September 2009

Carnival of HR- Talent Management Edition

September 30, 2009

The latest Carnival of HR is a “Talent Management” edition, hosted by blogging4jobs. I’m excited to have my blog submission accepted for two reasons: This post is my first foray into collaborating with another blogger.  Lisa Rosendahl   and I blogged about mentoring from two different perspectives.  It was energizing to have a sounding board for [...]

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The TMI of Leadership

September 29, 2009

The other day, I was having a discussion with a training manager named Sally.  Her staff designs training for her company’s field sales force. Sally works for a large organization that has a reputation for promoting from within. Here’s what we were discussing: Leaders higher up in her organization have noticed that when the sales people [...]

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Hope Blooms

September 29, 2009

Update: The Family Hope Foundation completed its first fiscal year this month. In their first year of operation they distributed grants to twenty-two children and hosted a community event that drew over 300 people. They now have a website: http://www.thefamilyhopefoundation.org/ For my consistent readers, you know that this blog focuses primarily on work-related topics—leadership, communication, [...]

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The Sweet Spot for Mentoring

September 24, 2009

Note: this blog post is a collaborative effort between Jennifer V. Miller and Lisa Rosendahl.  We’ve each taken a different perspective on the topic of mentoring. Lisa’s post explores what attributes Human Resource/Talent Managers look for in potential mentors. This blog post explores mentor readiness from a personal perspective, asking: “How do you know you’re ready [...]

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Are You a Good Host?

September 23, 2009

Do you have a friend who’s an excellent party-giver?  What is it about him or her that makes it so?  Is it the fantastic food? The diverse guest list? An excellent home that provides the perfect backdrop for gatherings?  It could be any of these things, but I’d bet the one thing that’s for sure [...]

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Tweep Round Up- Human Resources

September 23, 2009

Note: I’ve been on Twitter long enough now that I’m finally attracting people in my areas of professional interest— Human Resources, Training, Leadership Development, Performance Consulting and Industrial/Organizational Psychology. The Tweep Round Up is a series of blog posts that will highlight individuals in each of these areas. If you’re new to Twitter, it can be difficult [...]

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The Language of Frailty

September 20, 2009

Words fascinate me.  Walking into a book store jazzes me the way some people invest emotionally in sports or music. From my first published work at age 13 (op-ed piece in our local newspaper) to being a Spanish major in college, to conducting Communications Skills workshops for employees, language has always been more than just [...]

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Boo or Yay Manager?

September 20, 2009

One of my favorite experiential activities for management training is an oldie but goodie called the “Boo/Yay” exercise.  In it, two volunteers separately try to guess a per-determined task such as walking to the front of the room and picking up a marker. The audience is instructed to give the volunteers feedback to help them [...]

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120 Days of Tweeting

September 18, 2009

In May of 2009, I joined the ranks of Twitter by embarking on a 30 Days of Tweeting Experiment. After the Experiment concluded, I blogged about it on this site. It’s now been 120 days since I started tweeting. Perhaps my readers can gain insights into my additional learnings in these ensuing  90 days.  All that [...]

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Bully on the Track Field

September 18, 2009

So I’m reading Bret Simmons’ post When the Bully Boss is Female . . . There’s a slight whooshing sound in my brain and all of a sudden time sort of shifts.  It’s the 1970’s and I’m in 8th grade.  A new family has moved from Chicago to our tiny farming community in Michigan.  They [...]

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