Reframing What’s Wrong to Make It Right
President Obama is currently on the stump advocating two things. First, he wants a raise in the minimum wage. Second, he wants women to receive equal pay for equal work. These have been decades long intractable issues. I believe that language has played a big part in their failure to gain traction. Perhaps reframing these …
Mixed Messages Cause Confusion & Drama in Many Workplaces
“There is no confusion, I was quite clear!”
So proclaimed my client in a conversation last summer as I was helping evaluate the under-performance of an employee recently transferred to a new role.
My client made this claim when I brought to his attention that his employee told me he was confused by what was …
Personal Branding Weekly –Firm, Fair and Consistent
Special favors are always tough. They either erode your personal brand or put a finer point to it.
At the age of 21 years old, I became a manager leading a team of 50+ people with four mid-level managers who reported directly to me. I was gifted some sage advice from a senior manager who …
Becoming a Leader at Work
Most of us strive to become leaders. We want to do something great, be respected by our peers, make more money and acquire more responsibility. Overall, we want to make a difference at our job. However, most of us simply don’t know the proper way to gain heightened respect, confidence and admiration from those whom …
How to Repair a Tarnished Brand
It takes years to build a reputable brand; one that people trust and talk about positively. Unfortunately, a brand image can be ruined in an instant. Just ask Paula Deen or Mike Jeffries, CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch, whose careless remarks sparked outrage and damaged their otherwise positive images. It’s Murphy’s Law that says things …
13 Questions You Should Ask When Developing Your Personal Brand
What is the #1 question I should ask myself as I try to figure out what my personal brand stands for?
The following answers are provided by the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched StartupCollective, a free virtual mentorship …
Starting over: Growing Business Slowly, But Surely
Areas of San Francisco are known for their lineup of gourmet food trucks. The old style “roach coach” has made way for some of the best ethnic food in town. Many of the food truck owners emigrated from other countries. They found their way to building a small business based upon serving their hometown food.…
Own and Plan Your Career for Your Own Sake
Many people expect that their companies plan their careers for them and everything is set and clear. However, in today’s environment, this is not the case anymore. You should watch your back and plan your own career. If not, then, no one else would do it for you.
During job interviews, many people ask if …
How To Handle The Unexpected Agony in Life
Death. Divorce. Moving. Illness. Losing a job. You probably know the list of things you might need to survive, because life inevitably changes and deals you losses along with the wins. Agony often accompanies loss, because your sense of yourself is shattered. Agony rushes in when you lose your sense of safety, stability, hopefulness, peace-of-mind, …
Open Door Policies Don’t Work
In interviewing a client at the end of our project I learned how ineffective “open door policies” are by organizational leaders.
My client said, “Before we started our work together I couldn’t understand why employees who knew I had an open door policy, didn’t come to me when they knew another employee was doing things …