Growing Kudzu

A Survival Guide for Government Workers and Elected Officials Ask any crisis communications expert and they will tell you that there are three types of people: 1) a person who has been through a crisis; 2) a person who is currently in a crisis, and 3) a person who is heading straight towards a crisis. …Read more

            The legacy of horror movies in popular culture is something that brings about scary images of ever-evolving levels of monsters, villains, and creatures.  Mike Myers, Freddie Kruger, Jason, Chucky, just to name a few, are the modern icons we think of when horror movies come to mind.  Then there are the classics like the…Read more

Kudzu Principle #6—Become a Workplace Superstar! Developing a ‘unique talent’ in any profession can certainly prove beneficial for your career, especially in a small business, corporation, or in government service.  From the perspective of the organization’s leadership, having employees who perform their duties efficiently and ‘add value’ to the team in some way can make…Read more

Kudzu Principle #5—Getting Published:  Have you ever walked into a person’s office and noticed a framed copy of a magazine article in which the person had been featured, or perhaps had written the article?  It’s quite an impressive blandishment to present to your visitors or to add to your resume, but so few realize the…Read more

Kudzu Principle #4—Public Speaking:  Comedian Jerry Seinfeld once said, “Given a choice, at a funeral, most of us would rather be the one in the coffin than the one giving the eulogy.”  Considering that the fear of public speaking usually ranks right below the fear of dying in most opinion polls, Jerry’s statement is probably…Read more

Kudzu Principle #3—Networking:  A lot of us have grown up hearing cynical statements like “it’s all in who you know” as it relates to achieving great things in life.  To counter these sentiments, the conversation shifted us from relying on the relationships we make to that of an ‘educated isolationism.’  We seemed to focus more…Read more

Kudzu Principle #2—Visual Goals:  Believe it or not, valuable lessons can be obtained from kids on the issue of goal setting.  As adults, and even as far back as high school, we were taught about writing down our goals.  In those formidable years, and even today, we understand the basics of goal setting by writing…Read more

Kudzu Principle #1—Personal Branding:  Realizing that branding is a new ‘buzz’ word that is spreading like wildfire, one should not look at the concept as a passing fad or as simple window dressing.  In fact, branding has always been an essential part of career development; someone finally figured out how to sell it in a…Read more

“Don’t let a good crisis go to waste,” artfully coined by Rahm Emmanuel while he was the White House Chief of Staff, has become an interesting point of discussion among crisis communications experts and enthusiasts.  Is there such thing as a ‘good crisis’?  Mr Emmanuel, now the Mayor of Chicago, would probably agree that a…Read more

All of us who went to middle or high school had to learn the intricate trick of gaining access to your lockers with the left, right, left combination lock.  You remember those?  You had to first be given a series of numbers and then dial those numbers up in the right order to open your…Read more