#i certainly have more empathy for our employees than a lot of management at other stores do

[orcelito]

Ok flare of violent rage is canceled. Working supervisor says she's gonna b fine bc delivery is turned off & it's slow rn. So I won't have to ruin my day's plans. But MAN I'm still so fucking done with the employees who quit with no notice. Like come on man. We're not a giant mega store that can just make that up no problem. There's only like 15 of us Total so u quitting no notice can kinda b a Big fucking hassle lmao

[autisticandroids]

your endverse cas post… your courage. when i got on spn tumblr and endverse cas was everyone’s favorite scruffy guy i was like Shocked cuz i haven’t read DTA and i Only knew him as sexually exploitative guru cas. i was like hello

(re: this post, and the other one i saw that inspired me to re-reblog it)

so i actually don't think this can be laid at seperis' door. it was just the same in 2013. if anything, dta is actually better about this than most endverse cas fics because dta cas manages to at least be very weird. like he's not fanon endverse cas, and he's also actually deviated so far from the canon that i would say it's reasonable to think of him as more... inspired by endverse cas (and canon cas as well) than actually slotting into the end as an episode. none of this is a knock against dta by the way. i have some problems with the fic but i am NOT immune to dta cas, i think he's wonderful and a pretty fresh take on a stale topic. actually, the singular fic that has the most interestingly unpleasant endverse cas i have ever read is also extremely reimagined, and this works to its benefit. you will find no criticism of explicit reimaginings here. i think mainstream fanon is much worse about flattening and woobifying endverse cas than dta, which just changes him in interesting ways. like, most endverse cas fics, long before dta existed... ok i think there are several factors that contribute to his woobification.

the first and most important is... well, fans frequently shave the rough edges off their male faves in terms of misogyny. this happens to like, every man. certainly dean, sam, and cas all get this treatment, but so do like. most male characters in most fandoms. this is partly because for majority-women transformative fans, casual sexism makes lots of (even most) male characters difficult to like on a visceral level, and it's easier to just ignore it than find someone else to attach to. it's also partly because the victims of that casual sexism are usually totally dehumanized by the narrative. like, they exists as props for an episode, or a scene, or a single joke, and the show tells us not to care about them. like, in free to be you and me, in the episode, cas looking deeply into chastity's eyes and saying that thing about her father is meant to be funny. the punchline of the joke is that cas is dumb and doesn't know how to act around women. we are not encouraged to empathize with chastity: the music stings make this scene comic and silly, the reaction shots are all of dean being flabbergasted by cas' ridiculousness, we see the consequences which are experienced by dean and cas, we have no idea what happens to chastity. the whole thing is tied up with an adorable bonding moment in the alley behind the brothel. it's all played as harmless silliness, and, crucially, we are only supposed to pay attention to our protagonists. chastity is a prop, we never even learn her real name. nothing about the shape of the narrative around her invites our empathy. so you could be forgiven for never ever once in a million years considering that if a strange man who none of the employees had ever seen before walked into a brothel and started listing intimate personal details about one of the employees, he is going to appear to be a dangerous stalker. this is of course a misunderstanding, cas is innocent here. but it never gets cleared up. is chastity scared after that? does she triple check her deadbolt every night? does she end up so paranoid that she moves apartments, to a worse place with mold on the walls and a rodent infestation? we don't ask these questions because the narrative tells us not to care, partly because of sexism and partly because supernatural has the worst case of protagonist syndrome i've ever seen. basically we don't see the consequences of our main characters' casual misogyny, so it's easier to ignore.

the second thing is that 5x04 is so explicit in painting endverse dean as Bad and endverse cas as a victim. like it's all about dean's guilt: he sees the state cas is in in the endverse and blames himself, and the narrative conspires to have him blame himself. he sees the cruel, vicious thing he himself becomes in the endverse and hates himself, and the narrative conspires to make him hate himself. this is often taken to extremes in fandom, where endverse dean is painted as directly victimizing endverse cas, when that doesn't seem to actually be the case in the episode, that's just dean's control and self-blame issues talking. he blames himself for cas' unhappiness because it was his obligation to prevent it and allowing it to happen is shirking his duties, not because he literally caused it. but because the narrative frame wants us to see cas as Victimized, we are only encouraged to see how he hurts himself, not other people.

the third thing is that endverse cas really does make a compelling sadboi! like, he is so aggressively queercoded, and he's so sad, and there's this insane implication that dean is cheating on him/has cheated on him, and he has all these hammy, tropey markers of someone whose life is ruined. like he is very compellingly tragic! and people see that and they hone in on the tragedy and they make him a woobie and ignore his less likable aspects. and also he's just begging to be categorized under the drug-addicted sad gay slut trope, unfortunately. and like. because people see him this way, as tragic and darling and pathetic, they tend to not pay attention to the harm he might cause other people.

[rankakiu]

Thoughts of the Droid: Joker (2019)

Hello people from Tumblr! How have they been in all this time? As always, I hope very well. I will begin by saying that it was really in my plans to see the film of It: Chapter II; however, due to various circumstances, I could not see in the cinema. However, I compensated, watching another movie that shares a feature with It: both films have a clown as a great antagonist. Only the latter is more disturbing, since it does not need an extra dimensional being, but a human disguised as a clown, which in itself is more disturbing. On this occasion I bring to you all my impressions and opinions of the Joker movie, the second film that Warner and DC have released this year and which (obviously) has a plausible origin for the villain and nemesis par excellence of Batman.

Could it be that this movie continues with the hit streak of DC and Warner? Or is it a movie that had a very high expectation and ends up disappointing own and strangers? Stay in my review to find out.

WARNING: NOT SPOILER-FREE. Read at your own risk.

To start, what did I think of the movie? Short answer: simply magnificent and fascinating. Now let's go into the review in more detail. 

Characters: What to say about this thing? Each of the characters has been thought carefully and although we do not see much of them, at least they fulfill very well their function of being support characters and even some of them serve as a catalyst to further explore the mind of our protagonist. None of these characters will leave you indifferent and also make the movie a more pleasant experience, due to their good performances.

Of course, I could not ignore our protagonist, Arthur Fleck, played by the great Joaquin Phoenix, who once again consolidates himself as an actor of excellent quality, in addition to demonstrating his talent to his full potential.

In this movie, he interprets (as I mentioned lines above) a man in his forties named Arthur Fleck, a poor unhappy man and that life does not treat him at all well. To top it off, he suffers from a peculiar disorder: he laughs uncontrollably when he suffers certain levels of stress and / or anguish. Basically, when he laughs, it is when he ironicly manifests his pain and suffering. And certainly, in the scenes where he laughs that way, it is where Phoenix's acting quality is most noticeable, since while he laughs, his face is disfigured in gestures of extreme bitterness and pain.

If there is something that the film does quite well, it is to explore the tormented psychology of the character, while offering a possible origin and reason why it became the iconic “crime clown” of Gothic City. Throughout the film, we see him resisting as much as he can the attacks and ill-treatment he suffers from a society that cannot and does not want to understand him; we see him slowly succumb to his madness and dark desires, pushed more than anything for days full of disappointment, bitterness and disinterest on the part of his fellow men. Thus, the film knows how to balance these two aspects that manage to give the character its own mythology, while paying a well-deserved tribute by taking certain elements of comics and stories that are already legendary in their own right.

Story: A story, which despite a somewhat slow pace, manages to keep the viewer's interest for about two hours. And it is not for less, since the history has been meticulously planned and well conceived and carried out. It's a story that doesn't bore you at all, and that really leaves you wanting more. It's funny, since, even long before the trailers, we all knew in advance that it would be a story of the character's origin, so we knew that eventually Arthur Fleck would become the Joker. What really left us intrigued and made us go to the movie theaters was the premise of seeing how he became the clown of crime, whose motives he had to let himself be carried away by his madness and had such a unique metamorphosis. Again, the film tells that story precisely and brutally.

And how to start a story with so much potential? Simple, through a scene, where we see Arthur make up as a clown to go out on another work day and while preparing, we see our protagonist break emotionally for a few moments, where he forces himself to smile and while he smiles he spills a Treacherous tear, shows palpable suffering that has to deal with daily and somehow manages to resist almost heroically. But reality and life constantly inflict wounds on his being.

Throughout history we see many evidence of this: we have that, while Arthur does his job, a band of brats steal a sign and Arthur pleadingly asks people for help, who ignores him in that dehumanized way and not according to that, the same band of brats beat him up.

Or how about the scene where one of his co-workers, Randall, gives him a gun so carelessly and that he lost his job - that despite everything, he loved - and his partner decided to wash his hands , before admitting his mistake?

We also have the case in which Arthur fervently tries to fulfill his dream of being a comedian and unfortunately not only does not succeed, but also Murray Franklin, his idol and role model openly mocks him.

But without a doubt, the hardest blow he suffered was when he learned that everything, ALL OF HIS LIFE, until now had been a lie. Finding out that he was adopted only to satisfy a narcissistic desire of his adoptive mother, that his own guardian allowed him to be abused in various ways and that his origin is completely uncertain create an emotional dent in him, since it has been given realize that his life - in his own words - has been a joke in its entirety. In my opinion, this is one of the most emotional and heartbreaking scenes of the film, since that is where we see Arthur laugh more uncontrollably than ever, while shedding tears and his gesture is of such extreme disappointment and pain, that one as a spectator, you can feel a total empathy with the character, despite knowing that he will become a murderous villain.

Another scene to highlight in the story, is when Arthur, already become the Joker, is featured in the show of his now former idol Murray. That is where The Joker, stopping to read for a few seconds a thought he wrote long ago ("I just hope my death makes more sense than my life"), is that he finally decides what he wants to do and what being he wants to become .

And is that previous scenes, Arthur is seen rehearsing his entrance and his act to the show, where we clearly see that he aimed to commit suicide in order to end his life so tragic.

In my opinion, when he reads those lines of his thought, he changes his mind and decides that he will now be forcefully heard and will do what he pleases and brings his own happiness and control of his life. It is also in this scene where there is a monologue that seems quite interesting to me, since Arthur rants against society that abandons not only the patients with mental disorders, but also the poor and the most needy people. It is, in its purest sense, a passionate speech, full of anger and resentment against society that, unconsciously, led him to become an executioner, now free from the bonds and ideas of good and bad with what society intended to retain him. And now the executioner intends to torture this society, which ironically now cries out for mercy when never had it in the first place with a human being like him.

Also in this scene is where the Joker gives another equally interesting speech, and it is that to some extent he is right in describing society as easily manipulable, since in his own words, that society was shocked by the death of the three Wayne business employees, without even knowing how they really were. Recall that behind the scenes, the three subjects were behaving like real patanes, harassing an innocent woman. In part, their deaths are brutal and to some extent an exaggerated punishment. But this must also be considered: at what point would these three have reached if Arthur had not been present? What limits would have been exceeded? An interesting reflection that gives a lot to think about.

Another point in favor of history, is that it not only focuses on the psychology and evolution of the main villain, but also manages to sustain, showing a dark side of society and especially the eternal struggle of social classes, especially The poor against the rich. Just remember that in the movie, these social classes make their position very clear: the rich condemn the crimes that they have done against them. The poor are full of joy for those acts that they consider pure and expeditious justice.

But…

Did it really happen everything that defined Arthur as the Joker?

Because in fact, in the same movie (and in various theories hanging around the internet) there are several clues that would confirm that the whole story we witnessed as spectators would be false. Some say that all their history is false and others maintain that only parts of it. And one might think that that little detail ruins the movie completely.

In this case, I would not think so.

And it is because of how the character is designed from the beginning. Basically the Joker is one of those characters who, as long as we knows less about his past, is much better, since it is part of his essence, being an entity of chaos whose origin is enigmatic and mysterious, a whole unknown. And if in truth his whole story is ambiguous or it didn't happen the way him told us, his past doesn't matter. What matters is precisely that we have been shown how his madness dragged him into becoming a criminal.

The story definitely gives a lot of fabric to cut from and is very worthy of analysis in many facets. The story, along with the characters - especially the protagonist - is the best of the film, and therefore it is a film that has no waste of seeing again and again.

Action and Visuals and special effects: Well ... where to start? Because if you ask me, I doubt that this film has been a great edition of special effects. I do not deny that I have one or another, but most of all the film is beautifully guided with the environments, the color palette and lights and especially a great script, so it is not necessary great effects. As for the action, the film has good sequences but they are very scarce and when they occur they are usually ephemeral. But do the film need action? Of course not, since it focuses on the character and his circumstances.

In conclusion, Joker, is a film very worth seeing and that has already become one of the best DC films, showing that in truth, when they want, they can achieve these wonderful results and that even overshadow their eternal rival Marvel. Therefore, I give this movie 4.5 out of 5 jokers. Beyond that, this film presents a new scheme that, if exploited in a good way, will create a genre in the superhero films: supervillain movies. And that is one of the greatest achievements of the film.

Definitely a highly recommended movie to watch and a very deserved achievement for DC and Warner. Hopefully they stay on this good path.

Greetings

Rankakiu

[lakecountylibrary]

What degree does someone have to have in order to be called a librarian if they don't have the job title librarian? What is a typical day like for library employees of any position?

Good questions! Grab a snack, this got a little long.

What degree do you need to be calleda librarian:

Here at LCPL we require everyone withthe librarian job title to have their MLS (Master of LibraryScience). However, that’s not true of all libraries. Some librariesmay only require an MLS for the higher positions, like directors or admin, so someone with a bachelor’s could certainly be called alibrarian in some cases.

