In a recent leadership development workshop I facilitated, one woman bravely spoke her truth about the reality of the toxic corporate culture they all worked in. It was dysfunctional. Managers were petty and their pettiness was only overshadowed by the pettiness of the leaders above them. All...
By: Michael Bungay Stangier Asking for feedback shouldn’t be seen as a negative thing, as it shows an employee is engaged and looking for constructive criticism. Unfortunately, many people struggle to really understand how to effectively give (and receive) feedback. For many years, we’ve served...
I recently read a fabulous post by Steve Tobak on BNET with tons of great management advice based on his personal experience. It reminded me that after scolding Steve Jobs and other jerk bosses, I actually owe my two worst bosses some props in public. I doubt they’ll read this but you never know...
Welcome to “Dear Dana”, our Friday column to give you workplace advice and coaching. Please write in and tell me about a frustration you’re facing at the office and I’ll publish my answer in an upcoming column. I can’t wait to hear from you! – Dana Theus Dear Dana, I always get good annual...
Guest Author: Colleen Denston Have you ever had the “AH HA” moment when you finally get it? Well, I am here to tell you that your “AH HA” moment may be just around the corner. For a few years I had been looking for my dream job. Something that took me to the next career level and challenged my...
The bigger the organization you work in, the greater the likelihood that you’ll meet your demise in death-by-meeting. What a horrible way to go! And the worst part? All that pain and suffering – and it’s usually a crap shoot as to whether you’ll get through all the items on the agenda.
No. Actually, the worst part is when you end up running those meetings yourself!
Agendas are often useful for thinking through what you want to cover. But – having an agenda does not mean having a meeting worth everyone’s time to attend. How to avoid death-by-meeting when you’re in charge? Agenda or not, take the time to think through your intended outcome for the meeting.
To everyone but us, we were a power breakfast. Meeting early at the Mayflower Hotel in downtown Washington DC, we were strategists behind an international organization representing 160 of the biggest companies and Non Governmental Organization (NGO) nonprofits in the world. The Director, on a trip...
There have been a number of projects where I observed a client not following industry best practices. It was weird. The client company had many smart employees, so for them not to follow best practices, to not do what was obvious, seemed strange. Why not do what every other company does? I learned...
What does it mean to be IN power when you’re working for yourself? The answer to that question, I believe, is meaningful for all of us – even those with bosses who climb the corporate ladder, live in cubes or on airplanes, slogging away on either side of the glass ceiling (which is there for some...
My first management job was a disaster. I was one of four analysts working on a client account. My boss was getting annoyed dealing with all of us and our silly just-out-of-grad-school questions. He didn't like editing our client memos because he had more important things to do. He liked me and...
