MICHELE SZKOLNICKI
M.Ed., BSN, RN, FACHE, FACMPE
Category: Blog
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The Uncanny Wisdom of the Marvel Universe
My son introduced me to Marvel movies and we have shared the experience of watching these together through his childhood and growing up. At the beginning, it was precious time we spent together while watching fights, explosions, and feats that defied the laws of Physics. Then we watched Dr. Strange. As the Ancient One was trying to…
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Putting the team strategy of psychological safety into action
In August 2017, HBR published an article written by Laura Delizonna that I shared on LinkedIn today: “High Performing Teams Need Psychological Safety. Here’s How to Create It”. What a powerful article – please read it and consider how your approach to leadership might need to change or evolve to guarantee success. Psychological safety is…
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The power of the curvy line
It is said that the shortest distance between 2 points is a straight line. The business inference is about taking the most direct and fastest route. I think about this quote when driving with my husband – I wish he would use a straight line when driving from point A to point B. When we drive…
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Do you check the oil?
Management science has been continually evolving to try to help leaders implement strategies to increase employee effectiveness. Terms like empowerment, team building, and coaching are peppered throughout the literature. Today’s leadership word is accountability. We have all heard it: “you need to hold your people accountable”. As we evolve our approach to make employees more effective, why…
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Don’t Waste This Chance to be Your Best Self
I have a professional colleague who asked me to be his mentor several years ago. He reached out to me recently: “I have a professional question for you – we are about to go through a reduction in force, furlough coworkers, and cut coworkers hours because of COVID-19. How do you deal with uncertain times…
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Complacency: An unintended consequence of the “everything device”
When I started this blog, I had a goal to add an article a week. I had been toying with establishing a blog for a while and had lots of ideas already accumulated when I decided to do this. As I had ideas, I would dictate them into the notes app on my phone. Besides…
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The 10 Leadership Lessons of Sleigh Ride
I recently listened to Sleigh Ride – my favorite song – performed in expert fashion by the Philadelphia Orchestra. Why do I love this song? In the spirit of the holidays, I applied my leadership brain as I listened and came up with The 10 Leadership Lessons of Sleigh Ride! It is an all inclusive…
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Rest on your laurels, and they are sure to wilt
I recently passed a “Store Closing” sign on a Sears department store. The bankruptcy of Sears had me thinking about my past experience with this former powerhouse retailer. Sears had, and wasted, the opportunity to be what Amazon has become. Sears, a company that sold everything and was the best in the catalog shopping space,…
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Beware the deception of “Low Hanging Fruit”
By metaphoric definition, low hanging fruit means: that which can be obtained with little or no effort. Somehow, this phrase is lately being communicated as a positive business strategy. Yet, there are plenty of other “sayings” that warn of a negative outcome to the no-effort approach: If you find a path with no obstacles, it…
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You gotta “wear the clothes”
When I speak with teams about what they need to do to be successful in their job and exceptional at goal achievement in their organization, I frequently refer to the movie: “The Devil Wears Prada”. The question I will ask is “when did Andie become good at her job?” The answer is “when she wore…