Welcome Back, Reader It's been said... but it deserves repeating Yes, it feels like it would be easier if only you had THAT title. But I've witnessed too many who get THAT title... and still think they need the next one to make a difference. The truth is that it was never about the title. No one ELSE can give you the permission that you believe you need to make an impact. If people look to you for advice... If they feel comfortable coming to you when there is an issue... If you make others...
23 days ago • 1 min read
Welcome Back, Reader New Yorker Cartoon by Kendra Allenby “At this point in your career, your only possible promotion is to management, where you will stop doing the work you love and use a skill set you don’t have and we don’t teach.” It would be funny, if it wasn't true As a leader who has had employees say they don't want to go into leadership but they still want to be recognized or promoted in some way, why does it have to be like this? ..."your only possible promotion is to management"....
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Welcome Back, Reader It seems like everyone is burned out... And if you don't think you're burned out, every article you read tells you that you are! How do you know for sure? Sometimes all you have to do is ask your family or friends... they see it, they feel it. It has to do with how much energy you have left AFTER you leave the office. How often you feel that you HAVE to check in on work after hours... even if just for ONE quick thing. How truly PRESENT are you with your family and...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Welcome Back, Reader The Elusive Mystery of Balance... Honest vs. Kind Work vs. Personal Trust vs. Oversight Soft vs. Hard Skills Experience vs. Competency The list goes on and on and on... We may rebel against the majority to move the needle to one side or the other. We may consider ourselves (or others) weak or strong based on which side of the scale we favor. We may search for the happy medium, yet often find ourselves in a comfort zone leaning one way or the other. The reality is even...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Welcome Back, Reader Ah, the generation gap! "They don't have any loyalty." "They are disengaged with work." "They are slackers with no work ethic." Oops, did you think we were talking about Gen Z or Millennials? Nope! These were the common statements the Boomer generation used to describe Gen X when they first entered the workforce. Boomers vs. Gen X... Boomers had valued long-term employment with a single company. Gen X had grown up witnessing corporate restructuring and layoffs in the 80s,...
3 months ago • 4 min read
Welcome Back, Reader Why do we call them "soft skills"? Soft skills are “soft, until you don’t have them, Then it’s hard.” --Chike Aguh, senior advisor of Harvard University’s Project on Workforce Aguh further suggested that the process of developing soft skills is similar to getting good at sports by adding, “You can’t read a book on how to do a jump shot.” I couldn't agree more with his sentiment! Organizations don't spend enough time assessing soft skills in job candidates, and much less...
3 months ago • 3 min read
Welcome Back, Reader Do Your Employees Feel Appreciated? Or do you just think they do? "There are two things people want more than sex and money: recognition and praise." - Mary Kay Ash, Founder of Mary Kay, Inc. While most everyone would like a raise or bonus, that monetary incentive is quickly forgotten. Appreciation doesn't have to cost anything. It can be as simple as a sincere 'thank you'... verbally or written. The problem? "While more than 80% of managers THINK that they are providing...
4 months ago • 2 min read
Welcome Back, Reader Does Your Team Really Have Psychological Safety? Or do you just think they do? "Our people speak up all the time in meetings!" But is it the same people who always speak up? "They feel comfortable bringing up issues to me!" But do they blame others when they do? "Everyone on my team is happy!" But are they only cajoling you with what they think you want to hear? Even worse... The higher up in the leadership chain that your role is, the further from seeing 'the bottom of...
4 months ago • 3 min read
Do You Have a Fixed or Growth Mindset? Let's look at some examples... "Your intelligence is something very basic about you that you can't change very much." "You can learn new things, but you can't really change how intelligent you are." "No matter how much intelligence you have, you can always change it quite a bit." "You can always substantially change how intelligent you are." Did you find yourself agreeing more with the first two phrases? ...or with the last two phrases? In her book 'Grit...
5 months ago • 3 min read