Tag Archives: Teams

REACHING and HOLIDAY GRAB BAGS…

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thPJJN3LD1WPimage fromBING121514I 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”

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We Winced…

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I’ve hear it say that “People have a short memory.”  Democrats would hope that is true as well as the Chicago Bears.  The Democrats felt it last week when the election results turned sour for many.  Watching the Chicago Bears yesterday, you felt it as well.  We winced, we can’t seem to watch it, any more than that moment, a minute or the next few hours.

We have great empathy for well-known groups of people who are having a really bad time of it when they stop competing as a group.  We may take it for granted that unquantifiable circumstances led to a poor showing of their performance.  We wince with pain during our lives and following a public blow to our ego. Yet, failure breeds a new determination to try again.  Like a Phoenix – life anew rises above the ashes.

If we were in the shoes of a public faux pax – we would be grateful for a mindful perspective.  It would –  to be observant, to be descriptive, to act, to be non-judgmental and to take it on the chin.  Yes,  we winced in defeat but it’s not over yet. Guy Kawasaki’s wisdom may come into play – “A good idea is 10% implementation and hard work and 90% luck.”

As you Choose Who You Want to be Known As this week, consider how you dealt with a career move that you wished didn’t happen. How did you  turn it around?       Have a great week!

“Jo Ann” M. Radja, Career Management Coach and Change Agent

http://www.wordpress.com/disclosures  http://creativecommon.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/

 

 

 

 

Time, Timed and Timely

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The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.

Albert Einstein

It’s the first day of the Autumn Season and I hope you feel the energy of this day, i.e., a new beginning. Here in the Midwest, a few trees and low shrubbery are beginning to show their Fall colors of gold, orange and red. So I wonder, do you have time for yourself, have your timed out of a deadline or are you timely in submitting your project update. Whatever today’s timetable/calendar holds for you to accomplish, I’d like to share a news article with you.

Early this morning, I read an article about Albert Einstein and his prediction, known as the “Time Dilation.” (While there are a few definitions of the word Dilation, it is often referred to as the swelling of your iris, during an eye-exam.) The article is entitled, “Einstein’s ‘Time Dilation’ Prediction Verified.” Scientists have conclusively verified, “That time moves slower for a moving clock than a stationary one.” In other words, motion speed slows down our aging process if we travel in a speed rocket.

Since many of us will not have the opportunity to travel via a speed rocket, we are able to consider how often we recognize, when we are busy, time flies by.  If we become stationary, we have a different sense of how we manage our time. Rushing to finish a task at work doesn’t necessarily mean it will be done well. Yet we may actually feel time moving much more quickly because we are in motion. Perhaps Einstein’s Theory also helps us understand why we feel it takes less time to come home from an event than it took to reach the event.

I must govern the clock, not be governed

by it.  Golda Meir

As you Choose Who You Want to be Known as this week, I hope you manage your time, are timely and won’t be timed out of a deadline. Have a great week!

“Jo Ann” M. Radja, Career Management Coach and Change Agent

http://www.wordpress.com/disclosures
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/

Note: “Einstein’s ‘Time Dilation’ Prediction Verified at http://www.scientific american.com/article/einsteins-time-dilation-prediction-verified/   This article was published on 09/22/14.

One Up, One Down and What’s You?

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Dancing is just part of the discovery, discovery, discovery. Martha Graham

 

