Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Joe Calloway, author of “Keep It Simple,” “Magnetic,” and several other game-changing business books. We hope you enjoy Joe’s wisdom and perspective.

Early in my career I worked in the real estate business. We were busy, which was good. But busy meant a lot of contracts, documents, and agreements, and with a high level of activity there was more chance that something could occasionally go wrong.

The owner of the firm was involved in the day-to-day business, and he was the one we’d go to if things got sticky or we couldn’t find a solution to a problem or see a resolution to a conflict. He had a standard practice when one of us would go to him for help.

What scares you? Is it clowns like the 2017 movie adaption of Stephen King’s It? Maybe it’s public speaking or blood and needles? If you relate to any of these, you’re not alone. This Washington Post article has all of them in their top 12 list of fears.

For me, it’s acrophobia, a fear of heights. I’m not sure where it came from. Perhaps it was my summers in high school painting the overhangs of old houses on a flimsy extension ladder. In any event, I prefer to avoid heights, namely situations that leave me up high and exposed. 

On a recent trip with my 14-year-old son William, I came face-to-face with my old nemesis, acrophobia. Not that I planned to.

Last week, we heard the story of a chicken and a pig, and learned about the first of two leadership qualities that mark bacon-level commitment.

Today we’re going to learn about the second quality of bacon-level commitment: Sacrifice.

The story is told of a pig and a chicken journeying together. The chicken grew hungry and recommended they stop to make some bacon and eggs. The pig replied that while it sounded like a great idea, there was a fundamental flaw in his plan. He went on to explain to his feathered friend that to make bacon and eggs, a chicken simply needs to be involved, but for a pig, it requires total commitment!

Is your leadership more aligned with a chicken or with a pig? That is, are you merely involved or are you totally committed?

Today we’re sharing insight from Ron Kraemer, Chief Information and Digital Officer at the University of Notre Dame. We hope you enjoy Ron’s wisdom and perspective.

If you are 22 years old and entering the workforce this year, you have never known the world without the Internet and mobile technology. You could have used Facebook at 8 years old, and purchased gifts for Mother’s Day on amazon.com when you were 11 or 12. And if you are nearing retirement age, you were in your early 50’s the first time you could have watched a YouTube video or used an iPhone.

We can each place ourselves somewhere on the timeline from “digital immigrant” (people who did not grow up in the digital age) to “digital native” (people who grew up with technology all around them). The challenge we face as service providers is that every person on the digital timeline could be one of our customers and they have very different needs and expectations.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Steve Richards, real estate entrepreneur. We hope you enjoy Steve’s wisdom and perspective.

Life balance is something most people talk about, very few really understand and even less truly achieve.

The biggest misconception about life balance is that most people think it’s something you do, but it’s really something that just happens.

It’s a result, not an activity.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Jamie Hawkins, President and CEO of Benefit Technology Resources (BTR). We hope you enjoy Jamie’s wisdom and perspective.

If you are like me, you love technology and want to have the latest and greatest of everything. The same can likely be said for many of your current employees and your future workforce. More is being expected from employers, especially when it comes to HR tech. The workforce not only desires the smooth, efficient use of technology from the application process to onboarding and beyond, but they are demanding it. To be an employer of choice you must get into the game and embrace technology throughout your HR process.

As a CEO and HR tech leader I personally see the good and bad influence HR tech can have on a daily basis – on recruitment, engagement, retention, overall productivity. For employers, your relationship with your HR tech vendor is important. It is like any relationship – you have to work at it and stay engaged for it to prosper. So, what do you and your company’s HR leaders need to know to help ensure your organization is heading in the right direction with your HR technology?

There is a “great restructuring” taking place right now in America, with one study by Oxford University suggesting that automation and artificial intelligence could threaten 50% of white collar jobs. And that jives with a Gallup survey where 58% of respondents see technology as the biggest threat to US jobs over the next decade.

Business management guru Tom Peters believes it doesn’t have to be this way. In his capstone book The Excellence Dividend, Peters advocates for organizations to vigorously focus on putting their people first. This means a total obsession by leaders to develop and deploy the “soft skills” in their workforce that, in turn, can leverage the new technologies to create a truly unique, and distinctly human, client experience.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Tony Tranquill, President & CEO of Wayne Pipe & Supply, Inc. We hope you enjoy Tony’s wisdom and perspective.

“…mentoring often involves telling people what they need to hear, rather than what they want to hear…” - John Wooden, A Game Plan for Life

I was a freshman student attending Auburn University, thrust into an engineering co-op role with a fitness manufacturing company. The Vice President of our company was an Alabama graduate and a former student under Jack Welch’s management training program at General Electric. Despite the never-ending bantering that took place between us about the Alabama vs. Auburn football rivalry, the V.P. took me under his wing and began to mentor me in ways I didn’t even realize until much later in life.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Matt Kelly, a senior manager at Plante Moran. We hope you enjoy Matt’s wisdom and perspective.

The world is changing faster than ever. Technology is affecting the way people interact, do business, and grow relationships. And although we’re quick to think about the ramifications of these changes on things like meeting customer needs and keeping up with the competition, one area that’s often overlooked is talent development.

The growth and development of staff is critical to the success of any organization. So ask yourself: is my organization equipped to handle the needs and wishes of our staff amid this constant technological change? And, if not, what are you going to do about it? Here are a few things to consider in order to be more agile in developing your staff.