Just decide already
Think of decisions instead as “best” in the moment, and “adjustable” if necessary. You can trust yourself and be all in – just decide.
learning
Career vs. Vocation: When they don’t match up
Appreciating the difference between career and a vocation (or true calling) means that you can leverage one to improve the other.
Positive habits: a new approach
A number of clients seeking my guidance on becoming better workers, better managers, or better planners inevitably ask about how to develop positive habits… and stick with them. When I ask what they’ve done to date in developing new positive habits, and why they believe they’ve failed to maintain them, two themes arise: The achievers …
The learning cycle at work
I had a few clients who were expressing sentiments such as: “I’m not feeling like myself,” or, “I’m just not how I used to be on the job,” or, “I’m not really feeling it anymore, and I don’t know why.” They attribute these feelings to no longer being challenged at work, or having no growth …
3 questions to ask before you set boundaries at work
Knowing how to set boundaries at work in unhealthy or unproductive situations is an important skill, both for yourself and ultimately for the team involved. But what does it mean to set boundaries at work, and how should you do it to achieve the desired outcome? Let’s start by talking about what a boundary is. …
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Networking: The 4 Things You’re Probably Not Doing But Should Be
Networking warm or hot can be easy. Networking cold – especially if you’re more introverted and don’t have a lot of practice under your belt – can be extremely intimidating. When I was starting, the idea of just showing up somewhere and chatting people up was awkward and confusing. But I’ve learned a few things …
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Strengths and weaknesses: Using one as a gateway to address the other
Strengths and weaknesses. Areas of command vs. areas of improvement. Stuff you’re good at on one hand, and stuff you’re bad at on the other hand. People often present these characteristics at opposite ends of a spectrum or as absolutes. You might get similar feedback at work year after year, and even with nominal improvements, …
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You can actually cultivate creativity. Here’s how.
I remember having to fill out performance reviews where one of the questions on the forms assessed the “creativity” of the employee. Creativity? Hm. At that time, to me, creativity either had to do with art (not relevant in my line of work), or the demonstration of some grand, brilliant solution to a problem that …
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Mid-Year Reviews: Only Two Solutions You Need to Get Back on Track
For many organizations, mid-year reviews on job performance are either underway or soon to be underway. You probably developed goals for 2018 in the latter part of 2017, and it’s the perfect time to see how far we’ve come! … or how far we haven’t come. Every year, a few of my direct reports would …
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Growth Mindset: The #1 Key to Management Mastery
Companies often set up their management roles as rewards for outstanding individual performance. There is one fundamental problem with this: individual achievement has nothing to do with good management. (See my post on the differences among leadership and management and authority.) But all is not lost! In order to transition well from stellar individual performance to …
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New perspective in critical thinking
This week, we are reviewing the 3-2-1 Model for Critical Thinking. I walk you through it in the video above. In the Analysis step, we ask two questions: (1) How we decide to interpret the information we receive, and (2) What principles, whether from different perspectives, viewpoints or assumptions, we are applying. Let me make it …
Application of the 3-2-1 Model for Critical Thinking
I simplified critical thinking into a short model because I would rather we all practice it more systematically in our daily lives. I would prefer to see that critical thinking is not something we have to strive toward when it really matters, but rather, we flex that muscle so regularly, it’s second-nature. Super complex critical …
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Game Changer: a refreshing lens on “proactive vs reactive”
What if being proactive meant not that you prepare for what’s coming, but that you CREATE what’s coming?
Changing the game
If you want to learn how to be proactive at work, step outside the existing rules of engagement.
Presentation = speech
While people can feel comfortable putting together slides, people often don’t know how to prepare a speech.
Addressing a perfectionist’s fear
Sometimes, perfectionists don’t want to figure things out in public.
Perfectionism: beholden to someone else’s decisions
Consider this: what if YOU made all the decisions?
The secret to managing overwhelm is realizing: There is no pie.
There was no piece of pie for me. I was desperately struggling to carve out what felt like even 1% of the pie for myself.