Is there such thing as corporate grieving? I truly believe so.

There are many ways to define loss or grieving, but many relate it to a person or a thing of value that can be physically seen or felt. However, even in the world of business grieving exists.

In the Fall of 2008 the economic front was dealt a swift blow; entrepreneurs and business owners struggled to manage the bottom line. Some were successful after a lot of tears, stress and begging to a higher power for some much needed help. Others were not able to survive their financial battles. Whether the loss was a huge step back in pay-scale, number of employees, office space or pride, the pain and loss cannot be underestimated. This type of loss attacks us deep within the way we see ourselves or find or value, or even our own definition of “being.” When we meet people inevitably they ask, “What do you do?” Right or wrong, it has become a badge of honour. When you are trying to put on a brave face, knowing that your business might not make it to the end of the month, that question becomes a heavy weight to bear. Maybe you cannot even answer that question after your own struggle back.

It is interesting how we handle people telling us about the fact their business is suffering, about to find an end or went bottom-up. Probably about the same as we deal with someone telling us they or someone close to them is dying. Not well at all. We quickly mutter some inaudible thing under our breath and give them a “sports-slap”on the shoulder and leave the room. Why do we handle this so poorly? Are we uncomfortable? Do we see the probability that we might face the same thing as being “too close to home?”

Grief and loss in a business situation may be very similar to a traditional definition of a personal death, but we brush it off too quickly. It may have very similar stages: disbelief, anger, profound sadness, blame and many other outlays except for one factor — it doesn’t generally get a sympathy card or people gathering around to support the people who has just experienced the loss.

Some of the most important support behaviours that you can offer is to be a good ear, listen and let the person know you really do hear them. If they need to cry, tell them it is okay — what they are feeling is very real and indeed a profound loss. Holding in all of those feelings is definitely not good for them, mentally or physically. Maybe that might be the first step for them to find closure or to see other avenues where their skills are needed or where they can re-ignite their passion. Business loss does not mean they failed or are a failure — it just means that their vision may be taking a modified direction.

I discovered  n issue with Notification Center in Mountain Lion today on my MacBook Pro. I clicked the little icon in the toolbar and it just wouldn’t open. I was in the middle of working on important documents and coding and didn’t want to restart. Thankfully there is a quick fix you can do without the need to restart.

Notification Center just needs to be reset. What I did to reset it is go to Applications > Utilities > Activity Monitor (either through the Finder or Launchpad, your choice) and type in “Notification Center” in the search box. Click on the one search result that comes up and hit the “Quit Process” button in the top left hand corner. It’ll bring up a window that asks you if you’re sure you want to quit the process. Click “Force Quit”.

After a few seconds Notification Center will quit and relaunch without having to restart your computer. All other apps (including the finder) are untouched. Problem solved.

Solution:

Quit Safari

clear preferences in home library ~/Library

Preferences> com.apple.Safari.plist

In the Finder, choose Go> Go To Folder.

In the Go To Folder dialog, type ~/Library

Click Go.

or

Hold down the Alt (Option) key when using the Go menu. The user library folder is listed below the current users home directory.

Start safari again – and you should see pages with content showing up now

Just received a nice little note via twitter from @aboutdotme that I have been featured in the About.me (about dot me) directory (page 6 but I will take it just the same thank you). Check it out here http://about.me/directory. This is a great way to have a “profile” landing on the web that you can send clients, colleagues and friends to so they get the gist about who you are.

What started out as a small convenience for me, has become a great conversation tool. The photo was taken by Dana Nosella of Dana Nosella Studio – and of course was taken in a coffee shop. SO darn appropriate. I know.

My cousin Cheryl is a very wonderful person. Today I just wanted everyone else to know it

Okay, so just having some fun here — but it makes you laugh and realize how media is tweaked and changed to dilute or expand our perspective.

Are you one of the many people who find themselves at the intersection of where you are and where you want to be? The main aspect to remember is that you are not alone.

We have all gone through rhythms of joy, fear, dumbfound and plain old,

“What the heck am I doing here?”

About 9 years ago I was working as a graphic designer for a company where I was creating CTP (computer to plate) outputs for a Heidelberg printer. The press operator was a great guy to work with, and I still work with him in my own business. However, the owner was a very difficult man to work for (way too many reasons why and not the point here). I was still running my own company at the time and thought I could make it through my daytime job by having my own joy-filled work in the evenings and weekends. Was I wrong. Every time my partner would pick me up from work  at the end of the day (we had one car), I jumped in the car and shouted “DRIVE!” It was all I could do to ask her if she could just slow down, not stop, fling open the passenger side and like the Dukes of Hazzard, pull away from the enemy. Something was gradually happening inside of me that didn’t rear its ugly head until I really sat down and pondered why I was so tired, unmotivated, feeling like I was losing my voice. I was dying from the inside out.

Fortunately I saw the progression and where it was heading. I caught it in time before I lost my sense of self. I left there and started working for myself full-time.

I choose to let my soul live.

On the wall of my office is a statement that I read every time I walk into it in the morning, throughout the day and every time I need a bit of a reminder. It states,

“Wish It…Dream It…Do It.”

Just let that resonate within you for a moment. Don’t rush. You are the navigator to your sense of fulfillment, the orchestrator of the music of your life and the one who knows yourself best. Don’t sell your soul to just exist, find a way to truly live.

Finding our place is a momentous task in itself, but eat that elephant a chunk at a time (Not that I am promoting the harming of any animals – but that phrase just fits).

Who are you? I mean, really, “Who are you?” What are you interpersonal skills, your talents, your desires? Are you an entrepreneurial spirit, or more of a manager and organizer? Do you prefer to cloister yourself in code with all of the lights off and get joyed by the glowing jQuery on your computer? Knowing the finer points of you will help to discover if you are heading in the right direction.

We are  often having to wear many hats in our daily lives which often flows into our work. I love the design aspect as well as the project management and the down and dirty coding. It allows the artist and the mathematician in me to breathe. It is a harmonious balance for me. Maybe you prefer one specific area, or a couple of seemingly unrelated work identities that make sense to you. I think our careers are like a good pair of jeans that have accompanied us on camping trips, cleaned out the garage or just relaxed on the couch. It takes time to get them to fit ‘just right’. We have to allow time to weather our steps. I believe the path we take is not just a well lit straight highways, but rather a well worn path in the woods.

Sometimes it rains and you get your feet dirty, but it allows you to see the beauty and view that gets revealed as you go.

When you take that first step to allow yourself to be honest with yourself you have taken a choice to allow your voice to be heard. Use a vision board to post up clippings and ideas or words that mean something to you. Make your possible future working identities more visible and tangible. Don’t just write down your ideas on scrap pieces of paper or in Evernote (or whatever digital tool you use) and leave it there to collect dust. Plan and implement. Make it measurable and assess often. Find a good friend or colleague you can be accountable to. Seek out a corporate mentor. Just do it.

When your soul knows it has been heard and it allowed consistent input into who you are and where you are going, there is a sense of balance, ‘rightness’ and peace.

You deserve to dream. So what’s stopping you?

Here are a couple of links to some personality tests to help you discover you.

Personality Tests

Personality tests based on Jung

You might be saying, “Well of course Kimberly, that’s quite apparent.” Yes and no. I agree with the fact that they did not fully understand from the training and setup, but it was more difficult to “See” how they saw the change. To them, it just works right? To us, the service providers, it works but and often needs a quick check of  a few things to trouble shoot that will quickly solve those small issues first. I think if we see things from our client’s perspective we will understand where and how to bring what we see and know to the table. In the end, better communication, better services and customer support and finally, a happier client. Lesson learned.