Passive-Aggressive Communication is one of the main causes and manifestions of dysfunctional workplaces. Harmed employees note that one of their main areas of worry and rumination is trying to strategize responses to sarcastic statements, barbs, and other forms of ambivalently harmful communication. The following titles share strategies that may support, cultivate, or model clear communication […]
Book Haul: Clear Communication Read More »
As a graduate of the 2008 Minnesota Institute for Early Career Librarians (MIECL), I am excited to share that I’ll be returning to co-lead the 2026 Institute with Pamela Espinosa de los Monteros, and with support from past co-lead faculty Ione T. Damasco. Scheduled for July 12 – 15, 2026, MIECL is an intensive four-day leadership
Reserved: 2026 Minnesota Institute for Early Career Librarians Read More »
Renewals continues to refine efforts to create community and share practices that interrupt and reduce workplace harm. To that end, I’m vibrating with excitement to announce the next Reset Experience! Tentatively slated for early 2026, the two-hour community-centered event will offer dedicated time for attendees to explore strategies to confront and/or recover from workplace harm.
Revealed: The Reset Experience (Winter 2026) Read More »
Just last week I offered a keynote at the 2025 Library Marketing and Communications Conference (LMCC 2025). While it took place in-person in St. Louis, Missouri, just steps from the Gateway Arch, late-breaking Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) flight reductions connected to the Federal goverment shutdown (along with unexpected caregiving duties) interrupted my planned trip to
In January 2026, I’m scheduled to teach my original course, “Critical Hope & Self-Preservation in Contemporary Librarianship” (LIS 805) for Dominican University’s School of Information Studies (DU SOIS). The fully asynchronous 8-week course offers currently enrolled DU SOIS students an opportunity to earn 3 graduate credit hours. During the two-month intensive course, students will explore
Ongoing exposure to workplace harm, unclear communication tactics, and constant organizational change will result in increased feelings of uncertainty and mistrust, and in the absence of clear directives and/or outcomes, we’re more likely to create internal narratives that may protect us in the short term, but that also decrease our ability to identify positive opportunities
Book Haul: Shifting Perspective Read More »
I’m so excited to share that for the second year in a row, I’ve been selected to facilitate the Virginia Library Association’s Library Leadership Academy (VALLA)! The intensive and intentional 2.5 day program is scheduled for March 22-25, 2026, and anticipates a cohort of over twenty emerging or developing library leaders from Virginia libraries. Applications
Reserved: 2026 Virginia Library Leadership Academy Read More »
While reviewing data I’ve received during participant interviews for my low-morale experience studies and from respondents to my ongoing data collection projects, I’ve noticed recurring acts that interrupt employee success and engagement. As I categorized them in groups, I eventually placed them under the broad concept of what I call GOTCHA Culture: workplace environments characterized
Employee Success, Interrupted: Recognizing GOTCHA Workplaces, Part 2 Read More »
Last year on Renewals’ Instagram channel, I started a Reels Series titled “Grieving During Low-Morale Experiences.” In the series, I shared 5 short videos discussing various channels/causes of grieving for people facing or recovering from workplace abuse and neglect. Following are the linked videos for your review. Part 1: Grieving the job you thought you’d
Recap: Grieving During Low-Morale Experiences (2024) Read More »
[A] newly promoted assistant manager, chosen by my most recent predecessor who stepped down but was still in the department, often told our shared staff that they should trust me, then proceeded to undermine me by giving them an outlet to complain about me instead of engaging me in conversation. – Respondent, Legacy Toxicity in
Employee Success, Interrupted: Recognizing GOTCHA Workplaces, Part 1 Read More »