In the second half of 2021, more than 25 million workers quit. The “Great Resignation” is in full swing. And quitting breeds more quitting, to the point where newspapers developed the term “quitagion” to describe it. What is causing so many individuals to leave their jobs? Employers believe that it is compensation or …
“I can’t wait to get to my hotel and tell you about the latest office drama,” my friend said. “I would have called you sooner, but my boss was with me in the cab.” “Before you tell me the drama, I have a question for you,” I said. “Do you …
You don’t learn to read as a child without failing. Nobody accuses you of being bad reader now because you were constantly falling at it when you were a child. It’s no secret that we all fail and that pain forces us to evolve into getting better. Adult mistakes are …
The pandemic thrust leaders to carry a significant emotional load. For nearly two years, aiding teams in recovering from the pandemic’s grief and loss, bolstering their employees’ declining mental health, being sensitive to people’s anxieties, and often publicly sharing their vulnerabilities along the way. They’ve been Counselor-in-Chief. Of course, excellent …
You have a brilliant idea for a product improvement that will save your business money, a process that will boost your team’s productivity, or a strategy to avoid an impending disaster. There’s only one problem: you don’t know how to approach your boss about it, or you’ve tried and failed …
Korean Air had more plane crashes than nearly any other airline in the world. You may think they had old planes or poorly trained pilots. But that wasn’t the case. Instead, they had a cultural legacy–Korean culture is hierarchical. You are required to be submissive to your elders and superiors in …
It’s essential to have the trust of your colleagues. Your coworkers will be unlikely to support you without it. To accomplish goals, you will first need to develop rapport with others. So how do you move from a friendly stranger to a trusted peer? Awkwardly sitting alone at lunch and …
One of the earliest influential management consultants argued that managers should supervise employees because workers “shall be so stupid and phlegmatic that he more nearly resembles an ox than any other type.” Regrettably, many managers continue that failing approach. When coworkers ask you for guidance, do you ask them questions? …
Difficult conversations are, well, difficult. I struggled with difficult conversations all my life. In my childhood, conflict was constant. I can’t remember a day that my ears didn’t ring because my parents were yelling at each other. When I got older, I became their target. So avoiding tough conversations became …
What’s your plan to not be busy? Can’t answer that? That’s why you’re so busy. “I can’t. I’m busy,” I said that way too often because I thought I was building a better future for my family. It also made me feel important because I was needed. But over the …
