Damage Control

Take the right step. As the peeps at VW are learning realtime, the best way to handle a crisis is not to have one. Yet many of us deal with potential crisis periodically. And while forgetting your third-grader's science project is indeed a nightmare (been there) I'm talking about problems in the office. Questions about …

The Truth About Work

Now sometimes discretion is the better part of valor. Longtime readers and coworkers alike know that I am a pretty straight shooter. In fact, in my younger days I thought the more honest the better as I spewed forth the "truth" - as I saw it - in meetings and convos without regard to consequence. …

Best Blogs 13 Marzo 2015

Welcome to #BestBlogs, the weekly curation of the world of work. The latest ideas on organization life, collaboration and our personal power in worklife from practitioners around the globe are collected here so you too may become more effective, perhaps even more satisfied, in career. Every week our theme emerges organically and this week centers …

Trust Me

Have you heard this before? It's one of those phrases, like, "can I be honest with you?", that always leaves me wondering. What do you mean can you be honest with me? You haven't been? I assumed you were... 'Trust me' is one of those phrases that people who are untrustworthy call out a lot. …

The Specialist

Are you comfy? In the U.S. we have Employee Relations Specialists. We might call them managers or reps, and frequently just ER, but get to a certain size and you will employ these people too. Not to be confused with Industrial Relations people from the 1950s discipline, these people do a very different - and …

Commitment

Are you committed?The many grey hairs I now possess (I suppose I should be thankful for having "many") lead others to think I might have a bit of work a day wisdom to impart and that's true. While my own mistakes are sometimes the source of said learning, I've also understood quite a bit about …

Good Intent

Where are you coming from? A key person in my life often reminds me to assume good intent, that is, to assume that the other party in a conversation was coming from a point of authenticity if not always helpfulness. It's an interesting idea, to assume others are starting with that in mind. In business …

Best Blogs 5 September 2014

Welcome to #BestBlogs, the weekly curation of the world of work. The latest ideas on organization life, personal collaboration and the politics of work from practitioners around the globe are collected here so you may become more effective, perhaps even more satisfied, in career. Every week our theme emerges organically and this week its all …

Best Blogs 15 August 2014

Welcome to #BestBlogs, the weekly curation of the world of work. The latest ideas on organization life, personal collaboration and the politics of work from practitioners around the globe are collected here so you may become more effective, perhaps even more satisfied, in career. These fine authors offer fresh and different perspectives on the intersection …

False Positive

Its not drugs. Or is it? Last week I attended another professional conference with several hundred participants and ran into some of the same archetypes that give our profession - maybe all professions - a bad name. The false positive. Having been in business for three decades now I've bought and sold my share of …