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While searching for pictures to use for a presentation at the New Britain Public Library, my hometown library in Connecticut in June, I came across this:
Beth and I published “The Good Girl’s Guide to Negotiating” in 2001 — and apparently the advice continues to spread across the globe. The foreign covers are always great!
Good Girl's Guide to Negotiating in Polish
Boredom can be tied to premature death. That’s reportedly the finding of two researchers at University College London, who will publish their study in April’s issue of the International Journal Of Epidemiology. They don’t point to boredom alone, but say it could be a sympom of other risky behavior such as drinking and smoking, according to this article by Maria Cheng of the A.P.
Boredom-may-be-an-early-killer
What really caught my attention were experts who say that “boredom is potentially as dangerous as stress.” This is yet another reason to add creativity to your job description. How can you shake things up? Turn things around, or just a little sideways? Even small attempts to do a routine task in a more productive or more enjoyable way, or both, can quite literally help you “earn your living.”
…there are a lot of people talking behind each others’ backs in your office?
You might try what one of my friends did this week, and in so doing, took a huge step on the road to being a truly great boss. He confessed to talking behind other people’s backs himself, and then said he was going to do his best to stop such nonproductive behavior. He encouraged people to be more direct with their concerns and complaints, and pledged to do the same.
Nelson Mandela
“Where did you get that idea?” I asked. He confessed he was inspired by a movie he saw this weekend, “Invictus,” in which Nelson Mandela attempts to lead his fledgling democracy by example.
(Good thing you didn’t see “Bitch Slap,” I replied.)
NOTE TO READERS: If you have a burning question…What do you do when….? send it along, and we’ll try to find you an answer.
This just in from CNN, on the heels of the “Working Class” column on the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps. With more people considering government funded public service as a career booster, it may be on the verge of a new heyday:
(CNN) — When Autumn Preble was a teenager in the 1960s, she spent hours gazing at black-and-white LIFE magazine photographs that documented the journey of Peace Corps volunteers all over the world.
George Stouter, 67, is helping build mental health programs in Saint Kitts for his Peace Corps stint.
1 of 3Preble, of Whidbey Island, Washington, wanted to join, but after college came marriage and a child.
Now at 58, with her son off to college, she has begun her two-year stint as a Peace Corps volunteer working in the public health sector in Francistown, Botswana, where nearly one in four individuals are infected with HIV.
“I’m getting to experience what it’s like to live in another culture, and that has a lot of value to me,” Preble said from her simple two-bedroom bungalow in Botswana. Preble is known to natives in her community as Masego (Ma say ho), which means “many gifts.” “This is the kind of travel that I’m interested in.”
Forget the mapped-out cruises or packaged vacations to see the world. A growing number of Americans over 50 are dedicating time in their golden years to volunteering abroad. The decision is becoming more attractive with a sickly national economy sparking more layoffs and early retirement packages.
Readers are reacting quickly to this week’s column about signing on for the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps. Two criticism of the Peace Corps so far…
Letter No. 2: I read your recent article about the Peace Corps. Are you aware that if you are hurt they turn you over to the U.S. Dept. of Labor and that is it? Google and see all the people that you find that have been hurt and waiting for some kind of help.
Letter No. 1: Your recent pitch for Peace Corps and AmeriCorps leaves out some important details. Peace Corps volunteers must be prepared to focus on drinking and partying to be the primary focus of at least 50% of their fellow volunteers. Further, they must accept a two-year assignment that may not achieve any of the goals they set out with, but rather serve as a PR exercise for the United States.
The myth of Peace Corps is overblown. People should not join without a more realistic picture of it as a heavily bureaucratic summer camp for soul-searching college students.
Brian Maher
Zanzibar 2006-2007
