Although the Pandemic has separated many employees from one another and from their supervisors/leaders, the need for effective and timely feedback is more important now than ever. With feedback, as with comedy, timing is everything. When you’re giving constructive feedback (including positive feedback, although I’m focusing on constructive criticism below), try to give that feedback […]
Critical feedback, Criticism, Feedback
One of my favorite jokes is about a rabbi who has never been to a boxing match before and his friend, a Catholic priest, offers to take him to one. As they walk into the auditorium, the priest explains the boxing ring, the “corners” for each fighter, and the rules. A fighter steps into the […]
goals, jokes, priest, rabbi, universe
Yogi Berra is famously quoted as having said,” When you come to a fork in the road… take it.” Some people think that’s funny because it may be referring to an actual fork, like a utensil is laying in the road. One explanation of why Berra said that, though, is less about a play on […]
actions, decision-making, Decisions
One of the most common issues that comes up in our coaching programs is time management. More specifically, people feel they don’t have enough of it. They tend to schedule things to get done but feel like the important relationships in their lives aren’t being attended to. Stephen Covey’s book The 7 Habits of Highly […]
organization, organized, planner, Planning, time management
I was reading a profile this past weekend about a business owner who was being recognized for rapidly growing his operation during the pandemic. The reporter asked the owner how many employees the company has. The owner made a big deal out of not knowing, throwing out ranges (a total of thousands of people within […]
Employees, everyone matters, value
I studied a martial art called Uechi-Ryu, and one of the customs in our school was, after you completed a bow, to say, “Oss.” If you wanted to indicate you had finished an exercise? “Oss.” Need a break? “Oss.” It seemed to mean all kinds of things, so one night after class I asked Sensei […]
answers, frustrations, martial arts
In the days way before cellphones, if you wanted to call someone outside of your own area code you would reach out to an “operator” at the phone company for assistance. You would pick up the phone, dial zero, and an operator would pick up. They had a few options for how to place this […]
Communication, connections, talking
In the township in southeastern Pennsylvania where I live, the parking meters have a button on them that says “Press For Free Time.” If you press that button, the meter starts counting down from ten minutes. And you often see people after pushing that button rushing around trying to accomplish all the things they can […]
conservation, Energy, recovery, restorative, time
I was very fortunate to spend every summer of my childhood at a family vacation home in the beach town of Ventnor, New Jersey. Nothing ruins a beach day more than when it’s cloudy and overcast outside. When that would happen, we would walk outside with my father — who had been a lieutenant in […]
advice, optimistic
I was at a business networking event where one of the people introduced herself as a wedding photographer. And people were very interested in that it was sort of novel to have someone like that at this particular business networking group’s event. And when they started asking her questions, she revealed that she had been […]
career, career decisions, decision-making, Decisions