Over the holiday break, my wife and I went to see the latest George Clooney film “Up in the Air”.  While the film does a wonderful job exploring how the level of connection and intimacy we have with those around us affects our sense of happiness, it also puts a stark face to those layoff numbers we’ve been hearing about all too often in these troubling economic times.

The movie centers on corporate downsizing expert Ryan Bingham (featuring a great performance by George Clooney) whose hired by various companies to do their dirty work in firing their employees.  At one point in the film, when Bingham brings along his company’s new efficiency expert Natalie Keener to show her the process of firing someone, Keener makes the comment to one of the people she just fired that “it’s nothing personal.  It’s just business”.  Although it’s a statement that’s regularly spoken regarding business and the workplace, watching this scene brought to light how misguided this notion really is.

I’m sure many of us have been told at one point in our careers how it’s important to Click here to continue reading »”It’s Time to Make Work Personal Again”

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to listen and participate in an interesting discussion that took place following a presentation by CT Moore at the latest edition of PodCamp Montreal.  Although his talk revolved around whether a particular character from the drama series “Mad Men” would consider writing a blog, the conversations it sparked got me thinking about the stories that we tell.

Without question, we all have stories that we choose to share with others.  When we meet people for the first time, we often share with them the story of what we do for a living.  With those we’re more familiar with or comfortable talking to, we share stories about what we did over the weekend or what latest feat our child recently accomplished.  As the years roll on by, we share stories from our past that remind us not only of the good times we’ve had, but also of how far we have travelled since then.  With the growth in online social networking sites, our ability to share such stories has unquestionably grown, if not along with it the size of audience we might draw in with our tales.  But what about the stories we now share?

Click here to continue reading »”Telling The Story Of Ourselves”