We also have Assistant Librarians.Assistant Librarians may not have an MLS. They might be working towardit, or not, but a bachelor’s degree is sufficient for this position.

We do require Assistant Librarians (andmany other positions) to be working toward their librarycertification, but that’s a state requirement - it may vary state tostate. (Here in Indiana, qualifying for your certification requiresearning a certain number of Library Education Units, which you getby going to classes, watching webinars, or attending training relatedto your job. The number of units you need depends on your position,but the state provides a LOT of opportunities to earn them and it’sgenerally pretty easy to end up with way more than you need.)

TL;DR: it depends on the library! But honestly, to most people, if you work in a library you’re a librarian ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

What is a typical day like forlibrary employees in different positions:

I asked the whole Tumblr team to tossin their two cents since we’ve got people from lots of differentpositions contributing to this blog. Not everyone has gotten back to me yet since we’re all working different schedules, but I didn’t want to leave you hanging. If I hear back from more people, I’ll add on to this post.

As you might expect, librarystaff like words so it got a little long. We’ll add a Read More to save your dash. Here’s what we’ve got:

Chris (Librarian, Branch Head):My#1 tip - learn how to plunge an overflowing toilet without gettingyour shoes wet.

My actual advice -

A typical day is dealing with whateverthe library users throw at you. So, there’s a lot of variety and youhave to like working with people of all types.

Sarah (Programming & CollectionPerformance Librarian):Hmm…be prepared to take whatever isthrown at you on a daily basis. Whether that’s:

 a patron who has nevertouched a computer before being told that they must apply for a jobonline (and they need a library card, e-mail address, resume, and alot of hands-on help for every step) 

a patron with a referencequestion about how to burn up human bodies (no joke, thank goodness Iremembered this patron had a class on criminal forensics but didn’tknow how to phrase a question)

a teen program that you put yourheart and soul into where no one showed up (or the reverse, a teenprogram you put your heart and soul into - and far more people thanyou were able to handle showed up). 

Patience is key.

You’re also often the first place aperson who has just gotten a diagnosis from a doctor, and needsresources on how to manage it, goes. Empathy and understanding isalso key, and a willingness to go the extra mile so that yourpatrons know that they’re getting the most up-to-date and verifiedinformation.

Your library is a place where peoplecan also find connection - young parents looking for support andunderstanding from other parents at storytime, that lonely teen atyour program finally finding another teen with the same enthusiasmfor manga, members of a book club who have kept attending for years -and not just for the books.

You’ve got to plan long-range and beable to handle spur-of-the-moment situations. You will deal withpeople who are the kindest souls and the most reverent readers ofbooks, and the person driving a new Mercedes-Benz who pitches aliteral tantrum over a ten-cent fine. You’ll evaluate databases,choose new materials for the library, plan programs, and connect withcommunity members who can introduce the rest of the community to newideas, music, art, discussion, etc.

You’ll help people find thecorrect legal documents, students find the resources they need,introduce local businesspersons to databases that can revolutionizetheir business plan. You’ll need to adapt to new forms of technology- because your patrons will have questions about it. You’ll also needto be able to smile and give a tactful response when you get thatfamiliar question, “Hasn’t the internet replaced libraries?”

Beth (Librarian, Branch Head):

The library works as a team–allpeople/positions are important. I started as a clerk with my MLS(librarian positions were few due to the recession and hiringfreezes) and I value that experience every day. To the patrons whovisit the library–everyone is a librarian. I think this helps keepany “egos” in check–they value the clerks, tech,paraprofessionals, pages and professionals the same.

As a Librarian/Branch Head, duties runthe gamut. Some days I work the desk with a clerk checking in/outmaterials, pulling items, answering calls, helping at the copymachine. Some days I’m in full program/event mode–planning programsthat people will enjoy and learn from. There are reports to be runand to write. Maintaining the collection is a regular task.

Of course, as a librarian, it is vitalto be there to get people the assistance they need and providevaluable and reliable resources. Some days I get yelled at. Yourealize the differences and similarities in humanity. Some days Ihave to plunge the toilet and wear protective shoe booties.

The only things I “read” onwork time are work-related (and our social media feed). Being amanager requires times where you have to have tough conversations.The times when you get a honest thank you or a great big smile from akid/patron–those make up for the grind of other tasks.

In my opinion, working in a publiclibrary is awesome. BUT–you must want to work with the public or youwill be helping no one. It can be as frustrating as rewarding somedays. There are some weird stories and some inspiring ones as well. Iwouldn’t trade in this experience for anything!

Robin (Technology MarketingSpecialist and friendly neighborhood Tumblr editor, not a librarian): 

Confession:I’m not a “real” librarian at all. My master’s degree is in businessadministration and marketing, but I somehow convinced a library tohire me.

As a “Technology MarketingSpecialist” (basically, I’m the social media manager) most of mycontact with our patrons is through a computer screen - like whatwe’re doing right now! I spend most of my time creating posts for ourvarious social accounts, answering questions that come in throughthose accounts, making sure everyone is playing nice online, andgenerally making sure people know we exist.

I’m in the nifty position of getting towork with every single department in our library, because everysingle aspect of what we do needs promotion! There are a lot ofcommittees and I sit in on a lot of meetings because, well, marketingneeds to know what’s happening. There’s a ton of opportunity forcreativity and outside-the-box thinking, too, which I couldn’t livewithout.

My undergraduate degree was in creativeand professional writing, and I never thought I’d have a job whereI’d have to learn some graphic design, or video editing, or coding(oh yeah, I manage the website, too) but here I am - if you work in alibrary in any position you’ll learn a ridiculous amount of newthings without even trying.

Thanks for reading this far - that’s it for now. We hope it helped and feel free to ask us anything else!

[machiyuu-wishes]

The reason Sharing Can certainly Power the Future of Marketing

Advertising and marketing have always been regarding the sharing in addition to spreading of ideas, so that the mediums we want to communicate with have got changed, consequently has the dynamics of expressing. Bryan Kramer’s insightful plus perceptive e-book, Shareology needs a broad forward-thinking look at the aspect of giving in the get up of existing trends inside communication, technological know-how, and people psychology and enables extrapolate the impact these adjustments will have in marketing. He's already produced a label for himself with his very influential perform in the electronic digital marketing room and his starting of the #H2H business movements (inspired simply by his prior book There is not any B2B as well as B2C: It is very Human to Human #H2H). Despite his or her busy schedule, Kramer was sort enough to resolve a few questions relating to his ebook and provide also deeper perception regarding locations I thought all of our readers could be particularly considering. As expression continues to enjoy a bigger and even bigger function in the way online marketers interact with stakeholders across programmes, understanding new ways to make your content and company more individuals will become more and more important. Kramer has prevailed in developing a book that may be both an easy task to connect with together with well worth selling.

1. Once you say “being human implies being shareable, ” exactly how do you think a new reality will probably influence advertising and marketing specifically?

Enabling employees to express with their own experiences externally (not just re-tweeting or advertising company-sponsored content) can be potent. We know just how shareable tips are, and allowing people to share their particular stories independently channels for your brand, product or service, or customs is an impressive form of the briefing. It’s trustworthy content that you simply don’t have to generate and it may be in your backside pocket! In terms of employee remonstrance, company market leaders often inquire the wrong query about negative feedback and sociable: “How will i get very own employees to share with you my tips? ” The particular question they should be asking will be, “How am I able to help them show their own material? ” A lot of people want to aid but will just be inspired whenever they feel their particular company stock shares a vested interest in these. Your individuals can be your very best advocates; they will care about your personal brand and also share their very own experiences, however, need guardrails to be sure these are definitely safe, hence setting up sharing guidelines as well as making it possible for them to promote safety is important.

2. Inside the section called “Being a pacesetter in the Individual Economy, ” you go by all of the features required, which usually of these can you find vital to setting up leadership on the new H2H economy?

Completely, most importantly top quality is agreement. Empathy: To be able to understand the over emotional makeup associated with other people; talent in treating people today according to all their emotional side effects. I forecast that emotionally charged intelligence can be increasingly beneficial as your society moves along with robot technology. Regardless of how sophisticated systems get, it will probably never manage to emulate often the miracle in the human brain as well as the ability to prove the features listed above. More specifically, it will never ever be able to exhibit human agape for a contextual moment.

3. “The our economy’s progress will be stagnated by ‘business as usual’ until buyers (en masse) force companies to improve outside their whole comfort specific zones. ”

How would you see that panning out at the moment? What aspects of marketing will probably be most considerably affected by these kinds of changes? The online world of Stuff is a scientific shift here is taking place right this moment where bodily devices are increasingly being digitally attached to create more style. According to Gartner, there will be practically 26 tera- devices online of Factors by 2020. Technology leaders like MICROSOFT and Alternate have been working away at this for quite some time. In fact, Picón even should go so far as in order to call the following evolution the exact “Internet regarding Everything. ” I chatted to Blair Christie, primary marketing official of Cisco, about this in an of this is my company PureMatter’s Substance interview. She referred the concept, while in the context of value, and how that changes the facial skin of enterprise and our life as a whole: Online of Anything is basically another wave. It has how consumers, process, records, and everything is connecting in a fashion that hasn’t taken place before. As an example, we think we’re connected nowadays, but lower than 1 percent of the world is in fact connected to the Net. Today that certainly is less than a couple of billion people. By 2020 it will be near 5 billion. Right now something like 20 to twenty-five billion the drinks is connected to the Internet— by 2020 close to 55 billion items will be attached. That’s impressive! We’re previously having machine-to-machine or thing-to-thing doing lots of interacting, still, we will be discovering more people-to-machine, Machine-to-people, and also people-to-people hooking up and supplying more value because of connection as compared to we’ve ever before seen just before.

you may also be interested in content sharing sites

4. Exactly why do you think it truly is that makes have this kind of a hard time getting “human? ” How might that they best get over these obstructions?

Consumers are puzzled. With an enormous 93% involving communication according to nonverbal body gesture, that results in just 7 percent left to clarify verbally everything we really necessarily mean. So why cannot we ensure it is simple for those to understand what precisely we’re offering, so they can quickly share most of their experiences as well as the value many people felt together with others? More to the point, why is it this what we will marketing frequently does not arrange to true consumer activities? I don’t care everything that language everyone speak, who also your company is or simply what communication you’re trying to send, most of us need to communicate more real human. Too often most of us complicate what we’re attempting to say. As luck would have it, as the world becomes a lot more customer-owned along with socially empowered, we keep seeing difficult, redundant, over-technical, and over-thought mass information getting forced out ~ and shed – in the ether. Can it be really having harder to be able to stand out, with so many facts and information on the market or will be the answer in order to clearly point out what you signify, in clear human words and phrases? The fact is the lines can be extremely far confused now involving the “B2C” (Business to Consumer) and “B2B” (Business for you to Business) promotion segments of which it’s challenging to differentiate. I actually can’t let you know how many gatherings I’ve held it's placed in where acronyms are used frequently that my brain ultimately ends up spending a great deal time wanting to decipher whatever they mean as opposed to focusing on typically the thoughts seeking to be presented. Acronyms get their place, although not when they change communicating information to somebody else who may well not understand your individual world packed with capital words. We all must think just like the consumers we could, putting themselves in the attitude of the customer instead of trying to get rid of.

5. Through the book one talk about the importance of brands to behave more like normal individuals, but on page 147 you interestingly speak about that people may also be becoming similar to brands:

“[The study] incorporated something many of us don’t assume about—that your definition of doing it yourself (their personal brand) includes a large effect on what these shares. ” Are those two factors specific or do you imagine they are converging on several new positions towards a new middle surface? Building an individual brand certainly is not just essential celebrities in addition to high-profile business people. It’s very important for businesses to realize that strength among their employees and to nutriment it. To get a brand to do something more human means adding their individuals out the entrance. We can achieve this task much more for our companies once we empower every individual within those to build a private brand plus share from that. But we are not quite presently there yet. It’s going to “take your village” to really make the mindset move necessary for organizations to adopt this concept. Still as completely, new technologies continue to keep shape just how we hook up and talk, we’ll observe this take place on a bigger scale.

6. Is there virtually any room regarding traditional, top-down, broadcast mass media in this innovative democratic way of life of spreading; or could new participatory and decentralized methods of connection edge you're old protect of marketing entirely?

We are now living in an omnichannel world. All play a role at most touch issue. How we ingest media changes, but the human being sensed will usually need to be achieved in the very same ways some people always have (i. e. noise, sight, feel, smell). The promotion will not alter overnight, but eventually, it will certainly become more concierge-like where folks will assume immediacy and will get personalized recommendations more quickly from men and women they rely on. Support can happen much more swiftly en masse thru Watson-like unnatural intelligence. Yet one thing will continue to be; the shareable contextual times where most people experience thoughts (i. at the. joy, frivolity, sadness) is only going to be produced by us human beings. It’s most of these moments that will make marketing crucial now including the future.

[russellolacher]

How to Engage with your Remote Employees During a Pandemic https://ift.tt/1jxl24K https://bit.ly/3iTcrLt

If anything a global pandemic has taught us, is the importance of engaging with our staff, especially remote employees.

A pandemic certainly changes the way we work, but it shouldn’t change prioritizing the employee experience and maintaining relationships with them. It just might look different.

