Followership: How to Master an Underrated Career Skill
If you run an Amazon search of “leadership,” you’ll get over 60,000 book titles. If you do the same thing for “followership,” you’ll get...
How good managers command respect from their people
Many managers—especially new ones—believe that the key to being a good boss is to be likeable. Why, then, are so many people both...
My Post Vacation Clarity on Work
Folks, I’m back from my annual pilgrimage to the Montana and Idaho mountains. Every year when I return, I do so with renewed perspective...
New graduates, for the love, "follow your passion" is not a sound career strategy
Yeah, I know commencement speeches abound with thoughts of defying consensus and following your dreams. Then, there is that quote often...
Are You Giving Up Your Power At Work?
Few things make employees more anxious than feeling powerless to control their destinies. The irony of this is that no one can take away...
Why Fixing Your Weaknesses Is a Terrible Career Strategy
The great American poet, Ke$ha, once said, “We R who we R.” Grammatical critiques aside, the woman has a point! You come hard-wired with...
The Four R's of a Great Resume
When I was in business school, I spent a ridiculous amount of time working on my resume. In search of perfection, I wrestled with trivial...
Don't Let Evil Bosses Ruin You
Some bosses are evil. And I’m using the word evil like Mike Meyers would use it: “E-vil. Like, the fru-its of the De-vil.” That’s some...
Leadership: Why Persuasion is Better than Power
“The more you tighten your grip, Lord Vader, the more star systems will slip through your fingers” –Princess Leia There are two prominent...
How to Prepare to Deliver Killer Business Presentations
For those of you who have important business presentations coming up, here are my thoughts on how to best prepare. Sorry for the novel,...
The Top Ways to Mess Up a Job Interview
It’s sort of unfair. A 45 minute interview is all you get to show a potential employer who you are and why you are amazing. In fact,...
What Does "Leadership Presence" Mean, Anyway?
In performance reviews, some feedback is easy to give and simple to correct. For example, a boss telling and employee that she needs to...
Five Excuses People Use To Stay In Jobs They Hate
Sometimes people are just in the wrong job. The simplest way to identify this is if they absolutely hate going to work every day for a...
The Art of Internal Selling
If you work for a corporation, you have picked a career in sales. You may not work in the sales department. You may not call on...
7 Bad Interview Questions and How to Respond to Them
When interviewing for a job, there are some things within your control: your preparation, your resume, your attitude and your dress....
For New Bosses: 8 Tips for Difficult Feedback Discussions
There are three cardinal sins often committed by new managers. The first is micromanagement. New managers have spent their entire careers...
Want to be Happy at Work? Stop Comparing
“If I could just get into the sixth grade reading class, then ‘Little Miss Perfect’ would stop bragging to me,” my eight-year-old son,...
How To Tell Great Stories With Data
A few years ago I was given valuable feedback from my boss. He had asked me to analyze the pros and cons of a potential acquisition for...
Rocky Balboa vs. Apollo Creed...In Corporate America
If Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed were corporate employees, who would win? In 1976, the Oscar went to Rocky, the iconic film about a...
The Do's and Don'ts of Promotion Discussions
(Warning: this article may be unsuitable for professionals who believe that the process of getting promoted is fair) Employees are like...