Taking The High Road (Part 2)

by Sharlyn Lauby on July 30, 2010

Months ago, I wrote a post about taking the high road.  Sometimes, it really stinks.  I mean really.

I don’t like saying negative stuff about people and companies. And, my guess is most of us don’t (hmmm . . maybe I’m wrong about that).  But, sometimes you just want to call out the absolutely idiotic behavior of others.  Then your sensibilities set in and you realize it would be majorly uncool so you don’t.

You have to be careful though, not to confuse taking the high road for being a doormat.  If people are bad-mouthing you or jerking you around, you need to stick up for yourself.  If you don’t, no one else will.  And, if people around you are doing things that are unethical, illegal or immoral, then not speaking up isn’t taking the ‘high road’…it’s tacit approval which can undermine your personal credibility.

The important thing to remember when addressing these matters is, stay with the facts and take individual personalities out of the equation.

It’s also important to remember who you work for and what you do for a living.  I’ve seen so many people make snarky remarks and then wonder why people won’t do business with them.  Duh – because you made it personal (remember stick to the facts).

But actually, the one I’ve seen more often is people who won’t stick up for themselves or what’s right and wonder why people won’t do business with them.  Let’s face it…if you aren’t willing to stand up for what you believe in, why would any company hire you and give you access to their employees, equipment, money, etc. You haven’t demonstrated that you’ll act in the best interest of anyone, much less their company.

Simply put, taking the high road means not lowering yourself to the snippy comments of others.  It isn’t about avoiding conflict at all costs.  Conflict and disagreement can often bring positive change.  Hmmm…I see a post about conflict coming in the near future…

Image courtesy of Peter McDermott

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Sleeping Leadership

by Sharlyn Lauby on July 27, 2010

If you’re not familiar with the Google culture, one of the things they offer to employees is the opportunity to take “power naps.”  There have been some studies that indicate taking a daytime nap can recharge the brain and be very productive for learning.

I’m not sure how many businesses besides Google are going to embrace this concept.  I mean, for Pete’s sake, if we can’t get companies to loosen up the dress code, power naps seems pretty far-fetched.

But it does raise some questions about sleep.  And the importance of sleep for our well-being.

We currently spend a lot of time talking about our time management, stress management, diet and exercise.  What about our sleeping habits?  Certainly sleep factors heavily into our overall health.

The Huffington Post recently reviewed a book by Tony Schwartz called “The Way  We’re Working Isn’t Working“.  The premise of the book?  The most important factor in our productivity is our ability to renew our personal energy.  In this fast-paced, always-on world we operate in, we have to find time to recharge.

The way we recharge?  Sleep.

I haven’t read Tony’s book; it sounds very intriguing.  I think sleep is a very personal thing.  We all have different requirements.  But the conversation about sleep made me realize I need to understand my sleep requirements just like my diet, exercise and work preferences.

  • How much sleep do I need to be productive?
  • What kind of sleep environment works best for me (i.e. pillows, room temperature, etc.)?
  • What happens if I don’t get enough sleep or proper rest?

It’s naïve to think that we can live without sleep or just sleep anywhere and still be productive.  We might be able to do that for a day or two.  Then the impact of not getting proper rest will catch up with us.

Part of being a good manager and leader is knowing ourselves.  Assessing how sleep impacts our personal energy and our working relationships should be a part of that equation.

Image courtesy of dphiffer

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Separating Business from Personal

July 25, 2010

It’s very easy to say that you have to separate personal from business.  So much harder in real life. During the time I was a human resources director in Corporate America, I was always pretty guarded at work.  I never knew when I would have to discipline or terminate someone.  So to avoid the emotional [...]

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7 Links Challenge

July 22, 2010

I saw a fun post over at ProBlogger last week.  It was a challenge to publish the links to 7 posts that answer certain questions/statements.  If you want to see the original post, you can check it out here. It looked like great fun and so I thought I’d participate.  Sometimes we all need to [...]

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Common Sense and Good Manners

July 20, 2010

IMHO, the term “personal branding” is quickly moving to the overused and abused list.  If we aren’t careful, saying personal branding could get the eye-rolls and sighs that the term “employment branding” tends to conjure up. Don’t get me wrong… branding is important.  Whether it’s yourself or your company.  You need to think about it, [...]

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Do Something. Anything.

July 18, 2010

Lots of discussion going on in the HR blogosphere about the SHRM Annual Conference.  I wasn’t at the conference so I really can’t comment about the goings on except to say there might be some things better left unsaid.  You know, that whole “what happens in San Diego…”  But I digress. I do want to [...]

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5 Business Lessons from Watching Mythbusters

July 15, 2010

Mr. Bartender and I really enjoy the show MythBusters on the Discovery Channel.  If you’re not familiar with it, two special effects experts – Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage – recreate “myths” (read: urban legends, Hollywood effects, idioms, stuff) to see if they are true or not.  To give you a flavor of the show, [...]

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