Bread and Roses, Employment and Chronic Illness Blog

Mediation versus resolution: don't expect more than mediation can really give you

2014-02-07T10:49:00.001-08:00

Though I don't post often, I've kept this blog up because there is such a scarcity of web resources that share any insight into the emotional side of EEO, reasonable accommodations, or other disability related processes.

Patients blog and share about illness in droves. The reading and the writing of these blogs are both VERY useful recovery and coping tools. It is valuable to create and to find that kind of community and support, and to be able to find stories you can relate to so you can just get through it (or even find hope).

With disability and EEO type processes, however, it is often not safe to share and it is painful to do so. When you've survived it and are far enough away to have a healthy life, you more than likely just want to leave it all behind.

On the other hand, I think that even though survivors may not want to remember how dark things can get, we need to remember how very badly we needed to know it was survivable, and that others had survived before us.

Personally, although I navigated it all with friends and family and my union supporting when and how they could, and a good lawyer I am grateful to, these processes will isolate you beyond your wildest dreams, and I was having to build my own faith (without evidence) that it would someday be done.

I want to offer hope and encouragement, but that only goes so far for people still living these nightmares. Optimism that isn't laced with realism isn't helpful because it isn't accurate or relate-able when it is needed most.

The biggest take home I can offer in this post is that mediation, although described as a forum for resolving the issues, is not really going to give you closure or an opportunity to finally clear your name or have your issues addressed. That isn't what you're there for. The process you've survived for months and months is supposed to be there to resolve the issues, but it doesn't really have a step that allows for that unless you litigate (if then). This can be devastating to hear (when you've viewed mediation as the final step to a resolution), but even more devastating to discover after the months and months you've spent awaiting the day with unrealistic expectations.

I want to share this article I just stumbled across, because it shines some light on mediation that is useful in balancing expectations:

Mediation at the EEOC, Lower your expectations

Aside from not providing any kind of resolution, justice, or closure, mediation (which will probably focus almost solely on the negotiation of settlement terms) will be horrifically unfair and victimizing. You will likely believe, in some way, their accusations that you were asking for something unreasonable and that your minuscule outcome is a result of having asked for too much (and, as with the entire complaint process, is really your fault). Which is really just the way the game is played.

So it is incredibly useful to see the probable realities in writing in this article. I am seeing this in writing for the first time, and although my lawyer described it as typical (and I'd seen these basic ideas in more general terms before), it is really cathartic to see it written out like this, even after the fact.

No matter how little you ask for, or how much less it is than what you lost (even if its tens of thousands less and doesn't even address what they put you through), they will blame the pittance they give you ON YOU for asking for anything. Even though you are instructed to ask for what would "make you whole". It only sets the stage for them to tear you apart and give you nothing---counterattacking you for what was done to you, as with the components of your claim.

Which makes this such a fantastic quote:

"We were so wrapped in the details the rest of the day that involved 22 mediator shuttle trips between the sides, we missed the big picture, the injustice. Mediators uncritically accept and perpetuate the dominance of employers in mediations by allowing the opening bid of $0."

This article is very worth reading. I trust that I can post this without ill effects at work. I'd really, really like to believe I can, since I've not disclosed anything about my case and am simply speaking from my heart in hopes of helping others get through this. I'd very, very much like to think they've long since stopped reading my blog, as I've long since stopped doing anything to protect myself, in order to be left in peace to recover and keep my job.

Their complainant (in this article) was far luckier than me in their mediation in many ways, and the decision making power and overall process of this mediation was different than mine. But this article is still a very worth while read.

On my way to DC for mediation (a pretty intimidating and expensive location for a sick person who hadn't been allowed to work for 6 months), I met a high level military official on the plane. He warned me not to be distracted and intimidated by their typical mediation tactics (to distract from the terms you're asking for by badgering and intimidating and making the day about what they'd claim you'd done wrong) and to keep my head on what I was asking for.

Although I wanted to follow his advice, I was sick and tired and defeated, and even though I'd done nothing wrong, I was not stronger than a room full of federal officials and attorneys and I failed. And despite my wonderings, my husband reminds me, they sleep just fine.

I wonder if any mediation ends differently than that:

"The case ended for the target feeling jilted. It is true that she got more than zero, but the employer must have left feeling that it was a good day."

Although, I walked in without a job and I left with my job back, because they never should have taken it away in the first place. I didn't lose, but I didn't (and can't) get back what I lost along the way.

