jessica lee writes.

A Little Twitter Experiment: @koreankorean. Learn One Korean Word a Day.

it's been a while since i posted here, hasn't it? 

in all honesty, what we're about to talk about was just an experiment. it was an idea, born over a meal of korean food and the result of talk of wanting to bone up on our korean language skills (which admittedly stink.) but what an interesting little experiment this has become. the thought was to start a twitter feed dedicated to learning new vocabulary words - in korean. one word a day. we'd provide the world spelled in korean. a romanized pronunciation. + the definition. and here was the first tweet:

 

@koreankorean. and it's taken on a life of it's own.

firstly, of course, @korean was taken. as was @koreanvocab. none of the logical choices were available to me. so @koreankorean it was. and 319 tweets later, 77 days after we got started, we have 1,161 followers and the community continues to grow. daily, we receive anywhere from two to 10 questions via the @-reply feature, or via direct messages with the requests ranging from translations, to explanation of the the language and sentence structure to pronunciation. 

ultimately, what i've learned is that this is an exercise in community building, folks. find people who are interested in similar issues. build influence by sharing knowledge. and so now? we have relationships with over a thousand people who were complete strangers previously - brought together by shared interests. and because we've shared our knowledge, @koreankorean is looked to as a guide, a leader, a source of credible information... and i think there's a lesson in here for my HR and recruiting friends. think on it a bit though. let it stir in that brain of yours. and i'll come back to draw the parallels between @koreankorean and your recruiting efforts.

stay tuned.

I Think I Might Finally Understand Why Some People Might See Me As Jaded - I've Completely Lowered My Expectations.

very recently, i realized that somewhere along the line my expectations have lowered greatly. and i now understand why people think i'm jaded - already. it's kind of sad. 

i was given my first "managerial" responsibilities at the ripe old age of 22. 22! can you believe that? looking back now, it was a crazy move. i had six who reported to me - and i was clueless. it was your classic example of taking someone who was "technically" sound and a great subject matter expert, and then asking that person to then manage others who did that same work. and it works in some situations - but in many others, it doesn't. back to me though. my biggest struggle in managing people? they failed to meet my expectations, and often. it was my expectation that everyone would produce as much as i did. i expected that everyone would produce at the level of quality that i did. and i expected that everyone else should be just as committed as i was. 

i would bang my head against the wall wondering how to get that same level and same quality of output from others - and constantly lament my frustration to my own managers. "not everyone can be like you, jessica," i was told. which was a fine and dandy response... but i still wondered, do i lower my expectations? the answer then was no, that i shouldn't lower my expectations. rather, we worked on trying to find better ways to get people to where i expected them to be. and that - took a lot of effort. some would eventually get closer to meeting my expectations. but some would never meet my expectations at which point we had to decide whether to cut our losses.

keeping my expectations in place and getting others to rise to them, that was the right approach in that first gig i had as a people manager. but i'm just realizing right now that somewhere along the line, failed expectation after failed expectation has caused me to just lower or completely give up on having expectations - in the workplace, and with personal relationships too. because when you cut people a lot of slack, or when you have little to no expectations of people - it's impossible for them to fail you. and in those rare moments where they do show up and meet your non-existent expectations, you're blown away and left in awe of how great they are which of course is a way nicer feeling than not having your expectations met.

but when you get to the place i'm at - jaded is what i think we can call this - here's what happens. you possibly begin allowing people to not treat you well. you accept mediocrity. you are apathetic. you accept anything and anyone to come as they are because few, or maybe no one meets your expectations anyways. you believe people to be shitty, or dumb, or whatever it means to lack the goods to meet your expectations... and then potentially, you are left surrounded by people who suck. you don't expect any better, after all. you learn to be very accepting and forgiving and you figure out how to work around them. 

now this of course sounds incredibly jaded... maybe even bitter or angry. yes! i just might finally be pissed off about these low or non-existent expectations because that's the only appropriate response and feeling when you have your eyes opened to what someone meeting and exceeding your non-existent expectations. i've had my socks knocked off without my even expecting or demanding it. can you believe that? and now? i'm left wondering how and why i let my expectations fall in the first place.

