Professional Development

Much of a ResourcefulManager's success is tied to soft skills. They may not sound important, but they may be the most critical skills of all and critical in your professional development. These posts will help you stay abreast of what's working and not working.

Finally! The Truth About Why We Hate Meetings [Infographic]

by John Walston April 6, 2015

In a perfect world, every meeting would be short and to the point, start and end on time and something meaningful would get accomplished.

But in the real world, many are too long, start late and end later, and nothing really gets done.

And that’s frustrating for a lot of managers who think they have much better things to do.

In fact, a ResourcefulManager survey of 948 upper-level executives, directors, middle managers and frontline supervisors says nothing gets accomplished in 44.8% of the meetings executives and managers attend.

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Professional Development

Even Mick And Keith Argued, But Turned Disagreements Into Beautiful Music

by Rich Henson March 2, 2015

The only things Mick and I disagree about is the band, the music and what we do. – Keith Richards

Ha! So how is it, with all that dissent, that the Rolling Stones became one of the most popular and longest-surviving acts in rock music?

Disagreements are at the heart of destruction. But good people, and apparently even Keith Richards, know the value of handling disagreements favorably.

It’s true that people can disagree without being disagreeable.

With the intense turmoil on the national political landscape, this is a great time to review some of the most effective soft skills when it comes to handling real-life workplace disagreements.

But first, just a reminder that soft skills aren’t always about being soft.

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Professional Development

How To Grab Success By The Horns In 30 Seconds Or Less

by John Walston January 26, 2015

Few skills are more important in this age of info-overload than delivering a knock-out elevator speech – on demand.

You have got to have one. You have 30 seconds. Go!

Summing up the unique aspects of what it is that you do – in a way that excites others – is a fundamental skill, whether you are raising funds for the local soup kitchen, speculative capital for a risky start-up, or just selling yourself.

You can have a jaw-dropping logo, the perfect slogan, the most dazzling brochure and hottest Web site … even a great smile. But if your elevator pitch is out of date, you’ll swing and miss.

The tried-and-true elevator speech takes upfront practice to get it right, and ongoing work to keep it sharp.

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Professional Development

When Bad Management Is Like Getting A Punch In The Face

by John Walston November 10, 2014

I came upon this item today and it stopped me in my tracks.

It read: “Punch someone in the face, you go to jail. Be a bad manager who ruins employees’ lives for years and you face no consequences. Why is that?”

It was posted on the blog of Alexander Kjerulf, also known as The Chief Happiness Officer. You can go there and give your opinion, if you like.

But before you do, read this quick account of a friend who works at a crazy-busy pediatrics office. It is a textbook case of how one manager’s poor people skills can upset and deflate years of harmony and productivity.

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