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The Art of The Brag: 7 Effective Ways to Toot Your Own HornBy Mim Nelson-Gillett

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mim-headshotDo you get tongue-tied when asked about your strengths on a job interview? Are people often surprised by your skills? Would you rather eat glass than risk sounding like a braggart? If so, keep reading!

Tooting your own horn (gracefully) is a vital business competency. This age of hyper-communication does not reward obscurity. Nevertheless, most of us still don’t know half of the best things about the people around us. That’s kind of sad, isn’t it?

No one knows exactly what you can do faster, more resourcefully, more precisely, or with as few end-user problems, as you do. If your boss (or prospective boss), your clients, or your customers don’t know what you’re capable of, they may find someone else to do it. You would tell them about an issue that put them at a disadvantage, wouldn’t you? Well, they have just as much of a right to know what you’re great at.

You can get more buy-in, strengthen your network, become the go-to person in your specialty, and garner more respect and trust if you follow these four principles:

1. What you can do is only relevant to someone who needs it.

It’s about your skill, not about ”you.” Know who your audience is and target your message to their needs. You may not need to tell your coworkers you doubled your sales from last year, but the VP of marketing may benefit from knowing how you did that.

2. Give credit where credit is due.

Nobody achieves greatness alone. By acknowledging others’ contributions, you also point to your role in the achievement. It can be more powerful to let that be implied, rather than stated outright. No harm in making that acknowledgement in front of your boss, though. Read more…

Why We Struggle to Communicate (and How to Fix It)

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“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” George Bernard Shaw

Dr. Travis Bradberry

Coauthor Emotional Intelligence 2.0 & President at TalentSmart

When it comes to communication, we all tend to think we’re pretty good at it. Truth is, even those of us who are good communicators aren’t nearly as good as we think we are. This overestimation of our ability to communicate is magnified when interacting with people we know well.

Researchers at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business put this theory to the test and what they discovered is startling. In the study, the researchers paired subjects with people they knew well and then again with people they’d never met. The researchers discovered that people who knew each other well understood each other no better than people who’d just met! Even worse, participants frequently overestimated their ability to communicate, and this was more pronounced with people they knew well.

“Our problem in communicating with friends is that we have an illusion of insight,” said study co-author Nicholas Epley. “Getting close to someone appears to create the illusion of understanding more than actual understanding.”

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Three Questions to Ask and Answer Every Day | Leading from the Library

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By on December 16, 2015

Steven BellFinding fulfillment in the workplace is no easy task. Leaders and library workers should routinely ask three questions to create the library environment they and their colleagues will want to come to every day.

Libraries should be great places to work. We provide our communities with essential services that help them maximize their potential as learners, workers, parents, citizens, and whatever else they desire. The library is the place where great discoveries and life-changing revelations can happen every day. Most libraries offer respectable working conditions. So why do library workers and their leaders, often pointing fingers at each other, ask why their workplace is so toxic? Our libraries should be amazing places to work. It demoralizes staff and leaders alike when there is discontent and dysfunction. Whether it’s bullying, annoying coworkers, or feeling ignored or unappreciated, library workers can become cynical, disillusioned, and angry about their work environment. Like a nasty virus, the toxicity spreads and envelops the organization. Leaders at every level in the library must make it their responsibility to create the climate that supports a workplace where we all want to be.

THREE QUESTIONS TO ASK

Library workers at all levels in the organization know it’s a challenge to create the right environment where everyone is working as one in achieving a clearly articulated vision. It’s up to library leaders to share that vision in a compelling way. What can the rest of us do to contribute to the culture and working environment that enables us to create the library where we all want to work? I’m going to answer that question by sharing three questions that every library worker should ask of themselves each day:

  • Am I thinking like an owner?
  • What did I do to make our director or dean look good?
  • How did I make a difference for our community?

Here is why I think all three can help us unite as a staff to develop a truly engaging library work culture.  Read more…

Loyalty, Schmoyalty What do you do when you realize your devotion to your institution is not reciprocated?

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By James Dixon DECEMBER 14, 2015

Recently, I received an email from a good friend, a tenured professor on another campus, complaining about the latest indignity he had suffered at the hands of administrators.

He had made a routine request for a minor adjustment to his teaching schedule — essentially, swapping one course for another — only to have it denied for no apparent reason and with no explanation. He later learned that a junior faculty member, a “rising star” in the department, had been given the course my friend had requested, despite the department’s longstanding tradition of basing such decisions on seniority.

“I’m sick of this (expletive deleted),” he wrote. “After all I’ve done for this college and this department, all the loyalty I’ve shown over the years. Well, no more. I’m done.”

My reply was even more succinct: “What took you so long?”

You see, I came to the same conclusion several years ago, after a particularly harrowing experience in which a few of my “colleagues” ganged up on me and tried to damage my career. As I wrote at the time, they very nearly succeeded, and probably would have if I hadn’t taken certain steps to protect myself. When push came to shove, all my years of service to the institution, all my outstanding teaching evaluations, all my publications and presentations, apparently meant nothing to the college’s corporatist administrators. They showed me no loyalty whatsoever. In the aftermath, I came to realize that I, therefore, owed no loyalty to them, to the institution, or to the department. Read more…

How to Accept and Give Professional Criticism With Grace

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With deep breaths and an open mind, you’ll be armed with the knowledge to handle any situation properly.

BY DIANE GOTTESMANgetty_480347071_74147

IMAGE: Getty Images

Criticism is a fact of life and a powerful training tool when we understand how to put it to use. We will almost certainly receive criticism (constructive or otherwise) from a supervisor giving feedback and possibly from a client at some point in our professional career. It is important to prepare yourself for all types of criticism in the workplace. With deep breaths and an open mind, you’ll be armed with the knowledge to handle the situation properly.

How to Accept Office Criticism with Grace

1. Be Mindful of Your Body Language

When offered constructive criticism, pay special attention to your body language. Assume a “neutral” posture; keep your arms on the table, in your lap or a combination of both. Maintain eye contact, and be aware of your shifting weight. Avoid crossing your arms, tightening your fists, pursing your lips or rolling your eyes.

2. Arrive Prepared

Reflect back and take an objective look at your past and current performance. Have you made mistakes that have affected the company’s bottom line? Do you have a habit of arriving late or missing deadlines? If so, have an action plan that you have taken (or will take immediately) to remedy your behavior. Bring along a list of positive contributions you’ve made to move the department forward. And, whatever you do, bring a pen and paper to the meeting.

3. Remain Calm and Do Not Respond With Angry Excuses

Often our first instinct is to react defensively. Instead, pause for a moment to allow yourself time to process the critique and then respond in a calm and polished manner. If you fly off the handle when a supervisor gives you a critique, it sends a message that you are not prepared to handle pressure. However, if you accept difficult feedback with a calm and thoughtful demeanor, it shows that you can separate emotion from business – an essential skill for success in the workplace. If you need more time to respond, it is fine to calmly say, “I appreciate you bringing this to my attention and will follow-up with you on how I plan to overcome this challenge.” If you feel the feedback is unduly harsh or unfair, ask for some time to process the information while you formulate your next step.

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