TIP #10: Put Your Name to Your Work
I noticed a difference taking classes in an online format where students post their work and offer their point-of-view to a class discussion log for everyone to read.
I found the comments more thoughtful, insightful, and connected to the material than those often heard blurted out in college classrooms. To me the difference was the fact that one's name was permanently attached to one's comments. I know I thought long and hard before I entered my perspectives on those assignment boards.
Remember first grade when we proudly printed our names so everyone could see them at the top of that wide-ruled paper? A few of the best papers ended up plastered to the classroom walls for all to see. I don't know about you, but I liked it when my paper and my name made it to the walls.
We may not write our names in big, bold crayon letters on our work anymore, but make no mistake, our name is in the work we do. So, think about it that way.
Posted by Nan Russell at 02:17 PM
October 22, 2004A Few Thoughts About Trust
As much as we like to think trust is about those people. Those corporate leaders, those politicians, those celebrities whose mistruths and misdeeds fill our websites and newspapers. I think it's important to recognize it's also about us. As Peter Block said, "Whatever we see from our leaders can ultimately only be found in the mirror."
Most of us use the word trust rather loosely. Some of us use it as a substitute for "reliable" or "predictable" or "trustworthy." Others use it as a synonym for "confidential" or "competent." People bring experiences and baggage to the workplace and these spill over into their perspectives. Hence, people mean different things when they use the word, and have differing perspectives on what the word trust is and isn't.
What most agree on is that trust is an important component at work, and when it's missing, it's noticeable in many ways. Productivity, discretionary effort and results being three.
More of my thoughts on trust can be found in a recent column, Let's Talk about Trust.
Posted by Nan Russell at 02:32 PM
October 17, 2004TIP #9: Learn & Practice Your Craft
I just returned from a five day writer's conference, spending three of those days with eleven other writers in an immersion fiction writing workshop.
Conferences like this draw some want-to-be writers who believe they can write the next million dollar best seller. And maybe some of them can. But, for most of us, writing is like most things in life. Even if you have a little talent, getting good takes practice and hard work. And if you want to be really good, you have to practice every single day.
It's no different if you want to be a good athlete, musician, or business person. Building your skills should be an all the time focus. If you want to be winning at working, think about what you can do to learn new skills, practice those skills and develop your craft everyday.
More about this in Wishing and Hoping.
Posted by Nan Russell at 05:40 PM
October 11, 2004TIP #8: Pull Weeds of Self-Doubt
It's easy to let them get grow... even thrive. You know the ones. Those voices inside your head that discourage you, berate you, planting seeds of not-sure or not-enoughness that germinate, beginning a garden of self-doubt in your head.
Like any weed, the weed of self-doubt is fast growing. Left alone it can over take a garden of good ideas, motivation, positive thinking and initiative. Your task is to stomp it out. Pull it out. Don't let it grow. Get rid of it as soon as it's ugly head pops through causing you second thoughts about your dreams or aspirations or abilities.
If you can put those thoughts in your head or allow others to put them there for you, you can also pull them out and replace them. Read more of my thoughts on this topic in Taming Voices
Posted by Nan Russell at 09:27 AM
October 02, 2004TIP #7: What can you do for me today?
It is a what-have-you-done-today world. A congratulations and a thank you for saving the project from certain ruin last week; getting an outstanding review; developing a new product line; meeting your budget; working all weekend to deliver the boss's requested information; and countless other things. Feel Good. Be Happy. Move on. If I'm your boss, I have. Now, I'm wondering what you can do today.
Posted by Nan Russell at 06:33 PM
