The Power to Change
A few months ago, I was reading a book on time management when my husband walked in. He immediately started laughing at me because I am (quote): “ruthless at managing my time.” To be fair, he is probably right. But I love the idea of self-improvement and believe that one of the things that makes humans so very special is our ability to iterate and change.
Leading Well in Uncertain Times
With the U.S. Presidential election just a few weeks away, you can feel the tension and the unease simmering just beneath the surface. Add to that the lingering emotional and physical exhaustion from Hurricane Helene that hit much of the Southeast, and nerves are, quite simply, frayed.
Unlocking Potential: Recognizing Transformative Talent in Recruitment
One of the benefits of parenting children through grade school is that you learn all the history that you might have forgotten along the way. Take Thomas Edison, for example. You may already know that he had little formal schooling—his teacher famously told him he was “too stupid to learn anything”—but you may not know that he was also at least partially deaf.
On the Rocks in the River
Over Labor Day weekend, we took our kids white water rafting on the Lower Saluda River. Even though the rapids were more like . . . rushing water . . . than rapids, the kids were understandably nervous and concerned about falling out of the raft and getting stuck on rocks. Our guide was fantastic, though, and in her opening pep talk, said something that stuck with me.
Beyond the Buzz: Practical AI Applications for Business Leaders
"The best way to predict the future is to create it," said Peter Drucker, the father of modern management. "Easier said than done," replies every small business leader ever!
Cheerleading as a Competitive (Business) Sport
Managers make all the difference. The difference between employees staying and employees moving on. Between teams who thrive—and teams who flounder. Between hitting business goals and missing the mark.
Playing Fair
"For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction," states Newton's third law of physics, and every HR leader knows this to be true.
Pay Equity — paying two people performing the same job comparable wages — has always been important, but the past three years have made the concept of pay equity a whole lot more complex.
On Thinking Ahead (Or Playing the Long Game)
If you’ve watched The Queen’s Gambit, or one of my personal favorites, Searching for Bobby Fisher, it’s easy to see why chess (and the players who are good at it) capture our collective imagination.
Onboarding a new accountant? Now to make sure they stay . . .
You’ve recruited the best Senior Accountant you’ve ever interviewed! The offer letter is signed, the background check is cleared, and the start date is set. Whew. Now the hard work is done.. Or is it? The reality is that your first 90 days with a new hire is crucial to their long-term success.
Five Strategies to Get More Job Applicants
Unless you’re hiring for a 100% remote role, the days of a flood of applicants are long gone. There are exceptions of course, but candidates’ behaviors have changed. In recent data from iCIMS, “Job seekers have become more discriminating about where they submit their applications. With demand for workers slowing, candidates are doing their due diligence and scouring career sites before hitting ‘apply.’”
On Choices: the Good and the Bad (and Homesteading . . . sort of)
I talk with people all day, every day, who are having to make big decisions—career decisions, hiring decisions, and even life decisions. As a business leader and a mom, I am not immune to the stress that comes from making those decisions.
The Numbers Don’t Lie: What the Data Tells Us About the Labor Market
If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me about what was going on in the labor market, I would be a very rich person indeed. So, when we had the opportunity to present to a group of South Carolina CFOs in March, we did a deep dive into the labor market data. At the end of the day, the data matters a whole lot more than what we think. What does the data say?
On the Weight of Hiring
“I HATE hiring,” I recently declared to a friend while going through the throes of interviewing for Forge. He started laughing, and replied: “You do realize the irony of what you just said, considering what you do for a living.” And yes, I do.
You Belong with Me: An Era of Attracting the Right Talent
Most start-ups (and most businesses, for that matter) will tell you that a venture succeeds or fails because of the people. And we know this. Whether it’s the strategy or sales or creative that’s missing, a business will crumble without the right talent.
Measure Twice, Cut Once: A guide to writing a good job description
Crafting a good job description is a crucial first step in hiring well. Putting the time and effort into writing a good job description pays off because it forces you, the hiring manager, to really think through what this role is all about. Here we share five key tips to writing a compelling job description.
When You Realize You’re Wrong (and it’s a good thing).
My daughter hates being wrong. This is not an exaggeration; she will eat a disgusting creation of yogurt and mustard and who-knows-what to prove her point.
Two Good Options: a Difficult Place to Be
“They're both really good options,” my client said earnestly, referring to the two finalists for the job. “Both bring something different to the table, which is a hard place to be. Can we just combine them?”
On Becoming Resilient
We spend a lot of our lives avoiding hard things.
And that’s understandable, because no one actually wants bad things to happen. But it’s also ironic, because the hard things are what help us grow.
Resilience: On Shaping it and Spotting it
Resilience is a funny word. It’s squishy and nuanced, half the time we use it without knowing what it means, and it’s probably over-used in today’s world. According to Merriam-Webster, resilience is an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.
On Mother’s Day, and the Shape of Our Lives
My mom never gave me much career advice. She was many things—a wonderful homemaker, a generous hostess, a kind friend and patient teacher—but she was not a businesswoman. She passed away two years ago after a long battle with brain cancer.