Hearing vs. Understanding: The Art of Active Listening

One of my favorite active listening quotes comes from Stephen Covey, the author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, is: “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” The art of active listening isn’t easy, but it’s important. Last night my husband came home from work and walked through the door with that look on his face. The one that leaves no question about what kind of day he had and makes me wonder if I should even brave asking. I took a deep breath and dove in. He

Jump start your 2018 professional growth now!

Have you ever wanted to start your own business? Jump start your 2018 professional growth now!   Introducing new coursework available, Getting Off the Ground: 7 Steps to Developing a Successful Business Entrepreneurship is one of our passions. First taught at Professional Development Institute (PDI) at the NCDA Conference Summer 2017. Customized for Career Development Facilitators. Take advantage of this opportunity now! If you missed it at PDI, you can now benefit from the course at your own convenience at an even lower cost. The course is set-up on Udemy.com for easy processing, payment, and participation. Get here: 7 Steps to Developing

3 Things to Consider Before Your Employee Rewards System Goes Bad

She looks like a precious angel doesn’t she?  They both do, actually, but that’s my three year old, loving on my niece before her baptism.  Picture perfect. Flash forward to lunch after the baptism at my brother and sister-in-law’s home.  My husband and I refused to make a special lunch for our kids, telling them that could eat what was prepared. Beef tenderloin, homemade rolls, green bean and roasted potatoes. For this 30 something, the lunch was a major treat. For a three year old, who just wants a peanut butter and jelly, not so much. But, if we had

Career Development: A Resource For Talent Retention

Guest blog written by: Steve Graham In a recent study, conducted by the Work Institute, career development was identified as the top reason people leave or remain with organizations. In their study titled, 2017 Retention Report, 240,000 employees were interviewed about factors that were most influential in their decision to stay with or leave an organization. For decades, organizations that have invested in developing their people also experienced higher market shares and lower turnover than competitors. Despite the positive data to support career development, many organizations continue to fall short.  Lack of growth is a common reason given during exit interviews

Laughter is the Best Gift You Can Give

Returning home from the HR Tech Conference proved to be a challenge when it came to weighing our bags. One bag weighed too much.  How did this happen?  It wasn’t that way coming. It was all the swag from vendors! I was impressed by the vendors’ creativity in designing their gifts. I didn’t even have to buy a souvenir for my kids. I snagged a backpack for my son, nail polish (bright purple and pink, no less) for my daughter and a coloring book and colored pencils for them both. I got a monogrammed luggage tag for me, a personalized