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53 articles by Regina Barr · showing 50

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By Regina BarrRecently publishedTopic pending

***Barriers to Advancement Facing Women in Business

Women continue to enter the workforce in record numbers. In fact, almost 47% of the workforce is comprised of women. Yet, despite this fact, very few women hold the top slots. Take one stroll past the executive suite in your organization and there will probably be a noticeable lack of women to be found, particularly if you exclude the support staff. Perhaps you never took the time to consider this or to even ask the question, but given the number of women in the workforce, does it seem rather odd that there aren't more women ensconced in the executive suites in business? I think so.

Primary topic: Recently published
Recently published
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Three Ways to Wow Customers with Outstanding Service When Something Goes Wrong – Even When It’s Not Your Fault!

According to a survey by Customer Care Alliance (CCA), only 16% of customers felt satisfied by the service received when they had complaints, despite efforts by the company to improve customer relations. Further, 73% were so unhappy with their encounter with a company when they had complaints that they experienced ‘customer rage’, a term coined by CCA.

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***5 Secrets to Moxie Your Way to Success

So, what is moxie? According to Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, moxie is defined as: 1. Energy, pep 2. Courage, determination 4. Know-how expertise For me, moxie is more of an attitude, a way of approaching your life and work. I recently had the opportunity to speak at the Women's Economic Power Day in Minneapolis. While I was there, I met keynote speaker and event founder, A Tardy, who spoke about creating moxie moments in your life during her presentation titled, The Moxie Secret Sauce, Learn to Jumpstart Your Life with Moxie Moments.

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Equip yourself to handle difficult conversations well

Effective leaders understand that enhancing relationships is critical to their success. In fact, of all the behaviors attributed to career derailment, a problem with relationship building is cited most often – almost 46 percent of the time. Communicating constructively is key to enhancing relationships with colleagues and staff, which means you have to be able to handle diffi cult conversations. What gets in the way? For starters, we are all human beings. When we feel passionate about something, our emotions kick in, putting us in a diffi cult position for communicating.

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Three Steps for Staying Positive in a Negative Business Environment

Unless you have been living in a closet, you know that fuel costs are soaring, consumer prices are rising, and a fall election is looming ahead of us. On the work front, budgets are being slashed, projects are being put on hold or eliminated, salary increases are non-existent and hiring freezes have been implemented. If that doesn’t cause you to either run screaming or to want to bury your head in the ground, then read no further. However, if you are like most people, all of these things are bound to have an impact on your attitude and your work environment.

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***7 Reasons We Procrastinate and Strategies to Overcome Them

Ask anyone and they will tell you they have been guilty of it at one time or another. Some find it exhilarating while others find it stressful. What is it? It’s procrastination, the formal term for putting off or avoiding a task or work that needs to be completed, usually within a specific timeframe. Very few actually describe procrastination as exhilarating. I for one, fall in the “procrastination is stressful” category. However, procrastination can be used to advantage if you understand why you procrastinate.

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
1,750 views4/5 (2)
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Empower Your Employees to Make Decisions and Watch Customer And Employee Satisfaction Surge!

Last month I shared with you several lessons critical to sustained leadership success. One of those lessons was to empower your team to make decisions. According to last month’s Red Ladder poll, 33% of respondents indicated that empowering employees to make decisions was the improvement that would make the biggest difference in their organization’s ability to retain talent.

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Working With Passion: How to Incorporate More Magic into Your Work and Life

When's the last time that you told someone that you are passionate about your work? If you're like most people, you probably don't even associate the word passion with your job. In last month's Red Ladder survey, only 34% of respondents said that they do not wake up easily or feel excited about the day ahead. Only 44% of respondents felt that they were doing their best work and living up to their full potential. Further, 56% of respondents indicated that they would like to pursue new interests but often procrastinate or feel paralyzed, and thus, do nothing. Doesn't that make you feel sad?

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Your Leadership Legacy

The New Year is upon us and like most smart business people, you are probably taking inventory and making plans for the coming year. Most of these actions focus on exte al items, like deciding on how many widgets you are going to make and sell, or how many new clients you hope to acquire by the end of the first quarter. While this type of inventory and planning is necessary, it is important as a business leader that you take time to inventory and plan for your own development as a leader, and this involves both reflection and introspection.

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Three Ways to Cultivate Confidence When the Chips are Down

In many organizations, when times get tough things suddenly begin to contract en mass – budgets, projects, jobs and communication. Suddenly employees are left to wonder who or what is next? Optimism fades and suddenly confidence overall is down perhaps even yours. How can you cultivate confidence in these challenging times?

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Reflections and Goals

Like most people, you probably took inventory and made plans for the coming year. Some of you probably even took the time to identify one or two New Year's resolutions. Yet, the experts say that 30 percent of the people who make New Year's resolutions have given up by Feb. 1st and over half will concede defeat by July.