In this “new normal,” stress and mental health have been more emphasized than ever. Health, daycare, social interactions, schooling, fear mongering, conspiracy theories, safety precautions, societal pressures… there is a LOT going on right now that will impact focus, productivity and priorities.

Annette Franz put a great article together in collaboration with the CXpert website called Five Tips to Engage Remote Staff during Lockdown. In it, she highlights five areas: maintaining culture; communication; feedback; tools and resources; and autonomy and empowerment. I couldn’t agree more with her suggestions. To further support that focus,  I wanted to share some things that we’ve done at work that has really helped.

My Experience in Keeping Remote Employees Engaged

Communicate, communicate and communicate – expectations, concerns, direction, timelines, encouragement… all the things you’re supposed to do even when you’re not remote are even more important when you’re no longer working in the same space. Remote employees can’t just pop in to talk about projects, they only have communication channels to rely on. Make sure you are almost over communicating as a way to create an environment with little confusion.

Allow for some time to be social – set a time for them to be themselves, either in daily stand-ups, weekly get togethers or a dedicated group chat. That casual camaraderie “water cooler” time is no longer a possibility so allow for it during the course of your day. It reinforces that your team is a team, filled with humans who need to connect with one another.

Be a good, caring human – show interest, empathy and compassion… ask your team how they are doing, and mean it. Ask how their family is doing during this stressful time. How their kids are handling new restrictions at school. How isolation is impacting them. Everyone is going through a different experience, full of the unknown and unfamiliar. Fear, unease and anxiety are common during the pandemic so it’s important that everyone shows support for their experience. Not everyone will want to share openly and that’s fine. But they should still feel like their experience matters. As well, share how the pandemic is impacting you personally. This is new and odd for everyone, you’re no different.

Don’t ignore the pandemic – include topics about how COVID-19 is impacting you and your team that is out side of work duties and responsibilities. The latest information that impacts individuals and your organization. Without betraying privacy, make sure your team is up to date on current information.

Bring the organization to them – highlight other areas of the organization to give a sense of togetherness. Whether it’s a podcast or an employee newsletter, use creative platforms to make your organization a little “smaller” and intimate by sharing stories and experiences. Even if your business is extremely siloed in work or geography, stories of success, challenges and experience with a human face/voice can reinforce a sense of community.

Accessibility – be there for each other when anyone wants to talk. Whether it’s any member of the team, make sure you make time for those that need it, even if it is something they may not usually “bother” you with. That connection to others is sometimes just the right amount of assurance needed to get you through the day.

These are just a few tactics you can take to help your employees feel more connected.

How You are Being Kept Engaged

I reached out to my own network to understand some steps their organization took to help keep them, as remote employees, engaged. I asked:

What has your organization/supervisor done during COVID19 that has helped you feel more engaged/connected?

Below are their answers and I hope some might work for you.

“Required all meetings to be on camera so we can actually see each other regularly.”

“[My supervisor] was really thoughtful about engagement for people working remotely even before the pandemic – a skill thats invaluable now. Plus, he’s really understanding of people’s individual circumstances, of which there are many (people trying to manage childcare, people worried about elderly relatives…).”

“[My supervisor] sends us thank you gift cards which is really, really nice, as well as frequent communication, team calls, etc. [Our organization] hosts “Fridays at 4″ – giant super casual WebEx calls with trivia, scavenger hunts. etc. Everyone joins in from the president on down. Our president has shown fabulous leadership, sending  a weekly email that’s really authentic and encourages positivity in tough times, sharing his own weekly COVID experiences (Netflix picks, hobbies and haircuts to show he’s passing the time). It’s been comforting to see this side and yet know they are working tirelessly to be strategic and meet the challenges we have been handed.”

“I worked when our hospital had a COVID outbreak. It was a very long and scary 50-ish days. Everything changed with regard to how we were expected to provide patient care. Our manager held daily “huddles” and was very transparent with policies and stats. She did draws for a few $5 Starbucks cards . And we each said one thing we were thankful for, or told a corny ‘dad’ joke at the start of each huddle. It kept morale up. Oh… and she arranged four times for the COVID testers to come to us! It was so much easier as testing became mandatory.”

“Been up front about how things are. And stayed optimistic. Not foolishly so. But kept the mood up.”

If anything I’ve experienced or been told about, it’s the personal touches that have had the greatest impact. When employees are treated as living, breathing, caring people, not metrics or a means to an end, the engagement is always more meaningful and impactful.

What’s working for you? Please share below. 

The post How to Engage with your Remote Employees During a Pandemic appeared first on Russel Lolacher.

from Russel Lolacher https://bit.ly/3iTcrLt via IFTTT

[divingjudge4]

Online Coaching

What Is Online Coaching

Content

Locate The Right Business Or Life Coach For You.

General Coaching Project Testimonial Methods.

What Is Job Advancement?

Certificate In Coaching & Mentoring, Cpd Accredited With Research Materials, Tutor Assistance And Also Quiz Based Examination Consisted Of.

Preparation Stage Of Becoming An On The Internet Personal Trainer.

Book a 15-minute phone call to discover exactly how a leadership coach can aid you in your career. Moreover, implied biases create us to connect the high qualities of being a good leader with maleness, when in fact, this is not always precise.

Pandemic and Recession Take Toll on Professional Development Efforts - Law.com

Pandemic and Recession Take Toll on Professional Development Efforts.

Posted: Mon, 22 Jun 2020 07:00:00 GMT [source]

I do set out quick task plans for each job co-authored with a customer that entail overall objectives, vital activities and also timescales for completion, and also come back to consider them frequently. I believe the capacity to step back from things as well as consider them total is a vital one, even if it doesn't come normally. This holds true in the office, where actually, a lot of us can get through any day of a functioning week purely reacting as well as responding to points that come our means, rather than being proactive and also choosing what we do.

Locate https://womenwithwingscoaching.com/cbt-therapy/stockport/ Or Life Coach For You.

Details regarding your current nourishment behaviors and also dietary requirements and also your present way of life habits, and also availability to fit exercises in to your life. This suggests you are no more restricted to simply the instructors in your neighborhood fitness center. Not to load a gym change or PT diary however to totally support your initiatives and promote you hitting your targets.

They will encompass the setup of, and also accomplishment of, an established goal or objectives. It could help, such as, to regard those you coach as professional athletes that intend to progress in their game. In the work environment scenario, the objective is to assist employees fine-tune their abilities, based upon the establishment' scompetency framework. The above theory clarifies why coaching functions far better than telling in the world of learning. Subsequently, providing insight with coaching (i.e. asking inquiries) is much more brain-friendly than informing a person the solution.

General Coaching Project Testimonial Methods.

Considerorganisational valuesand elements ofintegrity and ethics, and also spirituality, love and also empathy at workas well as abilities. One more approach instance of evaluating and also prioritising training isDIF Analysis.

Specialists and also high quality people can additionally aid you with utilizing and applying your activities and also strategies. what's new in womenwithwingscoaching.com's cbttherapy Women with Wings (up-to-dateness) of resources is crucial for sure products as well as devices, but not so for others. The simplicity through which you can establish accuracy as well as keep money (' up-to-dateness') must be a big factor in your factor to consider of what sort of sources to collect. Certain sources are time-sensitive - that is to state, they become obsolete or purposeless or even worse, if not upgraded. A helpful approach to gathering info sources is to use the internet for the bulk of the study, and then to examine the vital realities in an ideal reputable reference book. A. Precision as well as integrity are very crucial aspects of teaching/training sources.

What Is Occupation Advancement?

EXPAND 'GR' A comprehensive look at effective 'Objective' setup as well as unpacking your customers' 'Fact'. Find out just how to efficiently manage your customers' expectations through your written agreement/contract and the use of an Intake Session. Here you'll be introduced to the GROW Design which will certainly be the foundation to your coaching trip. We are thrilled to present 7 one-of-a-kind components damaged down, action by discovering giving the very best on the internet training.

The brand-new leadership programme will certainly entail 6 of the most effective women trains in the UK providing essential support as well as advancement opportunities for the following aspiring generation of elite trainers. UK Sport has today announced a new leadership program as component of a strategy to greater than double the representation of female coaches in the Olympic and Paralympic high-performance community by Paris 2024. Acosta as well as Carpenter located in their longitudinal, 35-year study an immediate positive feedback, with greater than 90% of women's NCAA groups having female trains in 1972. Nevertheless, there has considering women with wings coaching been a large reduction, with only 42.9% of female trains in the NCAA in 2012. " I am really happy to be part of the inaugural leadership programme, and also I am totally encouraging of UK Sport's target to increase the number of women in the high-performance coaching pathway by 2024. LaVoi just recently took on research on the absence of women head coaches in swimming as well as diving at collegiate level in the US.

[perfectirishgifts]

How To Thrive When Chronic Illness Disrupts Your Career

New Post has been published on https://perfectirishgifts.com/how-to-thrive-when-chronic-illness-disrupts-your-career/

How To Thrive When Chronic Illness Disrupts Your Career

Your first job is your health. Speak up for what you need and it’s ok to take time for you.

According to the CDC six in ten adults have a chronic disease, creating a common challenge faced by millions every day: How do you make accommodations in your working life for your health needs? 

Part of my own journey to becoming an entrepreneur came out of developing Lyme disease. Prior to becoming ill, I was in a job which was unsustainable for me to continue. I know I’m not alone in this experience. 

I spoke with two other women with chronic Lyme disease who have adapted to the realities of their medical diagnosis and built thriving careers. These women share experience-backed advice for others who are struggling with a chronic illness which is impacting their ability to perform their job. 

Your dreams and ambitions are just as big as before diagnosis. Your illness doesn’t have to stop you from having a rewarding and fulfilling career. 

Emily Levy is the founder of Mightywell, a medical accessories company, along with friend and cofounder Maria del Mar Gomez. Levy was inspired to start Mightywell out of a desire to create the products missing in the marketplace that she wished she had to make the experience of illness easier. For many facing chronic illness, entrepreneurship may become the path not only because it affords flexibility, but also because illness gives unique insights to where there are unmet needs. This births business ideas and newfound passions. Levy felt the demands of a traditional corporate career path would pose too much of a challenge, but even more so, she felt a “resounding yes” at the idea of Mightywell and it became her “North Star.” 

Hannah Olson, founder of Chronically Capable, has had a similar experience to Levy. Olson found herself with no option but to leave her dream job due to her aggressive treatment schedule. Now, she aims to make sure no one ever has to choose between their health and work ambitions. Chronically Capable connects those with chronic illness and disabilities with flexible job opportunities at progressive companies who have greater willingness to be inclusive and make accommodations. Not everyone wants to start a business or has career ambitions in alignment with entrepreneurship. Olson is working to change the employment landscape to ensure entrepreneurship is not a forced choice. She shares her personal insights of working with chronic illness, but also has guidance for those navigating getting accommodations from an employer.

Whether you are or want to be an entrepreneur, or hope to climb the corporate ladder, here are some key things to consider to help you succeed.

Learn to communicate and speak up for your needs 

In running her company Levy says, “I’ve had to learn to be very transparent in my needs. I’m not afraid to tell people, sorry, today I just can’t do it. I’ve certainly had to cancel meetings. And I found that just by being transparent and upfront that this is where I am with my health, people are a lot more understanding.”

Speak up early if you’re in an interview process, advises Olson. “[At Chronically Capable] we try to work really closely with our applicants to encourage them to disclose and ask for accommodations upfront. It’s a lot easier than waiting six months into the job and having to have this awkwardness.” 

If you’re already in a job you’re going to have to speak up if you want accommodations. Keep in mind that, in the United States, you may have some legal rights for accommodations. Do educate yourself on your situation and seek legal counsel. It’s also encouraging to note that regarding Covid-19, Olson says, “There is going to be a change here, we’re in the middle of it. We’ve learned in the last nine months that an employee doesn’t necessarily need to be in an office in order to be productive and that you can be working on your own hours. So many people were left out of the workplace simply because of the fact that they couldn’t physically be in an office. This is opening up a world of opportunities for those who had been previously left out.” 

Hannah Olson, founder of Chronically Capable. Olson advises to speak up early for your needs if … [] you’re in an interview process.

Find community and mentorship 

“There are millions of people with chronic illnesses, but when you have one you can feel like you’re the only person,” says Olson. By finding those who understand, you can provide support to one another as you face similar challenges.  

One person to have in your support circle is a solid mentor. “Mentors have completely changed my life and I’d encourage others to find a mentor in that career path or direction that you’re aspiring to,” shares Levy. Olson echoes how helpful it is to have a mentor with chronic illness and has found mentorship from Levy invaluable. “She knows exactly what I am going through. Like the stress of talking to investors while you’re also going through treatment, and all these things.”

Do what you can, when you can

Levy has learned to be adaptable to the swings of illness. “I would highly recommend for chronic illness founders to bring their laptop to bed if you need to. Some days my legs don’t want to come with me but my brain works. I’ll send emails or do funding research. And then there are days I can’t look at a screen and will put on a podcast to keep learning.” 

Levy also suggests trying to plan ahead for when you know your symptoms may flare or needs may change. “I think what a lot of people don’t understand about chronic illness is that I can be on for that three hour event, but they don’t see that for three days after, that’s going to put me in bed. I try to plan ahead so if we know I’m speaking at our industry’s top conference of the year in Las Vegas, we need to make sure I’m taking time off afterwards, at least so I can work from bed.” 

