Archives for March, 2009
Will Your Resume Tell Your Transition Story?
Lose your job and you’re in a sea of choices - find a new one, take a sabbatical, go back to school. At some point, you’ll have to incorporate this time into your resume. What will you say? 11/08-11/09 Wanderer 11/08-11/09 Professional Period of Tumultuous Change 11.08-11/09 Manager of My Own Personal Loss Say this […]
yourSABBATICAL Defines What a Sabbatical Is - and Isn't
For Immediate Release yourSABBATICAL Defines What a Sabbatical Is - and Isn’t Leading Sabbatical Strategists Offer Clarity on How Time Away from Work Benefits Companies and Individuals ATLANTA — March 30, 2020 - It used to be that sabbaticals, which began in academia in 1880, were a way for educational institutions to compete with the […]
Working Less Doesn’t Provide Work-Life Balance. Sabbaticals Do.
The sabbatical trend keeps growing. We know that because at yourSABBATICAL our list of organizations offering sabbaticals (see Companies on a Quest) keeps growing. But if you don’t work for one of those companies, you may be on your own with the work-life balance problem. Perhaps you can make it happen by participating every year […]
Why Tim Ferriss Irks Me and How a Sabbatical is Not a “Mini-Retirement”
Along with a gazillion other people, I am inspired by Tim Ferriss and his book, “The 4-Hour Workweek”. He’s the uber rock star of work-life balance, and he challenges us to rethink how we live and work and escape the 9-5 box. But - and he himself probably knows this - Tim’s concepts aren’t entirely […]
McDonald’s Puts Action Behind “You Deserve a Break Today”
Uh, yeah … that’s me with the funny hair. I’m kinda crazy about someone you know. Digital nomad Chris Brogan talks about how McDonald’s is pretty darned smart, how it’s a business run by savvy business people and master marketers, even if the fast-and-fatty chain is “antithetical to all you hold pure and dear”. Serving up mystery […]
When Recession says “Gotcha” to Your Stupid Plan A
Underneath everything - the daily headlines of massive layoffs and bank failures, the squawking of bad news, and your unopened 40l(k) statements - there’s an internal dialogue of worry. Not the worry that this Plan A you are living will be over. You’re pretty sure it will be. The static in your head is because you […]
The Driving Gears of the Connected Leader
“Indeed, as I look back at the adventurous young woman who left banking to pursue a life focused on a more global, connected vision, I see someone with guts, education, and skills, but also someone who had to learn time and again that those factors alone don’t always lead to success.” - Jacqueline Novogratz, author […]
Sabbatical Misconceptions and Why I Need a Break
Right up front, a big applause to all the people and the companies that get it. They understand that sabbaticals are not an extended vacation. But then there’s a group who challenge us with their old thinking and hang on to dark-age misconceptions about sabbaticals. Misconceptions aren’t always bad, of course. My friends tend to […]
Off Your Rocker: Why You Should Never Retire
Here’s the sabbatical mindset - you live the life you want AND work during every phase of it. Rather than swapping a career for a personal life, both co-exist year in and year out until St. Peter blows his bugle. The idea that people dispose of their careers after 40 years of plugging away to go […]
Leveraging the Recession: Dirk Baxter’s Sabbatical Story
Not too long ago, Dirk Baxter, a management consultant with global experience and a PhD in industrial and organizational psychology, spent two weeks doing business in Spain. After a week of saying “escuche” to any Spaniard due a pardon, Dirk was informed by an American who knew better that, although “escuche” sounds like “excuse me” […]
Following the Footsteps of Wise Leaders is better than Dancing with the Stars
In the last two blogs we set the stage for two big ideas, pursuing a sabbatical strategy and establishing the Connected Leader in yourself through life’s learnings – and how these two ideas pair up nicely – like Dancing with the Stars. Sorry. I couldn’t resist. This is the TV show swirling and glittering on […]
Slow is Old: Still, A New Lens for Your Life?
