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Who's Your Seth Godin?
Tweet Share on Facebook March 31, 2009 Comment (1)About a quarter of a million people read Seth Godin’s blog each day. That’s like every household in North Dakota reading his posts. What’s even more amazing is that it's all his--no group of writers for my man Seth. He writes every single post every single day. Worldwide, his blog in the top 20, easy. He writes, he speaks and he creates companies too. Score!
After more than 3,500 posts, he is still going strong. Some say his posts are even getting better. One a day, like clockwork, arriving in my RSS feeder before breakfast. The blog stud, I call him. Look at his picture--I could find him in a big conference room, but he couldn’t find me. We’ve never met. And yet. I wanted his help.
The point I want to make today is that many of you are worrying needlessly. In your own world, you might be thinking: How can I ask my version of Mr. Godin for help and advice when he is much too busy to help me? Why would he want to help me? He doesn’t know even know me. Why would he help me network to find a new job?
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Bossophobia: How to Overcome Fear of Your Boss
Tweet Share on Facebook March 30, 2009 Comment (3)You can't be scared of your boss if you want to be successful. I am convinced of this. Now whether the fear is a product of your boss's actions or a result of your own life experience, I don't know. But I do know that irrespective of the reason, you better cut the fear if you want to achieve career success. (And it could be worse, you could work for one of these guys or a dictator)
Here are a few ways to quell the anxiety that surrounds dealing with your boss:
Initiate contact: Find ways to interact with the person in charge. This takes effort and might be uncomfortable, but it's worth it. The higher-ups are not always accessible, but it's up to you to find creative and professional ways to seek them out.
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Long-Windedness: A Job Interview Killer
Tweet Share on Facebook March 30, 2009 Comment (7)There’s always at least one candidate in any hiring round who might otherwise have been qualified but who kills their chances by being way too long-winded. This is especially common in phone interviews (perhaps because candidates who do this don’t make it to the in-person stage).
I did a phone interview with a candidate last week who gave five-minute answers to quick, basic questions that should have taken 30 seconds or less to answer. For instance, at one point, I asked him if his work on a political campaign was paid or volunteer – an either/or question – and received a response so long I finally cut him off. Later, I told him directly that I only had a few more minutes to talk and wanted to get through some additional questions and it still didn't cut short his long, rambling response.
You might think, “Well, some people are long-winded, but it doesn’t mean he wouldn’t do a good job.” The problem is that, at a minimum, it signals that you're not good at picking up on conversational cues, and it raises doubts about your ability to organize your thoughts and convey needed information quickly.
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The Art of Exploitation By Committee
Tweet Share on Facebook March 27, 2009 Comment (2)Two weeks after the first committee meeting, you came to a rather sad conclusion: You are doing most of the work.
You didn’t want this to happen. You hoped the work would be roughly divided with the three other committee members, but, when no one else spoke up, you found yourself volunteering this idea and that. By the time the first meeting was over, you walked away with all of the work and some general promises from the others to help.
That was your first mistake. The responsibilities of each team member should have been clarified from the start, but rather than crawl out of the hole, you decided to dig deeper. You did all of the extra work, thinking that once the others saw your enthusiasm and effort, they’d pitch in out of an inherent sense of fairness.
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What Traffic Cops Can Teach Us About Management
Tweet Share on Facebook March 26, 2009 Comment (4)Yesterday I had the, ummm, experience of driving to the Newark, N.J., airport. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the path to get there--suffice it to say that you are fortunate if you can keep in that state of being for the rest of your lives. It is, shall we say, unpleasant.
On my trip I ran across three different police cars. I watched how they approached their responsibilities and I realized it was a good analogy for managing people. I assume (and I realize this is a big assumption) that their goals were to make the roadways safer by enforcing the speed limit (65 mph). Now, don't get into a snit because this assumption is undoubtedly simplistic, just hold on with me for the management analogy.
The first police officer drove an unmarked black car with a "For Sale By Owner" sign in the back window. (Complete with phone number.) I only knew he existed because he pulled some poor person over. Until that point, people had been sailing by at a good 75 mph. (Not that I was doing that. I don't speed. Cross my heart.)
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7 Ways to Be a Good Boss in Bad Times
Tweet Share on Facebook March 25, 2009 Comment (2)It’s never easy being a good boss, but it’s even harder in times like these.
The work, however, must go on. So, how do you, as a boss, keep people happy and settled enough to be productive? Well, here are seven ideas to get you started:
1. Be upfront. When employees come to you with questions and worries, do your best to address them. Honestly. Even if the best you can say is: “I don’t know yet.”
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When the Job Search Gets Too Frustrating
Tweet Share on Facebook March 24, 2009 Comment (2)So a job seeker asks: What do I do when I get depressed about my job search? I have sent my resume out to hundreds of companies in the last few months and I have not gotten one single interview. This is so frustrating.
Most career coaches give good advice, i.e. "Hang in there." or "It's not you, it's this economy," and "Keep trying, re-do your resume, try networking, volunteer more." You get the picture.
I have some more advice for this particular job seeker. Maybe I am feeling all curmudgeonly today.
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How to Disagree With Your Boss
Tweet Share on Facebook March 23, 2009 Comment (84)A reader at Ask a Manager recently wrote to me about a situation where she felt her boss was asking her to do something utterly nonsensical.
Often in this situation, people have one or more bad reactions: They stew about silently, or they just disregard the boss's instructions.
Neither of these is a good option. If you disagree with your boss, you should offer up your own viewpoint. (Disclaimer: This assumes your boss is sane and reasonable, not a tyrant or a lunatic. If she's one of those, that's a different topic.) Often, workplace disagreements arise when two people have different pieces of information about something. It's possible that you know something your boss doesn't know. Figure out what that might be, tell her, and see if that changes anything. At the same time, be open to new information she might give you that might change your own viewpoint.
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Almost Succeeding But Not Quite Failing
Tweet Share on Facebook March 20, 2009 Comment (2)Even the most successful careers can be dotted by failures. It is axiomatic that we learn from setbacks far more than from victories. The person who has never received the career equivalent of a stomach punch may be less prepared to deal with adversity.
With a conventional failure, one fails, regroups, and then moves on. But what of that territory between success and failure which gives the benefits of neither? A clear-cut failure tells you what doesn’t work and jars you toward other endeavors or approaches. The not-quite success yet not-quite failure, however, may leave just enough hope to keep you mired in what is really a hopeless effort.
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Why We Laugh When a Joke's Not Funny, and Other New Job Lessons
Tweet Share on Facebook March 19, 2009 Comment (6)Two lemons were in the shower. The first one said, “Pass me the soap.” The second one said, “What do you think I am? A typewriter?”
Ha! Ha! Ha! Excuse me while I wipe the tears of mirth from my eyes. Isn’t that the funniest joke you’ve ever heard in your life? No? (Note to my younger readers: A typewriter is a keyboard where you type directly onto paper. Isn’t that the strangest thing you’ve ever heard of in your life?)
Well, back in the dark ages when I was in high school, this was a favorite joke of mine and my friends. We found it hilarious. Not the joke itself, mind you, but watching how people would try diligently to figure out what was so funny about it. If you told it in a group where most everyone was in on it, you could almost guarantee that the new “victims” would laugh at it.
