Category Archives: Kit’s Resources & Book Reviews

For Educational Resources: Human Capital Institute (HCI)

I have been enjoying browsing the Human Capital Institute (HCI) website www.hci.org for a wonderful array of educational resources geared toward the challenge of maximizing our workforce talents in today’s changing world. HCI offers a free membership and you receive a weekly notice about the upcoming webcasts available to anyone. I signed up for the “Creating Coaching Culture” which was exactly the topic that I will be presenting on over the next few months.

Personally, I really like the change to emphasizing talent in our professional associations (HR, training & coaching). This is the enormous challenge facing our companies today – recruiting, engaging and retaining the best of the best. Check out HCI and tell me what you think!

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Are You Fully Charged?

Are You Fully Charged? The 3 Keys to Energizing Your Work and Life, by Tom Rath, Silicon Guild Press, 2015.

I always enjoy seeing a new Tom Rath book on the shelves. Rath (author of StrengthFinder 2.0) has a wonderful perspective on today’s challenges in our fast-paced work world. In his newest book, Rath emphasizes “daily well-being” – what makes the critical difference in feeling fully engaged each day? Rath identifies three key conditions that make all the difference in our personal and professional lives: finding meaning, positive interactions and maintaining our health & energy.

The chapter on finding meaning and purpose in our work particularly resonated for me in light of my work in Lima, Peru in June. Pick up this highly readable book up and enjoy becoming more “fully charged” starting today!

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Film Review: McFarland USA

McFarland USA, with Kevin Costner by Disney, 2015.

Okay, I admit that I’m a big Kevin Costner fan, especially in sports movies that are based on true stories. This movie, McFarland USA, is just that kind of inspiring story.

It’s about a coach, Jim White (Costner), down on his luck who moves to a farming community, McFarland, in the central valley of California. White begins to recognize the raw talent of the high school boys who are not only physically strong but show incredible perseverance and courage as they work in the fields every day to help provide for their families. White believes in their potential (and convinces them to believe in themselves) and along with the support of this hard-working, farming community, he builds a champion cross-country running team, winning the California State Championship 9 out of 14 years.

It’s an amazing story about seeing and believing in others’ strengths as well as our own!

Here’s a link to one of the movie’s trailers, via IMDb (Internet Movie Database:  http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1125297945/

 

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Video: Gretchen Rubin on Career Drift

Here’s something a bit different . . . one of my favorite authors, Gretchen Rubin, is featured at a 5×15 New York – 2013 presentation here on .

Rubin is sharing her own personal story on how she “drifted” into a law career before finding her way to a much more satisfying career as a writer with a specialty in “Happiness”. She gives us excellent tips on how to catch yourself in drift as well as clarifying that “drifting” is not always an easier path which can be deceiving until one steps back and asks the hard questions. The video is brief and excellent!

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Talk Like Ted

Talk Like Ted: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World’s Top Minds, by Carmine Gallo, St. Martin’s Press, New York, N.Y., 2014.

I’m an experienced public speaker, but when I was asked recently to give a “TED-like talk,” I was understandably a bit intimated. As luck would have it, I had picked up Gallo’s newest book in the Dallas airport just days before.

Gallo has written an excellent “how to” book on designing and delivering a powerful, engaging but succinct message in just 18 minutes. Gallo’s guidelines are based on his extensive research of the most popular TED presenters as well as studies of recent developments in neuroscience and communications. So with Gallo as my guide, I’m already working up my presentation to give at the Career Center at the Association of Talent Development (ATD) ICE annual conference to be held in Orlando, Florida in May. I’ll let you know how it goes!

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