CYJ: Cover Your Jugular; Part 1 (Hiring)

Organizations are living, breathing organisms made possible only by living, breathing, carbon-based life forms. But if you have an employee on board who offers little more than a pulse, it's time to cover your organizational jugular or your competitors will smell blood in the water.

Your company is defined by the company you keep.

Hire a poor performer and enjoy the insidious fruits of their labor in the form of:

1. Intellectually modest ideas and contributions.
2. Anger, frustration and resentment from high performing employees
3. Decline in customer satisfaction (and volume) through procedural hiccups
4. Low Return on Organizational Investment

And you get all of this for the bargain price of at least 4x the annual salary of your top employees!

CYJ.

Contact me today.

McMoxie

Herb Peterson, creator of the Egg McMuffin, passed away today. His invention revolutionized the fast food industry by creating a new area of business---breakfast! Today, you (and your attorney) can enjoy a HOT cup of gourmet coffee and Egg McMuffin!

People who say things can't be done need to get out of the way of those who are doing it. Business as "unusual" is often times the key to success.

Did you know?
The Egg McMuffin has 300 calories (230 without cheese and butter), making it the lowest calorie choice on the breakfast menu.

"Say What?"

A Communication Checklist For Teams:

1. Respect the opinions of your team members. That doesn't mean you must agree with their opinions, just respect their right to have them.

2. Don't be a conversational bulldozer. Everyone on the team should be allowed the opportunity to provide input regarding critical decisions. Again, even if you do not agree, allow the voices of team members to be expressed. This may promote 'buy-in' to the final decision and lessen feelings of resentment.

3. Ensure that the SWOT analysis is employed for all ideas (SWOT=Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats).

4. Develop an action plan and a timeline for completion.

To schedule a team building training for your organization, visit www.donnamariawalker.com!

"I wish people who have trouble communicating would just shut up." Tom Lehrer, 1928

"It is an odd thing that though we all disagree with each other, we are all of us in the right." Logan P. Smith

"The genius of communication is the ability to be both totally honest and totally kind at the same time. " John Powell

NPO Spotlight for March!

Project Hope
No-kill animal shelter
Metropolis, IL

Do your part to help support this wonderful local no-kill shelter and attend the Paws-itively Posh fundraising event!

April 12
6pm
Grace Episcopal Church
Tickets $30

To purchase tickets, please visit Gifts Plus (Paducah), Silver Collections (Metropolis), or Project Hope (Metropolis).

I can think of nothing better on Earth than to come home from a long day of work and be greeted by an enthusiastic four-legged friend.

Live longer. Live better. Adopt a pet today!

Always Have A Plan!

www.donnamariawalker.com

Balance 'N Talents

Many people struggle with balance. Balance is an elusive (and frankly, impossible) concept.

Think about the possibility of becoming comfortable with imbalance (and imperfection).

For example, "crazy quilts" are so imperfectly perfect. Unlike standard quilts, these pieces of art feature irregularly shaped pieces of more exotic fabrics (silk, velvet, etc.) and are often times embellished with buttons, ribbons, beads or lace. The artist creates a free-flowing experience void of specific pattern, rules and/or regulations.

Experience greater personal and professional satisfaction. Resist the urge to be everything to everyone everyday. Have the courage to acknowledge and challenge the 'patterns' in your life.

http://www.donnamariawalker.com/

If You Can't Stand The Heat...

As the saying goes, "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."

But for years, Jell-O has been making a variety of crowd pleasing options that don't require an oven.

If things in your office are getting a bit heated, getting out of the proverbial 'kitchen' is not always the best solution. Perhaps it's time to turn off the proverbial oven and find other agreeable alternatives to cool things down.

If you would like to learn effective conflict resolution strategies to employ in your workplace, email me today to schedule your free initial consultation!

Healthy communication for every organization!

Suggested Reading

Harsh title.

Great book.

"Crickets!" NEW Public Speaking Seminar

Research has shown that the #2 fear among people is death...the #1 fear is public speaking.

So, if you would rather be dead than speak to a crowd of people, you're not alone.

Ever tried to entertain a crowd or simply try to deliver a powerful message only to hear "crickets" from the audience? If so, this training is for you.

You will learn how to effectively deliver your message and engage your audience.

Get out of your own way. Schedule your personal or organizational "Crickets!" training today!

Despair.com has done it again...

