My first business coach used to call it “count-on-ability”.  She was great.

The Oxford Dictionary defines “accountable” as: responsible: required to account for one’s actions.
If you’re immediately thinking of someone in your company who dodges responsibility, blames others, and seems unable to be accountable, you are not alone.  We all know people like this. (think typical [...]

I just returned from 2 weeks of family vacation in Italy.
 
For the first time since the advent of mobile phones, I made the conscious decision to unplug 100%.  No Internet, no cell phone, no television, no newspapers, and no business periodicals. I took 3 books: two off-beat Italian books, and one I love called “Right [...]

August: Write the ”bones” of your business plan. While it is warm and the days are still long, spend some time in thought.  You are more likely to find a day or two now to plan than you are once school begins.  Sit outside and breathe some fresh air and think about what changes and improvements you are [...]

I get a lot of calls and e-mails.  Every once in a while, they seem to “trend together”.  When that happens, and a certain topic pops up more prevalently, I feel the need to address it.
There are a bunch of frustrated CLOs, HR managers, corporate trainers and managers in the trenches right now with a little bit [...]

     Time management, change management, personnel management, project management, resource management, information management, business management, process management, risk management, chaos management……We talk about these things ad infinitum and ad nauseum.
 
For instance, time: It continues with or without our supervision or permission. It will not be managed in any way, shape, or form. Can you slow time or [...]

Does your workplace feel or appear less professional these days? 
Here are six steps to help your team ”polish up” their presence:
1. Join Toastmasters.
Very affordable (about $75 per year) Toastmasters is a great place to practice your speaking and presentation skills in a safe and encouraging environment. It helps with your grammar, sentence structure, vocabulary, you name it. Almost every community [...]

The most powerful learning experience in my past was intensive outpatient recovery for my alcoholism.  At the age of 43, I was in the late, chronic stages of alcoholism, slipping quickly into a time when my only option would have been institutionalization.  There are many excuses I can make for why I ended up on [...]

Recently, one of my mentors ended up in the hospital.  After a traumatic injury and surgery, he began to display strange, out-of-character behavior.  Normally an extremely friendly and congenial person, he acted very mean and angry, calling his caregivers derogatory names.  He was convinced that he was not in the hospital, but somewhere else. He was convinced [...]

All work and no play makes Jack (or Julia) a dull boy, right?  Thankfully, I have a husband who reminds me when it’s time to stop working and go play.  For my birthday, he booked a trip to Las Vegas, and I want to share it with you.  My mentor, Jim Rohn, used to use the [...]

950 years of business experience.  No, it’s not a typo. I just met with a group of business people in Washington State for lunch. Between them, they have 950 years of experience, and the headcount was only 30.  That’s approximately 32 years business experience each, if I did my math right. (I have 33 years in business for [...]