I know what you’re thinking. I need to find my breath? Set an intention? Give me a break. I’m at work. I’ve spent most of my professional career waking up each day visualizing a pie: You can’t eat the whole thing at once, you’ve got to take it one slice at a time. Sometimes I’llRead… Read more »
Concert pianist Harriett Thompson, 92, became the oldest person to run a 26.2 mile race when she crossed the finish line at the San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon on May 31, 2015. She stole the record from Gladys Burill, now 97, who finished the Honolulu marathon in 2010. Burill was 92 years, 19 daysRead… Read more »
“At meetings, we try to sit as far apart from each other as possible,” Jim, who is married to one of my other colleagues, Sue, told me. “In the office, people assume when they are talking to one of us they’re talking to both of us, but we make a point to act like anyRead… Read more »
One of my colleagues starts off his weekly staff meetings with a Mad Lib. “I love to laugh at work,” he said. “But you need to do it in a way so that people don’t think you’re a goofball and can’t tell the difference between sarcasm and your seriousness.” In fact many people think theRead… Read more »
Without knowing the context, when the New York Times quoted Yankees general manager Brian Cashman saying, “We’re trying to build a more perfect beast,” it’s unlikely the average person would know he was talking about nutrition. Yet the Yankees are not the first team in Major League Baseball to bring a nutritionist onto the roster.Read… Read more »
When I interview candidates for vacant Civil Service positions, at some point in the conversation, the candidate asks, “Will I have the opportunity to travel overseas?” Traveling internationally for work, whether you are in the public or private sector, can feel like a perk. Yet often the purpose of the trip is integral to your jobRead… Read more »
For so many of us in the professions, we’ve spent our adult work lives acquiring and perfecting skills that are designed to take us on a path to success. But as a Civil Service officer, what happens when we get to the top of our career ladders? We’re at the highest grade and we’ve essentiallyRead… Read more »
I was a detailee in the Bureau of Consular Affairs in the summer of 2008 when the office managing director walked by my desk and told me to ask my boss to be at TF3 in 30 minutes. “And make sure he takes the Colombia hostages file,” she added. My boss had gone out ofRead… Read more »
A few weeks ago I started reading Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle That Set Them Free and began to think more than ever about the need to enhance resilience. Granted, miners accept the obvious risks of entering a mine so their need toRead… Read more »
You know there are going to be those colleagues who always have a bowl of candy sitting on their desks or who bring donuts into the break room on Monday morning just after you’d set your alarm to hit the gym but slept in. If you view the candy bowl as a passive-aggressive attempt atRead… Read more »