On Careers
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10 Ways to Make Your Employees Love You
Continue reading… 2 CommentsLast week, I wrote about ways to make your boss love you. This week is a similar list for managers, offering ways to gain the respect and affection of your employees. Confining myself to 10 turned out to be hard—there are so many ways to manage badly and so many things that it's important to do well. So here are 10 to start off with, and I hope people will add more:
1. Let's open with the big one: Don't be a jerk. Yelling, disparaging people, defensiveness, shooting the messenger, and publicly berating someone are all off limits. Good people have options, and few of them will want to work for a jerk.
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Will a Mess-up Mean a Job Loss?
Continue reading… 3 CommentsOne of the most chilling comments I've ever heard in the workplace was when an executive muttered: "We don't recover our wounded."
I remember thinking, "If that worries you, imagine how the practice is viewed by your employees."
The late Earl Long, eccentric governor of Louisiana, was assured by a follower that although he'd gladly support Earl when he thought he was right, he couldn't on one occasion because the governor was wrong. Long replied, "You crazy [expletive deleted], I don't need you when I'm right."
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How to Survive Job Insecurity
Continue reading… 0 CommentsIn the military, and especially as a fighter pilot, I have tons of job security. What's it like to not really have good/great job security? How do people function—not to mention buy a car, house, etc.—without knowing they will have a job six months from now? Obviously, if you do a good job at work and aren't a dirtbag, your job security is higher (theoretically), but it's not like what I have.
Hmmm, no job security and no one trying to kill me, or job security and people trying to kill me? Which one shall I take? (Reality is, of course, that the military would not be a good fit for me. I mean, exercise? As a job requirement? Plus, I'd have to join the right branch of the military in order to have the right color uniform, although me dressed in white, Navy-issued pants might just be the trick to scaring away the enemy.)
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How to Make Yourself Lucky
Continue reading… 4 CommentsDo you ever find yourself eyeing your distant dreams and hoping plain old dumb luck will bridge the gap? If you do, you're wasting your time.
Dumb luck does happen, of course. People do occasionally stumble into their wildest dreams completely by chance. And people get hit by lightning, too. But not a lot.
"Strategic luck," on the other hand, can play a critical role on the path to success. It's a product of focus, persistence, and putting yourself into situations where luck can strike. It's a calculated numbers game.
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When to Let Sloppiness Slide
Continue reading… 2 CommentsI had a pointed moment of clarity last week. I finally realized why all of my great ideas at work were falling upon deaf ears. I have been making lots of process improvement recommendations lately to help our team (and its several new members) operate more efficiently. In my previous role at a huge manufacturing company, managers ate up this kind of stuff. But for some reason, it was being met with total and utter indifference in my new job.
The problem, you see, is that I failed to recognize the difference in the two companies and their managers. My new job is in a growing market, where sales is all that matters. Sure, it would be nice to clean up the back office, but nothing should get in the way of sales efforts. If I'm training new hires or standardizing our product delivery methods, I'm taking away from valuable selling time. This means even tremendous process improvement ideas are essentially useless.
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The 30-Second Entrepreneur
Continue reading… 1 CommentMore people than ever want to start their own company. That's great. About six months ago, I wrote down about 100 things I learned over about 25 years of starting companies. Here are two of them.
23. To sell many, sell one.
To build your company, you have to sell multiples. You can't just sell one. Anyone can sell one. Your family will buy, and maybe even a college buddy will give you money for your new widget. The trick is to sell the second one, and get paid for it. But before you can sell many, you have to sell that one single customer. When you talk to venture capitalists, they are obnoxiously insistent on waiting until someone buys. Everything else is "classroom." -
10 Ways to Make Your Boss Love You
Continue reading… 26 CommentsWant to become your boss's favorite? Here are 10 habits that, if cultivated, will have your boss showering you with lavish praise:
1. Keep track of everything your boss puts on your plate, so she learns that she doesn't have to follow up to make sure thing are getting done. Give her the peace of mind of knowing that if she talks to you about it, it's either going to get handled or you'll bring it back up with her for follow-up.
2. More broadly, have your act together. Stay on top of things, ensure your boss only has to tell you something once, don't let things fall through the cracks, and generally be someone she can rely on. Often employee complaints of micromanagement can be traced back to problems in this area, and fixing this stuff can fix the micromanagement.
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6 Ways to Be a Great Listener
Continue reading… 2 CommentsI knew an executive whose career success was widely attributed to his extraordinary ability to listen. When he was with you, he was with you. He recognized that listening carefully is one of the greatest of compliments.
Here are some basic listening tips:
Listen for a theme. Rather than getting distracted by trivia, listen for the main message. It may be hidden amid unrelated facts but your job is to determine what the person is trying to say.
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You're Not Scaring Me
Continue reading… 5 CommentsI deal frequently with people who are less than pleased with a management decision. Usually this decision involves a layoff. Fine, I understand. I wouldn't be pleased with being laid off.
When this happens—and the employee wants me to say: "You are right. Even though you are screaming at me and using foul language, we never should have selected you for termination. Let me re-activate you right now or perhaps double your severance"—sometimes they pull out the "big gun."
"I'm going to call my lawyer."
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What if Success Is Inevitable?
Continue reading… 2 CommentsThere's a well-known self-exploration question that goes, "What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail?" It's a way to help people shine a light on their dreams. Unfortunately, when it comes to taking those dreams back to the real world, too many people default to a negative response.
