On Careers
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The Dress Code Fight Isn't Worth It
Continue reading… 5 CommentsI work for a very well-known, worldwide, prestigious company. In our employee handbook, it states: "Employees should use their best judgment regarding appropriate dress for their jobs and the schedule for the day. When determining appropriate dress, employees should consider not only the task, but the appropriateness given a safe, accident-free work environment."
So on that note, I wore dress shorts to work. They come slightly above the knee but are made for the work environment. Today I was told that I could not wear them because they are against company policy. My boss said I can not wear anything above my knees and that my tattoo on my ankle can not show. However, this is not the first time I have worn those shorts...it is actually the 3rd, in which they have never said anything before. Also, there are others in my office that wear very provocative clothing and get away with it. What should I do?
You should never wear those shorts again, keep your knees covered, and make sure your tattoo is not visible.
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What If You'd Made No Mistakes in Your Life?
Continue reading… 1 CommentAs a recovering perfectionist, I know all too well the experience of making a mistake and proceeding to mentally flagellate myself for it. I can still be merciless on occasion. It has probably been one of the biggest obstacles I have faced. And I know I’m not alone.
The crazy thing is that it is all 100 percent self-inflicted. And it’s completely counterproductive.
In light of all that, one of my favorite quotes is one from jazz great Miles Davis: “Do not fear mistakes. There are none.”
What a liberating idea! What if we all lived our lives that way. Rather than berating ourselves when we made a mistake, what if we automatically shifted into roll-with-it gear? More than that, what if we automatically started looking for the gem coming out of our mistake that we can put to positive use?
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Take Control of the Job Interview
Continue reading… 2 CommentsThe problem with many job interviews is that their substance is abstract instead of concrete.
Woo-woo questions like “If you were a breakfast cereal, what kind would you be?” might reveal something about your personality, character, or eating habits. But what do they say about your ability to do the job?
It may be up to you to steer the interview to the actual job at hand:
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Blinding Flash of the Obvious, One Day Late
Continue reading… 3 CommentsYesterday's Air Force One flight over New York City illustrates several points.
“The FAA was told about the flight and approved it!!” was a sorry answer and excuse. Point is, if you are in a position of authority or responsibility, don’t throw anyone--and certainly not unnamed bureaucracies--under the bus. We expect better from our leaders. But there's more.
Evidently, many governmental departments “coordinated” on this photo-op flight over Manhattan. The circulated memo was, I'll bet, innocent enough, like all these kind of memos. It likely read something like: “The Air Force will be taking photos of the new Air Force One as it majestically flies over Manhattan on a beautiful spring day, showcasing the world’s most recognizable airplane against the backdrop of the world’s most recognizable city.” Or some such language. I bet hundreds of people read this memo in the days before the flight. You understand that the above account is fictional, but I am betting it is eerily close to the original. Yet not one person said….”Hmmm, let’s rethink this.”
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Why You Didn't Get Hired
Continue reading… 10 CommentsThe job looked perfect for you. The description matched your experience and skills so perfectly, you could almost visualize yourself at your new desk. But now you're staring at a rejection E-mail and can't figure out what happened.
No matter how qualified you think you are for a job, there are all kinds of reasons that you might not have been chosen. Here are some of the most common:
1. Your qualifications aren't as strong as you think they are, so your assessment of your skills isn't in line with the reality of the situation.
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Good Lessons From Bad Jobs
Continue reading… 0 CommentsPut a new supervisor in a room with a bunch of experienced ones and odds are the veterans will talk about their mistakes. Variations of “watch out for this” and “never do that” will outnumber the more positive pointers.
So it goes with jobs--it is not unusual for us to glean the most powerful lessons from the worst situations. Consider what can be learned:
Poor supervision: Make a mental note of how you felt when a supervisor didn’t pitch in, lied, took undue credit, or played favorites. Vow that you will never duplicate those sins.