The link again, in case you waited to click it, is well worth your time to read:

Mediation at the EEOC, Lower your expectations

"Adjustments" and being happy: Sam Berns

2014-01-15T07:31:00.000-08:00

An article and a video, separately linked (though the video should be in the articles as well. Love the can do attitude of this kid.

Right Before Dying From A Rare Lifelong Disease, Sam Revealed His Three Secrets To Happiness

Happy New Year ~ Hang in there!

2014-01-01T16:28:00.000-08:00

From Chronic Perseverence Facebook Page

As relevant to work as to the rest of life

2013-05-08T21:44:00.001-07:00

Do the right thing always, but prepare yourself for the cost

2013-04-07T19:11:00.002-07:00

More shares from Chronic Perseverance

2013-03-24T19:00:00.000-07:00

http://www.facebook.com/chronicperseverance

More from Chronic Perseverance

2013-03-22T23:14:00.000-07:00

These are just a few of the posts that have struck me recently from Chronic Perseverance (a chronic illness awareness page on facebook).

Dealing with a workplace bully yourself is ineffective 97% of the time

2013-02-08T15:03:00.000-08:00

The first key point of this article is compelling and prevalent in workplace bullying literature---once you are targeted by a bully your chances of losing or leaving that job as a result of the bullying are almost 80%.

Additionally, this article outlines your likelihood s of success under different strategies. They are depressingly low, as seen in the following excerpted list (article here):

Strategies to Stop Bullying & Their Effectiveness (from Workplace Bullying Institute article)

Effectiveness ratings were limited to only the respondents who answered ‘yes’ to the adoption of a particular strategy.

1. Target seemed to not do anything (In other words, letting time pass hoping matters will improve by themselves) was adopted by 38% of targets. Most (62%) did try something.

Effectiveness of doing nothing: 3.25%

We consider “doing nothing” the baseline to which the effectiveness of all other strategies can be compared.

2. Target directly confronted the perpetrator — 69.5% did so
Effectiveness of confronting: 3.57%

3. Target asked perpetrator’s boss to intervene & stop it — 70.7% did so
Effectiveness of support from bully’s boss: 3.26%

4. Target told senior management/owner expecting support — 73.9% did so
Effectiveness of senior management/owners: 3.69%

5. If union present, asked union to intervene & stop it — 60.3% did so
Effectiveness of union: 8.84%

6. Target filed a formal complaint with HR alleging a policy violation — 42.8% did so
Effectiveness of HR: 4.7%

7. Target filed a complaint with an external state or federal agency — 18.7%
Effectiveness of EEOC, etc.: 11.9%

8. Target tried to find an attorney to file a lawsuit — 33.7%
Effectiveness of finding an attorney: 11.2%

9. Target did file a lawsuit — 8.9% (n=379)
Effectiveness of filing a lawsuit: 16.4%

The purpose of this study was to have individuals intimately familiar with bullying (those directly experiencing it or witnessing it) describe the effectiveness of various adopted tactics or strategies to stop the bullying.

The results are clear. Letting time pass (doing nothing) stopped bullying 3% of the time, an obviously ineffective tactic. However the other tactics — confronting, imploring the bully’s boss, filing an HR complaint, or telling senior management — were as ineffective as doing nothing. When discrimination is part of the bullying, it does pay to use current laws (the effectiveness rises to double digits).

For the few unionized respondents, the rate was double HR’s effectiveness. The most realistic conclusion from these findings is that whatever individuals try, the chances of success are miniscule with failure hovering around 97% for most strategies.

Please sign a petition to help lyme suffers get diagnosed and treated

2013-01-31T13:03:00.003-08:00

Follow this link to sign the petition and see links below for Under Our Skin:

Reform the Infectious Disease Society of America Treatment Guidelines for Lyme Disease

"Lyme disease is at epidemic levels, posing a significant threat to public health. Lyme can lead to chronic and debilitating effects if not properly treated. Lyme is leaving masses of people in progressive states of illness and financial ruin. The Infectious Diseases Society of America's treatment guidelines
are to blame, they promote the idea that Lyme is a simple, rare illness that is easily cured with 30 days of antibiotics. This is not true. Insurance companies are denying payments for medications even when deemed medically necessary after 30 days. Doctors who treat Lyme patients are being investigated and prosecuted for not conforming to such guidelines. Please sign this petition to reform IDSA guidelines and allow doctors NOT Insurance companies, to decide what is medically necessary."

