BizBuzz

Seven Secrets to “Let Go” and Be Happy

By: Mary Lee Gannon

While the “issues” people hold onto and the reasons they do so may vary according to their race, religion, family values, work environment, socioeconomic status, or nationality, the process of “letting go” is universal and more human nature than cultural. Letting go or getting “unstuck” is the biggest challenge people face who want change.

Continue Reading...

Is Your Company Prepared?

By: Susan Nitzberg

STANDING FIRM: The Business Case to End Partner Violence is a free membership organization that alerts employers to the financial, safety and human costs of partner violence on the workplace and workforce and arms them with tools for taking effective organizational action.

Continue Reading...

You Will Go as Far as the Five People You are Closest To

By: Mary Lee Gannon

You will go as far as the five people you are closest to. It’s true. Think of the five people you spend the most time with. Are they not in about the same position in life as you? Same type of friends? Same type of neighborhood. Same socioeconomic group? Same values? Same interests?

Continue Reading...

Open the Door

By: Mary Lee Gannon

You’re in a hurry. You run out at lunch time to pick up Steelers cookies for the big game Sunday. You feel the pressure of imposing deadlines but you figure this will only take you a few minutes. You pull into a parking lot with snow mountains in its corners and notice a woman helping a man out of the car but don’t think much of it.

Continue Reading...

Change – Here’s How!

By: Mary Lee Gannon

Nobody said change was easy. That’s why most people don’t do it.
But there is a deeper reason behind why it is hard that if understood,
will lead you to take action that will bring you new habits and
sustainable results.

Continue Reading...

Just Get ‘r Done – Pace, Consistency, Sustainability

By: Mary Lee Gannon

Making good use of your time is imperative when you are recreating a new model of productivity in your life. If you have too much passion and not enough strategy you will end up exhausted and without the results you seek. If you continue to do things that are not producing the outcomes that you seek you will lose interest.

Continue Reading...

27 Ways to Remind Yourself You Are Special (That you aren’t just a head that exercises.)

By: Mary Lee Gannon

You are the most important person in your life. You may have other
people who are close to you or for whom you are responsible but you
must nurture yourself before you can nurture others. The greatest
capacity to love comes from being able to feel love yourself. You are
wonderful! Remind yourself of that with these simple steps.

Continue Reading...

The Anti-Antagonist: Conflict and resisting the Touchy-Feely

By: Ann Begler

Recently, a colleague and I were developing a training module for an organizational team to support their ongoing work together. My colleague was someone I hadn’t worked with on many prior occasions, and she had asked me if I’d work on this particular project with her. This was a group that called itself a team, yet the information we had gleaned from individual interviews with them made it clear they had never worked on observing their own process and had little awareness as to what they did that seemed to inhibit real engagement with each other.

Continue Reading...

Are You Being Treated Unfairly? Assume Nothing.

By: Mary Lee Gannon

Ever think that you are being treated unfairly? My question is this: Are you REALLY being treated unfairly or is that your assumption? Our perception is ours to own but may not be reality. To focus on it pushes us to perseverate on feeling disempowered instead of opening our minds to how we may be proactive.

Continue Reading...

Seven Killer Ground Rules for Effective Meeting Facilitation

By: Mary Lee Gannon

We’ve all been in meetings that are engaging and we’ve all been in
meetings that were a dreadful waste of time. Most of the time the
success of a meeting depends on the meeting facilitator. So if you
are facilitating a meeting, be sure to do the behind the scenes work
ahead of time so that the meetings will produce the outcomes that
you want.

Continue Reading...

An Unlikely Post

By: Beth Schmidt

Bully for you for striving! And I’m so glad that you are in the process of making changes to improve your service. Maybe in another 100 years you’ll sort out some of the more complicated details of balloon delivery.

Continue Reading...

Millionaire Women Look Ahead

By: Mary Lee Gannon

You might be surprised to learn the general profile of a millionaire woman. In the book “Millionaire Women Next Door,” Thomas J. Stanley, Ph.D. found that many people cast millionaire women in a stereotypical light – wed to their businesses, uncaring, unmarried, unliked,undesirable, a bunch of angry revenge-seeking workaholics.

Continue Reading...

The Anti-Antagonist: Conflict and Resonance

By: Ann L. Begler

We often think of the concept of leadership as something relevant and critical for CEO’s, Executive Directors, high level managers or key staff members within businesses and organizations. We don’t always think of mediators, HR interveners or other conflict resolvers as essential leaders. Yet, as I’ve deepened my own understanding of resonance as a characteristic of a great leader, it’s become apparent that this essential element of resonance is also one of the things carried by great conflict managers.

