Archives

Turning Feedback into a Dialogue

By Cara Parker, Leadership Development Consultant and Owner of C Parker Consulting Most of us dread the question, “May I give you some feedback?”  Often, in the workplace, this inquiry is followed by some vague discussion that leaves both parties (the giver and receiver) leaving the conversation singing off different sheets of music.  The giver […]

Fiction and Leadership

by Martha Hutzel, Director of the Central Rappahannock Regional Library Everyone who knows me is aware of how much I love to read. I always have at least two books going at the same time, and one audiobook as well. BTW, listening to audiobooks is NOT cheating! I have never stopped reading and always learn […]

Love and Appreciation

by Lynne Richardson, Dean, UMW College of Business It’s February and our minds turn to thoughts of love.  I’d ask that you extend your thoughts to appreciation too.  In a month where we tell our loved ones how we feel about them, what about doing this in the workplace too?  Maybe we don’t tell people […]

2020 Visions

By Brittany McBride, Associate Financial Advisor at Cary Street Partners The beginning of a new year is the perfect time to talk about goal setting. After the hectic holiday season is behind us, we finally have a clean slate, a fresh mind, and returning energy. Something about the end of a time period makes everyone […]

Keep That Fire Burning

We’ve all heard that burnout is a real workplace issue. It can negatively affect morale, engagement, productivity and ultimately the success of an individual, department or organization if the problem is pervasive. As an HR professional, it’s a concern I have had for the organizations in which I’ve worked, the individuals on the teams I […]

The Whole is Something Else

By Cara Parker, Strategic Planning and Leadership Development Consultant and Owner at C Parker Consulting, Inc. Kurt Koffka (1886-1941), the German Gestalt psychologist, often gets misquoted as saying, “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”  In reality, his famous quote is “the whole is something else than the sum of its parts.” His […]

Being Nice is Your Superpower!

By Martha Hutzel, Library Director, Central Rappahannock Regional Library I cannot claim that quote, but I do appreciate and love it. It’s powerful, and it matters. It’s from the Fran Hauser book, The Myth of the Nice Girl. The upcoming Women’s Leadership Colloquium @ UMW, on November 7, 2019, has the theme Be Your Own […]

Vacations

Written by Lynne Richardson, Dean, UMW College of Business There are many types of vacations.  Some people take vacations and go, go, go.  They travel from place to place (as in cities or countries), with the people they’re meeting and experiences they’re enjoying becoming one big blur.  Or similarly, maybe a trip to Disney World […]

Be A Collector

Written by Kimberly Young, Executive Director of Continuing and Professional Studies at the University of Mary Washington. When I was a child, my mom practically forced me to have a collection.  I remember riding in the car with her one day when out of the blue, she asked me what kind of collection I wanted.  […]

Perspective

Written by Brittany McBride ’18, Client Service Associate, Cary Street Partners Different cultures teach us understanding, open our eyes, and change our perspective. I was lucky enough this past year to travel across the world with my parents and brother. We all love traveling, especially together, and decided our next adventure would take us to […]