Wisdom Cafe Wednesday

Archives of past Wisdom Cafe Wednesday newsletters.

Top 19 LinkedIn Learning Courses of 2019

Stay at the top of your career by learning what’s popular on campus. We’ve made a list of the most frequently completed courses by our colleagues to help you start the year off right!

Here are the top 19 LinkedIn Learning Courses of 2019

1.

Javascript Essential Training 2. ...

How to Make Your Point and Be Heard When You Speak Up

It’s quite frustrating to be not heard when you speak up, and unfortunately, it’s more common than you might think.

Speaking up in a group setting is one of the biggest challenges many people face. You have some valuable information and opinions to share, but no one listens to you. It can be hard enough to find something worthwhile to contribute, and when your contribution isn’t even noticed, it can be demoralizing.

It doesn’t happen just in groups. Did you ever have a quick conversation with your boss in the hall and walk away thinking you missed out on the opportunity to...

Managing Yourself: Extreme Productivity

Bob Pozen does a lot. He’s been a top executive at two mutual fund giants, Fidelity and MFS Investment Management. He’s also been an attorney, a government official, a law school professor, a business school professor, and a prolific author. And he has often been several of those things at once. Yet Pozen never comes across as overwhelmed, frazzled, or even all that busy. We know this because he’s a frequent contributor to HBR and hbr.org—with a reputation around our offices for writing faster than we can edit. Our experiences with him led us to wonder if he might have something...

Successful Goal Setting

Even your loftiest goals are possible if you approach them strategically. In this course, join Aimee Bateman as she shares her top tips on setting—and achieving—goals, explaining how to take small steps that can help you make your bigger plans a reality. Discover how to scope out and define your career goals, removing anything that isn't quite right for you. Learn how to refine your objectives by identifying barriers and determining the steps you need to take to work towards your goal. To wrap up, Aimee shares strategies that can help you stay on track. Learning Objectives: Name the first...

Manage Your Energy, Not Your Time

The core problem with working longer hours is that time is a finite resource. Energy is a different story. Defined in physics as the capacity to work, energy comes from four main wellsprings in human beings: the body, emotions, mind, and spirit. In each, energy can be systematically expanded and regularly renewed by establishing specific rituals—behaviors that are intentionally practiced and precisely scheduled, with the goal of making them unconscious and automatic as quickly as possible. To effectively reenergize their workforces, organizations need to shift their...

What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team

Five years ago, Google — one of the most public proselytizers of how studying workers can transform productivity — became focused on building the perfect team. In the last decade, the tech giant has spent untold millions of dollars measuring nearly every aspect of its employees’ lives. Google’s People Operations department has scrutinized everything from how frequently particular people eat together (the most productive employees tend to build larger networks by rotating dining companions) to which traits the best managers share (unsurprisingly, good communication and avoiding...

How Social Learning is Transforming Professional Development

According to Wenger-Trayner, “Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.” Communities of practice are a key component of effective professional development because learning is a social activity.

There are three components of CoPs:

1. THE DOMAIN: Any CoP is defined by a common interest and focus. It is not just a group of people who like the same thing or have the same tastes—there is a shared...

Developing Your Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence can help you build effective relationships at work. Executive coach and organizational psychologist Gemma Roberts explains what emotional intelligence is and why it's important. She helps you become more self-aware so that you can identify triggers that may hijack your performance. She also helps you align your intentions and your impact so that you can build strong and collaborative relationships.

Learning Objectives:

What is emotional intelligence? Watching for triggers and hijacks Finding flow Disrupting thinking Reclaiming...

Communication: Verbal, nonverbal, and written

Are you looking to start a career in IT? Or, are you an IT service desk professional wishing to explore opportunities for career advancement, but unsure of your next step? In either instance—whether you're jumping into a brand-new IT career or advancing your existing one—this course can provide you with a foundational mapping of the careers and certifications you might want to consider. Instructor Fancy Mills covers a variety of career paths at all levels, from service desk analyst to service desk manager. She also explores different certifications related to service desk roles, and...

5 Ideas for Boosting Engagement at Work

Every other year, the Council of UC Staff Assemblies (CUCSA) sends an engagement survey to a randomly selected group of non-represented UC staff. The results are now in and will be announced soon at your location (if they haven’t already). That makes October a perfect month to talk about how to boost engagement — yours and your team’s.

You don’t need to be a people manager to care about and nurture engagement. Whatever your role, you’ll benefit from working with people who are interested in and committed to their job and company. And, you have an obligation to yourself to find...