You know what to do with an underperforming employee, but what about an efficient but difficult one? I’m a strong believer that you can’t be too positive or too empathetic in the business world. Yes, a lot of places of business are far from that ideal, but that’s exactly why you should distinguish yourself from the dog-eat-dog norm and try to make your work life a place of caring and sensitivity. Why...

People constantly ask me about what elements and tactics are absolutely necessary to execute an effective and efficient job search. At the same time, employers want to know what they need to do to recruit and retain top talent. Frankly, both employers and candidates need to up their game. They need to respect each other’s time and act with professionalism. What does this mean? For job seekers Write a cover lette...

If you’re a good leader, you probably encourage your employees to come to you with ideas, feedback and complaints. Plus, most modern companies have some chain of command set up to “listen” to workers, ranging from employee help lines, surveys and check-in meetings all the way up to extensive HR structures. But that’s not the kind of listening I’m talking about. I’m talking about walkin...

Every day we generate 2.5 quintillion bytes of data. This information has led to some tremendous breakthroughs with the potential to improve thousands of lives. As leaders, we also have mountains of data available to us—honestly, more than we can assimilate or make sense of. Yet huge decisions are made every day based solely on the numbers. Now, don’t get me wrong. I love numbers! But, in my years working wit...

Many employees long for leaders who can solve workplace problems—from flawed systems and procedures to inconsistent policies and managers. They want their leaders to see through the trees and attack forest-sized issues, with the discernment and authority to fix them one by one. While this sounds great on the surface, employees who report to problem-solving leaders cite challenges that dwarf the problems themselves....

Designing an effective onboarding experience requires some trial and error, and you can hone your approach by asking new hires some specific questions at each phase of the onboarding journey. Although new hires are usually ramped up to productivity quickly, taking time out to address these questions will provide valuable information, a sense of investment and caring, and the perception that continuous feedback is respected...

Set audacious goals, and don't start the mentor relationship until you commit to these six steps. I recently Googled the word “mentoring,” and immediately noticed three things. One, it remains a trendy topic. Two, most everyone who writes about mentoring provides a definition of what mentoring is. And, three, many of them want to sell you a program on how to make mentoring work. Sadly, however, I notic...

This week, I received an email from one of my LinkedIn followers in response to a recent episode I published of my Finding Brave podcast. While I don’t know this individual, she shared openly and emotionally about her situation about how she’d been terribly mistreated and, in fact, bullied in her latest job by her manager who was a director and also, later, by the head of HR, after she quit and gave a short noti...

You’re going to have to be more flexible and more giving than ever as an employer in the current economy, but it pays off. If you are looking to retain good employees, join the club. Every smart leader knows that a cohesive, enduring group of workers is the rock on which you build new ideas, new ventures, growth, and all the rest. So I think we can agree that, once you’ve got people you trust who are doing g...

You worked late on a project with another team, and the project manager didn’t even bother to thank you. We have all had the experience of going out of our way for someone only to have our efforts dismissed. Why does it bother us so much? This type of behavior is especially irritating because what everyone wants from other people is empathy. We all want to be recognized as unique individuals and to know that other peo...