Continue Reading...

How is Doubt Serving You?

By: Mary Lee Gannon

You have doubt. You doubt yourself. You doubt others. You doubt your future. You doubt your business. You doubt your team. You doubt your children. You doubt your parents. You doubt your relationship. You doubt the weather. You doubt a whole lot more than you count on. How tiring is that?

Continue Reading...

The Anti-Antagonist: Conflict and gratitude

By: Ann L. Begler

A couple of months ago I was working with a family that was embroiled in conflict and everyone seemed to be a real place of entrenchment. One person would speak and it seemed no one could let him get out more than a sentence before another person jumped in, then everyone was in the “free for all.” Every time someone spoke the focus was on what someone else in the family did that was wrong or didn’t make sense. The room was full of personal judgments …

Continue Reading...

My Next Job (NOT)

By – Beth Slagle, Esquire

It comes as no surprise that the recession in 2008 hit the legal industry, just as any other profession. Yes people, and I know some will shout with glee, but lawyers took it up the arse too. What industry didn’t it nail? For newly minted graduates touting their “Esquire” status, that title, costing on average more than $40,000 per year (x 3 years), is worth less than minimum wage to one Boston law firm.

Continue Reading...

Why Your Marketing Has To Look Good

By: Christina Damiano

The death of Vidal Sassoon reminded me of his famous saying, “If you don’t look good, we don’t look good” that he first said in 1973. Vidal obviously understood the value of marketing with the audience in mind.

Continue Reading...

ARE YOU COVERED? Health Insurance Answers When Employer-Based Insurance Goes Away

By: Liz Kennon

In today’s economy, many employers are choosing not to offer health insurance to their employees. Many people find themselves without a job with benefits. Others are branching out into the world of entrepreneurship and have to figure out how to get covered for healthcare without traditional group benefits. The importance of having health insurance may fall to the bottom of the list of immediate needs, but going uninsured can lead to very drastic and long-lasting financial consequences. If this article can teach you anything it is this: do NOT wait to get health insurance until you need it. It is often times too late to get affordable coverage after you have any sort of medical treatment, so be proactive!

Continue Reading...

TheAnti-Antagonist: Conflict and the emotion of the intervenor

By: Ann L. Begler

For some reason I seemed to be in slow gear last week. The accumulation of travel to two out-of-town conferences, back to back days of facilitating family business retreats, and a series of high conflict mediations somehow plugged up my energy. My first real awareness of my state came to me in the middle of one of those high conflict cases when I found myself getting irritated over small comments, yawning while people were looking at documents, then at some point repetitiously looking at my watch as I imagined the possibility of a bubble bath later in the evening.

Continue Reading...

The Anti-Antagonist: Conflict, attitude and preparation

By: Ann L. Begler

Sometimes when we find ourselves in the middle of a conflict it seems this whirlwind that caught us by the tail came from nowhere. While those surprising events certainly happen, most often we are actually aware we will be entering a conflict situation before it happens.

Continue Reading...

Accept This Moment Just As It Is

By: Mary Lee Gannon

Every moment we spend in judgment is a moment in which we are disconnected from compassion and appreciation. Accepting life as it IS is an art in itself. Accepting is not resisting, but flowing with it which sometimes takes courage.

Continue Reading...

The U.S. Army’s Eleven Leadership Principles and Your Team

By: Mary Lee Gannon

When it comes to achievement and goal setting some people set goals “to have” but not “to be” or “to become.” It is vital to set goals for who” you want to become before you can achieve the more tangible goals of “what” you want to have.

Continue Reading...

THANK YOU FOR READING THIS

By: Beth Slagle

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you for opening the door; thanks for joining me for lunch; thanks for calling. I am a thanker by nature. I’ve even been chastised by a good friend for thanking unnecessarily, but that’s a rather subjective reflection on his part.

Continue Reading...

The Anti-Antagonist: Conflict and mission statements

By: Ann L. Begler

Over the last several years, I’ve found myself incorporating many principles and components of my organizational consulting practice into the mediation work I do. Bringing aspects of those fields together is not something that is customarily taught or suggested in mediation training. Yet, I’ve found it, as a practice, to be something that helps mediation participants become clearer about what they want, and what they’re committed to doing.

