Why I wrote about “The Power of Nice”

People often ask how I come up with story ideas. So, here’s a look at how I chose this weekend’s subject.

Several days back I was brainstorming ideas with a smart career professional I know. She suggested I bat ideas around with a young woman she sees as an up-and-comer in the magazine world. That would be Tammy Tibbetts, a senior at The College of New Jersey who is majoring in journalism and who has interned at Seventeen, Jane and Ladies Home Journal. 

Now, I already had a sense of this young woman as I had met her briefly at a New York Women in Communications event where I was a speaker and she followed up with a lovely email – which, by the way, most young people do not do, so she really stood out.

Also, I’m programming chair for The Newswomen’s Club of New York and Tammy had RSVPed for a program. On the day of the event, she wrote the nicest email to let me know she was not going to be able to attend, saying “It is definitely not my style to RSVP for something and not show up.” This was nice on several fronts, as so many no-shows don’t even tip us off at all.

So, I did call her and she mentioned “The Power of Nice,” a book I had seen, but, due to its smiley-face cover, assumed was a little on the saccharine side. At her suggestion, though, I checked it out and found I agreed with a reviewer from Publisher’s Weekly who said, “This is not a cutesy little bon-bon of a book.”

Perks of my job

Besides being sent review copies of every resume book ever written, upon occasion I get to rub elbows with celebrities.

This year, though, I hit it big, as you can see from the accompanying photo. I wrote a piece on Santa, his helpers and their career issues and had the chance to interview Santa Jim at the Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City – see photo; Santa Rick, who was having his photo taken at pet night at The Mall at the Source – he told me when he’s not using the sleigh he gets around on a Harley Davidson Super Glide; and Santa Tim, who heads up the Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas.

I just love getting that behind-the scenes look. But, of course, the real perk is this – something I’m planning to play up big with my nieces’ children over the holidays. I happen to have Santa’s personal cell phone number, which means I can give my buddy a call any old time.

And just in case you’re wondering how Santa answers his phone, it’s with a “Ho, Ho, Hello!”

A few too many at the office party

Overindulging at your office holiday party can affect more than your career. I just got an email from a reader saying how a friend’s family life has been disrupted as a result of her father’s being pulled over for driving while under the influence, this as he was returning home from his office holiday event.

“He thought he was fine, apparently not,” this reader wrote. “It was amazing how it affected his life as well as the rest of the family.  There are so many holiday parties and people just do not realize how many drinks they had and they get behind the wheel.”

That’s why it’s useful at any office party event to have, besides a designated driver, a designated keep-me-from-doing-anything-dumb buddy to help you monitor your drink intake.

This reader says she would love to see an article on “10 things to think about before you get behind the wheel.” I haven’t spotted one on that recently and perhaps others can offer some tips. But I do know of these related articles/resources:

From USAToday – “Firms Seeking Sober Festivities”

From the Wall Street Journal – “Drinking at Office Holiday Parties”

Also, “Help Your Employer Offers”

Human resources – Chinese style

Those interested in learning more about human resources practices in China should take a look at the blog entries written by Gerry Crispin of CareerXRoads, who just returned from a trip there as part of a Society for Human Resource Management delegation.

The work/family juggle

I can see it now – all the work/life balance experts becoming work/life juggle experts, as they realize that juggle is probably a better way to describe the tugs and pulls and ever-changing prioritizing that goes on. Plus, that’s the name of a new Wall Street Journal blog on “the choices and tradeoffs between work and family.”

Indeed, consultant and blogger Cali Yost has long suggested we steer clear of the term balance (wonderful to think of but nearly impossible to achieve). The tagline she uses is this: “It’s fit, not balance.”

Genesis of nextNY

Anyone who wants an excellent primer on how to bring together a community of folks with common work/career interests should take a look at Charlie O’Donnell’s post on his This Is Going to Be Big blog. In it he details how he and others created nextNY, a group for up-and-comers in tech and new media in New York City.

Charlie is the up-and-comer who a while back first filled me in on the basics of blogs, RSS feeds and such and what they mean for people’s careers.

When the laptop crashes

If you’re a free agent or small business owner in search of IT support, take a look at what Nelly Yusupova, head of the New York City chapter of Webgrrls, has to say in an article on that subject posted on the Fast Company site. And, yes, it is all about networking – the human kind.

Santa, his job hazards and career development

There’s new research with responses from 339 shopping mall and store Santas showing:

--one in three have been tinkled on by a child sitting in their laps;
--nine in 10 have their beards (real ones, not fake)  pulled on a daily basis;
--six in 10 are sneezed or coughed on up to 10 times a day.

This may not be surprising to anyone who works with kids on a daily basis. What is of note is that there is a professional association whose members participated in the survey – that is the Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas, described as, “real bearded gentlemen dedicated to the joy of being Santa.”

They have luncheons – in January, of course, after the big crunch; an annual convention and workshops on subjects such as: beginning storytelling, Santa's basic wardrobe, Santa ethics, advanced marketing and Santa and the media.

Overheard in the office

Take a look at a Q&A just posted on the Fast Company site with Michael Malice and S. Morgan Friedman, founders of OverheardintheOffice.com. That’s the site where real people post real workplace conversations, like Friedman’s all-time favorite:

“…a VP says to an IT guy, ‘Have you installed Google on my computer yet?’ And the IT guy responds, ‘Just yesterday.’”

Just about any IT support person has a similar story of a boss asking a dumb question, to which he or she will “just smile and give an answer just to shut them up,” says Malice. “This is happening right now, somewhere -- I guarantee it.”

Back again

I haven’t posted for a while and here’s why. It was getting lonesome out here in blog land, as so few people posted anything. It didn’t seem as though anyone was reading this, but lately I’ve been hearing from people asking if I’m going to blog anymore. That makes me feel a little like Tinkerbell must have when all the children clapped to keep her alive.

Anyway, here I am, back again and realizing that I need to become more blog-savvy myself. That’s why I registered with BlogHer.org, a resource for women bloggers, to learn more about this process – and what to do when you’re feeling lonely!