Win at Work
Win at Work
Winning at Working--Wishing and Hoping
Years after Disneyland was built, after the completion of Walt Disney
World, the story goes that someone went up to Mike Vance, Creative
Director for Walt Disney Studios and said, "Isn't it too bad Walt Disney
didn't live to see this?" Without pausing, he replied, "But he did see
it, that's why it's here."
Jan 26, 2012 - 3:28:00 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--Workplace Heists
Seated in the courtyard of a sports bar during a playoff game in the
home city of one of the teams, it was an energetic crowd that Sunday.
While we'd come for a quick bite to eat, we caught a glimpse of a play
now and then as home-team enthusiasts roared their approval during the
first half.
Jan 13, 2012 - 1:39:34 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--About Your Fututre
When faced with catching a fly ball, Lucy missed again. "The past got in my eyes," she told Charlie Brown, "I thought I had it, but suddenly I remembered all the others I'd missed."
Dec 4, 2011 - 3:31:29 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--Cherry-Picking
Personable and enthusiastic about her work, it took me months to uncover
the problem. Calling Cheryl to my office for a quick question, I
inquired why the information I needed wasn't in the file. "Oh,"
responded Cheryl, "I haven't done the filing yet."
Nov 20, 2011 - 3:58:16 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--The Art Of Change
From the iron age to nearly the industrial age, blacksmiths prospered. Villagers needed plows, shovels, iron tires for wagons, nails and tools to build their homes, all of which the blacksmiths forged. They needed their horses and oxen shod and their tools repaired. Being a blacksmith was a sound professional choice.
Nov 1, 2011 - 4:05:54 AM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--Check Your Thoughts
It was clear she was having "one of those days." But to be truthful, I didn't care. I was too nervous about my surgery to pay attention to Doris, the nurse grousing about how overworked she was that Thursday. But by the time I was wheeled back to my same-day surgical room, she was even less hospitable and entrenched in complaining.
Oct 12, 2011 - 5:20:42 AM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--As If They Were You
"Treat everybody else as if they were you." These words gave me pause. I wonder what it would be like if we each did what this "unknown author" is advocating?
Sep 21, 2011 - 5:02:16 AM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--How Does That Work?
How would you respond to this question: "Are you one of the top 10% of performers in your company?" This question posed in a Business Week survey found that overall 90% of surveyed executives, middle managers, and employees from both large and small companies thought they were, indeed, in the top 10% of performers.
Sep 2, 2011 - 10:00:03 AM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--Shades of Gray
A paperweight sits on my desk, etched in silver with the message: Life
isn't always black and white. It serves as a reminder there are few
absolutes at work (or in life). Yet, it would be easier if there were;
if good ideas from bad, trustworthy people from non-trustworthy, and
right paths from the wrong ones could easily be discerned.
Aug 14, 2011 - 7:16:42 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--Boosters and Drainers
Like huge anchors on cruise ships, other people can hold you down. Not
intentionally, but their negativity impacts you. It's hard to be winning
at working when you're anchored in place; hard to see the next great
idea and enthusiastically embrace it when you're feeling a sticky
heaviness; and hard to think creativity when you're feeling empty.
Aug 14, 2011 - 7:13:39 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--Lying On A Nail
Once there was a young woman who didn't like her job. Everyday when she came home from work, she told her husband how terrible her day had been, how tiring the work and how unreasonable her boss. "Leave that job," her husband told her.
Jul 1, 2011 - 2:46:10 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--Herd Mentality
Booths featuring products and services related to employee engagement, mobile learning, global performance, and results measurement were overflowing with conference attendees as I walked the trade show at a national conference where I was speaking. Just a few years ago the magnets were initiatives like total quality management, six sigma, diversity, work-life-balance, and customer driven.
May 29, 2011 - 12:43:40 AM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--Relationships Basics
Since she'd been referred by a good client, I rearranged my schedule to accommodate a phone meeting for what she described as a "pressing decision" about a potential business endeavor I had experience with. The day before our appointment, the call was confirmed and it was verified that she would call my office at the arranged time.
May 7, 2011 - 4:57:20 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--Simple Things
I still have the email. It's been years since a highly placed corporate boss, who had the reputation and approach that things were never quite good enough, sent it to me. He was long on critique and revisions while short on acknowledgement and appreciation.
