Here we are on the eve of Groundhogs Day! This evening a vast majority of Americans with spring fever will lay down their heads to sleep and think to themselves, "Please when I wake up tomorrow and check the daily news, PLEASE let the report tell us that our furry little friend, Punxsutawney Phil, did not see his blasted shadow and go back into hiding! COME ON, Spring!!!" After all that is the rule. If Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow and scurries back inside his cozy, little stump then we are cursed with six more weeks of winter, but should he prance out and chose to remain there, then we have the tantalizing prospect of an early spring. Let's pause for a second and consider the cause of this shadow that strikes so much fear into poor little Phil.....it's LIGHT! Without some source of light to illuminate himself, Phil would never see his shadow and therefore would not retreat. Still, isn't a shadow just another view or perspective of HIMSELF? For arguments sake let's even say that a shadow is perhaps a dark side of ourselves and sure, the dark side can be a little scary. Ultimately though, will scurrying away really make it disappear? Correct me if I'm wrong, but the little guy is still going to have the very same shadow six weeks from now. What I would like to propose to Phil is that spring may actually come sooner if instead of scurrying away from himself, he appreciated his shadow, analyzed his shadow and took the opportunity to learn from the light that has been shed on him.
Being always of an optimistic nature, Blogging with Bliss is vowing that should we encounter our shadow, we will not retreat for further hibernation. Our new blog format and our inclusion of outside contributors has been an inspiring and educational experience that we are confident will help bring everyone closer to an early "economic" spring by turning our "shadows" into learning opportunities . Our outstanding blog contributors have all explained valuable methods for shedding light on the truths within our organizations, our processes and ourselves.
Enrique Baltierra, SPHR, shared with us that, "The 'New' Diversity for a 'New' Decade" involves a culture of inclusion and engagement. Illustrating a successful organization as one that continually values, recognizes and encourages individual employee contribution.
Michael Wichman, CPT, talked with us about "GAPS" in performance and the many ways we can turn these "GAPS" into areas of growth and opportunity both internally, within our organizations and externally, by being active participants in our communities.
Jenise Cook, our featured blogger this year, will continue to blog on the third Monday of every month with an informative series of articles on e-Learning and its many benefits.
Peggy Rang, M.Ed., revisited the topic of performance and took us a step further, in her blog "Taking Performance Issues Beyond the Training Quick Fix". Peggy explained how a well thought out and well implemented performance improvement plan could produce meaningful and lasting results.
We are so thankful to our blog contributors who have started out the year with us and we cannot wait to share the contributions that are still to come. Mark your calendar on Mondays or subscribe to our RSS feed.
In closing, I hope that you will continue to follow Blogging with Bliss and our blog contributors as we move forward, exploring the shadows of our business practices and cultures and continuing to work to bring new life and new success to our organizations. Tomorrow morning Punxsutawney Phil may see his shadow and retreat for another six weeks of hibernation, but that's his choice. Shadow or no shadow, Blogging with Bliss will be here every Monday. When they are ready, Phil and anyone else who wants to hibernate is just going to have to try to catch up, because our growth and our spring is going to be moving six weeks ahead of schedule!
Happy Groundhogs Eve, everyone! Here's to everyone seeing our shadows and learning from them together!
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