Trying to make a difference in the ongoing drama of elation, disappointment, achievement, loss, bravery and stress that occurs at the intersection of professional and personal life.
According to the Department of Labor, 61.1% of married-couple families in 2016 had both parents working. In my counseling work, and in my role as husband to a working wife,… [more]
We are all accustomed to receiving instructions for improving our health. We know these directions by heart: eat more fruits and vegetables, get 8 hours of sleep each night, consume… [more]
It’s not a shocker to learn that a blog with a name like stress.health.business. (inaugurated in 2012) has featured more posts about stress than any other topic. However, you may… [more]
Many organizations try to boost employee productivity by using traditional analytic approaches which focus on strategic planning, goal setting and process efficiency measures. These methods reflect the belief that better… [more]
What happens when you have a winning product and/or business strategy but your managers have poor people skills? Lost opportunity is what happens. Failure to capitalize is what happens. Your… [more]
We are forgetful creatures. I’m not referring to the “senior moment” variety of forgetfulness. I’m talking about the habitual forgetting that takes place in the midst of everyday life challenges… [more]
If someone foolishly launched into a litany of excuses and rationalizations around my former colleague Nancy, she loved to proclaim: “If wishes were dishes, the whole world would be a… [more]
If you take the pleasure of getting things done at work and multiply that by the pleasure of getting better at what you do, the result is improved job satisfaction,… [more]
According to a recent survey of senior executives the success rate for major change initiatives is only 54%. Why do so many organizational change initiatives fail? Organizations are certainly aware… [more]
I met Steve Mellor in the mid-1980’s when he was a young HR professional and I was a green EAP consultant. We bonded immediately as allies and comrades learning to… [more]
“A skilled [feedback] giver is great, but mostly our lives are populated by everyone else, folks who aren’t so skilled, have their own issues, or are too busy to really… [more]
“Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement. ….get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is… [more]
The year was 1971, my first as a school psychologist in Michigan’s Willow Run School District. On April 3, the eve of the third anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King… [more]
Ethel Weiss is the primary (and sole) investigator for the longest running research project in the country on the subject of happiness and job satisfaction. When I tell you that… [more]
I usually write about the experience of working. Today I want to write about the experience of not working and the plight of the unemployed. HBO’s heart wrenching documentary, American… [more]
What a joy it is to recycle stuff that has been gathering dust. It’s not just the space it opens up, although that’s pretty satisfying. The best part of repurposing… [more]
“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” More than ninety heads… [more]
Workplaces with high levels of employee stress and anger are increasing their risk for many negative business outcomes including: Employee fatigue, concentration difficulties and diminished problem-solving abilities Diminished quality, productivity… [more]
The path to perfect is littered with failure and disappointment and should be avoided by anyone seeking self-improvement. Perfect is the enemy of good because perfect is an oversized and… [more]
Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the Washington civil rights march and Dr. Martin Luther King’s iconic “I have a dream speech.” I have listened to that speech countless times… [more]
A few years ago one of our client companies merged with their biggest competitor and they asked us to facilitate some preliminary meetings with the other management group which, until… [more]
“When you improve a little each day, eventually big things occur. When you improve conditioning a little each day, eventually you have a big improvement in conditioning. Not tomorrow, not… [more]
Maybe you have had the thought, especially in this final phase of cabin fever season: “I am losing it. The parent I want to be is leaving the building and… [more]
This week’s blog, in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, has been published on the WBUR Cognoscenti website.
Before color tv and before personal computing and long before the internet, my portal to the outside world was a glossy magazine called TV Guide. Our copy came in the… [more]
Many of us have a love-hate relationship when it comes to making changes in our life. We think a lot about wanting to eat better, exercise more, drink less, manage… [more]
Work-life balance is complicated. It’s an intricate consideration – much more than just assessing personal priorities and learning how to manage our time. It’s an Ideal, a goal and a… [more]
Who doesn’t hate the feeling of being stuck? Whether it’s stuck in traffic or stuck in a business meeting that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, the experience of being… [more]
Companies and nonprofits are attending to workplace culture in greater numbers than ever. Inspiring stories from companies like Zappos have made their way around social media circles. Further,… [more]