Articles

My youngest granddaughter is about to turn 1 year old.  I get to see her, and her older sister, for a few days later this month – and I can’t wait.  While I enjoyed being a parent – being a grandparent is ‘the bomb’.  The contrast between parenting and grandparenting, for me, caused me to reflect.  Why did I like parenting, but love grandparenting?  Was it because I was letting my granddaughters get away with murder, or sugaring them up

There is an odd situation going on today – that we can’t tell anyone something that ‘makes them feel uncomfortable’.  Teachers are now being told that they can’t teach certain history topics for fear that ‘students will feel badly’.  Interesting as there are things in the past we can be proud of, but there are also things we should not be proud of – so if anyone might feel uncomfortable we don’t get to talk about it?  How in the

As organizations transition back to working face-to-face – either full time or part time, it is a good time to assess our human skills.  It is understandable if we are feeling a bit rusty in the communications department. Even though good communication skills are desperately needed during video calls, many people did not practice them.  They were physically present on the call but frequently were checking email or doing other work on the side.  With the camera off and only their

During my last trip of 2021, I experienced a breach of behavior norms.  I was at the airport and standing in line to get cash from an ATM.  A man was standing in front of the ATM pushing buttons on his cell phone.  The ATM screen was blank and he wasn’t interacting with the ATM at all.  I waited several minutes and then said, ‘Excuse me – are you finished with the ATM?’  He said, without looking up from his

Whenever someone comes to me and says that they need to talk or asks me to listen, I want to be the best listener that I can be.  Listening comes in different flavors so I first ask what type of listening is desired or needed.  I could be listening for the talker to give me some information.  I could be listening to someone who is asking for an opinion.  I could be listening to someone who is brainstorming solutions or

Over the past 18 months with COVID, I have been evaluating and exploring all aspects of my work – everything from what work I do to how I deliver the work to what value that work brings to clients.  I have also been consciously thinking about what it means to do ‘my best work’.  What are the conditions that I need to produce that best work, and how do I keep those conditions in place? For me, some of those

Much has been written recently about the re-evaluation of work as we emerge from COVID.  Many workers are going back to work but only with higher wages.  Many workers have decided that they like working remotely and are seeking a position that supports it.  Nearly everyone is re-evaluating what work means to them and how they want to do it moving forward.  Businesses are just beginning to understand and adapt to what the new work environment looks like.  It is

Everyone and everything seems so much more portable today due to COVID.  More people are living where they want to live because they can work remotely.  Managers have discovered better ways for them to manage remote workers.  All of this has opened new possibilities for choosing where we want to work and how we want to work.  And, as vaccinations continue and companies begin bringing workers back to the office, there is a grand reconsideration going on – resulting in

As organizations re-adjusts to having people vaccinated and back in the office, I have been thinking about office culture and how it will also shift and re-adjust.  For example, prior to the pandemic, there was a reluctance to allow remote working.  I heard more than one manager ask, ‘How will I know that my folks are doing their work when I can’t see them?’  Whether or not this is a legitimate concern or how to build trust in your employees is

Whenever we are asked what we think about something, we naturally think back to our experiences.  Those experiences form our perspective on a topic and consequently, our answer when asked a question.  Additionally, we tend to feel like our perspective is ‘the norm’ or ‘the mainstream’.  We make assumptions and judgements based on that perspective.  So, it is vital that we review and check our perspective – especially when interacting with other people.  Their lives are not our lives.  We