On Careers
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When You Are Down, Depressed, and Angry
Continue reading… 0 CommentsI am with you ... sometimes "it all" makes me want to kick a small animal. (Jk, PETA, jk. A figure of speech.)
Here's what to do instead:
Don't wallow in it. Maybe you are the kind of person who loves to stand around and play: "Ain't it awful, ain't it awful?" or, worse, its cousin: "(insert names here) are just stupid and awful." That's fine. I just know that when I do that—when I speak ill of something or someone—I feel diminished and worse. If you think it's "venting" and therefore good for you, great. Do it by yourself.
Self-talk and good stories: We all know someone whom we can call because they are like sunshine pumps for us. They pump sunshine into our lives and actions. Call them ... or even better, resolve to be one yourself. It's counterintuitive, maybe. Nothing works faster than being extra nice today. Go out of your way to pass along a compliment on a job well done, smile more, give bigger tips, and be extra polite.
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Lessons From the Mets' Historic Collapse...Again
Continue reading… 4 CommentsFor the second consecutive season, the New York Mets have failed in the clutch, coughing up an opportunity to advance to the playoffs. This has led sports pundits and media talking heads to speculate on personnel changes, even a full-blown team overhaul. As sports fans are already aware, this is highly unlikely because (a) players are bound by contracts, (b) good talent is hard to find, and (c) the Mets will fill the stadium next year regardless of who is on the team.
Good leaders never point fingers (at least publicly), but they are able to identify the problem and repair it. Only fools make the same mistake over and over again. And unfortunately for the Mets and their ownership, they are repeat offenders. Sure, several changes were made: a new midseason manager, rookie call-ups, and the signing of an absolute stud of a pitcher in Johan Santana. And yes, they were plagued by injuries (but what team isn't?). The bottom line is that the core of the team is the same and so is the result.
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Help! I'm Being Micromanaged!
Continue reading… 2 CommentsOne of the most common complaints that people have about their boss is that they're being micromanaged—their work is being overly scrutinized, the boss is checking up on things they don't need to check up on, and they generally feel they're not trusted.
First, let's define micromanagement. There's a difference between hands-on management and micromanagement. A micromanager dictates exactly how to do something and watches over every little step in the process, refusing to truly delegate any decisions—and, in the process, lowers morale and productivity. But good hands-on managers do get heavily involved in ensuring that employees are clear on the desired outcomes, and they do check in on progress (so that employees can make needed adjustments before it's too late). So, don't confuse being hands-on with micromanaging.
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10 Phrases You Should Never Say in Business
Continue reading… 3 CommentsThere are certain words and phrases that can trigger the rapid loss of points during a job interview or meeting. While this may not always occur, these terms have such frequent side effects that they should be avoided.
1. "The bottom line." Effective when first uttered, it is now two steps removed from "Great Caesar's ghost!"
2. "Walk the talk." Another clunker. If I received royalties for every time the talk has been walked—or at least taken out for a short stroll—at diversity conferences, this post would be coming from Maui.
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Performance Appraisals: How to Make Them Easy
Continue reading… 3 CommentsI know that companies are always trying to get you to set goals in categories like "Trust" and "Teamwork" and "Leadership." Those are gushy little categories that leadership teams just love, but for managers it's a huge pain. Since I promised to make your next year's performance appraisal writing a snap, I'll tell you how to set goals so that the appraisal just falls into place.
A typical goal for teamwork would read something like this: "Suzanne will work with her team members to successfully execute all necessary tasks. She will collaborate with her coworkers in order to increase the departmental knowledge base and facilitate the timely completion of projects."
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How to Overcome the Voice of Judgment
Continue reading… 0 CommentsWhen you think about pursuing your dreams, do you ever hear the "voice of judgment"? It's that snide little voice saying, "yeah, right," and giving a negative spin to whatever you're looking at.
That voice is far too common, and it can be a huge obstacle to creating our dreams. Most of us have it hanging over our heads in some way, limiting what's possible.
Maybe it's a constant feeling that what we do is never quite good enough (shades of perfectionism). Maybe it's a judgment about the path we'd like to take but won't let ourselves even consider (what would people think?). We're constantly judging ourselves, others, and the world around us, and often it's completely counterproductive.
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Is Telecommuting Risky?
Continue reading… 0 CommentsIt's a dicey economy. And if you are a telecommuter, you may be at special risk.
Fact 1: In these days of economic uncertainty, everybody is looking for ways to cut back. That everybody may include your employer.
Fact 2: Employers are only human. Humans tend to take the easy way out. And it's easier to lay off someone you only see rarely than to lay off someone you see every day and who has become an integral part of your work life.
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How You Can Support Entrepreneurs
Continue reading… 0 CommentsMuch has been said lately about how entrepreneurship is one of the strengths of our economy. I agree.
In every community, small and large, entrepreneurs are creating new products and services. The process of doing this is dirty, hard work.
The public sees the resulting success or failure much later, after the entrepreneur has adjusted and allowed market forces to refine and correct his original ideas. Some fail. For those who succeed, it is easy to look at such success and say, "Well, that was obvious." No, it wasn't.
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What to Do About a Bad Reference
Continue reading… 11 CommentsOne of the most common questions I receive over at Ask a Manager is what to do about a previous boss who is likely to give you a bad reference.
First, yes, it's legal for an employer to give a negative reference as long as it's factually accurate. It's true that some companies have policies that they will only confirm dates of employment and job duties and will not comment on the employee's performance—but (a) these policies are simply policies, not the law, and (b) good reference-checkers know how to get around them, by asking the candidate to arrange a direct call with the candidate's former manager.
