The post Benefits & Beyond appeared first on Digital Brand Expressions.

Hi,

Thanks to the 1440 for the above quote, reminding me of the importance of making ripples if you can’t make waves.

I hope your October going well. Mine certainly is! I had hip surgery early this month and am already walking without assistance. The wonders of modern medical technology and awesome medical professionals. Zero pain, just a little discomfort, nothing more than Tylenol needed.… Can you imagine?

So I’m back and as you can imagine, I have had a lot of time to read and absorb great content that I want to share with you, the compassionate people who are leading businesses in new directions through alignment with purpose for you and your teams. It isn’t always easy, I know, but the intention really paves the way to great outcomes.

So here are a few investments in your time that I hope are winners for you:

• Did you know there’s a generation between the baby boomers and Gen X? I didn’t until I read through this, IMHO, spot-on piece about “Generation Jones”.

• Spoooky for October…here are the probabilities of buying a haunted house by state.

The post Niki’s Notes October 20, 2022 appeared first on Digital Brand Expressions.

And speaking of problem solving, which we know automatically means “finding the opportunities,” here are a few articles I thought you would enjoy, because while November means Thanksgiving, it also means planning for the next year too. On that note, I thought these were good prompts for new thinking and new initiatives for you and your team for 2022:

• You may have more influence over your employees (and family, and friends) than you realize. This TED Talk is about how what we say—and do—affects those around us.
• This super smart article from Harvard Business Review talks about the career advantages of continuous learning, but it goes a few steps further with tips for unlearning, relearning, and co-learning. Great find, don’t miss it.
• Do you have someone on your team who needs to sound more confident? These tips may be helpful to you in coaching them.
• Inc. has a round up of great advice from 21 top business leaders. Enjoy!

Do Good Spotlight: Rolling Harvest

Are you familiar with Rolling Harvest? Their mission is simple, and they deliver on it: to increase access to donated fresh produce and other healthy foods to area hunger-relief sites that serve the at-risk, food-insecure population by providing local farmers and food producers with free, effective delivery and distribution of their surplus. How amazing is this? If you’re looking for another cause to connect with, this is a great addition. We donated and here are the many ways you and help Rolling Harvest.

That’s it, short and hopefully sweet! We’re taking a break ahead of the holiday next week, so look for our next issue on, dare I say it, Wednesday, December 1! December, how did we get to December!?!

In the meantime, Happy Thanksgiving!

The post Niki’s Notes November 17, 2021 appeared first on Digital Brand Expressions.

In any event, I hope you have a Happy Halloween. Between now and then, here are a few items that caught my attention this past week that I’d like to share with you and other business leaders looking to make a positive difference:

• The US Census department has published the results of its most recent Small Business Pulse Survey re: Covid’s impact on small business.
• “People are looking for more than a paycheck. They are seeking to contribute skills and talents to a mission they believe in and a company that supports their personal and professional development. This is why career ladders by themselves are not enough.” Helping employees gain self awareness to align their work and their desire for jobs to contribute more than a paycheck is the topic of this by David Hassell for Fast Company.

• People are also looking for unbiased work environments. Here’s an interesting piece by Amy Epstein Gluck for Fisher Broyles’ employment law practice. It cites various studies, surveys, and a recent NY Times article on microaggressions. It reminds me that we all need to pay attention to what may be affecting our employees that doesn’t make it onto our radars.
• And here’s the article the above article references, from the NY Times. These are uncomfortable to read (I, personally, get flashbacks to my corporate days from articles like this), but we all need to keep bringing these issues to the fore to better our organizations.

Do Good Spotlight on: ProPublica

ProPublica is an independent, nonprofit newsroom that produces investigative journalism with moral force. They dig into important issues, shining a light on abuses of power and betrayals of public trust — and they stick with those issues through to resolution, to hold people accountable for their actions.

