Archives for The Sabbatical Mindset Blog
Three Common Approaches to Asking for a Sabbatical - and Why They Don’t Work
What is it about springtime that prompts individuals to want to act on the idea of asking their boss for a sabbatical? While sabbatical programs in companies are a growing trend, individuals at work in companies without them are taking the initiative and negotiating their own. With more and more people contacting yourSABBATICAL for help, […]
18 Reasons Why Companies Want a Sabbatical Program for Their Employees
While organizations disappear, wait out or struggle in this economy, you can guess a number of senior executives wouldn’t even venture a conversation about establishing a sabbatical program for their employees. Apt responses in this group are: “Are you out of your mind?” “No way. We want them here and working, working working.” “Who’s doing that?” So […]
Think Small (very small) to Uncover Optimism for Work, a Future Sabbatical and Life
Our local food pantry executive director, Timothy Evans, wrote an eloquent essay, “Who Are You Gonna Listen To?” for the June Manna Food Bank-Pensacola’s newsletter. Evans ponders the obscure economic indicators celebrity economists use to discern the message of the economic recovery he keeps hearing about on broadcast news. He says he’s hardly encouraged since the message of […]
Workplace Changes Will Bomb if New Life Stage Has No Name
By this time tomorrow, 11,000 more people will turn 60 and this blog has touted best-selling author, Daniel Pink’s declaration that a revolution is on the way - a demographic revolution changing the future of the workplace. Realizing at sixty that they have another twenty-five years to do the things that matter most, this best-educated, […]
Working Harder and Harder to Achieve Less and Less. How Ya Doin’ With That?
Driving home from a recent business dinner, I struggled to figure out just how my three smiling dinner companions processed the current business environment with such remarks as “turning the corner,” “looking better than ever,” “full of promise,” and, (the corker), “my best year ever.” All three highly educated, high achieving business owners seemed out […]
Get Where You Live Right, You’ll Get Life Right. R-e-a-l-l-y?
A good friend is packing up to move six states to the east - closer to the ocean where it won’t snow. Without a job for over a year, she figures her spirit will get a boost in new surroundings where the sun shines more days than in Cincinnati. In no time she’ll be inspired to tackle a future […]
Becoming an Employer of Choice: Five Steps for Talent Branding
Becoming competitive in the next economy means employers must execute talent branding and become known as a talent magnet. According to an article in this month’s Talent Management magazine, here are five steps for talent branding that companies should employ: Use talent mapping. Segment the workforce into separate roles based on their business value and […]
Powering Down: Forcing My Disconnectedness in a Moab Canyon
Sometimes the only way to disconnect for a few days is to choose a location that offers no other choice. I’m leaving tomorrow morning for Moab, Utah. I’ll fly into Grand Junction, Colorado, and then drive a rental car a couple of hours to Moab, where I’m meeting my friend, Dee-Dee, at the grocery store […]
Obsessed with Goals? Might Explain Why There’s No Sabbatical in View for You
What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, written by Marshall Goldsmith with Mark Reiter, outlines 20 habits to break to become even more successful. With an average of 4.5 stars from 288 Amazon readers, the book deserves your attention. The 20 habits include clinging to the past, making excuses and winning too much. Goldsmith is “corporate America’s […]
Shape Muscles, Sling Hammers and Do Good Work: The Sweat-Equity Sabbatical
Mixing travel and good deeds is a always a great recipe for a sabbatical. Maybe you want to volunteer abroad but are skittish about taking a chance on a charitable organization you’ve never heard in a far-off place … like Mongolia. Would the rock-solid reputation of “Habitat for Humanity” help you take the leap? No one disputes […]
When Too Much Thinking about a Sabbatical Bogs You Down
Faced with the decision of moving toward a break in your career involves many moving parts. The negotiation with your boss, the planning and execution, and assuring positive outcomes for you and your company – all deserve to be well thought-out. But spinning wheels over and over ideas are what some of us are really […]
New York Times Win-a-Trip 2011 Winner Will Offer Insight into “Service”
As one of five finalists, I still drool over the almost-mine opportunity to accompany a two-time Pulitzer Prize journalist on a trip to the developing world. Winning that Win-a-Trip 2011 Contest sponsored by The New York Times offered by Nicholas Kristof meant time out of my everyday rat race to one of the most desperate places on the […]
Wanted: Your “Service” Sabbatical Story
Individuals planning sabbaticals often ponder the “giving back” opportunity. Some sabbatical-goers spend their entire sabbatical as a volunteer in their community or in a far-flung country; others carve out a portion of their time away to help others. If either of these experiences describe what you did or are planning on your sabbatical, we invite […]