Get support from colleagues or build a team 

“Getting support from your colleagues is another really great tactic. Having those people as your allies and advocates is so helpful because sometimes a manager just might not understand,” explains Olson.  

And if you start a company, don’t go it alone, advises Levy. While entrepreneurship has flexibility it’s still demanding, making it necessary to build a team of support. Maria Del Mar Gomez and Yousef Al-Humaidhi are Levy’s cofounders and together they have worked to ensure the company’s mission is still being supported whether Levy is in the office or not. Del Mar Gomez has become an invaluable support for Levy. “Especially when we were going through Morgan Stanley’s accelerator, there were plenty of times where I’d get fully ready, I’d put on the hair, the makeup, the outfit, get out the door and I would get to work and I would be drained. And on those days, I would call Maria. We just have this amazing bond where we kind of speak each other’s language.” 

Maria Del Mar Gomez (left) and Emily Levy (right), cofounders of Mightywell. Levy advises that if … [] you start a company, don’t go it alone.

Your first job is your health 

“My health really is my first job, and Mightywell, for better or worse will always be my second job, because if my health isn’t there, I can’t really function at work,” explains Levy. This is a sentiment shared by Olson who adds, “Managing your chronic illness in itself can be like a part-time or full-time job.” She advises taking time off or slowing down if you can financially afford to. “It’s ok to take time for you. We’re so forced as a society to believe that we have to work all the time, I had to teach myself it’s okay to slow down and for a while I was working a part-time job.” 

Recognize the benefits and strengths you’ve gained 

Chronic illness nudges you to learn important skills and life lessons everyone ill or not would benefit from. It’s really a masterclass in personal development.   

“We talk so much about all that has been taken from us with our illness. And it’s true, so much has been stripped of me, but I’ve also gained so much,” says Olson. “And I think that the media doesn’t represent the strength and opportunities that illness has given us as well. I wouldn’t regret being chronically ill now because I’ve been able to learn and do so much more than I ever would’ve.” 

Olson suggests using your cover letters to address your illness and highlight these strengths. “Talk about what are the unique skills and attributes that you’ve gained through this horrible experience, because that could make you an incredible worker. I’ve gained so much resilience, time management skills, I’m highly adaptable and able to balance a lot of different things. I understand the importance of taking breaks. You gain so much empathy for the people around you and it makes you such a great colleague. You are an asset.” 

Levy agrees and adds that as an entrepreneur illness makes her much more focused. “With limited energy, you have to really be maniacal about what things you’re spending your time on. It forces you to keep an eye on your North Star, and make sure that you’re being true to yourself and why you started this.”

From Careers in Perfectirishgifts

[jamiewrites]

Some thoughts on coffee and compassion.

i flew home from California two nights ago on the red eye. i flew through the night and landed in Orlando early yesterday morning. The drive home from Orlando is an hour so i stopped at Starbucks to grab a coffee. i noticed a sign for a Zombie Frappuccino. i thought it was random and funny and a little bit awesome. i was definitely not offended by the existence of this special Halloween drink.

i came home and went to sleep for a few hours. When i woke up, i went to my local Starbucks, where i go all the time. i walked in and was surprised to see the employees dressed as zombies. i obviously made the connection that they were doing this to promote the drink i had learned of earlier in the day. It didn’t bother me at first, but as i got closer, i noticed one of the women had fake blood across her neck, as if her throat had been cut. This bothered me. It wasn’t triggering for me, but it quickly crossed my mind that this image would be triggering for others. 

It crossed my mind to say something to the woman or to a manager, but i decided against it. i didn’t want to shame her or get her in trouble or cause her to feel bad. i certainly assumed that her intentions were innocent. She was probably just trying to dress like a zombie. Most people have no idea what’s triggering for others who struggle with mental health issues.  

Rather than say something in-person, i decided to post a tweet to Starbucks HQ. My issue wasn’t with the individual employee. i go to my local Starbucks all the time and i like everyone who works there. My thinking was that if one Starbucks location had employees dressed as zombies, perhaps other stores were doing the same. And if one Starbucks employee had her throat slashed as part of her costume, perhaps others did as well. My hope was that Starbucks could create a policy or simply encourage their employees not to go overboard with their zombie costumes. 

i tweeted this:

If i could go back, i would have worded this differently. i don’t know why i chose to make it about suicide. Many people have pointed out (and i agree) that someone cutting their own throat is an uncommon method of suicide. It does happen, but it’s uncommon.

So that was a mistake on my part. i didn’t word the tweet well. While i certainly stand by the idea that “suicide isn’t funny,” my tweet wasn’t clear. A lot of people called it a reach and i understand that criticism. i do think it’s worth noting that suicide shares a lot of common ground with self-injury and depression. Most people who self-injure, they also struggle with depression. And untreated depression is the leading cause of suicide.  

So here’s what i should have said. Here’s what i want to say now:

The image of a slashed throat, whether it’s real or fake, is an unpleasant sight for many. And for people who struggle with self-injury, it can be more than unpleasant. It can be triggering. By “triggering,” i mean that it can cause another person to want to harm themselves. 

As a sidenote, perhaps it’s worth noting that regardless of whether you believe a slashed throat is triggering, i think a lot of people would agree that a slashed throat is an unpleasant thought and an unpleasant sight. If it wasn’t meant to depict suicide, then it’s safe to say it was meant to represent homicide. Call me sensitive or a snowflake or any of the 50 other names i’ve been called today, but i don’t want to think about a gruesome death of any kind when i’m in line to order coffee. 

This brings us to Part 2, the response to the tweet... 

In the last 36 hours on Twitter, i’ve been called a cunt and a pussy and a faggot. i’ve been made fun of for being bald and i’ve been told to “man up.” i’ve been told that i only tweet to sell books and become famous. i’ve been told to kill myself. 

Personally, i wasn’t triggered by what i saw at Starbucks. This isn’t about me. i’m speaking on behalf of my friends who struggle with self-injury. i’m speaking on behalf of people who have a hard time this time of year. i’m saying that something as simple as fake blood can be triggering for another person. i realize this idea may come as news to you and you may feel it’s stupid or ridiculous or absurd. But that doesn’t make it false. One person’s fun can cause another person pain. i say that based on working in the field of mental health for the last 11 years. i say that based on meeting thousands of people who struggle with mental health issues. 

i believe the heart of the matter is this: 

Do we believe that empathy matters? Do we believe that compassion matters? Do we believe that mental health is real? Do we care about the needs and pain of people who struggle with mental health issues? Do we care what might be triggering for another person? Do we care enough to learn and to change our own behavior as an act of compassion toward someone else who might struggle in a way that we do not? 

One of my favorite lines in one of my favorite books is simply this: “Other people exist.”

i think that’s what this whole thing is about. Other people exist. We have some things in common and we have some things different. Some things that hurt me might not hurt you. Some things that you’re afraid of, i might not be afraid of. That’s just life. We live different stories. But we have the opportunity to care about each other and at times to carry each other. We can behave in ways that bring fear and pain and shame to other people, or we can behave in ways that offer comfort and compassion and safety.

Other people exist. 

Other people might be different and they might have different needs.

Do we care?

[tragedies-and-dreams]

The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel — book review

“But they were citizens of a shadow country that in his previous life he’d only dimly perceived, a country located at the edge of an abyss. ”

Emily St. John Mandel’s prose in The Glass Hotel is certainly striking. She deftly weaves realism with a dreamlike atmosphere, while also adding an elegiac touch to otherwise mundane scenes and observations. Occasionally her style seems intentionally opaque, such as when she keeps her characters’ motivations slightly out of our reach. Nevertheless, her prose retains a compelling and extremely readable quality.

“He feels it’s important to keep the two separate, memory vs. counterlife, but he’s been finding the separation increasingly difficult. It’s a permeable border.”

The Glass Hotel reads like a series of short stories or vignettes that are linked together by certain familiar names and faces as well as some memorable incidents (the “Why don’t you swallow broken glass” graffiti) and life-changing events (a Ponzi scheme). Most chapters introduce us to a new character: we begin with Paul, Vincent’s troubled half-brother, who has spent most of his life as an addict. We then move to Walter the night manager at the Hotel Caiette where Paul and Vincent also work, respectively as the night houseman and bartender. The following chapters focus in particular on the hotel’s owner, Jonathan Alkaitis, his coworkers, employees, and somewhat peripherally on his victims. Vincent is one of the story’s central characters, as she becomes involved with Alkaitisa. To say more about these characters or their stories would be giving too much away. Most of them are unhappy, or feel somewhat unfilled, and most of them dream of entering or remaining in ‘the kingdom of money’.

Throughout these entwining narratives Mandel examines themes of guilt and culpability. Characters are often forced to reconcile themselves with the consequences of their own actions. There are those who are willing to use, betray, or manipulate others for their own personal gain, and there also those who feel like they themselves are victims. Through her perceptive prose Mandel creates some rather nuanced portrayals: her characters’ may be selfish, self-seeking, unwilling to change or to admit fault but they also have moments of self-awareness and empathy. Their conversations and interactions always rang true to life, and there are no enlightening or cathartic moments or encounters. While there are quite a few incredibly wealthy characters, the novel does not glamorise them or their lifestyles. If anything Mandel depicts just how fallible and human people ultimately are, regardless of their finances or social status.

There were certain chapters that felt gimmicky: such as the ‘chorus’ one, narrated by ‘we’, Alkaitis’ employees. Their names and personalities sort of blurred together. Contrast those ‘chorus’ chapters with the novel’s first chapter (which followed Paul) or the ones in which Alkaitis’ is imprisoned…and well, they just seemed lacking. Paul’s chapter was narrated with such clarity and feeling that makes chapters like the ‘chorus’ one seem contrived and unsatisfying.

The thing that kept me from really enjoying this novel, other than its not always satisfying crosscutting narratives, was Vincent. Whereas every other single character is flawed she is presented as inherently different from others. Her art struck me as childish (taking 5 minute videos of the landscape?…) and most of what she says or does seemed to be an attempt at emphasising at her mysterious ‘uniqueness’…and I just really dislike this type of character. She wasn’t fascinating or particularly believable, and it seemed a pity that she is the character who appears almost throughout the course of this novel. It seemed she was good at everything she set out to do (bartending, being Alkaitis’ wife, working as a cook, being an artist). Not only did I find her to be apathetic but she was curiously enough the most unsympathetic of the lot.

Personally, I would have preferred this novel if it had maintained its focus on the Hotel Caiette, rather than delving into the consequences of a Ponzi scheme. Given the novel’s summary and title I also thought that the “Why don’t you swallow broken glass” message would play a bigger role in the various narratives. Paul and Vincent relationship also felt like a missed opportunity…Vincent in particular would have benefited from having some more ‘background’ (for example her relationship with her aunt or her mother). But she seemed so untethered from others, her only defining quality was her lacklustre art.

While The Glass Hotel is certainly well-written and presents its readers with a series of interesting and intersecting narratives, which often feature characters in moral or financial crisis, part of me wished that Mandel had presented us with a more in-depth examination of her characters and their lives. Vincent in particular was an extremely dissatisfying character who seemed to possess only the shadow of a personality. She was too vacant. The imagery and themes within this novel struck me as characteristic of Mandel: boats, containers, white-collar crimes, discussions on art…I’m sure that fans of Mandel will be able to appreciate The Glass Hotel more than I was.

                              My rating: ★★★✰✰ 3 stars

Read more reviews on my blog / / / View all my reviews on Goodreads

[liamhurtz]

The final and present chapter so far.

So to summarise the last two parts, i was a sensitive, naive but curious and friendly child, loving but some what standoffish parents the older i got, dealing with their own break down of relationship and life. I then went astray in those adolescent years and started to grow up with some of the best worse influences you could have. My emotional state never really matured past those childhood years and i simply learned to hide it from the world to cope.

So to the present, another year or so after the drams of my first year at Coop and i’d meet a young girl, i was always attracted to her from the start, but i was doing the whole ‘i’m an island’ cold heart clique and never made much of a move or showed alot of interest. Despite this she tried and inevitably gave up, started seeing someone else and i was hurt over this perceived betrayal. I never realised how little interest i had shown in her because in my own eye’s i had made it obvious i liked her. We didn’t talk for ahwhile after this and she continued with this guy. It ended not long after and we started talking again, we started of casual, just fun, but as the months drew on and on i realised i was falling into a relationship. I was terrified. Not only had i not even seen the noose (as i saw it then) around my neck i’d failed to realise i’d put it on rather willingly. I gave small bits of ground to emotions and affections, like a fighting retreat rather than a full rout.

Some months after i couldn’t take the attachment i was feeling, i had to thoroughly convince myself i didn’t want it, i wanted to be free and untamed and not held in some cage by a girl 9years my junior, i mean with that it was surely destined to end? I couldn’t maintain a relationship with a 18/19 year old girl when i was that age as well let alone now when i felt dead to the world. So i ended it for a whole 3 weeks before i realised i wanted this more than i thought and decided to keep it going. We kept going, but that inner monster in me, that one that wants to hold everything at arms length, close enough to see and interact but not close enough to get a hold of you throat and become intimate with your heart.

We kept going, me constantly talking about other women, about ending the ‘relationship’ in September when she would go to France for uni for 3 months, like the army had to me i drilled this into her, why i was surprised when a few months later i found out she had been cheating on me with the previous guy she was with is beyond me. Perhaps it was because i thought she was a good person that could never stoop to that level, perhaps i thought she was so placid she couldn't even consider the though of cheating when committed to me. Perhaps i thought too highly of myself as a pseudo boyfriend to realise how shit of a person i actually was to her, the girlfriend and relationship i’d struggled against constantly but went with anyway, like a child born that you didn’t want but its there and you have to deal with it for the foreseeable future now.

