Check out my article on LinkedIn regarding listening skills and the lack thereof.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/dying-art-listening-sherry-rebstock?trk=v-feed&lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_detail_base%3BGNmdies9UmGuQwyDL035nA%3D%3D

Here is the latest Salary Survey provided by PMI.  If want the entire survey results go to PMI

Most millennials, those born between 1981 and 1997, are interested in more than just taking orders and earning paychecks and promotions. According to the 2015 Deloitte Millennial Survey, 60 percent of global respondents cited “a sense of purpose” as part of the reason they chose to work for their current employer. And they want organizations to place more emphasis on employee well-being, growth and development.

While some may dismiss these ideals as the folly of youth, millennials are becoming too numerous to ignore. In the U.S., millennials will become the largest generation in the workforce by the end of the year. Yet, 53 percent of the country’s hiring managers say it’s difficult to find and retain these young professionals. And as the global project talent market tightens, this shortage may begin to hurt business results.

Read more 

Here we are in a brand new year and with that comes changes to air travel.  More here.

Really good information on resume tips and tricks for all levels of expertise
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/resume-tips

Very happy to report today is the go live day for PMCareer.org.  The creation of this website has been an ongoing project since December of 2012.  It feels good to have it in a ready state for public viewing.  Now we just need to start helping people who want to be Project Managers.

I know this has happened to you before...you are given the one customer that no one wants to deal with.  Why me?  What did I ever do to deserve this?  For me I have come to learn over time that customers are people too.  They have good and bad days and all the pressures that we have trying to show value as an employee and whatever life throws their way.  Next time you are presented with that one special customer (sarcasm) try this: Take a good look at his or her situation, try to identify the pain points they are dealing with (hey any chance you can help address some of these pain points with your services?) and then begin to build a working relationship.  Once that relationship is on solid ground, maybe over a lunch or two, you can start to probe a bit more and get them to open up and talk to you.  It is amazing how you can take a grumpy, unsatisfied customer and make them respect and appreciate you and what you can do for them. 

Compassion
I love to talk to people about compassion especially when they are having difficulty letting go of a situation, angry about this or that or maybe upset about how someone has treated them.  It comes down to energy.  How much energy do you want to give to a situation?  How much energy do you want to take away from your body and give it to something that, most likely at the end of the day, month, year or life won't matter?