Archives for April 2009

If you’re like me, you can still fondly recall the first time you saw The Wizard of Oz. It was a masterpiece in its own time, and it is still seen by pretty much every child ever since. When someone mentions a scarecrow, a witch, or red slippers, your mind may drift back to the comforts of that old classic. However, you probably don’t want to follow the pattern of the Wizard of Oz in your career. Traveling Companions In the movie, Dorothy had a slew of traveling companions to “help” her on her way. They included a brainless dunce, a heartless brute, and a spineless wimp. In fact, the one with the least faults was Toto! If you surround yourself with brainless, heartless, and spineless people, then you’re going to have trouble succeeding. Find someone with courage, compassion, and competence to mentor you, and you won’t be attacked by flying monkeys. I promise. Yellow Brick Road The Munchkins pointed Dorothy along the Yellow Brick Road early on as a … [Read more...] about The Wizard of Oz and Your Career Do Not Mix

As a teacher, my wife has to complete a yearly “structured interview” for her job. This structured interview requires her to describe objectives and goals for the long and short term. Another requirement is to assess the students’ strengths and weaknesses and determine how to best provide instruction for those students that need it. I have been thinking that the structured interview process is a fantastic one to force managers to prove their mettle.   Many managers are lazy. Yep, I said it. We all know that there are some amazing ones out there, but there are still plenty of lazy managers to give the rest a bad name. It’s so easy to take a performance review template and mark “meets expectations” on every blank. To do a real evaluation takes courage and leadership, because you’re bound to make someone upset or angry with a truthful performance review. Think about how your performance review would be different if these sorts of questions … [Read more...] about Managing With Courage

The internal dialogue: Whether we're talking to other people in our heads or talking to ourselves, all of us conduct our own personal conversations--that no one else ever hears. (Some of us do it more than others.)Thinking conversations through before they happen can be a useful tool in your workplace arsenal, but it is important to use the tactic sparingly. If not, you open yourself up to a whole world of hurt.Next time you find yourself carrying on dialogue in your own head where you are speaking for your fellow office workers, here's what you can do to validate or reject the thoughts... Read more of Andrew G.R.'s post at US News & World Report. … [Read more...] about Common Work Error: Thinking For Other People

The stench was horrendous. As everyone walked through the office door, they couldn't help but comment."Ewwwwww, what is that?"After searching for dead animals and rummaging through garbage cans, we finally found the culprit: the refrigerator. Specifically, someone's two-week-old Chinese leftovers.In typical corporate fashion, a call was placed to the janitorial department to take care of the problem. One day and several sprays of Windex later, the cleaners deemed the problem solved.Guess what happened the following week...The smell returned.Now I'm a fairly patient person but I do reach a point where I don't look back and take matters into my own hands.The next day I arrived at work 30 minutes early with a bucket and heavy-duty cleaning supplies in tow. I rolled up my shirt sleeves and made the fridge look - and smell - as good as new.As my officemates began to trickle in they all took notice of the fridge.Word began to spread that I had taken care of the problem. Most people were … [Read more...] about The Day I Cleaned the Refrigerator at Work

When I was fresh out of college I used to joke with family and friends that I was "too normal" to be successful. It seems everywhere we look, people who have achieved a high-level of success, have a story about overcoming odds to get there. The Adversity Paradox is a new book that helps you tap into different situations and use them to build a road towards business success.The Adversity Paradox: The phenomenon of building outstanding success upon the lessons learned in overcoming serious difficulty or misfortune.The basis of the book is built around Individual Human Capital. Basically these are skills that you possess, that with investment, can produce future positive outputs. The AP suggests you take an inventory of yourself and ask which of the following you are strong or weak in:IntrospectionValues BehaviorWork CharacterPurpose & PassionThirst for KnowledgeYou have control over how you feel and deal with adversity.A piece of unique advice in the book I had never thought off is … [Read more...] about The Adversity Paradox

Hello, Jobacle fans! It’s been a crazy week on the homefront for me. I just found out that I’m going to be taking a new job within the upcoming week or so, and I’m very excited. It looks like Jobacle is a sweet company to have on your resume, because Lauren recently landed her own new job. With this change, I have been thinking of an interesting question for everyone in the audience. We need your help, though! Jobacle wants to know what your dream benefits package would look like. Sure, we’ve all had the same old benefits brochure with medical, dental, vision, and boredom insurance (wouldn’t that be awesome?), but I’m talking about a benefits package that would make your jaw hit the floor. What would your dream benefits look like? Would it be a free new car? A great perk like free meals for breakfast or lunch? A week of paid vacation in Tahiti every summer with all expenses covered? Let us know. We’ve already heard some of Andrew’s list … [Read more...] about What is Your Dream Benefits Package?