I have a good friend who has a vanity plate that says “SPACEY”. My friend constantly refers to her self as a “Space Cadet”. This same friend is an accomplished pianist, dedicated mother and a loyal person. I would describe my friend as competent, thoughtful, and intelligent. I would describe her in all positive terms and almost anyway except as being spacey! Continue reading
This statistic stopped me cold: 60% of the participants in a 2009 international study trusted a stranger more than they trusted their boss. Yikes, how sad. Continue reading
Richelle E. Goodrich shares a lovely story that illuminates the joyful spirit of giving — may you enjoy it today!
“What is the spirit of Christmas, you ask? Let me give you the answer in a true story… Continue reading
We (the team at BIG) are just loving this poignant story from author Dr. Herbert O’Driscoll. Tells so much, so fast, so we
ll, so softly. Continue reading
Starting her own stationery store had been Shelbie’s secret dream ever since she was a little girl.
Her happiest career day was leaving her “big girl” PR manager job to open her shop; her saddest day was hanging the “going out of business” sign on the front door. Continue reading
Convinced you’re stuck with the worst boss in the world? Well, your boss may have serious competition according to a five-year comparative study of bad bosses commissioned by Lynn Taylor Consulting.
According to this study, seven out of ten people believe bosses and toddlers act alike. Being self-oriented is noted as the top offending boss behavior. Being stubborn, overly demanding, impulsive and interrupting round out the top five. Continue reading
Three nearly identical stories shared with me in just two days that really hit my hot buttons. These were stories of individual and/or group annoyance, confusion and heartbreak caused by narcissistic control-freak bosses.
Most of us at some point in our career have worked for a boss like this. Bosses who aren’t self-aware or open to feedback, so no amount of magic or mojo will help them listen. They don’t care how much we care or have to tell them or want to help them. Continue reading
“It’s official. My boss is a jerk. He told me this morning he thinks my decision to go with a new printing vendor was bad.”
“Did he give you a reason for feeling that way?”
“He says it’s going to create problems for the marketing team and that I should have talked to them.”
“You did talk to them, didn’t you?” Continue reading
After a 360° assessment that was, shall we say, less than stellar, I looked for a magic bullet to improve my leadership abilities.
What made a pivotal difference and accelerated my own abilities was discovering Polarity Thinking — a set of principles and a mapping tool introduced by Dr. Barry Johnson in 1975. I found polarity thinking a straightforward way to both document my wisdom and to shine a light on my blind spots. Continue reading
In my book of leadership fair play, a basic rule is praising in public and criticizing in private. Making people look — and feel — stupid or foolish or ill-advised (no matter how atrocious their offense) in front of others is just plain wrong.
So imagine my shock and surprise to have a project partner level some hard-hitting criticism my way during a conference call with the project sponsor. The project was co-authoring an article for online publication. We passed the article back and forth via email countless times as we edited and refined the content. Continue reading