Category: Office politics

Please Don’t Be Quiet, Please

I had a friend here in Singapore, a senior-level executive who’d lived in Asia for a number of years, and was working for a US MNC,, covering Southeast Asia. He’d mentioned that he and the family would like to return to the United States on the coattails of the company (he’d been with them about…
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Don’t Ignore Me

I was coaching an AsiaPac President whose company had been bought by a larger organisation. He’d negotiated his exit and was weighing options. Over dinner, he showed me a spreadsheet he’d made with five options, and we went through each scenario. One option was with a large MNC. He’d been in an off-on dialogue for…
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Cross-cultural tête-à-tête over noodles

I recently had lunch with a Hong Kong Chinese friend, a seasoned executive who’s worked in MNC’s for a number of years, we caught up on a new job he’d recently taken. He’s settled into the role well enough, and I asked how he and his new [Western] boss get along. He said it was…
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Who Do You Think You Are?

Over a coffee last week, a friend recounted how she was adjusting to her [somewhat] new job, and from the sound of it, she’d been able to tackle it quite well, and was enjoying the work. She works for a US organisation, and as we’re in Singapore, I asked her about the lines of communication…
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Ill Repute

A lunch conversation the other week, and we turned our talk to a mutual friend. My lunch partner (who does not work with him, but partners with others in the company) had recently spoken with him about his challenges inside the organisation. “I told him-very indirectly-that his boss has been asking around about him. Nothing…
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Tell Me What You Think, Seriously…

Early in my career, I had an interview with the MD of a competitor. It was scheduled for late afternoon in their office, and the earlier part of the day had been awful. I’d misplaced my wallet and phone in the gym during lunch, and spent unneeded energy looking for them, panicking about not being…
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Coaching, Communication and C Level

I was recently working with a regional MD who had left his company (on good terms), and weighing his options. With a solid industry reputation, he has no shortage of choices to ponder. One possible option was with a large MNC, and he’d been in dialogue with them for not quite a year. Their regional…
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Win the Boss Over–5 Points

I recently had coffee with a friend, reminiscing about his previous company and one of the co-CEO’s there who has since moved on.    “Smart guy,” my friend said, “although we never got along very well.”    “Why?”    “You were either with him or against him, not a lot of grey. I wasn’t part of his inner…
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