“Leadership isn’t about having all the right answers. It’s about having all the right questions.” “You cannot opt out of fear and feelings. Determine what fears and feelings are leading to behaviors. Don’t play whack a mole with bad behaviors. Address fears and feelings directly.” My Favorite: “If you cannot have hard conversations because they are making you uncomfortable you won’t be leading in the next five years. And it’s not the responsibility of the target of the conversation to prompt it. It is your job as a leader.” “Courage is teachable, observable, and measurable. Fear is the biggest barrier to it.” “Vulnerability
Spending the last week at the National #SHRM19 conference with 20,000 plus people provided the opportunity to see and hear a lot of speakers across a diverse group of topics and styles. As I reflect on what made some stand out over others, I find this list of advice helpful to myself as a speaker and hopefully to you too, regardless of the size of the audience or the subject you may find yourself addressing: Pictures and stories are worth 1000 words. If you can illustrate with a picture or a story, don’t put the words on a slide. No
I’ve been asked to speak to a group of high school student leaders this week. I’m always open to almost any topic the organizers want me to cover that I have expertise in. In this case, what started off as a talk about communication skills morphed into talking about building confidence. The adult leader said that she felt as though this was a challenge for most youth of today. I see this point and also see where there are a variety of factors contributing to it. One factor that I see related to both challenges in communication skills and confidence is the
I hope to see you at #SHRM19 next week! If you are attending, stop by and see me at 10:45 am on Tuesday in Westgate Ballroom A for my session – “Do You Need to Raise Your Wages: A Step-by-Step Guide for Evaluating Your Wage Practices”. If you can’t make it, one of the most important steps in this process is to get good market data. Where do you find this? First: Contact your local Chamber of Commerce and/or Economic Development Entity and see if they do a local or regional wage survey that you can participate in and/or purchase. Most communities do
One of the things I like to do most is help students consider what would maximize their learning and experiences in preparation for the working world. I recently had lunch with a student who is majoring in business and thinking about concentrating in Human Resources. She is bright, well-rounded and is exploring multiple possibilities. She asked good questions about what to consider, and I found myself offering this advice that I would offer to most college students, in particular, business school students: 1. Study or work abroad at some point before you graduate. I know the cost of this