I'm in Glamour Magazine, Folks! October 2009 Issue, Page 253.

well, i'd be a big fat liar if i said i didn't think it was a big deal to have landed on the pages of a national magazine. seriously. glamour magazine, folks. for real! page 253, the october 2009 issue, the focus being on pay transparency. you shouldn't have to guess what side of the issue i can down on...

the spread:

glamour asked:

should you tell coworkers how much you make? salary sharing sites like glassdoor.com make it easier to know what other people earn. (and if the new paycheck fairness act gets passed, your employer can't retaliate if you disclose what's on your pay stub.) should we be more open about our salaries? we put the question to the experts.

and the response from moi? 

no! making salaries public breeds resentment. let's say your coworker julie tells you her salary, and she's making $8,000 more than you - for doing the same job. your company may have valid reasons (maybe julie has more education), but you'll still resent it and then how could you work well together? no wonder 89 percent of workers say they don'tw ant to share their pay details, according to a british study. companies should give employees a salary range for specific jobs (that's only fair), but the exact number should be determined by negotiating skills. build the best case for why you should earn more based on your record. regardless of what others make, you have to ask for what you're worth.

a little bit about what went into this because it was an interesting, interesting process. first off, thanks to Ann Bares at the blog Compensation Force... i wouldn't have had this opportunity had she not referred them to me. but the chatter between the editor and i started back in december. december! this was 9 months in the making. they gave me the premise. i gave them my opinion. and we started with me writing something up that was about 300 words in length. 300 words written in my voice, saying kinda about the same thing as what eventually printed... but my voice isn't necessarily glamour's voice. about four rounds back-and-forth with their editors and varying versions of the piece, the 300 words i originally wrote was eventually whittled down to 122 words. 

the writing process was interesting. getting the voice right for glamour was tough but even harder? writing something that was still ra-ra for the ladies but still held true to my own beliefs. i mean... i didn't know what the "yes!" piece opposite mine would say but seeing it now, i'm reminded why this was challenging in the first place. basically, she throws in the fact that women still earn 78 cents for every dollar earned by a man as the basis of her argument for why we need pay transparency... and that kind of makes me look like the anti-woman asshole, you know? i'm arguing that we need to be better at negotiating and we should keep salaries private; who cares about gender equality! {sigh...} i still hold firmly with my viewpoint though. it's easy to pontificate and say everyone's salaries should be public... but it's just not practical in a real world setting.

so the piece was written. we came to agreement on the tone and content... but after not hearing from their editors for months, i assumed that they scrapped the piece and that it was just an exercise in dealing with big publishing houses... then came the call from the conde nast fact checker in august. spell your name. what's your title? who do you work for? confirm that you wrote this. and nine months later, the piece finally ran and i bought my copy of the magazine off the shelf of CVS!

and in case you were wondering, nope, i wasn't paid for it. don't think that i didn't ask either. you have to ask for what you're worth, remember? apparently, being in glamour magazine as a newbie like me should be payment enough... and i'd have to say... they were actually right.

have you picked up your copy of glamour magazine yet?!

The Jessica Lee Twitter Follow Starter Pack, for HR Pros.

i just got back from a gig at the 2009 HR Florida Conference & Expo where i was asked to partake in a panel discussion on HR and blogging. some highlights and food for thought from my pal Kris Dunn and me here and here. at a conference like this, what's typical is that the social media IQ is low (no offense! it's why we come out to talk though!) so we spend a lot of time coaxing and encouraging folks to simply jump in and get involved. it's asking people to dip their toes in the water, really. most are tentative, hesitant, and don't know where and how to start. and with twitter specifically, and getting started, i think there are two things to think about -

• are you using it for professional development and community building as a HR pro?
• or are you using it to develop a talent community from which to recruit?

either route is great - but i see them as two different reasons ways and reasons to tweet as an HR pro so i would encourage that people are deliberate in who they follow and what kinds of conversations they plan on having before they really jump in. i actually wish i had been more deliberate myself.

