Ronna Jojola

Location: USA

Job: Deputy City Clerk for the city of Palo Alto

Club Member Since: 2012

Favourite Feature: Forums

Ronna Jojola is a very busy person, with a job in public administration and a family to raise. She's also studying for a degree, so she doesn't have a lot of spare time. This raised doubts for her when she first stumbled across Mind Tools.

"I ran into a great article and signed up for the newsletter, which is really, really good. I wanted to join the Club but my biggest concern was whether I'd have the time to really use the tools. Should I wait until after I graduated college to join?" she says.

Ronna decided to give it a go and discovered there was plenty to be gained from membership, even for people short of time.

"It really surprised me how rich the forums are," she says. "They are very active and the variety of information that's on the forums is tremendous. It's not just a bunch of people complaining about their bosses or their direct reports."

In fact, the richness of the forums has had a direct impact on Ronna's work life.

"There's a great level of participation from not only the Mind Tools team but also those of us who are just members. I feel like I have a whole new group of peers who can help me if I run into a situation at work that I don't have an answer for," she explains.

While the forums offer valuable support, Ronna has found additional benefits elsewhere in the Club.

"There's so much information on the website, there's something for everybody," she says. "One of my favorite things that I've learned through Mind Tools, but not directly on Mind Tools, is the concept of workplace rebels. It really fit in with who I am and what my working style is. Though Mind Tools I was actually able to develop that into a concept for my day-to-day workplace which makes me more comfortable at work and enables me to communicate my working style better with my coworkers, so I'm more effective."

Ronna is still short of time, but with the help of the Club, she's put what little spare time she has to good use – to the benefit of her organization as well as her career.

"I think everyone who's in business should join Mind Tools, I really do," she asserts. "What it brings to my participation in my organization is really tremendous. Even if I'm not signing on to the website every day, or as much as I would like to, when I do every single time I get something that I can take back and use for my career, in the way that I manage my direct reports and the way that I manage the relationship with my boss."

Listen to Ronna talking about the Club:

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