Blog Posts

There is insurmountable evidence that being optimistic about life has many benefits, not just for your mental health, but also for your physical well-being.  Countless research studies have demonstrated that if one becomes more optimistic, one’s life will improve in myriad ways.  These same studies have shown that you are even more likely to live longer if you are more hopeful and positive. Among these benefits of being optimistic are:   1. Optimists Are Happier. It may seem painfully obvious that an optimist would be happier than a pessimist, but it is still worth mentioning.  Optimists are ...

Promoting connection is likely not part of your organization’s mission statement, but much research has proven that your organization would benefit if connection was an integral part of your culture.  According to a recent study by Blueboard, 95% of HR Leaders agreed that human connection in the workplace is critical for talent attraction and talent retention.  Furthermore, employees wholeheartedly agreed, with 77% stating that they want to work for an organization where they feel connected to both the organization’s purpose and people. Fundamentally, humans are social creatures, and as such, are fulfilled by connection with others.  And ...

Are you nervous before you speak in public? Sweating, shaking, panic-stricken, and fervently wishing you were anywhere else in the world but here? You are not alone.  Countless people all over the world share this same fear.  I even know extremely talented people who avoid public speaking opportunities simply because they do not want to experience the sheer anxiety leading up to the event. The official name of this fear is glossophobia.  I call it “throw-up nervous,” because so many people do just that because of that aforementioned fear, misery, and anxiety.  In fact, 77% of ...

Every culture has its own unique idioms and proverbs and many can be taken to heart about that culture’s customs, beliefs, and ways of being.  An idiom is a turn of a phrase that utilizes a figure of speech to make an exact point (e.g.  “They really rubbed me the wrong way”), while a proverb is a brief and pithy saying that points to a rudimentary piece of advice (e.g.  “Don’t cry over spilled milk”). The Japanese culture contains some very colorful idioms thought to be conveyed by deities through oracles.  It also has ...

Putin had the arrogant feeling that he could snuff out the character of Ukraine and its people.  The palpable irony is that Putin’s cowardly invasion of Ukraine has had the opposite effect, illuminating the resilience, strength, and pride of the Ukrainian people.  Moreover, Putin assumed his massive army would quickly roll over the Ukrainian forces.  Again, Putin was grossly mistaken and now finds himself and his military stuck, facing a fierce and wonderfully stubborn Ukrainian defense. I’ve always believed that, in the end, bullies eventually get what they deserve.  Putin has and will. The great ...

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), handwashing is one of the most effective means of preventing deadly infectious diseases.  Simply put, handwashing saves lives.  As such, let’s celebrate the importance of handwashing this week. It has been repeatedly proven that correct handwashing not only reduces the spread of flu, colds, and infectious diarrhea, but also eliminates the spread of antibiotic-resistant germs and very serious potentially life-threatening diseases like hepatitis, tuberculosis, and respiratory infections.  The reason is that most germs are transmitted through hand-to-hand contact.  Sadly, here is how it works: A sick person sneezes, ...

Several weeks ago, I had the honor of delivering a Keynote Speech at a Human Resources conference in Huntsville, Alabama, somewhere I had never been.   Prior to the event, I interacted with several of the other speakers for the event.  Sadly, two of them began making fun of us going to rural Alabama, claiming that we would be meeting and presenting to “a bunch of rednecks and hillbillies.”  I found this prejudgment incredibly unfair and unjust.  The rest of this story is both highly ironic and full of Karma. Upon arriving in Huntsville, banner signs ...

I am still adjusting to my new environment here in Florida.  As such, something very funny happened the other day, illuminating the fact that I am still acclimating to my new place and climate. Every day, I go for walks around the lagoon my place looks out on.  On any given walk, I see 40-50 little lizards that scurry across the sidewalk in front of me.  One day, when returning to my air-conditioned townhome, I saw one of these creatures race across my living room floor.  Moving to my hands and knees, I cluelessly tried to ...

I recently moved from Illinois to Florida.  No one likes a move.  As such, you want to make sure you hire the right Moving/Van Line company.  If you don’t, your move will quickly go from bad to unbearable.  Unfortunately, I did not and had an absolutely horrific experience with Bekins/Boyer-Rosene Moving & Storage, Inc. and will never hire them again. Here is what went wrong and an outline of my terrible experience with Bekins: The representative who sold me their services (Dean) was very prompt in returning my messages during the sales process, and all ...

I have always appreciated the power of LinkedIn.  As “luck” would have it, I knew one of the Founders of LinkedIn when they were first formed.  As such, I was their 7,000th member and this is how I quickly reached the 30,000 maximum LinkedIn connections; there are now over 740 million members. I am now ready to take a big step in leveraging and helping these contacts, offering to write recommendations for them, if they would do so for me. So, what do you say?  Please let me know if you are up for doing this to help each other.  Email me at kevin@kevinsheridanllc.com ...

9 Tips For Awesome Onboarding Fully 64% of employees will leave a job within a year due to bad onboarding.1  In addition, 35% of HR Managers report that remote recruiting and onboarding has become more difficult during Covid, due to a lack of relationship-building opportunities and the increasing challenge for new hires to understand and accept company culture.2 With recruiting and hiring set to accelerate in the upcoming months, as well as the reality that many employees will continue to work from home, there will and should be a new emphasis on great remote onboarding. 9 Tips ...

When I published my Six-time Best-Seller, Building A Magnetic Culture back in 2011, the statistical breakdown of Employee Engagement was as follows: The statistics have not changed much since then, with the middle category of Not Engaged/Not Disengaged remaining the largest of the three categories.  When people see the size of that middle category, they tend to be surprised.  After working as a Management Consultant in the field of Employee Engagement for over 35 years, I discovered that one of the main reasons so many workers are not engaged is that they are simply in the wrong job....

Kevin has been described as “the speaker of the year,” “intellectually and emotionally engaging with relevant, actionable, best practice ideas,” and “the most exceptional motivational speaker we’ve ever heard.” Below are just a few of the reasons why Kevin has become a favorite among meeting/event planners and a trusted partner for speaker bureaus and corporate executives: 1. Kevin brings sheer energy to the event. Every time he takes the stage or leads a Podcast, he is passionate about his delivery.   2. Kevin is first and foremost, a teacher. Every participant will leave the event with previously undiscovered ideas and the best ...