Articles

Hand drawn light bulb in blue ink on a yellow Post-It note.

Learning by Thinking: How Reflection Aids Performance

January 21, 2020

Knowledge is an important element of productivity. If follows that the acquisition of knowledge is equally important to your long-term success. But how do you learn? And how do you find time?

A 2014 research paper titled “Making Experience Count: The Role of Reflection in Individual Learning” offers some keen insights.

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Stylized basketball

It takes a team…

January 14, 2020

Basketball is a beautiful game. When played well, five players move and think as a single hive-mind in real time. Despite having its share of big talent and marque players, it is a team sport down to the last player on every bench.

No one knew the importance of teamwork better than Dean Smith, the legendary coach of the North Carolina Tarheels for 36 years.

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A classy and retro looking calendar icon with a clock

The Rhythms of Productivity – Part I: Overview

December 30, 2019

Productivity is hard. Most people overthink it, or worse, try to copy what someone else does. It’s tempting to think what works for others will work for us. Oh, if that were only true. Productivity is a beast that everyone must tame in their own way.

This is part I of a five-part series.

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Extraverted Man

Debunking the myth that extraverts make better networkers

November 25, 2019

The world is awash in myths and bad advice about networking. The most frustrating of all might be the myths that involve the notion of extraversion, often prodding those of us of the introvert persuasion to “just be more extraverted.” While it’s absolutely true that you must be visible to be successful, building professional relationships in a meaningful way is infinitely more nuanced than simply being more extraverted.

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How to Craft a Great Résumé / LinkedIn Profile

November 6, 2019

Hiring managers don’t really care what you’ve done. They may ask about it, but it’s not what they’re trying to figure out. What they care about is what you’ve learned and what you’re ready for. Here’s how spell those out in your work history.

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Red Dice

On Luck, Success, and Our Inherent Interconnectedness

October 21, 2019

Life — and success — contain a high degree of luck, randomness, and serendipity. It’s not just me that thinks so. Researchers are proving what our intuition has been telling us for generations. A study out of the University of Catania in Italy showed that the most successful people are not the most talented, just the luckiest.

Persistence, fueled by ambition, and a stroke of good fortune are often all that separate the the high-rollers from the homeless. But you have to try. Where would you be if you didn’t even try?

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My First Professional Review

October 10, 2019

My first professional review.

“…a strong case for learning how to network”
“…concrete actionable strategies”
“…a thoughtful and detailed self-help work.”
“…a solid writer with an energetic voice”

Kirkus Reviews

I couldn’t be more pleased. Read the full review…

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Art for Cold Shower Podcast

Interview on The Cold Shower Podcast

October 4, 2019

A millenial and a baby boomer take a broad look at networking, leadership, college, student debt, and honoring the value that people bring to our lives.

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Podcast Interview with Angee Linsey

September 25, 2019

It was a delight to be interviewed by the talented Angee Linsey for her new show Dare to be Deliberate. She is a gifted show host and a savvy career coach.

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Hand drawn steps with the steps in a hiring decision.

The Evolution of a (Hiring) Decision

September 18, 2019

From the perspective of the hiring manager, finding the right person to fill a job opening can be an arduous process. When we’re on the candidate side of the table, we lose sight of this complexity. Our goal is to get a job and, as they say in baseball, we “swing for the fences” at every step. We say things like “I would love to work here” before we know much at all about the role, the team, the company, or the compensation. We confuse our end game (get a job) with the incremental objective of moving forward in the interview process. We allow our primary goal to blind us to incremental goals.

The key is to move yourself along the process one step at a time.

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