Jim's Take

It’s a hot topic, on multiple fronts: Where is the ambition?  Organizations are working hard to “re-engage” their employees, based on the assumption that they should be excited to go “above and beyond.” Employees, and individuals in general, are fairly checked out – not sure where they should be focused or going on a personal level. There are many obvious reasons for this:  Burnout – on a major sc...

Happy 2023. We are tripping into this year with a bit of anxiety: 2022 wasn’t great for most of us, we are still in year 4 of the pandemic, uncertainty on the horizon and ChatGPT ruining our memories of writing high school papers. There are very few things that make me think that 2023 is going to be a “good year.” And that’s because most of the time I’m looking externally for things to be good. On...

Does anyone remember the time where we didn’t know something and you had to be OK with it?  Seems like ages ago, or maybe I’m feeling my age. But thanks to the advent and growth of technology, it’s easier than ever to obtain facts. The issue I have with this, is that we may be sacrificing wisdom for convenience.  The more we know, ironically, drives anxiety. It lessens curiosity. It quashes our de...

Sometimes you meet a person and know they have a story that should be shared. And that’s what happened with me and Dan MacQueen. I hesitated to put resiliency in the title because the word has been almost ruined due to the hyperbolic nature of our click-bait world. Organizations preach “resiliency,” but it’s more of a “barrel forward” rather than a “be strong and bounce back” type of resiliency. D...

A month ago, I published an article on HR.com regarding how we measure the value of coaches and hold them accountable.  It’s been an ongoing discussion in the tiny world of coaching – this challenge of showing value and ROI on what are typically “soft skills” and items difficult to measure.  But what’s rarely discussed is how we hold coaches accountable for the promises of development that they ma...

Up this week: How to Advocate for Yourself.  I recognize it’s not something we typically think about. We see change happening, we get frustrated, we look externally at what others have or have not done, we blame and move on.  In addition, we are finding that more and more everything is done for us – technology makes everything easy. I speak to many groups who “defer to others,” i.e. wait for someo...

If you know my podcast and posts, you know I generally avoid politics. As a general rule, my mindset is around productive dialogue, and with divisiveness today, I’m not looking to stir up the crazies on either side, thinking they are on a mission from God to tell me how I’m wrong.  This, similarly, has been the typical policy of organizations to follow this creed. Business was for work, not politi...

The buzz has been around for a bit this summer – first on quiet quitting, then on quiet firing, as if this were some new response to a dysfunctional working environment going through a difficult time.  I need to catch myself on these things – and move away from my Gen X “get off my lawn this has been around forever watch Office Space” initial response (which is accurate) to a “this can be solved i...

This week I cover generational differences, something consistently relevant but especially today. It’s a fun topic, mostly because we LOVE to hate on other generations. But the hate needs to be tempered – there’s lots of learning to be had. We typically speak of generational differences in the context of work (Boomers vs. Millennials!), but the conversation needs to go significantly further than t...

Hey folks – this week I want to cover another one of those “skills for the new economy” that breaks things down a bit differently than normal leadership development. This time – it’s about believability. I’m seeing a significantly higher desire from individuals to be recognized for their influence or authority, and in an effort to drive this perception, they are building up their “answers” to big...

There has been a lot of discussion going around about the similarities between now and 2007. This conversation is happening in the marketplace, but I’ve also been involved in similar discussions with leadership teams throughout a fair number of industries. Despite organizational differences, the conversations are strikingly similar. While we can name similarities (marketplace pressures, expected d...

Today we are talking about culture and how it relates to what I call the “soft words” of corporate. I’ve touched on some of these before, but I’m coming at it from this angle because it continues to be relevant, clients are still talking about it on the daily, and, also, because I love this stuff. I also find it amusing that I speak so much on these topics given my background in finance, where “lo...

This week marks 6 years since my last official day in corporate. I remember the day well – I turned in my badge, walked to the water, looked out over the Hudson river and took a deep breath. It’s been a wild, fun and challenging ride – and I must say I’m a much better person for it. That said, I feel it’s a good time to revisit why I left corporate, considering the amount of people looking to make...

This week I’m thrilled to have Dr. Veronica Ruelas and Denise Gaffney as my guests to chat Forgiveness. Veronica and Denise are the co-founders of  Forgivity , an app designed to foster a habit of forgiveness. To be fair, when I first heard about turning forgiveness into a habit, I was a bit hesitant. Forgiveness as a habit was nowhere near anything I would have considered. Throw on top of it a ne...

Milestone alert! This week I have published my 100th episode of the podcast – a milestone that has been a long time coming; with over three years of interviews and rambling, I hope that you have enjoyed it as much as I have. I’ve learned a lot these past few years, and sometimes it’s fun to stick your head up, look around, and see where you are in relation to where you started and where you want t...

Food, diet, and nutrition are always difficult topics to cover – because everyone appears to be an expert. What shocks me is that all of the experts have very different solutions to what ails us. Thanks to marketing and processing and plain old deliciousness of bad food – we all have an issue with what we consume. And I’m tired of conflicting information.  So, this being National Nutrition Month,...

As we roll up on 100 episodes, I want to revisit one particular area that constantly rears its ugly head: ongoing change and the need to respond to stress.  For context, the world is crazy, definitely stressful, outrageously distracting – and it’s pulling away from the focus you need on getting to where you need to be. Russia/Ukraine, pandemic, great resignation – the list goes on. I feel it, you...

I generally avoid motivation as a speaking topic because it’s often filled with clickbait headlines and arbitrary, context-free advice that isn’t relevant to anyone, anywhere. (I’m not angry).  I do, however, find it frustrating to get good counsel when there are challenging things going on – especially when it comes to something as individualistic as motivation. Yes, everyone struggles with motiv...

Let's be proactive in preparing for the next downturn ... here's how.

Scott keeps good company - the type that you learn from over and over again. Here's how to find a mentor.

PSA: Just having a will isn't enough - Joanne shares what you need and how easy (and important) it is to get it done.

David Jaques shares his mental health story and how we can start the conversation at work.

At its most basic, Ted Lasso is a macro, meta-level fight between good and evil; a social commentary on acceptable and productive workplace behaviors.

Today I wrap the insecurity series up with a few minutes on how to have influence, without necessarily having authority tied to it.

Within the context of insecurity, we ask the question: Are we aiming too low?