by Beth | Oct 28, 2024 | Attitude
The celebration of Halloween has been very hit-and-miss in the workplace, in my experience. Some companies really promote it by buying pounds and pounds of candy and giving out prizes for the best costumes. Some companies don’t celebrate it at all with the mindset of “Please don’t bring candy here! I am trying so hard to stick to my diet!”
But this year, there is something in the air. The fall is so beautiful, the air is calm, and winter is late to the party. Most of my clients are in the mood to do something different, like celebrate.
Here are some of the comments that I have heard from my clients:
“I started buying chocolate mid- September. I NEVER do that!”
“This year, by God, I am dressing up for Halloween. I haven’t done that in a decade.”
We have all been walking around in a Zombie fog the last couple years. In many countries, Halloween is the beginning of the New Year, and it definitely feels that way now. We are all tired of walking around half-dead in a zombie state and looking ghostly.
So, this year, I encourage you to step out of the norm. Make the effort to celebrate in a way that you haven’t done in a long time. Buy the candy and the costume and engage with your employees like you haven’t been able to in a while. After all, the zombie in all of us needs to wake up.
Boo!
Power Thought: Don’t ghost Halloween this year!
by Beth | Dec 27, 2023 | Attitude
About 12 years ago, 2 men had a meeting at a bar. Over what I know to be a local IPA, the now CEO whipped out a pen and wrote a business plan on a bar napkin, while the now CFO created the financial plan for how this business would take off. Just this past year, the consulting firm known as NewGen Strategies and Solutions celebrated their 11th year in business, and the meeting at the bar is fondly known as The Bar Napkin Summit. The CEO and CFO have a repeat of that Summit every year.
In 2012, I took Katy, my daughter, to SeaWorld. (This was BEFORE the movie Blackfish!) While Katy was swimming with the beluga whales, I stood on the ramp watching her, beaming with pride. The sky was blue. The sun was shining. The weather was perfect. And all of the sudden, I had an epiphany: my process at A-list Interviews was 7 steps, and I could begin marketing it that way. My business sky-rocketed after that.
Another client of mine wrote a book while driving across the country by dictating paragraphs into a Dictaphone. She was totally burnt out from her corporate job, so she planned a road trip. It was the beginning of a brilliant career in a totally different field, and she termed it “RoadRage”.
What these stories have in common is that the big idea did NOT come from sitting behind a desk. That next stroke of genius did NOT come from doing the everyday activities that one always does. The stroke of inspiration came from doing another type of activity.
Now that the holidays are here, I hope that you are spending time with friends and family doing activities that you don’t normally do, and that your Bar Napkin Summit turns into your next flash of brilliance.
Happiest of creative holidays to you all!
Beth
POWER THOUGHT: Whether you attend a Bar Napkin Summit, participate in an intense writing session or stare at your beautiful daughter, your next idea will emerge outside of the office. Get to it!
by Beth | Oct 4, 2023 | Attitude
While I was fostering Stella, my plott hound mix, we worked heavily on walking on a leash. I’m quite sure she had rarely been on a leash, and the job of a foster is to get your animal as fully prepared to go into a home as you possibly can in a short amount of time.
We were walking one day, and she was at the end of the retractable leash, when suddenly, she got spooked. At 50 lbs and all legs, she yanked me along behind her. By the time I got my bearings, she had pulled me under a pine tree, and I ran headlong into a huge spider web.
I screamed like a banshee. My arms flailed trying frantically to get the web off my face, my arms, my legs, and I was completely freaking out on the location of the damn spider. (If you have seen my hair, you know a spider could hide in it for a year, and I wouldn’t know it. Spooky!)
All the while, Stella wanted to go home, so she wrapped the leash around my legs trying to convince me to get her out of this situation. It was a disaster! Finally, I got my act together, and we sauntered home, completely exhausted.
Mistakes happen, and they cling to you like a spider web to your clothes. My mistake was letting her go too far on the leash before I knew her better. If I had known that she got spooked so easily, then I would have managed the situation more effectively. Oops!
Here are 3 steps on how to manage your mistakes, so that you learn from them.
- Freak out for a minute. Literally shake it off. You know you want to, so give yourself permission to just freak out. Get all that adrenaline out of your system.
- Assess the damage. Check your hair for spiders. Wipe the web off your arms. Check around you and see how things are.
- Do the next right thing to clean it up, whatever that may be. For Stella and me, it was getting back to the street, comforting my dog, straightening my clothes and her leash, taking a big deep breath and walking back to the house. In addition, I did some damage control by apologizing to my neighbors.
