This HR Director's Day: A Far Cry From Leading

I am not sure what you call what I have been doing lately but I am sure it's a far cry from leading.

When I look in the mirror and see Miss Office Shiva staring back at me, I know it's time for to regroup and take a close look at how I am managing, leading and working because this is an entirely inefficient and ineffective way to run a department 

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​iStockphoto

The questions begin to flow.

What am I holding onto that I should delegate, what conversations need to be had and what expectations need to be set, and what am I doing that can be clearly be done better by someone else? Where am I building in unnecessary delays? Are we, as a department, setting priorities, focusing on what's important and all heading in the same direction?

The questions continue.

​In the positive sense of shedding old habits, is it time for us to change direction or to toss decisions we've outlived or outgrown? How do I get out from behind the desk? Could we possibly need more staff? Do I have the right staff? Do I have effective feedback and communication loops in place?

The questions never end.

What should I be seeing and what should I be hearing that I am not? What assumptions are blocking progress or what problems am I avoiding? If you could write a message to me on the white board, what would it be?

Taunting Mother Nature: A Day in the Life Sunday

Mother Nature's a peach when it comes to summer fun but when it comes to women and fitness, she's got an ax to grind. 

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​iStockphoto

It's not that I don't like a challenge but this road from zero to fit is one I am all too familiar with. You'd think I would have credits in the fitness bank for 10 years of Army early morning PT, 2 separate year long sessions with a personal trainer and the best of intentions.

Not.

The best of intentions in the world can't counter a loaf of crusty Italian bread and a stick a salty butter. It's amazing how many calories a person can eat in a day. Thanks to My Fitness Pal I saw the cold hard truth about I can blow by my entire daily allowance by lunch time without even trying hard.

If I stop exercising for a bit there's no crossing go, no collecting $100 and no benefit of the doubt on my way to easy street. There's only another muscle aching, strength building, personally challenging session of CrossFit where I am confronted with accountability. I love it and I'd choose to do it even if I didn't have to.

But I don't have a choice. I have to exercise regularly. Why? In the battle against the natural aging process, the odds are stacked against me.

But they don't have to be. Why won't Mother Nature just pony up and give us girls this one in return for our child-bearing years? ​She's a woman. She has influence. I sure wished she'd wield it more often.