so for my pals jumping in and getting started, i thought i'd come up with my own version of the HR pro's starter pack of folks to follow on twitter to play off of @kris_dunn's question he put out asking who a VP of HR new to twitter should follow... so here you have it, in no particular order. and note, this is a starter pack. it's not meant to be comprehensive by any means. there are others who have attempted to create a directory, or a "best of" list. this is neither of those things.

this also isn't a list of the best brains in HR or recruiting. it's just my opinion of voices that matter on twitter for HR pros, and people whom i think can help make the twitter experience rich when you're first getting started. inevitably, i'll probably offend some of you for not including you. fine.  there are some really smart, great HR pros out there who i know are fantastic, but i just don't know if you represent that well via twitter. yep, you heard me. so if you agree or disagree with the "jessica lee starter pack," just hit the comments...  i'm happy to entertain your opinions.

@BobCorlett bob comes from the staffing agency world but provides great information about business, HR and recruiting in general, and links to relevant business issues that should matter to your everyday HR pro.

@Eric_B_Meyer i hate employment law, but i like eric for his updates on employment law generally, court decisions, legislative developments, etc.

@johnhollon as editor of Workforce Management, john gets our industry very well. besides that? he's a lovable, crotchety personality in our space who i almost always agree with. like many of the others i include on this list, john helps me draw relevance from stuff going on in the business world to my world as an HR pro.

@sharlyn_lauby former HR practitioner turned HR consultant... all around good person who i have tons of respect for because she's smart, she is nice, she is practical, and she's accessible. she's also a great SHRM champion... and i don't even love SHRM.

@kris_dunn the one and only HR Capitalist... kris dunn. need i say more? my pal, my mentor, my blogging boss, my bro, you gotta follow kris. he may not tweet thaaat often, but he's just good people to know.

@jessica_lee how can i not include myself? just follow, because i said so.

@SourcerKelly part of the FOT crew, kelly is a social media recruiting pro who gets the sourcing side of recruiting better than anyone else. she's a former HR pro/corporate recruiter/sourcer turned technical writer, sourcing consultant for AIRS. besides being a boolean queen, she's also an all around champion of all things social media.

@annbares the niche pro, ann covers the world of compensation like none other. she stays true to her niche too which i appreciate. she always keeps it pure and is my go-to voice in the comp space.

@incentintel another niche pro, and yep, another member of the FOT crew, paul has you covered with incentives and rewards. want to know how to motivate employees? what's going to influence your workforce? paul has the answer. 

@SodexoCareers for a glimpse into an organization who's doing a great job using twitter to recruit and evangelize their employment brand, you have to follow kerry noone who is behind @SodexoCareers. first class, world class... this is who you want to learn from and emulate.

@jenbenz employee benefits, healthcare, employee wellness... jen has got you covered and she does it in a non-technical, non-wonky kind of way.

@lisarosendahl the cheerleader. the enthusiast. the beam of positive energy that even cynical, jaded me really likes... it's hard to stay positive as an HR pro. i'll admit it. you get a lot of crap thrown your way, you may end up having to clean up a lot of messes... but lisa always manages to keep it positive.

@TheRecruiterGuy when it comes to recruiters on twitter, chris hoyt really is the recruiter to follow. he's innovated AT&T's interactive recruiting efforts and is a true pioneer and explorer of all things social media.

@williamtincup william... where to start with william. i like william for his "OPT" tweets - other people's thoughts. he links to good, solid, smart writing by others in the HR space. he's also the most progressive "HR marketer" i've ever seen. calling him an "HR marketer" just seems dumb though because he's totally something else.

@ChrisFerdinandi an up and comer in the HR world, chris is a good example of a NextGen HR pro, in my book at least, who we should be watching closely...

@MikeVanDervort i like mike. mike as an HR and labor relations pro? he's deep. he's legit. he's the real deal. and he's nice. on twitter, he's prolific. i've cut him off before because he does tweet a lot - seriously! but i've since re-followed him because it's good stuff. really.

