Hi there, and thanks for checking out our website!

We wanted to let you know that we have a brand new location for our blog – it’s now over on the Medium platform (Click HERE), and you can find all the latest articles from us (and other writers who we’ve approved) there.

At The Whiteboard continues to be the place to find information that will help you “Crush It At Work.” This page, on our website, contains all our archived blogs back to the very beginning (June 2012!!!). If you’re looking for our latest and greatest work, however, you need to click HERE.

  • Are you a front-line employee trying to figure out how to make improvements in what you do every day, how to be an amazing team member, how to move up in an organization, or how to build amazing relationships at work?
  • Maybe you’re a manager, trying to be amazing at your job. You’d like to improve business processes, learn how to engage your team, inspire them, coach them (ugh, what does THAT even mean?), talk to them even when it’s tough, make changes that stick, or just be “that manager” that people remember (in a good way) forever.
  • Are you a Senior Leader who wishes their team would “think more strategically” but don’t know how to explain that to them? Do you have communication issues, culture issues, and change management issues? If I asked you to explain change management to me in 25 words or less, could you? Are you trying to improve efficiency, save money, or make your customers happier? Why? How do you know there’s a problem?

If so, then our publication is for you. Search this page for our oldies-but-goodies, or click HERE to see the latest and greatest.

Thanks for reading!

I know this photo has nothing to do with webinars, but it portrays excitement! And I’m excited! (Photo by Social Cut on Unsplash)

The Unicorn of All Training Topics

Regular readers will know I teach a lot, and one of the more popular topics I cover is called Management Essentials.

Not a very catchy title, I know, but it’s not my course — I just deliver the materials.

Anyway, participants love this course; not only is it eye-opening for them (you mean manager’s have to do ALL THAT plus help me get my work done?), but it also helps them think about whether they really have it in them to manage other people, or what they need to do next to up their management skills.

We talk about what it is to be a manager or a leader or — the unicorn in business — a Leader-Manager.

We discuss the right and wrong ways to engage people, why coaching is key, what incivility is and why it’s ruining the workplace today, time management and prioritization skills, and perhaps most importantly, how self-awareness is one of the most important characteristics of a Leader-Manager.

During the course I think I’ve been asked 99 times, “What kind of training do people get when they become managers for the first time?”

Bless.

The thing is, it’s a rare (and wonderful) organization that has training for people when they become new managers.

Some organizations have Leadership Development programs, and often those are for a select few people who have been identified as having “high potential.”

So how are people supposed to learn to be good managers and to develop that potential if no one will train them?

Which brings us to this webinar.

This is a free one-hour taste of our Being A Great Boss course.

Yes it’s free, and yes it’s only one-hour, but I promise it is packed with as much content as I can in that amount of time. I will also have free templates and resources for you.

And yes, there will be an opportunity to learn more about the full self-directed, six-week online course which will be offered this fall.

Who Should Attend This Webinar?

  • Brand new managers who wish there was a course on how to be the kind of boss everyone wants to work for.
  • People who think they’d like to become a manager, and who want to sharpen up their skills to increase their chances of landing that dream job.
  • Existing managers who would just like to be better.

Is this you? You can sign up for it by CLICKING HERE — it’s super quick and easy, and you don’t need to download any software or give a credit card.

What You Will Learn

  • How To Get Recognized (And Promoted) In Your Organization. Most organizations want someone who can get the job done. That’s a manager. Most employees want to work for someone who inspires them and makes them feel good about their work. That’s a leader. Learn how to stand out in your organization by being BOTH, and up your chances of a promotion.
  • How to Get People To Want To Do A Great Job Just Because They Want You To Look Good. The #1 tool in your “Manager Toolbox” is understanding your own personal habits and preferences, and recognizing how they impact your ability to inspire and communicate with other people.
  • How To Get Someone To Say What You’d Rather Just Tell Them.Learning to coach was a career-changer for me, and I’ll share how it can be for you too.
  • Tools, Tips, and Cheat Sheets. You’ll get easy-to-use downloadable templates to help you remember and use what you learn.
  • I’ll Also Answer Your Questions Live. This is not a pre-recorded training. Join me live on August 27th and I’ll answer your questions throughout the presentation. Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been managing people for years, I’ll show you how to use a few simple tools to turn your manager style into a leader-manager style!

You can sign up for it by CLICKING HERE

Important Details

  • It’s August 27th at 12 noon Eastern Daylight Time.
  • It’s one hour.
  • You will get a ton of excellent content, and some free templates and tools to take away and start using right away.

Can’t Attend But Wish You Could?

That’s ok!

Sign up anyway, and I’ll send you the recorded webinar after it’s over.

Easy peasy.

You can sign up for it by CLICKING HERE

Hope to see you there!

Ruth.

I’m tired this morning.

I think.

For a lot of people in the Northern Hemisphere, this has been a long-ass winter. I live in Toronto, and we just came through a four-day spring storm involving, snow, ice, freezing rain, strong winds, and grey depressing skies.

My Twitter feed was full of this:

I don’t know about you, but I am strongly affected by the seasons, and I have been craving the arrival of spring like it’s my job. This last storm had me house-bound, unable to get out for activity, and cranky. I’m just exhausted.

Not really.

Exhausted is the new parent who doesn’t get more than 20 minutes of sleep at a time. Exhausted is the young resident working a 24 hour shift in the ER. Exhausted is the power crew working around the clock to restore electricity after a winter storm. You get the idea.

I understand that I’m not really tired. I’m just suffering from Winter Crank (yes, I just made that up), and that has the same symptoms as fatigue.

So what’s a girl to do?

You know I’d rather curl up on the couch and close my eyes for a bit longer this morning, but my to-do list is calling.

Six Steps For Getting Your Stuff Done When You Have Winter Crank

I mean if you’re REALLY tired (see above), go lie down. Work you do in this condition is going to be crappy anyway. Take a nap, even 20 minutes if you can. Studies show a 20-minute power nap can work wonders.

But if you’re honest with yourself and you discover you have Winter Crank, here’s what you can do:

  1. Stand outside for five minutes and do some deep breathing. You don’t have to meditate. Just put your phone down and go outside. Stare at something and just breathe deeply for five minutes.
  2. Now go back inside and make a lunch date, coffee break date, or some other date that involves talking to people outside your usual circle. If you work from home and all your neighbours are at the office, then make a plan to go to a local store and chat with the people there. Talking to people outside your family or immediate work colleagues not only boosts your energy, but will also be something to look forward to.
  3. Next, make a list of the absolute essential things that you have to do, despite your Winter Crank.
  4. Make coffee or tea with caffeine. I know, artificial energy boosters are NOT the best, but desperate times call for desperate measures. If your are caffeine free, then how about a delicious breakfast cookie or protein bar?
    Put your phone on silent. Turn on music you can work to, or put on silencing headphones if you need peace and quiet.
  5. Finally, choose the easiest thing on the list and just do it. I know a lot of people say that you should do the biggest thing first but we are dealing with Winter Crank and we need your dopamine levels to go up. It’s well known that crossing things off a list actually does that, so find the easiest thing, do it, and cross it off the list, and then go to the next easiest thing and so on until you’re done.

I guarantee that as you start crossing things off the list your fatigue will also start to fade. The little dopamine guy in your head will be making you feel so good you may even want to tackle some big project you’ve been avoiding!

OK, that may be too much to hope for, so don’t.

Just focus on what has to be done. Breathe. Talk to people. And do it.

Until next time,

Ruth.