A sincere apology is an undervalued leadership skill. Too often, it seems that the only apologies we hear from leaders are those made after they’ve been “found out.” They’re carefully crafted PR pieces, not genuine expressions of remorse. You can do better. I’m not advocating for constant, meaningless apologies. Nor am I saying you should … Read more
Emerson Spartz is the 34-year-old Internet media entrepreneur who founded Dose and created the most popular Harry Potter fan site in the world, MuggleNet, at age 12. In an interview with The New Yorker magazine a few years back, he shared that when he was growing up, his parents made him read four short biographies … Read more
Conflict at work is inevitable. You are, after all, working with people. In today’s culturally diverse, multigenerational workforce, it’s bound to happen. According to the Center for Management and Organization Effectiveness, a CPP study found that 85% of individuals and leaders agreed they experienced some amount of inevitable conflict at work. And 29% of all … Read more
Today’s workforce is multigenerational and diverse, but despite generational and cultural differences, there is one fact that remains true for everyone. Whether you are Gen-Z, a Millenial, Boomer, or Gen-X, you have to separate yourself from contenders in a competitive environment. This fact remains true even if you are working virtually rather than face to … Read more
Good employees look out for their company and their boss, even if it means standing up to the boss. Good bosses don’t want “yes” people to lazily agree with all of their decisions. Sure, everyone likes to feel validated and hear that their ideas are wonderful, excellent, and stupendous, but a good boss knows to … Read more
You don’t have to change who you are to be successful in your career. You may have to change some habits and add a little “window dressing” to your appearance and comportment, but part of what makes you unique and help you stand out from the competition is that you are, well, YOU. So be … Read more
With all the communication tools available to us, there is still massive mutual mystification when it comes to clearly understanding each other. Many factors contribute to that, including the languages people speak in our diverse workforce. A US Census report on findings from 2009-2013 found that sixty million Americans speak languages other than English at … Read more
Every day, all day long, each one of us “acts” for whatever role we are playing at the time: spouse, friend, parent, boss, subordinate, and so forth. It’s not that you’re faking it, rather you are learning, adapting, and taking responsibility for your effect on others. You are choosing who you want to be each … Read more
People like to say business isn’t personal, but it is personal. All of life is people personally interacting with other people. Work is people interacting with people but with money and title attached to it. (Personal, in this post, doesn’t mean inappropriately intimate; you needn’t border on sexting.) Every interaction in business has the potential … Read more
It’s time to put on some real pants. Yes, your sweatpants are cozy, but in-person work and work events are happening again and unless you work in a very specific industry, you’re going to need to “up your game,” so to speak. But it’s more than just your clothes that may need changing. You have … Read more