In my 25+ years of working to make good things better, I have learned a thing or two.
I find it useful to remind myself of these things occasionally.
Perhaps you will find them to be helpful as well.
Take what you need. Leave the rest.
Bigger . . . bigger . . . bigger . . . and then?
As tempting as it may be to make “growth” priority numero uno, “growth above all else” often leads to problems.
There’s nothing wrong with figuring it out as you go along. After all - no one has all the answers. Still - here are five things I wish someone had told me before I began leading my own organization (and eventually managed to figure out).
If you are in the midst of a job hunt, you know: being “ghosted” is all too common. We all pretty much agree - it should not ever happen. "Ghosting" is belittling for the person on the receiving end . . . and is simply no way to conduct business.
But there is good news for all the job seekers that have been ghosted: it is not your fault.
Solving difficult problems in the workplace can be a true struggle - but from that struggle comes progress and growth. It's often hard to tell, though . . . is the struggle a natural part of progress and growth - or is the struggle indicative of a toxic work environment?
How does one differentiate between the purpose-driven “struggle” and pointless “toxicity”?
Q: “How can HR and hiring managers identify poor-fitting/toxic candidates during the interviewing process. In other words, how can we mitigate the potential for a “messy divorce’?
A: “You most likely can’t - but here is what you CAN do to minimize the fall out”.
A hammer can drive a nail in the process of building a home. That same hammer can also break glass as part of a smash and grab. Likewise - digital tools can be used to connect and communicate as much as they can be used to create distance and evade.
At their worst - digital tools can lull us into the sort of “at-a-distance” behavior that would be unthinkable in-person.
. . . .but now - my salary, my bonus, my career advancement - the things I wanted from work . . . these all hinged not on how well I did my job but on my ability to deliver on my boss’s wants and desires? To make matters worse, I had - in my boss’s opinion - failed at that.
My luck - it appeared - had run out.
