Companies, communities, families, clubs, and other clumps of humans all have some inherent social dynamics. At a simple level there are leaders and followers, but in reality the lines are rarely as clear as that. Many leaders, with a common example being some founders, have tremendous vision and imagination, but lack the skills to translate that vision into actionable work. Many followers need structure to their efforts, but are dynamic and creative in the execution. Thus, the social dynamic in organizations needs a little more nuance. This is where traditional management hierarchies break down in companies. You may have your SVPs, then your VPs, then your Senior Directors, then your Directors, and so on, but in reality most successful companies don’t observe those hierarchies stringently. In many organizations a junior-level employee who has been there for a while can have as much influence and value, if not more, than a brand new SVP. As such, the dream is that we build organizations with crisp reporting lines but in which all employees feel they have the ability to bring their creativity and ideas to logically influence the scope, work, and culture of the organization. Sadly, this is where many organizations run into trouble. It seems to be the same ‘ol story time after time: as the organization grows, the divide between the senior leadership and the folks on the ground widens. Water cooler conversations and bar-side grumblings fuel the fire and resentment, frustrations, and resume-editing often sets in. So much of this is avoidable though. Of course, there will always be frustration in any organization: this is part and parcel of people working together. Nothing will be perfect, and it shouldn’t be…frustration and conflict can often lead to organizations re-pivoting and taking a new approach. I believe though, that there are a lot of relatively simple things we can do to make organizations feel more engaging. According to the above context, answer the following question. The junior level employee feel more influential than:

Answer: The Senior Vice President


QUEBEC CITY — Emotions were on display when U.S. President Donald Trump met other G-7 leaders at their annual summit in Canada on Friday, but the discussions were civilized and diplomatic, according to sources. Trump held firm on asserting the United States is disadvantaged when it comes to trade with its European allies. “The other leaders presented their numbers and Trump presented his,” a G-7 official who spoke on condition of anonymity told the Reuters news agency. “As expected he did not budge. This is probably not because he does not understand, but because of domestic reasons.” At a bilateral meeting later with the summit's host, Justin Trudeau, the U.S. president joked that the Canadian prime minister had agreed to “cut all tariffs.” Despite the two leaders exchanging criticism of each other’s trade policies the previous day, Trump described the cross-border relationship as very good, stating “we’re actually working on cutting tariffs and making it all very fair for both countries. And we’ve made a lot of progress today. We’ll see how it all works out.” In a subsequent sit-down meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, Trump said “the United States has had a very big trade deficit for many years with the European Union and we are working it out. And Emmanuel’s been very helpful in that regard.” Macron responded that he had a “very direct and open discussion” with Trump and "there is a critical path that is a way to progress all together.” Canada’s foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, confirms she met on Friday with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to discuss the tariffs and the fate of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). She said Canada, however, will not change its mind about the U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs which she termed “illegal.” Trump imposed the tariffs on the grounds that weak domestic industries could affect U.S. national security. America’s closest allies, Canada, Mexico and the European Union, are introducing retaliatory tariffs. According to the above context, answer the following question. How does Pres Trump feel about the tariffs?

Answer: that they are warranted


So a couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to be invited to The Body Shop® blogger event at my local store in Coppergate, York. It had been organised by blogger Indigo Rosee, in collaboration with the store. The evening had been set up to showcase the new limited edition Christmas make-up collection and also promote the huge sale that the store had on. There were some amazing deals! We were welcomed with prosecco and nibbles and then had a few minutes to browse the store and take some photos. I received a great demonstration of the new make-up products which includes a funky black eyeliner pen with a star stamp on one end which EVERYONE tried out! I always really love The Body Shop® Christmas make-up collections, and I think it’s a shame that it’s a brand that is sometimes forgotten when it comes to make-up. Then everyone was treated to a hand spa and massage using some of the Spa Of The World products. They’re truly luxurious, I recently reviewed the new Firming Ritual collection recently and absolutely loved it. I then had a look round some of the offers that the store was promoting, a lot of the Shower Gels and Body Butters were on sale (I just LOVE The Body Shop® Body Butters) and there were lots of gift sets too. It was a great opportunity to chat with the staff too, to ask questions about new products and find out what their favourites are. I also spent a lot of time looking at the 2017 beauty advent calendars. This year The Body Shop® are offering 3 different advent calendars starting from just £45. The larger calendars included some full size products too which I thought was great. There’s also going to be a Countdown to New Year calendar priced at just £50 which I thought was a great fun idea. According to the above context, answer the following question. After the event, how does the writer feel about returning to a similar event next year?

Answer:
the author is anxious to go to a similar event again