In this issue
	Kutztown SBDC News Confronting the Fear of Failure by Mel Payne Growing Pains By Dan Goldberg Humor Resources by Lee Smedley Workforce Planning by Pam Gockley

Confronting the Fear of Failure by Mel Payne

Failure is one of the "dirtiest" words in our society - including all the four letter words. Many people would rather be odd, hostile, overworked or many other "terrible" things than be seen as a failure. With the tremendous stress we place on success, this isn't surprising. After all, successful people are winners aren't they? People feel sorry for losers and no one wants to be pitied. At the same time, we are constantly bombarded with truisms to make us feel better after an apparent failure. These are phrases such as, "We learn from our mistakes, you can't win them all, everybody's wrong sometimes" - but these don't really help. Click here for the complete story and info about Mel. »

Growing Pains By Dan Goldberg

Oh the temptation to grow! Ah the glory of expansion! It usually begins likes this. You start getting very busy. Cash flow is up and so are your profits. Soon you're hearing how great you are and start believing that when it comes to the business, you've got the "magic touch". Since it seems like everything is going your way, you begin to think you're a business super hero. For many entrepreneurs/small business owners and practitioners, this is a pretty common scenario. The fact is, you may be great at what you're doing and in reality, are doing quite well, but that doesn't necessarily mean that if you begin an aggressive expansion program your success will continue at an unprecedented pace. Click here for the complete story and info about Dan. »

Humor Resources by Lee Smedley

Is anyone feeling cheerful at work these days? If you are, it could be because (a) you like what you're doing (b) you feel appreciated for your work or (c) your work culture supports a good sense of humor. If you're not, you need to harness the power of your "humor" resources. When employees at all organizational levels inject their sense of humor in the workplace they are doing much more than simply putting a smile on our faces. They loosen us up to work more creatively and speak more candidly. We increase our focus, Click here for the complete article and info about Lee. »

Workforce Planning by Pam Gockley

One-quarter of organizations surveyed (26%) say they currently have workforce-planning measures in place. Among this group only 31% benchmark their workforce planning against other organizations. The data was collected by telephone interviews with 250 hiring managers and 200 job seekers in the New York metropolitan area. Job seekers are defined as those who are currently looking or plan to look for a new job in the next six months. Click here for the complete article and info about Pam. »