Middle managers are often dealt a difficult hand. They’re expected to play the dual role of both boss and employee and the balancing act that accompanies this type of position can be tricky to navigate. If you’re in a middle management position, you’re probably required to deal with day-to-day issues and complaints from your employees, […]

What is your first memory of feeling truly self-reliant? Maybe it was the day you received your driver’s license and the possibilities that came with the feeling of independence. Perhaps it was when you became financially independent from your parents and started paying your own bills. Whatever the example that comes to mind, self-reliance is […]

Sometimes it feels like we live in a society that thrives on giving unsolicited advice and loves to “tell” instead of “ask”. “You should do [insert task here] this way.” “You need to handle [insert situation here] by doing this.” After a while, we can feel like we’re losing our sense of autonomy or worse, […]

Think about it: how likely are you to take someone’s “advice” when they’re essentially telling you what to do? Are you more likely to act on an idea if you’ve come up with it on your own and feel that it’s YOUR decision? For most people,asking for advice sounds more appealing. The difference comes down […]

The past few years have brought so many anxiety-producing unknowns into our lives that it’s becoming difficult to remember when we weren’t dealing with these stressors. Now, it’s like we can see some light at the end of the tunnel and can finally begin to get a sense of normalcy into our lives, but we […]

With all the variables in the world today, it can seem like your agency or association is in a constant state of flux. Without the aid of a crystal ball, it may seem like planning for the future is an exercise in futility. Organizations may be tempted to wait and see what happens during times […]

So many of us are weary from the events of the last few years. Whether it’s a job loss, difficulties maneuvering the work from home/family life balance or the disappointment and loneliness that have accompanied the pandemic, we each have our own story about how these past few years have affected us. By now, everyone […]

So many of us go through the motions when it comes to our day-to-day work, but the last couple of years truly changed all of that. The way we work, the way we manage, and the way we interact are just a few of the areas that were turned upside down for so many of […]

When most of us face a challenge, our typical response is to fall back on the old ‘tried and true’ way of doing things. This is usually what we’ve learned has worked for us in the past. However, Oliver Wendell Holmes may have put it best when he said, “Man’s mind, once stretched by a […]

What a long, strange ride it has been in the last few years! If the last few years have taught us one major lesson, it’s that plans can get derailed and we must be willing to adapt. They’ve also given us an opportunity to assess our way of doing business within a new framework. For […]