While playing with Microsoft Word 2007, I noticed something new today. When I clicked on “New” under the “Office button“, it showed “New blog post“. I do not remember being able to post to a …
Read the full story »a fun project that turned into a hobby that morphed into something else
take charge of your career, before someone else does
the reality of working in IT for the last decade
we all get one shot at it, better make it count
all the things that make you want to pull your hair out, or scream at the top of your lungs
Everyone loves to hear their name sung in praise as it stokes the flames burning in our egos. Most people crave recognition for achievements, but this shouldn’t be considered a negative trait because it is part of the engine that drives people to succeed.
The results from effort that is put into self development are greatly improved by adding a feedback process. When the feedback process is completed correctly, it will be provide valuable insight and be an important skill builder. However if it is not done correctly, it will have the effect of reinforcing wrong messages all the way to completely demoralizing a person.
People, especially in management positions, can directly ask for peer feedback. I have found this process to be enlightening, and hard to hear at times. No one is perfect, and we all have areas that we need to improve; it is just unpleasant to hear about them in a direct, matter-of-fact, manor. However, if I do not know the areas of weakness then how can I improve?
When asking for peer feedback, I explain to the person, that I am requesting feedback from, what are my goals of the conversation, and I ask them to be completely honest with me.
I start off by asking what they feel are my strengths, and what aspects of my responsibilities I truly excel. With every topic I ask for examples to make sure I have a reference to draw upon, and to be sure that I really understand what they are saying in real-world context.
Next, I move to aspects of my leadership, management, and job responsibilities that they feel I operate at an average level. These are areas that are most easily improved upon with just a little bit of additional focus. I ask for more examples and their input on what/how I should improve.
One of the intriguing aspects of surfing the web is the fact that you just never know what you will exactly find. Surfing for the sake of surfing; exploring for the sake of exploring. Letting …
Being asked to articulate your own, or others, strengths is not as easy as it sounds. I know that when I have sat down to work on a personal mission statement or writing my core values, …
Being pulled into twenty different directions at once almost feels commonplace these days. Everyone reaches a point, at some time, where they say the proverbial “enough is enough,” and they know it is time to …
Quality decision making is grounded in reality, unfortunately many decision makers are not. Just following the news, I have to ask myself “why did they make that decision now and not six months ago or …
Having MySpace or other social-networking sites that present anything less than a stellar picture of oneself can hurt one’s chances at advancement or even ongoing employment. This goes for full-time employed people and freelancers/consultants.
Last month, I …
I do not know too many managers, other than the fine folks in HR, that love to complete annual performance reviews. ”Good” employees tend to get good reviews, and typically have little discussed in areas of development. …
Being pulled into twenty different directions at once almost feels commonplace these days. Everyone reaches a point, at some time, where they say the proverbial “enough is enough,” and they know it is time to …
One of the intriguing aspects of surfing the web is the fact that you just never know what you will exactly find. Surfing for the sake of surfing; exploring for the sake of exploring. Letting …
