You want to be compassionate without philosophizing When you see your friend or colleague at work, you hopefully get a warm smile, a friendly hello, and maybe a little chat about your favorite TV show that was on last night. But at times, as soon as you see him, you know something's wrong. His shoulders are slumped,
You can't change someone else's behavior, but you can change your mindset Working with a difficult person (and, often, more than one) is as expected in the workplace as attending pointless meetings. We've all desperately tried to get a colleague to behave better, like the one who complains every time a change is announced, or who nitpicks at every
You may be scaring people rather than inspiring them When you think about your annual physical exam, you may be worried that your doctor is going to criticize your choices (like eating too much steak and not enough salad), deliver disappointing news, or find something frightening. Those are the kinds of concerns that prevent people from reaching out to
You can't improve without specifics. Most of us think about feedback as negative: being told by our manager that we've fallen short of a goal, or that our work processes need work, or that a behavior needs to change. And yes, negative feedback delivered thoughtfully and constructively, is critical to helping us make progress. Let's not overlook
Your idea is only as good as your ability to sell it From ride-sharing to co-working spaces, and from Netflix to 3D printers, all of these were, at some point, brand new ideas. And each of them had a person (or people) behind the idea who saw the business potential in turning their idea into reality. But generating cutting-edge concepts isn't
'I'll do it' may be costing you your career Most of us hope that our colleagues and bosses see us as helpful. Helping in the workplace has been recognized as an important and desirable organizational behavior for decades, from both an interpersonal relationship perspective as well as a business productivity perspective. When we're helpful, we contribute positively to the social and
Blowing up can have a lasting impact if you don't address it as soon as possible. Author and business leader Margaret Heffernan once remarked, "For good ideas and true innovation, you need human interaction, conflict, argument, debate." Nevertheless, many of us would rather not engage in conflict, argument or debate (and maybe even avoid human interaction altogether). We work hard
Being liked is fleeting. Here's what matters more There's nothing wrong with wanting to be liked at work. According to Tim Sanders, author of The Likeability Factor: How to Boost Your L-Factor and Achieve Your Life's Dreams when your colleagues, direct reports and bosses like you, you have a better chance of getting promoted, being assigned special projects that interest
A dispassionate leader isn't inspiring anyone. When we think about effective leaders, many of us picture someone who is calm, cool, and collected under stressful conditions. We envision someone who is reliably even-keeled in the best of times and the worst of times, who can assuage anxiety with a placid demeanor during change and transition and is unruffled when
Your mindset matters more than you think. When it comes to evaluating success for salespeople, it's often focused on one thing: the win. Asking for the customer's business and getting a quick and enthusiastic "yes!" seems, at times, to be the only thing that counts. This mindset, and the aggressive behavior that it drives, comes at a cost. According
Manage your emotions at work so they don't manage you. Work is hard — which is why it’s called “work.” Every day, we face challenges that range from solving difficult technical problems and making hard choices between competing priorities, to deciding what to delegate and generating new solutions to old problems. And we’re expected to do all of that while staying
10 strategies that go way beyond "big ideas." When you hear the word "innovation", you probably picture thought leaders like Elon Musk (Tesla), Steve Jobs (Apple), or Sheryl Sandberg (Facebook/The "Lean In" movement.) You also likely think about the ability to generate big, bold, brilliant ideas--not just once, but as a regular practice. You may also
What you say to yourself matters as much as what you say to someone else. We all have worked with a difficult person, and for some of us, we're working with a whole bunch of them. For you, it could be the fierce individualist who doesn't seem to want to be a team player, or the boss
Most of us are talking too much and not adding value. Whether you think of yourself as Chatty Charlie, Reserved Rebecca or someone in between, chances are you have experienced the power of saying more with less. If you've ever worked in an office where someone stage-whispered "layoffs are coming" across the cubicle farm, you've
When "I'm sorry" becomes overused, it gets tuned out -- and so do you. We all make mistakes. From minor ones like mispronouncing someone's name (which, depending on the person, could be a big deal) to major ones like making an expensive misguided hire, every single one of us can remember the workplace errors we've made that are cringe-worthy
