Tagged With "2016 ask changes"
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Extension Foundation Says Farewell to Longtime Technology Team Member
The Extension Foundation offers its sincere gratitude to Ben MacNeill who has been part of the Extension Foundation team since 2006. In July 2022, Ben will be transitioning to a new role outside of the Extension Foundation. Ben has been working with the Foundation through a full-time buyout from North Carolina State University. One of the original architects of many of the Extension Foundation’s former technology infrastructure under the “eXtension” brand, Ben has played a leading role in...
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TRUST
Our biological need to trust is strong. We approach situations with an almost automatic seeking of a transaction to occur. Knowing how we approach our daily interactions is important for creating moments of clarity that fit with our values. Naive & Distrust Some of us approach awarding our trust from a place of distrust making it hard for others to convince us we should place our trust in them. Some of us approach from a more naive place that can make it hard for us when trust is fragile...
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Pillars of Successful Transition - Models to help Service Members and their Families Prepare for the Military to Civilian Transition
What Extension programs do you have related to these topics that could support service members as they transition to civilian life?
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Pillars of Successful Transition - Models to help Service Members and their Families Prepare for the Military to Civilian Transition
By Jenny Rea, Ph.D. While many separating Service members successfully adapt to civilian life, 40 to 75% describe some difficulties managing this major transition (Castro & Kintzle, 2017; Zoli, Maury, & Fay, 2015). For instance, within the first year of transitioning to civilian life, Veterans face increased challenges with homelessness, family integration, employment, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and substance abuse, all of which can increase the risk for suicide ( VA,...
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Money-Saving Tips for Uncertain Times
Between a four-decade record high for inflation and rising interest rates, many Americans are being squeezed financially.
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National Extension Climate Initiative needs Beta Testers for Climate Curriculum
Have you wanted to learn more about climate change yourself, and how to help your clientele address the impacts it can cause? Since we first came together, members of the National Extension Climate Initiative have seen the need for climate training across the Cooperative Extension system. Our formal NECI objective is to: Promote climate education and research throughout the extension system. We have selected the EcoActUs www.EcoActUs.org certificate curriculum for beta testing among...
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It's time again...
It's time again to talk about time. It's time for a reminder that time isn't a renewable resource. My absolute favorite simple time management tool is this: Don't touch anything twice. When you read that email/text, deal with it then, don't wait. When you take the clothes out of the dryer, fold them, and put them away. You get the point. If you were to add up all the time you take to think about and take action on things you've already touched it would be a bit depressing. Like most of these...
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Positive Changes
"Whatever you do out there in the world do an equal amount of work internally because if you don't your work in the world will not be as effective." - Dr. Gabor Mate' Recently attended a leadership development workshop where a Psychologist spoke and led us in some discovery exercises. He point-blank stated there are not enough Psychologists to encourage positive lifestyle changes. He asked us to implement them in some way and share the value with others! Here are the therapeutic lifestyle...
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Creativity and Imagination
Was reminded of this story Dr. Ken Robinson told in one of his TedTalks... It's the story of a little girl who was in an art lesson. She was drawing. She was six, and at the back of the classroom. The teacher said she hardly ever paid attention but in this lesson, she did. The teacher was curious. She walked over to her, and asked, "What are you drawing?" The girl said, "I'm drawing a picture of God." The teacher stated, "But nobody knows what God looks like." The girl replied, "They will in...
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Your "User Manual"
How well do you know your colleagues? Do you really know them? Our initial response is probably a quick "yes". It's when we slow down we discover quite a few assumptions. Help get to know them better by sharing your self-awareness "manual" in answering just six questions! What’s your style? Strengths, weaknesses OR include descriptors like energetic, compassionate, participative Gets people in touch with how their emotions/actions might affect others What do you not have patience for? Common...
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Some things I think I think...
The great sports broadcaster Dan Patrick used to host a podcast with the title "Things I think I think". During a presentation to our team, we were reminded of his show and it sparked my own thinking about what I think I think. Here are a few to ponder... Curiosity over Certainty When we remain curious we're open. We have a growth mindset. We see challenges as opportunities. While we can have aspects of our lives we're certain about, like our core values, in daily interactions it often leads...
