21 Shares Here are a few of Lemov’s ideas for teaching anything to a group and how to become a teacher of anything
202 Shares When we are busy it's tough to know that we are ignoring others. Watch for these 5 signs that you are blowing people off.
241 Shares We all want to be as helpful as we can, but sometimes it is a challenge to figure out how to do so. Here are 7 ways you can be helpful...today.
125 Shares Alexandra Levit provides some sage advice when it comes to making commitments: don`t promise what you can`t deliver.
Gina Amaro Rudan is a genius. That is, she wrote a very well-received book called Practical Genius that was endorsed by Seth Godin. But Gina wasn’t always a genius. She wasn’t even considered smart. One day when Gina was in third grade at her Catholic grammar school, some children were pulled out of the classroom and taken to a much nicer room with beautiful windows and potted flowers. This new and improved room had been designed for the gifted students in the class, and Gina waited for her name to be called.... More »
67 Shares Lost has been off the air for a while now, but getting stranded on a desert island still looms large in most people’s imaginations. If your woebegone plane happened upon some sun-kissed atoll in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, would you live or would you die? Who do you hope would be with you? What belongings would be most useful? As a career and workplace writer, my thoughts naturally stray to what one would have to offer in terms of skills or traits that would aid survival and assist in the... More »
100 Shares I just finished a terrific book called Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High. Authors Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Kerry Patterson, and Al Switzler define a “crucial conversation” as one where opinions vary, something is at risk, and emotions are running high. The results of truly crucial conversations have a large impact on your quality of life. However, despite their importance, we often back away from crucial conversations because we feel awkward or fear that we’ll make the situation worse. And when we do attempt to have them, we’re prone to... More »
My heart is heavy today. I just learned of the death of one of the most influential individuals in my life, a man who changed the way I think about the world and who guided me toward my current career as a workplace author, speaker, and consultant. That man is Stephen Covey. I first came across his most famous work, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, when I was researching my first book and was still struggling to succeed as a driven twenty-something in a complex business world. Several years later, I... More »
(Editor’s Note: This is the second in a two-part series on employee engagement.) Now let’s discuss some options for increasing the level of positive engagement in your work environment. Option 1: Leverage Shared Responsibility Most agree that employers and employees share responsibility for the factors that create an engaging work environment. In a recent survey conducted by Training magazine and The Ken Blanchard Companies, individual respondents saw it as their primary responsibility to improve the factors of: Meaningful Work Autonomy Workload Balance Task Variety Collaboration Connectedness with Leader Connectedness with Colleagues They... More »
(Editor’s Note: This is the first in a two part series on employee engagement.) Now that the job market is improving somewhat, organizations have started to think more about retention, and the concept of “employee engagement” is being bandied about in offices across North America and Europe. But what exactly is employee engagement, how do you know if you have it, and why should anyone care? Let’s begin with a simple definition. Employee engagement is a person’s degree of attachment to their company, role, and co-workers. When employees are engaged, managers don’t have... More »
462 Shares At Lifehack we talk a lot about happiness, and (in my opinion) general happiness is the accumulation of many days of contentment with one’s circumstances. Therefore, being happier isn’t necessarily a matter of making massive changes in your life. In fact, it’s often more about minor adjustments. Here are eight small things you can do so that you feel better about yourself at the end of the day. 1. Cut the Fat Where you can, eliminate parties from your work who don’t really need to be involved. The more cooks, the less... More »
To many, a manager title means increased pay and prestige. Sometimes, you’ll get a new boss and a new office too. You’ll also get a totally new job. You got to this point because you were good at your work, but now you will have to let the details of the work go. Your job now is to grow and position your organization so that others can perform the work in a way that positively impacts the bottom line. There are many mistakes that new leaders make, but the biggest is refusing... More »
170 Shares I once knew a small company CEO who controversially brought three former accountants onto his management team. “It’s accountant overload,” one employee complained. “And what does accounting have to do with marketing and client relationship management anyway?” The new leaders had other expertise besides accounting, but that’s not my point. When I spoke to the CEO, I learned that he surrounded himself with financial prowess because he considered this to be his personal area of weakness. “I don’t have a strong accounting background, and yet finance plays a major role in every area of... More »
At my old PR agency, Edelman, we used to have a so-called “Comeback Club.” The club was reserved for those who left the company in good standing and returned a few years later. Edelman was a great place to work, so the Comeback Club was popular. I myself was a member. After working there for two years, I left Edelman New York in 2000 to work at Computer Associates in eastern Long Island. When my husband and I moved to Chicago in 2004, I went back to my roots as a digital... More »
67 Shares My father is 66 years old. Over the last forty years, he has worked in both Corporate America and academia, and his identity is closely tied to his job. How could it not be? He has spent the better part of his life commuting from one office to another, and he’s somewhat of a workaholic. The original plan was for my dad to retire at age 66, but now that it’s here, the idea seems preposterous. He has lost money in the recession, and like many Baby Boomers, the thought of moving... More »
