image credit: scottfeldstein
Family, Friends, Followers, and those I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting:
Happy Xmas.
It’s strange to me how Lennon and Ono’s protest is now a Christmas standard, covered by everyone from The Fray to Diana Ross. The words flow out easy for me, but the meaning has eroded a bit, worn by familiarity.
I guess in some ways Christmas feels worn too.
About four months ago, almost to the day, I fell off the face of the social media earth.
Originally it was because I was moving from St. Louis to Nebraska and starting a new job as director of marketing for Concordia University, Nebraska.
But then apartment my flooded. And then I had a pre-cancerous mass removed from my large intestine. And then I found out I had ulcerous legions on the lower part of my esophagus. So I was a bit distracted.
Disclaimer: This is not another self-help pitch.
Given Amazon returns over 31,000 books on stress, and WebMD has a “Stress Management Center,” there are plenty of other more qualified places you could go to for “tips and tricks.”
This is about stress and work, more specifically, your life at work.
This manifesto is a statement of the principles by which I intend to live. If you believe the same, I’d invite you to sign it by adding a comment below.
Image Credit: United Nations Development Programme (uploaded 01/14/2010)
In watching the horrid events unfold in Haiti (and yes, those boxes in the photo above are coffins), I wasn’t just upset, I felt helpless. Other than donate money, what could I do?
When I peeked into Gretchen Jameson’s office this morning (@gmjameson), the answer became glaringly obvious.
Gretchen expressed how upset she was that many social media and communication through leaders had not turned their attention to the crisis. She wondered how can we go on blubbering about this and that case study, paying little deference to the devastation in Haiti.
photo credit: Ryan Holst
One of the smartest people I know, is of all things, a truck driver named Jim. He’s been driving for over 30 years, long enough that people jokingly say he bleeds diesel fuel. I’ve taken the time to listen to his advice from time to time, and here are some of most important things I’ve learned:
One of Jim’s oft-repeated precepts is “use the right tool for the job.” That means if you need a screwdriver, don’t try to use a knife.
Image Credit: Igor Kasalovic
With my wife’s grandmother’s death this past week, I was out of the office for a few days. As my luck runs, a relatively serious issue came up at work that required my professional attention. So in the midst of grieving with my family, I was furiously thumbing my iPhone for updates. As one co-worker put it, “It’s the paradox of being ‘always’ connected – makes it hard to feel like you can disconnect.” And she was exactly right.
Just another day at the office.
Today I may have worn a giant bee costume, and our CEO and my director may have seen me prancing around in it.
But it didn’t matter. It was casual day and everyone who saw it cracked up.
My friend Emily (@ebarlean21) picked it up last night, and I can’t thank her enough.
Sometimes in the midst of the stress of business it’s good to take the time to laugh at ourselves and with our coworkers.