The new feeling is s-l-o-w. It’s certainly not positive when it comes to the economy, but other than that, perhaps your work life and life in general are not currently moving as fast as they once were. Do you like slow? Or do you miss fast? How comfortable are you with slow? Is too much […]
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution - Sabbaticals Recharge Workers
Who knew that sabbaticals weren’t just for college professors anymore? Barbara and Elizabeth Pagano did. Business authors, coaches and experts in talent and leadership development, this mother/daughter team founded www.yoursabbatical.com last year to help workers and companies explore the idea of sabbaticals. The two had learned the benefits of a planned, focused pause from work […]
Branding Your Career With a Learning Sabbatical
Whether you’re currently employed or not, Amy Balog‘s latest post gives thoughtful ideas and concepts for moving beyond identifying yourself through your resume bullet points to a “whole” you with a unique story. It’s easy to confuse our roles, skills, or professional reputations with who we actually are. She describes a “connected leader” - one who draws […]
Sandy Hofmann’s Five-Course Sabbatical
There’s a petite woman in Atlanta whose impact weaves through the city in surprisingly large ways. Formerly CIO and Chief People Officer at MAPICS, Inc. - a software company that was a spin-off from IBM - Sandy Hofmann’s sabbatical clarified for her that building relationships and making connections between people would become one of her […]
yourSABBATICAL Identifies Time Away From Work as Innovative Solution to Flexibility and "Life-Work" Issues
For Immediate Release yourSABBATICAL Identifies Time Away From Work as Innovative Solution to Flexibility and “Life-Work” Issues Leading Sabbatical Consultants Receive National Award for Their Model of Flexibility ATLANTA - March 12, 2020 - With the economic downturn and job uncertainty, employees are re-evaluating their work and personal lives and placing a high value on […]
What is your Career Brand as a Connected Leader?
In one of my recent coaching sessions, I had the opportunity to facilitate one of those “breakthrough” moments where my client pulled together a cohesive Career Brand Statement: a specific milestone I establish for my coaching clients for career navigation work. The shift in thinking is this – moving from identifying yourself from resume bullets […]
Resumes: Turning Employment Gaps into Sabbaticals
We just Tweeted in response to PongoResume‘s suggestion to use a “functional resume” (organized by skills, not dates) to help “hide” employment gaps. Our response: Why not turn an employment gap into a sabbatical and make your resume stand out? Millions of Americans - and millions more globally - are now faced with an employment […]
When Job Hunting is Fruitless, One Boomer Goes for an Internship
Lois Draegin, 55, lost a six-figure editing job with Readers Digest. Now she works unpaid for a start-up website, trading her knowledge for new online skills. Her very cool story - about a media maven who’s mentor is a 20-something social networking wiz - is in today’s Los Angeles Times. Written by Geraldine Baum, the […]
Los Angeles Times - It's Web 101 for This Experienced Intern
Lois Draegin, 55, lost a six-figure editing job. She now works unpaid for a start-up website, trading her knowledge for new online skills. Reporting from New York - Sitting in a bare cubicle, with her reading glasses perched halfway down her nose and typing away on a laptop she’d brought from home, Lois Draegin looked […]
Car Makers Push Sabbaticals to Save Jobs
Jaguar Land Rover offered staff three-month sabbaticals on 80% pay, and 300 employees accepted. Honda announced it would halt production for two months from February. And General Motor’s UK-arm Vauxhall has offered nine-month sabbaticals on 30% pay. Other companies, in both the auto industry and beyond, are working hard to preserve jobs. Even small businesses […]
Recession Outcome: An Acquired Taste for Free Time?
While some organizations excitedly complete the final design of their first Sabbatical Program, McDonald’s could literally yawn. Their sabbatical program is more than 40 years old. While there is nothing quite like debriefing with a person who’s just returned from their first career break imagine how intrigued we are to interview employees of two other […]
Taking a Stand for Standing Still
Picture a hamster on a wheel, running in place as fast as she can. That’s exactly how I felt before I made the decision to take a sabbatical. I am a small business owner and had been the project manager for building a new house, packing and moving from the old house, and moving into the […]