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A couple of weeks ago I was watching an interview with Simon Sinek, author of the book Start With Why. In the interview he talked about hearing from companies that working with Millennials is difficult. He then went on to explain what he thought was at the root of the difficulties. One item really stuck out for me in his interview – that many Millennials coming into the workplace may not have all of the skills necessary for success. Specifically,

With the beginning of a new year, many organizations set up new business goals.  These sessions usually include a review of the previous year’s performance, the new goals, and then action steps to get to the new goals.  Contingency plans are sometimes discussed but rarely do they include personnel.  Nearly every organization goes into execution of the new plans believing that they will have the existing staff as it is today.  In many industries, there is little planning for personnel

Holidays bring together friends and family for what is hopefully a ‘good time had by all’.  But this time of year, is also stressful as more people and more events combine in relatively short periods of time.  I had this happen to me at Thanksgiving.  All of my children and my mother were in my home.  We went from 2 adults and 3 dogs to 7 adults and 5 dogs.  What a whirlwind!  We had to discuss the shower schedule

Now that you have decided that you want to move into a management role, it is transition time.  With some thought about your transition into this type of a role, you can set yourself up for success and avoid many of the potholes that new managers fall into.  The first 90 days are critical, so set up your goals, priorities, and activities for 30 days, 60 days, and 90 days as part of your transition plan.  This plan works for

You are ready to take on the next assignment in your career – and you have a choice.  You can continue to be an individual contributor, or you can become a manager or supervisor.  It may be that becoming a manager is expected in your organization.  Becoming a manager may have more future advancement potential and a higher compensation scale.  But is that all there is to the decision?  Absolutely not!  Becoming a manager can be a rewarding career –

Bob Nelson, a motivational businessman said, “An employee’s motivation is a direct result of the sum of interactions with his or her manager.”  So often this type of a quote is used from the perspective of the manager – putting the responsibility of the interaction with them.  This time when I read it, I thought of it from the reporting person’s perspective.  I remembered my relationships and interactions with past managers.  Many were excellent, and a couple were terrible, but

On a recent trip to California I witnessed two women have a fight over saving an airplane seat.  They said things to each other that I have rarely heard in public.  They called each other names and nearly came to blows.  While many people boarding the plane witnessed the incident, no one said anything to the two women – not bystanders, not airplane crew, no one.  I believe that our society is coarsening, and we are getting more tolerant of

‘I’ll believe it when you board the airplane without your laptop.’  These were the words that my husband said to me after I declared that I wasn’t going to take any work with me on vacation.  After all, he had good reason to be skeptical.  For most of my career, I would only go on 7-day vacations and then always have the laptop along – just in case.  But this was our anniversary trip and I was determined to do

Thomas Carlyle, Scottish philosopher said, ‘Nothing builds self-esteem and self-confidence like accomplishment.’   With all due respect to Mr. Carlyle, I believe his statement is incomplete.  Accomplishment alone does not build self-esteem.  It is the acknowledgement and integration of the accomplishment into one’s being that builds confidence and self-esteem.  This integration frequently gets left behind in today’s ‘action world’ once the accomplishment is achieved.  More and more jobs require individuals to play at the edge and make judgement calls – that

Albert Einstein said “Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.” But what is the truth? How is it determined? In this era of calling everything that doesn’t agree with your position as fake, it is important to consciously think about what you trust. It is also important to be able to think critically about what is being read, watched, and listened to so that facts can be found – especially given the