Shrinkingthecamel

LATEST ARTICLES ( 504 )

• You Won’t Be an Effective Leader If You Are Too Busy Trying to Be Someone Else

  

  My friend, a high-level manager at a financial services firm, confided he felt as if he were leading a double-life. Not in a sordid, creepy way, involving... Read more

  Posted on 03 March 2015 SELF EXPRESSION, SPIRITUALITY

• How Not to Suck Up to Your Boss

  

  A colleague of mine, an older, distinguished gentleman, has this habit of trying to predict and finish my sentences.For instance, when I start a conversation,... Read more

  Posted on 20 February 2015 SELF EXPRESSION, SPIRITUALITY

• Five Things to Stop Doing in 2015

  

  Strategy consultant Dorie Clark wrote an intriguing post a couple years ago at Harvard Business Review blogs presenting somewhat of an anti-outlook for New... Read more

  Posted on 08 February 2015 SELF EXPRESSION, SPIRITUALITY

• It’s Okay to Feel Stupid Sometimes

  

  Have you ever been in a meeting, minding your own business, maybe thinking about what you might want to have for dinner that night, when suddenly you realize al... Read more

  Posted on 25 January 2015 SELF EXPRESSION, SPIRITUALITY

• The Secret Art of Reinventing Yourself

  

  Eighth grade is typically a harsh year for pre-teens, and mine was no exception. I was not the most athletically coordinated boy, which placed me firmly at the... Read more

  Posted on 17 January 2015 SELF EXPRESSION, SPIRITUALITY

• A Near-Death-Back-to-Work Experience

  

  Not long ago my wife and I hosted a small group meeting at our house – you know, the thing where a few couples from church get together for some bible study,... Read more

  Posted on 30 December 2014 SELF EXPRESSION, SPIRITUALITY

• How MicroPrayers Can Help Get You Through the Work Day

  

  With the advent of ubiquitous mobile social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter within reach at a moment’s notice, many of us have taken to posting cleve... Read more

  Posted on 07 December 2014 SELF EXPRESSION, SPIRITUALITY

• Are You Going to Stay Stuck, Or Are You Going to Fight?

  Every great story, every hero, every inspiring moment is born out of adversity and perseverance. Conflict and battles are the stuff of myth and legend, and we... Read more

  Posted on 14 November 2014 SELF EXPRESSION, SPIRITUALITY

• Don’t Expect God to Do Your Grunt Work

  

  I was privy to a conversation involving a mentor and his coaching subject, a mid-level manager. They had been discussing the manager’s future – moving up the... Read more

  Posted on 01 November 2014 SELF EXPRESSION, SPIRITUALITY

• What is Your “One Thing?”

  

  My wife and I took a trip to Nantucket recently to celebrate our anniversary. We walked the cobble-stoned streets, toasted champagne on the beach, indulged in... Read more

  Posted on 23 October 2014 SELF EXPRESSION, SPIRITUALITY

• Six Ways to Take Your Micro-Sabbatical

  

  My pastor recently took a three-month sabbatical. I imagined him sleeping in until ten every morning, followed by extensive periods of crossword puzzles and... Read more

  Posted on 14 October 2014 SELF EXPRESSION, SPIRITUALITY

• Don’t Mistake Doing What You Love with Doing What’s Important

  

  A few moths ago, my wife texted me, “Don’t forget to buy Megamillions tickets!:)”Upon learning of the $656 million jackpot, we couldn’t help ourselves from... Read more

  Posted on 29 September 2014 SELF EXPRESSION, SPIRITUALITY

• Acknowledging People Takes SO Much Work!

  

  Several executives were standing around my office the other day, debating what to do about a particular employee. Not that someone was in trouble – rather,... Read more

  Posted on 21 September 2014 SELF EXPRESSION, SPIRITUALITY

• How to Lead With Confidence in a Company That Stabs People in the Back

  

  Years ago, I worked for a computer maintenance company, leading a team of college students who received and cleaned the computers. Often, the problem with a... Read more

  Posted on 12 September 2014 SELF EXPRESSION, SPIRITUALITY

• Is Work a Curse, Or Inherently Good?

  

  I recently overheard a conversation where a middle-aged, mothering woman was asking a scrappy-headed and pockmark-faced young man in his mid-twenties how he... Read more

  Posted on 10 September 2014 SELF EXPRESSION, SPIRITUALITY

• The Spiritual Value of Wasting Time at Work

  

  I was on speaker phone the other day with a colleague, Bruce, closing up several items regarding some new deal activity.After five minutes or so, the business... Read more

  Posted on 01 September 2014 SELF EXPRESSION, SPIRITUALITY

• Are You Supposed to Know ‘God’s Will’ for Your Job?

  

  The other day my friend asked a rather blunt and personal question: “Do you think it is God’s will for you to be at the company you’re with right now?”What I... Read more

  Posted on 26 August 2014 SELF EXPRESSION, SPIRITUALITY

• Feeling Beat Up at Work? Three Great Ways to Manage Yourself Through the Stress

  

  A friend confided that, lately, he goes home from work every day feeling like a failure.He is in charge of a sales organization that has been slipping ever sinc... Read more

  Posted on 19 August 2014 SELF EXPRESSION, SPIRITUALITY

• New Study Suggests Prayer Is So Boring People Prefer Painful Electric Shocks

  

  Timothy D. Wilson, Sherrell J. Aston Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia, helped write “Just think: The challenges of the disengaged... Read more

  Posted on 11 August 2014 SELF EXPRESSION, SPIRITUALITY

• You Can’t Compete with Grace

  

  I recently attended a Strategy conference featuring some fancy Harvard Business School professors at a swanky California seaside hotel. During one of the... Read more

  Posted on 10 August 2014 SELF EXPRESSION, SPIRITUALITY