Pre-Vacation Psycho: A Day in the Life Sunday

I am wrapped tight the week before a vacation. Psycho. Plain and simple.

One moment I am doing exactly what I spoke to a group of professionals this week about not doing - reacting in the heat of the moment. The next, I am typing with one finger reacting to emails I normally would simply delete. My days blur into each other as I head in to work at the crack of dawn and head out after others have left to get "one more thing done" before I head out.

I am moving through actions, making decisions, and providing direction.

How much "stuff" can I get through my office and out to others so actions can proceed in my absence? What issues do I anticipate coming up <enter the crystal ball> so I can prepare others for them?

It's crazy I tell you.

This old soul needs to retreat, recharge, refocus and regroup. And it starts today. First stop, the St. Paul Hotel for the chocolate lovers tea with the girls - vintage hats and all.

Monday, we're heading south.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Atlantis and then snorkeling in the Bahamas may be just what the doctor ordered.

Disney cruise creatures all bouncey, smiley, giddy and in my space? Maybe not so much right now but give me a few days to unwind then I'll be up for reconnecting with creatures and folk alike. Maybe even SpongeBob. Wait, not SpongeBob - ever. Thank god he is not Disney.

See you in a week. It is a small world after all.

Photo credit iStockphoto

{HR} Leadership Is Not For The Weak

Essential competencies for high performing HR professionals include being a cultural steward, talent manager, operational executor . . . and having a thick skin.

Listen, let me just save you some time and <wasted> energy. If you are not pleased with a decision I've made or frustrated because I don't see things your way and get the urge to call me names, you'll have to do better than "obtuse and obstructionist."

Really, professionals should be able to communicate without name calling but in those cases where that doesn't happen, you have got to know . . . "sticks and stones may break my bones but names can never harm me." They used to, like when I was 4 and the big girls came up to me and taunted, "Mona Lisa, are you going to cry? Are you going to cry?" Yup, I cried, but no more.

Big girls, big words, artistic taunts and ridiculous slams aside, there is something that does catch my attention: questions about my motives, my intentions or my credibility. 

Credibility. It's the thing that keeps me up at night, has me second guessing my actions and replying my conversations. And at times, it is the thing I insert into situations where it has no place being.

What else do I know about credibility?

Well, a lot actually and I am going to be talking credibility and leadership today at the 22nd Annual ALAMN Educational Conference and Exposition Leadership Boot Camp. All very fitting because I've stepped foot in a boot camp or two back in the day.

ALAMN members and guests, welcome to the blog and I look forward to speaking with and learning from you today.