You did it. You were given that coveted seat in the C suite. There is no doubt that the impressive title and hefty six figure salary along with the big bonus and variable compensation package is great. However, the innate power that comes with an executive position has begun to intoxicate you, and the inflated perception of your own importance is your drug.

Although youve been around the block many times in your career journey leading up to this moment, its important to take heed before you write your own one way ticket to self-destruction. If you think it cant happen to you, think again. Not convinced? Let me share some insights for you to consider.

There are two types of leaders those who maintain their effectiveness over time and those who dont. In fact, those who dont can find themselves falling from grace as their egocentric behavior transforms them from a glory child into a destructive force. Great leaders who have true staying power understand the importance of checking their ego at the door. Other leaders are so caught up in their love affair (with themselves), they dont seem to notice that people feel uncomfortable with their stories of lavish vacations that cost more than their employees homes, or constant name dropping to showcase they hob knob with exclusive company.

Weve all seen multiple examples throughout history of people who lose their sense of reality when they are in a position of authority. Unfortunately, this is the dark side of human behavior and its been studied and written about by industrial psychologists such as in the famed Stanford Prison Experiment of 1971. This happens when people lose perspective and begin to believe they are far more important than others.

In the work world, individuals with runaway egos may have trouble admitting mistakes, or asking for help. The relationships they have with others is one-way, and they dominate most conversations talking about themselves. Their emotional intelligence is low; with little self-awareness or emotional capacity to genuinely think of others or exhibit empathy. While they may be able to go through the motions of demonstrating care for others, it is only done when it serves them well for self-promotion or advancement. When they get what they want out of the contrived interaction, they sharply change their tone in all subsequent communication leaving the person feeling used and confused.

If you think any of this might describe you, chances are you wont admit it to others. Thats ok. However, I invite you to use this article as an opportunity to reflect privately upon your intentions and the ultimate impact of your behavior on what drives you; to remain in a position of high authority.

There is little doubt that your self-serving behavior will garner quick wins early on in your new position, as youre able to push ahead aggressively with tangible results such as cost cutting measures or drastic process improvements. However, as you wrack up more interactions over time, your alpha demeanor will begin to leave others feeling annoyed, discouraged and untrusting of your true intentions. Eventually, this will turn into members of your team feeling like they have to watch their own backs because of the many times theyve heard you spew sharp tongued attacks about others, only to see you turn on the charm as you continued to use them until they were no longer needed. Individual agendas will begin to become the norm as this untrusting tone spreads. Your employees will begin to slack on completing their best work as their mistrust of you grows.

The most dangerous outcome of an out of control ego, is the path of self-destruction down which it can lead you and your organization. Chances are, in the beginning of your career, you became successful because of the relationships you built with others. However, youve allowed your success to change your perception of reality by inflating your own importance and believing in your own perfection. When this happens, you stop listening to others, asking for input and appropriately considering the human impact of your decisions. History has shown us how dangerous this can be.

Challenge yourself to rise above your ego and instead of constantly trying to dazzle others with your infinite wisdom, be a leader who will stand the test of time by bringing out the best in others. People will remember how you make them feel. Thats what sticks.

Elizabeth P. Cipolla SPHR, SHRM-SCP is a leadership communications professional specializing in the areas of leadership training, creative recruitment strategies, employment branding, professional development and executive coaching for more than 15 years. Her leadership experience comes from various industries including marketing, mass media, apparel, education, manufacturing, aerospace, nonprofit agencies and insurance. To contact Elizabeth, email her at elizabeth@catapultsuccess.com.

See the rest here:
Don't Let Your Ego Take You On A One Way Trip - Jamestown Post Journal

Leah Reich was one of the first internet advice columnists. Her column "Ask Leah" ran on IGN, where she gave advice to gamers for two and a half years. During the day, Leah is Slacks user researcher, but her views here do not represent her employer. How to be Human runs every other Sunday. You can write to her at askleah@theverge.com and read more How to be Human here.

Dear Leah,

I was never the best at writing a good beginning for an email, and this sentence only serves to demonstrate the need for asking this particular first question: What's the line between self-confidence and having pride in one's self and achievements, and hubris and arrogance? How can I talk grandly of myself (which seems to be the de facto way of demonstrating self-confidence) without feeling guilty? I especially feel guilty about betraying my own belief that my life and achievements are things I primarily do for me, not to brag about or share constantly with others.

