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Why fooling yourself may be more harmful than you think
Roberta Matuson Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementPeople reach out to me daily asking for my advice. They tell me they want to fill jobs more rapidly or improve their retention rates, followed by all the reasons why no matter what they do, nothing will work. I even had one guy ask me, "Does what you do really work?" I replied, "I’ve had my consulting practice for 22 years. Do you think I’d still be in business if my clients weren’t better off having worked with me?" I then placed him on my list of people I will not be working with, as it was clear to me that no matter what I said or did, he’d never be happy.
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Want to improve your employees’ health? Lead by example
Terri Williams Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementMost employees spend at least eight of their 24 daily weekday hours at work. And whether companies want to assume responsibility or not, employees believe that their jobs play a role in their health. For example, a 2017 CareerBuilder survey found that 56% of Americans are overweight and they blame it on sitting at a desk most of the day; being too tired from work to exercise; having to skip meals because of time constraints; and having to engage in workplace celebrations. Employees, especially healthy employees, are the lifeblood of an organization.
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A surprising, often-overlooked church communication tool
Mark MacDonald Religious CommunityThere’s nothing worse than discovering a problem that requires a specific, currently unavailable tool. In fact, availability is the essential requirement for all tools! Multifunctional tools are even better — they accomplish so much and take up less room. Almost everyone has a multifunctional church communication tool in their pocket. It’s your mobile phone. How can you use it for church communication? There’s almost an endless list of tasks that can now be completed on that little mobile device. Here are five.
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Why color blindness is not a compliment
Simma Lieberman Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementIn the 1950s, it was common to hear the term "melting pot," which meant all cultures and people melting together. That concept resulted in exclusion, inequality, undue pressure to give up identity, and hampered the expression of new ideas. Today, instead of "melting pot," we think "salad," where different ingredients with their own flavors, colors and textures offer a new experience that’s even better. In our communities and in the organizations where we work, recognizing and leveraging those differences can result in breakthrough products and services that meet the diverse needs of a global population.
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Adjectives and nouns: The semantics of discussing students
Erick Herrmann EducationEducators have discussions about students on a daily basis. In a past article, I discussed the notion of labeling students, and how labels may be helpful or harmful to students. That article focused primarily on labeling students who speak a language other than English, and the consequences of those labels. Yet we use many other labels when we are discussing our students, sometimes with colleagues, and sometimes with the students themselves. Semantics have a powerful impact. When we are discussing students, consider the words you use with your colleagues as well as with the students themselves.
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Loyalty is a 2-way street
Anne Rose Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementI often hear business owners and corporation executives bemoan the lack of loyalty among their underlings. They complain about staff turnover and how staff will move to another company at the drop of a hat, their employees’ willingness to publicly disparage the company they work for, and their eagerness to discourage others from joining the company by openly sharing the "dirty laundry." If you can find another person to hire in this person's place, then that’s a smart, no-brainer business solution. Right? But take another look: loyalty is a two-way street.
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Bummed, burnt or just plain beat?
Lisa Cole Mental HealthcareLife can often feel like an endurance contest — deadline after deadline with piles upon piles of work. When we’re wallowing in funky feelings, it can help to pause, determine what we are feeling and needing and take appropriate action. As much as we think pushing on even harder may remedy our discomfort, stopping may be the best first thing to do. We can give ourselves "permission to pause." By taking that break and granting ourselves a breather, it may become obvious that we are simply physically exhausted.
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5 lesser-known strategies for product placement in social media marketing
Lisa Mulcahy MarketingProduct placement can be an incredibly effective way to familiarize consumers with your brand — but when it comes to incorporating it into a social media sales push, you need to tread carefully. Your target audience on social media is opinionated and not afraid to share their impressions. You want to work with them and respect their viewpoints rather than try to tell them what they should think of what you have to sell. Need some fresh ideas on how to accomplish this? Research has your back.
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The most important job of a leader
Roberta Matuson Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementWhat do you think the most important job of a leader is? Is it to motivate the team to achieve departmental business objectives? Engage employees to ensure they are highly productive? Drive home business results? While thoseare essential, none are the most important job of a leader. Why? Because a leader cannot accomplish any of this without the right people on his or her team. Therefore, the most critical job of a leader is to hire the right people.
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Wielding the power of offline discussions
Catherine Iste Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementMeetings can be the bane of our existence or a boon to our productivity and culture. Similarly, how we prepare for them can range from winging it to massive PowerPoint decks with handouts. Whether it is a quarterly board meeting or a weekly team meeting, offline discussions can make or break the effectiveness of the time we spend together. Here are a few tips and tricks for avoiding underlying pitfalls and making the most of offline discussions to better optimize our meetings.
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