Strategic Serendipity

Join me in 2012 for a leadership discovery.

It has been a long time since I posted and I am so sorry.  The short story is I fell on Friday and sprained my ankle.  I am fine but will be sporting a (not so) fashionable ankle brace for a couple of weeks. Now, on to my thoughts for today.  People seem to feel free to say things to people via e-mail that they wouldn't say in person (or in front of their boss or parents).  In addition, this usually follows a quickly fired off response to an e-mail they haven't fully read. Here's my plea for the day...next time you have the urge to fire off that scathing e-mail, don't hit send.  Instead, walk away from the computer, grab a glass of water or walk around the office.  Then, go back and read the original e-mail.  Is there something you missed?  Is it possible there is another interpretation besides the person who sent it is a complete idiot?  Think of alternate possibilities.  If you are unclear of the meaning, reply with a question to d...

Happy Year of the Golden Rabbit.  I love the sound of that - is sounds both prosperous and fertile...promising in all ways.  So for those of us who have already broken our New Year's Resolutions and are looking for a fresh start, why not start today?  We know it takes twenty-one days to form a new habit, what do you want to do?  Sit down and make a plan.  You don't need to do something at the same time every day, in fact, play around and find out what works best for you.  Share your plan with someone who will help keep you accountable.  Good luck!

How many times have you gotten truly invested in a project, either at work or at home, only to have it given to someone else.  At that moment you wonder why you invested your time and effort and become less likely to do so in the future.  Sometimes, the way our organizations operate, one person can have their investment "stolen" more than once.  While reorganizations, realignments, and job descriptions make sense, we need to also make sure we are respecting the investment that our workers have put into something.  Keeping them involved after the realignment is one way to work towards efficiencies and individual respect at the same time.  It is a little fix but requires the acknowledgement that people are investing in their work and that should be respected. Have you had your mental investment "stolen"?  Have you been in a situation where it could have been but for a good leader who recognized your input?  How do you routinely recognize the investment...

Have you ever had a conversation with someone and afterwards (whether it was fun and easy or painful and hard) just felt so much better?  I think that we all need someone to talk to.  Things are easier to face when you say them out loud, when you talk to someone who feels the same way or has experienced the same thing, when you have the chance to explore options and ideas with another person.  I had two experiences today that were very similar in that feeling but I experienced them both in two very different ways.  I think either way, the value of the conversation in the big scheme of things was more than I could have imagined on my part, and I hope similar on the other people's parts.  Do you have one person you share everything with or do you have different go-to people for different areas of your life?  Do you share easily or do you struggle to share and then wonder if you will live to regret sharing?   Does it get easier to open up to new pe...

I've heard before that you can change the kind of day you're having through the power of positive thinking.  Today, I experienced another side of the old adage.  At work, an amazingly positive person made my day just a little brighter.  I noticed that I laughed more throughout the day and hopefully brought a little laughter to others.  What can you do today to start a chain reaction of positive thoughts?

Sorry for missing yesterday, I couldn't get my internet to work.  I am back online today though! For the past couple of days, I have been thinking.  How much do you know about the people you work with everyday.  So much conflict at work arises from jealously, she gets more face time with the big boss, he gets better work.  I think if we knew more about the challenges that our co-workers face in their everyday lives, or how hard they work behind the scenes that we never see, we would be much less jealous.  Too often people face personal crisis and challenge alone.  Too often, the truly hard workers do it silently.  Too often, we only see a fraction of what is going on with our coworkers, yet we make judgments based on that very small piece of the puzzle.  Before you covet another's place in the world, take a closer look at what you think they have.  Once you see the bigger picture, you may find that your world is not so bad and you may get a...