My Bachelor degree is in statistics. Actually “Quantitative Business Analysis,” which is fancy for statistics. I loved the idea of using math to “predict” outcomes and prove hypotheses. My senior paper attempted to use a variety of statistical methods to predict the outcome of football games. I’m still not retired, so you can judge how well that analysis worked. Got …
HR’s Greatest Opportunity to Support Gender Diversity
As a mom of a young daughter, I’m paying more attention to the gender diversity push than ever before. I personally never felt passed over for roles or promotions due to my gender – nor afforded them because of my gender either. That said, until the last half of my career, I worked in corporate HR where a lot of …
Microlearning’s Macro Mistakes
Microlearning is one of the newest (cough, cough) hot topics in professional talent development. You will hear about it over and over again spouted by professional trainers as a way to make themselves sound knowledgeable and hip. Frankly, you have likely been hearing it for years. People talk about it at conferences, write articles, and use the jargon to sell …
What Kobe Bryant Taught Us About Developing a Passionate Work Ethic
This is NOT the blog post I thought would be published today. Kobe Bryant had something to do with that. As a native Southern Californian and a Los Angeles Lakers fan since the last days of Elgin Baylor, it’s hard for me to imagine that an outsized presence like Kobe Bryant is gone. He died Sunday, near Los Angeles, in …
Focus! Maybe An Accountability Partner Would Help
I am a big believer in the power of focusing. “Focus and finish” is a phrase you’ll hear me say to myself, my daughter – and perhaps occasionally to my husband. Most of us in the HR space know year-end and the fast start once January 1 rolls around = bust your a$$ while everyone else is taking time off. …
I’m Not Sensitive, You’re Just Wrong
“I’m very laid back. I only care about two things: 1) everyone on earth and their opinion of me, and 2) the crushing psychological weight of being alive.” –author unknown ______________________________ Let’s say you’re a hiring manager trying to fill a key position. You think you might want to know how well someone can take feedback? Of course you do. …
Lessons On Leadership from My Bad Boss(es)
Need a conversation prompt? Just say, “I hate my boss.” Add a swear for emphasis, some name-calling if that makes you feel better. That phrase usually starts an echo around a table or at a bar. A lot of “me too” and “oh, you should meet mine.” Then everyone starts to recite all of the oh-so-obvious ways that their managers …
Was Gladwell Wrong About Outliers? The Latest on Practice and the 10,000 Hour Rule
If you’re a high-end, progressive HR, recruiting or talent pro, you know about the 10,000 hour rule, a research area made popular by the Malcolm Gladwell book Outliers. The seed for the 10,000-hour rule was a 1993 study of violinists and pianists which found that accumulated practice time rose with musical prowess. On average, top-ranked violinists had clocked up 10,000 hours of …
Communicating Through Organizational Change
I recently delivered a presentation to my organization that will have a huge impact on the lives of our team members. I believe that the impact will be a very positive one. Regardless of this, change is change. Which is to say that change is hard. But why? Why is it so hard to have successful organizational change, and how …
A Lesson on Letting Go
Sometimes I learn things from my personal life and can apply that learning to situations I encounter in my work life. Sometimes it’s the other way around. I’ve personally never been able to keep my home life separate from my work life. I’m a continuous learner on both fronts. And I’m just not wired that way. One such lesson that …