It crushed me, truly it broke me, it was like Thor’s hammer Mjolnir rather than a sledgehammer hitting me now. I snapped, that impulsive behaviour that has so defined my life took over and i took my first venture down a path that’s deeper that pitt of self made hell, a path to actual hell. 

After lots of screaming, shouting, swearing and horrendous name calling on the phone trying to get the truth i was decided i had enough of it all. I walked down to the wear bridge a few minutes from my city centre shared accom at the time, and climbed over the banister. I kept one hand on it and leant forward as far as i could. Into that darkness of cold black abyss i stared. My instinct to live and not die keeping me from letting go when everything inside screamed at me to do it, two people walked past me at this point, one sniggered and they kept walking, why bother living anymore if that’s how much i’m worth?

Eventually i decided to live, but i would be plagued my extreme anxiety, depressions and suicidal thoughts and tendencies more so than i had been (and throughout the last two chapters i had been to some degree) from now on.

During all this time before and shortly after my work life deteriorated as well but as a result of this and my general behaviour. During the inital time of first meeting my love i was a subjective personality i feel, you could get on with me, i was honest and upfront but also blunt, moody, somewhat intimidating and prone to wild mood swings that were hard for me to even look back on in retrospect. It certainly gained me a reputation at work, not a particularly good one as time went on. As a shift leader i was critical and overly keen to point someones mistakes and flaws out rather than help lift them up and better themselves, perhaps because i felt no one had to me, since a teenager i’d had to do things on my own with little emotional support to help. This certainly made me self reliant but at the expense of my empathy. To this day some employees would laugh at the concept of me having any in-depth emotions let alone writing a life story on tumblr.

So work goes on, promotions, more responsibility and more stress. More moods, less empathy more uncontrollable outburst.

And yet abit of light in this dark place i’d let myself get to. I went on a course for my level of management- people management course- delivered by a very charismatic Mark Bell, which for the first time in along time got me to think back on my behaviour, my actions, and how i have directly affected others. This caused a revelation in me, i began to change, rather than ready someone for the firing squad of verbal anger over a simple mistake, i’d say don’t worry its an easy mistake, or its all good just make sure it doesn’t happen again. Mercy? Compassion and empathy? Was this even the same Liam that got on the train to Glasgow? Or was he killed off and replaced by some synthetic version that understood people are only human? Regardless this new me continued to improve at work in regards to people but deteriorated rapidly at the pressures being imposed on him in his role. This new me was great but it drained my energy massively, to hold back the anger and not react impulsively was a burden but one i needed to bear.

Unfortunately this did not attain to my estranged girlfriend, throughout this time we continued on, this course had given me enough realisation that she was human and made a mistake or she was a compulsive liar that would always do this and i couldn’t changer her. She would over the course of 5 months prove to be the former but i would not realise this fully until typing these very words.

For those months she endured more, anger, more threats of me leaving her, me actually leaving her, me putting her down and enacting strict rules that restricted her social and even work life. At the time i thought it was justified and maybe for the first month or two it was as she had continued to lie over details and other activities. She sorted herself out to some degree, as much as anyone her age can, i however had poison in my heart, this betrayal was bitter and ran to the core. I couldn’t move past it no matter how hard i tried. We stuck it out, me in my mood swings and paranoia and her in her everlasting attempts to win my favour again. She goes to France and by this point i know i need her, i love her to distraction and i want a clean slate, i literally offer it and a fully fledged relationship, no more i might give you another chance. However i was bitter, i felt i was owed something, owed a chance to hurt her like she had me. Throughout this time i had been talking to a girl i knew from work, we became close friends but there was no feelings on my apart, except attraction. This developed into flirting and from their i took my opportunity to hurt my love. Afterwards i felt nothing, no sense of victory, or achievement. I decided to not tell her initially, i no loner wanted to hurt her, but not long after in a conversation further down the line i had a choice, tell her now as it was relevant or forever hold me piece and become that which i had hated in her. I told her and broke her heart yet she forgave me, instantly almost, no conditions save what i wanted to impose on myself. Still i couldn’t accept things and be happy with this new clean slate, i pushed harder and harder and more erratic each time, it was my slow decent in madness, as i become increasingly harder to deal with, increasingly nihilistic of my life and even narcissistic of my feelings over hers. The latter was unintentional but i could not cope, and it got worse. 

She has recently went through two of the worse times of her life. The first i was totally not supportive in even the vaguest sense, and very limited in the latter part of it. I tried to be for the second event but she was self reliant now, she had to be, she couldn’t rely on me, i was getting worse and worse. She realised she was worth something, despite what she did. Though i love her with all my heart and everything else i couldn’t forgive her for what she had done, and as a result i refused to treat her as an equal to me. I never had for the whole year. I can try to justify it, i never wanted a relationship, why would i go through the motions of treating it as one? But it’s not good enough. I didn’t initially want that but i put myself in a position where it was the end result and i refused to change. Until now. Unfortunately too late, perhaps like me you’re seeing a pattern here.

So the present? I’m currently removed from her social media, she doesn’t want to speak to me and i’ve resorted to begging because i can’t cope. A far cry from this time last year when we had just started our initial phase of having fun and not knowing where it would go, and me resisting it going anywhere. These are the notes i made for my gp for an appointment i’m hoping to get the day of writing this to give you an idea of my current state:

List of issues:

Anger – extreme anger over small things, anger that isn't justifiable to the perceived act, anger over the slightest inconvenience and mainly aimed at my girlfriend

Suicidal thoughts – constant day in day out regardless of mood, few rare occurrences when I haven't, usually if I've had a really positive day, or a good day with girlfriend tends to overcome it

Love/hate – Mainly aimed at my girlfriend, constantly either love to the point of being unable to lose her, slightest hint of losing her sends my emotions into the extreme and I react impulsively as a result, sending messages impulsively that are pathetic, sympathy or anger related and to get a reaction, most the time not even realising its for those reason until or if I self reflect. The opposite is the hate phase which usually occurs when i'm secure in the relationship and not at risk of losing her, mind wonders, boredom kicks in and I seek impulsive pleasure. Currently knowing my relationship is over or 99% done and little I can do will save it, terrified of losing my girlfriend and desperately try to stop this but has the opposite effect, usually do to outbursts or suicidal thoughts.

Impulsive behaviour – When emotions get to high/hard to deal with always end doing something impulsively to try to numb what i'm feeling or make me feel better, usually done so through sex or sexual acts, a lot of time not thinking of the other persons feelings in regards to what they expect to happen afterwards, unprotected sex which I know isn't worth the risk but still engage in it. Recent turn to drinking when in a high mania type mood, not excessive or constant but more than previously.

Overly sensitive or Cold – either overly sensitive to everything, the slightest wrong word or out of phrase expression can consume me and send me into either a rage or a fit of depression that leads to suicidal thoughts or attempts

Paranoia – Constantly paranoid, mainly in relation to people looking at me at work or at uni or out in town walking about etc, if I walk past someone and they laugh my instant assumption is that its laughing at me and this quickly leads to anger/irritability and a downward spiral. Constantly paranoid over my girlfriend, initially started out as a normal not trusting people but reached a climax after she cheated on me over a month. Has spiralled out of control since then, constant checking of social media both from my view point and her showing me hers, constantly convincing myself she is still cheating or seeing someone I know or the guy she cheated on before if anything she does is slightly out of sync with what I feel is right which leads to mood swings. My gut feeling is completely out of true north and now everything looks suspicious.

Mood swings – As mentioned above in various ways, constant mood swings both relationship related and general, in general I can be really happy for a day or a week or even just a few hours or minutes and then one wrong word or even thought and I can ruin my whole day, leading to anger or depression and suicidal thoughts, emotions are hard to control, if I feel like crying, which I often do, it's hard not to, the counter of this is either hysterical laughter or anger. Emotions are hard to deal with and lead to me acting impulsively and the above things occurring. Primary cause of issues.

Laughter – Started laughing instead of crying, used it as a coping method to deal with emotions, works for about a minute

'Panic attacks' – use the term loosely, crying, unable to breathe, extreme panic and fight or flight type mood/reaction, lasts between 30seconds to a couple minutes.

Depression- constant low mood and negative thoughts, always negative thoughts, suicidal thoughts constantly, 2 attempts*, Nihilistic constantly, low self view and feelings of worthlessness, that my family and girlfriend would be better off without me.

Feeling lost and empty – Don't know who I am now, have thoughts of who I was, who I wanted to be, but no idea of who I am, where i'm going, feel lost and adrift. Feel empty and loneliness, unable to be close to anyone.

Struggle to concentrate -  difficulty to concentrate on basic things, especially work task, uni studying and reading, the latter of which is especially hard recently.

Restlesness/struggle to sleep – Constantly restless, struggle to sit still unless actively engage (movie at the pictures I want to see) struggle to sleep constantly such as typing this at 04:50 when i have uni at 11am, rarely sleep for more  than 6hrs undisturbed, often wake up after 3-4 hour intervals.

Thus ends the final part of ‘last time on Liam O’Brien’

[carmichael-psychology]

Mindfulness: Your Secret Business Weapon

As a clinical psychologist and former yoga teacher who works with driven business people, I want to clarify a common myth that mindfulness is mainly about relaxation and “being present”. Relaxation and feeling fully present are certainly positive components of mindfulness practice, but mindfulness can also be used to increase your insight and awareness around one of your most valuable business assets: your thoughts. By learning to observe our thoughts without reacting to them, we can save ourselves considerable time, money, and energy by choosing to “follow through” only on the thoughts that are truly in service of what we actually want in any given situation. I know this sounds abstract, so here are some real-life examples of how growing your “mindfulness muscles” will help you in day-to-day life:

Handle disagreements wisely: When you notice that you have a disagreement with a colleague or counterpart, do you have an immediate instinct to try and persuade that person to your point of view? Or perhaps to quietly accommodate and people-please? We all have default styles of conflict management that we’ll use when disagreements arise, especially if the disagreement matters a lot or rattles us in some way– which is exactly the time when it would behoove us to mentally take a step back and choose an approach mindfully rather than just getting sucked into a pattern of persuading, pressuring, or accommodating. Different situations and relationships will be best managed by an accommodating and even submissive style, whereas other situations may benefit from you being super direct and even applying heavy pressure when needed– while still other situations may benefit more from simply noticing and getting comfortable with both parties being able to comfortably hold different perspectives without feeling the need to persuade each other. Mindfully noticing if you are feeling automatically pulled to persuade or accommodate in the face of disagreement will help you to pause and consider which strategy is best for each individual situation rather than just reflexively using your default style of conflict-management. Mindful awareness of your reactions to disagreements will also make it more difficult for others to deliberately push your buttons, since they won’t be able to count on you automatically responding to disagreement in a rote fashion– instead, you’ll size up the situation like a chess board and make the best move given all the variables.

Stay focused on what matters: We are more productive and fulfilled when we have a clear sense of purpose. It’s easy to lose track of why are doing what we’re doing, unless you work for an employer whose sense of mission is directly relevant to your personal goals (such as an animal-lover working for a pet shelter). Mindful awareness of the connections between your work and your personal goals will increase your sense of purpose, which will increase your productivity and fulfillment. For example, although the latest corporate initiative you’re spearheading may not feel especially compelling to you on a personal level, successfully implementing that very same initiative represents a ticket to providing your family with meaningful things like education, travel, or security in old age (or whatever goals the financial payoff of a job well done will facilitate in your life). Mindfulness allows you recognize and to remain aware of the mental reference points that connect your work to a greater life purpose

Get empathy (and understanding!) from others: Mindfulness guides you to practice observing yourself and putting those observations into words. The more you’re able to understand yourself, and the better you’re able to explain what you’re thinking and feeling, the more others will be able to see your perspective. Getting others to understand your perspective is a skill that helps others to increase their empathy towards you, which often makes them more willing to accommodate you when needed. For example, being able to help your boss understand that you’ve bent over backwards to get a client to the negotiating table may stimulate your boss to give you some extra latitude on certain negotiating points since she will realize how much you’ve sacrificed to get the client to the table. Conversely, as an employer or manager, being able to help your direct reports clearly understand the business-critical importance of certain goals, and how much the success of those goals matters to you on a personal level, will help employees to engage deeper with you and the company.

Mindfulness is one of my favorite tools both personally and professionally. I’ll admit that this blog covers the “why” of mindfulness but not really the “how” of mindfulness. The good news is that I’ve already written other blogs on how to increase your mindfulness skills! To read more about how you can grow your mindfulness skills, check out my other blogs or call my office so I can teach you personally!

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[joro-blog]

Leadership Stuff

Doing Leadership Stuff

When the other stuff fails, do something different.

The clarity within leadership is that moment when your conduct inspires others to act. The definition of these actions is dependent on whether you have inspired to help or hurt. I find an adrenaline rush in the flow of it all. When you can take a moment to stop and appreciate the smooth water-like movement of what you created. You will know if the opposite has occurred because the monkeys will be running the circus and it will resemble chaos.

So what is the goal? When we are put in some degree of charge, most of us start the journey with the best of intentions. We want our people to work harder, learn more, develop a sense of ownership and grow to become the ultimate title...a team. The semantics of this algorithm are immense, but they all boil down to one factual ingredient. Action.

