by Beverly Flaxington | Workplace tips
Today’s guest author is Beverly Flaxington, a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst (CPBA), and career and business adviser. She’s the author of five business and financial books, including the award-winning, Understanding Other People: The Five Secrets to Human Behavior, and her latest, Make Your SHIFT: The Five Most Powerful Moves You Can Make to Get Where YOU Want to Go.
By the time you get at or near the top of the food chain at your company, you’ve made hundreds of formal and informal presentations to employees, investors, managers, clients, and others.
Chances are, however, that the last time you worked on your presentation skills was back in B-school.
How effective are you, really? Do your presentations consistently motivate others to action? Are they inspiring? (more…)
by Jane Perdue | Workplace tips
Years ago I had a boss who was fond of saying “numbers don’t lie.”
Numbers are important. They define targets and goals, highlight areas for attention, create accountability, and show profitability. Our workplace progress and value often end up being measured by them.
“I don’t care how you do it, just increase your sales this month by 25% or else.”
“My klout score is 72.”
“We’ll do whatever it takes since we’ve committed to Wall Street to deliver double-digit revenue growth this year.” (more…)
by David Grossman | Workplace tips
Today’s guest writer is David Grossman, consultant, speaker, author, one of America’s foremost authorities on communication inside organizations, and founder and CEO of The Grossman Group, a Chicago-based communications consultancy focusing on organizational consulting, strategic leadership development and internal communications for Fortune 500 clients.
Workplace email. We love it, we hate it.
It’s the most commonly used communication tool in virtually every organization today. Yet as leaders we know all too well the serious ramifications of electronic messaging overload for both individuals and our organizations: increased stress, reduced productivity and efficiency, impacts on work-life balance and so much more.
Consider this: (more…)
by Jane Perdue | Workplace tips
You’ve been angling for your next big career move for almost a year, but no luck in getting promoted.
You’re more than a little frustrated since others are moving up the career ladder and leaving you behind.
Of course there’s the possibility that external factors (holding the line on headcount, budget concerns, etc.) are limiting the number of promotions in your organization.
Yet the biggest single factor in determining promotion readiness is…you.
12 reasons why you’re not being promoted
Might you be sabotaging yourself with one (or more) of these twelve career-limiting behaviors?
1. Being the lone ranger
You know you’re smart, technically brilliant even, and work aggressively to get every special project assignment. You highlight your skills at every opportunity, perpetually reminding your boss of what you – and you alone – have accomplished. You’ve been known (why tactfully, of course) to throw a colleague under the bus when it appeared they might be selected for the plum assignment over you. And every once in a while, you do wonder why no one invites you to lunch.
2. Squeaky wheel is your middle name
Your boss can count on you to be the first to raise your hand in the staff meeting and point out the three reasons why the new sales program won’t work. Everyone in the HR department knows your name, and they regularly tease you about putting the suggestion box right on your desktop. You have the email addresses for everyone on the executive team and regularly send them messages about their latest mis-steps.
3. Listening skills aren’t your strong suit
You’re known for asking someone a question – and then answering it yourself. You always volunteer to be the speaker or facilitator; and if you aren’t selected, you figure out a way to co-opt the agenda so you can share your ideas anyway.
4. You think dress codes are for wimps.
Hey, if customers and the folks on the executive floor don’t like your piercings and tattoos, well, that’s just their problem, not yours.
5. Your plan is to get the needed skills once you get the promotion.
You’re busy, so who has the time to take classes, volunteer, read books or work with a mentor? You know you’re a fast learner and will quickly pick up what you need to know once the promotion is yours.
6. No time to network.
All that brown nose stuff isn’t your cup of tea. You think going to company functions, trade association meetings and industry conferences is a prime waste of time. You know your work speaks for itself, why should you bother to interrupt it?
7. Your work ethic is so-so.
You do just enough to get by and have occasionally missed a deadline or two. People know to not get in your way come 5:01 PM since you’re always the first out the door. Asking for more responsibilities isn’t something you’ve ever done or intend to do.