@johnsumser want to know who has influence in the recruiting and HR space? john does. and he's also been writing about it too. on twitter though, i find that john provides great links to blog postings and news articles that make you think, connect dots, and re-examine yourself and your processes.

@SHRMcoo the consummate champion for SHRM, china is a cheerleader for SHRM which i of course, love to hate but can't help but to love because of china specifically. what an effective brand ambassador for SHRM.

and stil, there are more... but when you're just getting started, you've gotta start somewhere, and i want you to learn from the best. so follow, follow, and follow and i'll see you online.

Quick Update. I'm Writing, Others are Writing About Me... It's All About Me.

it's been an interesting past few weeks. let me get you up to speed on where i've been, where i'm going and what i've been writing about:

• over on Fistful of Talent, a few posts have gone up in the past few weeks including one on how i just don't want the recession to end quite yet and another on how social media won't save your employment brand. we also have another episode of FOTv online and from a content perspective, i think it's one of our best to date. check it out... great way to get some HR updates without having to read, in case you're in a lazy mood.
  
• someone else is writing about me... and holy crap he thinks i'm influential. john sumser, a legend in the recruiting industry is tackling the topic of influence in the HR and recruiting world. check out the project here. john is featuring the top 100 influencers in the HR and recruiting space and amazingly, i'm #18 that he's chronicled. i'm totally flattered and humbled, especially as the youngest person on the list thus far.
• i've booked myself for a few more speaking engagements through the end of the year... TWTRCON, a roving conference devoted to everything and anything related to twitter and its business application... and i'm totally flattered to present given the other speakers. i'll also be at the 11th annual corporate university week talking about how to build credibility as an HR pro using social media in mid-november. in early december, you'll find me in chicago at the social media and HR summit being presented by ragan communications and will be focusing on social media for employment branding... and there's still more to come with other gigs including being in michigan at the end of september for another SHRM state level conference. 

and that's it. i'm at the HR Florida conference right now to speak on a panel tomorrow + blog live for Fistful of Talent... more to come from here later on. ciao folks.

This Year I Might Receive the Best Birthday Gift Ever.

it's almost my birthday. the big day is on friday, to be exact. and for the past handful of years, i've not loved celebrating. contrary to most everyone's commonly held belief about me, i don't like being the center of attention. and birthdays? well, usually that's prime time for yelling out, "hey, celebrate me!" that's a show i'm just not that into for it's perpetually a reminder of the very miserable birthday i trudged through right after my father passed away. you can rewind and read about that here...

august 7th is a weird day for me anyways... i get freaked out thinking about the other things that have happened on august 7th in my family... like it being the day my grandfather disappeared. that's another story for you to have a read on...

this year though, it's so very interesting and strange and exciting that the day, august 7th, has taken on a whole new meaning. i have someone to celebrate it with - and i mean literally celebrate with given our birthdays fall on the same day of the year. but we're not talking about just someone, or just anyone else having the same birthday... i mean, we're talking about the opportunity to spend the day and celebrate this usually odd, awkward, if not miserable day of the year with someone who makes me happier than anything else simply on a daily basis. someone who makes me feel like i'm complete. someone who makes me want to be a better person. someone who makes me feel honored, over and over again. i get to celebrate with him. and that's crazy to me because i already feel blessed every day specifically because of him... but on top of all of that, now i get this gift of being able to celebrate my birthday with completely new and different meaning through him. it no longer has to be a day or time period where i am constantly thinking about the past, and the loss of my father, and regrets i have surrounding that whole situation.

in some ways, i feel like this new way of celebrating my birthday - our birthdays - makes the past a bit more palatable. and for that, i'm so very, very thankful. it might just have to be one of the best gifts ever.

