Blog
The Fallacy of Focus
Focus is held in high esteem in our culture and in business. We medicate, caffeinate, and meditate to summon it. It’s celebrated on billboards and taught through thousands of books and workshops. Those who possess the holy grail of focus are considered successes and...
Enhancing the e-Book Experience
I shy away from looking at pictures of myself. Yet, despite the nausea I feel at the prospect of my video appearing in public, I’m completely fascinated with the enhanced e-book version of Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go that will be available this week. (Please...
Listen Up! Memorable Career Advice
“The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on.” - Oscar Wilde And thank goodness, according to the 50+ people who were willing to share with ASTD their answers to this question: What’s the best career advice anyone every gave you? In honor of its annual...
Fish Bowls and Talent Pools
When I was a kid, our community hosted a carnival each fall. Every year, either my brother or I won a goldfish by sinking a ping pong ball into a tiny cup. (In retrospect, it must have been traumatic for the fish swimming around in the cups; but for us, it was...
Career Development: It’s All About Becoming Dispensable
We’ve seen it play out time and again in the workplace. An employee works diligently to carve out a niche. She becomes an expert in a field, a real ‘go-to’ person around critical issues. She heeds the advice she’s heard about how getting ahead boils down to making...
Career Development: It’s Not for Wimps
This article was originally posted by ASTD in honor of 2012 Career Week. In honor of its annual Career Week, the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) partnered with Bev Kaye and me to conduct a survey designed to surface a variety of career-related...
4 Reasons Why I Keep Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go on my Desk
Becky Robinson is guest posting today, and she shares, “I use ideas from Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go nearly every day. As the leader of a new – and growing – team, my most important job is equipping and developing my team to do the work of our company.”
Creative Crossings: Where Employee Development and Career Development Converge
Although employee and career development ten to serve different objectives, it’s frequently possible to discover the creative crossings where the two meet … if managers look, listen, and watch for the signs.
Talent Management Systems: Sometimes the Cure Makes the Patient Sicker
Well-intentioned talent management systems are frequently to blame for undermining the quality of career conversations. Development doesn’t occur on schedule, it happens a little bit every day, on the employee’s schedule, through intentional interactions and conversations.