“What brief thought would YOU share with young women on how to be content…even in tough times?” That’s the question that I recently posted on Facebook in preparation for a super-short presentation on “contentment”…and the responses I received are useful to EVERYONE, not just young women. I could have bypassed the opportunity to post this question. I could have just…
Golden Nuggets After speaking at a recent western-themed staff appreciation event, I was inspired to do a little mining for the golden nuggets in my popular presentation “How to Stay Positive and Focused in Uncertain Times.” Here’s what I dug up! In times of uncertainty and challenge your big picture serves as a “true north” which can be helpful in…
Back to S.C.H.O.O.L. My daughter is grown and out of the nest! However, August still feels like back-to-school time for me because it’s a month that I’m usually speaking to education groups to kick off the academic year. Three of my five paid speaking engagements this month have been on university campuses. I facilitated two staff retreats and served as…
Four-year-olds When my daughter was born [23 years ago] it occurred to me that I knew nothing about child rearing. Sure, I had been a working person and supervisor for many years, but my expertise on children was limited. Being the good educator that I was, I decided to do some research — a one year subscription to various parenting…
Are you a L.I.A.R.? Brainstorming in a breakout brought forth the brash but brilliant acronym L.I.A.R. Truth be told, it was some of my workshop participants who came up with it. With their permission I share this newfound abbreviation, and have embellished it with some of my own examples. Read on and see if you are a “L.I.A.R”….at least as…
I had the unique opportunity to read a REAL-LIFE “angry” email that a colleague had composed in response to a difficult workplace situation. The first list of words below was taken directly from that email. Thankfully, the email that was actually sent included the second set of words below. Positive, tactful yet still clearly conveyed the concerns. Perhaps this wrong…
Wedding Wisdom I was wowed by the words of wisdom in the wedding cards and the congrats comments following my 12-13-14 nuptials. I realized that many of these insights could be applied in ALL relationships…at work and at home. Here are some excerpts. Hope you find them useful! “Be loving. Be kind. Be caring. Be yourselves. Be loyal. Be understanding. …
Say What You Mean “Say what you mean and mean what you say, but don’t say it mean!” I recently heard this expression and thought it succinctly summed up my philosophy. Better yet, I ran across some share-worthy suggestions supporting this thought. Below are some concrete examples that I found in an article on how teachers can soften the harshness…
Are you Rude or Respectful? In a poll of my monthly email Communique’ (eNewsletter) readers last month, I received the following responses to the question: “What cell phone bad behavior annoys you the most?” I’ve cut and paste the actual responses below. Read on and see if—yikes!—you recognize yourself in any of these rude cell phone scenarios…or are you more…
Tech Talk “If you can’t say something nice…post it on Facebook” seems to be the new misguided mantra for way too many people. While it’s great that there are cool tech tools to help us connect, we can’t totally abandon the rules of real communication. And, we must make sure not to use technology to replace real relationships. Preparing for…