I’m Moving On…

Marisa Keegan — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 04:51:23 +0000

…At last I can see, life has been patiently waiting for me. And I know there’s no guarantees but I’m not alone. – Rascal Flatts

I’m still trying to figure out what I’m going to be when I grow up but I think I’m a few steps closer to…something. My goal in life is to help people figure out how passion can drive profit. Locally, I’d like to do that through coaching and mentoring of employees and leadership teams. Globally, I’d like to help organizations understand how to create the type of culture where employees willingly volunteer to do their best every day.

This site, MarisaKeegan.com, will eventually be used to promote local coaching and mentoring but since I get my fill of this at my current gig I’m putting my energy into creating and maintaining CultureFanatics.com with some of the industries leading culture, well, fanatics. Stop over to see what we’re all about.

How Gentle Giants Give Feedback

Marisa Keegan — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 03:35:34 +0000

I came across this great article highlighting Gentle Giant Moving Company and their founders philosophy on giving feedback and coaching employees. Not only does Larry O’Toole, president, get what it takes to build a successful organization, but he understands the importance of guiding employees and teaching them to live the values of the company. My plan was to summarize the article but there are so many great points that I just can’t do it justice. Take a few minutes and read it for yourself. You won’t be disappointed.

There’s one point that I do want to touch on though. When asked what the biggest mistake leaders make in reference to giving feedback, Larry responded, “The biggest mistake is not giving it at all”. I think he nailed it.

A lack of recognition, positive or negative, leads employees to wonder where they stand. They start to get paranoid and second guess if they’re doing things right. They think back to the very last negative interaction they had with their boss and wonder if the lack of feedback means they weren’t able to make things better. It might not make sense to managers, but it’s just human nature to assume the worst.

Take Larry’s advice and make sure you’re constantly giving feedback to your employees. A little recognition can go a long way.

The Power of A Coach

Marisa Keegan — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 03:15:26 +0000

I just came across this article that talks briefly about some of the benefits a company and the individual employees can gain by having employees meet with a coach. After years of coaching with employees here are some of the benefits I’ve witnessed first hand:

Coaching helps employees:

Set goals and become accountable for meeting milestones
Figure out what they’re passionate about
Think through solutions for breaking down workplace barriers
Come up with healthy ways to have difficult conversations
Brainstorm ideas for career growth
Voice their frustrations

In the end, coaching employees helps them better navigate almost any tough workplace scenario they might be involved in, gives them an outlet, and helps them re-focus on getting their job done. Just like the article says, I’m a firm believer that employees who have a coach are more successful at work then those who don’t.

Facing The Giants

Marisa Keegan — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 03:19:10 +0000

The only thing in the way of achieving greatness is you

Get out of your way

Cake Fight!!

Marisa Keegan — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 03:09:22 +0000

I recently wrote a blog post on Fistful of Talent ranting about Buddy from Cake Boss who completely blew it when he set up a lame recognition program for his employees and then gave himself the award in the end. Oh, it completely ticked me off.

Another thing that ticked me off is that Buddy never responded to my very generous offer. I wrote, and I quote, “Buddy, I’ll trade you one of my recognition programs for a big cake in the shape of an Employee of the Month plaque that I can throw off the top of your building. You game?”

I think I’m pretty clever…and funny too. Apparently, Buddy disagrees but the “Recognition Hero” took notice and pointed out that another Cake Charmer did a great job recognizing each and every one of his employees individually by pointing out their talents and letting them know how much having them work at his bakery meant to him. It’s a good blog post so you should check it out.

In the end: Buddy – zero, Duff – one.

…truth be told though, I still heart Buddy and will continue to tune in to watch his antics.

I’m Officially An Author

Marisa Keegan — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 02:39:37 +0000

I’m officially an author on the blog Fistful of Talent. I’ve been writing as a guest for about six months and I guess they liked what they saw because the other day my face and my bio (10.5 things about me) landed on the homepage.

For those of you who don’t know, Fistful of Talent is becoming a very well known HR/Recruiting blog. It’s edgy, sassy, and ties entertainment news with HR issues. I like it because it’s a forum that really pushes HR professionals to reconsider how they do their jobs. Historically, HR has been more reactive then proactive with very little understanding of business or what it takes to truly get a seat at the table. Fistful of Talent is trying to change that. Most of the posts I write are written with an extreme point of view, which rubs some people the wrong way, but if it gets them thinking then I feel like I’ve done my job.

Some of my previous posts on Fistful of Talent are:

Jon & Kate + Eight = Case Study for Your Discontented Employees (My personal favorite)

Don’t Be the Person Who Forces Us to Create Yet Another Policy

It’s Recognition Not Rocket Science

If They Don’t Fit – Get Rid of Them

If you’re in the HR field you should definitely be keeping up with this blog.

I Hate The Term BHAG

Marisa Keegan — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 19:05:12 +0000

I hate the term BHAG (B-hag). I’m a visual person so when I hear Big Hairy Audacious Goal for some reason I see a nasty monster with big, yellow, fangs – slime oozing like spit from the ends of them. Instead of motivating me, images of the slimy yellow ooze make my gag reflex tingle in an, “I might lose my breakfast” kind of way.

