Remember that catchy title – Truth and Lies in Advertising? Well, it felt appropriate tonight when I was thinking about a comment my executive coach made last week. Agent M, he said, it’s hard to fathom, but politics rank as the first or second most important part of doing a good job. Ugh. So that’s […]
Tag Archives | Advice
Covert Answers: Unresponsive Managers
Covert Leadership Agents respond to readers’ questions in the Covert Answers feature. Submit your question here. Hi Agents – I find myself in an awkward position at work. The company director (my direct supervisor) asked me to give him a report with compiled data from five technical managers, all of whom report to the deputy director (my […]
Being Too Good at Your Job, Episode 1
Fall is here, so it’s time to kick off a new Blog series. I know this has become a cliché for government workers, but I want to address something that is not always apparent in the corporate world, yet omnipresent nonetheless. Being too good at your job. This is episode 1. Out of respect to […]
Fixing the Un-fixable
By Agent M1 on October 15, 2012 in Riffs & Ideas, Tip of the Day, Weekly Survival, Work Life Balance
I have a friend, let’s call him Manny. Manny is a psychotherapist. The other day he was asking me about some of the common terminology in my field of work. When I asked why, he explained that his client was having some difficulties in her personal life, with relationships etc., and his assessment was that […]
Why I Like Having an Executive Coach
Okay Coach John, I need to set up our weekly sessions again. It seems I like learning new things when Fall comes around. Maybe it’s from being so programmed to start school in the Fall and turn over a new leaf. Is that where that term came from? I have an executive coach whom I […]
Unlearning Patterns
I know you are thinking it, and it’s probably true. About time that honeymoon period is over at work. I’ve been on a five month sprint, barely resurfacing for air and really feeling so lucky to be at my new company, that I’ve been in denial of the office power structure. But I have to […]
Common Misunderstandings
Yesterday was probably the worst day I’ve experienced at my new job so far. My boss wanted to share a chart with me that showed our process and, as he walked through where we (my group) fit in, my eyes stopped at two words written in bold. BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT. My mind shut down and my […]
Impressive Bio! (chuckle)
This morning I was researching a company and reading about the management team. Here are some (edited, obviously!) excerpts from their bios: Person X brings more than 12 years experience in the [such-and-such] sectors to ♦♦♦♦♦. He spent more than [XX] years at [big company], where he developed [blah, blah, blah] from concept to delivery and […]
Avoiding Hotel California
Remember those famous lyrics from the Eagles, You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave? As a manager, how do we avoid giving our employees the feeling that they are on one yellow brick road, and it’s called Hotel California? At Company Z, I was informed by my youngest colleague […]
Covert Answers: When a Colleague is Failing in Client Meetings
Covert Leadership Agents respond to readers’ questions in the Covert Answers feature. Submit your question here. Dear Agents, There’s a person on my team who is terrible in front of clients. I’m not her supervisor, but I have to attend client meetings with her, which is pretty painful for me. I’ve talked to her boss about […]