For further information on the politics of lyme, watch the movie "Under Our Skin"

Article Link ~ 5 Tough Choices You Make When Chronically Ill or In Pain

2013-01-30T10:36:00.001-08:00

I mostly skimmed this article (link here) so far, but the categories are good ones. Sick people can relate, and healthy people who are interested can get a good glimpse into some of the challenges sick people face.

There is no way to describe illness to people adequately, and there is no way to make people interested if they aren't. The choices we make regarding sharing of symptoms are important ones, and balance takes a very long time to find. And the balance changes constantly, with our symptoms impacting our ability to find each new balance a lot of the time.

These choices apply much differently at work. It is not your coworkers job to empathize, but if your
employer is accommodating your illness or disability, it is their job to understand enough to know what they should or can expect from you and what they can expect to be different. Otherwise they replace the actual situation with their own ideas of your health and abilities (based on what they see, what they believe, and their personal biases), which can be dangerous to your health if not corrected.

That's the hardest part at work---showing people who don't understand or don't believe you what you are capable of without ignoring your limitations. Even identifying the goal when you attempt to communicate about it becomes a challenge. It is not empathy or a full understanding of what your illness is like that you should expect from them; but they do need to at least acknowledge that you have a condition that your employer has chosen to or is required to work with; it is not up to them whether that should be respected on a day to day, task by task basis. They may need help from a supervisor comparing the actual impact to their work day with what they percieve it to be.

From my Facebook Page (Invisibly ~ Ill)

2012-12-13T20:51:00.001-08:00

Invisibly ~ Ill link: http://www.facebook.com/CfidsAngelBlogs

A year ~ from 'Chronic Perseverance'

2012-11-19T20:43:00.000-08:00

http://www.facebook.com/chronicperseverance

Why people don't blog about discrimination

2012-11-18T11:02:00.001-08:00

My posts mention fairly frequently the fact that personal stories can be hard to come by, particularly if you seek a particular type of story to mirror your own. In the medical on-line community, patients share stories, blog rather prolific-ly, and participate in forums and online discussions. Since disability issues quickly become legal issues, I can understand why victims are hesitant to reach out too publicly. And/or they learn the hazards of doing so fairly quickly.

I blogged quite a bit as my mental stamina improved again last year, and since I was in the middle of a horrible legal battle for my job, I created this blog to keep that negativity separate from my other blogs, which were increasingly positive and cheery as I began to get my life back (or at least a life back).

I joked over time that 'the government' (the source of my employment and issues) must be reading my blog, based partly on the type of posts that seem to get spikes in readership, and the uncanny timing those spikes also had in relationship to my then-on-going discrimination complaint process. I was purely joking, though; poking fun at the idea that they would care about my inner-most feelings and at the paranoia I'd have to embrace to really think it was true.

Unfortunately, I later found it to be true (by traumatic means I'm prohibited from discussing) and I felt very intimidated and scared. Although I don't believe I had done anything wrong, I listened to legal advice to not tempt fate. I went through this blog and turned most of my posts to 'draft' status to un-post them and/or delete them.

I felt strongly about sharing my story because as much as I dug for other people's stories, they were hard to find. But with all I'd been through, and a chance to return to work and help dig my family out of the financial abyss, I opted for self preservation. I had no reason to think my venting was helping anyone in the first place and altruism had already cost my family quite enough for the year.

I also saw things differently as my health improved, in regards to how much information to share. I'd been in patient mode, where quite a bit of detail is shared fairly freely (because the support given and received is far less valuable otherwise). I didn't know how realistic it was to even be attempting to return to work with the same people who'd destroyed my life.

A reader proficient in the EEO process may be thinking about now that the law protects complainants from retaliation. But, then, the same readers probably also recognize (consciously or otherwise) that there is no real way to prevent it and that trusting to be protected from it means placing your faith in a system you've just been or are still being failed by. It's not a wise protection to bank on when you've just had your eyes so violently opened.

As my typing this indicates, I feel safer now. Partly because most of the people responsible for my situation were suddenly gone by early summer and that others involved were no longer in as close proximity. But also because management in general has become more and more supportive over time.

Even the cynic in me would have to admit that even in the worst case scenario--say, for example, that they are only pretending to be supportive, which I don't believe is the case, but hypothetically--the result is a safer-feeling work situation. Not perfect, by any means, but steadily improving and increasingly safe. Safe for me in the context of work relates to a workplace free of emotional trauma (NOT typical workplaces stresses, mind you---trauma!) where my health can continue to improve and where I don't need to worry that my job could be taken away at any time (or that there are people with a desire to make that happen).

