The only place where success comes
Before work is in the dictionary.
Vidal Sassoon, hairstylist
STARTING UP
A. What makes people successful? Add more words to the list below. Then choose the five most important.
| · charm · dedication · discipline | · drive · imagination · intuition | · looks · luck · money | · nepotism · ruthlessness · stamina | · …………… · …………… · …………… |
B. Give examples of people who owe their success to some of the items on your list. Explain your choices.
C. What are the best indicators of an individual’s level of success? How important are the following in your culture?
| chauffeur(s) cosmetic surgery designer clothes domestic help exotic holidays expensive jewellery flash car(s) influential friends leisure activities pedigree pets respect smart house(s) |
D. How do you judge the success of a business? Discuss with your partner the statements below.
You can say that a business is a success because …
1. … it’s always increasing its profits.
2. … it has a big share of the market.
3. … it’s always in the news.
4. … people like working for it.
5. … its customers are loyal.
6. … its brand can sell anything.
7. … its shares are worth millions.
8. … it has a prestigious head office.
9. … it has branches all over the world.
10. … it puts people first.
E. Match these sentence halves and highlight the six idioms which express the idea of ‘success’.
| 1. It’s been a lot of hard work, but she | a) are getting there. |
| 2. If everything goes smoothly, we | b) beginning to bear fruit. |
| 3. At long last, their hard work and investment is | c) came up trumps in the end. |
| 4. What we are looking for is a candidate who | d) can get results and work well under pressure. |
| 5. Nobody thought we’d clinch the deal but we | e) seems to be really making a go of her dry-cleaning business. |
| 6. The reorganization of our business is not finished yet, but we are | f) should be in Vancouver in plenty of time for the start of the negotiation. |
F. Work in a group. Take a survey of the people in your group to find out where they believe they belong on this “hope scale”. Tally the results and indicate how many people are generally “pessimistic” or generally “optimistic” and how many fall “in-between”. Next to each result write down the general reasons that the person gave for being either optimistic or pessimistic or in-between.
People’s outlook on life has a lot to do with their potential for success. Some researches have found a direct link between hope and success. They have found that optimists – people who always see the bright side of things – are more likely to succeed in life than pessimists, their direct opposites. Hope does not just involve having a belief in good results. It involves having both the will and the means to reach one’s goal. People with hope have some traits in common: they turn to friends for advice, they regard setbacks as challenges and not failures, they know how to break a big goal into small chunks and work on one aspect at a time.
G. SELF-DISCOVERY QUIZ
Achieving success has a lot to do with how you look at yourself.
1. Write down three things that you like about yourself.
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2. Write down a goal you would like to achieve.
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3. What is your target date for achieving it?
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4. What obstacles or opposition to your goal might you encounter?
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5. What are some first steps you could take toward your goal?
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LISTENING
A. Sally Muggeridge is Management Development Director at Pearson plc.
Listen to the first part of the interview and take notes about what makes a successful business person.
B. Listen to the rest of the interview and make notes about what makes a successful company
C. Use your notes, and any other ideas of your own, to write a short article for a business magazine entitled either a) Successful business people or b) Successful companies.
READING
A. Before you read the article, discuss these questions.
1. Do you own a mobile phone? Why? Why not?
2. What do you think is important when choosing a mobile phone?
3. What are the advantages of mobile phones? What about the disadvantages? Think about both users and non-users.
B. Read the article. Then make notes under the headings below.
PROFILE – NOKIA
Country of origin - ……………
Market capitalization - …………………..
Chief Executive - …………………….
Main competitors - ………………………
Chief Executive's main objectives - ………………………………………………..
Reasons for success (at least seven) - …………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Industry position - ……………………………………….
Potential threats - ………………………………………………………………….
Market share - ……………………………
C. Use your notes to write a brief profile of Nokia.