Career Development

Lessons from The Fifth Discipline

Lessons from The Fifth Discipline

I’m starting to realize the benefits of re-reading for business.  Concepts shared by thought leaders 20-30 years ago are just as applicable today.  This might not be the case in areas like technology, but it does ring true in organizational design and...

read more
R/GA Leading the Way

R/GA Leading the Way

I’ve been writing about work contracts training and why this needs to happen. R/GA is officially piloting the type of program that could set a benchmark for the future. In the summer of 2023, they released news of a new program called /ASSOCIATES. Now, in Q2 2024, I’m...

read more
Re-Imagining “Coming of Age”

Re-Imagining “Coming of Age”

I heard someone say that “coming of age” happens at many moments in our lives. Typically, the phrase is associated with the time we move from childhood to adulthood. A transition from one phase to another. Yet, there are many points in life that we make transitions....

read more
Highlight Your Strengths

Highlight Your Strengths

There are many situations when we want to highlight our strengths. Performance reviews. Job interviews. LinkedIn profiles. Resumes. Just to name a few. The challenge we often face is how to highlight our uniqueness without bragging. My Perspective I’ve come across...

read more
Planting Seeds

Planting Seeds

I’ve covered the concept of planting seeds twice in the past – here and here. The first post was when I was introduced to the idea and the second tied to our careers. These followed the philosophy of this quote: “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by...

read more
Learn / Earn / Return Cycle

Learn / Earn / Return Cycle

There is a framework that is credited to Jack Balousek, former president of True North Communications. He said there are three phases of our life – the phase when we are learning, the phase where we take that learning and earn, and then the phase where we return what...

read more
Keep the Scar Out of Scary

Keep the Scar Out of Scary

Creative work is full of scary things. Sometimes we do scary things, and the outcome is positive. Other times, the scary event doesn’t turn out well. When things take a negative twist, “scary” can drop the “y”, and turn into a scar. That scar makes the thing we did...

read more
Identifying and Combating our “Scaries”

Identifying and Combating our “Scaries”

Creative work is full of scary things. Really, any kind of work can be scary if you strive to change the status quo. Without roadmaps of “how it’s always been done” there is no certainty. My Perspective The less we know about a situation, the scarier it can be. There...

read more
The Spiritual Side of Resistance

The Spiritual Side of Resistance

Yesterday, we focused on the scientific side of resistance. Resistance holds electricity back. Resistance is measured in ohms - Ω. Resistance transforms electric energy into heat energy. The energy doesn’t go away…it is transformed. My Perspective The summary above...

read more
The Scientific Side of Resistance

The Scientific Side of Resistance

Resistance has several meanings. In electricity, it’s the force that hinders movement of electrons. Like this: This is equation to calculate resistance: Resistance (measured in ohms - Ω) = Voltage (measured in volts - V) / Current (measured in amps – A) Voltage is the...

read more
Career Journey Map

Career Journey Map

As the professional landscape evolves quickly, we evolve the direction of our careers. We take on new assignments. We take new positions – maybe even at a new company. We complete projects we love and sometimes a few we don’t. We take classes or spend time online...

read more
Careers as a Play

Careers as a Play

There are many important elements in a play. The setting. The cast. The costumes. The props. The storyline. The acts. This morning, I started thinking about how this structure parallels career considerations. The Considerations Setting – The setting describes the type...

read more
Navigating Career Advice

Navigating Career Advice

Often, people look to managers and mentors to guide their careers. Both are great resources for encouragement, feedback, and ideas. Yet, when it comes to our careers, we need to make sure we are in the driver’s seat. No one else knows what we are looking to achieve...

read more
Income Portfolios

Income Portfolios

We see information all the time on investment portfolios. We are taught to invest for the future. Diversify our assets. Ensure we are financially prepared for the future. My Perspective I believe we should plan our income like our investments. Why not have an income...

read more
Chasing Dreams

Chasing Dreams

We want our dream job. We go to college. Take the right classes. Start in the industry. Work toward that dream job. Chase the dream. Somewhere along the way, many realize the dream is elusive. I heard a quote recently that stuck: “Stop searching for your dream job and...

read more
Hire Me If

Hire Me If

Recently there has been talk about a shift to focus on tasks over titles. If companies start hiring for tasks, they will need to find people to fit those tasks. In turn, individuals will need to highlight their skills for various tasks. I started to think about what...

read more
From Footprints to Fingerprints

From Footprints to Fingerprints

When we talk about our careers, we are quick to note our footprints. We tell others about our degree. The college we attended. The companies we’ve worked for. The titles we’ve held. Awards won. Promotions achieved. Yet these are just the steps of our journey. What we...

read more
Taylor Swift Eras – Career Advice

Taylor Swift Eras – Career Advice

Colleges have started creating classes based on Taylor Swift. Classes on her music, her writing, and her business acumen. From the creative to the scientific, her life has many lessons we can all draw from. There is one insight from her recent tour that I think we...

read more
Crystalized Intelligence

Crystalized Intelligence

In 1963, psychologist Raymond Cattell introduced the concepts of fluid and crystallized intelligence. Fluid intelligence encompasses the ability to solve novel problems and adapt to new situations. Crystallized intelligence represents the knowledge and skills we...

read more
Nesting at Work

Nesting at Work

Yesterday, we covered moments when nesting or un-nesting might happen.  The life moments were easier to identify than the work moments.   After a bit of research, I found that the term nesting is used in call centers.  The nesting phase is the time...

read more
Occupational Wellbeing

Occupational Wellbeing

Our work is an integral part of our daily lives. The career choices we make shape our attitude and impact our overall wellbeing. Over time, many of us can find ourselves in a job not quite sure how we got there. Today we explore the second dimension of wellbeing -...

read more