Motivated Innovation

Five years ago, Jodie Valade of The Plain Dealer wrote an article about Joe Haden making his presence felt throughout Northeast Ohio . As a new player in town, Haden did his part in attending different charity events and sporting events while also creating other opportunities to interact with fans. His father stated: "You'd think all kinds of marketing guys were behind it, but it's just Joe being Joe. He's a good kid and he likes to have fun. He's done a better job than any marketing firm could." I was pretty impressed. Based on this article and other stories I had heard, Haden had established himself as a good role model for networking in business and social settings. When I worked in a sales and marketing job a couple years ago, I kept a printed copy of this article at my desk and reread it regularly. What networking lessons can we learn from Joe Haden? 1) Be open to networking. Haden: "I say yes a lot more than I say no. I like interac

"Say" by John Mayer was the theme song for the 2007 film The Bucket List . I actually just saw the film for the first time this morning. While it got mixed reviews, I really enjoyed it; I found it to be a very heartwarming movie. When I was younger, the concept of a bucket list seemed to only be about far out, one-off, random activities that people hoped to do at some point in their lives. Whether talking to adults or children, people often talked about extreme activities such as skydiving, bungee jumping, or climbing a mountain or exotic trips such as going on a Caribbean cruise or traveling through the Hawaiian islands. Over the years, I have learned that bucket lists are not just about heart pounding adventures. There are numerous goals that people have that are quite thrilling to them, even if they would come across as simple or mundane to other people. As the movie The Bucket List  showed, some of the best goals are simple yet profound gestures that touch the live

*Originally published on the blog for the Greater Toledo Area Chapter of the Association for Talent Development (GTAC-ATD) in 2016.  I start with the disclaimer that I am not a botanist. I never had pets growing up, so my mom’s house plants were like my pets. I helped water them when I was younger until I was promoted to helping my dad with mowing the lawn. I eventually learned more about flowers and landscaping when working in city maintenance for a couple of summers. With that said, how are employees like plants? What can we learn from plant growth and apply to employee talent development? Simply put: like plants, employees need proper resources and a good environment in order to survive and grow. Most house plants need water, sunlight, and heat to grow. With proper amounts of these resources, these plants can grow from small seeds into big, tall plants. In many cases, house plants need to be moved to bigger pots in order to continue living. That is, their roots contin

In browsing my LinkedIn and Facebook feeds this week, I came across a couple video clips of Steve Harvey. In one clip, Harvey was speaking with Oprah Winfrey; in the other clip (shown above), he was talking on his own talk show. In both videos, Harvey spoke about pursuing dreams. Everyone has hopes and dreams. Likewise, each one of us has different gifts--different talents and skills--that we have to offer to our families, our friends, and the rest of society. Some people may help nurture and harness your dreams. On the other hand, other people may make fun of your dreams, even bringing you down in public. The story Harvey shares in the above video is both sad and inspirational. Thankfully, he stayed true to his dreams and his gifts, listened to his father, and became the successful comedian and humanitarian that he is today. Over the past several months, I have been thinking about a new mantra: "Lead with your bucket list." While I do not have all the answers I need

*Originally published on the blog for the Greater Toledo Area Chapter of the Association for Talent Development (GTAC-ATD) in 2016.  There is a long-standing adage that states: “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” While this saying has been widely accepted across many generations, is it completely accurate? Sure, learning to do something new can be quite the challenge. As humans, we have a number of habits and patterns of behavior—of course, there is a long-standing adage for that, too. As we become locked into these habits and routines, any deviation from the norm can add stress to all parties involved and lead to mistakes being made. As a result, people not only fear making mistakes but also fear the concept of ‘change’.   It should be noted that these difficulties in learning something new occur regardless of age or experience level. In the workplace, it is critical to continue to believe in employees and not give up on their ability to learn new skills and respons