From the category archives:

Personal Effectiveness

Book Review: Find Your Strongest Life by Marcus Buckingham

October 5, 2009

Marcus Buckingham wants to teach women how to live a “strong” life.  He says a strong life is one in which you are able to discern the activities which energize you, catch those moments and cradle them so that you feel fulfilled—personally and professionally. That’s a pretty tall order, especially when coming from a man. [...]

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The Anatomy of a Comment

October 2, 2009

Yesterday I posted my reaction to the various “comments” that a local art competition is receiving in our community.  These comments are appearing in several places: the art competition’s website, the online version of the local newspaper and various other local blogs. Reading these comments caused me to reflect on the nature of discourse on [...]

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Hope Blooms

September 29, 2009

For my consistent readers, you know that this blog focuses primarily on work-related topics—leadership, communication, team effectiveness, social media and its impact on the “people equation.” Today’s blog post is more personal in nature and represents a request I’m making on behalf of a nascent foundation.  If that’s not your thing, then now’s the time [...]

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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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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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Book Review: The Sharp Employee

September 18, 2009

In preparation for reviewing the Marcus Buckingham’s soon-to-be released book Find Your Strongest Life, I decided to pull some of Buckingham’s earlier books off the shelf and give them a second look.  This review is the first of a three-part series. Now, Discover Your Strengths Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton The highlights: In the [...]

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The Art of Serendipity

September 17, 2009

I was comparing notes on competency development the other day with Mollie Lombardi of the Aberdeen Group*. At some point during our conversation, the talk turned to Twitter because that’s where I met Mollie.  We were discussing the massive flow of information via the tweet stream and Mollie said, “Yes, Twitter gives me a chance [...]

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No Monkeys!

September 13, 2009

One of our family’s all-time favorite movies is Toy Story 2.  The end of the movie features “out takes” showing the characters’ bloopers. My favorite out take is the one where Mrs. Potato Head is helping Mr. Potato head pack for his big adventure to go rescue Woody. She very helpfully says, “I’ve packed your [...]

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Big Girl Pants

September 12, 2009

I was hard at work at my desk one day, concentrating on a project.  I sensed someone standing in my doorway, then heard chuckling.  I looked up to find my staid, quiet “cube wall” neighbor laughing and pointing. She was directing her attention to framed artwork on my office wall that reads “Put your big [...]

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