Continue Reading...

365 Ways to Get Results: Day #58: Let Go of Expectations – “If only you would…”

By: Mary Lee Gannon

Expectations. We hold them unconsciously under wraps until they are unmet. When they bubble their discontented heads into reality they cause resistance – decentering us from our peace and productivity. We feel irritated by friends or co-workers who don’t align with our opinion. We suffer betrayal by family who make choices we don’t agree with? We experience frustration over colleagues who don’t respect boundaries? And then relationships unravel. Toxic for others and toxic for you.

Continue Reading...

How A Tweet Made Me A Satisfied Customer

By: Christina Damiano

The original title to this post was “A Case Study in Poor Customer Service” in which I was just going to write of my frustrations trying to get what I thought was a positive outcome to a blatant problem. But then I decided to do an experiment. I am new to the social media world. Armed with about 100 Twitter followers, I decided to test the theory that social media is making a difference in the impact of the consumer.

Continue Reading...

Tip the Scale of Work/Life Balance

By: Mary Lee Gannon, CAE

Throughout the world America is revered as a place where dreams can become reality. The American dream is touted to be obtainable by nearly anyone who is willing to work hard enough to get it regardless of nationality, previous history, or socioeconomic background – a luxury compared to other countries no doubt. So thus our culture tempts you to work harder and harder to reach your ambition. Other countries laugh at us because along with the race for the American dream comes a higher incidence of heart disease, cancer and stress than most countries in the world. Take a lesson from the Europeans – slow down and enjoy life before your dreams dissolves to a nightmare of lost relationships, lack of joy, and compromised health.

Continue Reading...

The Anti-Antagonist: Conflict and the loss of identity

By: Ann L. Begler

Do you ever ask yourself, when in the midst of a conflict, “What’s really going on here?” I do. In fact, as a conflict manager, I find that when interactions are loaded with intensity, and when everything seems to be going in circles, that simple question is the one that helps me to step back, gain more clarity and exercise better choices about interventions that might be helpful to people who are locked in a dispute. It’s the question I often ask, not only in the midst of a high level conflict; I find myself wondering about that question just as often when working in a one-to-one conflict coaching session with a client. And, I even ask that question of myself when I have a sense I might be getting stuck.

Continue Reading...

StartingOverNow.com Articles Values – How to Define Your Values and Live Fulfilled

By: Mary Lee Gannon, CAE

I find in the people that I coach and teach that the number one reason
that many people are conflicted, unhappy and living without inner peace
is that they are living a life outside of their values. It is difficult to live in
accordance with your values if you first do not know what they are. Our
lives are full of so many decisions that need to be made for practical
reasons that we often prioritize in order of what is immediate just to get it
done as opposed to looking down the road and putting a little more
thought into “What can I do today that will bring my actions in line with my
values?”

Continue Reading...

Seven Habits of Highly Effective Entrepreneurs

By: Christina Damiano

In working with successful (and not so successful) entrepreneurs over the years, I have found some common characteristics that go beyond the traditional tasks we normally talk about (e.g. having a business plan, access to capital, and a good group of advisers).

Continue Reading...

The Grammar Nerd: Like vs. As – Than vs. Then – Infer vs. Imply

By: Sydnee Bagovich

The Grammar Nerd: Like vs. As – Than vs. Then – Infer vs. Imply

Continue Reading...

Create Your Vision Board – Watch it Happen

By: Mary Lee Gannon, CAE

A Vision Board reflects vivid imagery to remind you every day of where you are going. Not sure where that is? Read along.

Continue Reading...

The “Goals-to-Results Worksheet”

By: Mary Lee Gannon, CAE

It is well into January and I am wondering how you are doing on your New Year’s Eve resolutions? Terrible? Most people find resolutions hard to keep. Why? Because they have no foundation to support your desired change in habit.

Continue Reading...

Dealing with Emotions When Leading a Meeting

By: Mary Lee Gannon, CAE

As the leader of a meeting, organization, committee or project team one of your challenges, especially when dealing with a heated issue, is to be able to channel the emotions that may arise into a productive entity for the group. When an emotion is expressed you must help the person who is expressing the emotion identify the emotion and its source. Then facilitate a discussion that leads them to express the emotion in a way that contributes to – rather than detracts from – group goals and effectiveness.

Continue Reading...

