What is the recipe for success in any job? I stumbled upon this great article by Chris Guillebeau, How to Stand Out in Any Job. While I think his ideas have some obstacle in some situations, the spirit of these ideas and the practical applications are fantastic. I encourage you to read his article and [...]
Archive for the ‘Leadership’ Category
You Don’t Need a Cape to Be a Superhero.
Posted in customer service, Happiness, Leadership on December 14, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Posted in Health, Leadership on December 17, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I broke my wrist again. The doctor looked at the x-ray and said, “Wow. It’s really a mess in there.” This, of course made me laugh because…really it’s inevitable that my right wrist is just going to completely fall apart at some point and his surprise just seemed funny to me. He casted my wrist [...]
Turn It Upside Down: Baltimore’s Virtual Supermarket Project
Posted in customer service, Health, Leadership on May 12, 2010 | 1 Comment »
When I was a kid, I remember a lesson in school where we were taught about optical illusions. Pictures that at first appear to be one thing; but, when you look deeper are also something else. The old lady / young woman drawing is probably one of the most commonly viewed. I was awed by [...]
Inexcusable Twitter Behavior: Why Aren’t We Beyond All of This?
Posted in courtesy, Leadership on November 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I follow a lot of blogs on technology, libraries, librarians and social networking. One of the blogs I follow is the blog of danah boyd. danah boyd is a social media researcher at Microsoft Research New England and a Fellow at the Harvard University Berkman Center for Internet and Society. She is probably the leading [...]
Fall Challenge! Give Up Gossip!
Posted in kindness, Leadership on September 24, 2009 | 2 Comments »
There is an excellent, excellent post on Tricycle magazine’s blog right now called, “7 Tips for Giving Up Gossip.” I urge you to go check it out. All of these tips are so awesome I could weep; but, instead I challenge you and even though I don’t get much commenting on this blog, I know [...]
Blame-a-palooza: Why a Culture of Blame Will Kill Innovation and Scare Off Your Customers
Posted in customer service, Leadership on August 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Stuff happens. Customers leave angry or disappointed. Grant applications are denied. Events are poorly attended. Cataloging gets backlogged. Books wait to be shelved. Printers get jammed. Computers break down. Mistakes are made both by accident and by human failure. How do we deal with these moments? In many ways, assigning blame is inevitable. It’s how [...]
Is Kindness Trending?
Posted in kindness, Leadership on August 6, 2009 | 2 Comments »
At Powells last year, I was responsible for keeping the Business section shelved and orderly. One book caught my eye: Kindness Revolution by Edward Horrell. I loved this book. At some point, I’ll write a post just about that book. For now, I’ll summarize it very, very briefly by saying that it is a book [...]
Dynamic Duo: Jenna Galley and Leona
Posted in kindness, Leadership on June 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
While attending a workshop at NJLA’s annual conference this year, I noticed a small stuffed lion seated between me and the woman to my right. The workshop presenter had us do a few little exercises with our seat mates. We introduced our selves and shared the usual bits of information: where do you work? Where [...]
Kindness is NOT a Bad Word
Posted in kindness, Leadership, tagged kindness, strength, wisdom on April 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Kindness isn’t an ally of foolishness or gullibility, but rather an ally of wisdom and courage. I found this quote from Sharon Salzberg over on the Beliefnet and found it a useful reminder to plod on in my kindness evangalism. There have been times when I have said the word kindness that I have seen [...]