My second question is: How do I get romantically invested or interested in others? I'm around that age where almost everybody is a self-proclaimed expert in relationships, and I fail to be interested in having a relationship (with either gender, and being in a county where queer relationships are legally punishable doesn't help with the whole experimentation part). I mean my crushes were far and between, but it's been so long that I've been romantically interested in someone that I'm starting to wonder if relationships for men (especially those who are seemingly aromantic as myself) are simply about exploiting the other party for leisure, company and "fun" (which sounds rather disappointing considering how grandly everyone seems to think of "love," not to mention quite demeaning and dehumanizing of women)?

Last but not least: How to build empathy? Whether it's in oneself or others, what makes people make the effort to care about others and strive to understand them?

PS: As you might have realized not all these questions have that "one" answer, and to be honest I'm not looking for a perfect answer, just a nudge in the right direction would help, and I really can't think of anyone better on the internet to do so than you.

Sagittaire.

Hey Sagittaire,

What a great letter! I love these questions, and as you probably know, I think about each one of them rather a lot on my own. But three questions are a lot for one column, especially three different questions like this. Heres what Im going to do.

First, Ill start with some news: My column is ending this month. The Verge has decided to bring it to a close, so the next column will be my last one. Ive been thinking about how Id like to end it, and I cant think of a better way than with your last question. Ill answer your first question then, too. This means you get two columns, Sag!

Lets talk about your second question. I dont know how old you are because honestly that age where almost everybody is a self proclaimed expert in relationships could be anywhere from 15 to 105 but Im going to assume youre in your very early 20s. Maybe in your late teens? Its hard to tell, but regardless of how old you are, and despite what you may think about your own knowledge level on the subject, you already have some good insights into human behavior around relationships. Its just a matter of interpreting those insights.

Ive written before about being single and the pressures to find a relationship, and Ive also written about the ways social norms have such an impact on how we feel and behave and on how we think we should feel and behave. A lot of the bluster you hear about relationships from those self-proclaimed experts is probably as much about that pressure and those norms as it is about any actual expertise. Just as youre trying to sort out how you feel, and whether you want a relationship at all with anyone, so too are some of those people trying to do the same thing.

Its uncomfortable to feel like the only one whos inexperienced. Its easier to act like you know everything

For some people, their posturing around relationships is a way to pretend like they want what everyone else does or a way to act like they have the same set of experiences. Its very rare for someone to sit down and be honest and vulnerable like youre doing here, especially with peers and especially when those peers are other young men. So anyone with limited experience which is most of the people you know when youre younger ends up assuming that everyone else knows more, has done more, understands more. And because its uncomfortable to feel like the only one whos inexperienced or nave, its easier to act like you know everything. Its also easier to act like you want same things as everyone else, like a big intense huge love affair or a lot of no-strings-attached flings.

But you know what, Sag? Not everyone wants the same stuff. Not all women want a massive fairytale wedding, and not all men want to punch each other in the locker room as they joke about how many chicks theyre banging. Human experience and desire is so much more varied than that. Social norms and the way we talk about who we are and what we want have all changed a lot in recent years, but we are still a long way from really undoing many of the expectations and rules that have guided our behaviors for a long time. You know this better than many you live in a place where you cant even experiment and better understand your own sexuality because you fear legal repercussions.

Desires and experiences ebb and flow over the course of our lives

This is my way of saying that you cant use everyone else as a way to measure what you should want or how you should feel. I know thats much easier said than done. I myself struggle every single day with this I use my perceptions of what other people are doing, their successes, and where they are in their lives as a way to judge myself and highlight my own failures and shortcomings. But thats a terrible way to live, partly because I have no idea if my interpretation of who or what they are is real. After all, maybe theyre putting on a brave front just like I am. More importantly, though, what they do and how they do it has absolutely nothing to do with how I live my own life and what I want or accomplish. Should I want children just because other people do? Should I feel bad that other people are married but Im not? Should I feel like a failure for not having achieved particular markers of success? Nope!

Just because other people want to be in relationships or at least act like they do doesnt mean you have to. Maybe youre not someone whos really geared toward romantic relationships. Maybe you dont have the same kinds of sexual desires, or maybe you dont have much (or any) sexual desire at all. Maybe you only very, very occasionally find yourself drawn to someone in a romantic or sexual way. Maybe youre not ready. Maybe you havent met anyone who excites you. Maybe casual flings dont appeal to you. Maybe youre gay. Maybe casual flings would appeal to you if they were with men, and not women.

