Supervisor Snacks

Imagine you are in a meeting.  Now imagine the presenter saying something you don’t quite understand, or that could be taken one of two ways.  Should you Keep quiet - because you don’t want to look dumb. Mumble to someone beside you that you aren’t sure what that means. Ask the presenter to explain that in more depth, or to clarify the statement for you. It’s OK to not understand something and ask for more information. It’s OK to admit you don’t know what a word means or that you need more information or clarification. What’s NOT OK is to act like you understand every word, when you really don’t.  That presentation may well be the foundation for a project or a new policy, and if you don’t speak up, you won’t understand the importance of the announcement.  AND if YOU don’t understand, others may not either. You aren’t expected to know everything, but you may well be expected to ask about what you don’t know so that you can help your company grow and find...

“Nearly Half of Young Adults Report Experiencing Depression or Anxiety” screamed the headline of a recent blog.   “But that’s normal.” I thought!  Back in the day, I felt anxiety about my place in the world, my classes, my job, my self-image, and my relationships.  As I aged, I felt those same emotions about home renting, home ownership, parenthood (in all its iterations), my job, my self-image, and my relationships.  And as I aged some more, my anxiety was more about my kids, my grandkids, their health, my health, my self-image, and our relationships.  Do you see a pattern here? No generation is without anxiety or depression.  Those are normal feelings ( not to be confused with clinical conditions ), we ALL feel upset over day-to-day life.  Nothing is ever as perfect as we want it.  We weigh too much, or not enough, our finances aren’t what we want them to be, and we stress over our performance at school, at work, and at home.  We know w...

“Tell me a fact, and I'll learn. Tell me a truth, and I'll believe. Tell me a story, and it will live in my heart forever.”    Unknown Here are the elements of the story. Houses built of brick are sturdy Do the important things first Once upon a time, there were three little pigs… Storytelling doesn’t have to be that blatant, or long-winded, but telling a story DOES make things more understandable and more memorable. Our client, the owner of Superior Landscaping requires us to indicate the gender of the caller. Agents are dropping the ball Not a great first impression Here’s the story that changes everything. The owner of Superior Landscaping is from South America; he is not familiar with U.S. first names. If he doesn’t know the gender of the person he’s calling, he mangles the telephone greeting, especially if Mr. or Ms. Customer is not home and he needs to leave a message for him or her. He is a GREAT landscaper, let’s help him be successful with this, hi...