Laura Wolfe Coaching LLC

Supporting the Evolution of Careers, Leaders,

& Climate Consciousness

Be the Lighthouse & Be the Forklift

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lighthouse beagle channel argentina

Here are two simple but powerful metaphors for managers.

Be the Lighthouse:

  • enable those around you to safely reach their destination
  • light the path to the ultimate goal
  • keep employees from crashing into obstacles along the way
  • guide and encourage others
  • be a beacon of safety and security during dark and stormy periods

Be the Forklift:

  • lift up your employees as needed
  • be a source of strength when there is too much for one person to handle
  • help others move forward with their heavy load

This management wisdom comes from Kundalini yoga, Yogi Bhajan and gifted yoga teacher Amy Pickholtz.

What do you think?

Writing

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Do you hear people saying the written word is dead? In what world is that the case? I find myself reading and writing more than ever. Those I know are always sharing things with me to read which suggests they are consuming much written info too.

Reading material I peruse daily includes e-mail, blog posts, messages, newsletters, articles, resumes, linkedin, facebook and twitter updates, plus books and e-books.

A lot of technically proficient people are out there, many with advanced degrees and kick-butt experience. The ones I see having great success are those who can communicate what they know most effectively and writing well is a big part of that success.

It’s a skill to cultivate.

 

What do you think?

It’s a Lot

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SirMixaLotDec06Managing performance is managing relationships. Each employee relationship is significant. If you have three employees, you are in three significant relationships.

If you have a dozen employees, you are in a dozen significant relationships. Fifty employees, fifty relationships. Five hundred employees, five hundred relationships. Five thousand? Fifty thousand? Five hundred thousand?

How good are your relationships and your relationship skills? If you’re not sure or know you need to improve, consider coaching.

 

What do you think?

Thanks for reading!

Love/Hate Relationships

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I have several; one in particular with Wal-Mart. Being a middle-aged southern woman raised by depression-era parents, shopping there is practically in my DNA. I do like to save money. But the service is usually so awful, I want to scream. About five years ago, a bad experience with an employee forced me to boycott Wal-Mart for two years. I even wrote a letter to Bentonville and spoke to the district manager.

On the other hand, Wal-Mart provides great examples of organization behavior on such an incredible scale it can boggle the mind. Sam Walton’s Made in America combined with the CNBC documentary The Age of Wal-Mart illustrates most of the topics in an Intro to Org Behavior textbook.

You can find a news story about Wal-Mart nearly every day. Some are good and some are bad. It is fascinating. The alleged Mexican bribery scandal is one of the latest. Years ago Wal-Mart really botched their decisions about employee health care and the message they shared about it. But, demanding reduced packaging from their vendors has had a huge environmental impact. And I’ll never forget the post-Katrina Fortune Magazine cover: Government Broke Down. Business Stepped Up. How Wal-Mart, FedEx and Home Depot got the job done after Katrina (October 3, 2005).

A few weeks back, on the same day the news reported Wal-Mart going into crisis mode because of the bribery scandal, I saw a story about Wal-Mart giving $2 billion to end hunger in America. I’m sure that was orchestrated but again, really big, amazing examples of organization behavior.

I don’t think Wal-Mart is completely terrible or entirely wonderful but I do believe it is important to look at all sides of an issue or an entity. The world is too complex nowadays to see things as flat or either black/white or purely good/bad.

Other love/hate relationships of mine:
Fried food
High heels

What do you think?