Desires and experiences ebb and flow over the course of our lives. This is another thing we dont talk a lot about. Lots of people go through periods during which they dont have any interest in sex or romance (or both). Sometimes they want to focus on work or on friendships or on themselves, or sometimes they just dont... feel anything? Bodies and brains shift and change, and we all find ourselves faced with new experiences and possibilities from time to time that make us question whatever it was we thought we wanted or desired.

Its absolutely possible to have fun (not just fun) and enjoy someones company (or have sex with them, or both) without having a serious relationship. Its not for everyone, though. Plenty of people of all genders and sexual orientations dont enjoy casual sex, or sex with someone theyre not emotionally invested in.

Just because other people want to be in relationships or at least act like they do doesnt mean you have to

You are right that a lot of what you hear about this topic is dehumanizing and demeaning toward women. (This is a longer, separate conversation, but its one I hope you do make space for and a topic you learn about.) But I dont think that all men only want relationships that demean women. The many social, cultural, and religious expectations and pressures around masculinity, femininity, marriage, and more make it very hard for people to talk about how they really feel and to pursue what they want. Its very difficult for women. But its also difficult for men! Men are told things like its not manly to talk about your feelings or to say you dont like casual hookups and instead long for an epic romance. Or things like good women dont love sex, so you can treat the ones who do badly. We all hear things like this. Theres a lot we need to rewire in ourselves and in our cultural norms. So I commend you for writing this letter, because I think if more people not just guys but all of us! could be more open like you are here, wed be a lot better off.

My advice to you is this: Dont force yourself to get interested or invested in romantic relationships. Try very hard to not compare yourself to everyone else or to measure yourself by what theyre doing. They might not even be doing what they say they are, or they might not want to be doing it. Instead, keep doing things that interest you and pursuing the types of relationships that fulfill you friends, community, volunteer work, spiritual practice, and so on. Thats going to make you feel much happier and more confident in who you are, and I think that will better allow you to understand yourself and what it is you want. Who knows, maybe along the way youll meet someone and find yourself with a new crush, one you want to pursue. Or maybe youll find that you simply are in fact aromantic or asexual. Any of this is okay. Its more than okay! Its who you are.

Ill see you back here next week for one last column.

Lx

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How to be human: how to be comfortably aromantic - The Verge

By suggesting low-cost adjustments to existing programs, the new team is showing how a better understanding of human behavior can improve performance across government.

People do strange things.

To help explain why, in February, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney's Policy Office launched GovLabPHL, a multi-agency team for developing "innovative and evidence-based practice" in city government.

The team aims to increase participation in government services and remove barriers to access by studying the minds and actions of its citizens. Born initially out of a Living Cities grant awarded to the city in September 2014, GovLabPHL codifies and expands the creation of a team that puts human behavior first. Now with workshops, a 10-month speaker seriesand six projects underway covering topicsfrom bike share to littering the team is gaining interest from agencies across the city thatwant the low-cost human-centric treatment.

Prior to the formal launch of the team, GovLabPHL proved its efficacy by targeting the Department of Revenue's senior citizen water bill discount program. There were some who were eligible but no matter what the city did, it couldn't get those residentsto apply. The team did research and put out surveys to discover that people thought the paperwork was too confusing. So the city began sending out paperwork with pre-populated fields. It tried different sized envelopes to see which people responded to most. Ittried hand-writing addresses on the envelopes instead of printing them. The team found what worked and that became the new way of doing things.

Agencies are interested because the team is finding low-cost tweaks to improve theirmissions without turning anyone's office upside down, explained Anjali Chainani, director of policy at the mayor's office.

"We want to ensure we're getting our best return on investment, and what that means is that we have people on the ground from the front lines all the way through to the service delivery folks that are engaged in the process of how that program or how that service is actually being designed," Chainani said.

Six projects underway now include:

Chainani reported that about 20 other agencies have expressed interest in partnering with the team and its allies. GovLabPHL pairs behaviorists from five universities who are donating their time to help agencies achieve their program goals. The five partner universities are University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, Drexel University, Princeton University, and Swarthmore College.Dan Hopkins from University of Pennsylvania and Syon Bhanot from Swarthmore College are the program's lead academic partners.

The program can be broken into three components helping citizens and city employees to learn, piloting new programs and increasing engagement.

