Tag Archives: US

What Excuses Have Held You Back?

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by Debbie Ruston

 

Regardless of whether we are talking about business, relationships or dieting, many people are accustomed to buying into their own excuses.   Why is it that someone can state they want to achieve something, yet, when it comes to taking action, they don’t follow through?

 

-They were not committed in the first place – There is a difference between wanting something and actually committing to it.  You can want to lose weight, but unless you are willing to implement proper eating and exercise, you will not reach the goal.   This must be something an individual is willing to do for as long as it takes.  That is commitment. Continue reading →

WorkLife – How to Make an Impact in Onboarding

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By Stephanie Shaw

 

Onboarding, or organizational socialization, is a topic that can seem somewhat daunting for companies to embrace. Going beyond the simple employee orientation, onboarding ensures that new hires feel welcome and prepared, while giving them the confidence, trust and freedom to succeed in their new position. Most companies have some form of onboarding practice, but it is often regarded as tactical, rather than a strategic endeavor in the talent management process.

 

The Aberdeen Group, an organization that conducts business research, found in 2013 that companies are interested in re-evaluating their onboarding strategies. They found the top reasons for revamping onboarding practices were to improve new hire productivity (68 percent), engagement (67 percent) and retention (51 percent). Aberdeen also found that 90 percent of organizations believe that new employees make a decision on whether to stay at a company within the first year. This means employers need to make a great first impression and have a full year to make sure their top talent stays. Continue reading →

Feeling Good Friday – I Choose (fill in the blank)

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by Gayle Hilgendorff

Take a moment and think about the week ahead of you.  From your Saturday morning through until next Friday night.  You can take out your calendar if that helps you create a more vivid picture of your activities – whatever helps you fully surround yourself with a sense of all the commitments you have made to your family, your job and yourself.  All the things you have to do.  Good.  Now hold onto that feeling of overwhelm, stress, anxiety and exhaustion for a few moments. Continue reading →

The secret to meaningful praise

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by Melissa Janis


I received the secret to giving meaningful praise decades ago and didn’t realize it until I became a manager years later. It was an old-fashioned three sentence paper memo from my SVP. She said she was aware that I had persuaded a major client to endorse our product in a company press release. As with all good feedback, it was timely and specific. But the third sentence contained the magic: “You showed tremendous finesse.” Continue reading →

The House of Cards Guide to Leadership

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By Peter Gasca

The fictional Congressman Underwood may be ruthless, but he’s effective. Here’s how to steal some of his tactics.

This is probably the morale you take away from the protagonist of the wildly successful Netflix series, House of Cards, an overly ambitious, power hungry and manipulative congressman from South Carolina named Francis Underwood (played beautifully by Kevin Spacey). While mostly cliché, the show does a fantastically addictive job dramatizing the congressman’s accession to power on Capitol Hill as he maneuvers through the sea of egos and ambitions of fellow politicians. And while the congressman regularly employs a number of questionably unethical and immoral power grabs, he is remarkably effective in their execution. Continue reading →