Today I was meeting with a new colleague about my role, and he was sharing his understanding of the current landscape at Company Z as a fairly new employee, himself. One comment he made was that our boss was a creative, not necessarily a nuts and bolts guy. As he was saying this, I had […]
Company Z Glitter List
Agent S asked me to blog about my new employer and how it’s impacted my glitter list. Well, let’s start with the fact that I’m SO HAPPY. I come home happy. I have more energy for my kids. I am in my honeymoon period, and it will get more difficult. But I look at everyone […]
Compassionate Community
Sometimes it can be really depressing to walk out of a grocery store and look into the eyes of someone who is starving and holding up a sign. That emotional story lingers for a long time. I want to scream at how unfair life is, or hide in shame from wanting to buy the excessive […]
Managing with Care
There is a fine balance between caring too much and caring just enough. I sometimes land in the former camp. I think at least a few of us (Agents) probably complement each other in this area where one agent can play one side, while one of us plays the other. It’s a yin/yang mechanism, and […]
Hiding Behind Your Title
I met with a friend over coffee and brought her by Company X to meet a few co-workers. Out of courtesy, she asked two of my colleagues what they each did at our company. Marci answered by saying, “I do day to day widget management”, describing what she was actually doing without giving out her […]
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 […]
Culture of Reward
Do you want to change your career, but you aren’t really sure what to do next? Or maybe you have been presented with a Force Majeure (well, not really an act of God. Maybe an act of Wall Street?) and you have no choice, but you are still uncertain as to what you feel capable […]
Efficiency is Killing Me
I value my time a lot. Part of this may be due the fact that I run a business and I must be efficient to be profitable. But I believe most of it is just my nature. So, I was (to put it mildly) extremely annoyed the other day when I was standing in the […]
Drawing a Line in the Sand
At what point are you crossing the line between professional roles? Between taking care of you vs your co-worker or boss? I think I cross the line over and over again. I continue on with the best intentions, never mind the backlash, fatigue or general suffering. If you’ve followed the course of my exit plan, […]
The Exit Speech (to my boss)
One thing I’ve learned about myself. I have to decide my message, and stay on message. If I get sloppy and deviate, I pay for it later. My head and heart take over, and suddenly I’m blurting out things I can’t believe keep flowing from my mouth like water. And then… oops. What was I […]