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RFA: ECOP Health and Workforce Program Action Teams: Resilient Economies and Community Health (REACH)
ELIGIBILITY: Competitive opportunity available to ALL Land-grant universities (LGUs) (1862, 1890, 1994) by completing a simple online application. The Extension Foundation in partnership with the ECOP Health and Workforce Program Action Teams, is offering two opportunities to apply and be selected to pilot a community development initiative in a community of their choosing. More specifically, successful applicants will have the opportunity to pilot test how Cooperative Extension can catalyze...
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2022 Program Center Stage
The Extension Foundation 's Program Center Stage series had a great first year , highlighting programs that are doing impactful work across the system . Throughout the year , the series featured Southern University Ag Center Emergency Prep ared ness Response & Recovery , J UN T OS 4-H, New Technologies for Ag Extension ( N TA E ), Extension Collabor ation on Immun ization Education ( EX C ITE ), North Star Legacy Communities , Utah ’ s Remote Work Online Initiative Program , P estic ide...
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Happy (Digital) Holidays!
We've talked about this "gratitude" thing before in this post... Get More Gratitude . If you're not able to be together with everyone you'd like, here are some ways to let your friends & family know you're thinking about them. This year, you're more ready than you think to share how thankful you are for the great people in your life. After all, you've had at least a couple of years of practice at this. 😉 Embrace some technology to share your gratitude for the special people in your...
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The Perfect Meeting
"One can either work or meet. One cannot do both at the same time." -Peter Drucker Darn it! He's right again. Despite our best efforts we can only do one of these (effectively) at a time. Through this, he also reminds us of the multitasking myth. What we actually do is task switch. It takes 40% longer to accomplish two things we're switching on and longer when we add a third or fourth task. One thing we can do to help with effectiveness is to have better meetings. Most HR professionals will...
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Three Strategies to Better Meet Military Families’ Needs
By Anna Peterson Summary Military-connected populations, including military families, face unique needs and barriers in finding services and care for family members. Extension educators/agents who serve military-connected populations can deploy three strategies to better meet their needs: 1) use the Social Determinants of Health model; 2) build collaborations with others; and 3) use a care coordination tool. Introduction The needs of the military-connected population (e.g., service members,...
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Leadership ABC's
A = Attitude One of 2 things within your control; attitude and effort! Attitude is everything, pick a good one. B = Brave When you believe strongly in something or perhaps it scares you a bit, let your courage shine through. Be brave enough to go first and model the way. C = Character This is your behavior when nobody is watching. You won't always have the training and education for the situations you find yourself in. Your strong character will get you through. D = Dependable You do what...
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ICYMI: 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee Holds First Meeting
February 24, 2023 By: Edward McCarthy , Public Affairs Specialist within OASH Office of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Image: 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee with HHS Assistant Secretary Rachel Levine, USDA Deputy Under Secretary Stacy Dean and Committee staff leads Summary: This blog provides an overview of the events of the first meeting of the Dietary Guidelines Committee on February 9th and 10th, 2023. Rockville, Md. – ICYMI: On February 9 and 10, the newly announced...
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2 thoughts...
When you feel the surge, resist the urge. There are times in our lives when we feel threatened. Some are real. Some aren't. Our bodies process these situations exactly the same. When threats aren't real often we let our fight/flight response take over. In these moments we react as if in real danger. The actual danger here is not having the self-awareness to realize the "threat" is perceived and be able to calm ourselves down. If we succumb to the survival hormones flooding our bodies we...
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Program Center Stage: Learn about the Free Tools and Resources Available for Extension Professionals
In this month's Program Center Stage, Extension Foundation’s Aaron Weibe provided an overview of the Foundation’s free tools and resources available for Cooperative Extension and Land-grant Universities including professional development opportunities, leadership, and team development, and other Member Solutions. Aaron walks through the tools, how to access them, and answers attendees' questions. Many participants noted that this session made them aware of many new tools available to them,...
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Resource Roundup: Recruiting Training and Leading Volunteers in Extension Programs
April is National Volunteer Month , a time to celebrate the impact that volunteers have to strengthen and expand our Extension programming . Not only do volunteers extend our reach in communities , but their perspective and credibility bring a valuable contribution to our projects and program . We all know how valuable volunteers are to our Extension programs! Let us recognize the power and potential volunteers have in helping Extension by enhancing our skills and using resources to help...