"We want to work with behavioral scientists and design experts in looking at the barriers we may unknowingly put up that may prevent residents from connecting with the city or engaging with a particular program," she said. "If there's a messaging campaign already invested in and going out, we layer that with design methods and we layer it with behavioral science to really look at what evidence has already told us about what motivates people's actions and how to keep people engaged."

Philadelphia follows similar programs launched in cities and federal agencies under the Obama administration. The Social and Behavioral Sciences Team (SBST), a subcommittee of the National Science and Technology Council, includes more than a dozen federal departments and agencies who completed more than 30 pilots. The United Kingdom runs a similar office called The Behavioral Insights Team. The Office of the City Administrator's Lab @ DC has embedded more than 30 researchers inside Washington, D.C., government.

"There are so many triggers in our environment that lead us to take a specific action that we don't really pay attention to and then there are equally enough things that we just ignore because there's mass information that comes to us," Chainani said. "We're looking to really be innovative in a government that's investing all this money in these programs, and is really able to reach a level that is comfortable for the citizens and where they feel comfortable approaching the city and applying for these programs."

Editor's Note: Minor edits were made to quotes for readability.

Read more:
Philadelphia launches GovLabPHL to improve agency performance with behavioral science - StateScoop (registration)

Aside from the obvious ways the weather influences our daily activities, such as the choice of clothing we wear, there are numerous less obvious and unexpected effects that it can have on us, and our list of the 7 ways weather affects human behavior and emotionscan help you become vigilant of them. While becoming aware of all the intricate effects that weather can affect you with, you can also plan ahead and ensure yourself an enjoyable retirement, with our list of the11 US Cities with the Most Pleasant Weather for Retirees.

We cannot talk about the weather and its effects on humans without discussing the climate change. Nowadays, the climate change deniers probably feel that they can finally rejoice knowing that the current US president Donald Trump is one of them. The problem with deniers is that they dont care about the scientific consensus or the evidence, even when its presented in a layman-friendly way on how we are breaking global temperature records on about once in a three year spanor in a comic. They just continue propagating myths that have been debunked. Even though this video is not considered to be a scientific evidence of the global warming, it paints a pretty bleak picture of the future we are headed for. Whenever its time for periodically held hearings on issues related to climate change in the US Congress, Republicans naturally bring in John Christy to testify, as he is the only expert willing to sing the song that they want to hear, and by doing that disregard basically the whole scientific community which is opposed to his opinion on the subject, and considershis methodology to be flawed;in the meantime oceans are acidifying due to absorption of carbon pollution, but who cares?

Projections of increased poverty, social tensions, and environmental degradation as a result of climate change made the US Department of Defense begin to consider it a serious security risk. After reading our list of the 7 ways weather affects human behavior and emotions and learning ill effects that weather can have on the human psyche, you should be in agreement with the Pentagons assessment. Unfortunately, Republicans do not like this stance, and are doing everything they can to bar the Pentagon from spending money on adapting to the climate change.

As a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers, comedian John Oliver joked about how The Secret worked only for Donald Trump, and thus it was Oprahs fault that the Trump won elections. We feel that if that joke was hypothetically true and President Trump was wielding that sort of magical power for real, even his almighty denial still wouldnt be able to stop the climate changeand that the deniers really need to get in touch with the reality.

In preparation of this article weve tried to find as many effects that weather can have on humans, that are corroborated with science, so we used various sources that we link to in the descriptions, and so we finally begin with our list.

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7 Ways Weather Affects Human Behavior and Emotions - Insider Monkey (blog)

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A new study of wildfire data shows that humans are responsible for 84 percent of all wildfires started in the United States, but those fires burn only 44 percent of the acreage consumed by wildfires.

The study by the University of Colorado-Bolder also says that humans tripled the length of the wildfire season, noting that lightning-caused fires occur primarily in the Summer.

The researchers used the U.S. Forest Service Fire Program Analysis-Fire Occurrence Database to study records of all wildfires that required a response from a state or federal agency between 1992 and 2012, omitting intentionally set prescribed burns and managed agricultural fires.

The most common day for human-started fire by far, however, was July 4, with 7,762 total wildfires started on that day over the course of the 21-year period.

The new findings have wide-ranging implications for fire management policy and suggest that human behavior can have dramatic impact on wildfire totals, for good or for ill.