So, I'm not sure yet if I'll start blogging more like this or not. I think it's safer to do so. I'd like to think it is. I work for an agency full predominately of caring and amazing people. People who support me with donated leave, empathy, and friendship.

Energy not spent saving or protecting my job is energy I can spend learning to care the right amount about work so that the right amount of energy can go to my kids, my recovery (medications, symptoms, continued testing, etc.), my marriage, my girlscout troop.....friends and family that I've had virtually no emotional ability to keep up with these past couple of years.

When you are deep inside of all of this, you may not be well enough to share your story, or your inclination to share too much could be dangerous. When you're on your way out of it, it is natural to be scared to rock the boat or jeopardize the sanity you think you're about to have access to. When you're beyond it, moving on is the most tempting thing in the world.

So, in the end, I do realize the lack of abundance of personal stories is not so surprising. But, still, it's a shame. I think in at least some cases victims of discrimination could gain the same on-line benefits from one another as patients do.

But if most of us have to choose between sharing and moving on, the choice is not a hard one. In the end, I guess my hope is that the lack of stories indicates that this all passes, life goes on, and the people who found their way through are out there living life with the rest of the world.

From "Chronic Perseverance" and "Medical Identity Cards" on Facebook

2012-11-15T16:51:00.001-08:00

Chronic Perseverence

2012-11-06T21:23:00.000-08:00

From a chronic illness page on facebook worth 'liking' ~ Chronic Perseverence

And another from her page:

Found a new site ~ Working With Chronic Illness

2012-11-04T14:40:00.000-08:00

So, from time to time I still try to google for sites and stories linking working or fighting to work with a chronic illness. Most specifically, though less often than I used to, I search and search for personal stories about discrimination and this topic, scouring the internet for success stories. For people who made their way back and have something to say about it.

Most searches lead to the same list of legal resources and government or private EEO process legal documents. Nothing directly human most of the time.

This lack of story and lack of detail post-process is very understandable. When you come through it, or when you're in it, and you get to the point where you realize that all of the fears you had about who might read your blog were not paranoid (and that you weren't actually afraid enough), you tend to start taking things down. Not because it was untrue or wrong to post, but because you are prudently afraid and thoroughly familiar with the consequences that could follow. It is not worth inviting trouble and not worth further sacrificing whatever bit of your health you survived the process still in possession of.

But today, this was the first hit.

WorkingWithChronicIllness.com -thoughts on navigating your career-

"contrary to popular opinion, work can be good for your health ~ when you live with chronic illness"

I (and I would be capatalized if blogger weren't suddenly not allowing me to capitalize an I) haven't dug very far yet, but give it a try, it looks very promising!

Realistic Discrimination Survivorship

2012-11-04T13:11:00.003-08:00

It's great to be able to post about returning to work, about recovery, about gratitude for surviving a legal process related to illness and work. It's also OK to look back and say, "that was really, really wrong." It's good to be wiser for the wear and to see parallels with other injustices---to know that there is a cavernous gap between how things should work and how they do. This is not bitterness---it is life after seeing things most people only see faintly enough to be able to ignore.

Blog article link: Six Positive Professional Development Strategies for the Toxic Workplace

2012-09-09T19:00:00.000-07:00

http://www.michelemmartin.com/thebambooprojectblog/2011/08/six_positive_professional_development_strategies_for_the_toxic_workplace.html

The first two strategies from the article (based on strategies in a Psychology Today article):

1. Keep the Focus on You

As the Psychology Today article points out, it helps to start by keeping the focus on you and your responses to various situations. You can't control what other people do or say, but you can control how you respond. Recognizing this can be empowering and broaden the range of options for dealing with the situation that open themselves up to you.

I also find that when you keep the focus on you, it's easier to treat your current situation as a learning experience. You can ask yourself on a regular basis, "How can I get the most out of this situation so that I can continue to build myself for the next opportunity I decide to pursue?"

