Do Everyone a Favor and Take Your Vacation
It’s almost summer, and a good time to reflect on how you’ll spend it. In The Washington Post, Robert J. Samuelson wrote an article on the topic of Americans and vacation time that may be relevant. It’s a familiar refrain that Americans work too much and neglect to take our allotted vacation days. Even when we do take them,…
Quit your Job and Boost your Reputation
Quitting a job is never easy. The decision to leave is hard enough, but figuring out the right way to do it can be an equally painstaking process. If you play your cards wrong, you can leave with reputational damage that lingers in your career. Employers remember how you leave, which can supersede whatever you…
How to Manage Toxic People at Work
You know the kind. They’re the office bullies who “accuse, threaten, annoy, pester, shame, raise their voices, shake their fists and sometimes even get physically pushy.” Or they’re the tantrum throwers, the too-demanding bosses, the micromanagers, the passive aggressive co-workers or the underminers – the list goes on. If you’re dealing with a toxic person…
The Best Way to Listen
Listening skills benefit every aspect of our lives. For leaders, listening is essential to being effective – from execution to engendering followership. A few years ago, GE, a company renowned for building leaders, placed “humble listening” among the top four desirable characteristics in its leaders. Listening should be pretty easy. We spend most of our day…
Are You Pushing Your Team Hard Enough?
Leaders often struggle with the dance of when to apply pressure to teams to ensure great work, and conversely, when they should pull back in order to foster room for autonomy and growth. In an effort to strike this balance, leaders can give their teams – and themselves – whiplash. One minute the leader is…
Preparing for Your Next Chapter
As one year gives way to another, many people begin thinking about new directions. It’s a natural time to take stock, think expansively, and make commitments to something better. That doesn’t mean it’s comfortable. Recently, I had lunch with a friend who had sold her business. She was firmly stuck in the in-between, leaning toward…
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