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Five Tips for How to Think on Your Feet and Become the MacGyver of Your Workplace

Thinking on your feet is a critical skill for any business leader when it comes to solving unexpected issues that arise on the job. This is the number one reason my clients state for hiring me. No matter what obstacles come my way, I always find a way to work things out. Do you remember the television program MacGyver, from the mid-80s, starring Richard Dean Anderson? Jog your memory by clicking here: http://rdanderson.com/macgyver/macgyver.htmr

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Three “D’s” Key to Balance

I often chuckle at how hard so many of us seem to be working to find the ever elusive balance that we seek. Some of you are probably personally convinced (and some days I am too!) that balance simply does not really exist. Perhaps you have told yourself that having balance is simply one of those urban legends. Sort of like the Loch Ness Monster, you've heard of it but never seen it.

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Moving the Needle on Employee Engagement and Commitment

When it comes to employee engagement and commitment to an organization, most companies would agree that they ‘have some, want more.’ Why? These companies have come to recognize that their organization’s long-term success relies on employee performance, which is directly impacted by the level of employee engagement and commitment to an organization.

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Three Strategies to Accelerate Your Team’s Success

Many of you know that I am actively involved on several non-profit boards including past president of an international professional association. After serving, I wrote an article titled Five Key Leadership Lessons I learned from Serving on Non-Profit Boards. The five lessons that were critical to a leader’s success included: have a vision; plan the work, work the plan; get the right people on board; fire poor performers; and make course corrections along the way.

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Three Strategies for Putting Balance Back into Your Work Life

Has the pendulum swung too far in increasing productivity at the expense of employee work-life balance? In an article titled, Americans of All Stripes Are Sicker Than They Need to Be, Paul Krugman indicated that full-time American workers work, on average, about 46 weeks per year compared with 41 weeks for full-time British, French and German workers. One indication that this is taking a toll on American workers is that it appears that more employees are taking mental health days. According to a May 8th article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, more than one-third of U.S.

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
1,295 views5/5 (1)
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Your Leadership Legacy

The New Year is upon us and like most smart business people, you are probably taking inventory and making plans for the coming year. Most of these actions focus on exte al items, like deciding on how many widgets you are going to make and sell, or how many new clients you hope to acquire by the end of the first quarter. While this type of inventory and planning is necessary, it is important as a business leader that you take time to inventory and plan for your own development as a leader, and this involves both reflection and introspection.

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
1,349 views
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Manage Small Changes and Builds Your Capacity for Change Management

How often have you heard the statement, the only thing constant is change. No kidding, right? Anyone living on the planet earth can attest to that statement. For most of us, the pace of change seems to have picked up dramatically over the past few years, thanks in part to the increased availability and use of technology, as well as the global economy in which we now live and work. Layer on all of the merger and acquisition activity and the ongoing waves of layoffs, and you have a recipe for constant change.

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Nine Nuggets from My Recent Blog Posts and Tweets to Inspire Your Success

When I attend networking events, participate in seminars, read newsletters and other periodicals, I always feel that my time has been well spent if I take away just one new idea that I can implement immediately or that pushes me to think outside my comfort zone. Maybe you are shaking your head and saying my expectations are too low but I have come to learn that as with most things, it is quality not quantity that matters most. This month I’d like to share some of my pithier blog posts and tweets.

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Risk Taking has its Rewards

People often tell me that they are amazed at how willing I am to take risks. For me, it's less about the risk itself, and more about the opportunity and excitement it generates, which compels me to step out of my comfort zone again and again. So, how do you view risk? Most people I talk to view risk in negative terms. In fact, Webster's defines risk as "to expose to hazard or danger." With a definition like that, who can blame anyone for avoiding risks?

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Dial-Up Your Success through Dynamic Communication

Why do 80% of our team issues come from 20% of our team members? And, how do you recognize and eliminate these issues? According to the Carnegie Institute of Technology, only 15% of your success is due to your technical knowledge while 85% of success is attributable to your ability to express ideas, arouse enthusiasm, and lead people. Further, miscommunication is at the root of a majority of workplace and personal dilemmas. Whatever behavior one displays to others is open to a multitude of interpretations, depending on who’s doing the interpreting.

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Parachute Over Your Obstacles

I recently received an email story, author unknown, titled, Your Parachute. It was about a U.S. Navy jet pilot, Charles Plumb, who was shot down after 76 combat missions and spent 6 years in a Vietnamese prison. He had to overcome numerous obstacles but he survived his ordeal. One day Plumb ran into a man who recognized him saying he was the sailor who had packed Plumb’s parachute that fateful day. The man told Plumb that he was delighted to know that the parachute he had packed had worked and was glad it had saved him when he had been shot down.

