It’s the first Day of July and here in the Midwest, many people begin to prepare for the 4th of July weekend, here are a number of ideas and thoughts to consider:
F orever and always we say
T o celebrate and
H old our values high.
O nly in America do we truly enjoy
F reedoms other countries only admire.
J ustice wrapped
U p in red, white and blue.
L iberty, life and the pursuit of happiness for
Y ou.©Jo Ann M. Radja
May the sun in his course visit no land more free, more happy, more lovely than our own. Daniel Webster.
The United States is the only country with a known birthday. James G. Blaine
Where liberty dwells, there is my country. Benjamin Franklin
Enjoy your day!
“Jo Ann” M. Radja, Executive and Career Management Coach
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Category Archives: Personal Growth
We Celebrate President Lincoln’s Date of Birth
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We celebrate and remember February 12th as the birth of President Lincoln here in Illinois. Earlier today I published a blog on this subject, via LinkedIn.com Pulse, https://t.co/0Mu2ZA6TFw. I hope you enjoy these quotations from President Abraham Lincoln.
“Illinois Celebrates President Abraham Lincoln
“No man is good enough to govern another man without that other’s consent.”
“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important that any one thing.”
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice that thorn bushes have roses.”
“I can make more generals, but horses cost money.” And lastly, “I walk slowly, but I never walk backward.”
Enjoy your career day.
“Jo Ann” M. Radja, Career Management Coach & Change Agent
REACHING and HOLIDAY GRAB BAGS…
I hope you enjoy a Blog I wrote today. The Social Media platform of LinkedIn published it early this afternoon at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/grab-bag-reach-%22jo-ann%22-m.-radja. Here it is for you to read:
“Is a Grab Bag a REACH?
We’ve all experienced being a member of a holiday grab bag at the office. Often times we opened a package and received what we wanted; othertimes, we did not. Personally, I like to be surprised because the grab bag is really a sharing event:
* Price is limited –
* Ingenuity comes into play –
* Shopping time to research where to find the item –
* We allow someone else into our lives to learn about us –
* We learn a bit about the other person –
* Our unconscious bias tugs at us if we are disappointed how our request was interpreted –
* We may have lost sight about what the grab bag was really all about; and
* The culture of your team or department may also strongly influence whether grab bags are even permitted at the office.
Engagement and appreciation is what everyone strives for in an office. This time of year offers options and opportunities for creativity if your office grab bag has lost its luster or meaning. Even if grab bags don’t happen at your place of work, there is a cultural office tradition during this holiday season. Since every employee benefits by at least one day off for during this holiday season we share equally in the culture of the holiday.
What can you do to reach out to someone to include them in your office culture tradition? How open are you to understand why it may be important for another employee not to participate in the office tradition? What form of engagement or appreciation are you expecting during this holiday season?
As You Choose Who You Want to be Known As during this holiday season, consider reaching out to understand – to engage – to appreciate someone else at the office and it will come back to you, when you least expect it.
Have a great career week!
‘Jo Ann’ M. Radja, Career Management Coach and Change Agent”
Saint Nick – December 6th
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Happy Saint Nicholas Day! From the Third Century up to today, this day is celebrated throughout the world. A wonderful explanation of St. Nick is provided under the heading beginning with Albania at this Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Nicholas_Day
St. Nick’s kindness was extended to children, sailors and voyagers, during his lifetime. Everyone of us is enveloped by that sense of kindness. Be kind to someone during this holiday season to feel the goodness it brings back to you.
Enjoy. “Jo Ann” M. Radja, Career Management Coach
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Tell or Ask…
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Although it’s not Spring, our Building Management has asked us to consider disposing of unnecessary paper during a semi-annual shredding event. I was surprised to uncover some Notes I kept from my position in Legal Management when I attended … Continue reading
When Culture Works Against a Customer
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There is a very humorous story of an employee who not only misplaced his cell phone once, but twice within the same day. True to form, he was able to continue his business trip.* His story relates how he had the courage to recognize – because of his own actions – his buttons were pushed and what he was capable of – it may be called:
Unresolved anger, rushing without focus, lack of self-management or a learning experience to depend on someone who is much younger than you are.
Yesterday on my way home, I stopped at the grocery store and found myself in a somewhat similar situation – a reversal of the above-story. The small electronic scanner, at the check-out counter failed. After scanning my card, the screen did not link to the next page. The moment I pressed the screen, it reverted to the welcome screen. After at least five attempts, the Check-out Clerk announced, “She doesn’t know what she’s doing, call a Supervisor.” She refused to hear how I explained the screen was malfunctioning.