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Written Up at Work? Sign on The Line
Continue reading… 22 CommentsPart 1. A friend (non-HR professional) once said that if an employee won't sign with a full signature on the provided signature line on a written warning/write up/etc., then the refusal is defined as insubordination. True? She maintained that it won't suffice as evidence of having received the written action to simply initial the usual disclaimer sentence, that employees' signature doesn't mean agreement to the content of the written action.
Part 2. Depending on your response to part 1 of this question, I suggested to my friend that a written response/explanation regarding subject matter in written action submitted within a reasonable time frame by the employee would be acceptable in lieu of a signature at the time of the written action. What are your thoughts on this from a HR, employer or supervisor perspective?
I want everyone to repeat after me: I will sign my warning/write up/action plan. I will sign my warning/write up/action plan. I will sign my warning/write up/action plan.
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Take the Slow Road to Success
Continue reading… 0 CommentsYou have big dreams, and you're committed to success. You have a million things you want to do before yesterday at noon and you're running at mach speed. You're moving so fast you can scarcely breathe.
Want to know a way to get more out of all that effort you're making? It may seem counterintuitive, but here it is: Sloooooowww dowwnnnn.
When you live your life in a frantic whirlwind, your effectiveness begins to diminish and your vision gets clouded. You start putting more energy into getting less result.
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Do Women Have a Competitive Advantage Over Men?
Continue reading… 32 CommentsAnd, if so, why do men still earn a dollar for every 77 pennies women earn? Why are men’s small businesses larger than women’s small businesses?
It shouldn’t be like this.
Because when it comes to running anything—a family, a business, a country—women possess extraordinary leadership qualities. We’re more intuitive, more patient, and we tend to share more, which makes us better at motivating. We’re tenacious and we’re great problem solvers (if only because we’ve always had to make do with less). Even more important, we excel at doing many things at once.
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Dear Former Employee: It's Not Your Fault
Continue reading… 1 CommentA hypothetical look at what an honest CEO might write to a laid-off worker in today's economy.
I am sorry we had to lay you off last week. I really am.
It is a failure on my part. I should have seen all this coming. I knew our products were outdated. But, heck, they were still selling. And well, too. I thought we had years left, not months.
So don’t take the layoff as a sign that you did something wrong. It wasn’t you, this time. Other times, maybe, but not this time. It was me.
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The Problem With Thinking For Other People
Continue reading… 1 CommentThe internal dialogue: Whether we're talking to other people in our heads or talking to ourselves, all of us conduct our own personal conversations--that no one else ever hears. (Some of us do it more than others.)
Thinking conversations through before they happen can be a useful tool in your workplace arsenal, but it is important to use the tactic sparingly. If not, you open yourself up to a whole world of hurt.
Next time you find yourself carrying on dialogue in your own head where you are speaking for your fellow office workers, here's what you can do to validate or reject the thoughts...
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What Makes a Hiring Manager Fall in Love?
Continue reading… 4 CommentsSome hiring managers are flooded with well-qualified candidates for any job they post, no matter the economy (but especially this economy). When you’re up against dozens of strong candidates, it's the smaller things that will help you break from the pack and emerge as a clear top contender. These are the things that transform you from one of many solid candidates who could do the job well, to the candidate an employer is dying to hire.
When I'm faced with an overload of qualified candidates, here are some of the things that can make me "fall in love" with one candidate in particular:
Do what you say you're going to do by the time you say you're going to do it. For instance, if you tell me you're going to send me a writing sample by Monday, send me a writing sample by Monday (or update me accordingly). If you send it Tuesday without explanation, I'll notice. It will even end up as a note on your application.
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When Management Gets Ambushed By Small Things
Continue reading… 1 CommentWe shy away from details because we don’t want to micromanage.
At the same time, we are reluctant to create systems because we don’t want to be bureaucratic.
And then we wonder why we get ambushed by small things and why our performance is inconsistent.
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Change Your Assumptions, Change Your World
Continue reading… 17 CommentsAre you creating virtual barriers to your dreams? Sometimes the assumptions we make build walls between us and our aspirations that are far thicker than any external obstacle we’re likely to meet. And the wild thing about assumptions is that they are nothing but electrical impulses firing away in your brain. Poof! Nothing more than that.
