As the school year wraps up, I reflect on the intersection of learning a new skill and encouragement. My daughter is nearing the end of her first year of playing the trumpet for her middle school band. From my perspective, she’s done remarkably well. To hear her tell it though, you’d form a different conclusion….
How to be Productive When You Work for Someone Else
What’s your favorite day of the work week? I bet you said “Friday,” right? Because it’s the day before the weekend starts. Fair enough. Tuesdays are my favorite day of the week. Why? Because I’ve implemented a time management process that helps me stay focused and get lots of work done. I’ll lay out the…
4 Tips for Avoiding Costly Hiring Mistakes
How many interviews should a company conduct to find the ideal job candidate? What role does “gut instinct” play in hiring? Is there a perfect applicant screening process? These are the questions that HR directors and hiring managers grapple with every day. The answer is discouraging, yet unsurprising: it’s a lot more complicated than you…
4 Great Questions to Ask Before You Use Personality Assessments in Your Company
I’m a huge advocate of using personality assessments (sometimes called “profiles” or “instruments”) for professional development, if the circumstances are right and the tool being used is appropriate for the situation. That’s a significant “if.” Often, I encounter overly enthusiastic executives who want to use a particular assessment with their team because they personally favor that…
Big Data Needn’t Be “Evil Data” in the Workplace
When I work with executives, I’m wary when they get that “gleam” in their eye when reviewing reams of data with me. If it’s nothing but, “50% margin blah blah” and “trending indicators yada yada,” warning bells go off in my head. There needs to be the counter-weight of people somewhere in that equation to inform their decision-making. Big data…