Ariana Grande proclaimed “God is a Woman,” Keith Urban sang about “Female,” and Jesse J begged girls to feel elevated and say “I am a Queen.” Fearless Girl is on the move to the NY Stock Exchange; Sheryl Sandberg focused headlines read “Fall from Grace” for her part in Facebook’s mishaps, and a new study shows a 51% wage gap …
Walk This Way: What the #GoogleWalkout Means for HR Leaders
The irony of the Aerosmith reference in my title is not lost on me in the wake of the #GoogleWalkout over sexual harassment, gender and pay equality, and transparency in reporting. Check the lyrics if you were born in the ’90’s. What struck me as I was reading about this protest wasn’t necessarily the fact that Google paid executives to …
The Anatomy of An Amazing Pitch
A police chief, with a phobia for open water, battles a gigantic shark with an appetite for swimmers and boat captains, in spite of a greedy town council who demands that the beach stays open. That was the logline for Jaws – also known as the main reason I feared the ocean in the late 70’s. A logline is the …
Can a White Guy Lead Your Diversity & Inclusion Efforts?
It’s not lost on me that I’m uber-lucky to be a white male born in and living in the greatest country in the world. The land of opportunity, especially for me. Privilege and opportunity that others who work here or in other countries around the world will spend their entire lives in hopes of getting. And which some, regardless of …
This one time, I had to fire myself.
The time had come. I had been stagnating in my current role. There was no other place for me to go in the organization. I had been filling that professional void with some consulting work on the side. One of my consulting clients decided they wanted me full time, and I had accepted. All that was left to do was …
The Ball Is In Our Court
This isn’t a post about women vs. men. Nor is it about the color of someone’s skin or ethnic background. It’s not even really about tennis. This is a post about teaching moments, and how frequently they seem to occur (and blur) in our professional and personal lives. The U.S. Open Women’s Championship match was one of those moments. As …
How Should I Dress for My Interview?
Have you noticed that this is becoming an issue for both candidates and employers? It used to be pretty simple. If you got an interview, for almost any position, you showed up in your ‘Sunday’s Best’. That usually meant some kind of suit and tie for dudes and some kind of dress/skirt/pantsuit for the ladies. Then ‘Business Casual’ happened and …
LeBron, Amazon, and Leaving Your PowerPoints At Home – Business Lessons For All Of Us.
LeBron James was the most valuable basketball free agent in the universe, and his signing with the Lakers over the weekend changed the landscape of professional sports. Deadspin recently published an article about his unique approach to his free agency this year, and there are valuable B2B business development lessons that all of us can learn from King James. “James …
A Robot Can Make Your Burger. What Does That Mean For HR?
I want to get on a plane and head to San Francisco to experience “Creator“, the new restaurant with the world’s first robot-made burger. “Creator isn’t the machine so much as it is the diner, the chef who uses the instrument, the dining experience, and the designers who created these robots.” As we talk about the future of work, technology …
Fighting Fatigue: The Right Way to Combat Employee Burnout
The age of the “always on” worker is officially upon us. Today, nearly half of workers claim they feel encouraged by their employers to check email or work after hours, and with that demand comes rapidly increasing counts of employee fatigue. According to experts, burnout has now reached record levels, and it’s only likely to compound as younger generations feel …