Blog

Training that Works Checklist

January 25, 2018

“Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival.” ― W. Edwards Deming We are in a knowledge economy. Training and building a learning culture is compulsory for survival. Use this checklist to make sure you consider all the training variables. Please add to the checklist anything overlooked. Remember,…

Everything you need to know about Managing Employees on an Index Card

January 25, 2018

I must admit - I got the idea for this index card after listening to a podcast with Howard Pollack, a professor from University of Chicago, who said that everything you needed to know about building your financial wealth can be written on an index card. The card went viral and he followed up with a book…

Can You Be Free Having a Job?

January 24, 2018

Jim Altucher is one of my favorite writers. In a recent blogpost, he did his usual spiel about ditching your job so you can free yourself. Challenge is most executives I know have a job and aren’t ready to leave it. Can you be free having a job? is the question he challenges us with. I wouldn’t…

How Would You Define Your Company in a Few Words to Job Seekers?

January 23, 2018

I believe in the importance of branding the employment opportunity. That’s why I found the directory of tech employers on TechMeme to be interesting. Some of them make sense to me; a few don’t at all. I wonder how they come up with and test these branding themes. If you ignore the company…

Getting the Blockages Out of the Way of Great HR

January 22, 2018

For years I have been preaching the opportunity in Great HR. When I do my CEO workshops, I show the financial logic behind the opportunity. I have business owners understand that every HR problem becomes a sales problem. And yet HR still has difficulty getting traction. In this article, I will talk…

List of Things That I am Grateful For

January 21, 2018

Sometimes life hands us challenges, and we can become focused on the negatives. One of my practices to counteract that pressure is to constantly remind myself of how lucky I am… and the things I am grateful for. I put these 25 things I am grateful for on colorful index cards and run through them…

Building Your Conversational Capacity

January 20, 2018

I went to an excellent Vistage Chair Group meeting and was treated to the presentation Conversational Capacity by Craig Weber. Craig comes from an organizational design and psychology background and has presented to Vistage groups more than a thousand times. He works with large teams trying to improve…

What I Can Control

January 19, 2018

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. I can control… What my “story” is What my values and goals will be How well I plan my career and life in general Who my friends are If I “make…

Maybe leadership should do something about HR… like supporting it.

January 18, 2018

I've been around the HR and leadership block. For decades it seems like I've read a dozen articles in business publications blasting HR for every article that praises it. There is great opportunity in great HR. The results of Great HR practices fall directly to the bottom line. I've coached dozens…

Wellness…Where Do We Go from Here

January 17, 2018

It seems as if the idea of wellness has hit a brick wall. Its vast promise has not materialized, other than in unique circumstances. I think the greatest challenge, to paraphrase Lincoln, is that most people (me included) are about as healthy as they choose to be. Click here to read a report I…

Humor that Works

January 8, 2018

My good friend Drew Tarvin allowed me to share his humor cheat sheet. You can access here https://www.humorthatworks.com/files/50_Ways_to_Use_Humor_at_Work.pdf Life is too short not to have fun while you work!

Visualization Techniques for Success

December 25, 2017

Here are some tried and true techniques for visualizing your future!

15 Ideas for Better Time Management

December 24, 2017

He who every morning plans the transactions of that day and follows that plan carries a thread that will guide him through the labyrinth of the most busy life. ― Victor Hugo I’ve done deeps dives into time management. Here are 15 ideas to help you better manage your time: Automate It If…

Balanced Checkup

December 23, 2017

Are You Staying in Balance? Click here to take a look at an approach to staying balanced which can change your life…as it did mine. Here’s to a better sense of balance, Don PS Planning any fun/cool office parties for the holidays? Please do share!

It’s All About Work

December 22, 2017

Today’s Political Turmoil- It's All About Work When I step back from this current election and crazy world events, it strikes me that there are a lot of angry, fearful people. In a recent quiet moment I had an epiphany- I believe all has to do with work and the most basic of human needs. The…

Optimism – An Essay by Helen Keller (1903)

December 18, 2017

When looking at world news it is easy to get depressed about the future. More conflict, more environmental damage, widening disparities in wealth and opportunity. Where is the good news? Fact is, there is plenty of it if you look for it. In 2009 I was searching for some inspiration I came across…

Who’s Happy at Work?

December 17, 2017

To work we love, with delight we go. William Shakespeare There has been much discussion about happiness, engagement, inspiration and those other “soft” attributes of work. We are constantly reminded of the Gallup survey indicating 72% of employees are disengaged. According to a Money Magazine…

Is the 40 Hour Work Week Dying?

December 16, 2017

Last month I was presenting to Vistage CEO's in Houston and one of them asked me about the idea proposed by one of her employees they should reconsider the 40-hour work week. She said she was given an article from Inc. magazine discussing it. So on my flight back to San Diego from that meeting I read…

The Gender Revolution and Equality

December 15, 2017

I just finished reading an enlightening special issue of National Geographic on Gender Revolution. Here are a few things I learned that apply to how we treat each other at work: Not everybody is wired the way you would like them to be, which can make this an uncomfortable conversation. Women…

My Workplaces of the Future Checklist

December 14, 2017

Over the past few years I’ve done a deep dive into where the future will be taking the workplace. I’ve even had the opportunity to do a number of presentations on it. I let people change it’s happening faster than they realize it. The changes that impacted the rust belt caused by offshoring were…