It’s that time of year when business pundits and influencers are making their predictions for 2022. Perhaps that was in the back of my mind as I was watching Showtime’s hit series Billions over the holidays. If you’ve never seen it, I can tell you it focuses on the shameless world of Wall Street hedge funds, and [...]
From all the news reports, it sounds like many companies are experiencing a mass exodus of workers. People are even referring to this as The Great Resignation of 2021. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, a record-high 4.3 million U.S. employees quit their jobs in August. Why? Maybe the pandemic was a real wake-up call. (“Life [...]
I’ve been intrigued in recent years by the number of experienced leaders — many of them strong communicators — who have told me the same thing: The hardest part of having tough conversations is getting started. Maybe you need to address a serious performance problem. Deliver bad news. Find a compromise during a heated argument. What’s [...]
June 24 is National Work-From-Home Day—a celebration of the cultural and technological advancements that allow us to be productive working from anywhere outside the office. After 2020, I’m guessing there will be millions more people metaphorically toasting to that capability! While remote workers weren’t uncommon before, the pandemic accelerated the proliferation of tools and services [...]
If you want to play a bigger role in the evolution of your company’s growth and success, there’s a mandatory step in the process: shake up your own thinking! Steve Miller, former CEO of Shell Oil Co., was well known for shaking things up. As Shell was rebranding in Europe, he invited a group of employees [...]
How to influence and impact others virtually. In the past year, I’ve shared plenty of content about how to lead remote teams. It was an important topic before 2020, but the pandemic made it mandatory. What I haven’t talked much about is how remote team members can stand out from their counterparts and become more [...]
In 2018, we made the decision to remodel our kitchen. Now we’re in the middle of another renovation…but not by choice. As I’m sure you know, Mother Nature was not kind to those of us in Texas last month. Ice. Snow. Prolonged periods of subfreezing temperatures. (I’m trying to avoid the word “unprecedented,” but it [...]
I’ve always believed that challenging experiences help us to grow. From that perspective, 2020 offered us a learning opportunity like no other. I don’t know about you, but I really hope 2021 involves a little less learning. So now what? While it’s tempting to block out the whole year and focus on the future, I [...]
It’s safe to say that leadership training and professional development look very different today than they did in February. (Apparently pandemics have that effect.) But as I switched my keynotes and presentations to a remote format during the last six months, I have made some important discoveries. Here are a few things I’ve found that [...]
It happens all the time. I introduce myself in a social setting and share my name. Seems pretty straightforward, right? Unfortunately, no. Here’s how the exchange usually goes: "Hi, I’m Sara Canaday.” “Sara Kennedy?” “It’s Canaday with a C.” “Are you from Canada?” (usually accompanied by a chuckle and a wink) “Well, no. But it’s [...]