Apr 16, 2011 - 6:32:23 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--Being Present
It was a dimly lit restaurant. Still she was dressed in pink, and while I admit it's hard to tell the gender babies, clothing color is a reliable clue. So, it surprised me when the waitress began playing with my granddaughter, asking "How old is he?"
Mar 24, 2011 - 5:50:54 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--Notes to Boss
So in the interests of helping that boss "see what it looks like" to be a winning at working manager, I have a few notes for him, and others like him.
Feb 15, 2011 - 1:12:17 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--Don't Settle
Chuck was the best of the twenty-four candidates. Still, he didn't have exactly what I was looking for and my instincts warned me of his unusual personality. Yet the skills required for the job were specialized and he had most of them, and I'd been interviewing for five months, and my boss wanted the position filled before the budget process started. No, he might not be perfect, but he would be ok.<
Jan 20, 2011 - 5:36:31 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--Maybe Scrooge Was Right
According to Right Management, a subsidiary of Manpower Inc, only thirteen percent of employees surveyed said they "planned to stay in their current positions." Two-thirds reported they're looking to change jobs, and another twenty-one percent indicated they're networking now, just in case.
Dec 13, 2010 - 11:53:33 AM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--Those Crazy People
His voice was loud; his attitude hostile; his words caustic. Despite how rude he was, she remained calm, professional, and polite throughout the challenging encounter. Even from my close vantage point, I didn't detect a hint of irritation in her demeanor.
Nov 22, 2010 - 12:06:23 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--A Job Is Not A Job
It only happened on Mondays. Sometimes I escaped the unpleasant ritual. But, more often than not, right before boarding I threw up in the ladies room of the train station. It wasn't the commute I hated. It was the job.
Nov 8, 2010 - 12:59:47 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--Words. Words. Words.
They're only words. Some believe the school-yard taunt: "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me." They're wrong. Words can hurt you in the workplace.
Oct 26, 2010 - 11:01:26 AM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--It's Personal
Off to dinner the night before I was the keynote speaker at a regional conference, I wanted something good, but casual; calming but moderately swift. So, my husband and I selected an interesting looking place within walking distant of our hotel.
Sep 24, 2010 - 1:06:36 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--Changing Your View
Last time I was hiking in Montana's Glacier National Park, I stopped to view through binoculars, a mountain goat trekking atop a rock cliff. My husband, viewing the switch-back trail we'd just climbed, happened to see a grizzly bear cross behind a group of hikers a hundred yards below us. With my narrowed focus, I never saw the bear. Our different views yielded different impressions.
Sep 11, 2010 - 5:56:35 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--Get The Facts
It was his perception that caused the outburst. "Why aren't there any managers at these sessions? Why aren't they required to attend, too?" he challenged. Hired to provide workshops on building trust in a workplace lacking it, I answered his question to the extent I could during that first session, "It's my understanding that everyone is attending," I offered. "But let me find out for sure and get back to you."
Aug 26, 2010 - 1:44:18 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--Past or Future?
Watching a rerun of "What Not to Wear" on The Learning Channel, I was struck by the dialogue between the individual being transformed and the cast of experts. While agreeing to follow the advice and input from these style-masters, "Joyce" was closed to the ideas presented of what she should wear, how her hair should be cut, and her make-up enhanced.
Aug 13, 2010 - 2:04:46 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--Tell Me Again
I had noticed her earlier, joyfully greeting and seating guests in the tourist-packed bistro of a resort near the entrance to Denali National Park. After several days in Denali's backcountry, we were once more in the busy bistro and I saw her again. This time, equally energetic and enthusiastic, she was bussing dishes and wiping down tables, along side a man doing the same.
Jul 30, 2010 - 11:25:35 AM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--You Don't Need An Expert
You don't need an employee engagement expert to confirm what you already know and Gallup polling substantiates: the majority of employees are disengaged at work. You don't need an employee survey to tell you why discretionary efforts are tamed, passions for work are fleeting, and ideas are tethered. And you don't need a consultant to explain why cynicism is up, enthusiasm is down, and trust is the new workplace currency.
