“Being pleasant and having a good attitude is a simple way to become luckier. Opportunities come through people, and people are more likely to bring opportunities to people they like. It’s hard to win if your attitude adds friction to every interpersonal experience.” ~ James Clear This is so true in consulting and many other interactions.   If your attitude adds friction to every interpersonal experience, it makes everything you want to do harder.  People are less likely to take your suggestions or receive input from you. So, in addition to ‘luck’ I would add ‘a good attitude’ as a simple…

Watch Brent’s latest video for a SMART take on the role professionalism plays in building trust and getting things done. After all, we are SMART Professionals serving Professionals!                                                                                                                                                 …

Are you intentional with your critical thinking process? “Developing your critical thinking skills improves your problem-solving skills, boosts your decision-making ability, and gives you a methodology to tackle complex problems.” One important step is to be aware of any cognitive bias at play and eliminate it from your critical thinking process. You can start by asking yourself these questions: Am I making any assumptions about this information?  Are there additional variables I haven’t considered?  Have I evaluated the information from every perspective?  Are there any viewpoints I missed?  Biases aren’t always bad, but you need to be aware of them…

Are you still building and maintaining your professional network while working remotely or hybrid?  Networking can provide you with numerous career benefits like building connections, exposure to fresh ideas, gaining career support and advice, and the list goes on. The opportunities to network in-person have been limited due to the pandemic but many great alternatives have popped up in place of the traditional conferences and cocktail hours.  Virtual events and online communities are plentiful, and without geographical boundaries, expanding your access to topics, people, and ideas.  Sign up, join the conversation, explore, learn! And don’t forget to leverage the opportunities…

Criticism…whether constructive or mean-spirited is not always easy to receive.  Check out this video from SMART President, Brent Mitchell to learn a successful strategy for accepting criticism like a pro!                                                                                                                                             …

Are you delivering your intended message in your written communications?  Are you sure?  Word choice, tone, punctuation, contractions, emojis can all impact your message and the outcome, especially on a remote team.  When working remotely, you lack the face-to-face interactions and body language cues, so “every word you type (or don’t) is important in conveying your ideas and communicating effectively with your colleagues”.  This article is loaded with tactical tips for communicating effectively on a remote team or any team.  Try some of these tips for yourself and let us know the impact it has on communicating with your team.…