Archive for November, 2008
Creating a brag book to boost your self esteem
Posted by: | CommentsIf your self esteem has lowered due to unfortunate circumstances I recommend taking some time to create a brag book and start adding to it. Go back as far as you can and collect all those achievements and clippings that represent who you are and your growth over the years and compile them into a portfolio for yourself to remind you of your accomplishments.
Creating a brag book will reinforce the positive achievements in your life. This task is rewarding in many ways as we have grown we often forget important activities that made us who we are today. Going back through these things may open doors to opportunities you may have not realized existed based on past achievements.
This book will also help you re-evaluate the possibilities for your career and give you more discussion points when selling yourself for a new position. You will also be able to discover areas which you previously had touched on and could further expand that would increase your desirability to a potential employer or opportunity.
Creating a brag book is a great way to tell your story and prepare documentation to support your background and achievements. Start with a great basic large binder and three hole punched plastic sheet covers and put your resume in the front of it then working in reverse chronological order. Do your best to include any proof of statements on your resume as well as any recommendations, certificates, news articles, transcripts etc.
A one stop shop brag book will do a lot to boost your self esteem and will also give you a tool to use when attending interviews and substantiating your story.
Project Turn-around
Posted by: | CommentsA successful turn-around requires management of the the risks of failure at the earliest stages possible. Nothing is beyond repair on one level or another so never give up hope. Recovery from a failing project requires planning and pulling a team together that above all else has their heart in it. If you are in place to manage a turn-around on a failing project here are some key things to consider:
- Architect the project methodically.
- Prioritize tasks and be clear about expectations.
- Restructure the team only after a meeting that allowed everyone to openly express their passions and concerns. Listening to your team will allowI you to establish their weaknesses are ahead of time.
- Lead with good work ethic and don’t just hand out tasks but stay on top of each one and support the team with encouragement as they move forward.
Parenting Teens – privacy and internet threats
Posted by: | CommentsToday parents face a variety of issues with policing their teens online and with their cell phone use. It is a difficult and fine line between protecting your teens, maintaining trust and dealing with the threats and issues of their liberties and freedoms with the Internet and text messaging.
As a parent we are still responsible of our children and maintain liability over their actions. Your kids/teens may be held accountable for their actions and you may be held financially responsible for their behavior and statements. It is not always easy to deal with the issues as technology has developed faster than parents have been able to be educated.
If you are dealing with an issue within your family with interactions your kids have had online or within texting on cell phones take the time to reach out and use resources available. Hiring a mediator that can work with your teen to uncover the identity of who they are actually adding as a friend or emailing after an online introduction just may be the answer your child needs to understand not everyone is who they say they are online. Many kids think they are talking to another teen when it is really a predator. These predators are sophisticated and develop a relationship often with kids feeling insecure or disconnected from family and friends. Often just letting your teen know who is actually on the other end will stop them from continuing those relationships.
Additionally, the tools we have can help you trace emails to the source including name and number of the sender. We can run reports to show you where you teens are online, which friends they have may be a risk and content or posts that may come back to haunt your family or your teen in the future. Do your best to tackle issues immediately.
If you have any concerns please feel free to contact me and I will do my best to help or give you additional resources that are free and available to monitor and protect your teens and your family.
Downsizing strategies that work.
Posted by: | CommentsCorporate restructuring and downsizing is happening across the globe and the surviving employees are left inundated to cover the extra load of those let go. It is often the case that companies begin downsizing without specific strategies in place to handle the difficult tasks of reallocating workload to maintain productivity without stressing the decreased work force.
The downsizing from massive job-cuts during the 80’s and 90’s may be nothing in comparison to what we have seen happening today and through the next 6 months. The recessionary times in the past two decades was not nearly as bad as what we are faced with today. Studies of the US companies that downsized in the past found that:
- Most companies that downsized had been financially under-performing (as compared to the industry average) prior to doing so.
- On average, downsizing did not improve financial performance (it neither went up nor down).
- There was a short-term gain in productivity, but this was not sustained beyond the first year. (Productivity was measured as total sales divided by the number of employees).
