Sometimes, it's easier to not be who you are in this world. Your boss wants you to be whatever you need to be to get the job done on time and on budget. Your friends want you to be what they need you to be...
Read MoreEveryone has a view on the pluses and minuses of social media. So do I!
Most people love social media for its power to connect them anytime, anywhere and with anyone. On the other hand, many folks are suspect of social media because of what some call the Connection Paradox: We’re able to reach out to whomever, whenever, but, as many pundits point out, we’ve never been more isolated or, in fact, lonelier.
Figuring out who you are isn’t some cosmic, unanswerable guru-directed challenge. It is job one if you plan to live a happy, fulfilling life.
Disclosure: This is a promotion, sort of.
I am an unabashed fan of human productivity and the need to marshal it at any and all costs. So, here goes…
There’s so much talk these days about personal branding and how important it is to shaping a successful career. But exactly what is a “personal brand” and where does it come from?
What do we do with ourselves when we wake up to the press of time? When one’s physical abilities to excel are largely past? When one’s chance to “be somebody” through one’s children is no longer an option? When one’s opportunity – if not root desire – to make a million bucks has slipped by?
What are we left with?
I just read a piece in The New York Times Sunday business section called “The Pull of Heavy industry.” It features Alex Kummant, the CEO of Amtrak. When asked about what keeps him up at night (besides his 4 month old), he said, “human resources issues.”
Last week, the New York Times ran an article, entitled What Do I Do? What Week It Is about a guy named Sean Aiken, who was trying out a new job every week for a year. The article quotes Sean as saying, “We have been told our whole life that anything is possible. Well, our parents did a great job, cause now we actually believe it.”
Bad idea!
That’s my fantasy news flash for the day. I came across the article Businesses Offer Ways for Employees to Balance Work and Family on the ABC News site the other day that described how helping people deal with non-business related stress – marriage, children, etc. – makes employees more productive workers.
A recent, front page article in The New York Times about French
identity reported that the French Conservative candidate for president,
Nicolas Sarkozy, wants to establish a new arm of the government – a
ministry of “immigration and national identity.” At the same time,
