It's easy to accept the received wisdom of the workplace without giving it much thought. For example, you'll be an expert at something if you practice for 10,000 hours. You're more likely to achieve your goals if they are SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound). Playing to your strengths is the best way forward. There are […]
All Posts, Expert Interview, Leadership, Team Management, Uncategorized
Mike is as close to the perfect employee as you could possibly get. He's always at work 15 minutes before his shift started. He's productive, helpful toward colleagues and clients, uses his initiative, and often comes up with creative solutions to problems on the shop floor. Doing odd jobs that aren't part of his job description is never […]
#MTtalk, All Posts, Leadership, Team Management, Uncategorized
Do you look out of your office, see your underlings hard at work, and think to yourself, "What a great example of leadership I embody! Look at these people beavering away for me. I inspire them and they look up to me!" If so, chances are you might be surprised by what they really think! And by what gets […]
Chances are, you probably work as part of a multi-generational workforce, with colleagues of all ages sharing projects and goals. There's also a good chance that, as a manager, you're overseeing colleagues who are older, and possibly more experienced, than you. But what if you feel (or know) that one of your workmates is not convinced […]
Communication, Leadership, Learning Skills, Team Management, Uncategorized
There's a well-known quote by E.M. Kelly that says, "Remember the difference between a boss and a leader. A boss says 'Go!' A leader says 'Let's go!'" In reality, this is a differentiation between two distinct leadership styles. The first is a commanding leader; the second is probably a servant leader or a transformational leader. […]
Creativity, Decision Making, Leadership, Learning Skills, Stress, Team Management, Uncategorized
Goals? Sure, I have them and I could more or less tell you what they are, but I didn't need to write them down like all those motivational speakers told me to do. Why? Like auditor Todd Weinman, I recoiled at the notion of being controlled – even when the "controller" is someone as likable […]
Career Skills, Communication, Decision Making, Leadership, Strategy
"We all need people who will give us feedback. That's how we improve." – Bill Gates, American business magnate. Feedback... There is something inherently awkward about the process of giving and receiving feedback. If done – and taken – in a negative vein, it can feel a lot like judging or being judged, and that never leaves us feeling […]
All Posts, Career Skills, Communication, Leadership, Problem Solving, Project Management, Team Management, Uncategorized
There's something mysterious about power. It can be an intangible aura around a person that we're barely aware of, or an enormous wave that lifts or flattens us. We might be impressed by it, afraid or suspicious of it, or wish we had more of it. But it's not, after all, magic and we can […]
The saying "hope for the best, prepare for the worst" has always struck me as supremely sensible advice. Having said that, it's not advice that I've often applied to my own life and career. I tend toward being mostly optimistic about things, and I usually deal with the immediacy of life rather than scan the […]
Your dream comes to an abrupt end with the alarm clock's screech, and your heart sinks. You have a long commute to face, but that's not all. At least eight hours stretch ahead with a manager who cares nothing for you or your co-workers. All she's interested in is results, results, results. As she said yesterday, "We're […]
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