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"No" isn't negative
"No! Don't touch the hot stove." "No! Don't text and drive." In these examples, "no" is actually positive to alert us from burning ourselves and not driving while distracted. In other situations, primarily in our professional lives, we perceive saying "no" will be viewed as negative. This leads to saying "yes" to much more than we can accomplish and the mistaken idea that if we're busy it means we're valued more. Does always being busy with more equal accomplishing more? Here's a scenario...
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Extension Foundation National Professional Development Needs Assessment
The Extension Foundation invites Cooperative Extension to participate in a survey to identify professional development needs for Cooperative Extension professionals at 1862, 1890, and 1994 Land-grant universities in the US and US territories. We estimate the survey will take roughly 10 minutes to complete. Findings from this survey will be used to determine future direction for the Extension Foundation as well as being shared widely across all Cooperative Extension organizations. Please use...
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Extension Foundation National Professional Development Needs Assessment
We invite you to participate in a survey to identify professional development needs for Cooperative Extension professionals at 1862, 1890, and 1994 Land-grant universities in the US and US territories. We estimate the survey will take roughly 10 minutes to complete. Findings from this survey will be used to determine the future direction for the Extension Foundation as well as being shared widely across all Cooperative Extension organizations. We ask that you please complete the survey by...
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Beliefs on the Leadership Journey
Getting clear with ourselves about our beliefs helps connect us to our core values. They will shift over our lives so it's a constant journey of discovery. Here are some things to ponder as you check in on your journey. Your Leadership Philosophy Defining what the huge topic of leadership is to you is of utmost importance. It helps us get clear on our approach, communicate it to others, and measure how we're doing every day. Here's mine right now... It's realizing it's not about me &...
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Registration for the Healthy People 2030 Webinar Series: Strengthening Resilience in Children and Adolescents Is Now Open
The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP) is pleased to announce its next webinar: Healthy People 2030 Webinar Series: Strengthening Resilience in Children and Adolescents . This webinar will take place on Wednesday, June 28 from 1:00 to 2:00 pm ET. To register, please visit the Healthy People 2030 Webinar Series Registration page . Continuing Education Credits* (CEs) are available for this webinar. During this one-hour event, ODPHP and the Centers for Disease Control and...
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Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals and Women’s Health Symposium
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office on Women’s Health is pleased to announce the free, virtual Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals and Women’s Health Symposium which will be held on July 18-19, 2023. We ask you to share the registration with your colleagues, stakeholders, and contacts and invite them to attend. This symposium will identify research, prevention, and treatment focusing on the impact of endocrine disrupting chemicals on women’s health and explore actionable...
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Future You
"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift, which is why we call it the present." -Bill Keane Ok, a little bit of a cheesy way to start. Seriously though, tomorrow isn't promised to any of us. Our challenge is to make the most out of every day because each one is an opportunity to move closer to the person we want to be. The journey is the destination. Here's a big thing that gets in the way... Damaging Self Talk When we describe ourselves (to ourselves and others) in...
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Serving with Pride: The History and Impact of LGBTQ+ Military Service Members
By Dr. Tiffany Lange, Psy.D. (she/her/hers) LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, and related identities) people have existed throughout history (e.g., two-spirit in Native American cultures) and are present in every aspect of society – they are the people we know, the people we love, and even the people who serve in our military. In the United States (U.S.), less than 1% of the population volunteer to serve in the armed forces and there are often assumptions about...
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FALCON 2023 Annual Conference registration is now Open. Please Register Now!
Register Now! Dear 1994 Land-grant Colleagues and FALCON members, The First Americans Land-Grant Consortium (FALCON) is pleased to announce that registration is now open for its 19 th Annual Conference, scheduled for October 13-15, 2023, at the Hilton Denver City Center, Denver, Colorado. Please register for the conference now. As always, the conference will include sessions in 1994 land-grant teaching, extension programs and research that benefit Native American students, communities,...
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A ChatGPT Primer for Financial Educators
Since launching in November 2022, ChatGPT has become the fastest technology tool to reach 100 million users…ever. Some are calling it “the next transformational platform.” Extension Educators may field questions about ChatGPT or consider its use in their work. Below are five key things to know about this ground-breaking artificial intelligence (AI) tool: ChatGPT Description - ChatGPT is “a very smart text-based robot” that can answer questions and have conversations with users. GPT stands...
