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Why the Holiday Party Is Not a Party—It’s Work
Tweet Share on Facebook December 11, 2008 Comment (4)It's the time of year for
Christmas HolidayWinter Parties! (I mean, seriously—besides skiers—who celebrates winter? With lights and trees? Geesh.) This means you may have a company party to attend.Yeah! Free food and alcohol! Prepare to gorge yourself and get plastered!
Or not.
I have my cardinal rule of work: When you are with people you work with you are at work. Got that? It doesn't matter if the party is being held in the company cafeteria or the local Holiday Inn. If there are people from work there, it is a work event, and you should behave accordingly.
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How to Believe in Your Success and Manage Risk
Tweet Share on Facebook December 11, 2008 Comment (2)So much of the quest for success is mental. Our mind can be either our best ally or our worst enemy.
One of the best examples I know of the power of a positive mental approach is my friend Erden Eruc (I mentioned him before in this post on overcoming obstacles). Earlier this year, he spent a world-record 312 days rowing across the Pacific.
Today, he is in Manila, Philippines, preparing to pick his row up where he left off on his quest to circumnavigate the world by human power. I talked to him recently about a stretch of his upcoming row that would be particularly dangerous and challenging. That in turn sparked a conversation about the mental aspect of what he is doing.
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Looking for Joy on the Job (Even in a Recession)
Tweet Share on Facebook December 10, 2008 Comment (4)Is asking for joy at your job asking for too much?
You might think it is. You might say, "What kind of Pollyanna BS is this?"
But you're forgetting for the moment how important joy is. Yes, you can live without it for a while. But imagine yourself in 30, 40, or 50 years. Do you want to look back on a lifetime of arid, cheerless work?
That's why today's meditation is about finding joy on the job. Yes, even in a recession.
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When HR Is Bad PR
Tweet Share on Facebook December 9, 2008 Comment (5)HR, PR. PR, HR.
Most of the time, PR departments have it pretty easy. Press release here, a photo opportunity there. I understand that there are skills that good PR people bring to the team. But . . .
The latest example of poor PR was the auto executives' flying three separate corporate jets to D.C. to beg for our money.
This is not intended to be a "bash the PR guy rant," but something else is happening in the bowels of your company—this time in HR—that has a similar potential to bite you where the sun doesn't shine.
If you have a company of over 100 people, chances are good that you are getting a LOT of résumés now. Almost all of them are unsolicited . . . so your HR department, having much better things to do, is ignoring them and throwing them away.
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The 10 Essentials of Delegating
Tweet Share on Facebook December 5, 2008 Comment (2)You will not be an effective manager unless you learn how to delegate. The question, "Should I be handling this?" must be asked frequently if you are to develop your associates, build a strong team, and avoid being swamped.
Delegation does, however, have its ground rules. Here are 10:
- Don't delegate any task, such as termination of a direct report, which requires your personal involvement.
- Clarify which decisions are exclusively yours, which are exclusively the employee's, and which should be jointly examined.
- Don't delegate responsibility without authority. Give appropriate amounts of power.
- Make sure the person has sufficient resources and ready access to those resources. For example, requiring a subordinate to get your approval every time the company lawyer needs to be consulted may waste time and discourage the seeking of needed legal advice.
- Discuss the priorities of the assignment. Don't assume that they are clear.
- Let others know of the delegation and block those who may try to subvert the arrangement by going directly to you.
- Give the employee any necessary training. That will strengthen the person's abilities while signaling that a high level of performance is expected.
- When describing the desired results, tell the person what you don't want as well as what you want. Learning what is undesirable can be enormously helpful.
- Talk about where the organization should be once the goals are accomplished and discuss what future challenges should be expected.
- Don't dismiss any attention to detail as micromanaging. Certain details may require your touch, but as the employee gains confidence and expertise, your involvement should decline. You are building an employee and a system.
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Choosing Fuel for Your Career Journey
Tweet Share on Facebook December 4, 2008 Comment (2)When it comes to your career journey, how do you fuel up? Do you fill your mind with a high-octane, positive perspective or do you pump it full of toxic sludge? Is what you put into your brain positive and inspiring or negative and demoralizing?
What you focus on affects how you see the world. That in turn affects what you have the potential to achieve. The more positive your outlook, the better the potential for a positive outcome.
Unfortunately, most of us are on a mental junk food binge. You don't have to go any further than the nightly news to find an abundance of that toxic sludge being served up for us to consume. If the stories that show up day after day are any indication, the world is a mighty dark place.
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Cutting Salaries in a Recession
Tweet Share on Facebook December 4, 2008 Comment (2)I am a manager in a small software company. We're beginning to experience difficult AR collections as well as declining sales—a bad combo for a small company with little to no cash reserves, but that's a rant for another time.
My immediate problem is that the president of the company wants to implement 15 percent pay cuts. And, he wants to keep them indefinitely even when the financial picture improves. He's under the impression that employees are worth less money in a recession and argues it's simple supply and demand to drive down the market price: There are fewer jobs available as well as more qualified candidates. It sounds like crazy Reaganomics to me.
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When a Job Title Means Nothing
Tweet Share on Facebook December 3, 2008 Comment (5)Money's tight. Everyone knows that. Employers know it, too, and they're looking for ways to cut corners.
One corner-cutter is that oldie-but-goodie:
"Give 'em a title instead of a raise."
Yup, title inflation is rampant. With so many vice presidents, group vice presidents, executive vice presidents, vice chairmen, directors, chief officers, and more around, it makes you wonder who is doing the actual work.
Of course, a nice title can be ... nice. It may boost you to a higher salary bracket, which could help at raise time. It may give you better leverage with customers. It may even make you work harder.
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Dear Santa: Please Bring Better Jobs
Tweet Share on Facebook December 2, 2008 Comment (1)Dear Santa,
What's up with Wii? Why can't they just make more? Some kids at school were asking that question, and I thought you might know the answer.
Mom and Dad need a new car—right now the old one is just parked in the driveway and Mom has to take Dad to work. It is waaay out of the way. And all they talk about in the car is money. Please send them some more money so they will talk to me, too.
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Finish the Year With Gratitude
Tweet Share on Facebook December 1, 2008 CommentEditor's Note: Curt Rosengren typically posts on Thursdays.
When it comes to pursuing success in your career (and your life, for that matter), what's going on between your ears is as important as what's going on around you. Your mind shapes your outlook on life, creating the lens through which you see the world.
Thursday was Thanksgiving, a day that for most of us means turkey, family get-togethers, and football and parades on TV. It comes and goes, and life goes back to normal. But what if you used your Thanksgiving to kick off an effort to consciously shape what's going on in your mind? What if it became Day One of an exploration of gratitude?
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