How to Take a Learning Sabbatical

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How to Take a Learning Sabbatical

Do you feel like taking a break from your daily routine and an opportunity to see things in a totally new way? I’ll tell you a secret: I have been longing for this kind of opportunity. I’m just itching for a break so I can strategize and refocus. The pace of change and life is just so fast, and my time to really immerse in deep, long-view thinking is so fragmented, that I’ve been screaming (on the inside) “stop the world, I want to get off!” So that I can think clearly. And breathe. Do you feel this way sometimes, too?

As these thoughts danced in my head, I remembered the research I did for my book, Employee Development on a Shoestring, about the idea of taking a learning sabbatical. I thought I’d share some more about this concept with you, and I’d love to know your thoughts about it in the comments below the post.

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Halelly's ASTD 2014 Conference Presentation Covered by Bloomberg Human Resource Report

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Halelly's ASTD 2014 Conference Presentation Covered by Bloomberg Human Resource Report

Halelly's ASTD 2014 International Conference and Expo Presentation was covered by Bloomberg BNA in their publication, Human Resource Report. The article, "Speaker Discusses Sustainable Engagement, Mentoring, Retaining Institutional Knowledge", describes some of the key points Halelly made in her well-attended concurrent session entitled, "Engaging Employees Across the Generations by Using Social and Informal Learning" on May 6, 2014, in Washington, DC. Read the article here.

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What the FFF? Or, how to avoid triggering Fight, Flight, or Freeze responses in others

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What the FFF? Or, how to avoid triggering Fight, Flight, or Freeze responses in others

Our brains are wired to avoid threats and to react to perceived threats by Fight, Flight, or Freeze: fighting them, fleeing from them, or sometimes freezing from the shock of them. This threat response is not limited just to physical danger and has been shown to occur in social and work settings. In this post, I explain the science behind these threat responses and show you how to avoid triggering this kind of social threat response and get more rational, better quality, and less disruptive responses to your work interactions.

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Digital Storytelling for All!

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Digital Storytelling for All!

Check out my latest post on the ASTD Links newsletter (of which I am a field editor) titled "Digital Storytelling: Why All Employees Could Be Generating Video and Audio Content". In it, I discuss one creative and immediately available way to develop employees outside the training classroom and outside the box: turn them into what I call digital storytellers. What does that mean? You send them on ...

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Six Principles of Effective Communication

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Six Principles of Effective Communication

We all have relationships in which we communicate with ease, and others in which we feel like we’re “walking on eggshells” – always careful with our words, trying not to offend or create a defensive response. It’s natural to have different levels of communication chemistry with different personalities and there’s no way to fully level the playing field. Yet, it’s also possible to reduce the likelihood of defensiveness and to increase our success when we communicate with just about anyone, anywhere. Here are six principles that can help you communicate more effectively: ...

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Do you have the right mindset for effective feedback?

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Do you have the right mindset for effective feedback?

Giving and receiving feedback can sometimes backfire - we've all experienced it. One of the 'tricks' to giving and receiving feedback effectively starts BEFORE you even open your mouth or begin the conversation: it starts with your mindset and the context of the relationship between the feedback conversation partners. In my latest vlog (video blog), I help you recognize both the right mindset and the proper context for giving feedback in a way that's better received.

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3.5 Ideas for Building Trust (even if it’s virtual)

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3.5 Ideas for Building Trust (even if it’s virtual)

Trust is a tricky subject. It comes up a lot in my conversations with leaders and teams because it is extremely complex and there are lots of obstacles in the way of building trust. I just put the final touches on a full-day workshop solely on this subject for one of my clients, and thought I’d share 3.5 great ideas that may help you increase your ability to generate and sustain trust with others.

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How to be a relevant employee or boss AND up your own professional game

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How to be a relevant employee or boss AND up your own professional game

On Tuesday, I gave a talk at the Positive Business DC meetup in the suburbs of DC about ways to develop employees outside the classroom and on a tight budget. It was anchored in my book, Employee Development on a Shoestring. The audience members were highly engaged and enjoyed the interactive exercises and small group discussions. I'm pleased that this talk has resulted in two different reviews on two blogs, and thought I'd share them here with you.

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A cool tool to lighten your leadership workload AND develop your employees

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A cool tool to lighten your leadership workload AND develop your employees
One of the common pitfalls of leaders I described in my last blog post is the Responsibility Virus. In this post I will share a great tool with you that should help you not only lighten up your own workload (whoa, that would have been enough, right?!) but actually help you develop your employees and create some real ‘bench strength’ on your team. Sound good? Read on!
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Employee Development Done Right: ASTD Interviews Halelly Azulay

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Employee Development Done Right: ASTD Interviews Halelly Azulay
Listen to a short and upbeat interview by ASTD's Ann Parker in which Halelly Azulay discusses why employee development is as important as ever even in the current workplace climate, how to ensure employee development strategies are beneficial to both the employee and the organization, and how to implement good employee development strategies in your organization.
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The Surprising Truth About Why Money Doesn't Matter in Employee Development

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The Surprising Truth About Why Money Doesn't Matter in Employee Development
Let me share three surprising truths about why money should not even be in the equation when you’re making decisions about employee development. Then, I’ll share with you a great opportunity to not only generate multiple, creative, and cheap ideas for how to develop your people, but actually build bullet-proof strategies for easily and quickly implement them in your organization with stakeholder support in my upcoming intensive workshop on Employee Development on a Shoestring.
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The Ultimate New Year's Resolution: Make 2014 Your Year of Fast Learning!

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The Ultimate New Year's Resolution: Make 2014 Your Year of Fast Learning!
With a New Year upon us, everyone else is posting about how to set goals and make New Year's resolutions. In this post, you can learn about how to make the ultimate New Year's Resolution - you can learn new skills and habits fast using a 4 step process from Josh Kaufman and lots of other resources. Learn 12 new habits in 2014 if you apply this model to learn one new skill each month of the year. What are you going to learn in 2014?
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How to REALLY Listen: Reduce Conflict by Staying Low on the Ladder of Inference

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How to REALLY Listen: Reduce Conflict by Staying Low on the Ladder of Inference
Whenever we are interacting with others, we are always using the information available to make assumptions about their character and intentions so we can decide how to react, what to say, and what to do. However, we mix observable, objective facts with our subjective inferences based on our past experience, upbringing, mood, and biases. Learn about this process and how to avoid jumping to the wrong conclusions. It will help you reduce misunderstandings and minimize unnecessary conflicts!
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