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***5 Tips for Getting Paid What You're Worth

According to a recent study conducted by the Institute for Women's Policy Research, if current wage patterns continue, a 25-year-old woman, working full time, will earn $523,000 less than the average 25-year-old man by the time they both retire at 65. Want to get paid what you're worth? Then consider these tips:

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Leading When You’re NOT the Boss

As an organizational consultant, the leaders that I find that are most in demand today are those that can motivate and engage employees that are outside of the scope of their functional responsibilities. The same holds true for the non-profit organizations I work with. What make these leaders effective? Leaders who are effective in leading others -- particularly when they are not in a boss / subordinate relationship -- typically exhibit the following behaviors:

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***The Power of Thinking Big

It has often been said that bigger is not always better. That may be true when considering automobiles and the current price of gas, but it is never true when it comes to new ideas or personal dreams where thinking big is always better. Let me illustrate. Think back to when you were a child. Perhaps you dreamed that one day you would grow up, get married, and have children. A nice dream, right? And many of you have likely achieved some version of that dream. But what if you had dreamed instead that you would grow up and marry a billionaire? Sounds crazy, right?

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Value Yourself and Others Will Too

During the past few months, I have had the opportunity to talk with many women about pricing and valuing - both themselves and their businesses - when delivering two of my popular seminars: profitable pricing and negotiation. The ability to value yourself, coupled with strong negotiation skills, are critical in terms of determining your own worth and value, and the value which others place upon you.

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Networking for Success

Networking is an art form practiced by many, mastered by few. Like anything, practice makes perfect. Owning my own company, I get to practice a lot. My favorite networking example is from the movie, For Love of Money. There is a classic scene where Michael J. Fox, who plays a hotel concierge, ducks into a helicopter owned by a man named Chuck. The helicopter pilot says to Fox, "How do you know Chuck?" Fox says, "I don't know Chuck. But I know Eddie Shackner. Eddie knows Jerry Levine. Jerry knows George Spitzer. George knows Chuck." The pilot replies, "Small world." Really!

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Using Assessments to Develop Yourself and Others

Have you ever taken a development assessment? Many organizations that I work with are now turning to behavior assessments and other types of personality trait testing for employees or prospective employees. Assessments can: 1. Help individuals better understand their strengths and position them for jobs that leverage those strengths, and help them create development plans to mitigate weaknesses. 2. Provide a common language to help improve communications between individuals and teams thereby enhancing interpersonal relationships and productivity.

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Three Lists Everyone Should Use to Increase Productivity

For those of you who may have been coasting this summer, September is a great month to get back on track with your goals. Take time to dust them off and determine what you can reasonably accomplish between now and year-end. Then drill down what tactics will help you accomplish your goals. It’s as simple as that, right? Not really. If you're like most busy professionals you are probably feeling overwhelmed at best. When I'm feeling overwhelmed, I find it helpful to create a series of lists to help me not only feel more organized but ultimately get more done.

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Improve Your Bottom Line through Executive Coaching

If someone were to ask you whether or not you would consider working with an executive coach, would you feel insulted or exhilarated? Your answer will probably depend on a number of factors including what region of the country you live in, the context in which the question is asked, and your previous experience (or lack thereof) in working with an executive coach.

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Three Ways to Wow Customers with Outstanding Service When Something Goes Wrong – Even When It’s Not Your Fault!

According to a survey by Customer Care Alliance (CCA), only 16% of customers felt satisfied by the service received when they had complaints, despite efforts by the company to improve customer relations. Further, 73% were so unhappy with their encounter with a company when they had complaints that they experienced ‘customer rage’, a term coined by CCA.

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Finding Balance in an Unbalanced World

Effective leaders understand that enhancing relationships is critical to their success. Imagine this for a moment. Your life is a smooth-running machine. You have plenty of time to do all of the important things: eat breakfast, take the kids to school, arrive at work on time, prepare for your meetings, enjoy lunch with a top-performing employee, close a deal with your best client, leave work on time, pick the kids up from school, work out at the gym, make dinner, relax with the kids, spend time with your spouse or significant other, go to bed on time and sleep soundly.

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Three Strategies to Accelerate Your Team’s Success

Many of you know that I am actively involved on several non-profit boards including past president of an international professional association. After serving, I wrote an article titled Five Key Leadership Lessons I learned from Serving on Non-Profit Boards. The five lessons that were critical to a leader’s success included: have a vision; plan the work, work the plan; get the right people on board; fire poor performers; and make course corrections along the way.

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Leverage Year-to-Date Results to Establish and Enhance Credibility

When’s the best time to get some buzz for your accomplishments? If you’re like most people, you probably answered during my annual performance evaluation. But in actuality, that’s the worst time. Why? Because everyone else is trying to do the same thing at the same time, which means your accomplishments will likely be diluted or worse, overlooked.

