Author Archives

About Liz Ryan

Liz Ryan I'm a workplace commentator and coach who sings opera. My focus is the changing workplace, and especially the need to bring right-brain, creative energy and a human voice into the working world. At Ask Liz Ryan, we help job-seekers, career-changers and entrepreneurs brand themselves and build career strategies to get jobs or start companies that will celebrate them. We help employers design great employer brands and recruiting processes, then build a team energy that keeps great people on board. We're very interested in the changing role of HR leaders, and their influence in shaping culture. When I'm not singing, writing or speaking, I like to hang out with my husband Michael and our five kids. We've got two dogs (Mojo & Magic, a Coton de Tulear and a Havanese) and two kitties, Coco and Truffle. We live in Boulder, Colorado.

Pointless Management Practices to Nuke

Liz Ryan  -  May 15, 2012  -  No Comments
CEOs and leadership teams have chopped hard costs to the bone. Now they’re looking at soft costs—the human time spent on management practices that have gone unexamined for years. If your people weren’t wasting time on pointless management exercises, what could they do for your customers and shareholders? Here are

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Seven Reasons to Let Your Kid Study Music

Liz Ryan  -  May 13, 2012  -  No Comments
“Here’s my issue,” says a mom on the phone. “My high-school senior son is good at many things, but he wants to major in music performance. Is it smart to let a kid major in music? Seems like a tough row to hoe.” “Not in the slightest,” I said. “Your

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Job-Seeker: Show, Don’t Tell, What You’re Capable Of

Liz Ryan  -  May 09, 2012  -  No Comments
“I just revised my resume,” said my friend Gretchen. “Want to see it?” “Hand it over,” I said, and took a look. “Here where you say that you’re detail-oriented, motivated and hard-charging — what are you shooting for, branding-wise?” “Duh,” said Gretchen. “I want the person who reads this resume

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How to Hire for Mojo

Liz Ryan  -  May 09, 2012  -  No Comments
“Lord a-mighty, Liz, you don’t want my job,” says my friend Anna. “Why not?” I asked, although it was true — I didn’t want her job. Anna is the HR Manager at a smart-energy company, and was going crazy filling job openings in her company. “I interviewed six job candidates

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How to Terrify an HR Person

Liz Ryan  -  May 08, 2012  -  No Comments
I got a call from my friend Tara, an HR Director. “I’m taking some finance classes,” she said. “That’s cool,” I said. “What’s got you interested in finance these days?” “Oh, I want to build my credibility with the businesspeople,” said Tara. “Geez Louise, girl,” I said, “you call your

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From Warrior to Workplace: Helping Veterans Find Civilian Employment

Liz Ryan  -  May 08, 2012  -  No Comments
It is hard to imagine that you could travel halfway around the world to a combat zone for your country, and then have trouble finding employment when you come back. But that is the reality for U.S. military service members who leave the armed forced and look for civilian work.

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Why “Strategic Business Partner” is the Worst HR Title Ever

Liz Ryan  -  May 07, 2012  -  No Comments
“I’m trying to find a terrific SBP for our Western region,” said an HR VP friend of mine. “You’re looking for what, now?” I asked. “An SBP,” she replied. “An HR person – a Strategic Business Partner. You know, like an elevated generalist — someone to look after the business

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What Does a Rut Look Like?

Liz Ryan  -  May 06, 2012  -  No Comments
I was chatting with a lady at a tony business lunch. “So you’re a career coach,” she said. “We do a lot of that sort of thing in our business,” I said. “We work with employers, too. I write about the changing workplace, and teach college students about navigating in

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What Does “Out of the Box Thinking” Really Mean?

Liz Ryan  -  May 06, 2012  -  No Comments
It’s such a cliche — “I need someone who thinks out of the box.” You hear it all the time. What does it mean? What’s out of the box thinking anyway, and what’s so great about it? Let’s think about the box, first, and then let’s figure out how and

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Is This Your Last Full-Time Job?

Liz Ryan  -  May 03, 2012  -  No Comments
Full-time work is going away, and what’s surprising is how little people are talking about it. First it was outsourcing, and then a big shift into contingent labor, which is another way of saying “temps and contractors.” The high-tech industry and others have been riding the contingent-workforce wave for years,

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