When the rain started right before we stepped on the ferry boat tonight to take us from central Hong Kong to Kowloon, there was little idea how much and how hard the storm would hit us. While the thought of watching the nightly laser light show from the harbor seemed a good idea, spending time on a rocking boat during a subtropical squall changed any fantasies quickly into the reality of two adults and one seven year old child trying to figure out if any of us knew how to say “rescue” and “life preserver” in Mandarin or Cantonese.… Read the rest
[Life Back West] May 2009 – The Ties that Bind
This Sunday approximately 3,500 people, many of them strangers, will hop on their bicycles or take up their ride support stations and start a 545 journey that will last seven days from San Francisco to Los Angeles for AIDS LifeCycle 8 . It’s the 16th such undertaking dating back to the mid-90’s to raise money for AIDS support groups in Los Angeles and San Francisco.… Read the rest
[Life Back West] April 2009 – The Hummingbirds Return
As I suspect it’s been for a number of other people, the last 12 months have been choppy, marked by some high highs and low lows and any number of very bumpy bumps – economic and otherwise – in between. Paradoxically, those lows in our lives may let us experience the exhilaration of the highs.
My thoughts for the future, though, have stayed somehow optimistic.… Read the rest
[Land O’Spin] How to Find Great Talent: Susan Boyle and Other Discoveries
I got a chance to catch up with my friend CB yesterday. Bright, hardworking, smart as a whip, and results driven, she’s one of about five people in my life who I would both hire AND work for. Like a lot of others in the bumpy economy, she was in the wrong place at the wrong time recently – is between roles – and is now looking for her next opportunity.… Read the rest
[Land of Spin] The Job Hunt: Five Things to Look for in the New Boss
Land O’Spin is an occasional set of writings focused on best practices in coaching and assessment: how do take what you observe, know what it means, and draw conclusions about what outcomes will occur in the future.
As I’ve noted before, the ideal goal of any job hunt should be to find a right job at the right place with the right people .… Read the rest
[Life Back West] March 2009 – The Value of Experience
A little experience goes a ways, and a lot of experience goes even further. It may not mean you know the answers to the future, but it provides a data set that is significantly greater than those who are newly initiated.
I remember Todd Wanerman from the preschool our son Traylor attended (and on whose board I still sit) assuring us that despite my son Traylor’s fierce declaration – “I’m going to wear pull-ups until I’m five!”… Read the rest