What It Means: Finding common ground

"Be proactive and drive results."

The manager (let's call her Susie) was entering comments on the annual review of someone on her team (let's call him Jack).  He was a fine performer overall, but he never really seemed to push to make things happen, and never raised his hand for special projects.  It was near the end of the day, and Susie didn't want to have a long discussion that would keep Jack at the office unnecessarily.  She attached the review to an email and clicked "send."  Plenty of time to have the actual conversation the next day.

Jack happened to be working late - again - that evening, trying to accomplish everything asked of him in his compliance role.  Bing!  An email showed up in his inbox from Susie.  He was surprised to see her on this late, and opened it right away, in case it was something urgent she might need first thing in the morning.

Pop...pop...pop...the office chair creaked as Jack read the attachment.  His faced flushed red, and he felt that twitch that comes when fatigue and frustration meet.

College Connections

You may have noticed this phenomenon as well...Every Autumn, you mysteriously run into people you haven't seen since high school or college.  Sometimes they reach out to you, sometimes you might reach out to them, and sometimes - most times for me - it just happens.

It's November, and I've connected with a few old schoolmates, just like every year.  Some relationships blossom once more, and others end in a warm-hearted remembrance of some shared event before the connection once again fades.

It's always interesting to see where others are, remember what we once were, and ruminate over the changes that happen in life.Here are two general thoughts around this:  one is a bit academic (not a bad thing), and the other is an application.  Let's touch on the academic first.

Harvard Business Review: networking

Harvard Business Review published a couple of  articles this year around networking, and I wanted to share them with you:

"Start Networking Right Away (Even if you hate it)"

• From the January 2009 issue


• Key quote:  "Time spent in the early days building a network will save time down the road when you're trying to solve problems, leverage resources, and achieve success."

"Approach Avoidance"

• From the October 2009 issue


• Key quote:  "find a good role model; put outside interests to work inside the organization; engage with the network consistently, not just when they need help; and have faith that practice will pay off."

Enjoy!

View&Stew: it's all about EQ

Emotional Intelligence is Cool

Daniel Goleman is a psychologist by trade. He's also a bestselling author, sometimes Harvard professor, and even wrote for the New York Times for a while. For the past decade and a half, his focus has been on intelligences beyond the standard measure of IQ, “intelligence quotient.”