I’m a huge proponent of developing your employees. I was raised by a Baby Boomer who would tell me, “If you spend money on developing employees, they’ll just leave for a better job, so it’s a waste of money!” I’m sure many of you reading this probably have current bosses who have the same theory of management and employee development. …
If You Just Rely on AI to Train Managers, Don’t Be Surprised at the Management You Get.
I’m not easily surprised, but I am when I see something like this: According to The Wall Street Journal, companies are now turning to robots to train and coach young managers. *Insert your bad manager joke here* According to The Journal, the training comes in the form of a bot, “a manager-training app powered by the artificial intelligence of IBM …
Know Your Why–Gut Decisions and Your Career
I feel like I should dedicate this post to PFP, a local gym my youngest daughter attends. My youngest has scoliosis, and in addition to being braced for a number of years by a phenomenal Orthotist, she’s been working out with a trainer to have an amazingly strong core. The best news–the workouts at PFP have been pivotal in reducing …
Improve Employee Development by Starting with Yourself.
It’s not a secret that continued development is a defining factor of lasting success. There’s truth in the saying, “what got you here won’t get you there.” Too often, I find that we forget about developing ourselves and being honest with the growth opportunities that we face as leaders. This is why I focus on building a mindset of high-level …
Defense Wins Championships…and Talent
I’m a college basketball fan, so the NCAA Championship this week was fun to watch. OK. Maybe not the first 5 minutes when no one could hit the broad side of a barn–but the overall tournament and the championship game did not disappoint. Take Virginia and Texas Tech–two defensive-minded teams who made it to the championship game for the first …
What Are You Telling Employees When You Send Them Late Night Emails?
I learned long ago that you should always be ready to take good advice — no matter where it comes from. This month, it came from a guy named Michael Dermer who touts himself in his blog and newsletter as The Lonely Entrepreneur. His words of wisdom were short, sweet, and spot-on. He said: “Turn off at a respectable time, …
To Tell or Not To Tell…I Spy a TYPO in Your Resume.
Oh, that is a question. Tell the candidate? Don’t tell the candidate? I mean really, attention to detail is key in most jobs. Especially anything at the executive level, and certainly anything administrative. And good grief, if it’s accounting or finance, typos are verboten. But where is there slack? Do you excuse typos in a LinkedIn profile? Maybe not. Especially …
The Five Most Important Things To Do To Show The World You’re Freaking Awesome at What You Do.
Professional awesomeness. You’ve got it. The world needs to know about it. I’ve mentioned in the past that you need a plan if you want real career traction. Some of my rants have focused on the reality that you have to be willing to tell the world about everything you’ve accomplished. If you don’t do it, no one else will. Now here’s …
Bosses Behaving Badly: When Integrity Matters Most
How many of us have seen our leaders (C-Suite, bosses, the ivory tower, “the brass”) abandon their integrity when the going gets rough? Maybe they decided to cut salaries to shed costs without cutting their own, or they identified a sacrificial lamb to take the fall for what was their mistake. Perhaps they simply elected to flat out lie to …
They Did Not Suck: 5 Rules For Saying Why You Got Fired or Left Your Last Job
Gather round the monitor kids, because I’m about to break off some knowledge that a lot of you don’t fully understand. Let’s start with a general rule: If you’re interviewing for a job you really want and you’re not currently employed, the elephant in the room is why you aren’t still employed with that company. Now let’s enhance that a …