Category: Corporate culture

When the new job is a bad fit, who’s to blame?

My breakfast companion was talking about an organisation he’d recently joined. After the interviews and flights back to the US for final rounds, the job was his for the taking. He took it, but had done little due diligence or spoken much with the Asia team, mostly US HQ. He was given a big title,…
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The lunatic boss

Ever worked for a lunatic? Not merely someone with a temper, but egomaniacal, unstable, who has all the power.. I have, and I daresay many of you have as well if you’ve worked long enough. Many years ago I worked with an Austrian who’d lived in Hong Kong for many years. He’d just been hired…
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Mister Martyr

Some of my conversations are with people who have become martyrs at work, much as they doth protest otherwise. They’ll likely contact me to ‘explore the market’, busy with their job, trading off personal time–and reputation–for the good of the company. Not much left for themselves, and scant time to build their [professional] profile. Many…
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Hi-po hi-po, it’s outta here I go..

High potentials, “hi-po’s”, ‘our future [company] leaders’ in business argot.. The ones corporations ululate over, often for sound reasons. If an organisation has strong internal talent, they should recognise, challenge, motivate, and grow them, allowing such people to flex their muscles whilst building the company. But companies often lose those they want to keep. Why…
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Those corporate games, Part II

On to Part II, highlighting some of the games at work most of us have experienced, or participated in.. [framed_box] Selective editing Ubiquitous at the office,but some take it to heights that are pernicious or worse. Example: a report or presentation is due, and the only information presented is to support a certain point of…
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Those corporate games, Part I

I thought it would be good to highlight some of the more consistent corporate political posturing that I see and hear. The point is NOT to say, “Ain’t it a shame that people behave so poorly,” but to make you cognizant of what may well be going on at work that you may either ignore…
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Stop, listen, and wise up

There are those who revel in being contrarians, doing the opposite of what others expect. On occasion it can be advantageous, catching an opponent off-guard and using it to bolster ones position, and knowing when to do so is a strength. But usually it is the domain of those who think they know more than…
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HR: value-add or vapour

[framed_box]A man in a hot air balloon realised he was lost. He reduced his altitude and spotted a woman below. He descended a bit more and shouted: “Excuse me, can you help? I promised a friend I’d meet him an hour ago, but I have no idea where I am.” The woman below yelled back…
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Sideline savvy skills

On the sidelines of the soccer pitch, speaking to another soccer dad I have not seen in a while; “How’s business?” “Not bad, travelling a lot, company’s going through some restructuring, looks like the boss here (a S. African) is now reporting to Sydney instead of the US [and the dad I’m speaking to is…
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