The findings were published yesterday (Mon) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

We've worked out deals with some of our area's best restaurants and businesses!

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Recent Wildfire Study: 84% Are Caused By Humans - Kozi Radio

By Carol Hymowitz

In the latest episode of Tech Bros Behaving Badly, former Uber engineer Susan Fowler says she was propositioned by her boss and denied advancement because of her gender. Perhaps an even more egregious allegation is that the human resources department and senior managers at the company ignored her complaints.

Uber Technologies now joins a growing list of Silicon Valley companies that seem unable or unwilling to address bad behavior in the workplace, particularly if it's directed at women. This isn't an accident, experts say: It's partly a consequence of a growth-at-all-costs environment that sees human resources as a drag on the mission. Some new companies also see human resources professionals as rule-bound killjoys, anathema to the work-hard, play-hard culture of startups.

"You're in a race to build your product and get to market, and anything that doesn't directly contribute to that, including HR and even financial controls, is low priority when you're first starting up," said Magdalena Yesil, an early investor in more than 30 technology companies including Salesforce.com Inc. "Of course, without HR at a time when youre hiring very quickly, you dont have anyone training new employees about what behavior is acceptable or not."

A new company should have an experienced human resources manager by the time they have about 100 employees, Yesil said. At that point, they need someone who can oversee performance issues, compensation plans and management training.

Most technology startups wait far longer. A study in California Management Review in 2010 found that after five years, about a third of all new companies don't have human resources planning or evaluation system in place. Uber hired its first senior HR executive, Renee Atwood, in February 2014, around the same time Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick came under fire for a GQ interview in which he referred to the aphrodisiac quality of starting his company as "Boob-er." By then Uber already had more than 500 employees and a $13 billion valuation, according to Recode.

Often it takes a public relations or legal crisis. Snapchat brought in a senior HR executive to build a department in 2014 after misogynistic emails written by the chief executive officer were leaked to the press. GitHub, the web service for sharing and collaborating on code, didn't hire a senior HR executive until 2015, seven years after it was founded, when a female engineer publicly described a culture of bullying and disrespect toward women. The company now requires its about 600 employees to get diversity and inclusion training.

"The situation that occurred at Uber is common... because HR doesnt exist or is weak," said Y-Vonne Hutchinson, founder of ReadySet, a diversity consultant in Oakland, California. It's a bad sign when the senior-most human resources person at the company lacks a leadership role and the explicit support of the CEO.

When Silicon Valley companies finally hire HR staff, they often do so with a handful of narrow priorities in mind: recruiting and retention. If a top performer bullies colleagues or subordinates, they decide it's more important to keep him happy than to address the concerns of his targets.

"If your biggest priority is keeping your rock-star engineer happy, and you get a harassment complaint about him, you may ignore the written guidelines about what you're supposed to do," said Joelle Emerson, CEO of Paradigm, a diversity consultancy whose clients include Pinterest and Airbnb.

The embarrassment of sexual harassment scandals, coupled with poor or negligent corporate response, may catch up with startup culture eventually. Meanwhile, some research suggests that well-developed management, including human resources, can be good for the bottom line. In a survey of all kinds of companies, Yale University professor James Baron found that startups with human resources professionals are nearly 40 percent less likely to fail and 40 percent more likely to go public.

What's more, venture capitalists seem to be coming around. More VC-backed companies have human resources systems in place by the third year than those that have other sources of funding, according to a 2010 paper in the California Management Review. One of the biggest mistakes a new company can make is failing to take HR seriously, wrote Marc Andreessen in a 2014 blog post -- after more than one startup backed by Andreessen Horowitz suffered criticism for sexism and disrespect toward women. Andreessen Horowitz is an investor in GitHub and also Zenefits, an online HR software company that had some epic HR problems, including employees having sex and drinking in the office stairwells.

"Even though it is absolutely worth training company leadership in good HR practices, most managers are dangerously amateur at doing actual HR," Andreessen wrote. "Without smart, effective HR, terrible internal managerial and employee behavior leads to a toxic culture that can catalyze into a catastrophic ethical and legal crisis."

Some Uber investors aren't happy, either. Mitch and Freada Kapor, spouses and partners at Kapor Capital and Uber investors since 2010, publicly criticized the company for tapping insiders to investigate allegations of harassment and discrimination.

"To us, this decision is yet another example of Uber's continued unwillingness to be open, transparent and direct," they wrote in a blog post. "As investors, it is now up to us to call out the inherent conflicts of interest... The group (investigating at Uber) is not set up to come up with an accurate analysis of the culture and a tough set of recommendations."

Read more here:
Uber-like bad behavior thrives in absence of human resources - Economic Times

Professor Shri Narayanan of USCs Viterbi School of Engineering received the Niki and C. L. Max Nikias Chair in Engineering. This honor is the first formal recognition in Nikias name.

Narayanan is a professor of electrical engineering, computer science, linguistics, psychology, neuroscience and pediatrics. He has served as director of the Ming Hsieh Institute of Electrical Engineering since 2010, and director of the Signal Analysis and Interpretation Lab since 2005.

Nikias recruited Narayanan nearly two decades ago, when Nikias was a Viterbi professor.

One of my most enduring and heartfelt achievements while at USC Viterbi was to help recruit Shri, Nikias said to USC News. Seventeen years ago, one could not overestimate his towering intellect and creativity.

Narayanans lab focuses on human-centered technologies. By using data scientific approaches to understand human cognition, aspects of human behavior are explored further. In the context of this, Narayanan wants to bring greater understanding to mental health.

We are trying to find more objective ways of diagnosing autism, as well as understanding changes in behavior in response to the treatment, he said.

Additionally, Narayanans work spreads to media studies, particularly focusing on unconscious biases and their representation in media and the effect this has on society.

Narayanans work is unique in that it brings mathematics and computer science into the equation.

These subjects traditionally have been dealt with very qualitatively, Narayanan said. We try to combine multiple perspectives from different fields like engineering, psychology and linguistics.

By bringing objective quantitative analysis to psychotherapy, Narayanan hopes to better understand the mental condition of patients in addiction therapy and counseling.

Nikias presented the award to Narayanan on Feb. 15 at Tutor Hall.

I feel very honored and excited, because [Nikias] is a leader in the field Ive worked in, Narayanan said. Hes also one of my mentors. Its very meaningful for me on both a personal and a professional level.

Go here to read the rest:
Shri Narayanan named inaugural Nikias Chair in Engineering - Daily Trojan Online

Eric Warmka is the new general manager at Minnesota Valley Funeral Homes, and the Willkommen Committee of the New Ulm Area Chamber of Commerce stopped by to congratulate him, and to welcome new funeral director Dan Baltramonas.

Eric, originally from Wells, has worked in the funeral industry for 12 years. He moved to New Ulm almost three years ago from the St. Cloud area with his wife, Sarah, and their son Jackson. He says he loves that MVFH is a community-owned cooperative, so that they are able to focus on service and not sales.

Dan is originally from south-east Wisconsin, and earned his mortuary science degree in Arizona. He has 15 years of experience working at funeral homes in Eau Claire and Platteville, Wisconsin.

MVFH has two locations in New Ulm as well as Nicollet and Gibbon.

Holmquist receives APMA designation

NEW ULM John Holmquist, a financial advisor with Ameriprise Financial in New Ulm, recently received the Accredited Portfolio Management AdvisorSM (APMA) designation from the College of Financial Planning.

Individuals who hold the APMA designation have completed a course of study encompassing client assessment and suitability, risk/return, investment objectives, bond and equity portfolios, modern portfolio theory and investor psychology.

Holmquist is part of Wealth Management Solutions, a financial advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc.

As a financial advisor, Holmquist provides financial advice that is anchored in a solid understanding of client needs and expectations, and provided in one-on-one relationships with his clients. For more information, please contact John Holmquist at 507-354-7177. His office is located at 510 2nd St N New Ulm, MN 56073.

Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC.

Bloedow to speak to regional HR

professionals about cybersecurity

NEW ULM The responsibility for cybersecurity cant lie with IT alone when so many breaches occur as a result of human behavior.

On March 30, Sam Bloedow address HR professionals in Mankato, providing practical tactics that they can use to develop cybersecurity awareness and employee habits that will lessen the risk of cyber attack and its serious impacts.

In this presentation for the Southern Minnesota Area Human Resource Association (SMAHRA), Sam will help participants understand how the cybercriminal ecosystem has evolved, making small and medium-sized businesses rich targets for cybercrime. Hell guide the audience into a new understanding about cybersecurity awareness as a company priority, by discussing some of the threats that employees could encounter during their work day, including social engineering, phishing, and web-based exploits.