The Anti-Antagonist: Conflict and Lessons of the Season

By: Ann L. Begler
Here we are at the holiday season. I was talking with a friend the other day as I was thinking about what the Anti-Antagonist might offer this week. “There’s some message about conflict that’s embedded in this particular season,” I found myself saying. “Maybe I’ll write about that.” “Join the writing crowd,” my friend said, “as everyone who writes about anything right now is trying to figure out the same thing. ‘What shall I write about the holidays?’”

Continue Reading...

The Anti-Antagonist: Conflict, assumptions and holidays

By: Ann L. Begler
Originally posted in the Post-Gazette

Thanksgiving, for many people, is the beginning of a long stretch of the holiday season when they gather with family, new and old friends, and colleagues who haven’t been quite as available during the hectic pace of work life. For some, it can also be a time of real loneliness that comes with remembering people who have passed on, or struggling through moments of deciding whether to reach out to others. Within my sphere of professional work clients frequently talk about the kinds of conflicts that emerge during the holiday pace and within a climate where multiple expectations can create stress amidst the times of joy. And, some of my colleagues write articles and their own blogs about managing family conflicts during the holiday time.

Continue Reading...

The Boss & The Holiday Gift — Yes or No?

By: Beth Slagle, Esquire

To give the boss a gift or not, that is the question that I ask of thee.

Actually, it’s the question that came up when I spent a day playing with one of my close friends who is an administrative assistant for a female attorney. The choice for her was simple — yes, she would buy a gift, but she labored over what to give and how much to spend. Is it too personal, am I spending too much or not enough?

Continue Reading...

Grammar Nerd: How Important are Good Communication Skills in the Job Search?

By: Sydnee Bagovich

With unemployment at all-time highs and a lot of competition for available jobs, job seekers need all of the advantages they can get in that arena.

Sure, your education and professional experience paint a pretty good picture of the employee that you may one day be, but the way that you communicate—both in writing and in speaking—could say more about you than what is on that resume!

Continue Reading...

7 Tips to Say “No” and Assert Yourself Today!

By: Nancy Stampahar of Silver Lining Solutions

The crazy, hustle-bustle holiday season is approaching. By learning how to occasionally say “no” and treating each other with respect, you can take control of the demands at work and home you are facing. You must learn how to not fret over your own feelings of guilt, fears of rejection or possible repercussions. You can still be helpful and considerate of others, but you must take care of yourself first.

Continue Reading...

Career change in a crazy economy? Yes, you can!

By: Nicole Yelich

Ladies, we all need our beauty sleep. But these are though times and I’m not sure if there is enough concealer out there to tackle the dark circles this recession is causing for women (and men, no doubt) across the country.

Continue Reading...

Reinventing Myself

By: Hilary Daninhirsch

My grandmother was my biggest fan, cheerleader and beta reader. Most of my childhood creative writing fell under her gentle scrutiny. The comment was always the same: “You’re going to be a writer.”

Continue Reading...

Jennifer Cairns: Full Contact – Litigator & Football Player

By: Emily Bush, Chelsey Hennemuth & Beth Slagle, Esquire

Jennifer Cairns leads a double life – she is a fierce litigation attorney for McGuireWoods LLP, and she is an equally fierce defensive back for the Pittsburgh Passion, the full contact women’s professional football team. Not to mention she recently added another big life change into the mix – the role of mom.

Continue Reading...

Making a Digital Impression

By: Demetria Pappas and Lisa Iadicicco

Mother, May I has been bombarded with the netiquette faux pas—It seems that not a day goes by without someone losing their job or causing a big stink when it comes to hitting the wrong key..

Continue Reading...

Does Coaching Work?

By: Wendy Maletta

Millions of individuals and companies around the world hire professional coaches to provide them with objectivity and support in improving their careers, businesses and lives. But how does coaching work, and why should you consider hiring a coach?

Continue Reading...

LISA CORBETT: SUCCESS IS NOT A TITLE OR A SALARY

By: Kirstin Kennedy & Beth Slagle, Esquire

Lisa Corbett is inspiring. She’s gorgeous, strong-willed, savvy and intelligent. You know the type — the kind of person women get jealous of. She is also the epitome of reinvention, something to which many aspire but do not have the courage to follow their dream.

Continue Reading...

Grammar Nerd: Past vs. Passed; Compliment vs. Complement; Farther vs. Further

By: Sydnee Bagovich

For this article I chose topics that cause me to pause whenever I encounter them in writing or speaking. I have to stop and think about the rule before proceeding. I hope that these reviews will be helpful for you as well.

