Jo McDermott

personal change

  • Career Check-up

    Why a Career Check-up? Those of us who do what we should have annual physical check-ups.  People who practice preventative health care are much healthier.  We take our cars for their regularly scheduled maintenance milestones.  Our cars last longer, drive… Continue reading

  • Get Off Your Butt! DIY Executive Development

    I’m going to rant a little l talk to people all the time who are sitting around waiting for their company to “do something” about their development.  They know that they are talented (and for the most part, the company… Continue reading

  • Take Feedback, Especially Bad Feedback, As a Gift

    My “Bad” Feedback I remember the first time that feedback got my attention.  It didn’t get enough attention, but I kept thinking about it—for a really long time.  My mentor told me, “Well, you didn’t get where you are on… Continue reading

  • Don’t Take Your Needs to Work

    Basics/Needs/Wants My first exposure to the idea of how my needs impacted my career came from Laura Berman Fortgang’s book, Take Yourself to the Top. Fortgang divides things into basics/needs/wants.  Most of us can tell what the basics are–enough food, housing,… Continue reading

  • Dealing with A**holes

    For some reason I’ve talked to a lot of people in the last couple of weeks who were having problems with people in their lives—mostly at work.  The problem when you have to deal with people who are difficult is… Continue reading

  • Can You Really Earn a Living Doing What You Love?

    Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow You hear it all the time.  “Do what you love and the money will follow?” But is it true?  I’d have to say, “Kind of.”  When you are working doing things you… Continue reading

  • Keeping Up

    Why Should I Care? I talk to people who want to get promoted.  I talk to people who just lost their job.  I talk to people who want to go work for a cool company they know about.  I talk… Continue reading

  • Lead from where you are

    Tops, Middles, Bottoms Are you the same kind of leader at work that you are at home? at church? with your friends?  If you’re like most people, probably not.  Why is that?  Most people have a picture of the “power… Continue reading

  • Fail. Fail. Fail.

    Failing Isn’t Fun. I really, really to hate to fail.  In fact, I hate it so much that I rarely admit that I failed when I do–it’s not that I lie about it–I just don’t even admit to myself.  So… Continue reading

  • It’s the End of First Quarter. How Are Your Resolutions?

    Most of Us Make Resolutions The website, The Statistical Brain, says that 45% of us make New Year’s Resolutions and 8% of us succeed with them.  Thirty nine percent of folks in their twenties succeed, compared to fourteen percent of… Continue reading