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Ten Personal Finance Capstone Review Activities
Every extension educator has been there. You’ve just taught some personal finance content (e.g., investment basics or wise credit use) and you want to make sure that it “stuck.” You are looking for a fun, interactive activity to reinforce what you just covered. Below is a summary of ten interactive activities to review previously taught personal finance content: Educational Games - Tools that are popular with teachers in a K-12 setting can also work well as capstone reviews with adults. For...
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Feel the surge? Resist the urge!
A few years ago an assignment came my way due to a lack of personnel with the right experience. It featured a lot of diverse tasks to prepare a team for a challenging assignment involving advanced training, remote communication, outside agency networking/coordination & team building. After months of painstakingly detailed work, my bosses felt I had not asked the right questions, sweat the small stuff enough and let too many “balls drop”. In a one-way conversation, they fired me. This hit...
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Ten Tips for Military Families to Survive a “Financial Tornado”
U.S. consumers haven’t just experienced a “perfect storm” of financial challenges…they have experienced a “perfect tornado!” Challenging financial events include sustained high inflation (and increased costs for food, utilities, rent, gas, insurance, housing, etc.), recession fears, increased interest rates, bank failures and government bank take-overs, volatile stock prices, lower savings rates, and increasing household debt. Extension professionals routinely answer questions from clients...
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Game On! Equitable Development Leadership Academy: Calling Brave Souls
Attention, you courageous hearts and fearless spirits! Prepare to step out of your comfort zone and embark on a developmental adventure like no other with the National 4-H Council. Get ready for an extraordinary journey that will call upon your bravery and determination to redesign equity in your community. An experience where youth and adults unite to deepen their knowledge and leadership skills for a better tomorrow. Together, our cohort of community changemakers will build a strong...
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Harvests from the Equitable Development Field Leaders Dialogue Series
The Equitable Development Leadership Academy has danced across several iterations seeking to encourage youth leadership, community capacity building, and the well-being of all life. With the boundless support and ingenuity of Solvable , this work has come to life for me, and I am truly thrilled about the unique resources and experiences we are creating. To inspire our work, we drew upon the wisdom of equity leaders hailing from all corners of the United States. We embarked on a spellbinding...
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What is ExtensionBot?
This work is supported by funding from a cooperative agreement with USDA-NIFA and in partnership with Oklahoma State University, New Technologies for Ag Extension, grant no 2020-41595-30123. ExtensionBot is a chatbot that is built and deployed by the Extension Foundation. We are working closely with Eduworks Corporation on the development and deployment of the technology. ExtensionBot is backed by an LLM (Large Language Model) that is trained exclusively on data provided by Cooperative...
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The #1 clue of dysfunction
In some leadership sessions recently we asked the participants what they were experiencing that might be holding back their teams. Without much hesitation, they said there was something keeping them stuck. Keeping them from collaborating the way they hoped. It's probably not what you expect. They said it was not asking for help . Seriously? Yes! This one thing reveals a number of things that work against effective collaboration. Here are two... Fear exists Poor psychological safety Fear is...
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GUEST POST: How to Fix the Workplace Through a Culture of Voluntary Influence
By Don Shapiro President, First Concepts Consultants, Inc. University Extension faces the same challenges today as any organization where a group of people are working together to accomplish something significant. You’re challenged with issues such as retention, burnout, managing change, leadership, and collaboration. Each one of these has a huge impact on how well you carry out your mission and serve your communities and constituents. Leadership stands out on this list because it’s not just...
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Invitation to participate in a survey from The Ohio State University
Dear extension office members, I am the second-year One Welfare resident at Ohio State University’s One Welfare and Sustainability Center (OWSC) through the College of Veterinary Medicine. I am conducting a survey-based research project for my master’s degree and am asking for your help in distribution to stakeholders you may work with, or know, in production animal industries. The main objectives of this project are to assess stakeholder knowledge and experience on the wellbeing of the...
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Join the Move Your Way Campaign LinkedIn Community!