Continue Reading...

Leveraging Volunteer Work On Your Resume

By: Beth Slagle, Esquire

Altruistic reasons aside, being a do-gooder can boost your resume in big ways. Showing employers or prospective employers that you’re involved in volunteer efforts is an indicator of your willingness to give back to the community and may give you the opportunity to demonstrate a skill set that you haven’t yet been able to showcase to your employer. Also, giving your time to others speaks volumes about the type of person you are. A big thumbs up for volunteerism all around.

Continue Reading...

Are You a Hugger or a Shaker?

By: Beth Slagle, Esquire

Have you ever done the hug me or shake hands dance? You know the one — you’re meeting up with a business associate with whom you’re on friendly terms and figuring out whether to hug or shake. Or, even more awkward – have someone lean in for a hug when you don’t really know them? Been there way too many times. For my business life, I shake and hug (that sounds like a dance, doesn’t it?), depending on what hat I’m wearing and the environment I’m in.

Continue Reading...

Back to Work—Make it a Fresh Start

By: Demetria Pappas and Lisa Iadicicco

If your morning routine involves ignoring your co-workers, breezing by them without so much as a hello, you might want to consider what message you’re sending.

Continue Reading...

Grammar Nerd: Here to Help With Your Grammar Needs!

By: Sydnee Bagovich

My grammar nerdery began, oh, probably around fourth grade, when we learned how to write the phonetic pronunciation of words. From there, I progressed into diagramming sentences and Business English in high school with much enthusiasm. All of this combined to lay the foundation for a little research project that I conducted years ago.

Continue Reading...

Organizing Your Office for Maximum Productivity

By: Jill Revitsky

Working in a traditional office (or at your dining room table) can be challenging if you are distracted by existing paperwork, emails, and texts from colleagues, customers, and other important contacts. I often hear from my clients that they wish they could have a day to clean up their office so that they “can think”. Non-important papers or completed project folders often get pushed down to the floor, and begin gathering dust at our feet. When I work with individuals in small to large offices, the first thing they say to me when we are done is that they feel like they can finally be productive. How do we get to that point?

Continue Reading...

Stop Staring at Me!

By: Beth Slagle, Esquire

The blank stare is an art form. You know what I’m talking about – the look you give when you want to intimidate or show confidence. That “look” in which you’re attempting to convey zero emotion; but the emotionless stare itself speaks volumes. It can make people uncomfortable, appearing confrontational, rude or intimidating. Mastered correctly, it can also be a useful tool.

Continue Reading...

The Exit Strategy: An Essential Step in Successful Business Planning

By: Beth Slagle

Many busy small-business owners spend all of their time thinking about the here and now, with little focus on the future. However, the long-term survival of your business – as well as your own retirement security – depends on establishing a realistic and workable exit strategy. Planning allows you to control different aspects of your business.

Continue Reading...

Vacation Guilt

By: Beth Slagle

Do you suffer from vacation guilt syndrome? Any type A personality knows what I’m talking about — feeling guilty for leaving work to take a vacation. Having just come back from a week long trip to Ireland and Spain, where the nonstop blackberry messages told the tale of mini explosions, I questioned whether it was worth it as the guilt pangs sharpened with each “ding” of a new message.

Continue Reading...

COSTLY OVERTIME MISTAKES

By: Elaina Smiley

One of the biggest mistakes an employer can make is assuming that because an employee is paid a “salary” that no overtime pay is necessary. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, there are only certain categories of employees who are exempt from overtime pay. In determining whether an employee qualifies as exempt from overtime pay, the job duties of the particular employee must be carefully considered.

Continue Reading...

Grammar Nerd: It Isn’t Really a Question

By: Sydnee Bagovich

One of the things that I see quite prevalently on the grammar Oops! list is question marks after sentences that are not questions. Writers get confused, because a word is in the sentence that usually indicates a question. Here is a real-world example:

Continue Reading...

Establishing independence in the workplace, and at a young age, too!

By: Kirstin Kennedy

According to Slate Magazine, last year females made up the majority of the workforce for the first time in our nation’s history. Currently, the breakdown of college enrolment falls with 43% male and 57% female.

Continue Reading...

Your office is calling…

By: Cathy Davin

Is your office speaking to you? Is it saying, “Good morning – great to see you! Come in, sit down, and enjoy the day!” Maybe not, because too many offices say, “Help me! Save me! I’m confused and stressed!” Most business professionals spend more time in their office than they do at home, but often consider home as their comfort zone.