2. Reframe Your Experience

One of the most helpful things I've found in dealing with toxic situations is finding a way to reframe my experience. For me, Positive Professional Development is about finding ways to learn from what's happening to us, asking positive questions that can lead us to a different way of processing our lives. So if you're in a toxic work environment or are encountering a particular challenge, asking the right kinds of questions can help you re-frame things. Some possible questions to ask include:

What is good about this situation? What can I appreciate and focus on?
What am I focusing on in this situation and how can I focus on getting MORE of what I want, rather than less?
What do I believe is realistically possible in this situation? How can I broaden my beliefs to expand the possiblities?
What learning is available to me in this situation? How can I be open to that learning and focusing on what I can learn rather than on the negatives?
What small thing can I do to make the situation just a little easier or better?

This isn't to suggest that you should tolerate a bad situation forever, but sometimes asking these kinds of positive questions can help you begin to shift into a more positive frame of mind and, therefore, into more possibilities for dealing with the situation.

'Chris in the Morning' ~ Howl the eternal yes!

2012-09-07T22:12:00.001-07:00

One of the first things I ever heard the Chris Stevens character say, on the 90's show "Northern Exposure":

There's a dark side to each and every human soul. We wish we were Obi-Wan Kenobi, and for the most part we are, but there's a little Darth Vader in all of us. Thing is, this ain't no either-or proposition. We're talking about dialectics, the good and the bad merging into us. You can run but you can't hide. My experience? Face the darkness. Stare it down. Own it. As brother Nietzsche said, being human is a complicated gig. So give that ol' dark night of the soul a hug. Howl the eternal yes!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098878/quotes

Facebook abounds with chronic illness encouragement

2012-08-10T06:30:00.001-07:00

Another strawberry shortcake post about hope and decency

2012-08-05T21:30:00.000-07:00

Disability Discrimination: a Thing of the Past?

"The question is: what can we do to strengthen the civil rights laws currently on the books so that we all can get in the door, get on the bus, attain and maintain employment and all the other things that many feel are part of a well–rounded, meaningful life?"

There are processes in place, certainly, but how protected do these processes actually make us? Is there ever an end to the ramifications of utilizing the processes that are supposed to protect us? Employ one and you will see, subtle and non-subtle consequences will plague your every waking moment if you try to remain validly gainfully employed afterward.

These processes neither mandate nor encourage compassion, decency, respect, or fairness if you are fortunate enough to retain your job. It really doesn't matter how low you keep your head down. Nor how honest or good you are. If perceptions have already been swayed, there is no provision for correcting them. Even when some level of advocacy or communication is present, there is no venue for explaining or demonstrating your true character, nor in which it even matters.

Your hope, then, is only that much more exhausting and difficult to maintain. Without it, there's only bitterness and the danger of sinking to their level. Hope and decency are therefore such a conundrum......they are simultaneously my biggest liability and my biggest necessity. I will probably always be this cheesy, but I'd rather be cheesy and hopeful at least part of the time...it reminds that they can take just about everything and still not suck the good out of me. My clean clear conscience is such a blessing and I'm still glad I'm wired this way. I've been called too sensitive, too inclusive, too nice at times when these were all intended as accusations. The only accusations that were actually true!

Goodness

2012-07-27T21:46:00.003-07:00

"So what’s the cost of poor management? Answer: A lot."

2012-07-26T17:46:00.000-07:00

The Cost of Low Quality Management (Article on Manager by Design blog)

The Manager by Design Blog provides helpful tips for how managers can improve their people management skillsand team management skills. The blog also advocates for the new field of “Management Design,” where managers are created systematically rather than placed into an arena where they have to perform without systematic help.

But is this really needed? Aren’t managers performing well already? Do managers need to improve how they perform?

Here’s a survey of some recent articles that discuss this very topic. Warning: It may not be pretty.

Poor Managers may cause illness and heart attacks: According to a recent study in Sweden, poor management increases both the amount of sick leave and creates a greater risk of heart attack. Conversely, those with good managers had less sick time. More info can be found here.

Poor Managers hurt productivity and profitability: In 2004, an ongoing Gallup survey that indicates poorly managed workgroups are an average of 50% less productive and 44% less profitable than their well-managed counterparts. (Cited here and here ) and in the May 1, 2005 edition of HR Focus.

Poor managers cause underperformance: An October 14, 2003 article in Personnel Today provides many statistics about the impact of poor management on performance. Some highlights: A survey by HR consultancy Cubiks showed 70% of survey respondents cited poor quality of line management caused them to underperform on a professional level. Personnel Today’s survey showed 73% of HR professionals are “concerned about the capabilities of their line managers.” (my emphasis)

Note: How does this translate to middle and upper management? When did the line managers suddenly get better at managing when they get to the next level? Or are good middle and upper managers suddenly appearing from other sources, such as MBA schools or Consulting Firms?

