Strategic Serendipity

Did you put together a list of New Year's Resolutions?  When you were putting it together, did you think "if I can just achieve this, I will be happy?"  Have you felt that enthusiasm start to fade as "life" takes over and those resolutions get pushed to the bottom of your to do list?  Already thinking about doing a New Year's Reboot (no, really, from here on out I will do X.)?  Are you willing to consider a slightly different approach? Here's my recommendation to you… Download the unabridged Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh from iTunes or Audible.com, order the book from Amazon.com or BN.com, or pick it up from your favorite books store.  Whatever you do, don't put getting the book on your list of things to do later.  Do it and check it off as an item complete.  Print this article and keep it with you while you are reading.  For extra credit - grab a notebook and start your professional development journal with your reflections.  (Discl...

How many times a day do you say "thank you?"  How many times a day do you hear "thank you?"  As I started teaching my toddler son to say "please" and "thank you" I realized that I began saying it more even when he was not around.  Then it occurred to me that I hadn't been saying it enough.  So I started saying it even more around others. And then I had an experience where a simple thank you changed a person's attitude (for the good).  And I realized the power of a simple thank you in a work environment (as a federal employee) where morale seems to be at an all-time low (at least in the fifteen years I've been around) and people seem quick to snap at one another and "say" things (either in person or via e-mail) that you never would have heard in the workplace twenty years ago.  (And no, this is not a generational issue as it is all generations I am hearing it from.) After last Friday, just another day of serving as everyo...

Last week I attended four days of training to become a Level I Trained Facilitator for the Leadership Challenge Workshop based on the work of James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner.  I had the pleasure of being instructed by Dick Heller of Full Extension Leadership, a Level III Certified Master.  I am looking forward to obtaining my Level II Certified Facilitator training later this summer. As part of the training we took a 360 assessment, the Leadership Practice Inventory.  I am generally suspicious of 360 assessments because the person chooses to whom he or she sends the ratings request. If a person is not serious about the assessment, they will pick people who will rank them "high" and explain away any rankings that don't fit with their story of themselves.  I personally sent ratings request to people I work with in a volunteer capacity, people I work with directly at work, and my "customers" at work.  The LPI does not rank how well you do something, it ranks ...

When I started working for non-profits twenty years ago, the guiding principle for everything was "Would we be embarrassed if this ended up on the front of the Washington Post?"  It is a simple rule, but it works. Let's face it, there are times when you can explain why you are doing something with very logical, rational, productive, and economic reasons and so you feel like it might be okay to go ahead.  Honestly, my rule is even if I can explain something I do not want to put my organization in the place of needing to explain anything.  If I have to explain it for people to understand, it probably is not the "right" course of action. So why are we seeing so many things on the front of the Washington Post that are embarrassing to individuals and organizations?  Do they not know about this simple rule?  Or is sheer fear for organizational survival (and individuals to survive in an organization) pushing people away from this rule? Think about your staff. ...

I recently did an exercise where someone asked me to list my values.  I've done this with a list and without it.  For me, it is easier to start with a list and then whittle it down.  Basically I end up with wanting to contribute, be recognized for my exceptional work, and be a good and honest person.  These are my core values. We all have them.  They are those values that guide our actions and decisions without our really even thinking about them.  It is usually only when we are somehow asked to violate them that we realize how important they are to us. As children, it might be when all of our "friends" are picking on the kid in the class who is "different" and something inside of us wants to protect that person. As teenagers, it might be when our friends are pressuring us to drink, do drugs, or have sex and we decide that pizza and movies on a Friday night at home might not be the worst thing. In college, it might be when we really want to take tha...