Professional Development Blog
“Openness to learning and growing is partially achieved in how you deliver feedback in the moment, and partially in what you have done the days, weeks, and months prior to that moment.”
— Kristen B. Hubler | One on One 101
What is Adoption and Change Management?
Adoption and change management (often abbreviated as ACM) is an idea that emerged in the last decade. I first became familiar with it in early 2019 when it became very popular in organizations as they tried to adopt new technology like Microsoft Teams, Slack, Zoom, etc. If you have searched for this term, it is likely because you know you need to apply change management to your technology adoption and may not know where to start. Or perhaps you’re a change practitioner trying to understand why ACM is different than OCM. This article is meant to go back to basics and provide a solid foundation of the words you may hear when you learn about ACM and what they might mean for you and the technology you are trying to roll out.
Choosing an Open Mind
Get in the Habit Series | Part 5
We all know what it means to be open-minded, and chances are we probably all assume we are open-minded. I can't imagine someone going through life knowing they are closed-minded and being alright with that. In fact, I bet that if someone said you were not open-minded, you'd be insulted, because I’m sure there are many areas in life where it is easy for you to let new ideas in. But that's the thing, isn't it? A mind is not always open or closed. It rather has the potential to be open or closed every time a new way of thinking or being is presented to it. So, let's think about the moments in our professional lives when it is not so easy to keep that mind open…
How to Ask for Feedback
Get in the Habit Series | Part 4
With a big smile on my face, I waited impatiently for him to look. The past hour I had spent researching and designing some table displays for upcoming book fairs and events I would be participating in. I was excited and wanted the closest person to me to share in that excitement, but I made the mistake many people make—I asked for feedback.
The Right Way to Continuously Improve
Get in the Habit Series | Part 3
Continuous improvement has become a bit of a buzz word in the business world. It's something we know we all should be doing—evaluating our processes and making improvements—but most of us are doing it poorly. Spotting an area where improvement is needed in a company or team is the easy part; knowing who or what needs changing to improve is the hard part…
No Agenda? No Thank You.
Get in the Habit Series | Part 2
Have you ever received a meeting invitation with absolutely no indication as to what it is about? You look at the title and attendees and wonder why this is worth 60 minutes of your time. With no warning, you show up unprepared to engage in the conversation and you half pay attention while you continue to…
The What, Why, and How of Emotional Intelligence
Get In The Habit Series | Part 1
As someone that has hired, fired, and worked with all kinds of people, I have one request for the world: can we please stop using the phrase soft skills? It is a term used to describe things like communication, empathy, patience, active listening, punctuality, giving feedback, receiving feedback, leadership, etc. These are all very important things people should strive to improve, but by applying the term soft to these vital attributes, we are sending the message that these skills are lesser than so-called hard skills—that they are a bonus but not a must…
One on One 101
If you are new to the corporate world, you will likely start hearing the term one on one, often spelt in the shorthand 1:1. For most people, their idea of what these interactions should look like is limited to their own experience, which then leads to some people reinforcing the poor habits of those that came before them. The only way to break this chain when you become a manager is to do a little research; whether you had a poor experience or a great one with those that have managed you, it is always great to expand your horizons and see if there are some other 1:1 tools you can add to your manager toolbox. Even those that have been excellent at 1:1s in the past may be struggling with how to lead them in our current hybrid world. This article will look at the what, why and how of this type of meeting in the modern workplace.
The One-Woman Effect
How to Support Women in Your Network
I remember sitting in the company-wide meeting and chuckling at the super-hero theme. Every presenter that came up had their opening title slide accompanied by someone from the Marvel or DC universe. I know the presenters themselves didn’t choose the imagery, because I also was a speaker that week and had to give my slides to the marketing team. As someone who likes cohesion, I appreciated this attention to detail. Unfortunately, as the week went on, I started to notice a frustrating pattern. Every image, on nearly every slide, was a man.
Brilliance Bias and The Myth of Meritocracy
Why Just Hiring the Right Person is More Complicated Than We Think
Have you ever heard someone say something like - it shouldn’t matter what gender someone is, let’s just hire the best person for the job. Or maybe it was something like - we're trying to be more diverse and inclusive, but we just don’t have enough qualified candidates. These are statements that I used to say too because it seems perfect. All that should matter is getting the most qualified person. Period. This idea is called meritocracy: “the holding of power by people selected on the basis of their ability.” Over the years, as I learned more, I started to realize that line of thinking was reductive because unconscious bias makes true meritocracy a lot harder to achieve than we realize…
So, you’ve been promoted to manager… now what?
6 Things Every Manager Should Be Doing (and some extra stuff to consider)
Over the Winter holidays I had the pleasure of catching up with many friends. We shared pleasantries and asked the common question adults ask each other: how's work? Fortunately, I got to celebrate with several people as they told me they had recently been promoted. Yes! Congrats! Unfortunately, every person that experienced a promotion also told me the same story: I don't know how to be a manager, and my company isn't helping…