Following Up on Henry Gates and Why It Matters To You.

the other day, i threw a post onto Fistful of Talent on the arrest of Henry Gates Jr. it was a simple post merely bringing that situation to the attention of my fellow HR and recruiting pros who didn't have it on their radar, and reminding them of the little related lesson of why we don't consider arrest records when looking at one's criminal history for employment reasons. and the issue seemed like a no brainer to me... a relevant topic... but not everyone agreed. which i have to say, i'm just a little disappointed about. the comments that came through, and the emails i received, made me sigh. over, and over again.

i know that when talking about race, you always run the risk of offending. and i know that it's never an easy topic to tackle, which is why we don't talk about it enough... so let me tackle some of the issues that came up as a result of this post.

• how is this a relevant topic for Fistful of Talent? for those who don't see the obvious tie in... let me spell it out for you. clearly. if you do criminal history checks as a condition of employment, then you should know the distinction between evaluating arrest records versus convictions and the gates story illustrates nicely how arrests can happen - easily, mistakenly or for dumb reasons. the EEOC advises against considering arrest records as certain minority groups in the U.S. are disproportionately arrested - mainly blacks and hispanics. this is a fact. this is not anecdotal. this isn't pulling the race card. and why this is troubling? because even though certain minority groups are arrested more, the arrests don't always result in the same amount of convictions. so to make it very easy for you to understand, these minority groups aren't necessarily committing crimes more and therefore being arrested more. something else is going on and this is where racial profiling comes into play.
• why is this an incident of racial profiling? with the Gates situation specifically, the caller didn't say there was a "black man" specifically breaking in.  this is true. but did the caller have to bring up race for it to be profiling? or for this to be a racial issue? not really. she made the call and then the dispatcher asked questions about the suspects' race. the fact of the matter is that so much of our bias is hidden. it's subconscious. we don't always have to blatantly say or point to color. we make snap judgments and then i think, things like this incident happen. and then they escalate, and then they become ugly.
  
• as a white woman, if the same thing happened to me (said my commenter...)  i'd gladly take it in stride. people were just doing their jobs and trying to protect the community. i think that while we don't know for sure how much race was a factor in this incident, we can all pretty much agree that if it were a white man or white woman facing a white cop, the outcome would not be the same. this wouldn't be an issue. we know through history that black men and police have a different dynamic. period. it's a fact of life. and i think if you can't admit to that fact, then you are in denial about race in the US. we're too quick to jump to conclusions about other people's situations and not look at them from the lense of the person it's happened to... and if we were to do that, admit that we don't walk in the shoes of a black man, and admit that we don't walk around carrying all of the historical context of what it's like as a black man in america - which is a lot to carry around, then i think we'd all make fewer absolutes about this being blown out of proportion, or that this isn't a race issue and that it's just coincidence that gates is black and the police officer is white. when you step back, when you look at the bigger picture, when you add in the complexity of institutional racism and years and years of tense relations between black men and the police... then this isn't so clear cut.
  
• obama is president. isn't it time to stop pulling the race card? for this statement, i almost want to scream... but it's exactly what i feared when obama was elected. a black president doesn't equate to the race problem being sovled in the US. the best analogy i can make is... if a female president were elected, would that automatically signal gender equality in the US too? would the wage gap disappear? would women then be paid the same as men for comparable jobs? there's too much history, the issue is too complex. a black president, just like a female president, doesn't solve hundreds of years of issues that are now embedded and rooted deeply, and that are sometimes institutional.
  

you may not agree with me on any of this. that's fine. i just ask for you to partake in a dialog on it though and not be scared of that. before you engage though, just do some homework. inform yourself, then come back and have a chat. as a starting point for you... a good cross section of diverse thoughts on the gates matter here on the daily beast, stanley fish on this being deja vu for gates, some good commentary on racial progress in the US, and an interesting discussion on racial profiling and how there's more being done about it than we realize publicly...

we don't talk about race enough. sometimes we talk about diversity, but we don't always talk about race. and i think in our little blogosphere made up of HR and recruiting pros, we're too nervous. we aren't ballsy enough. we don't confront these issues head on. which has left me thinking... what's stopping us? and why aren't i doing a better job of addressing the lack of dialog?