The leadership game is and will always be defined by actions. Unfortunately, some leaders never reach beyond their title and lean on others to provide actions that compensate for the leaders' shortcomings.

Creating an environment for success is not won simply by the words you speak. Hell if that were the case, we would all succeed for the lowest fare because talk is cheap. Truth in leadership has to be developed and nurtured. There’s always someone above you in the food chain and if you believe otherwise then the joke is on you. Even if you are at the top, and you own all the lives of the movers and shakers, you should be humble enough to acknowledge that without them, you would be nothing but another guy with a dream.

So what is leadership and who the hell has the recipe for attaining it? I can assure you my words are mostly of experience based knowledge. I do not expect much so everything is an accomplishment. I certainly don't believe you need to be anything other than willing. Willing to learn, willing to accept, and most of all willing to become authentic. In the spirit of doing stuff, let's get to it.

GIVE A SH!T

Most upper management has been to a leadership course or two. At the very least they have met the online requirement because corporate has instructed them to do so. One of the leadership 101 bullets in all of the courses is to ask your people how they are. Greet them with a “Good Morning” or “How are you today?” it instructs you to do this because it makes the personnel feel as if you care. It creates the illusion that you are actually a human being and not simply their boss.

But the depth of this action is often noticed by the worker versus the counterfeit authenticity of the leader. Most leaders don’t actually care. The motion is given and they believe that is enough. On that special occasion, an agenda is interjected and the cordial greeting is dismissed.

See what leadership 101 courses don’t tell you is the truth. They don't prescribe the authenticity that is required to allow the worker to develop trust and actually believe you. Some refer to this genuine action as caring. If you ask how someone is doing you should be willing to help in any way you can. You should be available for the response and put your assumptions aside. Believe it or not, you can be vulnerable without sacrifice. It's also referred to caring.

When caring, it is almost always required to have empathy. Realize that you were at some point in your life relatable to the person before you. You were not born into the life you live and so enters empathy. In the lower ranks it is believed that giving a shit is a requirement for a productive environment. This action of caring, this giving a shit, its what gets us through the day and allows us to not feel so alone in the workplace. Even a top rated workplace such as Google has lonely personnel. The difference is they are not alone long due to the high level of giving a shit.

Too often the less appreciated personnel that work for us get left behind. They receive no accolades. These people fill in the gaps and account for simply a number. Even in the largest of companies, everyone matters. Now I am not going into some liberal millennial all lives matter rant, I am simply stating that in the workplace everyone has a story worth hearing.

I have a friend that was in the hospital recently. The prognosis was not of the dire straights sort, but it was not good as well and it could've been a lot worse. I have been close to this person on a family level for many years. We know each others personality quite well and in doing so he understood and I had previously expressed that I really don’t enjoy hospitals for various reasons. But two things had occurred, I told him how I feel and we have gotten to know each other over the years. Time served if you will. With this understanding in place he had no hard feelings towards me for not stopping by the hospital but when he returned to work he had a very upset face on as I approached. I shouted “Hey, you're alive!” half way attempting to lighten the situation. But this did not break his scowl. So I asked him what’s up buddy? Wouldn’t you know the first thing he said to me, “Not a single MF’er came to visit me in the hospital!” this broke my heart and I felt I had to reassure him that I was simply a phone call away and he told me to shut up. “I know that!” he said. Fair enough.

To paint a picture, the environment we work in is not ideal. It has a rocky history and a fault line base. Still, this underling of an employee, this person that is purely a number to most wanted simply to be acknowledged. There is weight in that. The leadership and management teams fell short and failed to give a shit.

I never forget that moment.

EGGHEAD ENTERPRISE

When interacting with people, real people, it is key to listen. This is of greater importance when trying to lead and direct employees. The devil is in the details as they say and if you are listening to respond it is quite clear despite the lies and fake persona you think you have mastered. If you truly care about the answer, if it is a priority to actually care, then it is a requirement that you listen to understand.

For a lot of current day leaders, this concept is too large for their corporate yes man mentality to be wrapped around. This is the fail. The inability to get out of our own way and stop. Seize the agenda and care. Be present and realize the questions you ask are not about your interpretation but about the entire answer.

Coupled with the above mentality is the ever present arrogant demeanor. See when we don't listen to understand it is noticed. The more our arrogance takes over, the more the individual before us is put off. Assuming the stance of being above another is to demean the position of that person. We must actually care and subside our agenda to truly build the trust of our personnel. Communication is built on trust and that trust begins with effective listening.

So let me ask you this, have you been asked a question and been interrupted before you answer the question? Have you committed to the conversation with a superior and realized they were disconnected as soon as the asked you the question? This is what is described in the paragraph above. This is the fastest way to damage the potential trust you haphazardly began building. Lack of commitment on either part of the conversation can build a great wall of china on top of the key element, trust.

In this year of 2017, the responsibility of operative growth is completely on top of the companies shoulders. See the up coming employees are not of the hard working era of past. Now that is not a dig at todays workforce because it is not their fault they were given trophies for just showing up. However, it is the subjection of the managers and supervisors, the team leads and project coordinators to raise the workforce before them to be valuable employees. It is not as simple as placing blame and hoping it’ll sort itself out or even going as far as firing an individual because of shortcomings in the management. This responsibility of growth begins with diabolical listening and consistency. I have floated through the work space before and gone unnoticed, I have asked a few questions and began a conversation about nonsense and trophy stories. I have also gone through and asked innocuous questions and received an onslaught of information about situations that I was completely unaware of. Because I care and I listened.

Taking time for the details and subjecting yourself to some good old fashioned chit chat is good for the people. Dare I say if you commit to the cause of learning your people, you may learn a thing or two. At the very least you will learn to listen.

THE LOW FIVE

It has become the norm to see the negative aspects before the positive. That may seem like an end all statement, it may even seem too direct to be true. I can assure it is worth investigating. The following statement is one I have used in many different forms but sadly always seemed to apply. “You can build a thousand bridges, but if you kill one person you are not a bridge builder,” if you know me you have probably heard one of the many versions of this phrase but it leads us to the point of this section. Why do we focus on the negative?

In the workplace as in life, it is the drama and theatrics that are enticing. There are far fewer people that actually enjoy watching grass grow versus the surplus that’ll watch a building being demolished. So how is this the way we conduct our business or the handling of personnel that we are in charge of? Shouldn't the people under our responsibility be given more leeway and consideration?

The subconscious is funny in this regard because we as people have a natural competition within us. We may be the most docile individual and yet we get a release of serotonin at the chance to be better than someone. This high we feel is in our DNA from the days when our ancestors were in the survival of the fittest game.

Competing in business makes us feel less vulnerable. See we think that if we show compassion or give people the benefit of the doubt then we a susceptible to attack and could be held liable. When the reality is the exact opposite if handled correctly. The component of this algorithm that most leaders fail to realize is that of communication. See if you have conversations with people, they will understand why you are giving them a freebie or punishment. They will understand that even though they have made a mistake, you understand that it is not a habit and you can actually converse and find out if there is a legitimate reason for the failing. As the same conversation can be the opportunity to express your disappointment in their performance. It's in this conversation that you can illustrate the difference between giving your personnel the benefit of the doubt or the punishment they deserve.

THE AT A BOY

The final moment within leadership I would like to illustrate is that of encouragement. This word has become almost as formidable as some cuss words. Encouragement.

As with consideration, encouragement can be a scary thing. In this life of negativity, it can cause awkward moments, it can even cause disbelief. We have been taught that no news is good news and as long as the boss doesn’t know your name then you must be doing well. However, if done correctly and consistently across the board then it will become a standard of ethics and if you’re lucky it may even become the way someone describes you.

See it’s when we hesitate that it seems illegitimate. It's when we encourage and praise the same individuals that we become vulnerable to favoritism. Now, this is not to discourage expressing the accolades of your personnel but exactly the opposite.

Make it public. Give the due diligence when it’s earned. The proverbial shouting from the roof tops. Allow the people you lead to see that you will give credit where credit is due. See you have to love and hate the people equally. Express concern and praise whole heartedly. Your personnel will see this and give you the answers you seek without having to ask for it. Their actions will reflect yours and the bond of trust will flourish.

As you develop into the leader you can be, remember these elements;

1)  be genuine in your connection

2)  listen to understand, not to respond

3) reinforce positivity

4) encourage without hesitation

[bronsonthurman]

Google Employee’s Viral Letter: More Noise in a Cacophony of Echoes

(Text of the letter here.) Let’s get one, self-evident fact out of the way: we know there are real issues facing women in tech because women in tech say so. No one wants to be the squeaky wheel at work and there is no gain to be had by doing so; when there isn’t a problem, we will hear few complaints. While the same may not quite hold true for leadership, men can not claim any history of being any better at it. As women move into more positions of leadership we see the same variety of solid competence and flailing fakery as we have always seen in men; the Angela Merkels versus the Debbie Wassermans, for example, are no more or less prevalent than the George Washingtons versus the James Buchanans. People aren’t very good at leadership, period. Come to think of it, people aren’t very good at code either.

Another thing people aren’t really that good at is solid critique. Making and refuting claims with actual evidence is a ton of grueling work. Its much easier to make presumptions and let those you agree validate them, while dismissing those who don’t. All sides of every debate are guilty of this. Sure, someone could present an actual case of feminist participation in typical human fuzzy-think and self-service. But why do that when you can just respond in kind? Hell you can even pat yourself on the back because someone sent you a message of support--wow, you must be right, because someone else agrees!

Any vitriol you hear in this statement is as much self-loathing as anything else. I get it, sometimes you just have to speak up and unless your job is academic you won’t really have time to write a solid research paper. I’m proving that point with every word. I certainly experience dismay when I encounter sloppy feminist diatribes. But if I am going to embarrass myself by ranting, I’m not going to do so protecting a status quo that I can damn well see is wrong. I will go off half-cocked only for other men making me look bad by their sloppy chauvinist diatribes. Call it one bad turn deserves another if you like.

In his letter anonymous google employee cites the (presumably left leaning) echo chamber twice by the third paragraph. At the same time the letter sits firmly in its own (presumably right leaning) echo chamber. It asserts status quo cultural conditions as irrefutable biological facts. On that rocky foundation it posits efforts to change these conditions are artificial impositions on the natural. It decries a lack of evidence for what it opposes, but sees no need to provide evidence for what it supports. This does not mean every claim made is false, any more than the claims of the opposing echo chamber. It does mean the letter is just adding more noise to the cacophony of echoes.

That there are some biological differences between men and women is apparent, but any conclusions to draw from that are highly disputed. I have seen evidence both for and against genetic determinism, all of it well removed from the source and casually reported, just like whatever information the author drew on for his letter--which we can safely assume since he didn’t think his evidence worthy enough to share. The only conclusion worth drawing is that biology may or may not contribute to gender gaps and the debate demands a more solid body of evidence either way. Yet this Google employee blithely asserts that differences between men an women are “universal across human cultures.” This is a laughably indefensible claim just at home in sloppy feminist work as it is in this sloppy chauvinist work. History and geopolitics certainly offers considerable variation in gender formulation once corrected for the homogenizing influence of Western dominance. Are there certain trends across a wide range of cultures, like male dominance in politics and female dominance in family? Sure. Does that make the a case for biological causes that explain and justify female under representation in programming and leadership, even as women vocally clamor for these roles? No, no it doesn’t, at all, just as it fails to proves maleness to be the eternal source of all villainy.

The letter goes on to associate women with feelings, aesthetics, sociability, artistry, gregariousness, and agreeableness, and to deny them ideas and assertiveness. This shows a remarkable lack of historical knowledge. Indeed women’s capacity for all those attributes was once refuted by patriarchal artists and leaders, just as the author today refutes their capacity for “rational” attributes. Over time culture--yes culture--shifts in what it allows for different genders. The assignment of those attributes to women is no less specious and bigoted than the denial of the same to men.

The text swerves from biological determinism to political bias, u-turns back to restatement of its gender difference claims threaded through non-evidence based suggestions, detours complaints about Google’s bias and non-evidence based decisions, to “I am not sexist” disclaimers, and makes the occasional pit stop for a meaningful statement taken, incorrectly, as proof of the whole irrational rant. Surprise, lefties have bias! It might even affect the decision making around inclusivity policy. Whoah, not all differences are socially constructed? Surely then Google’s diversity programs must be wrong. Mr. Anonymous would have done better to confine himself to discussing the specifics of those programs and offer “concrete suggestions” that were in fact concrete, actionable proposals shown to contribute to “non-discriminatory ways to reduce the gender gap.” Instead we get “stop alienating conservatives” and some points about why we should do that. I fully support not alienating everyone, but how do you do that when conservatives are only comfortable if disadvantaged groups stop trying to better their lots in life and instead just know their place? They alienate themselves by claiming an exclusive right to wield power in their own self-interest. Other even less concrete suggestions include “de-emphasize empathy” and “prioritize intention.” Some effort is made in the bullet points to add specifics, which in these cases amount to some dubious claims about the effects of empathy and a call to stop micro-aggression training. At least that last bit was specific, if not supported.

