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The Dress Code Fight Isn't Worth It
Tweet Share on Facebook April 30, 2009 Comment (10)I work for a very well-known, worldwide, prestigious company. In our employee handbook, it states: "Employees should use their best judgment regarding appropriate dress for their jobs and the schedule for the day. When determining appropriate dress, employees should consider not only the task, but the appropriateness given a safe, accident-free work environment."
So on that note, I wore dress shorts to work. They come slightly above the knee but are made for the work environment. Today I was told that I could not wear them because they are against company policy. My boss said I can not wear anything above my knees and that my tattoo on my ankle can not show. However, this is not the first time I have worn those shorts...it is actually the 3rd, in which they have never said anything before. Also, there are others in my office that wear very provocative clothing and get away with it. What should I do?
You should never wear those shorts again, keep your knees covered, and make sure your tattoo is not visible.
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What If You'd Made No Mistakes in Your Life?
Tweet Share on Facebook April 30, 2009 Comment (2)As a recovering perfectionist, I know all too well the experience of making a mistake and proceeding to mentally flagellate myself for it. I can still be merciless on occasion. It has probably been one of the biggest obstacles I have faced. And I know I’m not alone.
The crazy thing is that it is all 100 percent self-inflicted. And it’s completely counterproductive.
In light of all that, one of my favorite quotes is one from jazz great Miles Davis: “Do not fear mistakes. There are none.”
What a liberating idea! What if we all lived our lives that way. Rather than berating ourselves when we made a mistake, what if we automatically shifted into roll-with-it gear? More than that, what if we automatically started looking for the gem coming out of our mistake that we can put to positive use?
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Take Control of the Job Interview
Tweet Share on Facebook April 29, 2009 Comment (2)The problem with many job interviews is that their substance is abstract instead of concrete.
Woo-woo questions like “If you were a breakfast cereal, what kind would you be?” might reveal something about your personality, character, or eating habits. But what do they say about your ability to do the job?
It may be up to you to steer the interview to the actual job at hand:
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Blinding Flash of the Obvious, One Day Late
Tweet Share on Facebook April 28, 2009 Comment (6)Yesterday's Air Force One flight over New York City illustrates several points.
“The FAA was told about the flight and approved it!!” was a sorry answer and excuse. Point is, if you are in a position of authority or responsibility, don’t throw anyone--and certainly not unnamed bureaucracies--under the bus. We expect better from our leaders. But there's more.
Evidently, many governmental departments “coordinated” on this photo-op flight over Manhattan. The circulated memo was, I'll bet, innocent enough, like all these kind of memos. It likely read something like: “The Air Force will be taking photos of the new Air Force One as it majestically flies over Manhattan on a beautiful spring day, showcasing the world’s most recognizable airplane against the backdrop of the world’s most recognizable city.” Or some such language. I bet hundreds of people read this memo in the days before the flight. You understand that the above account is fictional, but I am betting it is eerily close to the original. Yet not one person said….”Hmmm, let’s rethink this.”
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Why You Didn't Get Hired
Tweet Share on Facebook April 27, 2009 Comment (18)The job looked perfect for you. The description matched your experience and skills so perfectly, you could almost visualize yourself at your new desk. But now you're staring at a rejection E-mail and can't figure out what happened.
No matter how qualified you think you are for a job, there are all kinds of reasons that you might not have been chosen. Here are some of the most common:
1. Your qualifications aren't as strong as you think they are, so your assessment of your skills isn't in line with the reality of the situation.
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Good Lessons From Bad Jobs
Tweet Share on Facebook April 24, 2009 CommentPut a new supervisor in a room with a bunch of experienced ones and odds are the veterans will talk about their mistakes. Variations of “watch out for this” and “never do that” will outnumber the more positive pointers.
So it goes with jobs--it is not unusual for us to glean the most powerful lessons from the worst situations. Consider what can be learned:
Poor supervision: Make a mental note of how you felt when a supervisor didn’t pitch in, lied, took undue credit, or played favorites. Vow that you will never duplicate those sins.
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Written Up at Work? Sign on The Line
Tweet Share on Facebook April 23, 2009 Comment (61)Part 1. A friend (non-HR professional) once said that if an employee won't sign with a full signature on the provided signature line on a written warning/write up/etc., then the refusal is defined as insubordination. True? She maintained that it won't suffice as evidence of having received the written action to simply initial the usual disclaimer sentence, that employees' signature doesn't mean agreement to the content of the written action.
Part 2. Depending on your response to part 1 of this question, I suggested to my friend that a written response/explanation regarding subject matter in written action submitted within a reasonable time frame by the employee would be acceptable in lieu of a signature at the time of the written action. What are your thoughts on this from a HR, employer or supervisor perspective?
I want everyone to repeat after me: I will sign my warning/write up/action plan. I will sign my warning/write up/action plan. I will sign my warning/write up/action plan.
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Take the Slow Road to Success
Tweet Share on Facebook April 23, 2009 CommentYou have big dreams, and you're committed to success. You have a million things you want to do before yesterday at noon and you're running at mach speed. You're moving so fast you can scarcely breathe.
Want to know a way to get more out of all that effort you're making? It may seem counterintuitive, but here it is: Sloooooowww dowwnnnn.
When you live your life in a frantic whirlwind, your effectiveness begins to diminish and your vision gets clouded. You start putting more energy into getting less result.
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Do Women Have a Competitive Advantage Over Men?
Tweet Share on Facebook April 22, 2009 Comment (44)And, if so, why do men still earn a dollar for every 77 pennies women earn? Why are men’s small businesses larger than women’s small businesses?
It shouldn’t be like this.
Because when it comes to running anything—a family, a business, a country—women possess extraordinary leadership qualities. We’re more intuitive, more patient, and we tend to share more, which makes us better at motivating. We’re tenacious and we’re great problem solvers (if only because we’ve always had to make do with less). Even more important, we excel at doing many things at once.
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Dear Former Employee: It's Not Your Fault
Tweet Share on Facebook April 21, 2009 Comment (1)A hypothetical look at what an honest CEO might write to a laid-off worker in today's economy.
I am sorry we had to lay you off last week. I really am.
It is a failure on my part. I should have seen all this coming. I knew our products were outdated. But, heck, they were still selling. And well, too. I thought we had years left, not months.
So don’t take the layoff as a sign that you did something wrong. It wasn’t you, this time. Other times, maybe, but not this time. It was me.
