I was honored to get the opportunity to speak at TEDxNormal a couple of months ago and Mr. TED recently released the videos. My segment from this awesome event focused on leadership and how we can improve employee engagement through some not-so-standard practices. It was a totally different experience for me even though I speak…
Details
Hello, and welcome to the end of another year! You’ve probably unofficially stopped working already, since the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas is universally understood to be a time for ‘wrapping things up,’ which is universally understood to mean ‘putting things off for as long as possible.’ This is the perfect time of year to…
Details
OK, so you’re about to start reading a bunch of articles that are going to try to put 2015 into perspective and then make reasonable predictions about what’s going to happen next year. I’m perfectly happy to let others tell you what to expect for the upcoming year. What I want to do is tell…
Details
As some of you may know, my wife is an organic chemist. In case you didn’t have to suffer through organic chemistry in college, it’s the class that makes aspiring doctors say, “I think I might just work in a vineyard instead.” Her doctoral thesis has the impressive distinction of somehow being written in English…
Details
Meeting etiquette training time! Turn off your cell phones during meetings or this might happen!
You know, it’s occurred to me that way too many people are dissatisfied with themselves. It seems like every time people get into groups, complaining starts – the weather is terrible, my job is annoying, the kids are exhausting, the FBI won’t leave me alone, my joints are creaky, yada yada yada. Sometimes I wonder…
Details
There are a lot of numbers in my life. There are telephone numbers, of course, a few of which I still have accidentally memorized even though there’s no reason to waste my brain juices on that kind of thing anymore. I’ve got credit card numbers, bank account numbers, height, weight, age, cholesterol (is it still…
Details
This month I’ll be delivering my very first TEDx talk. As one of only 4,000,000,000,000 people who have been allowed the honor of doing so, I am humbled by the opportunity to say whatever I think without anyone interrupting me. (I believe that’s why parents love babies so much and progressively become less and less…
Details
Bringing back a popular human resources video. We interviewed real Human Resource executives across the country about the amazingly stupid things people do or say in job interviews, and this video is the first installment illustrating a few of our favorite stories. Did you hear that? People actually did these things in job interviews! So…
Details
Right now I’m writing this on my laptop, which is sitting right where it’s supposed to be – in my lap. The TV is on, the temperature in my house is a perfectly even 72 degrees, and nothing is on fire. If my refrigerator were within reach of my couch, I would never have to…
Details