The purpose of the letter is not obvious, but it boils down to opposing diversity programs and training. It visits the reverse discrimination argument several times and makes reference to widely covered issues of college admission and hate speech. This conservative rationale is what gets my dander up, not least because it has a specious logic that requires some thought to see through. If we won’t discriminate against anyone on the basis of gender or race we shouldn’t discriminate against men or white, should we? This line of thinking discards a significant issue, that our culture at large already discriminates for men and whites, in particular at the level of Google. That this is a generalized truth with many specific deviations does not detract from it. The best anecdote I have involves a woman who hired a whole department of employees who shared her gender, race, hair color, hair length, and hair style. That this manager needed to examine her unconscious biases was particularly obvious; that this example points out a female does nothing to refute the need for white male dominated corporate America to affirmatively ensure they don’t unconsciously prefer people like themselves. From the top tier of candidates for a competitive position the final decision is going to be highly subjective. It’s not about unqualified minorities cheating to win; it’s about perfectly qualified minorities getting a shot they deserve as much as anyone else.

Throughout the letter a series of footnotes is included, not to cite sources or evidence, but to make additional room for more of the same, only even less focused, plus an occasional disclaimer or clarification. When the text mentions “veiled left ideology” it directs to a footnote expounding the failure of communism, as if disadvantaged groups trying to increase their presence in a temple of capitalism are secretly communist agents. There is one perfectly good, unattributed quote on rigid male gender roles; on its heels comes a straw man definition of political correctness presented as prove of authoritarianism. Here the author slips out of language carefully couched in appeals to openness and objectivity and we glimpse the most troubling aspect of this letter.

Somewhere, lost in the echoes of his own chamber, there is a human being struggling with sincere fears and alienation, as deserving of voice and sympathy as anyone else. Fear is rarely fully justified, but it is just as rarely baseless. I have sought legitimate men’s rights criticism and so far come up only with muddled alt-right nonsense like this, with the occasional fair point drowned out by unmerited conclusions, intransigent defenses of the status quo peppered with--but not supported by--the occasional just claim. There is a case to be made of male struggles: their gender is stuck in stereotypes and double-standards just as women liberate their own from the same. Affirmative action could well swing towards bigoted discrimination, though I wouldn’t claim that it has. Individuals of any class deserve equal opportunity regardless of the general state of equality, so the woman manager of a small non-profit shouldn’t prefer employees like herself any more than a male executive at a massive multinational conglomerate should. That some women inflict occasional injustices against men is not a surprising or revolutionary claim; women are human beings, people as perfectly capable of self-serving bigotry as anyone else. That their opportunity to do so rests on the shoulders of a movement to reject sexism does nothing to refute that movement. For too many years too many men used their opportunity in reprehensible manner; a rush to decry equal-opportunity bigotry would be premature, to say the least.

Maybe someday soon I will do the serious work and research needed to make this case, much as pioneering women did for their movement. Until then I will reserve my rants for sloppy, fuzzy-logic, alt-right nonsense like this Google employee offers.

Seriously men, just cut this bullshit. It’s embarrassing.

[ladystylestores]

Founders need stewards, not masters

“I’m just going to drive off this bridge. My wife can get the policy. My wife and daughter will be okay …”

In the world of venture capital and startups, there’s always an ongoing dialogue of value and power, perceived and real. Because founders and VCs spend all of their time in a human-behavioral cluster where the sole focus is on equity, they often act in ways that are fundamentally broken. I’m writing this today, with the blessing of a brother and friend, to call out some truth that I believe many in our industry need to hear.

My message to VCs reading this: Founders are more than their companies, and truly honoring them is not just something to think about. It’s a requirement of the role you’re privileged to have. My message to founders: You’re more than your companies. It’s that simple. While you likely have poured and will continue to pour your lifeblood into the pursuit of your vision every chance you get, you have been, you are, and you always will be more than the business.

It’s spring of 2016, and Clarence is actually breaking in. This “knock down walls” determined Black man from Decatur, Georgia is doing it. He’s taken what was just an idea and made it into a legitimate, angel-backed, startup company that’s going through Village Capital, a notable accelerator program in Washington, D.C. Not only that, but after meeting with a local VC firm with a $100 million+ fund, he’s now holding a signed and countersigned term sheet for a $4.5 million round. All the promises he made to friends, family, angels, his wife, himself … are about to pay off. Let’s go!

In venture capital I hear many of my colleagues, myself included, talk a lot about empathy. I’ve had limited experience as an operator, but I still question my own ability to truly have empathy for what founders often go through — just to get a shot at their massive, game changing, odds-stacked-against-them dream. Sure, many of us affectionately talk about the months of not taking a salary and maybe trading in a restaurant meal for some cup noodles … but I’m talking about understanding the tough conversations with a husband, partner, or wife … begging for the trust to let you do this stupid thing. I’m talking about not just going without salary, but doing so when you haven’t already “made it” … AND blowing out your savings … AND going into serious debt. I’m talking about never not working, missing out on your kids, your significant other, your health. I’m talking about the emotional exhaustion of finding a ride or die co-founder, and truly, truly being ride or die. I’m talking about accepting money from friends and family who are just betting on you for the sake of you, and knowing that for them the money they’re giving you … it’s not small. I’m talking about with every moment of doubt along the journey having to find the strength, determination, and conviction to not just carry your own emotional well-being, but that of all those who’ve trusted you.

It’s September now, and spring seems like ages ago. That being said, these venture investors are still saying they’re super excited — they just needed to clean some things up. LLC to C-Corp, some new diligence, etc. Also, now they’re saying, although they’re still “ready to rock,” the round is going to be $2.5 million … at a lower valuation … and something about $500,000 in warrants?

Over four months later this feels weak … But, after all the 100-hour weeks strung together, all promises made to the loving but frustrated wife, all the tens of thousands of dollars now in debt to chase this — it’s just one more time biting the bullet.

Right?

Anyway, Clarence is still ready to go. He’s holding up his end, and with a new signed and countersigned term sheet in hand he says, “Yo, let’s go win. Let’s do this!”

As a venture capitalist, I sit in a seat of privilege. Like many other partners at firms like mine, I talk to hundreds of startup founders a year that look to me and see someone who can open the door. Who can unlock their dreams. Who can put them in the game, and perhaps coach them or even play alongside them on their path to punching a hole in the universe. Some VCs manage this dynamic well, but many see this dynamic of real or perceived gatekeeping potential, position of power, or “benefit of supply and demand” as an opportunity to be … well … predators.

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It’s gross.

I fundamentally believe that this dance that we as VCs and founders do is all about the people. It’s all about the relationships, the trust, the crazy things we can accomplish together when 1+1 = 17, and we figure out together how to make that scale. So often, without trust and people really looking out for each other, that’s just not possible. If you’re an investor and you think “oh, so and so is less sophisticated than me, I bet I can slip in this term that I wouldn’t try with someone else,” please think about that some more. Clarence, like many diverse founders, experienced what is honestly unfortunately common among them (but certainly not exclusive to them). VCs often go straight to ROI math when they think they have something, and rather than think about “how do I honor the person who’s about to trust me with their life’s work by putting something together that’s fair and sets us both up to win,” revert quickly to “how do I extract the most value from this.”

VC is a long-term game.

Can we agree that shouldn’t just be taken into account regarding the path to liquidity?

The phone rings, and Clarence picks up. It’s the person at the firm he’s been working most closely with.

“I know we’re close, but we have a co-investor we want to bring into the deal. Can you be in D.C. tomorrow to meet with them? We’ll get this all closed soon after.”

With the ‘No Shop’ clause that comes with a signed term sheet, Clarence has been kept from talking to any other investors for six months now. Not only does he not have any other investor conversations going, but it would be really hard to explain why the round that was agreed to so long ago might not be happening now. Even though this is … ridiculous … and frustrating … what other choice does he have?

Clarence, based in Minneapolis, thinks on it for a moment, and then does what any good founder would do.

He books a red-eye flight and is there the next day. 

Often I think investors look at what founders are willing to do to get things done, and they just lean in. They look at what founders have sacrificed, or are willing to sacrifice, and they just accept it without another thought. As if all the founder had going for them was the company anyway.

Guess what?

That’s never true.

The hour a founder takes for the additional five slides you want done because of how you think a board deck should look doesn’t just come from nowhere. It comes from her kids, from his partner, from her sleep. The flight they’re willing to get on to meet in person or to show up at some networking event doesn’t just come out of the company budget. It comes from their life budget. The dilution they’re willing to take to get a deal done so you can get one more syndicate buddy in isn’t just cap table math. It’s a slice of the heart. Just because founders are willing to do whatever it takes, doesn’t mean it should take the max.

Founders need partners that approach them as stewards, not masters.

It’s now October, and Clarence gets the call he’ll never forget. He closes the door to the bathroom to get some privacy, and sits on the throne as he receives the message.

“… didn’t go well with the co-investor … things are changing … doesn’t seem like we’ll be able to make this work …”

In a state that can only be described as calm shock, Clarence let’s the words of “We’re out” wash over him as he turns over in his head all the people he needs to tell … his employees, his investors, his wife, everyone that’s going to be affected by the fact that there’s no investment coming in, six months after expecting nearly $5 million, and the company will be out of money in 3 months now.

Clarence stumbles through politely saying “okay, I understand …” and hangs up the phone. He tells his wife what happened, he kisses his daughter on the head, and he gets in the car.

Whether you’re a founder or VC reading this, I ask you to think about two words.

Stewardship and Grace.

For venture capitalists, if there’s one thing you could commit to today that I believe will make you a great partner going forward, it’s to look at founders with the intention of being a good steward of not just your resources, but theirs. Care about them enough to honor them with transparency, quick decisions, honest feedback, genuine priority of their well-being, and protection. Protection of what they could give up to pursue their dreams, but don’t need to.

And, have grace. Most founders are not as sophisticated as you on best practices, investment terms, all things “winning the deal.” Have the grace to make space for them not to be perfect negotiators, and still be able to not have to accept the worst possible offer. Honor them, before they “earn it” from you. If you want to ask me how best to be an ally of founders who are Black, Brown, or otherwise diverse, this may honestly be it. While this issue is not unique to them, they are the ones most exposed and at higher rates to this sort of mistreatment and being taken advantage of.

For founders, again, it’s simple: Be a good steward of yourself. Show yourself grace. It may not feel like it in the heat of the furnace, but you are more than your company. No one would have followed you on this crazy journey if it wasn’t true and they didn’t believe it themselves.

Tears in his eyes, pain in his chest, Clarence gets on Interstate 35 E. “I don’t want to be here anymore,” he thinks in his head. He put in so much work … He did everything he was asked to do … He was truthful … He was a good person … 

Now his family is $50,000 in debt because of him. Now his friends and family and angel investors who trusted him shouldn’t have. Now his wife, who loves and trusts him maybe did so to a fault, and is going to suffer the consequences. Now his team, who all need to feed their families too, are going to regret ever trusting him with their literal livelihood.

He’s southbound now, barreling down the highway at 130 mph. There’s a bridge coming up, he knows, with a huge drop off. 

“I’m just going to drive off this bridge. My wife can get the policy. My wife and daughter will be okay …”

He’s maybe a mile away from the bridge now. He clamps the wheel tighter, turning his Black knuckles white.

“… I’m gonna drive off. It is what it is …”

Then, out of nowhere, Clarence hears a voice.

“Slow down, you’re going to be fine.”

Startled, Clarence keeps going.

“Slow down, I got you.”

Suddenly, Clarence starts feeling the wildest sensation. He feels the gas pedal pushing back against his foot. Against him.

“You’re going to be alright. Just keep going home …”

Clarence pulls the car over and just weeps.

Truly. Weeps.

Clarence has always been a man of faith, and in that moment there’s no doubt in his mind that Jesus showed up for him.

God stepped in.

While I don’t expect everyone reading this to be a Christian, I do believe that all of us as VCs or founders consider ourselves to be good people. Whether you believe it to be God’s work, or the mission of good people, I think it’s important to recognize that stewardship and grace are paramount if you’re going to be a positive force in our work.

While it’s tough to draw clear, direct correlation between entrepreneurs and suicide risk, it’s well understood that through characteristics and experiences that founders share (i.e. impulsivity, emotional volatility, social isolation, rejection and failure), suicide is more likely a concern for them than the average person. If you’re a founder (or anyone) reading this and have had thoughts of suicide, please, please don’t go through this alone. Talk to someone you love, visit the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and call 1-800-273-8255 to talk to someone who can listen and help. Confidentially. Completely free. That being said, far before suicide is even a question, we can find opportunities to reclaim founders’ abilities to enjoy physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health.

That day in October, 2016, six months after holding that first signed term sheet, Clarence went home and wept. Today, Clarence wakes up to a life that, as a poor Black kid outside of Atlanta, he didn’t know existed.

He wakes up in a beautiful home, kisses his wife and kids, grabs a coffee, and steps outside to sit on his porch and watch the sunrise. This grinder didn’t quit grinding.

With the support of his wife, and the hard work and fortitude that only exists truly in founders, he has closed $7 million+ in venture funding with a top seed-stage venture capital firms leading his last round.

He hugs and kisses the son that would not have been born if not for him pulling over that day. If not for divine intervention.

With grace, Clarence looks back and forgives those that hurt him so badly in the past. He moves forward, unburdened, with the support of investors who love him. Who steward him. Who show him grace.

As someone who knows Clarence personally, I was truly shocked upon hearing his story today. He’s one of the most dependable, stable, bright-eyed and motivating founders I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. It’s for this reason I think it’s even more worth underlining how this grind we call entrepreneurship can get to anybody.

