Salespeople cannot be in front of their customers as often as they would like. Great salespeople though are strategic enough to see to it that even if they are absent for weeks, or even months at a time, their presence is well felt. Read the rest of this entry »
Amy Bloom
Her friends and family tried to guide her. But it was only through years of rich experience that she grasped the realities of life.
Occasionally, being better informed leads to better decisions. Mostly, though, I think we make choices based on who we are, not what we know. The lessons here are things that people who knew and loved me tried to tell me. So thank you to my relatives who scolded me in four languages, and to my high school English teacher who watched over me like Cupid with a Ph.D., and to my best friend, who taught me patience. These people did their best to make me smarter in the ways that count. If I had been willing and able to understand them, their words might have tilted me more (and sooner) in the right direction. If I could have, they might have. Or, as my father often said, if your grandmother had balls, she would be your grandfather.
1. Events reveal people’s characters; they don’t determine them. Not everyone with divorced parents has terrible relationships. If two people are hit by a bus and crippled for life, one will become a bitter shut-in; the other, the kind of warm, outgoing person (cheerful despite everything) whom everyone loves to be with. It’s not about the bus, and a dreadful childhood is no excuse. You have the chance to be the person you wish to be, until you die. Read the rest of this entry »
Toni Bowers
There are a lot of things you can control at your workplace, but a fellow employee is not one of them. You can somewhat control certain behaviors, especially if they are legally unacceptable, but you really can’t control other people, only your reaction to them. This is a lesson that, if learned, could make the workplace a whole lot less stressful for many people. Read the rest of this entry »
Toni Bowers
I recently received an email from a career advisor who works with students in various technology programs. She said many of the students think their writing courses are a waste of time. She asked if I could weigh in on this topic. I would be glad to share my thoughts. Read the rest of this entry »
John McKee
Ever wondered about your “fit” in an organization? Perhaps you’ve been troubled by the ethics – or the lack of ethics – at your place of employment? If so, give some thought to the following definition taken from Dictionary.com:
Path.o.log.ical – adjective; caused by or evidencing a mentally disturbed condition: for example a pathological liar, 2. dealing with diseases: a pathological casebook.
There are pathological people in many places, doing many things every day. In some instances, they don’t really cause a lot of harm or damage except to themselves. But if they have a role with power, they can exact a demanding toll on individual people as well as entire organizations. Read the rest of this entry »
John M McKee
Wondering if your career has already peaked? Leadership coach John M McKee provides 4 tips to ensure you’re getting the most out of your career.
“I’m really glad that year’s over! 2009 was definitely one of the worst years I’ve had in my entire career. It looks like this year won’t be as tough. Hopefully a decent raise could be in the cards, and some forward advancement in my career would sure be great.” Read the rest of this entry »
Scott Robinson
Takeaway: Performance reviews are rarely comfortable for the employee or the manager, but you can make them more productive and positive simply by changing the way you say what you need to say. These tips will help you make the most out of review time.
Performance reviews are one of the ugly realities in a manager’s life. Employees dread them, but they seldom stop to consider that, as uncomfortable as the review process is from the receiving end, it can be even harder on the reviewing manager. Managers must go through not one but many reviews each year, and often they need to deliver criticisms that may or may not be well received. Read the rest of this entry »
Toni Bowers
Conducting employee performance reviews can be arduous. Depending on the style of your company, there can be a lot of process work involved that can be time consuming, especially when you have several staffers to evaluate. There’s also the emotional issue of how to deliver the news to an employee when his or her work is subpar. Read the rest of this entry »
Benny Sisko
Getting promoted into a CIO role is exciting… until you need to start managing people! Benny Sisko provides you with six tips for being successful with your new staff.
For the new CIO, assuming responsibility for a staff can sometimes seem like a daunting challenge, especially if you’ve come up through the IT ranks. While there are certainly many ways to screw it up, there are also many ways to succeed. Here are six tips gleaned from my own sometimes painfully acquired experience. Read the rest of this entry »
Jay Rollins
Keeping up with the sheer volume of telecommunications bills — not to mention trying to make sense of all the charges — can be maddening. Learn how to cut these expenses.
For larger enterprises, one of the biggest impacts you can make to your operating budget is to get your telecommunications expenses in-line. Telecommunications bills are some of the most confusing bills to read and interpret and even more difficult to get consistent and predictable. Here are strategies you can use to reduce the insanity. Read the rest of this entry »