Bloggertone

When times are hard and money is tight, I hear this often. The belt-tightening process seems to automatically result in ditching the creative. It’s ironic, because when anyone starts a new business, it surely springs from a creative inspiration. So, why is it that the very thing that inspired the whole thing is seen as expendable? I think it all stems from one simple fact that we really need to change if we are to move forward, pull ourselves out of recession and achieve a stable and abundant…

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Little white lie as I’m the poet and not Oscar Wilde. As we speak the Dublin City Council have a kango hammer removing his statue in Merrion Square to replace it with mine. Last week I reached for my quill and dipped it into the ink. A mist of inspiration and creativity descended and I started to write a poem. Ok enough of that – what actually inspired the poem? Dan Schawbel is a leading Personal Branding Expert in the US and he posted a discussion on LinkedIn – “Can you sum up…

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In the previous 3 posts, we looked at certain skills required to be a “Coaching Manager”: Good listening skills – Part 1 Good questioning skills – Part 2 Ability to provide effective feedback – Part 3 Ability to set goals – Part 4 – this post Ability to create action plans and see them through – Part 5 Lets simply expand on the above to include the coaching skills that will permeate through a coaching style Manager: Part 4 – Goal Setting: “If a man knows not what harbor he…

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Just to mix things up this week I have decided to make a quick video on LinkedIn for job seekers. LinkedIn is without doubt a very valuable tool.  In the US over 80% of employers are now using LinkedIn as part of their recruitment process. In Ireland LinkedIn has really taken off in the past 12 months. There are over 8,000 new members in Ireland monthly. My Tips for job seekers using LinkedIn include: Add a quality photo Add your contact details – make it as easy as possible for employers…

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Firstly (a belated) Happy New Year to All :-) Where did that decade go eh? But good to see so many ‘goal’ orientated posts on Bloggertone to help us all get started on the right foot for the next one. In the last post we looked at feedback and why many people are afraid of same and also how this fear can cause unproductive or even destructive behaviour patterns if not addressed. In order to actually take feedback onboard, as opposed to just listen to it, it generally involves change of…

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For a long time, I would get frustrated and stressed over what I labelled “poor responsiveness”.  I would apply this label to people I worked with, friends and even family members.  Mind you, not everyone got this label, only those I knew I needed to “track and follow-up” in order see a commitment carried out. This behaviour is typically associated with procrastination, but manifests itself in all aspects of life.  For example, you could be in a meeting where your…

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Growing up there were always things I didn’t like that were deemed to be good for me. How many of you hated vegetables as a child? I was a vegetable hater but now I absolutely love them. I guess living with a vegetarian helps but the real credit goes to my mother. As I moved from teens to adulthood similar scenarios (or vegetables) surfaced with tasks/actions deemed beneficial but no real desire to do them. Today I meet many jobseekers and businessmen faced with these situations. Examples…

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We all get them, don’t we. That great idea, bursting from a creative spark that emerges seductively out of left field, that will magically transform some aspect of everyone’s lives, and make us famous and rich beyond our wildest dreams. We ponder it, turn it over in our minds and build a case for its invincibility, its inevitability. It grows and becomes ever more beautiful. We grow impatient with our routine, the drudgery of our everyday putting-food-on-the-table mentality that we have…

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“Dear Greg, Thank you for your previous post “New Year’s Revolution” on Bloggertone. I have now written my goals and used your guidelines including writing my goals in the positive and will read them every week. As I wrote my goals down on paper I felt very excited and inspired about the New Year, however I must confess that my excitement has evaporated somewhat and I have started to doubt my ability to achieve the goals I have set myself. You mentioned” strategies needed to…

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I’m not convinced about New Year resolutions. There’s something about setting a target or change of behaviour for 12 months that doesn’t work. Maybe its changing priorities, a lack of momentum, losing interest or that life has changed fundamentally. We can have a tendency to give up at obstacles and to berate ourselves for another failure. And what if you achieved all your goals in the first six months…. do you sit back and chill or do you up the ante? From my experience in the business…

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