With a team of more than 100 dedicated journalists, ProPublica covers a range of topics including government and politics, business, criminal justice, the environment, education, health care, immigration, and technology. They focus on stories with the potential to real change. We donated this week and here’s where you can learn more and consider donating too.

Okay, that’s it for now. I hope the rest of your week is a good mix of exciting, productive, and energizing. Stay well, stay strong, stay focused. And Happy Halloween!

The post Niki’s Notes October 27, 2021 appeared first on Digital Brand Expressions.

Now, onto the stories that attracted my attention this week that we want to share with our business-leader audience:

• Have you seen this trend: salary transparency laws? Changes are rolling in quickly, if you have employees scattered across the US you’ll want to take a look. (Paywall: Business Insider).
• You’ve probably heard about Dan Price of Gravity Payments, the “$70,000 CEO” who raised his employees’ salaries to ensure they were paid to have a comfortable income level. But have you read the follow-ups and how his philosophies helped his company navigate Covid? If you’re a champion of doing business better, I think you’ll like this.
• And speaking of admirable companies, here’s Inc’s 2021 sortable list of best companies for supporting employees. Perhaps you’ll find inspirations here, I know I did.
• This is one of those deeper, food-for-thought pieces on how humans are evolving, and the toll social media and other hyper communications streams are affecting us. I shared this a few weeks ago on my personal channels and friends responded to it, so I’m sharing it with you here in case some of the points help you as you lead your teams through today’s challenges.

Do Good Spotlight on: No Kid Hungry

No Kid Hungry is a national campaign run by Share Our Strength, a nonprofit working to solve problems of hunger and poverty in the United States and around the world. At DBE, we want to help every child get the resources they need to have a successful life, and nutrition is a key pillar to that path. This week’s shout out and donation go to No Kid Hungry. Here’s where you can learn more.

That’s it for this issue. Please remember I’m always open for suggestions on charities to feature and donate to, so keep those coming! Have a great rest of the week, and enjoy the weekend, too.

The post Niki’s Notes September 15, 2021 appeared first on Digital Brand Expressions.

Here are the articles that caught my attention as a business leader this week that I wanted to share with the other business leaders in my network:

• Still sitting too much? I’ve been popping out of my seat every 20-30 minutes to keep moving around as a step to getting healthier. I found this article about back pain that might be helpful to you or someone you know from the folks at Lose It! Here’s another one from Dr. Cindy Lin, MD for CNBC.
• Jeanne Meister writes about trends shaping the future of work, and she’s got a great piece in Forbes: The Future of Work is Employee Well Being.”
• Sure, your work from home offices are pet-friendly, but now that companies are navigating the “back to the office” scenarios, will bringing pets to work take a leap forward as part of wooing employees back? This piece from Time has lots of trends, stats, and other perspective-information info.

DBE’s Go Good Spotlight is on: Women for Women International

World organizations are rushing to help the people of Afghanistan as the conflict continues to unfold. Caught in the turmoil are women whose lives are much less in their own control there than in other parts of the world. DBE was moved by their stories and made donation this week to Women for Women International, prompted in part by Chief’s support of this organization. You can help too. Learn more and if you’re moved to, please donate here.

That’s it for this week, short issue but hope it provided some good insights and tips. Enjoy the rest of the week and stay well, stay strong, stay focused!

The post OWLTHENA WHAT’S HOT WEDNESDAY AUGUST 25, 2021 appeared first on Digital Brand Expressions.

• 26 productivity apps voted 2021’s best (so far) by Fast Company.
• Succeed by taking notes from geniuses.
• Just for fun (Subscription) [Pro tip: subscription required, but if you haven’t used up your freebies for the month, Google the article title and see if you can get to the article that way.]
• Could Gen Z Free the World From Email? (Subscription) [Pro tip: subscription required, but if you haven’t used up your freebies for the month, Google the article title and see if you can get to the article that way].
• Perfect number of hours to work per week? Wired’s got thoughts.
• Have you heard about Chief? It’s an organization for executive women. I joined recently, looking forward to all the benefits, including lots of amazing events and opportunites to connect with like-minded leaders. I’ll share more as I get more into it. For now, color me excited!
• Speaking of networking and connecting, here are tips on goals you’ll want to commit to before you continue your outreach.

Do Good Spotlight #1: INT-O

We recently learned about INT-O and couldn’t wait to share with you. International Optimism Yellow (INT-O Yellow) is a color with a cause. It was developed as a platform for participation and collaboration between: Pantone, artist Uncle Riley, UMEWE and YOU. It was conceived as a tool to explore Optimism and positively impact reality.

Learn more here, it’s so cool!

Do Good Spotlight #2: Passage Theatre

Passage Theatre Company in Trenton, NJ is committed to creating and producing socially relevant new plays and arts programming that deeply resonate with and reflect the community. Through professional productions, educational programs, and community engagement, they present diverse perspectives and new voices that inspire audiences and invigorate the art of live theatre. We donated to help them progress on their mission and you can too. Learn more about Passage Theatre here.

I hope you were inspired and informed by the articles shared this week and check out the Do Gooders too. Have a great rest of the week, enjoy!

The post OWLTHENA WHAT’S HOT WEDNESDAY JULY 14, 2021 appeared first on Digital Brand Expressions.

• Burnout is having a major impact on our employees and leadership too. Vistage highlights the signs of burnout and offers suggestions for recognizing and if possible, doing a 180.
• Are you factoring “the Great Resignation?” We’ve been talking about the shifting perspectives of workers and progressive companies, with the future being a more equitable exchange rather than the historical “company=benefactor, worker=lucky to have a job.” Here are several articles that outline what’s going on right now from a bigger picture perspective to help you with your mindset and decision making:
  • From Axios: “The Age of Career Jumpers.” Here’s a tidbit: “What’s happening: The pandemic has caused a crisis of burnout and pushed millions of people to reconsider what fulfills them at work. Of the workers that want to switch jobs or fields, 50% say they are looking for higher compensation, 34% want more growth opportunities and 24% are tired of working on the same things, per the survey.”
  • From Ad Age. (Subscription required.)
  • From Tech Republic. Here’s a taste: “The risk is that executives will decide that defining the hybrid workplace is too difficult and revert back to old habits. Kropp said that all of the data shows that employees are higher performing and more productive in hybrid work settings.”
  • And from NPR. Here’s a quote from a worker, Jonathan Caballero, “I think the pandemic has changed my mindset in a way, like I really value my time now.” There’s more, a lot more…
• McKinsey put out an article this week on “The growth triple play: Creativity, analytics and purpose.” One of their key takeaways is companies who are leveraging even just one of these capabilities sees growth rates of 6%, and when they hit the trifecta, growth rates 12% — 2.​3x that of their peers who have not developed these capabilities.

Do Good Spotlight on: Jason Raynor

Gun violence hit close to home for DBE/Owlthena this past week when Daytona Beach, Florida officer Jason Raynor was shot in the head in the line of duty by a seasoned criminal. It was all recorded on Jason’s body cam. A week later, Jason is still fighting for his life with the bullet lodged in his brain until his system stabilizes enough for a positive surgery outcome. We have team members who know Jason personally and this week’s do good shout out goes to Jason and his family, along with a donation to the GoFundMe set up to support him and his family, who flew to Florida and are staying by his side while he endures a medical coma awaiting surgery. Good energy and prayers are great donations too. Thanks…

I hope this week’s issue helps you with your planning for the near future. Have a safe and productive rest of the week.

The post OWLTHENA WHAT’S HOT WEDNESDAY JUNE 30, 2021 appeared first on Digital Brand Expressions.

