Last week’s cover story on courses that we could teach based on our real-life work experience generated an old fashioned letter to the editor, an online comment, and a new appreciation for some advice on an old topic.
#b#To the Editor: Never Stop Learning#/b#
A-plus to the team at U.S. 1 on your “School of Hard Knocks” edition! In this economy, many of us attend this school every day. But we must keep in mind recessions are corrections, and they teach us why we need one another.
As we work to retain and improve our economic positions, our frames of reference can naturally become “how do we get the advantage” or, worse yet, “someone must lose for us to win.”
When we raise our level of thinking — and living — to that which is mutually beneficial, the strong relationships built during the “up” times can help sustain us during the “down” times. A simple lesson to avoid hard knocks: Give and take commensurately.
I periodically talk with kids about the School of Hard Knocks. My daughter must have been listening because she texted me a photo of your front page as soon as she saw it. Thank you for reminding us all to never stop learning!
Nancy C. Faherty
Faherty handles public relations for Borden Perlman. Doug Borden was one of the guest “instructors” on our “faculty.”
#b#The Online Comment:#/b# In response to Richard K. Rein’s article on company culture and the suggestion that people who act like the boss are more likely to be a boss someday, a reader posted the following online:
“I once made a proposition: ‘The best X is a dead X’. Give your most preferable pick on X. The first answer I received was ‘X = boss.’ Not everybody is made of bossy material. If leadership doesn’t manifest itself in as many ways as the number of followers, ‘X = boss’ is the natural outcome in every culture over a long period of time.”
#b#The Press Release:#/b# A Pittsburgh-based HR consultant, Nancy Stampahar, sent a release titled “How to Be Happy at Work.”
Her advice: “Choose to be happy; reprogram your negative thoughts and responses to people and situations with positive programming; find at least one job-related task you enjoy doing — do it each day.
“Find a personal interest or hobby that brings you fun and happiness — do it daily or weekly; learn something new to open your mind; stay away from gossip and negativity; make only the commitments you can keep; be approachable and pleasant to be around; ask for feedback — listen with an open mind and make appropriate changes.
“If you have consistently tried to get happy at work and are still not happy, it’s time to find another job.”