During your career, have you danced in the dance of   “One Up, One Down and What’s You?”  It’s been happening frequently in the Midwest this Spring.  The dance begins when you meet someone and you start a conversation.  The What’s You dance occurs when the sincerity of both people leads the dance and each person dances away from an engaging business conversation.
The One Up dance starts shortly after the conversation begins and one person keeps circling around the other, demonstrating a perceived betterment, for whatever reason.  This dance usually ends as each party has opposite views and a sense of connectedness was lacking in the dance.
The One Down dance takes more time.  Patience, Humility, Curiosity or Discovery of self,  or the other,  is flowing through the conversational dance.  Both people feel they have left the dance with a takeaway to be used or considered in the future.
While I just described three dances, I know you can name many others.  What type of career dance have you participated in this Spring?  What did you discover about yourself and has it helped you in your career?  What should have happened that didn’t?  What first step are you able to take, to move closer to the conversation dance that you want? 
Summer officially begins during the latter part of this week.  I hope this Summer Season in your career brings you closer to the dance where YOU Choose Who You Want to be Known As.  Have a great week!
“Jo Ann” M. Radja, Career Management Coach & Change Agent
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Feed, Fodder or Feedback

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Feed, fodder or feedback — it’s the Monday morning “quarterbacking” of what your impressions, comments and responses are about an event, project or idea. Within our culture, the idiom, “Feeding frenzy” is an aggressive attack on someone by a group. … Continue reading →

No ONE is looking…

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The true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching.  Coach John Wooten

Another Season has begun this week and people seem busier than ever to catch up on what may not have been finished or even started on their “short list” for 2013.   Many of our Leaders continue to show how they manage themselves in times of increased disharmony in the world.   While the detractors seem never to be satisfied, it’s a lesson for us to witness the positive history unfold before us.

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Wherever we work, we’ve seen situations that don’t make sense to us.  How did that person get the promotion?  What’s the story behind that?  What could I have done differently to  place myself in line for a promotion?  Why didn’t I create an opportunity to be considered for a promotion?        We accept realities of what we can do and what we cannot do.  Yet, as human beings, we work on how we accept the unknown and what the unknown means in our day-to-day lives.

The quotations about Character shown in this Blog remind us of a quotation, from different perspectives.  http://www.bartleby.com/cgi-bin/texis/webinator/sitesearch?FILTER=colQuotations&query=character+is+who+you+are+when+no+one+is+looking  Leaders may not always be right.  They may not always be aware  when someone is “looking” at what they do.  They may not be aware how often someone is watching their performance under very stressful situations.  They do, however, influence us and challenge us to decide whether we agree or disagree with their actions.

3ab79fde905ba3028fbadca1b7841856_viewthosewhodonothingforyogoogle092513uWhat do you do best when challenged with an unknown?  How do you handle yourself when your boss is watching you at work?  Do you act the same way with your co-workers as you do with your boss?  When no one is looking, Who do you want to be known as?

Have a great Fall Season as you look, watch or be yourself!

“Jo Ann” M. Radja, Career Management Coaching and Change Agent

What’s your Message

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On this Monday, we have received a message from outer space, via Commander Chris Hadfield at the Space Station. It’s entitled, “Space Oddity – Chris Hadfield performs onboard ISS with Larrivee Parlor.”  It’s creative, welcoming and novel.

What’s Your Message to “your world” this week in your career.  What do you have to communicate that you have some concerns about?  How will you get your message across to another person?  How would you like to receive the same message?

What’s Your Message can be subtle, direct, indirect, formal, informal, orally or written.  It can also be a signal.  As you work through your message communications this week, Choose Who You Want to be Known As. Have a great week.

“Jo Ann” M. Radja, Career Management Coach and Change Agent

Try out Reframing…

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Earlier this morning, I caught myself becoming annoyed by my perception of  unacceptable behavior.   I called a company I’ve worked with for most of my adult life. My loyalty to this professional financial service company was not misplaced.  A potentially difficult situation … Continue reading →

Team Fairness

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A person who treats another with fairness, generosity, courtesy. . . .     Definition of the word sportsman* One value we all appreciate and want to live by in our lives is fairness.  No matter if our hair is short or long, if we speak … Continue reading →

Spring’s Eve in your Career

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It’s the Eve of the Spring Equinox and we reflect on where we are in our Careers.  One thing we are most certain about, is that we communicate every day.  We speak, we write, we are seen listening, we communicate with … Continue reading →