Category: Getting Better

Tortoise and Hare management lesson

I recently wrote ’8 pointers on how to get a job’, but neglected one important point. Do not martyr yourself and die on the job. I know plenty of people who have a distinct work modus operandi – I see it on CV’s and this is reinforced when I meet them. They take a new…
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The smart-ass syndrome, 5 ‘do not’s’

My one strong piece of advice to those entering the work force; don’t be a smart-ass. Here’s what smart-asses do at work: [list] Do not take instructions well. Work is about doing what you’re asked to do-the way the boss or the company wants it done. If you want to do it differently, build it…
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How to get a job–8 pointers

Do not rely on headhunters. This past week alone I had three coffees with people looking for opportunities, all telling me how many headhunters they were in touch with (never asked any of them what that made me..) but told them all to stop it. Headhunters won’t get them a job, it’s [mostly] a waste…
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Whose side are you on anyhow?

In a work dispute, any on-looker or mildly interested third party will not know all the facts. We’re often faced with such stand-offs inside companies; listening to colleagues complain about the boss’ lunacy; seeing how global HQ has suddenly created more ‘useless red tape’, hearing the gossip of a pending re-org, who’s in or out,…
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Networked or overworked?

What is your network? How large is it? How varied, how supportive for you is your network? If you think this is a simple exercise or question, you probably don’t have the right network yet. It amazes me how many ‘senior’ business people are less than interested about building, cultivating and maintaining their professional network…
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Please please me

I had coffee last week with a woman who is General Counsel for a US based consultancy. She reminisced about her first job 20-some years ago, working with a senior partner in a law firm who was a notorious SOB. His reputation was to intimidate and grind down those who were supposed to help him.…
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Social media cross-culturally: US ≠ ROW…

I recently read an[other] article in the New York Times/IHT about social media, how too much online information is shared within a business context. Written by an executive coach(!), she touches upon the corporate challenges of too much openness, and has even created an acronym, which she calls OSD, Obsessive Sharing Disorder(!!). Click here for…
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How not to interview

The economic news in the second half of 2012 is rather glum. The banks are [again] laying off, Europe and the US continue to hit new high of unemployment, Asia is feeling the heat, and a case can be made for being guardedly pessimistic before the markets turn upward, which they invariably will. For those…
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Who trusts ya, baby

David Maister wrote a book years ago, targeted at consultants wishing to forge stronger relationships with clients, The Trusted Advisor. The issue of trust swirls around the workplace constantly. How do people work with each other across regions, cultures and silos if they’re unsure of each others capabilities, efforts, worthiness; how do they trust each…
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