If you think those 'teamwork' posters are tired and overused, despair.com might be for you.

A Resume Superfecta

If the fact that you created the 8th day in your last job is listed on Page 8 of your resume, I can state with certainty, you will not get an interview.

Some helpful tips that most resume guides forget to tell you (likely because these tips are painfully obvious):
1. Make sure you have your name spelled correctly on resume.
This may seem like a no-brainer, but we type our names so often that we may miss a keystroke. While spellcheck is a great feature, it is not a substitute for revising your resume manually.

2. Make sure your phone number is correct (and include an alternate phone, if possible).

3. STEP AWAY FROM THE STAPLER!
Your resume should be one page with a one page cover letter (and references, if applicable). Do not staple them together. Additionally, dog-ears are for your pooch...not your resume.

4. Don't fold your resume.
Your resume is your professional snapshot. Major office supply chains sell quality resume paper as well as quality resume folders. Folders are a bit pricey, but worth it.

For more tips or to schedule a consultation to revise your resume, contact me today.

Perception of Perfection

Perfection is a tricky and elusive concept, however, research is finding that your perception of perfection in the workplace may be linked to your gender.


Most males define the perfect job as one that:

1. Pays 'a lot' of money


2. Is not controlling over the individual (procedural freedom and independence)

While most females say the perfect job offers:

1. Equal and fair treatment in the workplace


2. Life/work balance

www.donnamariawalker.com

It's Monday (punctuate as you'd like)

Start your week with a great quote from a great fighter:





"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it.

You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done.

Now, if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hit, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you are because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain't you. You're better than that!"

www.donnamariawalker.com

"I Respectfully Disagree" Training

In case you haven't heard, this is an election year. There is a reason why voting and bathing happen behind closed curtains...both are private matters.

We all have our own humble, yet acurate, political opinions, right? Unless your work is directly tied to politics (or religion for that matter), you would be wise to leave your "humble yet acurate" opinions at home.

The last thing most of us want to do is intentionally create a hostile environment in which to work.

Supervisors should clearly detail the difference between communicating vs. attacking personal ideologies. Organizations should have harassment policies and formal complaint systems in place should progressive disciplinary action need to be taken.

Cast your vote for healthy communication in your organization!

Contact me today to schedule my very thorough, exciting, and interactive "I Respectfully Disagree" training!


www.donnamariawalker.com

WIIFM

WIIFM is an acronym for "What's In It For Me," the antithesis of teamwork. Such organizational cultures are toxic and grossly ineffective (at best). The organizational leader teaches employees that acting in their own self-interest is acceptable and will garner the desired result. Employee’s who do care about the advancement of the organization as a whole, may become resentful toward the self-serving interests of, and rewards given to, the WIIFM co-worker (so be careful).

While WIIFM tactics can heed immediate results, such tactics are Band-Aids on the organizational broken leg. And, organizational leaders only re-enforce the WIIFM mentality each time they repeat the tactic.

Much like a child who throws a temper tantrum in order to get a cookie, the parent should not believe that giving the cookie will be the "easy" way out. Sure, it stops the immediate tantrum, and is in fact easier at that moment, but in the long run, the parent is creating a monster.

Once established, the WIIFM culture is VERY hard to change. Why? Because the WIIFM's see the leadership as also adopting a WIIFM mentality and this is (ironically) seen as "selfish" on the part of the WIIFM and questions arise regarding the motives of the leadership. There is a feeling of entitlement. Are you still with me? This is confusing, I know.

The bottom line...if you are a WIIFM leader, you will create (or sustain) a culture of the same.

Leadership cannot, and will not, change the culture until they adopt (and consistently demonstrate) a mantra of "We" over "I."

www.donnamariawalker.com

Passion-Aggression

Passive-aggressive people hide their malicious intentions behind a veil of passive non-verbal expression. Passive-aggression is an irresponsible expression of anger.

As you can imagine, this can derail effective organizational communication and promote high levels of conflict. In contrast, I promote "Passion-Aggression." I invite my clients to passionately own their feelings, intent, and expression and teach them how to effectively communicate those feelings with others for the common good.

Email me today to schedule your on-site seminar to eliminate unnecessary communication conflict in your organization.

You will learn:
The difference between confrontational vs. cooperative communication
The damaging effects of absolute language and blame
How to facilitate trust among colleagues
Brevity and clarity when making requests
Conflict resolution strategies
...And more!