From the category archives:

Employee Tips

To Socialize or Not

by Robert Whipple

I am often asked by students if it is a good or bad idea for a leader to socialize with subordinates outside of work. There are a lot of tradeoffs, and this is a complex question. I break down the variables in this article.
It is often a quandary for leaders to know whether to socialize [...]

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Effective Mirroring Builds Rapport Quickly

by Lynn Dessert

How in sync are you with the employees, team or customers you work with? Does it matter? Probably more than we give credit. Building rapport is an important part of moving ahead in your career.
I remember years ago when I was getting ready to interview for a position. Someone gave me a book that I [...]

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Wardrobe Malfunction: What do I do now?

by Lynn Dessert

Sometimes the Elephant at Work is your wardrobe malfunction – it can happen to both men and women. Chances are everyone has probably experienced it. It can be more stressful when it happens at pivotal times – you are heading to an important meeting or going on an interview. There are some things you [...]

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Does Your Boss Avoid You?

by Lynn Dessert

Jim “Worthless” is an Engineering manager at a large company. That is not his real last name; it is what his employees call him behind his back.
Jim is known for making commitments and then handing them off to his people to complete with very little direction. If you were to talk to his employees they [...]

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What to do when Someone has Cancer in the Workplace

by Lynn Dessert

A co-worker has cancer. What will they do? What do you do? It is definitely an awkward moment for many people.
I was talking with a Sales Manager on the phone. One of his employees has cancer. As the employee shares his condition with his boss, he clearly states, “I don’t want there to be an [...]

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Facing Fears Will Help You Succeed

by Lynn Dessert

When is the last time you embraced your fears? There are different kinds of fears. Sometimes we fear the unknown, other times we fear what we know or think we know.
When we fear the known, we may have had direct experience with the fear. It is possible we tried to conquer it and failed [...]

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Internal Candidates Can Excel in Company High Potential Programs

by Lynn Dessert

The pivotal point in my career was over 20 years ago in 1987. I went to work for a new company and I made a change from operations management to human resources. The road in operations was very difficult – but that’s another story.
While in retail operations, my focus was to help run a store. [...]

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Innovation Lessons from Childhood

by Michael Dalton

Did you learn all you really need to know about innovation in kindergarten? Funny thing, but as we grow-up and get “smarter”, we tend to make things more complicated than they need to be, and innovation is no exception. Innovation is complex enough to begin with; so let’s look at a lesson we learned as [...]

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Best Approach to Thanking the Boss

by Lynn Dessert
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When is the last time you told your boss “Thank You”? You may have just received recognition for a job well done, a promotion, or even a good performance review. You may be leaving the company and you want to tell you boss how much you appreciate them. Your boss may have helped you personally [...]

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Use Self Promotion to Your Advantage

by Lynn Dessert

Do you promote the team ahead of yourself? It might be tempting. And it might be a career misstep.
It is easy to fall into the trap that I should always promoting someone else, at some point though, you may think…what about me? Why doesn’t everyone else play by the same rules and watch my back [...]

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Your Confidante: Trustworthy…for How Long?

by Lynn Dessert

Mentor, coach or confidante – it can get a bit confusing with all these terms – is there a big difference in the relationships. Last week, we discussed the role of the coach or mentor, today we will talk about the role of a confidante. There are several factors to help you decide if you [...]

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Are You An Effective Listener?

by Lynn Dessert
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Are you a better talker or listener? Bosses and managers often believe if they are in control of their employees and tell them what to do everything will run smoothly. Employees can sit next to one another and still fail to communicate well. Placing sole emphasis on your speaking capabilities can build a false sense [...]

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The Performance Criteria Check List

by Lynn Dessert

How does your check list stack up to this one? If your boss is not a wimp, they may use some of these criteria when assessing performance in their organization.

Quality of Work. Some job outputs require a minimum standard to pass inspections or other standardized tests. If the manager is the sole evaluator, it become [...]

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