The Move Your Way® campaign — the promotional campaign for the second edition of the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans — helps health professionals encourage people to be active where they live, learn, work, and play. ODPHP is pleased to announce the Move Your Way Campaign Community on LinkedIn: a space for professionals who are already using Move Your Way, and for those who want to learn more about the campaign, to engage with each other, share ideas, and connect with ODPHP. The...
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Treat each other with L.O.V.E.
A team we worked with was doing well except for a couple of team members who didn't get along very well. At the end of their time with us, we asked how their relationship was going. Particularly we asked if they could trust the other person. One of them replied "yes". Initially, we were excited about their progress! They continued to say they could trust them to be a jerk. What?! After some follow-up questions, we learned the behaviors they exhibited to this team member supported predictive...
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Invest in Yourself During Health Literacy Month
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's Health People 2030 defines health literacy as: the degree to which individuals have the ability to find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related decisions and actions for themselves and others. Nutrition.gov and the Food and Nutrition Information Center (FNIC) make it easy to find nutrition information to empower you to make well-informed decisions regarding your health. Find resources for every level of health...
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University of New Hampshire Partners with Extension Foundation for USDA-NIFA’s $3.4M New Technologies for Ag Extension Award
In partnership with the Extension Foundation, the University of New Hampshire was awarded the USDA-NIFA New Technologies for Agricultural Extension (NTAE) Cooperative Agreement (Grant Number 2023-41595-41325). The Technology-Enhanced Cooperative Extension Hub (TECHExt), a groundbreaking initiative led by the University of New Hampshire Extension (UNH Extension) in partnership with the Extension Foundation (EXF), aims to revolutionize the Cooperative Extension System (CES) by infusing it with...
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Growth!
The hardest part of leadership development is behavior change. It's hard, not impossible. Haven't met a single person who isn't capable of interpersonal behavior change. We all can do it! Step #1 is awareness. If we're not aware we can't put efforts in place to make meaningful growth happen. Feedback is the breakfast of Champions! Step #2 is don't be so hard on yourself. We will all mess up. Great leadership is allowing people to fail but not allowing them to feel like a failure along the...
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Extension Foundation Announces New Technologies for Ag Extension Funding Opportunity: Applications Due December 22nd, 2023
Technology-Enhanced Cooperative Extension Hub (TECHExt) Summary : NTAE (New Technologies for Ag Extension) a grant from NIFA (National Institute of Food and Agriculture) will begin Year 1 with the Extension Foundation January, 2024. EXF has the subaward for this grant from the University of New Hampshire who is the prime award for this funding. Within the funding EXF receives from the NTAE grant, one of the grant activity focus areas are the development of projects that lead to local impact...
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Mental Resilience
Thought you might enjoy a Yogi Berra quote to start... "Baseball is 90% mental and the other half is physical." Too funny and makes a great point. Life is a constant mental challenge. And we know, heaven or hell, it's between our ears. As you ponder what it will take for you to become more mentally resilient, here are some things to consider. "I don't count my sit-ups; I only start counting when it starts hurting because they're the only ones that count." -Muhammad Ali When the going gets...
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"Cheesy" Advice
On some recent trips, my wife was administering health screenings at two of the factories in the largest cheese-manufacturing company in the world, Leprino Foods has 5,500 employees in 19 locations around the globe. You've probably eaten their product without even knowing. Hang on to your organizational health hats! One of the leaders in this area, Patrick Lencioni, would be proud! Back to my wife's experience... Her time at their factories was very similar despite the locations being far...
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Leadership Lessons from Santa Claus
Couldn't resist one more post, especially when it's about the magical, mystical person who is Santa Claus! Here's a summary of how he gets big things done in his workshop all year long... The Leadership Secrets of Santa Claus by Eric Harvey He's delivering right now...follow his journey here ! Thanks @Scott Reed for sharing & for your continued service to Cooperative Extension! *Summary from Get Abstract
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Are you ready?
Are you ready for a new experience at work in 2024? (If you continue reading the answer is "yes"!) Are you ready to dive into "why" you do some of the things you do? Are you ready to make a list of things to stop doing and start doing? The folks at " The Ready " have some great suggestions to help bring more clarity to your intentions! While we probably can't change some of the things where we work we can make it feel better to work together. Here are some ideas to get you thinking...