Start This New Year With a Stop.

Grinch-ish as this may seem, many of us spend precious moments in contemplation and in conversations about all the things we lack and all the things we need.

Lead, Follow or Fill-in-the-Blank

You’re thinking “I thought MY late nights at the office, MY endless series of professional development courses and MY hard work was going to impact MY career?” Think again. Whether you work the help desk, develop products or work in customer service, the days of “leave-me-alone-to-do-my-job” are long gone. So what’s a loner and independent player to do?

Lessons Learned From Gravy, Pantyhose, and Bald Eagles

An Eagle a Day Keeps the Grinch Away

During a holiday excursion to the local mall, I saw a bald eagle. He (or she) swooped right in front of my car, flew across a parking lot full of cars and perched on top of the local hotel. After watching her for about 10 minutes, I went into the book store made my purchase and headed back to my parking spot. I noticed the eagle was still there but nobody no one around me was aware of her. So as I passed by 3 complete strangers—I announced with a smile and pointed “there’s bald eagle up there.” The first woman gasped and said “wow”. The second lady said “thank you for sharing” and a young man with a frown brightened up with big grin and said “why yes that is a bald eagle”. Management message: you have the knowledge to create excitement. Don’t keep it to yourself. Share it.

Do You Speak Corporate? Language Matters

“Corporate-speak” includes terminology inherited from the military, training programs, famous business books and consulting models. Behind the language are some very useful tools. The trick is to adapt the language to your organization.

Why Best Practices Matter

Shhhhhhh….Fortune 1000 corporations, not-for-profit institutions, and leading consulting firms have a secret. It’s a powerful set of tools that helps them get where they want to go—faster. If you earned an MBA from a prestigious business school or have been employed by a performance-oriented corporation; you know what I’m talking about. You’ve been trained, workshop-ed [...]

Welcome to Wampus Wisdom

While I may not always be wise, I am generous. Now it’s time to give back.

Wampus Wisdom is your resource for quick leadership lessons, new views on career management, and fast insights to enhance your professional skills. “Wampus” is derived from the Scottish word “catawampus” or “cattywampus” meaning a diagonal path or short cut.

So let’s get going. Along the way—I promise [...]