Confessions of a Workplace Evolutionist

I’ve been writing and training on career and workplace issues for decades.  Throughout my professional life, I have held many job titles in the Technology, Aviation, Hospitality and Higher Education industry. Some of those job roles included Career Counselor, College Dean and Faculty, Electronic Technician, Corporate Travel Manager, Air Traffic Controller, COO, CEO, Doctoral Researcher, Human Resources Pro. With a portfolio career, I am generally job-title-phobic, but Lifelong Educator, is probably the one I would give myself, in that there is always a learning component in all of my work. It’s doesn’t surprise anyone who knows me well that I started tutoring neighborhood kids and friends when I was thirteen years old. You also would be right if you assumed that those jobs did not happen in the order that I have listed them.  Along the way, I have earned a pilot’s license, two associates degrees in electronic engineering technology and liberal arts; a bachelors in management and human resources, a MBA with emphasis in strategic HR, an advanced certificate in intercultural management and a doctorate in business administration.  Yes, no matter how you look at it, I have had a pretty eclectic professional background. 

However, as diverse as my job titles and training have been, there are six consistent guiding principles on which I have built my professional life.  These core principles listed below have served me well as I have maneuvered and transitioned from one role to another taking the best from each discipline and building my experience and interdisciplinary outlook as I go.

  • Stay curious and learn

  • Live and work with integrity

  • Grow the humble leader in me

  • Support and serve community

  • Handle changes gracefully

  • Be a Resolute Inclusionist

I try to make sure that this website demonstrates these core principles in the following ways.

I limit advertising.  I will allow some sponsorship, but only if I believe there is a good reason to share a product or service with my audience. Very early on with my professional, online life, I decided that the audiences that I typically served were often underrepresented and deserved to be viewed as more than just consumers.  As a result, I have said “No” to many, sometimes tempting and lucrative opportunities to post advertisements and click bait on my websites.

I cite sources.  I would never co-opt the work of others.  If I refer to someone’s work, I clearly cite sources and most definitely use attribution to honor and respect the ideas of others.  I expect the same from anyone who uses information from this or any of the websites we manage.

I share a LOT of materials and resources.  I learned from my parents that it is not whom you give to that you will get from and so, as a habit, I have been super generous with my ideas and content.  Therefore, I prefer to spend my time developing content to share with as broad a community of users as possible.  That means that I have very, very limited time to do one-on-one consultations for non-paying clients unless you are a nonprofit agency providing services.  In that case, I am always happy to share my expertise.  So, if you want my advice, I am happy to spend up to 15 minutes sharing.  However, beyond that, if you need my expertise, we will need to discuss billing.

I don’t know everything.  I worked once with a dynamic colleague who would routinely say about herself – “You can fill the Library of Congress with what I don’t know”.  I have adopted her mantra.  I will say though that for a person who stays humble about knowledge, I have a lot of opinions and often share them unashamedly.  Please be ok with that.

Yes. I am an INTJ (Myers Briggs Personality Type).  Why would I tell you that?  I think in a systems way and see how people and projects fit together, where others might not.  Hence, my career journey.  Did I mention too, that I’ve lived in four different countries?  This undergirds for me a passion and appreciation for diverse cultures and practices. For me, it has all worked together and every transition has been a blessing.  Quick story – When I started my doctoral program, I told my interview committee that my goal was to finish my program and be able to go in one of four directions.  They were a little surprised.  Who goes into a doctoral program thinking about any of four possible paths?  I am happy to say that my program culminated with me doing qualitative research on the use of artificial intelligence in Human Resources - something that I did not even think about when I was in that interview before my program started.  My point?  I don’t care about job titles.  I care more about what I DO and I am not done yet.  So, hopefully, with this insight, you will better understand why we do what we do at the Raye Martin Group. 

I hope to always be figuring it out, making it better, sharing knowledge and exploring new possibilities.