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I originally wrote this post as a guest post for the Human Capital Institute in February 2010.  I was recently reminded of it and as I read it again, I liked the message.  So, I thought it was worth sharing again here. What is Talent? Over the past decade, it seems that the concept of…

How often have you returned from a conference or training seminar with a notebook full of ideas, intentions, and new contacts only to immediately get sucked back into the work vortex at the expense of everything in the notebook? It happens to everyone, all the time.  Good conferences can shoot you full of energy and…

On June 20, I announced to the world through this blog, email and wherever else people would listen that I was in the process of transition out of corporate HR.  My goal wasn’t to leave the work of Human Resources, but to better align my work with what I do best.  As I suggested I…

I’m fortunate to be speaking or facilitating at some cool recruitment conferences this fall.  I’ll be leading a couple of tracks at TruLondon 4 in London on September 1-2.  I’m also going to be presenting a keynote at The Recruiting Conference in Chicago on November 2.  In both cases, I’ve chosen Quality of Hire as…

I am  not a collector.  Just don’t have the wiring for it.  But, as with everything, there is always an exception.  The closest I come to being a collector is that I have historically saved quotes.  These little sound bites matter to me.  In each I find a spark or insight that sticks with me.…

Next week, I have the privilege to be speaking as a part of the Illinois state SHRM Conference lineup.  They have put together a pretty interesting and compelling program.  The Illinois HR community is in for quite an experience.   Talent Anarchy (Joe Gerstandt and I) will be providing one of the three keynote presentations…

By nature of having a 3 year old daughter at home, I hear the word “why” about 3,000 times a day.  Even at hear young age, she’s discovered the power of this tiny word.  It provokes thought.  It provokes conversation.  It provokes discovery.  Ultimately, it leads to learning and confidence.   And we don’t use…

There’s a lot of misunderstandings about what it means to be strategic in Human Resources.  Having a plan doesn’t necessarily make you strategic.  Talking about the future doesn’t make you strategic.  Being proactive doesn’t even make your strategic. The mark of a truly strategic HR leader or team, is when you move from giving the…

One of the hardest things to do as a leader is to know when to pull the trigger on firing someone.  I’ve heard so many leaders talk about how much trouble they have with making the decision to fire even when the person is under performing or worse a general nuisance.  Yet, these same leaders will…

A couple of weeks ago, the always outspoken John Sumser published a post at HRexaminer titled “Pummeling Equine Cadavers.”  You probably missed it if for no other reason than the title doesn’t even hint at the really interesting points John makes in the piece.  In it, he airs some frustrations around the idea of “thought…