Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger, Craig Sroda, author of YOU in the SWEET SPOT and Intentional Living. We hope you enjoy Craig’s wisdom and perspective.

The best gift you can give yourself or someone else is the gift of self-awareness. It is pretty much a fact that the highest predictor of success both personally and professionally is knowing your strengths and weaknesses. Being self-aware can be a secret advantage if you can get there. Most people don’t realize that being self-aware can advance them in their career, in their relationships, and in their home life.

As adults, we tend to think of bullying as something we may need to protect our children from. However, bullying isn’t limited to children. Unfortunately, instances of adult bullying are on the rise.

Over 25% of adults admit to having been the victim of bullying as an adult. The most predominant environment in which adult bullying occurs? The workplace. 

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Jesse Lyn Stoner, business consultant, coach, former executive, and bestselling author. We hope you enjoy Jesse's wisdom and perspective.

Sometimes leaders make bad decisions or harm team morale by making autocratic decisions without involving others. And other times they waste their team’s time by unnecessarily involving them.

How do you know when and how much to involve your team in decisions? Sometimes the answer is pretty obvious.

You don’t need to call a team meeting to decide to order pencils for your office. On the other hand, if one of your direct reports has the authority to make decisions about office supplies, your taking over might not be appreciated.

Whether it’s a camping adventure, gathering around a backyard fire for s’mores, or to keep you warm on a chilly evening – a bonfire can be a great way to enjoy the outdoors with family and friends!

You spend considerable time and resources crafting your benefits plan, striving to find a solution that’s best for your employees and for the organization. Once you’ve made the decisions and the plan is in place, how can you be sure your employees will use it? Or properly understand it?

The answer lies in your communication strategy!

Even the best risk management strategies leave some room for workplace injuries. When the employee comes back, you need to make sure you have the best possible return-to-work plan too. We’ve highlighted the benefits to the employee, but your insurance company expects it as well. In fact, an underwriter’s pricing decision may be impacted by whether or not you have a bona fide return-to-work plan.

Here are 5 important considerations for your organization’s return-to-work program…

June is National Safety Month. While workplace and home safety are important every day of the year, the National Safety Council (NSC) specially focuses on safety during the month of June to help educate the public. Highlighting the following four themes throughout the month, the NSC aims to reduce the leading causes of injury and death – at home and in your workplace.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Terry Ploetz, Vice President of Business Banking for Centier Bank. We hope you enjoy Terry’s wisdom and perspective.

Time is a known and limited resource. In our daily lives we strive to save time for our own purposes. For those in a service market or sales position, growing your portfolio requires select and focused behaviors that take up quite a bit of time. To sustain future growth, you have to become more efficient or spend more time doing the work you did in prior years. At some point, the model breaks down; you can’t create or make more time.

Umbrella insurance is the subject of a few misconceptions that lead people to think it’s unnecessary. Some believe it to be applicable only to the lifestyles of the extremely wealthy, while others think their existing homeowners and auto policies provide enough protection. Both of these views fail to take into account how much exposure the average person is subject to on any given day. You drive your children to school, take your dog for a walk, update Facebook about your interaction with an unfriendly neighbor, have friends over for dinner—all without realizing that a single mishap or accident during any one of these activities could result in a lawsuit.