The Supervisor arrived, attempted a fix, but the electronic scanner continued to fail. The Supervisor worked earnestly, while the Check-out Clerk mumbled for all to hear, “She still doesn’t know what she’s doing.” Finally, I asked if there was an ATM machine in the store. I was told there was and had no trouble getting cash to pay for my groceries – which is what I attempted to do at the exit counter. When I arrived back at the exit counter, both the Supervisor and the Bagger had their heads down in apology, while the Check-out Clerk, did not. She only displayed an indignant face.
One definition of Culture in a workplace is, “It’s how we do things around here.” I will probably visit this store again because there were other employees who had a friendly service attitude. Outbursts do occur, for a variety of reasons. It’s How You Choose Who You Want to be Known As in the situation that matters to those around you and what you learned about yourself. Have a great week in your career!
“Jo Ann” M. Radja, Career Management Coach and Change Agent
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* http://fortune.com/tag/stanley-bing . “A Tale of Terror in which my true status in the universe is revealed to me.” September 22, 2014 print edition of Fortune Magazine.
What’s your insightful oversight…
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It’s always a new experience to witness what an Editor chooses for the public to read, admire, or enhance an understanding about the world at large. I recently set up a software portfolio of my interests and discovered, yet again how … Continue reading
Right now, at this moment, and no place else
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During your career, I’m sure you have realized it’s not easy to answer the question, “What do you want, right now, at this moment?” Perhaps it’s because we don’t often get what we want or we don’t give ourselves permission to get what we want. The reasons for this are so numerous; they would easily fill an unabridged dictionary. So how would you answer the question, “Right now, at this moment, and no place else, what do you want?”
Perhaps there are actions available to you right now. Are they reasonable, at this moment? If the WANT is within your reach, what impact does not attaining your WANT have in your life right now?
A well-respected Neuroscientist, Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz, offers tips on “How to Reset Your Brain” as follows:
Change is Pain. Behaviorism doesn’t work.
Humanism is over rated. FOCUS is power.
Expectation shapes reality.
Start by leaving problems in the past.
Focus on identifying and creating new behaviors.
Self-insight creates change, not advices.
Dr. Schwartz explains that the reasons why goals weren’t met may be valid, i.e. the goals didn’t support or generate change. So give yourself time to think. When you do so, you generate new circuits of thought. And with continued practice, new behaviors of change help you to achieve your WANTS.
Dr. Schwartz also tells us to remind ourselves to think regularly. As you Choose Who You Want to be Known As this Summer weekend in July, consider whether this is an avenue that brings value to you. Enjoy.
“Jo Ann” M. Radja, Career Management Coach and Change Agent
Notes: AMEX OPEN FORUM, Strategy and Business Section, “The Neuroscience of Change, or How to Reset Your Brains.” Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz, University of California at Los Angeles School of Medicine. December 8, 2011.
Belief, Believed, Believing…
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A thousand words will not leave so deep an impression as one deed. Henrik Ibsen
Recently, I heard a statement made by former President Bill Clinton that made me stop what I was doing because I chose to believe what he said. (http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meet-press-transcript-june-29-2014-n143826). I was reminded how often we believe what we hear because it may make sense to us, yet it doesn’t meet the reality of facts. What leads us to believe something is true or not? Belief, Believed, Believing may come into play with our answer.
We say, I can’t believe it” — when we hear good news about someone we know and we say, “I can’t believe it” when we hear very sad news about a tragedy. On the other hand, we choose to believe our impressions of someone we just met, because we have a belief our judgment is correct. Our birth and business cultures strongly influence us as to our Beliefs, what we Believed and are Believing. Our experiences and schooling surely play out in our Beliefs as well. As we are approaching the remembrance of the founding of our country in a few days, why do we believe so strongly in America and its values?
What we regard as true is a belief. Frequently in our careers, we may be asked to describe what we do for a living and how we would describe what we do in a few words. We want our answers believed.
As we Choose Who We Want to be Known As – We Believe in ourselves and what we do. Have a great Holiday Week!
“Jo Ann” M. Radja, Career Management Coach and Change Agent
Notes: http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meet-press-transcript-june-29-2014-n143826.
The description of the word “belief”, Roget’s 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
Ethics and Compliance Week 2014
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Our system of morality is a body of imperfect social generalizations expressed in terms of emotions. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Early in the morning, he wanted
To meet.
He was late for almost an hour and never apologized.
It seemed he totally forgot.
Can leaders make mistakes? Yes, they can. A
Servant Leader would own his accountability. ©
Everyone was ready for the meeting. It
Touched many to
Hear the first Speaker’s enthusiasm of her strategy, that
Increased attention to the message. It
Caused many to sit up.
So keep an open mind for the name of the industry as the
company’s name may surprise you. ©
Have a great week in your Career!
“Jo Ann” M. Radja, Career Management Coach & Change Agent
If you’re interested, The Society of Corporate Compliance & Ethics (SCCE) has expert videos for you to take a look at: http://www.corporatecompliance.org/Resources/ResourceOverview/ExpertVideos.aspx
Career Management Coaching 