8. You tell people you deserve to be promoted because you’ve paid your dues.
You’ve put in your time with the organization; three years is ample time for them to recognize your brilliance and reward you. You’re allergic to helping out a colleague and figure the newbies can learn the job on their own since that’s how you did it.
9. Getting to know the company culture is a waste of time.
You think culture is one of those HR buzzwords that needs to be buried or burned or blasted into outer space. You’ve got better things to do than determine the ins and outs of office politics or learn the company history.
10. You communicate when it’s convenient and makes sense only for you.
Everybody knows meetings are a waste of time, so you can’t remember when you attended your last one. Answering emails and returning phones isn’t on your radar screen unless there’s a message of your own to promote.
11. Your boss is a waste of time.
It’s totally unclear to you how your boss got to be your boss. You’re way smarter than he is and have occasionally pointed this out, usually in a public venue. You barely listen to the feedback she shares in performance reviews. You’re the first to slam his performance around the water cooler. You might have even tweeted or posted on Facebook a real gem about her latest screw-up.
12. Building relationships isn’t what you get paid to do.
Getting the job done is what you’re paid to do, not building connections or making friends with your colleagues. All that warm, fuzzy stuff is a waste of time. You’ve never attended an office potluck or birthday party. Whose got time for idle chit-chat when there’s work to be done?
What other career limiting and/or boosting stories do you have to share?
Image source: morgueFile
by David Gebler | Workplace tips
The majority of managers and employees are good people who believe they are balancing their values—such as honesty and responsibility—with what’s needed to get the job done.
But this belief is often far from the truth.
While we would like to think that we control our decisions and actions, social norms and expectations significantly influence our behavior.
Research shows that a person’s behavior isn’t a result of personality and character alone—our environment plays a big role, and this includes the workplace.
At work, we shape our reality to feel good about ourselves, even if our actions are less than honest. Most people engage in small dishonesty up to the point when they can no longer delude themselves. For example, we might not steal from the petty cash drawer, but we take some pens home.
Managers may claim that a tough (and questionable) action was simply a “business” decision, not an “ethical” one. Or, to reach insurmountable sales goals, managers and employees may come up with the “perfect” solution: raising prices instead of production.
3 ways your values get hijacked
In a toxic corporate environment, your values can be hijacked one of three ways:
1. Self-deception
“I think it’s okay to do this.” Sometimes, we look at the world through rose-colored glasses: we see things as more positive or less risky than they actually are. When this rosy view helps us to avoid a sure loss, it can seem like a win‐win for everyone. In this context, actions and behavior that are less than savory seem okay, even when they truly are not.
2. Rationalization
“I know it’s wrong, but I have a good reason for doing it.” Under the pressure to meet short-term goals, bad decisions may look like great decisions — especially when people feel they don’t have a choice. For example, many people say “family” is their number-one value, and they will do whatever it takes to keep their families financially secure. If this means performing an unethical act, so be it. And if speaking up increases the chance that a person might lose their job, they’ll remain silent.
3. Disengagement
“I know there’s something wrong here, but it’s not my problem.” Disengaged employees can “fly under the radar” for a long time if they’re not involved in outright misconduct or overtly destructive behavior. Instead of taking ownership of problems and situations, they are leaving critical issues unresolved because they no longer care. As one manager once said: “Success and failure feel the same here. Why should I care?”
Do you see such signs of a toxic corporate culture at your company?
If so, don’t dismiss them as normal employee behavior. When employee values erode, the results can be catastrophic for your business, ranging from lower productivity and profits, to ethical violations and workplace accidents.
Today’s guest post is by David Gebler, founder and president of the Skout Group, which fixes ailing organizations and improves corporate productivity, reputation, and success by focusing on value-based ethics and culture risk management. A sought-after speaker and panelist, he is author of The 3 Power Values: How Commitment, Integrity, and Transparency Clear the Roadblocks to Performance.
Image source before quote: morgueFile.com