They look at a dream and say, "I can't do that," or, "That's not possible," or, "I'll just fail anyway, so why bother trying?" Of course, if that's what they believe, odds are good that they'll turn it into truth.
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Help Your Kid This Summer
Continue reading… 13 CommentsMuch has been written about helicopter parents being too involved. The stories—attending college classes with their kids, calling bosses at their first job—are embarrassing. Parents need to let go and let the little darlings blossom or fail.
Except for this: Most kids get summer jobs—"internships" if they're of college age—with no idea what they are doing. Still, any job is good for these kids. They learn basic skills, like getting up on time and showing up with brushed teeth. Personally, hard work made me what I am today. I spent summers helping my dad farm and I wanted NO part of it as an adult. The point is, we all learn from these first jobs.
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What to Ask at Your Interview
Continue reading… 10 CommentsThe best job interviews aren't one-sided interrogations but rather two-way conversations designed to let both sides figure out if they'd be a good fit. Since your goal shouldn't be just to get a job offer but to land in a position in which you'll thrive and in an environment you won't dread as you come to work every day, you should be interviewing the interviewer right back.
Yet, I encounter many candidates who don't have many—or even any—questions when I ask what I can answer for them. While this isn't fatal, asking the right questions shows a level of thoughtfulness and engagement. After all, your interviewer wants to know that you're interested in the details of the job, the department you'll be working in, your prospective supervisor's management style, and the culture of the organization. Otherwise, you risk signaling that you're either not that interested or just haven't thought very much about it.
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How High Gas Prices Can Help You
Continue reading… 3 CommentsWith sustainability issues and astronomical gas prices dominating the evening news, now is the perfect time to take these unfortunate circumstances and attempt to use them to your benefit.
Ask for a Raise. The cost of living is rising dramatically, but rather than pay people accordingly, most companies are tightening their belts. Even if the organization denies your request, you've accomplished two very important things. First, you've laid the groundwork for a salary bump later in the year. Second, you'll feel better that you asked and were rejected. It's better than not asking at all. (Never make a threat, but don't forget that hiring new staff is an expense, one your company might not want to incur at this time.)
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7 Things to Avoid in a Job Interview
Continue reading… 0 Comments1. Excessive use of "I." When it's "I" this and "I" that, the interviewers may wonder if you ever worked on a team and, if so, how much credit you gave to your colleagues. Conversely, if you never mention the advances you were able to achieve, they may fear that you are team-dependent. Seek a balance.
2. Getting lost in the weeds. Far too many applicants prepare for the complicated questions and then fall into a blank stare when asked basic ones, such as "Why do you want this job?" and "Why should we hire you?"
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3 Lessons From the Golf Course
Continue reading… 3 CommentsMy golf buddy and I play a weekly nine holes. This week the weather was irritable to say the least. The parking lot was cold, the first fairway warm, the fourth tee rainy, and at the fifth tee it hailed.
Needless to say, I played one of my worst rounds in a long time. But, it got me to thinking about the business lessons that can be learned on the golf course.
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Just Say No to ObamcCaintalk
Continue reading… 4 CommentsIt is hard to remain neutral when everyone is talking presidential politics and taking sides. But if you lead or manage anyone at work, my advice is: Be like Switzerland. Stay neutral, keep your PIN number safe, and carry a funny-looking little knife.
Conversations around the water cooler start off informative and may even be helpful to new voters. Some people want to know about the issues and how positions taken by the candidates will help or hinder. Fine and good.
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Be Patient—and Impatient
Continue reading… 2 CommentsIf you're feeling the itch to change careers, you're probably ready for it to happen, ohhhhh, like, yesterday. While that impatience can be a great source of motivation, by itself it can also get in your way.
Making substantial, sustainable change takes both impatience and patience. It's about combining the urge for immediate action with the awareness that it's a long-term investment that unfolds over time.
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Read This Before You Accept That Promotion
Continue reading… 1 CommentI'm often amazed at how the majority of workers have an autopilot mind-set of: "I want a promotion." While most of us want to earn more, it's important to understand that it's not always worth the trip. I'm not suggesting you take the path of least resistance; I'm merely asking you to think it through from every angle.
Is the next step up worth it as far as money, mobility, and résumé-building? Also, what are the short- and long-term implications for your career? Not to mention the dozens of intangibles, all of which can leave you desperate to get out.
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You've Made a Mistake at Work. Now What?
Continue reading… 9 CommentsWhen you make a mistake at work, how you handle its immediate aftermath can often overshadow the mistake itself.
First, here's what not to do:
1. Don't hope that if you act like it wasn't a big deal, your boss might think it wasn't a big deal either. This strategy will actually compound the damage: Your boss will be far more alarmed that you don't really care that you made a mistake than she will be by the mistake itself. Rather than making the mistake less noticeable, what will really stand out is that you're not taking responsibility for it.
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3 Questions Posed in Every Job Interview
Continue reading… 0 CommentsThere are three questions that applicants must put to rest in every job interview:
- Can I trust this person?
- Will this person embarrass me?
- Will this person fit in?
These questions might not be asked, but the concerns behind them are the interview's backdrop. The applicant who reassures the employer on each point will be far ahead of those who do not. Let's consider the components:
