Thoughts on people, teams, organizations, communities, effectiveness and success
The email from the prospective applicant family asked my thoughts regarding my son’s grade school.
It could have just as easily been about a place to work or somebody referencing an employee.
It brought to mind a simple question.
When do you shift from “highly recommend” to a more nuanced “recommend with reservations?”
Just as the most qualified candidate may not be the best candidate for a job (“He had lots of great skills and experiences.… Read the rest
Life, careers and work are full of decisions.
Sometimes, though, the hardest yet best thing to say is one simple word: “No.”
We know from research (channel Ronald Reagan: “Facts are stubborn things.”) that all those little decisions we make every day take a toll and turns out it’s a big one.
Carmel macchiato with non-fat milk or 2% non-fat?… Read the rest
The parent’s “Welcome Coffee” at my son’s grade school on the first day-of-school was nicely done, complete with homemade pastries and breakfast items, and greetings from the Head of School and other luminaries. A chance to catch up with friends and acquaintances, and a marker (e.g. think the literal ringing of a school bell) to start the school session.
After a summer break, school – and work for the faculty and staff who count the school as their employer – was back in session.… Read the rest
Even in the big planet we call earth, life exists like it’s one small town.
My friend Wendy Yanowitch’s saying that “Life is made up of six people and lots of mirrors” plays out in my world weekly, and I suspects plays out in yours as well if you start watching the connections.
If this small world theory is really the case, it means that what you say, and even more important, what you do, sticks with you wherever you go.… Read the rest
It happens.
The new senior hire (formerly called a senior suit in the days when the males who mostly occupied those roles actually wore matching jackets and pants) is keen to make their mark at the new place so they make changes. Often big ones.
Sometimes those changes work, and sometimes they bomb.
New CEO Marissa Meyer has clearly put her mark on a number of shifts at Yahoo in the five weeks she’s been on board changing some obvious practices: free food (a la Google, where she formerly worked) at many of Yahoo’s locations, instituting weekly check-in meetings (called FYI in Yahoo-speak), a reinvigorated and more rigorous hiring process, and engaging in greater dialogue and access with programmers than her predecessors. … Read the rest
“When a great adventure is offered, you don’t refuse it,” trailblazing aviator Amelia Earhart suggested.
The same can be said about that unexpected job opportunity that surfaces; the one that you didn’t foresee, is off the planned career arc and yet you find intriguing.
Take it or punt? Kick the heart-racing-intrigue down the road until you’re “ready” or take a flyer and pursue it.… Read the rest