Best Blogs 4 April 2014

Welcome to #BestBlogs, the weekly curation of the world of work.

The latest ideas on organization life, personal collaboration and the politics of work from practitioners around the globe are collected here so you may become more effective, perhaps even more satisfied, in career.

Each week's edition develops organically and here we find risk, pretense, failure, acceptance and renewal. That's a lot for one week, but these are no ordinary writers. Sit back, relax and get ready for some challenging perspective on work and leadership.

Amanda Orson helps you deal with your stress by asking you to do yet one more thing. Oddly enough as Amanda shows, the Information Age can lead directly to the Hesitation Age which… Well, just read @Phillian for clarification on how more really is less

Helen Tracey is all about the risk. In this prescient write Helen outlines the multi-faceted nature of risk as well as the mature way to view it, think about it and yes, manage it. Risk is a part of life, so read @HRPotential and let's get on with it

Dawn Lennon addresses the real leaders in organizational life in this treasured post, the first line supervisor. Much writing today paints a picture of leader as the top of some mythic entity. Dawn knows the truth: leadership is in the day to day first-line exchange. If you lead people do yourself a favor and check out @BusinessFit

Alli Polin encourages you to be the first one to fall. That is, the first to drop the mask of pretense and turn unfulfilled into unstoppable. In this penetrating insight Alli talks about the danger of pretending all is well and living at a superficial level. Get unstuck and deal with unfulfillment today – with @AlliPolin

Megan Peppin draws the compelling paradox of soft and hard here. In this beautifully done post she asks how we got to the point where words mean the opposite of the manner we use them. Soft skills are the hardest to master Megan asserts yet we tend to devalue them. @OD_optimist addresses the tough questions

Zachary Jeans examines the duality of leadership and reward in this compelling blog. Leadership is personal responsibility yet at the same time we expect a return on that investment. How do we wrestle with needs that might not have an obvious payout? See @ZacharyJeans for challenging thinking

Sarah Boyd views #SoMe in a very personal way recognizing learning and careers are in rapid transition due in part to our ability to connect so broadly with each other. This retrospective speaks to these shifts confirming life is about opportunity, change and taking advantage of both. See @SarahBoydH for inspiration

Thank you for reading this week's edition of #BestBlogs all about living a full worklife.

Each writer offers a practiced view via a challenging perspective enabling us to re-examine our own positions. In life, look for those who challenge your thinking to help you grow.

Come back in another seven days' time for more new thoughts and check the archives of #BestBlogs for other intelligent writers, thinkers and doers addressing the important questions about worklife.

Have a wonderful weekend wherever you are in the world my friends!

Ciao!

 

by Christopher Demers