Nine qualities every employee should to try to cultivate, sleep could be the secret to successful ventures, and challenges the oil market faces after the attacks in Saudi Arabia. Readings from around the world on business, leadership and management.

Nine qualities everyone wants to see in an employee

Credit: R D Tuna Canners

What are the characteristics of a model employee? Here are the nine tips from Forbes’ Jack Kelly if you want to be a successful hire:

1. Have a positive attitude. You don’t need to smile all day, just be a team player and try to be non-critical.
2. Arrive on time and, if you can, arrive a bit early.
3. Try to go above and beyond your responsibilities.
4. Forget passive-aggressive behaviours. State your concerns clearly and provide suggestions.
5. Be passionate (or at least show a little energy and drive) about what you do.
6. Feedback and criticism are there to help you grow. Accept it with grace.
7. Prepare for meetings and be there on time.
8. Don’t do the bare minimum.
9. Have some manners; saying hello, congratulations, and lending a hand when needed can make a huge difference.

Entrepreneurs, sleep and successful ventures

If you think that success comes before sleep, you need to read this.

After surveying 700 entrepreneurs from around the world, researchers from the University of Central Florida discovered that imagining new business ideas and identifying potentially successful ventures is related to a good night’s sleep.

In the study, the researchers found that participants who had at least seven hours of sleep each night consistently selected the best business pitches and provided insightful information about the commercial potential of each idea. The participants who slept less couldn’t even identify the best pitches.

‘Entrepreneurs who consistently choose hustle over sleep, thinking that sleep comes after success, may be subverting their efforts to succeed,’ states lead author Jeff Gish, an Assistant Business Professor at the University of Central Florida. ‘Everyone needs a good night of sleep, but it is especially important for entrepreneurs.’

New challenges for the oil market

Abqaiq facility. Twitter/AhmadAlgohbary

Oil Search’s Chief Executive, Peter Botten, has described the drone strikes on two major oil production facilities in Saudi Arabia as a ‘watershed’ moment for the sector, exposing the vulnerability of key oil and gas infrastructure to these sorts of attacks and adding a new risk dynamic to the oil market.

Botten reportedly said that the bombing is more than an attack on one refinery, it is a challenge to the whole sector.

‘We’ve seen in the last couple of months attacks on tankers, we’ve seen now supposed drone attacks on key infrastructure onshore. It’s very, very hard for security people to manage that threat and if these become the targets of choice for this sort of activity it will, I think, change the way we look at things and adds a new dynamic of risk.’

Oil prices ended nearly 15 per cent higher on Monday, with Brent crude having its biggest price jump in over 30 years. In the meantime, Saudi Arabia officials have been trying to reassure the world and have said they will recover quickly from the attacks.