Archive for January, 2007
A Lesson from Grief
My dad died on January 15. Fortunately, my mom and dad had planned for this situation, so the arrangmenets they had made were easy for us to carry out. This helped tremendously because my mom was so shaken by my dad’s death.
On January 16, my mom, my sisters, and I visited the mortuary where they [...]
President Bush and I fight a similar battle
Tonight in President Bush’s State of the Union address he talked about measuring the success of our fight against terrorism by what does NOT happen. I resonate with that sort of measurement because in my business of improving the communication skills of staff and managers, the results of my work are often difficult to measure. [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Your Values are Showing!
Thanks to Cathy Brewster and the folks at Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC) for inviting me to be part of their January 2007 Professional Development Days.
My program, “Improving Your Leadership Fitness,” focused on understanding the six values and attitudes that drive us in our decision making. We spent a terrific 90 minutes going over the [...]
Grammar, Punctuation, and Correctness
Ahhh, a day well spent! What’s more fun than spending an entire day focusing on grammar usage, punctuation, and correctness is writing? Spending that day with officers from local law enforcement agencies!
A big shout-out to Beverly Walker of the Regional Public Safety Training Center (RPSTC) for working diligently in 2005 to bring my program, Report [...]
Getting Emotional: Handling Conflict at Work
When you think of “getting emotional,” what types of emotion come to mind? Is getting emotional a bad thing? What about at work?
I’ve been asked to write a how-to article about neutralizing emotions during a conflict at work. As I’m preparing to write this article, I have to ask: why is emotion during a [...]
Dangerous Email
I had an experience with email yesterday that reminded me of the dangers of email–especially in a professional setting. The crux of it is that I’d been coordinating an event with several people. The event involved some who were experienced with the requirements of the event and some who were new to the event. To [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Talent Shortage: Tightening Budgets Require Smart Hiring
The tightening labor market is forcing companies to be smarter in their hiring processes. Getting the right person into the right job is more important now than ever before. Why? Because according to firms that study labor-market trends, there is a shortage of qualified individuals to fill those vacant jobs–and hiring the wrong person for [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )“Customers Come First” is more than just a slogan; it’s a culture
The excerpt below comes from an article in Workforce.com and reinforces the importance of recognizing employees for their efforts–not only because of the effort made but also because of the long-range impact of that recognition:
Express carrier company DHL has a recognition program designed to reinforce customer service. The “Finding Their Heroes” program uses performance, service [...]
“Dear John” Letters at Work
“Is it okay to address an email or letter to ‘Dear John’?” When I heard this question from a client recently, I was flummoxed. Why is this question being asked, I wondered. But then the client explained: “When I have to write to someone named John, I feel weird addressing him as ‘Dear John’ because [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Rose Bowl Gossip
While listening to the Michigan vs. USC Rose Bowl game tonight, I heard one of the announcers say, “There’s been talk about [Quarterback Mark] Sanchez and a woman. But nothing was proven, so it’s not worth mentioning.”
What? Let me see if I got this straight: the announcer alludes to a scandal (I’m assuming it’s a [...]
