Dianne Lehmann

Heard it Through the Grapevine

"… opening another office," said one of the employees she hadn't met yet. A smallish woman with a bit of gray in her hair who looked to be in her mid-forties. Another employee, a bit younger than the former, she also did not yet know, who was standing at the water cooler said, "Really? I hadn't heard that." "Yes," said the first employee, "and they are planning on hiring the manager... (posted by Dianne 3 days 9 hours ago.)

Happy Managing

Quite some years ago, when I was in my early 30's, I had the occasion to become the office manager of a mobile home resale dealership. I was ostensibly managing men and women who were, for the most part, ten to twenty years older than me. I didn't know the first thing about managing people. I made a lot of mistakes and found myself apologizing on numerous occasions to many of the agents. In my defense, the apologies were made in front of... (posted by Dianne 5 days 8 hours ago.)

The Moment that Refreshes

Ahhh. Take a deep breath. Hold it. Hold it some more. Let it out now. Slowly. Through your nose. Take another deep breath and repeat. I do any number of different things to relax, but remembering to breathe deeply when I am stressed is at the top of my list. I'll be sitting on the back of "my" horse and he'll be trotting along nicely. We are both relaxed and enjoying the nice weather, then a bird... (posted by Dianne 10 days 9 hours ago.)

Is Your Employer Asking a Lot More of You

With the downturn of the American economy and the scarcity of jobs, many employers have begun to expect more and more of the few employees that they maintain. Not only that, some may make what would, in easier times, be considered unreasonable requests. Growing up, I was indoctrinated into the working world with the idea that whatever your employer told you to do was what you... (posted by Dianne 16 days 8 hours ago.)

"The Other End of the Leash:" a Book Review

I've had cause recently to re-read a book I read several years ago. It's written by Patricia B. McConnell, Ph.D., and it really impressed me the first time I read it. This second time around I've gotten even more out of it. McConnell is an adjunct assistant professor of zoology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a certified Applied Animal Behaviorist. She has three Border Collies, one Great Pyrenees and... (posted by Dianne 17 days 5 hours ago.)

All Good Things ...

She was about six and three quarters years old and she thought the day would never arrive. It had been promised and promised and always the time was not right. Patience was not always one of her virtues. She had been asking for a bicycle for her birthday for what seemed like ages. She had long outgrown the tricycle that her parents got for her as a hand-me-down from an older cousin. She wanted a real... (posted by Dianne 17 days 7 hours ago.)

Charity goes to a Party

Charity didn't have a clue what the man in front of her was talking about. But she stood patiently, as she always did when men were talking to her, waiting for him to come to his point. Her attention might have wandered a time or two, but she gave the appearance of listening intently. At 37 years old and still pretty, to her way of thinking, with her red hair and a delightful smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks... (posted by Dianne 20 days 3 hours ago.)

About Face, Forward March!

What does it take to turn a negative into a positive? I'm not talking about the current trend called the humble boast or something like that. You know, where you take something that is actually positive and make it seem negative so you can boast without seeming to: "I just can't seem to get the hang of a properly crunchy topping on my crème brulee." The unspoken boast is that you actually... (posted by Dianne 23 days 8 hours ago.)