HR professionals can play an important role in how companies protect their business information and employees from cybercrime. Participants in this event will take away practical information on cybersecurity habits that can be implemented immediately and learn guildelines for effective cybersecurity training. Register and learn more about SMAHRA on their website http://www.smahra.org/.

New director at Woodstone

Maggie Gostonczik is the new executive director at Woodstone Senior Living, and the Willkommen Committee stopped by to welcome her.

Maggie is originally from the Judson area and has lived in Hutchinson for the past 12 years. She married her high school sweetheart, and they have three children together. Woodstone has three locations: Hutchinson, New Ulm, and Rice Lake. The New Ulm location has 10 memory care units and 20 care suites (assisted living), three with vacancies. Contact her at 507-359-3355 to set up a tour or to learn more about Woodstone of New Ulm.

New offices for New Ulm Real Estate

New Ulm Real Estate has moved, and the Willkommen Committee recently stopped their new offices at 1227 N. Broadway to see them.

The New Ulm Real Estate team consists of Mary Henle (broker and agent), Lisa Besemer, Stephanie Meyer, and Kim Hanson.

Mary has been in the business for 25 years, Lisa and Stephanie joined her 6 years ago and Kim began 1.5 years ago. The ladies agree that their old space was too small. They love the easy access and corner location of the new building, which used to be Terrys Auto Service. In the remodeling/building of their new offices, they kept the original building, which can still be seen in the exposed ceiling and interior walls. Stop by to see the new space, or visit them online at newulmrealestate.net.

New partner at Gislason & Hunter

The WIllkommen Committee of the New Ulm Area Chamber of Commerce recently stopped by Gislason & Hunter Law Firm in New Ulm to congratulate Kaitlin Pals on becoming a new partner.

Kaitlin is originally from northern Iowa (near Mason City) and attended law school at the University of Iowa. She was an English major in college and was thinking about becoming a professor before deciding to go to law school. She has been an attorney in New Ulm for about 5 years. She specializes in estate planning and corporate ag business. Her recent partnership makes her the only woman out of the eight partners at the New Ulm location.

Gislason & Hunter has three other locations, Mankato, Minneapolis, and Des Moines.

New Edward Jones financial advisor

The Willkommen Committee recently visited with Jill Berdan, new Edward Jones financial advisor at 108 N. State.

Steve Schreiber is retiring, and Jill is one of three agents who are helping with this transition.

This is a new career for Jill, who was previously branch president of SouthPoint Financial in Sleepy Eye. Jill wasnt looking for new employment; she was previously an Edward Jones client and was approached about the opportunity. She says she is setting an example for her sons that you can be in a career you love but continue to challenge yourself. She likes that Edward Jones places importance on personal connections and one-on-one meetings and she is looking forward to building relationships with her clients.

She is not going to be working alone. Kris Sandmann, who worked with Steve Schreiber for 16 years, will be staying on as senior branch office administrator.

MADELIA First Responders with the Madelia Fire Department are now some of the best-equipped in the nation to ...

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Business & Professional - NUjournal

By Dr. Berney Wilkinson Ledger correspondent

Although he takes a bad rap on late night TV and he is roundly criticized by many in the profession, it is good to stop once in a while to give Freud the respect he deserves. He was, for example, the first to argue that children were not just little adults who didnt know how to act and talk. Thankfully (at least for kids) he taught us that they are still a work in progress, and that we shouldnt expect children to think like or behavior like adults. Likewise, he was the first to offer a unified theory of personality. Prior to Freud, we relied on religion and philosophy to explain human behavior. Freud gave us a biological and more human explanation. And while he may have been wrong about some things and only partially accurate about some others, he gave the foundation on which all other personality theory is built. Simply put, your personality is who you are and why you act and react the way you do. Your personality forms the foundation and provides the lens through which you perceive, interpret, and interact with the world around you. And while it explains why we do the things we do, our personality generally functions in the background. Thus, while we can often identify certain personality traits in others, we sometimes have a difficult time identifying our own. We are who we are, and we generally assume that other normal people are exactly the same. Personality is rooted in our biology. If you are a parent, for example, you were able to identify your childs temperament from very early infancy. Whether easy or difficult, that early appearing temperament formed the foundation from which personality develops. What we build on that foundation, though, is based in large part on our experiences. If a child is nurtured, develops a secure attachment, and has his or her needs met early in life, the child develops a healthy and safe view of the world. Conversely, if a child is neglected, abandoned, or abused, the child is at increased risk for developing a suspicious, fear-based, or even angry world view. Since Freud first wrote about personality, theorists have developed numerous organizing schemes to describe personality. Currently, most professionals refer to the Big Five theory of personality. The Big Five consists of five dimensions of personality that include Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. Extraversion refers to the extent to which you direct your energy and focus to the outside world. Openness to Experience is related to the manner in which you actively seek new and interesting experiences. Conscientiousness explains your degree of organization, motivation, and self-discipline. Agreeableness refers to your interactions with others. Neuroticism identifies how prone a person is to psychological distress. Together, these five traits help to offer an understanding and appreciation of how individual manage their world and make decisions. It is important to keep in mind that while this Big Five model helps explain typical personality traits, it does not offer an adequate basis for a discussion on personality disorders. The latter are extreme or pathological variations in personality that can exert a negative influence and impair a persons ability to function. And that is a discussion for another time. For now, remember that who you are is rooted in an intricate combination of biology and experience. And that our understanding of this critical aspect of ourselves comes from one of the fathers of psychiatry, Dr. Sigmund Freud.

