcending reality, but was inherent in the Latin American experience of reality After all, what is the entire history of America if not a chronicle of the marvelous real?

Thursday, November 21, 2019

How to Take Ownership of Your Job as Manager and Leader

How to Take Ownership of Your Job as Manager and LeaderHow to Take Ownership of Your Job as Manager and LeaderEvery job you do, from the simplest of management tasks to leading and guiding the most complex of projects, is a direct reflection on you as a professional. In a world where your economic security is a function of your skills, knowledge, and reputation, it is essential for you to take ownership of your work and ensure that it reflects positively on you as a professional. Cultivate Passion for Your Work One way to firmly establish your reputation with your team members and co-workers is to display a genuine passion for your work. As humans, we take our cues from others, often mimicking their emotions and attitudes. If you have ever worked around or for someone who is enthusiastic about their job you know that their passion is infectious. No job is too small or too difficult, and time spent working with those who are genuinely enthusiastic seems to fly by at amazing speeds . Contrast this very positive experience with the alternative of working for someone who is somewhat ambivalent or negative about their work. Work takes on the tone of drudgery and time slows to a crawl with unterstellung sour or less than fully engaged individuals. There is little doubt who most of us prefer to work for, and there is little doubt that you are much better off being known as someone enthusiastic and committed to their work. Showcase your energy and enthusiasm at every opportunity Owning Your Role as a Manager While we often compare and contrast leadership and management as two different roles, they are part and parcel of the same position. For purposes of this post, I am describing opportunities to showcase your ownership with their distinct activities. Recognize That the Work of Management Is Noble As a manager, you have a unique opportunity to create value for your firm, your team, and for yourself by pursuing your activities with the passion described above an d by exhibiting the commitment necessary to move your organization closer to achieve key objectives. As a manager, you engage team members, colleagues and customers, and you are engaged in a great many process activities. Here are a number of ideas to showcase your enthusiasm and ownership of your role as a manager Run Efficient, Purposeful MeetingsLearn to lead with an agenda focus on the task at hand and ensure that all ideas are heard and considered in a respectful manner. Be efficient with time usage. Strive to start on time and end early. Avoid managing these events by constantly giving life to new meetings.Ensure the Clarity of Your Team and Organizations ObjectivesPeople do their best work when they have context for how their efforts fit into the bigger picture. Make certain to reinforce key goals and highlight results on a regular basis. View Process Problems as Opportunities to ImproveMuch of our daily work revolves around ensuring follow-thru on key processes. Great manage rs look and listen for opportunities to simplify complex or inefficient processes and improve quality and tafelgeschirr delivery. Your team members will appreciate your efforts for continuous improvement.Focus on Delivering Remarkable Experiences to Your CustomersIt does not matter whether you are serving customers in the marketplace or internal customers in another department, strive to deliver remarkable service at every opportunity. Your reputation for creating these Wow experiences will serve you and your team well. Great managers focus on results and strive to create great experiences for employees, co-workers, and customers. They simplify complex tasks, ensure that the right measures are in place to gauge progress and ensure accountability, and they recognize their ability to teach others how to do the same. Carry this type of an attitude through your daily work as a manager and your reputation for owning your job will grow at every encounter. Owning Your Role as a Leader There are few activities in your professional life where you have a greater opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others, then serving in the role of a leader.The role of a leader by definition is focused on guiding others safely and securely to a particular destination. During the journey, you have an opportunity to teach, support the learning and development of your team members and help individuals navigate the challenges of life and career. Here are some great opportunities to show that you own your role as a leader Embrace Your RoleAsk and answer At the end of our time working together, what will my team members say that I did for them? Strive to define a mission statement for your role and share your mission widely. Great leaders constantly remind themselves of their purpose and strive to align their daily activities with this purpose.Succeed One Encounter at a TimeInstead of looking for the magic formula for success as a leader, recognize that every day offers a s eries of great opportunities to make a positive impact on those around you. Focus on succeeding at each of these opportunities. Remember that exhibiting respect for others, even in challenging circumstances, is your admission ticket to leading effectively. TeachGreat leaders teach. The role is less about telling and much more about supporting the development of key skills and practices. From helping your team members improve as decision-makers to identifying and supporting emerging leaders on your team, you are in a unique position to serve as an educator.Stand for SomethingGreat leaders are values-driven. They identify with, share and live and lead by core values, whether they are the firms or their own. The Bottom-Line You spend a tremendous amount of the time of your life at work. You have the choice to invest yourself physically, mentally and spiritually in your daily activities, or, to approach it transactionally. The win in terms of satisfaction, enjoyment, and success goe s to those who make the conscious decision to own their jobs.