Poor Managers promote conflict: In its September 22, 2003 edition, Personnel Today cited a survey by Monster.comthat showed that bad management is the number one reason people lose their temper at work, with 39%. Lack of career advancement was the second most cited reason (30%).

People leave their job because of poor managers: It is often cited that people leave bad managers. According toThe 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave: How to Recognize the Subtle Signs and Act Before It’s Too Late
, it appears that the number is 70% — that is, 70% of employees leave their jobs related to controllable factors by the job supervisor. Yikes!

Bad bosses do things that very directly cause misery in the workplace: Here’s a study by FSU that provides more detail on what bosses do to make work miserable. For example, many employees report poor boss behaviors such as receiving the “silent treatment”, not keeping promises, making negative comments about employees to others, and blaming others.

Note: This is the bad stuff. I’m sure more research could be done on the lack of good stuff. What are the costs of not creating an effective team environment, not providing expectations for performance, or not providing quality performance feedback? Let alone the more advanced skills (‘style points’ as I call them) of fostering career development or strategically filling future performance needs.

Poor leadership costs a lot of money with each departed employee: An excellent article on Badbossology.comgoes through the costs entailed for having to replace employees. The example provided shows it easily costs at least $40,000 for a $65,000 per year engineer – before that new engineer walks through the door. So assume more costs in getting that engineer up to speed. Given that we can estimate that about 70% of attrition is caused by poor management, you can do the math for your own company.

Poor quality management has an impact on the Gross Domestic Product: According to a 2004 article by Laurence Karsh in Inc. Magazine, the United States was devoting in 2004 about 1% of the GDP to correct poor hiring and people management. Since we can assume that investments to solve poor management practices are less than the actual costs of poor quality (would companies invest more to solve the problem than the costs of the problem?), we can estimate that the actual cost of poor people management is greater than 1% of the US GDP, or about 142.5 billion dollars. So there’s an estimate of the cost of poor managers.

So what’s the cost of poor management? Answer: A lot.

There are huge monetary and human costs associated with poor management and poor leadership. This gap in managerial quality should be seen as an ongoing opportunity to improve the workplace, employee experience, and fiscal returns.

The emerging field of Management Design aims at systematically creating great managers with sustainable systems rather than waiting for them to adopt strong (or at least non-damaging) practices.

The Manager by Design blog provides twice-weekly people management tips and discussion on the emerging field of Management Design. If you are looking for ideas on how to be a better manager of people and teams, subscribe to Manager by Design by Email or RSS.

Twitter encouragement (lobsterquotes)

2012-07-19T20:02:00.002-07:00

@lobsterquotes

Courage is not the lack of fear but the ability to face it~John B. Putnam Jr.

Don’t look further for answers: be the solution. You were born with everything you need to know~Ellerby

Bread and Roses, Employment and Chronic Illness Blog

Mediation versus resolution: don't expect more than mediation can really give you

"Adjustments" and being happy: Sam Berns

Happy New Year ~ Hang in there!

As relevant to work as to the rest of life

Do the right thing always, but prepare yourself for the cost

More shares from Chronic Perseverance

More from Chronic Perseverance

Dealing with a workplace bully yourself is ineffective 97% of the time

Please sign a petition to help lyme suffers get diagnosed and treated

Reform the Infectious Disease Society of America Treatment Guidelines for Lyme Disease

Article Link ~ 5 Tough Choices You Make When Chronically Ill or In Pain

From my Facebook Page (Invisibly ~ Ill)

Top posts today on Chronic Perseverance (an inspiring facebook page)

Chronic Perseverance

Chronic Perseverance

Chronic Perseverance

Chronic Perseverance

Chronic Perseverance

A year ~ from 'Chronic Perseverance'

Why people don't blog about discrimination

From "Chronic Perseverance" and "Medical Identity Cards" on Facebook

Chronic Perseverence

Found a new site ~ Working With Chronic Illness

Realistic Discrimination Survivorship

Blog article link: Six Positive Professional Development Strategies for the Toxic Workplace

'Chris in the Morning' ~ Howl the eternal yes!

Facebook abounds with chronic illness encouragement

Another strawberry shortcake post about hope and decency

Goodness

"So what’s the cost of poor management? Answer: A lot."

The Cost of Low Quality Management (Article on Manager by Design blog)

Twitter encouragement (lobsterquotes)