Dr. Berney, a licensed psychologist with Psychological Associates of Central Florida in Lakeland, is a national speaker and the co-author of "Handbook for Raising an Emotionally Healthy Child." You can hear Dr. Berney on his podcasts, "The Mental Breakdown and The Paedeia Education Podcast on iTunes.

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Wilkinson: The history of personality theory - Daily Commercial

With the election of President Trump in November, the political pendulum has swung to the right after eight years of the Democratic Party pushing it as far to the left as it could.

As far as the pendulum was pushed left, liberals had to hold back with all their might to prevent the force of the pendulum from finding equilibrium. But they eventually could not withstand the weight of the pendulum seeking the center.

The arm had swung so far left in the past eight years that when released its kinetic energy swung the pendulum far right of center. Its equal and opposite force did not allow the normal centering of the swing. Hence, Donald Trump is president. The people rejected both the Republican candidates preferred by the partys establishment as well as Hillary Clinton, and a new popular candidate emerged for the people.

As you look over these historic swings, you begin to see that the preferred place of rest by most Americans is indeed somewhere in the center of the political spectrum. The push and pull of the far right and left points of view make the pendulum wobble off center, but never for very long in either direction. When either side pushes too hard, in time the force swings the political pendulum back with equal force.

Think of it as a normal distribution of political opinion. Most Americans share values and political points of view that gather in the middle of that distribution. Americans can find middle ground on most issues. The further you deviate from the center, to the extreme left or right, the fewer Americans you will find who hold those points of view.

Why then does it seem that the extremes get so much attention?

These groups are very vocal. They make the most noise and, unfortunately, make provocative news. We, for the most part, are not entertained by the normal, mundane life we all live in the center, so we flirt with the fringes of society. We are curious, we are voyeurs, and we have the news media to fill our insatiable need for this information. As we watch the off-center news over and over again, what was abnormal to the center now seems normal.

This has its greatest impact on the youth of our nation. They grow tired of the restrictions of a life controlled by their parents and seek new and worldly adventures. They are easily influenced in their formative years and will follow sometimes bizarre behavior. Often this behavior, if they survive the process, is replaced with real-life experiences that burst the utopian bubbles of youth. The one thing that will not change is human behavior. We will continue to see the worst and the best of humanity among our neighbors. There have been few periods where man was at peace with himself or others for any length of time. Greed, envy, lust and fear seems to propel humanity against itself. We look back on that history and wonder how a nation could become involved in such acts of violence against other nations and we deem them somehow inferior in the evolution of human understanding.

Yet, our television screens are filled with the same destruction, the same hate, the same fear of our fellow man. I was ashamed of the protests and riots in Washington, D.C., following President Trumps inauguration. We are becoming less tolerant as a nation, which was demonstrated when we could not put our differences aside for one day and celebrate the peaceful transfer of power.

We have evolved little as better human beings, having more understanding towards our neighbor, or being more tolerant of those who are different. I can only find redemption of the human spirit in the blood of my creator, Jesus Christ. I seek to be a follower of His teachings and pray for the redemption of all mankind. I pray for peace and understanding, tolerance and respect for all.

Flickinger is president of Tom Flickinger & Associates Inc., a management consulting firm.

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The political pendulum has swung to the right - Observer-Reporter