The Power of Honing in on One Game-Changing Thing If you could get transformative mentoring help in one area of your career or business, what would it be? What would happen if you received focused help on the one thing that could translate into a quantum leap forward? With the help of a gifted…
How a Great Mentor Can Transform Your Career Every career has turning points. Every career has setbacks. Have you thought about the positive impact a great mentor could have on your career progress and lifelong success? The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a mentor as “a trusted counselor or guide”. The mentee, or protégé, gains…
Use this Currency to Distinguish Yourself as a Leader Good Boss or Bad Boss? Last week I wrote about executive presence gone bad. Think back through the best and worst bosses from your favorite television shows and movies. Last week at the 8 O’clock Career Club, we were in search of the right words to describe…
How to Navigate the Bad Boss Executive Presence Gone Bad Last week we had a lively debate about executive presence. The question we sought to answer was, “Can you be an effective leader without executive presence?” The first task was to agree on what constitutes executive presence (not what constitutes leadership). We compiled this…
How Would You Manage Insubordination? Gravitas. Credibility. Authority. Command of the room. Confidence. Influence. These are words that are frequently part of the conversation regarding executive presence. Shouldn’t it be enough that you are good at your job? Won’t your ideas be adopted based solely on their value to your customers and company? We…
How Would You Manage Insubordination? Navigating Office Politics Congratulations on your promotion. You were selected over several internal candidates for the management role you have been working toward for years. The one thing you didn’t count on was the former peer who thinks he should have won the promotion. In fact, in the few short weeks since you assumed your new duties, “Jim” has done…
How Would You Solve This Puzzle? Navigating Office Politics After years of success and several promotions within a rapidly growing technology company, Sally achieved an important goal. She was promoted to the role of Chief Marketing Officer, a first for the company. Because she joined the company when there were less than 10 employees, she…
How Would You “Manage Up” with this Boss? Navigating Office Politics Lucy had worked for a major high tech company for over 15 years, working her way up from Customer Service Representative to Sales Support, then Sales Representative, and now Sales Analyst. After 5 years in the same department, she longed to move on. Every…
Navigating Office Politics How Would You Solve This Puzzle? What is the first thing you think of when you hear the phrase “office politics”? Does it conjure visions of positive influence and skilled conflict resolution, or images of difficult employees and toxic relationships? No matter your response, one thing is certain: office politics are part…
The Art and Science of a Productive Performance Review (Parts 4 & 5 of “5 Keys to Improving Team Productivity”) Which performance review does your company give: Fifty minutes of focus on mistakes, weaknesses, and how to fix them, with a few minutes of praise for accomplishments? Or, fresh and timely feedback on accomplishments, a…