With the boundary between work and personal life increasingly blurred, it’s easy to deprioritize your personal objectives. The irony is that having clear boundaries actually results in better work and a happier experience. Manage expectations regarding your availability. Keep key people looped in so that you don’t hold up important projects or create work for …
Proactivity is about taking purposeful action towards a clear, specific goal. When you’re proactive, you are creating situations based on a strategy. Making conscious choices about where to invest your time and energy helps you identify which opportunities, projects, and events deserve your attention. It’s easy to confuse being proactive with taking action. On …
High achievers often inadvertently create situations for themselves that lead to burnout. When a teammate is not able to meet a deadline, the department’s work doesn’t meet their standards, or a major project is on the line, they step in to fill the breach. Essentially they expand the scope of their job by assuming others’ …
Question: I’m leaving my job. I would have loved to stay but my manager refuses to listen to my input. I see what’s wrong and think I have good solutions but I’m tired of banging my head against the wall. I’d like to help my teammates that remain and want to make my case both …
I’m leaving but want to share my insights with my current employer, should I? Read More »
Excuse experts. Every workplace has them, it may even be you. “I didn’t get what I needed from accounting in time,” “The data itself was flawed,” or “I couldn’t help missing the meeting, the traffic was terrible!” These types of excuses are so common that most people dismiss them the minute they hear them. For …
With the start of a new year there often comes a heightened focus on making tangible progress, especially on gridlocked projects and initiatives. As more attention is directed toward project owners, the added pressure can backfire and depress the effort expended. Remember that many initiatives are the result of a strategic planning process. That process …
Question: My manager likes to play armchair psychologist and it makes me crazy. To make it worse, I think he’s often wrong—he certainly is when he tries to analyze my actions. What can I do? S.A., New York, NY Answer: Trying to change someone else never works. However, if he’s making decisions based on erroneous …
Question: My company does a lot of rotations, which means I have had a new manager every year I’ve been here. This new one has been imported from Europe, which adds a new wrinkle to onboarding him. He’s very formal and seems to think he knows everything. I’m not sure I’m going to be able …
My new manager is European and we’re not connecting. Help! Read More »
The sheer volume of information we encounter daily is staggering. Just dealing with it can easily consume the bulk of your time. To manage it, it’s important to discriminate between what is valuable information and what is just noise. Before you spend your time reading or watching something, ask yourself, “Is this really worth my …
It’s difficult to predict how people are going to react during a legitimate crisis. When you’re a manager, others will take their cue from your behavior. If you appear freaked out, your staff will freak out—which is not only counterproductive, it drains energy and resources when you need them most. So what can you do …
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