Continue Reading...

ELEVATOR PITCH – NO; ELEVATOR PROMISE – YES!

By: Sheryl Johnson

Everyone talks about delivering the perfect elevator pitch, but what does that really mean? And better yet – what exactly is an elevator pitch?

Continue Reading...

Is There A Good Man Behind Every Woman?

By: Beth Slagle, Esq.

The old adage that “there’s a good woman behind every man” has been bandied about for decades, but is the opposite true as well? Is there a good man behind every successful woman? Research shows that there very well could be.

Continue Reading...

Grammar Nerd: Any way that I can help?

By: Sydnee Bagovich

Anyway, any way, sometime, some time, everyone, every one… These are just a few examples that can cause writers and readers confusion. Do you have trouble deciding when to use which form?

Continue Reading...

Wedding Disaster? Wedding Insurance May be the Answer!

By Beth Slagle, Esq. & Kirstin Kennedy

The arrival of warm weather, graduations and kids getting out of school also brings with it the biggest time of year to say “I do.” Couples all over the world are busy preparing for the vows, cake, and kissing. Steeped in tradition, June happens to be one of the biggest wedding months out of the year, perhaps because of nice weather and school breaks, but some suggest that June celebrations are actually rooted in ancient Roman religion and practicalities.

Continue Reading...

SEO: Your New Best Friend

By: Chelsey Hennemuth

Google, Yahoo!, and Bing have become household names over the years and it’s no wonder how that has happened. Search engines make surfing the Internet extremely easy by helping to find the correct web address and useful, relevant sites.

Continue Reading...

Grammar Nerd: Two, To, Too

By: Sydnee Bagovich

You know that you see this one often enough in daily and professional communication. I certainly do! What may seem simple to some is confusing to others. The Grammar Nerd is here to try to take away some of the confusion!

Go to your favorite on-line dictionary resource, and you will find pages of uses of these words! Not wanting to rewrite the dictionary, and choosing to provide a little education of the words, I opted to focus on the general, primary uses of these words.

Continue Reading...

Controlling Employee Social Networking

By: Beth Slagle

Employers and their employees disagree on whether or not companies should monitor what their workers post on social networking Web sites.

The Deloitte 2009 Ethics & Workplace Survey reports that 60 percent of business executives think they have the right to know how their employees profile themselves and their company on social networks.

Continue Reading...

Grammar Nerd: They’re, Their, There

By: Sydnee Bagovich

Ah, I can just see the head nods out there! This is a pain point for so many of us. I know that many of you struggle with this one right along with me!

Let’s start with the easiest one first and then work our way up from there.

Continue Reading...

Reply All: Please Don’t!

By: Beth Slagle & Kirstin Kennedy

Just because the Reply All button exists doesn’t mean you have to use it. Let’s think about that — there are lots of superfluous or irrelevant things in life that are available that we don’t use or need for one reason or another. Yet, Reply All seems to be one of the most miss-used and over used computer “things” ever. And, it’s a button that has the ability to cause embarrassment and frustration with the potential to wreak havoc on careers.

Continue Reading...

Did You Get My Email?

By: Demetria Pappas and Lisa Iadicicco

Works little annoyances…

So how would you rank the following bothersome behaviors?

Colleagues who ask for a meeting, and are late or multi-tasking when the meeting is to begin?

Continue Reading...

Insuring Risks: Better Safe than Sorry!

By: Beth Slagle

Although each business will have different insurance needs, at a minimum here are the types of insurance that a business must have or should consider:

Continue Reading...

Office Blunders – What’s a Girl to Do?

By: Beth Slagle

“I’m having a moment”, is my typical “recovery” statement upon trying to regain dignity from the office gaff, goof, misstep, or blunder. We all have them, or at least I’m hoping that we do. Some are more memorable than others, and my bigger ones seem to revolve around shoes, fainting and falling.

Continue Reading...

Grammar Nerd: Different From vs. Different Than – Fewer vs. Less – Who vs. Whom

By: Sydnee Bagovich

Different From vs. Different Than…Fewer vs. Less…Who vs. Whom

I just love these requests that come to me! It gives me joy to know that there are indeed other grammar nerds out there!

Continue Reading...

Social Networks at Work – Good, Bad or Ugly?

By: Beth Slagle

A study of internet social networks finds that there are well over 700 million profiles on the four most popular social networks.

While many are high school and college students, there are millions of employees, and offensive material or images in these profiles may hurt their employers.

Continue Reading...

Grammar Nerd: In Response to a Reader’s Question…

By: Sydnee Bagovich

You may have noticed that most professional writing (brochures, websites…) includes only one space after the period. Those of us who grew up in the typewriter age and were taught “period, space, space” are wondering…what happened? Where did that come from? When did that rule change? Well, I have an answer, and I suspect that it is not the answer that our reader will like. I know that my friends certainly didn’t like it!

Continue Reading...

Background Checks — To Check or Not?

By: Beth Slagle

As the number of companies doing background checks increases, so do the number of legal actions in which potential employees claim they were unfairly treated. Many such claims occur when a company withdraws a job offer based on something revealed by a background check.

Continue Reading...

Self Awareness and the Seasoned Job Seeker

By: Linda Klingman

Therein lays a major issue for older job seekers. They have knowledge. They have wisdom and they have experience. But they must also show that they have the positive energy to get the job done. Here’s some interview advice for 50 and over job seekers to demonstrate that they can run with the younger crowd.

Continue Reading...

Grammar Nerd and Pet Peeves

By: Sydnee Bagovich

Continuing down the path of professional communication, in this article I want to speak of words that are used incorrectly, and that could really convey a bad message.

Continue Reading...

LinkedIn – Marketing for Your Next Job

By: Linda Klingman

So, you’re not a techie but you want to use the Internet effectively in your job search. Although several forms of social networking exist, the most effective platform for job seekers is LinkedIn. Here is a primer for the job seeker who needs some marketing help.

Continue Reading...

Grammar Nerd: Your or You’re???

By: Sydnee Bagovich

I know that I have trouble with some of those grammar rules, like when to use your and you’re. Could you please help me?

Continue Reading...

Attention Job Seekers! Four Ways to Find Your New Career

By: Cori Swidorsky

Okay. Let’s go back to basics. Staying up-to-date on new – an oldie but goodie – trends can help you beat the competition and find your next job.

Continue Reading...

Too Much Information: Googling Job Candidates is a Legal Risk

By: Beth Slagle

Need directions to the hot new spa you want to try? Google it. Need a review of the must see chick flick out for the holidays? Google it. Need background information about a prospective employee? Be careful about Googling it.

Continue Reading...

Adding “Function” To Make Your Ordinary Resume Extraordinary

By: Pamela M. Golubski, PhD

At some point we have all probably written a chronological resume. This type of resume lists information using a timeline approach. Information is listed using the standard headings of objective, education, work experience, honors, and organizations. For new college graduates, individuals with limited work experience, or those who have held the same position for 10+ years, a chronological resume may suffice.

Continue Reading...

Grammar Nerd: Apostrophe’s???

By: Sydnee Bagovich

My friend told me that I should ask you for some help with apostrophe’s. I don’t always know when its correct to use them. Could you write a column to help me?

Continue Reading...

Emotional Intelligence – Grow it for Better Relationships and Leadership

By: Mary Lee Gannon

Your emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to control and use your emotions in a constructive and productive manner. It is essential to leadership and for successful relationships.

Continue Reading...

The Blogosphere: Can You Terminate Employees for Personal Postings?

By: Beth Slagle

So, what’s an employer to do when the personal and intimate Internet postings of an employee cause harm to the employer’s reputation – can the employer fire an employee for off-site, off-duty activities?

Continue Reading...

It’s the Network! Economy Got You Down? A Practical Guide to Working Your Network.

By: Cynthia Cavendish-Carey, Networker-at-Large

Regardless of your business or your situation, this guide offers practical guidance to help you boost the health of your business … and your sanity despite a down economy.

Continue Reading...

What’s In A Network?

By: Beth Slagle

It used to be that you could live by the maxim that good work flows to good people. But in this competitive business world, that just isn’t the case anymore.

Continue Reading...

Grammar Nerd

By: Sydnee Bagovich

I get so confused about when to use “I” and “me.”

Continue Reading...

What’s Your Niche?

By: Emilie Ridge

Just as the word “niche” can be pronounced in two different ways, focusing on a niche in a poor economic market can take your career in two different directions.

Continue Reading...

Spring Forward, Fall Back into Tax Planning

By: Bernadette Smith, Fifth Third Private Bank

Planning now could help prevent potential pitfalls near the end of the year.

Continue Reading...