When Leadership Feels Like You’re Being Stalked
One of the most daunting things about being a leader is that you’re almost always being watched by your team and that it almost always matters– even when you think the stakes are low or there are no stakes at all. There are always stakes in leadership. You’re putting a stake in the ground with every breath you take, [...]
Culture Killer: COMMUNICATION
If you’ve ever secretly fantasized about the day when your team members are all both deaf and mute—meaning you’d have to deal with this whole communication thing a lot less frequently—then this Culture Killer installment was custom-built for you, friend. Before we get into all the things you’re probably doing wrong, let’s be real for a moment: leadership can be [...]
Job Spotlight: Clinical Research Coordinator
So, what do you do? Working at an academic medical center, the physicians in my division are continuously conducting clinical research to ultimately improve the lives of their patients. As a clinical research coordinator, I am responsible for facilitating all of this research. Coordinators are intimately involved in all phases of research, which can broadly be categorized in the [...]
The Feedback-Giving Model You’ve Been Waiting For
We talk a lot about feedback both conceptually, what it means for your organization culturally, and practically, how it builds teams and relationships on a micro level. We’ve talked about it enough that all of our clients now really recognize (if they didn’t already) the need for and importance of giving and getting feedback. In all our talk about [...]
How To Know If You’re A High-Potential
You’ve probably heard the term high-potential, or HI PO, thrown around at your company when talking about compensation, or promotions, or when water cooler discussions turn to the topic of who senior management is putting on the fast track. Being a HI PO is a great thing for a career. It is a designation, more often made informally, that [...]
Tips For Frequent Travelers
I used to travel for business, a lot. For a large part of my career—about 15 to 20 years of it—I was traveling at least once per week. I’m approaching three million miles with my favorite airline because I had the top travel status for 10+ years. Plus, starting in 2006 when I began my international professional travel, I visited [...]
Habits To Get Ahead In Your Career
There’s no single magic recipe to a spectacular career, as much as we all wish there was. Even the best aptitude tests and leadership assessments can’t spit out your perfect job title, just like no one can promise you a hiring manager who will automatically love you. (Wouldn’t that be great, though?) What I can give you are four [...]
Your Employees Are More Likely To Quit At These Times
Almost everyone knows by now that employee engagement is in the toilet, largely because ALMOST EVERYONE IS CURRENTLY DISENGAGED. (87% of the workforce is rolling their eyes right now with an, “I could have told Gallup that and saved them 30 million surveys” look on their defeated faces.) And despite the widespread disdain for work, most of the disengaged worker [...]
What To Do About A Boring Day At Work
Not every day is going to be exciting and challenging and motivating; some days might be tedious, and some days might be downright boring. That doesn’t mean you should fall into a Wikipedia black hole. (Did you know the phrase “French fried potatoes” first showed up in print in English in 1856?) Maybe your manager is unexpectedly out sick and [...]
Job Spotlight: Associate Creative Director + Brand Strategist
So, what do you do? Isn't this the big question… I look at my role as creative director as equal parts creative vision, quality control, and cheerleading. Working with the designers and copywriters that make up our creative team, I help establish our strategic and creative plan for all projects that come through the agency. It's my job to [...]
Tips To Be A Successful New Manager
There are some who seek out power and responsibility, and some who have responsibility and power thrust upon them. Regardless of where on the spectrum you fall, as a new manager, there’s a lot to learn, new habits to build, and most of the time there isn’t a warm-up period. Most managers are expected to hit the ground running because [...]
The Joy Of Inheriting Lousy Team Members
There are few things worse as the incumbent leader of a team than inheriting crappy team members because the leader before you had no spine. However you’ve found yourself in charge of people—whether you’ve gotten promoted or transferred within your current company (congratulations!), scored a job as a manager in a new organization (yay for you!), or you weren’t planning [...]