Here are a few items I wanted to share with your business leader heart and mind in case they spark insights you can incorporate into what you’re doing for your stakeholders:

• Oh No! Charlie Bit My Finger is exiting YouTube to become an NFT. Why am I sharing this as business insight fodder? Did you imagine NFT’s before they were a thing? I didn’t, but now that we know about them, where does that lead our entrepreneurial, innovative minds?
• What’s your intrinsic value to your connections, and how can you use it to build your network? Adam Connors has answers.
• Have you heard about companies where employees decide each other’s salaries? I’m fascinated by how decisions are made and how people feel about them. Here’s the story.
• The future of middle managers is already happening, from what I can see “…organizations will have to rethink traditional career paths, and begin to offer development tracks that enable individual contributors to advance without necessarily taking on people-management responsibilities.” How about you? Here’s the rest from Harvard Business Review on that topic.

Do Good Spotlight on: Maya’s Mission

We recently learned about Maya’s Mission and wanted to share this with you…
The world suddenly lost an amazing girl last year at the age of 13, and to continue the work she started, her family created Maya’s Mission. This not-for-profit’s goal is to ensure marginalized children and young adults across the world are exposed to STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, math) to create a path forward for themselves and others.

To honor Maya’s birthday on April 27, Maya’s Mission is partnering with Adaptive Sports Foundation to provide micro-grants for adaptive athletes to learn to ski or snowboard. Grants applications are being accepted until June 4, 2021. Find out more here, consider donating as we did, and pass it along!

I hope this issue got you thinking in new directions, or deeper on a particular path.

As we wind down the week, let’s all remember on Monday to honor those who gave their lives in military service; there are many Americans who are still grieving those losses. Please keep that in mind as you enjoy the weekend that starts our summer fun. Gratitude is a good goal that takes it all in.

Thank you.

The post OWLTHENA WHAT’S HOT WEDNESDAY MAY 26, 2021 appeared first on Digital Brand Expressions.

Generally, LOVE working from home, but today’s issue was produced while surrounded by lots of hammering. Combine a generator installation with a mini facelift for the kitchen and you have LOTS OF HAMMERING! Thankfully, it’s a one-day event. Whew! Here are a few stories I hope you can enjoy over a quiet cup of coffee or tea:

• Could a course on happiness help you? The New York Times spells it out.

• On a related note, Owlthena’s parent company, Digital Brand Expressions, has a client that provides a free philosophy course, 10 weeks, 1 day a week, live with other students from around the country (and often from other parts of the world) to help re-frame our reality with simple, yet deep, “go to” frameworks for life’s challenges. You can learn more about the School of Practical Philosophy and their intro course here. I’ve taken it and absolutely loved it. Others at DBE are taking it this semester, which just started, and are similarly impressed (and grateful).

• Are women getting bad advice in business? This article from Harvard Business Review thinks so. I understand the basis for much of this advice but agree with the authors that it’s time for a re-evaluation. I especially agree with #1 in a corporate setting—find a champion or 2, yes! My best champion was a male boss when I was early in my career at a F500. He did a wonderful job of helping me to modify my approach to fit corporate expectations while helping me to push every envelope there was to push to overturn sexist barriers. Oh, and I never liked #5: don’t fake it, ask for help when you need it and just do your best. (See also, The 4 Agreements.)

Do Good Spotlight: Princeton-Blairstown Center & Spring Into Action

Princeton-Blairstown center empowers students through experiences in wilderness settings or otherwise away from the patterns and distractions of their everyday physical, emotional, and social environments. These experiences can be fundamentally transforming, opening individuals up to their amazing potential.  There’s still time to sign up for the “Spring Into Action” walk, see here.

Donating cash or making donations for much-needed items from the link to Amazon.com are always appreciated too. DBE contributed this week to this unique organization working hard to help kids see the opportunities they may have missed.

That’s it for today. Going to take a walk in the quiet sunshine and am wishing you a wonderful rest of the week.

The post OWLTHENA WHAT’S HOT WEDNESDAY APRIL 28, 2021 appeared first on Digital Brand Expressions.