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Three Ways to Cultivate Confidence When the Chips are Down

In many organizations, when times get tough things suddenly begin to contract en mass – budgets, projects, jobs and communication. Suddenly employees are left to wonder who or what is next? Optimism fades and suddenly confidence overall is down perhaps even yours. How can you cultivate confidence in these challenging times?

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***The Leadership Balance Sheet

Every year, most successful CEOs take inventory and create strategic plans for the coming year, not only for their organizations but also for themselves. As leaders, they know the importance of planning for their own development, which involves both reflection and introspection. They take a critical look at both their assets and liabilities, creating a personal balance sheet or scorecard for themselves. If you haven’t done this before, a good place to start is simply by asking yourself this question: What do I want people to say about my impact as a leader 10, 20 or 30 years from now?

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Reframe Your Attitude and Create a More Positive Work Environment

I often think about something that my uncle once told me when I asked him if he minded getting older. He said, “Age is a state of mind over matter, if you don’t mind it then it doesn’t matter.” With each passing year (and birthday) I have come to appreciate the wisdom of this statement. I have learned that what he did was to reframe his vision about age and that what he was really talking about was changing his perspective and attitude to appreciate something that might not otherwise have been an enjoyable event.

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Five Key Leadership Lessons I learned from Serving on Non-Profit Boards

Like many of you, I serve on several non-profit boards in various capacities including chair. And, like many of you, I have had great experiences and frustrating experiences. Here are some of the key leadership lessons I have learned along the way that are critical for success. These lessons can serve you well in both a non-profit and for-profit environment.

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Everything I Need to Know About Success I Learned Through Networking

As a Consultant, I attend a lot of networking events, industry association programs, and one-on-one meetings for breakfast, coffee or other food-related events. Whenever I network or attend events, I always tell people that it was worth my time and money if I gained just one creative idea or contact from the experience. This past month I really put that concept to the test by attending numerous networking meetings, including one tele-networking event! Here are a few nuggets that I picked up as I networked my way through the past month.

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Five Steps for Handling Workplace Conflict

You're at work. You've been assigned an exciting, highly visible project. You can't wait to get started. You arrive at your first team meeting ready to rock and roll. You take one look around and you immediately hone in on several scowling faces. Almost immediately, you are confronted and a conflict ensues. Your excitement quickly diminishes as you realize you have your work cut out for you.

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Inspect What You Expect: Your Key to Achieving Outrageous Results

Your leadership success is the direct result of your ability to motivate and inspire people to get things done – whether they report to you or not. Most of you understand the importance of empowering your team to make decisions. You’ve probably even gotten comfortable delegating tasks. Now you need to focus on inspecting what you expect. Why? This is the key to ensuring that you and your team achieve your organizations results.

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Seven Strategies for Inflating Your Success

When I ask people to describe characteristics of successful people, they often identify characteristics that they associate with others but not themselves. This never ceases to amaze me. In a recent Red Ladder survey, respondents indicated that the top two drivers for success were 1) having a strategic vision (87.5%) and 2) having written goals (50.0%). Further, 62.5% indicated that their definition of success was "work that is both challenging and rewarding." Interestingly, no one indicated that their definition of success was "being financially secure."

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Riding a Runaway Train: Five Strategies for Developing a Sense of Control in Turbulent Times

Think about the last time you rode a train. You likely went to the station, purchased a ticket, waited on the platform for the train to arrive as scheduled, boarded the train and safely arrived at your destination. There was little or no excitement, just another normal day at the station, right? Now what if you stepped on the same train and the conductor suddenly cried out that the brakes had failed and the train was out of control? You might panic, pray or even pass out. Why? Because you no longer felt you were in control.

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Five Stress Busters I Learned From Eating Dark Chocolate

As a life-long learner, I am a voracious reader. My husband claims that I will read anything, which is simply not true. I am a serious business professional and am disce ing in my choice of reading materials. For example, I would never consider reading the instruction manual for setting up or installing electronic equipment. Why bother when I can simply push buttons and figure things out that way? I mean really.

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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By Regina BarrRecently published1 topic

***Five Tips for How to Think on Your Feet and Become the MacGyver of Your Workplace

Thinking on your feet is a critical skill for any business leader when it comes to solving unexpected issues that arise on the job. This is the number one reason my clients state for hiring me. No matter what obstacles come my way, I always find a way to work things out. Do you remember the television program MacGyver, from the mid-80s, starring Richard Dean Anderson? Jog your memory by clicking here: http://rdanderson.com/macgyver/macgyver.htmr

Primary topic: Career Development
Career Development
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