We think, “I can’t do something like that,” or “They would never say 'yes' if I asked,” or “There’s only one way to accomplish that.”
I’ve seen all those assumptions--and many more--prove to be patently, demonstrably false. And they were all assumptions that people unquestioningly held to be true (sometimes without realizing it). Each of those seemingly impenetrable walls were shattered by asking one simple question: “Is that true?”
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The "Secret" to Success in Any Job
Continue reading… 5 CommentsWell, OK, it’s not exactly a secret.
But it’s the key to surviving these shaky economic times. In fact, it's the key to succeeding in any career at any time, no matter what shape your industry, or the nation, is in.
It’s a two-part secret:
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The Personal Branding Phenomenon
Continue reading… 6 CommentsFor some time now in articles and books, you might have have noticed that we should all be concerned with our own “personal brands.”
No question that certain leaders have a "brand." Some even work to enhance or further their brand. Steve Jobs and Warren Buffett have brands, as do all of the one-namers (Cher, Prince, Sting, Oprah, Madonna).
But most of us aren’t Oprah. Maybe she was so insightful back when she was a local talk show host in Baltimore that she insisted on everything being named “Oprah,” but I am betting she didn’t. She went ahead and did great work, created a significant reputation and became “Oprah.”
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The Right Time to Resign
Continue reading… 7 CommentsWhat is your opinion of the timing when a person decides to resign for another job? I am currently seeking another position while my organization and my department particularly is in the middle of a major, long-term project in which I play a major part as mid-level technical staff. While I hate to put my coworkers in an awkward position if I leave now, opportunities for better pastures are opening up in other companies. The project still has a year or more ahead before completion. I have been in the company for two and a half years.
I am not really getting an opportunity to grow in my current position--budgets are being slashed, benefits are being cut, professional development is nonexistent, and layoffs and frozen open positions are the norm here. I am applying for jobs with organizations with a more secure financial footing and which will allow me to grow as a professional instead of feeling as if I am stagnating.
As a manager, how would you feel if a person under you decides to jump ship at this time and under these circumstances? If this person were to ask to use you as a reference for a future job hunt, what would you be inclined to say about them?
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Let's Drop the Overqualified Objection
Continue reading… 63 CommentsOne of the most frustrating things a job seeker can encounter is the objection that he or she is overqualified.
“What am I supposed to do?” they ask. “Hide the fact that I have ten years of experience, or that I have a graduate degree?”
Put me down on the side of the applicants.
Some employers may argue that the overqualified applicant will get bored with the less demanding or lower-paid work and soon move on. Who can deny that happens? On the other side, however, are some points that deserve more attention:
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Success Secret: Be Yourself
Continue reading… 4 CommentsWant a tip on how to succeed in your career? Figure out who you are – then be that. If you want to tap into your maximum potential, align your career path with what comes naturally.
For so many people, going to work is about getting up in the morning and heading off for another day of being who they’re not. It’s about wearing a mask. Instead of operating in that place of “flow,” they wind up gritting their teeth and grinding through day after day.
When your work is out of alignment with who you are, it’s like having your wheels out of alignment and having to constantly put effort into adjusting the steering just so you can keep moving straight ahead.
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This is Why Management is Hard
Continue reading… 2 CommentsI have a small group of female employees. Two--Sarah and Julie*--are very good friends. Recently Sarah called in sick, which left Julie to do a project that had to get done that day, and Sarah hadn't prepared what she could have ahead of time. Julie was a little annoyed and came to me.
I pulled Sarah aside and told her she needed to document all of her work (we have recently had priority issues with her) and the president of the company now wants to monitor her workload (the conversation was much longer, I just want to give you the gist). I didn't mention Julie's name in this conversation.
In the meantime, Julie pulled her friend Sarah aside and let her know that she spoke to me and that she might be getting pulled aside. You can imagine this is causing havoc, as now Sarah is not speaking with Julie.
Is Julie out of line, and is her warning to Sarah before my conversation grounds for termination? Julie is a great employee--but does that matter in this type of circumstance?
