nightstand---what are you reading?
Mike Maslanka
236 Posts
so,what is on your nightstand? i'm reading maximum success,which talks about the 12 types of 90/10 employees--that is,90% of the time they are great,but the other 10% so terrible you wonder whether it's worth it...it talks about how to turn them around...a great book...what about you?...regards from a baking dallas,mike maslanka
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What other books have you all found helpful in dealing with stress? I know the HR field is a high-stress occupation - if someone in the company has a problem, you're probably the one dealing with it or coaching someone else how to!
This all seems to validate our culture - work like heck until we die, or is that too harsh. An article in the Los Angeles Times this past weekend contrasted the work culture in Europe vs. the US including the difference in vacation practices. The article included a cultural statement - "in Europe they work to live, in the US we live to work". There is some truth to this, and since our culture is so work oriented there is pressure to keep up. A lot of people thrive in this environment but sometimes at a price.
A balance in life is very important and I hope that we don't forget that.
I've just about finished Terry McMillan's "A Day Late and A Dollar Short." Essentially it's about a very dysfunctional family. It's making for good and interesting reading - funny in some places, tragic in others. It has characters everyone can recognize. There is mom who is a chronic asthma sufferer; dad whom mom just kicked out of the house and is living with a woman young enough to be his daughter (she's pregnant) and her 3 kids; daughter number one who is a business success, leads a lonely single life and realizes she's addicted to prescription pain killers; daughter number two who learns her husband had a child with another woman 15 years earlier; daughter number three whom everyone feels isn't that bright and learns that her child was repeatedly sexually molested by her second husband who is a cop and the son who is an alcoholic and habitual felon who gets busted for beating up his ex-wife's husband.
Ms. McMillan is the celebrated author of "Waiting to Exhale" and "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" - both of which were motion pictures. What I consider to be her best novel ("Disappearing Acts") was recently an HBO made for TV movie.
Also trying to get through "Supreme Injustice" by Alan Dershowitz, detailing the developments leading up to George W. Bush's four years of court-ordered community service. For those who followed the post-election closely, it may not contain any surprises, but it does thoroughly explain the legal machinations and the danger to the separation of powers concept when politics mixes with law. All the footnotes are in the back, which is a bit annoying.
And when I finish that, I am going to read the latest STephen King book, something like "Dreamcatcher," about a reunion of four longtime friends on a hunting trip that turns strange -- of course.
Margaret Morford
theHRedge
615-371-8200
[email]mmorford@mleesmith.com[/email]
>women interact in the workplace and,as my dad would have said,"boy oh
>boy"(my dad actually talked that way)...it is a real eye
>opener,especially the parts dealing with when a women is promoted and
>now supervises her former co-workers...one of the take home
>points:women are uncomfortable with power--especially over other
>women--and if they try to exercise it the former co-workers think she
>has gotten on her high horse and make her life tough...the book notes
>that the last thing a women should do who gets promoted is to act like
>a man---instead be self effacing with former colleagues--"gee,i am
>glad i got the promotion,but it was not as much money as i
>thought."...also,the authors advise women in the workplace that they
>should ***NOT*** make a point of talking about big houses they
>own,lavish parties they throw,or dream vacations they go on--while a
>man will see these things as the rewards of a guy climing to the top,a
>woman will see them as a women who has turned her back on what women
>do in the workplace(which is what they did as cavewomen)which is form
>alliances to get ahead as a group...i'll mention more as i read
>on...regards from texas,mike maslanka,214-659-4668
actually,does anyone have any thoughts on this comment?regards from texas,mike maslanka
"Seabiscuit" about the horse, racing and society of the day.
"NYPD" the history of the New York Police Department.
"Topgrading" hiring the "A" level employee.
"My War" by Andy Rooney - WWII.
"Jabez Prayer"
"War Letters" from the war of northern aggression through Desert Storm. A view of the real world.
"Get Better or Get Beaten" about Jack Welch
All good.
These situations really get under my skin. As someone who has done quite well in the business world (if I do say so myself), I've confronted people back in my old neighborhood who accuse me of being a "sell-out." It's a stupid attempt at laying a guilt trip on me for their short comings and failings. I remind them in a New York minute that we grew up in the same neighborhood, rolled with the same street gangs, went to the same schools, had the same teachers, came from broken homes and, all-in-all, had the same opportunities. I chose to work hard and take full advantage of my opportunities. For whatever reasons, they chose not to. So, again, tell them to "get over it."
>Laurie Beth Jones. No matter what your "religion" is, this book is
>full of incredible ideas on how to lead and treat all people in an
>organization. She also offers a daily email called, Using Ancient
>Wisdom for Visionary Leadership. More info at; [url]www.jesusceo.com[/url]
if you had to pick the three points you think are the most valuable,what would they be?... regards from texas,mike maslanka