Jul 17, 2010 - 1:39:08 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--Beyond Your Tasks
Ever hear the story of the two masons working side by side at a building site? They're doing the same work under pretty much the same conditions. One day a stranger comes along, approaches one of the men and asks, "What are you doing?"
Jul 1, 2010 - 7:04:47 PM
Win at Work
Career Stock Raising
All requests are not equal; all customers or clients are not equal; all to-do-list tasks are not equal; all work responsibilities are not equal. You can do fifty things today and get little, if any, return on your personal investment for having done them. Or you can do one or two things which have a large return.
Jun 21, 2010 - 2:03:34 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--Thought Conformity
As I turned on the national news, two "experts" were debating one of the societal issues that divide this country. For minutes their ping-ponged comments volleyed about a controversial book and a soon-to-be-released movie.
Jun 1, 2010 - 12:48:47 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--Find Those People
The Emperor's New Clothes was a favorite childhood story of mine. It made me laugh. I couldn't believe all those adults were standing around, watching the emperor make a fool of himself and not telling him the truth. When I grew up and went to work, I discovered it wasn't that easy.
May 14, 2010 - 5:07:41 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--The Whole Person
Henry Ford is reported to have quipped, "Why is it that I always get the whole person when what I really want is a pair of hands?" The 21st century version doesn't sound quite like that, but its essence prevails in plenty of workplaces.
Apr 30, 2010 - 1:09:20 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--A Bit of Pollyanna
"Stop being such a Pollyanna," a trusted, more experienced colleague counseled as we took the long route back to my office. He had just witnessed my project idea annihilated as co-workers eagerly argued why my idea wouldn't work, where it was flawed and why it shouldn't be funded. Despite naysayers in the room that day, I believed it was worth pursuing. Ultimately, it did receive funding and became, in time, a successful endeavor. A bit of Pollyannaism got me though.
Apr 14, 2010 - 11:28:56 AM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--Impressions
Even now, months after it happened, it surprises me when I think about it. No phone call. No heads up. No discussion. As I opened the email from a business associate, checking my messages from an airport lounge, I expected a routine update. Instead, I read a message severing our relationship.
Apr 1, 2010 - 2:48:56 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--What Basics?
The cyclical and now ubiquitously appearing phrase, back to basics, ignites supporters. The reasonableness of returning to previously successful principles, ethics, systems, accountability, approaches, or you-name-it, appears a tantalizing remedy for our individual or collective woes.
Mar 16, 2010 - 6:17:00 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--The Most Important Commitment You Make
Commitments. Commitments. Commitments. They fill our days, our heads and our lives. Most of us are in the commitment business. Of course, that's not what we call it. At work, we're making commitments to customers, suppliers, bosses, coworkers and staff. At home, we're making commitments to family, friends, neighbors, community and organizations. Not to mention commitments to pay taxes, credit card bills, mortgages and car loans.
Mar 5, 2010 - 11:31:34 AM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--How About A Heads Up?
It didn't take long while on safari in Botswana, to begin to recognize the animal calls heralding a predator roaming in the area. What intrigued me was the pass-along path those calls took, from animal group to animal group. The shrieks of baboons, the trumpeting of elephants, the screams of francolins, the cries of impalas were picked up by adjacent animals and sent out for as long as the threat remained.
Feb 20, 2010 - 11:49:04 AM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--Fact or Opinion?
You ain't going nowhere, son. You ought to go back to drivin' a truck." What if Elvis believed this Grand Ole Opry manager's critique after his l954 performance? Or the Beatles listened in 1962 when Decca Recording Company responded, "We don't like their sound. Groups of guitars are on the way out."
Feb 4, 2010 - 11:55:31 AM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: Workplace Heists
Seated in the courtyard of a sports bar during a playoff game in the home city of one of the teams, it was an energetic crowd that Sunday. While we'd come for a quick bite to eat, we caught a glimpse of a play now and then as home-team enthusiasts roared their approval during the first half.
Jan 23, 2010 - 11:13:02 AM
Win at Work
Winning at Working--Making a Fresh Start
"How could that be?" I muttered silently as I reread the message. This was not a person I wanted to encounter as I returned from a holiday vacation filled with family, friends, and fun. And yet, there he was on my calendar. My first meeting of the New Year was scheduled with my nemesis.
Jan 10, 2010 - 7:25:01 PM
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