Power to the People - It's Not A Generational Gap “To Give Anything Less Than Your Best is to Sacrifice the Gift.” – Steve Prefontaine Last month we talked about Millennials in the workplace and debunked a few myths. I also promised to continue the theme and focus on the other workplace generations this month. Since then, I realized that it's less about generational gaps and more about making ALL employees a central focus because most people want the same thing from work: to be … [Read more...]
August 13, 2017 By Leave a Comment
Recently I went to Vegas to speak at an HR Strategy a conference. I was so zero chill about this trip because: Well, it’s Vegas of course, YOLO (You Only Live Once) If I hadn’t accepted the gig it would have led to a major FOMO (Fear of MIssing Out) Okay, okay, some of you probably have no idea what I just said and others of you are probably laughing your ass off because I’m totaling destroying your slang. For a short glossary of terms, scroll to the end of this … [Read more...]
July 10, 2016 By Leave a Comment
Raise your hand if this has never happened to you: you see a picture of someone from high school online and think, “Wow, what happened to Bob*? He looks like an old dude now!” Maybe this says a lot about my age, some deep-seated shallowness, or an inability to feel social shame. I’m hopeful it says more about perception. Perception is our way of understanding or interpreting something. It's our mental impression and the stories we make up about the way things are. It gets a lot of … [Read more...]
May 12, 2015 By Leave a Comment
What’s the one thing all superheroes seem to have in common? They go from being average, vulnerable, and maybe even a little nerdy, to being superheroes in a matter of seconds. The next time you need to make a quick change in your team, wouldn’t it be great if you could step into a phone booth and step out a few minutes later with everything in place? Or, start getting better results in minutes or days instead of months? I've asked the Superheroes of Change Management and they weighed … [Read more...]
April 9, 2015 By Leave a Comment
It’s been 3 years since I started Positive Disruption and in that time there’s been a lot of reinvention. Like reinvention from my cushy corporate life to the nail-biting that can sometimes come along with starting up a business. There’s been any number of iterations on what is it that I really do, or don’t do – are you a consultant or a trainer, do you do coaching, or what? Finally, in the last year it became crystal clear to me: I am at my best helping client teams navigate the … [Read more...]
March 13, 2015 By Leave a Comment
6:30 Tuesday morning. It’s dark out. Slowly, our neighborhood starts to come to life: lights go on, teeth being brushed and so it goes. I take the mascot on her walk and as we make our way through the park, we run into Bobby and Alex. As usual, Peaches greets them with exuberance, her tail wagging as if this is the best day ever - just like yesterday was the best day ever, and the day before that, and the one before that. We talk as we often do: it’s warm and humid today, the magnolias are … [Read more...]
February 10, 2015 By Leave a Comment
It’s 10 PM and one of your direct reports sends you the budget updates you’ve been waiting for. He’s spent all day and into the night working on them, trying to get them as close to right as possible. You take a quick look at the spreadsheet and frown. It’s not bad but you feel like something is missing or they’re not as complete as you’d hoped for. It’s not really telling the story you wanted. And the formatting is just ok, even if he did use the standard template. So you … [Read more...]
December 18, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Last week, a dozen Santas full of Christmas “cheer” cruised down my street on skateboards shouting about elves! By this time of year in Portland, several Santacons have already taken place and the Christmas ships are about to finish their run. I guess you could say we love a holiday spectacle. As many of us approach holiday visits, which can be spectacles in their own right, I am reminded of a friend who recently said she doesn't go home for the holidays because “I like my family too … [Read more...]
June 28, 2013 By Leave a Comment
750,000 air miles, 9 promotions, 15 bosses, and 11 places called "home." This is the typical story of most of our clients. It's a story of change, uncertainty, growth, and opportunity. Some might call me a change junkie. As a kid, I was probably the only 10-year-old to check out “I’m Okay, You’re Okay” from the library - multiple times. I’ve always been interested in what makes people tick. Why do some people get along with just about everyone while others seem to be … [Read more...]
January 24, 2013 By Leave a Comment
It's early in another new year. The holidays are behind us and many of are trying to get back in the groove, wondering what's up. Why am I here? What did I leave undone? How can I make this year different, better, less stressful, more fun than last year? The answer: write your own manifesto, your rules to live by for this year and possibly the rest of your life. You can do it solo as a personal expression of who you want to be or as part of a partnership, family, work, community or other … [Read more...]