July 24th, 2008
By Dave Imperiale
It’s been three months since I joined the Facebook and I’m now mostly just annoyed with it. Every morning when I get up I do two things: I check the temperature/forecast on New York 1 and I check the Yankee score/standings (in season). Now I have to click on one more bookmarked page every morning. I don’t want to. I find no real pleasure in it. I won’t compare it to drugs or booze because it’s not as good. I don’t know why I do it. I’m not sure what I think will happen or who I’m waiting for. I’m already friends with everyone I know on there. Yet more keep finding me. (more…)
Filed under All, The Luddite.
July 22nd, 2008
By Renn Vara
Since writing my 24/7 confessional blog some weeks ago, I’ve been hit with the retort; “Do you live to work or work to live?” The presumption is I’m not focused on the lifelong search for the Holy Grail of balancing work and life. So let me take another shot. This time let me be totally clear. (more…)
Filed under All.
July 17th, 2008
By Art Bell
(Third of three parts. Part one is here. Part two is here.)
Peers that Threaten Candor
Any parent with a junior high- or high school-aged child knows the extraordinary pressure exerted (purposely or unwittingly) by the child’s peers. Although that susceptibility to caring too much about “what others think” fades for many with growing maturity, other people (perhaps because of inborn personality tendencies) carry social sensitivities straight from school years into the workplace. Vivian, a California department manager in a large clothing store, talks about the problem: “I manage Young Women’s Wear in a national chain department store. It’s hard to explain, but I feel like I’m always looking over my shoulder to keep track of what Rachel is doing in her department (Formal Wear), Alphonse in his (Men’s Suits), and all the rest in the store. There’s a constant bickering match going on among managers that has nothing to do with the manager, who kind of leaves us all alone to do our thing. Take stocking, for example. When boxes arrive to be unpacked, there are a few hours when my clerks are out there with boxes in the aisles doing the work of getting the clothes on shelves and hangars. (more…)
Filed under All, Leadership.
July 15th, 2008
By Art Bell
(Second of three parts. Part one is here.)
The Nice Boss Made Me Do It
On the flipside, some employees act and speak disingenuously because they don’t want to disappoint a boss who has been kind, understanding, and solicitous of their professional welfare. A hotel manager in Florida tells such a story: “The hotel chain is privately owned by a gentleman in his early 80s. When I say ‘gentleman,’ I’m choosing exactly the right word. He has been practically like a father to me, and to the rest of the managers in his hotels. He wants to be proud of us and regularly sends a bottle of champagne to my office when he hears about something good that has happened at the hotel. But he’s such a gentle, sweet guy that a lot of managers—including myself at times–don’t get around to telling him less than good news. (more…)
Filed under All, Leadership.
July 10th, 2008
By Art Bell
(First of three parts) Do you observe a problem with down-right honesty in your workplace? It’s one thing to say that employees at all levels within a company often fail the candor and trust test, resulting in a breakdown of trust bonds with peers, subordinates, and supervisors. It’s quite another to understand why these otherwise upstanding citizens speak and act in such perverse, counterproductive ways in the workplace. Put simply, as we have put it in many employee interviews, “Why not be candid?”
One of the most frequent answers to that question can be summed up as “the devil made me do it”—in other words, “I was forced or manipulated into saying and doing things that aren’t really ‘me’.” What are these mysterious forces that turn otherwise ethical individuals into people who don’t speak up when they should, or make statements that are less than candid?
The Angry Boss Made Me Do It
American business magazines continue to lionize “the ten toughest bosses” and their temperamental antics. (These behaviors in the European Union are termed “bullying” and are grounds for termination as well as civil prosecution.) But in the United States, we still cling wrong-headedly to the outmoded notion that a boss must be a “butt-kicker,” rousing fear in the hearts of subordinates. Such actions, the theory goes, makes employees toe the line and give their utmost effort, fearing punishment in various forms from the apoplectic boss. (more…)
Tags: corporate communications,
leadership training
Filed under All, Leadership.
July 2nd, 2008
By Renn Vara
Is it just me or is something happening with our definition of leadership? Up until the recent tenure of President George Bush, we were an unapologetic apologist culture when it came to leadership; “What do you expect? That’s the nature of politicians, rich people, corporate leaders, etc.”
Then something happened. Some credit the eight month Democratic primary in which we got to know a junior Senator from Illinois and his welcomed approach to campaigns. Some say it’s a cosmic and/or nature driven change in our perspective on the human condition. Even more believe that this up-and-coming generational wave of millennials is at fault.
I’m too limited to know. But what I can tell you is that corporate leadership is under a lot of pressure these days to flatten their management approach and lead by example. Or as we say with our leadership training: character and voice. What this means is that you’d better be a decent person for real and be able to express your values to the whole organization without going through underlings and middle managers. Not an easy task.
So here are my top 10 recommendations for today’s business leaders – This applies to politicians too: (more…)
Tags: corporate communications,
leadership training
Filed under All, Leadership.
