Business Professionals Know When to Quit

This is personal. It's about Very Important people who work on Very Important projects and assume that because they're working now, you should be too. Anyone come to mind? Someone who, say, demands a colleague's feedback at 8pm on a Powerpoint presentation that he finished at 5:30pm?

I understand the "rules" of business engagement have changed now that we all carry cell phones and can reach business associates 24/7. My opinion: because we can does not mean that we should.

While employment case law from California to Connecticut is piling up, I suspect it will be several years before the courts arrive at a standard of compensation for FLSA-exempt and non-exempt employees who are expected to make or take calls outside of "regular" business hours. (Although Brazil beat the US to it, chances are one good class-action suit will speed things up here in the states.) In the meantime, I propose a little good old-fashioned common sense.

1. Try to remember that a paycheck rewards an employee for a job. It does not actually buy the employee. In other words, in every 24-hour period, there should be at least 12 hours when the employee is free of work. Including the projects the VP of Self-Importance is working on.

2. Don't underestimate the power of passive-aggressive behavior. If you are demanding and expect colleagues to drop everything for you and your oh-so important project, don't be surprised if their cooperation drops off and business recommendations are not forthcoming.

3. Read the obituaries. Notice that people die daily. If you want your colleagues to attend your funeral and say nice thing about you one day when it's your turn, perhaps you should reconsider the importance of that Powerpoint presentation.

Call me crazy: I like to think we've evolved to the point that a person can have a job, a cell phone, and a life.

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What got me started? A demanding customer who called our home phone after leaving a voicemail on the work cell phone, which was turned off. (Hint, hint.) Said customer was not only Very Important, he was obviously Special. In his own estimation. This is why I practice Jedi mind tricks in my spare time. I do hope he calls again. I could use some more practice.

Word Geek Week

The more you read the more your vocabulary grows, or so the saying goes. I believe that, so much so that when I don't feel challenged or stretched by a book vocabularily (no, that really isn't a word - is it?!) frankly, I'm a bit disappointed. In fact, Swimming Home was disappointing to me in that regard - among others.

My disappointment drove me to go back to list I've made (haphazardly) over the years, of words I've learned or re-learned, thanks to some the books I've read.


From Iran Awakening  there was restive and foment (and a dozen others, at least).

How Soccer Explains the World prompted me to look up obeisance, pogrom (a riot-like fight/Russian origin)  picaresque, inveigh (speak of in a hostile way, I think) counter-hegemony, legerdemain, and soi-disant. 

I'm sure I learned a few from the The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society,
but - well,  did I mention the list was haphazard? That's about as far as I got. 

What about you? Ever find yourself looking up new words as you read? Tell me about it. 

G, Are You Promoting Yourself?

If you're not using your Google+ signature to link together all your articles and other written material, it's time to start.

In fact, it's past time. Not quite Google+-literate enough to figure it out?

My friend Audrey provided easy-to-follow instructions in a short and sweet blog post last month. Follow her advice, and soon all of your work will be found all over.


  

~Diane Stresing

Valentine Rhyme Time?

Written any good poetry lately?   How ‘bout bad poetry?  I love Magpo. It's not likely to help you write the world's most romantic sonnet, but it can help you get some thoughts down on paper. Or at least on your refrigerator.

On a rhyming roll? Visit The Poem Factory for current contests, chapbook opportunities, and more to fuel your creative endeavors. 

~Diane Stresing

7 Signs You're a Word Geek

7. You know that the OED has an appeals process.
6. You know that OED is not an acronym for a health condition or trade association.
5. When someone describes you as "verbose," you know it's not intended as a compliment, but may question whether the user knows that.
4. When you realize you don't know the difference between optimal and optimum, finding out becomes your most urgent task.
3. Admit it. You're miffed that there aren't more headlines like this and hate that more people read articles like this.
2. In a potential mate, no amount of physical attraction can overcome a poor vocabulary.
1. While you read this, you came up with 7 more.

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~Diane Stresing

(Bonus for copyeditors: you knew what to do with hashtags WAY before Twitter did.)  

Because They Always Ask

                What's the difference between

    a walk and a hike?

  

In the dictionary,      

               hike                      follows                 hijack.

That makes sense               because you can walk          almost anywhere     but        

 a hike takes you 

        somewhere        

                                                    figuratively
and literally.

                       You can turn any walk

                                                                  into a hike

by hijacking your attitude

                                          by simply changing your mind.

                 And, hiking improves your mind.

                (Seriously. There have been studies.)

What’s the difference between a walk and a hike?

                                  Walking is a mode of transportation.

     

                                                          Hiking is a mode of exploration.

   So ... take a hike.    

And see where it takes you.

~~~ Why not grab a local hiking guidebook, 

            and see where the trails take you?

http://alturl.com/wict3

Good Sports Don't Lie

This is personal. It's about sport and celebrity and connotation and denotation.

In short, my advice is to know the difference.

Lance Armstrong is a celebrity, has been for a long time, and most of the thinking public figured out long ago that he was lying. And then they quit caring. Lance Armstrong is a celebrity. Sport was his vehicle to fame.

The same might be said for young Mr. Te'o, Notre Dame's celebrated (and many would argue, deliberately generated) Heisman Trophy runner-up.

And the same might be said about countless baseball heroes who stave off accusations of steroid use only to eventually admit it and then sometimes, cloak their big bicepped-selves in righteous indignation. File under Too Big for your Britches.

They are celebrities. They are not sports heroes. Sports heroes don't do that s#_+.

I'm sorry to say that I can't point to a sports hero with a name you'd recognize. But I know who my heroes are.

They're the coaches and players who do what they do (work hard, have fun) for the love of the game and respect the rules - why? because doing so adds a wonderful, thrilling, joyful dimension to life. They do what they do in spite of the coaches and players who are in it for some sort of screwed-up version of sports-self-importance. They do it in spite of the athletes and teammates whom we celebrate too often for their bullying flair. (Too bad we weren't quite ready to listen to Floyd Landis in 2010.)

Some of my sports heroes aren't players or coaches. They're the fans who attend the game, meet, or match, regardless of the weather; who cheer and smile, regardless of the score. Who smile even when they complain about the referee's stupid call. Because they get it. Sports - yes, even competitive sports - are supposed to be fun. They should add joy and spirit to life. They should be honest.

Isn't that what good sportsmanship is all about? That's a connotation, not a denotation, I suppose. Whatever you call it, that's my understanding. If yours is different, I welcome your comments.

Future sports heroes? I hope so.

~ Diane Stresing