I don’t know how to hold a grudge.  I’ve never met anyone who has done something so terrible to me (killed or seriously hurt someone I love on purpose) that it warrants harboring an extremely negative opinion of them for months or years on end.  Even when a person does something that I consider rude, mean, or inconsiderate, my ...

Last week, I gave a talk on twenty-first century recruitment and retention at the American Society of Training and Development’s annual conference in San Diego.  While I was there, I attended a few “train the trainer” sessions on improving your technique for delivering educational content in the workplace.  The guys (they were ...

Although 2008 has been pretty good so far, 2007 was a doozy, and it has taken me a little while to recover.  I’ve experienced a crisis of confidence, and only recently started talking to my friends about it.  My radio show co-hosts, Christine Hassler and Lindsey Pollak, have been especially helpful. Christine visited me in ...

Last week, I participated on a T&D Magazine webcast with Bill Byham, the CEO of Development Dimensions International,  a leading human resources consulting firm.  It got me thinking about a great DDI white paper I saw recently written a white paper on the qualities that predict leadership success.  According to DDI, effective ...

Anita Bruzzese has an interesting post on mothers’ influence on career success.  Anita cites the work of a psychologist, Stephan Poulter, who has written a new book, The Mother Factor: How Your Mother's Emotional Legacy Impacts Your Life. The book’s thesis is that whether we acknowledge it or not, our mothers leave an indelible impression on ...

The other night, I was watching a re-run of an episode of Wife Swap.  I’ve seen this show before, and more often than not one of the characters is a stay-at-home-mom who acts very self-righteous about the fact that it is her job to take care of her children, and that it’s not appropriate to allow anyone else to be involved.   I’ve ...

Chicago has already gotten hit with around eight snowstorms this year.  It has also been quite cold, and next to every building you walk past downtown, there is a yellow “Caution: Falling Ice” sign. I understand the purpose of most signs like this.  After all, when you’re in a restaurant and they’ve just mopped the floor, it makes sense ...

We’ve spent some time on this blog discussing the warning signs that you may be in firing range at work, or that you’re unhappy in your current job situation.  This week, CNN.com has an interesting piece on ways we might unknowingly sabotage our own efforts at a successful career.  Among the highlights: Not keeping your skill set ...

A few months ago, I wrote about the possibility that chivalry was dead in the modern world.  Recently, though, I’ve wondered if some types of consideration might be dead too.  Here’s where this is coming from.  In early November, my mother and my husband’s grandmother passed away in the span of a week.  Small memorial services ...

People sometimes ask me how to sustain better relationships with the people in their lives.  My #1 suggestion is something that, unfortunately, several people I love fall down on regularly.  It’s this: when it comes to your relationship with your co-worker, friend, or significant other – pull your weight.   This means that if ...