When I first started working in an office, someone wise passed down this sage advice, “Make friends with the custodians and IT staff and your life here will be a piece of cake.” This turned out to be some of the best advice I’ve ever received. The custodial staff knows where everything is and theRead… Read more »
The weakness of August has now rolled into September, historically the worst month of the year. As the VIX sits near 30, which is a dangerous level, stocks are vulnerable for another panic-like sell-off. It’s possible we will see a bottom in September but first the market seems to want to test the August lows,Read… Read more »
Innovation and initiative are great talents for federal employees to exude every day. The ideas that you generate today can lead to process improvement, reduced expenses as well as improved customer service. Yet the road to develop, design and implement great ideas can be a challenging one. The ability to create, implement and manage newRead… Read more »
The Black Lives Matter movement has spawned a new crusade called All Lives Matter. Think about it for a second. Do all lives matter? If all lives really mattered, we would not need any movements at all. Let’s face it. All lives do not matter. This is something we have known for a long time.Read… Read more »
As woman in the workplace it’s hard not to let the double standards and stereotypes of women in power effect how you interact with co-workers and your approach to leadership. According to the Pew Research Center Report, Women and Leadership: Public Says Women are Equally Qualified, but Barriers Persist, the majority of Americans believes womenRead… Read more »
What if leaders wrote their resumes like their obituaries? Would future employers know them better? Could they identify their dreams, energies and passions as well as skills, knowledge and abilities? Would employers know if these candidates? • Served others rather than being served. • Developed people rather than controlled people. • Tried to impact peopleRead… Read more »
If you’ve ever worked on a website project, you know one of the first questions a designer asks is: What are your favorite websites? But, it’s not always easy to come up with a list of the best websites. Great websites have to be memorable, modern, unique, and free of frustrating glitches—no small feat for mostRead… Read more »
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been talking about how federal agencies use social media platforms, and more specifically, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. There are a ton of other sites out there that speak to various groups of people or have particular uses. Because it’s important for government to reach its audience in theRead… Read more »
Have you said some version of these words recently? “I can’t trust him.” “My trust has been broken.” “We can’t put trust in them anymore.” These refrains are common and heartbreaking. In both its presence and absence, trust is a critical and yet also often elusive quality of effective working relationships. Being able to trustRead… Read more »
I recently attended the Association of Municipalities Ontario (AMO) Annual Conference, at which the sharing economy was top of mind for many policymakers. While the sharing economy presents many opportunities, governments in Ontario and elsewhere have been slow to embrace it and adequately address the inevitable challenges. What is the sharing economy? Noah Zon, PracticeRead… Read more »