So, yes, I hate the term BHAG but I love the idea behind it. If you’re going to set mediocre goals, why bother? Chances are, you’d achieve them without even trying so if that’s your mindset just keep living your life the way you already are. But if you want more, if you want to make changes, if you’re serious about making your life better, then dream big… dream really freaking big.

…but don’t dream too big.

Huh?!

The key to dreaming big is to create goals that are attainable and that you have control over.

Just the other day someone told me his goal in life is to be on The Amazing Race. He wanted to come up with steps for accomplishing that dream but I didn’t help him do it. Setting a goal that revolves around getting others to do what you want (aka: producers picking you from millions to be on a show) doesn’t make sense. It takes the ownership of your goal and puts it in someone elses’ hands.

Instead, we talked about what it was about The Amazing Race that was appealing to him, what that experience would mean, and what was holding him back from creating his own opportunity to accomplish those things. When he thought of The Amazing Race he pictured having the chance to travel around the world to see different places and experience vast cultures. The reason he felt like he needed the show was to finance those trips. We talked about time-lines, setting up financial plans, and resources for planning a huge trip. By the end of our conversation he was falling off the edge of his chair with excitement over having a goal that would allow him to experience what he wanted to and would put ownership over the achievement back into his hands.

Achieving what we want in life is about taking ownership of the things that mean the most to us, setting big freaking goals, and figuring out the steps needed to make them happen.

Let me give you a tip:

The first step to making any goal happen is to let others know what it is so they can support us, nudge us, and help keep us on track.

My Big Hair Audacious Goal is to bike across the United States. What’s yours?

John Wooden – Ongoing Lesson

Marisa Keegan — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 02:31:18 +0000

It only takes me about 10 minutes to drive to work, but I usually end up in my car for about 15 minutes because I stall long enough to hear the daily Warm and Fuzzy on 94.9 Star Country. For the most part, they just make me smile, but the one I heard the other day really got me thinking – about how I can be more humble, more gracious, “more concerned with my character then my reputation”.

I thought I’d post it here as a reminder that success is more then fame and fortune.

The Warm and Fuzzy Remembering John Wooden

“Today people around the world are remembering John Wooden, the phenomenally successful UCLA basketball coach who died last night, and mourning his loss.

Facebook users are posting Wooden quotes, inspirational messages about how to live a good life. The quotes mean so much because Coach Wooden followed them himself; he led by example. I, like many others, am inspired to examine my own life to see how I can be more honorable and more of value to those around me.

John Wooden was never hip or cool and didn’t aspire to be. He embodied the solid Midwestern values of his upbringing. He lived by a seven-point creed his father gave him when he graduated from grammar school. It included such simple instructions as “be true to yourself,” “help others,” and “make friendship a fine art.”

The building blocks of Coach Wooden’s well-known Pyramid of Success are not magical or clever; they’re time-honored traits that include industriousness, enthusiasm, skill and poise. Unlike some preening coaches, John Wooden never wanted to attract attention. He hated being called the Wizard of Westwood. “I think of a wizard as being some sort of magician or something,” he said. ” . . . I don’t want to be thought of that way.”

This unpretentious man from Indiana never earned a big salary. He lived in a modest condominium and slept in a small bed beside a picture of his deceased wife of 53 years, the love of his life since high school. He said Mother Teresa and Nobel Prize winners were the famous ones, not him. “I was a person who was a teacher who happened to be in the public eye,” he said.

Coach Wooden’s words of wisdom are old-fashioned and homespun; they’re the kind of admonitions we remember our grandparents giving us. “Be more concerned with your character than your reputation.” “Don’t measure yourself by what you have accomplished but by what you should have accomplished with your ability.” “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”

Yet people from all walks of life are taking them to heart today and re-doubling their efforts to live by them. It’s heartening to see these truths strike a chord at a time when pseudo-celebrities are often admired for their misbehavior, and many people tend to think first of themselves and how they can get the recognition they think they deserve. John Wooden may be doing more good for the world today than he has in a long time.”

-Mary Daily is a journalist, writer and teacher in Los Angeles and currently serves as senior communications writer at UCLA. She is also working on a memoir about growing up in the foothills of Appalachia.

Aspire to Greatness

Marisa Keegan — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 01:04:59 +0000

Tonight I had a great talk with a lifeline of mine, Tom Hatton, and he said something really interesting to me. He told me that in his 30 years working for Gallup studying people and their Strengths he’d realized that some people would always be on the search for more; more success, more happiness, more passion…just more. I knew right away that he was talking about me.

Even when I’m in the best possible situation I can’t let myself sit back and enjoy it. I might be happy but I’m never content because I know that if I work harder, longer, faster, and more passionately I can achieve greatness for myself, my company, and those around me. Honestly, it’s kind of exhausting but I can’t stop.

I live in an idealistic world where I truly believe that we can all achieve greatness if we have the right coaches, mentors, and support structures in our lives. We can achieve greatness if we put our best foot forward and have a chance to do what we do best every day.

Over the past several years I’ve had the chance to coach a lot of employees and I’ve loved every second of it. When I’m coaching people I stop worrying about how to achieve more in my life and focus 100% on helping that person achieve passion and greatness in theirs.

If mentoring & coaching others is the one thing in my life that allows me to stop searching for more and finally feel content then I need to spend more time coaching others.

So…Does anyone out there need a coach? *wink*

Getting Back up

Marisa Keegan — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 01:42:06 +0000