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Seduced by Job Title Glitz
Continue reading… 1 CommentIt has been said that much more pleasure can be found in being the one who tells the lawyer to prepare the necessary papers than in being the one who has to prepare them. That hard truth is acquired, often too late, by many a young attorney who entered law school with visions of being the next Atticus Finch or Clarence Darrow.
The image doesn't match the substance of many a job. The romantic view of the cowboy masks low pay, hard work, and the questionable pleasure of dealing with cattle, storms, and barbed wire. Another celebrity job group—writers—soon discover they have to hold down a regular job to pay the bills and that their leverage with publishing firms possesses echoes of the farm workers in The Grapes of Wrath.
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How to Write Performance Appraisals
Continue reading… 6 CommentsI hate performance appraisals with a burning passion. I hate giving them—I hate receiving them. I just hate them. When they involve me, that is. For everyone else, I think they are fabulous and should be done more often.
I think I'm not alone in my feelings. Many people face performance appraisal season with dread and fear. This is largely because managers haven't been preparing for this all year. They just go along hoping that they'll find new jobs before performance appraisal time. But, alas, year end is creeping up, and you haven't gotten yourself fired, so you have to write and give the darn things. If you've been a slacker throughout the year in tracking your direct reports' actions, here are some tips for writing your appraisals:
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The Enormous Upside of Risk
Continue reading… 1 CommentIf there's one way to make sure the energy in your life seeps away in ever-downward spiral, it's to always play it safe.
When you play it safe, you stick with what's known. You don't venture outside your current comfort bubble, because "out there" lurks uncertainty and doubt. You don't want to risk trying something and stumbling, or worse yet, failing completely. And so you coast along on autopilot.
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How to Destroy a Job Interview
Continue reading… 9 CommentsYou arrive on time, dressed to fit in, thoroughly informed about the company and armed with answers to questions such as, "What are your greatest weaknesses?"
However, there is still one big thing you can do to destroy your job interview.
You can talk too much.
It's a real interview killer. Babbling turns off hiring managers! It gives them less time to get through their lists of questions. It makes them wonder what it would be like to work with you all day. It dilutes your message. Worse, you risk boring your interviewer.
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Letter to Employees on What Lehman Means for Us
Continue reading… 3 CommentsDear Employee,
If you are like me, last night you watched the bad news from Wall Street. It was sad seeing all those people lose their jobs.
After the news shows ended, and after we heard how the Lehman-Merrill Lynch-AIG problem would no doubt lead to all sorts of future financial problems for the U.S.A.—and indeed the whole world, don'tcha know?—you probably started to think about how this mess would affect our company.
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How to Play the Post-Interview Waiting Game
Continue reading… 7 CommentsSo you had the job interview, things seemed to go well, and you left expecting that you would hear back soon. But now...silence. And you're left waiting around with no idea of when or if you'll hear from them.
It's not at all unusual for the hiring process to take longer than a candidate would like, for all sorts of reasons: Decision makers are out of town, scheduling conflicts are delaying a final interview, the bureaucracy necessary to finalize an offer takes weeks to work through (not necessarily a great sign about the work environment, but that's a different topic), and so forth.
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They Will Talk About You When You're Gone
Continue reading… 0 CommentsHis name echoes throughout the hallway at work, spoken as if he were a celebrity, royalty, infamous. Even though he put his two weeks' notice in two years ago, he is spoken about as if he were still part of the team. Yes, it's fair to say that Ant, a former programmer at my current gig, sewed himself into the fabric of my corporation.
Since Ant had the unique opportunity to code an entire website on his own—and not explain to anyone what he did—he certainly left his mark.
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The Leader
Continue reading… 0 CommentsHe always joked that if you glanced into a room where he was meeting with his associates and were asked to guess which one was the department director, he'd be the last person you'd pick.
That was true. Although he didn't look the part, he was an extraordinary leader who operated with the rule that the followers should be consulted, developed, and praised. When the media came to cover accomplishments of his department—and there were many—he was seldom out in front. Others were permitted to take credit and stand before the cameras. Many of his top assistants later went on to head other departments. Each carried at least part of his philosophy.
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Why Your Hourly Employees Can Make or Break You
Continue reading… 7 CommentsHow important is your hourly workforce? Not very, right? Turnover is high and morale is low—and why shouldn't it be? It's a thankless, unimportant job. Right?
I hate this attitude. Your front line can make or break your business. Sure, your highly paid senior people deal with strategy and design and complex financial issues. But, if you don't have any customers, those things won't matter. And who does the customer deal with? Let me tell you, it's not the VP of Marketing. It's the person with the thankless job. Do you want your business to increase? Value your front line.
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Do Women Make Good Leaders?
Continue reading… 9 CommentsSo, Sarah Palin is on the GOP ticket for vice president. A heartbeat away.
Which brings up the question: Do women make good leaders?
In a recent Pew Research study, respondents identified eight essential traits for leadership: honesty, intelligence, hard work, ambition, decisiveness, compassion, extroversion, and creativity. Then they rated men and women in each of these categories. Women came out better than men in all except for decisiveness.
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75 Percent of My Office Is Under 28
Continue reading… 9 Comments(Other possible titles for this blog entry could have been: Observations of a Young Workforce From an Unlikely Source. Or, I Am Tired of the Negative Observations of the Younger Workforce—I just don't see it.)
We have nearly 100 people at JobDig, and I just realized that 75 percent of them are under 28. Amazing and LOL.
With so much being written about the younger generations, here are some random observations from the front line:
