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Author Archive for Lisa Rokusek

Lisa lives and works in the city of St. Louis, and is striving to develop the right mix of both while asking herself what it means to live a good life. She has worked as a recruiter for well over a decade, and has amassed some wisdom as well as the mandatory bumps and bruises. If you, or anyone you know, has employment search questions give her a ping - she is reasonably well networked and happy to share tips for navigating the job search highway, especially in this economy. You can also follow her on twitter http://www.twitter.com/lisarokusek

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Kodachrome
By Lisa Rokusek on July 29th, 2009

Kodachrome

You give us those nice bright colors
You give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world’s a sunny day, oh yeah!
I got a Nikon camera I love to take a photograph
So Mama, don’t take my Kodachrome away - Paul Simon

Sometimes we love a moment so much that it hurts to think about it ending, so we cling to it. We long to capture our present and preserve it, keep it from changing – like taking a picture. Sometimes it isn’t love that makes us grasp at a moment, but the fear of what might come next. We crave fixity, when everything around us is in flux.

Maybe I am alone in that need, but I don’t think so.

Regardless of the reason, I think much suffering comes from clinging to what is known, what is familiar, to who we are at any given time. Life feels so much more manageable when we have planned out what will happen and prevented the unexpected, when we are safe.

It doesn’t work that way, of course.

Life is change. Nothing is guaranteed, nothing is static. Stuff happens. We become who we are and who we will be through a process of beginnings and endings. Facing that reality can be frightening, its no wonder we sometimes attempt to capture where we are under glass.

Featured • Meaning of Life • photography
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Compassion As Discipline
By Lisa Rokusek on March 01st, 2009

Compassion As Discipline

“True compassion is not just an emotional response but a firm commitment founded on reason.” - HH, the Dalai Lama

Think of people as a cross between ants and marbles constantly moving in somewhat random patterns. A mass of movement, whirring about, jostling for position and direction going about our business of motion. Sometimes we bump into each other and those bumps impact direction and velocity. When we bump, it is a function of being in the right place at the right time to have whatever impact we do. We go about our days, bumping into other marbles in the checkout line, while making lane changes, and while making a living. Many contacts happen without us being aware of them, without thinking. People often have tunnel vision and are focused only on our own paths. The reality is, though, that the opportunity for real connection is always there, we simply must expect it from ourselves. Even amidst seemingly random patterns we can choose to forge bonds with each other, but we must be committed to seeing other people with compassion.

One day I was on my way to the grocery store to pick up a prescription. It was a gray, blustery day. Traffic in the parking lot was horrible, and I could see an even more frustrating backup while a car inexplicably sat in the way of any traffic in any direction. I hate that. I was not in the best of moods that day, and after I waited five long minutes I got out of my car and walked to the head of the line, which was now edging out into the street. I gestured at the driver and at that moment a man walked out of the store and headed over to the waiting car. He asked me what my problem was, and I said that I was going to ask her to move the car so the traffic could pass. I was on my best behavior, I was professional, pleasant, not at all nasty. I really didn’t expect the vitriol that spewed from his mouth at me. I can’t remember the details but I remember my reaction. Instead of flinching back I took a step forward, straightened my posture, stuck out my chin, and said his attack was unnecessary. He then said, “What are you going to do, hit me? You big dyke.” Bizarre. I am anything but big. I am a little thing, even if I am strong, and I don’t necessarily transmit dykeness, at least that is what folks tell me. I was really taken aback . . .

Communication • Culture • Featured • Inspirational • Meaning of Life • Religion
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Control Your Controllables
By Lisa Rokusek on February 08th, 2009

Control Your Controllables

One of my favorite economist reads, Paul Kedrosky, directed me to this image, which is from another excellent financial analysis blog done by Susan Woodward and Robert Hall. This is a comparison of labor numbers from now and 1981 rescaled to the size of today’s labor force. Stunning.

For those of you who, like me, were still in high school in 1981 - it was the biggest recession we have had in the US since the Great Depression. Not pretty. The graph shows us a partial image of how painful events are right now. Many people have lost homes, many are without work, and I have a feeling it is going to get worse before it gets better. There is a lot of suffering out there. I get a lot of calls from desperate people who are trying to put on a brave face. Sometimes I feel like I am barely hanging on to my life raft and folks are pulling on my legs to clamber on.

In the midst of all this turmoil, with so much personal pain around me, how do I keep steady?

American Culture • Culture • Current Events • Economy • Featured • Meaning of Life • Psychology Cognition • Uncategorized
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Think Like a Headhunter, Maximize Your Odds & Stand Out.
By Lisa Rokusek on January 17th, 2009

Think Like a Headhunter, Maximize Your Odds & Stand Out.

I am a recruiter, or if you prefer, a headhunter. As I joke on my Linkedin profile, I don’t get too wrapped up in titles. I find and deliver specific talent to companies. In essence, I sell people to other people to pay my mortgage. While I make an important distinction between finding people jobs and finding talent for companies (disclosure: the companies pay my fees), I think a recruiter’s unique perspective can inform and assist folks looking for new opportunities. When people ask me what I do for work, I joke that I gamble for a living, but it is closer to the truth to say I constantly search for ways to maximize the odds of my own success, and so should every job seeker.

Searches I take on are often contingency searches, which means I only get paid when I present the winning candidate and the company successfully hires them,so I am careful where I spend my time. This is one of the first things I want to share with folks looking for a job: The person you contact matters, the way you make contact matters, and your presentation matters. Lots of layoffs are taking place, and the first reaction is often panic, fear, and gloom. One might feel like wallpapering every available surface with a resume and cover letter, but honestly that isn’t going to help.

American Culture • Communication • Current Events • Economy • Featured • Uncategorized
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By Lisa Rokusek on January 12th, 2009

virtual worlds collide

Last month I took a trip to Portland, OR. I fell in love with the city, the people and the energy. I met some cool people.  I saw a great deal of collaboration and people actively engaged in the community around them. One of the groups was a group of bloggers that met to help [...]

American Culture • Communication • Culture • Media • Technology
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Don’t Scratch That Itch.
By Lisa Rokusek on January 07th, 2009

Don’t Scratch That Itch.

I am sitting cross legged on a pillow on the floor, which I try to do daily these days, when my cheek begins to itch. A 20 minute daily sitting meditation has, over the past year, become more routine for me. I sit focused on my breath. I am my breath, in, out, not controlling, [...]

American Culture • Culture • Good and Evil • Psychology Cognition • ignorance
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By Lisa Rokusek on October 29th, 2008

The other O’Reilly

Tim O’Reilly (the technology book publishing O’Reilly) lines out his technology focused assessment of why he is supporting Obama in this post on his blog.
We are in unprecedented times. And folks, I’m sorry to say that the current financial meltdown is not the worst of it. Political instability around the world, wars over access to [...]

Politics • Technology
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By Lisa Rokusek on October 24th, 2008

Pallin’ around with…huh?

I am not sure what is more troubling - Palin dodging this question, or doing it sitting right next to John McCain. Anyone else think they see the realization that his campaign is hurtling over the bridge to nowhere flash over his face?  Perhaps I am imagining things.
This is appalling. Blowing up  abortion clinics does [...]

Bigotry • Current Events • Good and Evil • Politics • ignorance
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people like us, dear
By Lisa Rokusek on October 01st, 2008

people like us, dear

It is often hard to be a person on the planet Earth. It can be scary, overwhelming, fraught with obstacles, and most of all, inescapably lonely. We are, after all, alone in our minds, our bodies, and our selves. I think most all of the stuff we do as people - creating, building, loving, consuming [...]

American Culture • Civil Rights • Communication • Consumerism • Culture • Current Events • Good and Evil • Meaning of Life • Politics • Religion • Uncategorized • Writing
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walls fall down
By Lisa Rokusek on September 29th, 2008

walls fall down

The world seems to have gone mad. Not really of course, but it there are times it feels that way, what with the financial meltdown, an incredibly bizarre VP choice, and the finality of no more WAMU commercials, ever.  Crazy times. Scary times.  Periodically I look out my window to see if the Mississippi has [...]

Consumerism • Culture • Current Events • Economy • Meaning of Life • Whimsy
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By Lisa Rokusek on March 15th, 2008

Separating virtual wheat from chaff

As usual my head is abuzz with the social media explosion and the impact technology has on my world. While communication has always been a part of the technology, folks that barely own computers are becoming familiar with Linkedin, Facebook, myspace, and twitter.  iPhones are being advertised so deliciously on television ads that my lust [...]

American Culture • Communication • Entertainment • Meaning of Life • Software • Technology • Web Site
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By Lisa Rokusek on February 25th, 2008

What does enough look like?

I love being a recruiter as a way to make a living. It is a fantastic mix of detective work, rapport building, conflict resolution, understanding and differentiation. In our new information age I can do it from anywhere, and that is just cool as it can be. My career fits me well, and I find it immensely rewarding when things go well, and probably learn even more when they do not.

I left my company and went out on my own because I felt like like my life was terribly out of balance. Yes part of it was the oppressive and abusive atmosphere coupled with the rampant disrespect, but all of that negativity really just made me more aware that I was following a path that wasn’t consistent with how I wanted to live. I found myself dreaming of a life where where kindness, compassion, and mutual respect formed the ground rules and, ultimately, where I could feel like I “made a difference” to the world as a whole. That life looked so far away from what I was living that it seemed like a fairy tale. When I stopped and looked at the distance between the life I was living and the life I wanted, I got scared. I also got busy figuring out a way to escape. It is not that I am against working smart and making money. I had that discussion with myself years and years ago, and I decided then that I can do more for the world with some cash than without it. But the truth was I was exhausted mentally, physically and emotionally from an environment that had become combative and very dark. I wasn’t doing anything for myself, not to mention anyone else.

Consumerism • Culture • Meaning of Life
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By Lisa Rokusek on February 06th, 2008

Science - it is not just for the classroom anymore.

I believe that a strong foundation of critical thinking, innovation, curiousity about the natural world, rigorous adherence to non-biased exploration, and a bent toward problem solving is part of what has made our country great. I think science, when at its best, fosters those characteristics, and can help us continue on a forward path. [...]

Uncategorized
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