I never did find that spider, but I did find a chunk of web on my shorts later that day. It served as a reminder to read my foster a bit better before letting them walk out too far on their leash. Lesson learned.
POWER THOUGHT: Mistakes don’t have to be scary or spooky!
by Beth | May 31, 2023 | Attitude
A couple months ago, I bee-bopped into the gym on a beautiful Saturday morning. I started my stretches and got on the bike for a long ride. One of the boys that works the front desk came over to me and said “Do you drive a black Toyota Rav 4?” I said “Yes! Why are you asking?” He said “Well ma’am, it was broken into.”
Horrified, I ran out to the car, only to see no window on the driver’s side back seat, glass everywhere, and my wallet was gone.
I spent the rest of the day calling credit card companies and canceling cards, when suddenly it occurred to me: I was supposed to get on a plane to Canada first thing Monday morning. I couldn’t drive my car with a missing window, because it was snowing. I couldn’t order an Uber, because I didn’t have a credit card. I couldn’t ride the bus, because I had no way to get to the bus stop. In addition, I had my passport, and a little bit of cash, but what happens if I had an emergency in a foreign country?
It was time to rally the troops.
I called my client in Canada, and he graciously pre-paid all of my expenses. My neighbor kindly offered to drive me to the airport AND pick me up. A woman from the gym, who I barely know, wanted to provide me with cash and her credit card. I didn’t take her up on that offer, but what an amazing gesture! Several of my friends presented me with food, money, and experiences with their own stolen credit cards, hugs, and listening ears. People from the gym offered their support with kind words and sympathy for my situation. Even the police gave advice on what things to watch out for in the future.
While having your wallet stolen is a terrible experience that cost me a lot of money and time, I am overwhelmed with the love and support that I received. The outpouring of kindness that came to me gave me an extra bounce in my step, and the lesson that I learned was that even when things look awful, you can find something good. Focus on the miracles, not the lack.
POWER THOUGHT: You have the choice to look at a set-back as a chance to re-set.
by Beth | Oct 26, 2022 | Attitude
Halloween has been very hit-and-miss in the workplace, in my experience. Some companies really promote it by buying pounds and pounds of candy and giving out prizes for the best costumes. Some companies don’t celebrate it at all with the mindset of “Please don’t bring candy here! I am trying so hard to stick to my diet!”
But this year, there is something in the air. The fall is so beautiful, the air is calm, and winter is late to the party. Most of my clients are in the mood to do something different, like celebrate.
Here are some of the comments that I have heard from my clients:
“I started buying chocolate mid- September. I NEVER do that!”
“This year, by God, I am dressing up for Halloween. I haven’t done that in a decade.”
We have all been walking around in a Zombie fog the last couple years. In many countries, Halloween is the beginning of the New Year, and it definitely feels that way now. We are all tired of walking around half-dead in a zombie state and looking ghostly.
So, this year, I encourage you to step out of the norm. Make the effort to celebrate in a way that you haven’t done in a long time. Buy the candy and the costume and engage with your employees like you haven’t been able to in a while. After all, the zombie in all of us needs to wake up.
Boo!
Power Thought: Don’t ghost Halloween this year!
by Beth | Jan 26, 2022 | Attitude, Company Culture
As many of you know, my daughter Katy was adopted by a stray cat named Dani Lou. This cat literally walked in the door of Katy’s apartment, and she never left. She fetches toys and brings them back, and this cat sits for treats! Never seen anything like it.
One day, Katy heard the cat in the trash. Dani Lou pulled out a string that had come off a pair of sweatpants and began tossing it around the room and fetching it. She put it in her mouth and brought it to Katy to throw for her. When Dani catches her string and pulls it away, she prances back to Katy to have her throw it again. She has such pride in her steps! She has her head held high and dances her way back to you to show you what she has done. “Mr. String” goes everywhere with Dani Lou!
I had a bookkeeper one time who wanted to change the way that I did my books. I was hesitant at first, because I couldn’t really understand what she was wanting to do. What she was describing was way over my head, but she was so compelled to do it, I finally just let her. When she came back to me, she was SO proud of the work that she had done. It was written all over her face when she pranced into my office to present my spotless books.
The key to happy employees is this; as often as possible, let them take the string and run with it. When you have employees on staff that take ownership of their work and are allowed to pursue the best way to complete their tasks, they too have immense pride in their work. They are happier, they stay longer, and they put their best foot forward, which means you can too.
Power thought: Don’t string your employees along in a way that they hate. Let them take the string and lead you. You will both prance with pride.