Clarence, I’m so honored by you. I’m honored by you letting my firm partner with you in your journey. I’m honored by you allowing me to share your story.

To all the venture capitalists out there, I hope you truly hear this. While we often forget founders are more than their companies, they are. So much more. And while we often find ourselves doing ROI math, it’s not enough. We’re all in a place of privilege in this life, and while we’re all likely to do financially well, I believe there is a right way to do well by our founders. Through stewardship and grace, and through attaching long-term thinking to the people and not just the path to liquidity, we can, should, must honor founders.

And founders …

please …

don’t ever forget.

You are more than your company.

[To read more from Mike Asem and/or to subscribe to his blog, follow this link.]

Mike Asem is a Partner at VC firm M25, which focuses on seed-stage Midwestern startups in most industries, and is a board member of BLCK VC, which connects, engages, empowers, and advances Black venture investors. 

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[phooll123]

New top story from Time: Procter & Gamble CEO David Taylor Talks Equality, The Economy, and Why Leaders Wear Masks

(Miss this week’s The Leadership Brief? This interview below was delivered to the inbox of Leadership Brief subscribers on Sunday morning, June 14; to receive weekly emails of conversations with the world’s top CEO’s and business decision makers, click here.)

As the United States—and the world—continues to reckon with systemic racial injustice, David Taylor, CEO of the $67 billion multinational consumer goods company Procter & Gamble, acknowledges that “it’s time for action.” As a start, P&G announced in early June that it was launching a “Take On Race” fund to support organizations pursuing equality: the company made an initial $5 million contribution. More work, however, lies ahead. “Far too often, the burden of seeking equality rests on the shoulders of those most marginalized,” says Taylor. “This simply won’t work.”

On the sales front P&G, in its 183rd year, is one of the rare companies thriving in the pandemic. Quarantined consumers have been stocking up on P&G products like Pampers, Mr. Clean and Charmin. P&G has also adjusted its plans to meet emerging COVID-19 needs. Early on in the crisis, for example, a team at a P&G facility in Boston figured out that the plastic in Gillette packaging could be used to make face shields for health care workers. “We don’t make face shields,” says Taylor. “But they said, ‘We can. We could repurpose this, change this, work with somebody here’ and now we’re going to ship 300,000 of them by the middle of June.”

With sanitizer in short supply, a P&G plant in Lima, Ohio, repurposed some of its perfume-making equipment for detergents and fabric softeners. “They got the World Health Organization formula and then within days were making sanitizer in 55-gallon barrels,” says Taylor. The company is now pumping out 45,000 liters of sanitizer a week. “We’re not selling any of it,” he says. “We’re giving it away, or we’re using it in our plants and our operations to stay safe.”

Taylor, a Charlotte, N.C., native, has spent his entire career at P&G—he started in 1980 out as a production manager in North Carolina plant that made adult diapers. He recently joined TIME for a video conversation from his home office in Cincinnati: he outlined P&G’s response to the unrest engulfing the country, shared concerns about new COVID-19 outbreaks, and talked about how he stays energized. (Hint: running up and down stairs between meetings helps.)

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(This interview with Procter & Gamble CEO David Taylor has been condensed and edited for clarity).

How do you lead a massive organization through what the country is going through right now?

It’s important, as a leader, to connect personally, meaningfully and empathetically with all employees. It’s also a time for action. Far too often, the burden of seeking equality rests on the shoulders of those most marginalized. This simply won’t work. The change we need is broad and deep and requires us all to be active—as friends and colleagues, and as allies and advocates.

Specifically, what is P&G doing internally?

We have and will continue to build a diverse employee and leadership base to reflect the consumers we serve, and foster an inclusive, respectful, welcoming and affirming culture. We are ensuring we view our business practices through an equality lens. We are also continuing to create safe spaces for dialogue within P&G, living our values, and demonstrating our humanity.

And what is the company doing externally?

It’s important that we step up to help create the world in which we want to live. So, P&G and our brands are stepping up our ongoing efforts to advance equality for all people, and especially, right now, for Black Americans who face racism and bias. We established the P&G “Take On Race” fund with an initial contribution of $5 million to help fuel organizations that fight for justice, advance economic opportunity, enable greater access to education and health care and make our communities more equitable.

What have you communicated to your workforce this week?

This is an important moment for listening, empathy and action. I reached to P&G people not only as a leader, but also as a concerned citizen, father and husband—reinforcing my personal continued commitment to equality and justice and to affirm P&G increased efforts in this area.

Far too often, the burden of seeking equality rests on the shoulders of those most marginalized. This simply won’t work.We know that our success is grounded in the success of our employees, consumers and communities. All of them.

Shifting to the pandemic, do you have concerns about a second wave?

If I would wish anything more broadly for society is to not dismiss this if you don’t have it or know somebody that has it. Because it is a very transmissible disease. And when you’re outside your home, just be conscious that even if you’re not wearing a mask, the risk of you infecting somebody, if you’re asymptomatic, is real. I am concerned when you see the things that you see on TV. Many, just out of frustration of being cooped up, may put their guard down. And the risk is that we start to get the seesaw. We get better, then worse. Better, then worse. And certainly, for the health of all citizens, and all people, I hope people take it very seriously.

P&G has manufactured millions of masks during the pandemic. What do you think of the President’s actions relative to masks?

What I will say is I do believe that leaders need to role model the desired behavior. So when I’m out at the grocery store, always a mask. P&G people, they recognize that role modeling matters because others look to what leaders do. And so that’s why in our plants, our plant leaders should wear masks. It’s important for all of us to recognize that people will look to others for signs of what’s the best behavior. I’ll leave it at that.

Let’s get the toilet paper questions out of the way. On March 12th, toilet paper sales increased by more than 700% year-over-year, making it the top-selling product in the country for the day. Why toilet paper?

It goes back to a very simple thing, which is if there’s uncertainty ahead and you’re not sure you’re going to be able to go to a store, think of any product in your home that if you didn’t have would be a problem. If you don’t have certain things, there’s a good alternative. But when you get to basic care of yourself, there’s not a lot of substitutes for toilet paper. What would you do for three or four days without toilet paper?

So this was a demand surge, not a supply issue? For the record, there is no shortage.

Absolutely. Supply has actually been fine. Supply is up. It’s largely over now, but there was a short-term spike where people started hoarding and stocking up. If you buy a three-month’s supply then all of a sudden the shelves get bare.

I understand that it’s a surprisingly complex product to manufacture.

We have a proprietary process that we developed many years ago that gives you the softness and strength that you want in Charmin. It’s a wet strength so that it does its job, but then it dissolves so that it can go down the toilet. And Bounty is a product that if you’ve ever gotten it wet, it doesn’t fall apart. So it’s got absorption, but it doesn’t fall apart when wet. So it’s a different technology. It is high-speed, very technical manufacturing. The technicians and managers that run it are very, very skilled.

Has this experience changed your view about “just-in-time” inventories and how much cushion needs to be built into the system?

Not largely. I’ve been with P&G 40 years and I’ve seen maybe a couple of these over four decades. So, the risk in over-rotating back to big inventories is you tie up a lot of assets and there’s inefficiency there for the whole system.

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What other products that you make are seeing strong demand?

There’s a long list of things. Anything that deals with personal or family safety, we’re seeing spike. We’ve seen Mr. Clean do well. Even things like sleep aids, ZzzQuil, because people are at home and there’s the stresses of all of this. That category is growing faster than it was before.

What about razors and razor blades and shaving cream?

That category has been negatively impacted. And it’s because people when they’re at home, you’ll generally see less shaving. If you normally shave each day before you go to work, you may say ‘I’ll do it every two or three days.

What is your personal outlook for the economy?

I’m not an economist, but I do believe that it’s going to be a difficult period until we get to the vaccine. And even then, the vaccine may or may not be one that’s always effective. Certainly, my hope is for the fastest recovery. My belief is that we’ll be in a bumpy period for a number of months until we get probably into early ’21.

Your facilities are deemed essential and are operating at full capacity. How are you operating safely?

For the plants we’re operating, and our distribution centers, and our offices, we’ve learned from our experiences in China and in Italy, early on, when it was very bad there, in both those places, that we have to be very disciplined. When you come in at the door, temperature checks. If there’s any issue there, stay at home and get checked out. If you don’t feel well, stay at home. If you’re in a high-risk group and uncomfortable, stay home. If you have a comorbidity that causes you to be concerned, stay home, and we have very good plans and benefits to take care of people.

Then, if you clear the temperature check, you have to have a mask on; we have masks available for our people in plants. And then once you’ve cleared temperature checks and you have your mask, then we’ve gone to social distancing throughout our buildings.

China is your second largest market: Are you worried about the U.S.-China relationship?

Certainly. I think it would be very bad for the U.S. and for China and for the world, for the two largest economies to decouple and not have free and open trade. The rhetoric that we see at times is very concerning. My hope is, and I don’t have perfect knowledge, my hope is that there are behind the scenes, thoughtful, respectful dialogue, and negotiations going on. I do believe change needs to take place on some of the things like intellectual property rights. We’ve seen progress. And we believe dialogue and negotiation is much better than decoupling.

Hunger is an issue you’re passionate about. Why can’t the richest country in the world, our country, feed all of its citizens?

I spent eight years on the board of Feeding America. And it’s one of the questions, frankly, and one of the challenges we put forth to both lawmakers and to a number of other donor companies to say we collectively can do better. I don’t know the latest numbers, but over 15 million children are food insecure. There’s a lot of food that’s not harvested because there’s not a way to get it from the field to a person that’s hungry. There’s not an economic model. And those are the kind of things that Feeding America is working on addressing. There’s a food system for all of us with money. There needs to be a food system for those that for a period of time are unable to care for themselves, and that’s what the food system that Feeding America and the food banks are working on.

What was your first job at P&G?

My career is atypical. I started as a shift manufacturing manager in Greenville, North Carolina on one of our paper businesses. I worked there for five years. There were really powerful career journey learnings to work in a manufacturing environment, on shift. On third shift, nobody cares what degree you have. They care whether you can get that line back up. And it was just amazing to see the way the team would come together when you valued each other for what you can do. Not for what title you may have or what degree you may have.

What did the plant make?

The brand was Attends, we don’t have it any more, and it was for adult incontinence. So it was a big diaper. A mega-Pampers, if you will. An adult diaper.

What is the least favorite part of your CEO job?

It’s big meetings, lots of people and lots of Powerpoint. And then people feel they have to share everything they know. I’m really not interested in being presented to a lot. I’m not wild about sitting down, review, review, review. What I want to do is talk to people and add value where I can. The other thing that does happen at times in big companies is there’s a lot of filtering. And I really value when you go to a plant, or to a sales office, or to an R&D Center, talking to the person that’s closest to the consumer or the customer as opposed to going through something that may have been filtered and vetted too much for alignment.

Where do you feel you really add value?

What I don’t believe is in micromanaging. My job is not to manage. It’s to lead.

There’s two or three things that I think are most important, where I can add value because the people that run the businesses do a great job: On talent, to make sure we have the right people in a team that works together. And it’s probably one of the things I put the most energy into everywhere I’ve been in my career. I believe so much that when you have a diverse team with a lot of different experiences, and different nationalities, genders, and, it’s critically important, and you create the environment — the inclusion — where they truly feel they can come as themselves and speak truth to power.

And one of the reasons I’ve been successful is not because I have the answers. I’ve learned many years ago, I don’t have to know the answer. I don’t have to be right. I have to get the right thing done. Many people try to be right. I just need to ensure the right thing gets done. And it’s a powerful thing to believe that not one of us is smarter than all of us.

It’s a powerful thing to believe that not one of us is smarter than all of us.The second is a focused, clear, understandable strategy. When we don’t perform well, it’s not that we don’t have good people. It is for whatever reason, either our strategy is not focused, which we’ve had cases in our company where we tried to chase too many objectives, too many mouths to feed, or we created a structure that inhibited people’s creativity and capability to contribute.

Any lessons that you picked up from mentors?

I want to be present for everybody I meet with. For somebody coming in, often it’s a big deal. Even though it’s just David, it’s still the CEO of P&G. And part of what you want to do is to be fully present. I’ve learned that from some of the great leaders that I’ve worked with in the past on how great I felt when I met with them. And they actually have seemed like they paid attention to me, and listened.

You have a lot on your plate: Any time management tips?

I generally focus less on time management. I believe — and I learned this from a course I went to many years ago — in energy management. If you’ve got the energy, you’ll make good use of your time. So that’s where you get up, wake on time every day. Drink a ton of water. And if you get a little bit tired in the day, especially with jet lag, run up and down stairs, and you’re back on again. Anything that kicks your heart rate up to keep your cognitive facilities clicking is going to help.

You run up and down stairs between meetings?

Oh yeah, I’ll do that often. My office is on the 11th floor of the building. The cafeteria is on the 5th floor. I haven’t used the elevator, I can’t remember the last time, to go to lunch. I run down 6 stories, get your lunch. Run up 6 stories, and then it sets you up for the afternoon.

  TAYLOR’S FAVORITES

BUSINESS BOOK: Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely

AUTHOR: David Baldacci.

APP: Both the app and device would be the Fitbit because it’s the way I help keep myself (healthy). I’ve got it on right now, and I make sure I get my 10,000 steps. I almost always get my 70,000 by the end of the week. If I had to do a ton on the weekend, then it’s the way I keep myself honest.

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