Gratitude has many benefits professionally, emotionally, and physically. I practice gratitude each morning before I get out of bed by writing in a gratitude journal. I record 5 things that I am grateful for each day in my journal.
Read More“...The content you are pushing out is really impressive. This is really admirable. There are people like me, years behind you, that you are inspiring whether you know it or not.”
The start of the New Year is a great time to look at your own development plan and goals! As a lifelong learner, professional in the Learning and coaching fields, and an entrepreneur, I have found it to be critical to invest both time and money into my continued development and learning. When it comes to keeping engaged and your skills sharp, finding ways to think about what and how you want to learn next is important. Each New Year's Day I write myself a personal development plan.
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When providing feedback on poor performance, schedule a meeting with the employee that's private and preferably in person. Inform the employee that you're aware of their declining performance.
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Minimalist Ultralight Travel as a Business Entrepreneur
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This story shows the steps I have taken in my 20+ year career in the field of Leadership, Organization and Team Development. What a journey this has been so far!
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If you are thinking of switching from entrepreneurship to a company, it is helpful to plan your strategy during you transition. Innovators can negotiate their way to success.
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To encourage creativity, encourage new ideas whether they seem simple or crazy. Giving time for reflection when people are sharing ideas or thinking through possibilities is helpful.
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To manage conflict between employees or co-worker complaints, first schedule a private, face-to-face meeting quickly after the incident.
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Entrepreneurs can be better at Innovation than those in established organizations because there are fewer levels of approval.
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What are effective ways to jumpstart creativity in a team or group when they seem to be blocked?
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What benefit does creating independent teams or Skunk Works in large organizations bring? I worked for a business at a former company that was the Skunk Works of Human Resources.
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I was recently hired to teach Emotional Intelligence for Harvard University at the Harvard Ed Portal. In this course, participants were asked to read Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves, along with completing the assessment to build awareness around strengths and development areas for Emotional Intelligence.
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Many people approach brainstorming meetings with the hope of coming to a final decision. This mindset is ineffective because the purpose of brainstorming is to simply gather diverse ideas.
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Why do well managed diverse teams drive greater creativity? Focusing on new ideas, less groupthink, and productive conflict promotes creativity.
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Groupthink can be dangerous for teams. It can be avoided by having a safe culture and environment for disagreeing and for taking risk. The ability for people to feel comfortable being vulnerable leads to creativity and innovation, because they’re going to test and try different options and solutions.
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My 7 year-old business, Sarah Scala Consulting, continues to be successful through word-of-mouth referrals and recommendations. I am grateful everyday to have wonderful clients that continue to recommend me to leaders of their organizations or to their peers at different companies. When starting out, entrepreneurs often feel like they absolutely need to have a website to start a business.
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As a Channel Partner with Ken Blanchard Companies, I frequently teach Situational Leadership II® to corporate clients. In the first morning of class, I share a personal example that shows how I went through the Development cycle in my efforts to learn how to roll a kayak. This is one of my favorite parts of teaching this model.
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Through conversations with my SCORE mentors, a spreadsheet was created showing the current-state and future-state of the systems. This analysis also included the frequency of use. This spreadsheet helped to quantify the amount of time devoted to each task and system. From these insights, I identified ways to use certain systems for multiple tasks and streamline processes. It's often helpful to take a look at what we're spending our time doing as entrepreneurs, and what we may be able to delegate or eliminate.
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I recently hiked Mt. Monadnock in southern New Hampshire with a friend. A few thousand feet into the 9-mile hike, we quickly realized that we were not going to be successful unless we changed our equipment because the entire trail had flooded and subsequently frozen. We strapped on spikes or crampons and were much more successful with more appropriate gear. We also used trekking poles to keep balance.
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