As part of my goal in January to do more "Working out Loud," I'm experimenting with doing a Friday Roundup, sharing a few thoughts, links, etc. that have emerged from my work during the week that I think could be useful to you too. So here goes:

Appreciative Evaluations

I started work this week with a new client, FNC Philly. Over the next year, we'll be working together to help them build from their positive core and strengthen their partnerships and relationships within the community.

One thing they are doing that I LOVE is using Appreciative Inquiry as the basis for their performance evaluations. This means lots of open questions, like:

• What are you proudest of from this last 6 months? What has been your greatest success?

• What are you doing that works best and that has the most value for you, your team and the organization? 

• To become even more effective, what do you want MORE of? 

• Thinking of the future, imagine your dream role, doing exactly what you'd love to do and feeling very proud of what you achieved. Tell us about that. What does it look like? What have you done to get there? What has happened to help you get there? 

Imagine how your work life would change if these were the kinds of questions you were discussing in a "performance review"?

You may not be lucky enough to work at an organization that asks these kinds of questions, but you can certainly use them yourself as part of your own career/leadership planning process. 

Leadership Resolutions 2016

As Rebecca Fabiano and I get ready to launch the Leadership Lab on January 30 (Only 4 slots left at this point, so sign up if you want to join us!), we wanted to host some online conversations on how people are setting their leadership goals for 2016 and what resources they're using, connections they're making, etc.

We had our first session on Tuesday and got into some really interesting discussions about owning your identity as a leader (many of us don't) and the role that serendipity can play in your leadership growth. We also gathered some of our favorite reads and resources--you can find them here. 

We'll be hosting another session through Blab on January 14 at 7 p.m EST so if you want to join us, you can subscribe to the broadcast here or just go to that link next Thursday at 7 p.m. 

What I'm Reading

Six Million Missing Jobs--The Georgetown Center for Education and Workforce has published a report indicating that since the Recession, we still have a deficit of 6 million jobs. It's the worst for people with a HS diploma or less, but even college grads still have big problems.

And nearly 1/3 of workers are temporary, contract or freelance--another reason I'm always pushing the multiple income stream approach to your career. 

The Company You Work for Is Not Your Friend--I LOVED this LifeHacker article. Don't get me wrong. There are great, wonderful people in every organization. But when push comes to shove, most organizations are going to be focused on their survival and success as an organization, NOT on your life and career.

Sometimes I think we need reminders about this because I see SO many people who sacrifice and work their tails off for their companies, only to find that in doing this, they've forgotten themselves. Then when the hammer drops and they're laid off or troubles start up, not only do they have to deal with the associated practical problems, there's this huge sense of betrayal--like how could they DO this to me? 

This article is a good reminder to have more balance. 

So these are a few things from my week that will hopefully help you. What did you learn or discover this week that you could share? Leave me a note in comments!