The popular song says, “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend.” This is not true. Diamonds can be lost, stolen or damaged. In these modern times, credibility built on verifiable achievements is what helps people succeed.

The recent passage of the Lily Ledbetter legislation put women on equal footing with men regarding pay. However, this only counts when the women are truly equal in performance and credentials. Both are the key to success. However, performance can be relative and subjective. It can be a judgement call, made by a superior, collegues or anyone in an organization. Tons of variables affect performance.

Not so with credentials, these stay true no matter what economy, social conventions or biases dictate. Ten years ago a colleague told me to get a Masters, and I was skeptical. Now I have a BA in English and a MA in Business Communications. Those degrees support my current work and help me perform better. They also allow me the flexibility to call my own shots.

I also have certifications unique to my field of training and performance improvement. These help me work faster and better than others in my field. Women never could get away with being complacent. When the chips fall, all you got is you!!

The point is, get an education, never stop learning and stay fresh. Keep running with the big boys and it will pay off. Never settle. You're just as good as anyone else, including men, but only if you stay ahead of the wave. "Chance favors the prepared mind," quoted Louis Pasteur. If you're prepared, chance is just the odds. You go girls!!! Get creds and live free!

I heard a saying recently, which I'll paraphrase. "To truly change and transform, you have to go through the garbage dump." It's true in lots of situations. When we clean out closets, we empty, sort, sift and repack. When we remodel our homes, we demolish first, then rebuild. Either way, things often look worse before they look better.

One of my favorite things to do as a kid was go to the garbage dump. Hear me out! The place smelled awful, but it was so cool to watch the huge "chompers" pick up the trash, move it to the compactor and squish it into smaller, neater bundles.

Why can't adults approach change with this childish fascination? Who wants to go to the garbage dump, let alone through it? Even the team phases, Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing have a "garbage dump" phase - storming. Relationships have garbage dumps too like the first fight, the stress of moving or the joys and pains of raising children.

Looks like life is actually a continuum of garbage dumps. If we focus on the fascinating process of dumping garbage, maybe we can be more objective about the smell it produces or the pain we feel during change. Our perspective can change our whole attitude. Let's go to the garbage dump and experience transformational change! I call shotgun!!

Get Some Help!

If you're in the training industry, you may have heard of Info-lines. They are very useful, brief and accessible job aids published by the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD). They take 10 minutes to read and cover tons of topics including:

• How to write a resume
• Training in virtual worlds
• Basics of emotional intelligence
• Conducting a mini needs assessment
• Mind your business manners

There are hundreds more to choose from at www.astd.org. Obviously, you don't have to be a trainer to use them. Check into these golden nuggets for the business world! I have an annual subscription and can't count how many times I have used them for self development or with clients. Get some help from Info-lines!

Mission Critical

Everybody just made New Year's resolutions. My resolution was to listen more. As an extrovert, I process most thoughts and ideas out loud, which usually doesn't leave room for hearing anyone else. It's almost painful to keep my mouth shut while people share ideas or discuss situations. However, every time I zip it - cool things happen. Other people help themselves, get work done or tons of other positive outcomes.

Resolving to improve or change starts with initial sacrifice or at least the perception of sacrifice. Sometimes we can feel like we're giving up something, when we really might be getting out of our own way. My business is called Write Wise Communications and my mission is to help people communicate effectively and achieve their goals. To do this, I must understand what those goals are - hence, listening more.

Over the next year, I'll share tools and strategies for communicating effectively, hopefully gleaned from listening more...
Until the next blog,
Alise Isbell