Many Workers Experiencing Financial Stress

Resume Now, an online resume builder, conducted a survey of 1.100 U.S. workers to find out how they’re feeling about their financial situation. You can see the full October 2023 Financial Transparency survey here and read through the findings. Here are some of the findings that stood out to me. I am a big proponent … Continue reading Many Workers Experiencing Financial Stress

Validate Before Trying to Persuade

Annette Simmons is the author of Whoever Tells the Best Story Wins: How to Use Your Own Stories to Communicate with Power and Impact. She wrote the book to help people bring storytelling back into their repertoire of persuasive tactics, and she offers many tips for telling better stories. One of her most important ideas … Continue reading Validate Before Trying to Persuade

Tell Me a Picture

Annette Simmons is the author of Whoever Tells the Best Story Wins: How to Use Your Own Stories to Communicate with Power and Impact. She says that humans have used storytelling to communicate since the beginning of time, and today is no different. Her book is intended to help you tell stories that are more … Continue reading Tell Me a Picture

Don’t Let Negativity Spread

Almost every team has one: the negative personality whose poison is starting to affect everyone. Whether it’s snide comments in team meetings, passive-aggressive information withholding, or acid emails, a negative team member can quickly cause irreparable damage to productivity, comradery, and, eventually, retention. But containing  – or removing – a toxic team member can be … Continue reading Don’t Let Negativity Spread

Telling Better Stories

Annette Simmons is the author of Whoever Tells the Best Story Wins: How to Use Your Own Stories to Communicate with Power and Impact. Her book is intended to help you get into “story thinking,” using stories as tools for persuasion in your personal and business life. She defines stories as “a reimagined experience narrated … Continue reading Telling Better Stories

The Stories We Tell Ourselves (and Others)

Annette Simmons is the author of Whoever Tells the Best Story Wins: How to Use Your Own Stories to Communicate with Power and Impact. Her book is intended to help you get into “story thinking,” using stories as tools to bring emotion back into the decision-making process. She writes, “We know everything will change tomorrow … Continue reading The Stories We Tell Ourselves (and Others)

50 Percent of New Hires Change Their Minds

A recent survey conducted by HR consultancy Gartner of nearly 3,500 respondents found that 50 percent of candidates accepted a job offer between May 2022 and May 2023, backed out, then started working for another employer. SHRM’s blog says among nearly 2,000 respondents who recently started a new job, 47 percent said they were still … Continue reading 50 Percent of New Hires Change Their Minds

Asking Good Questions to Get Better Results

In a great post, The Eblin Group refers back to an ancient method for building leadership capacity in your staff. Large organizations simply don’t have the ability to provide all the answers from the top down, they say. It’s critical to teach your employees how to think through problems on their own. The master of … Continue reading Asking Good Questions to Get Better Results

Being a Jerk is Not Against the Law (even if we think it should be)

“I’m afraid being a jerk isn’t against the law, even if we wish it could be.” That’s a quote from yours truly when I worked as an executive for a regional nonprofit organization. I sometimes heard from employees outside my division, asking for advice on whether they should file a formal grievance about their boss. … Continue reading Being a Jerk is Not Against the Law (even if we think it should be)

Tell Me Seven Times. No – Make that Three.

In an online article, author Matthew Kirchner says (and this won’t be news to any of us) that attention spans are getting shorter. He writes, “Microsoft published a study that our attention spans had decreased by almost a third in the preceding 15 years, from 12 seconds to just eight. Goldfish, so we’re told, have an … Continue reading Tell Me Seven Times. No – Make that Three.