Are you biting your pencil in frustration at not knowing what to do about a boss who doesn’t empower you to do your best work? It’s a problem that’s more common than people like to think about. Bosses are people too, with all the fears, problems, inner conflicts, trials, and tribulations of daily life. Even if you like and admire your boss, and even if you like your job, it can sometimes feel like your boss is in the way.…
Get through your holiday blues without giving into them. In spite of holiday parties at work and at home, carolers at the mall, and all those twinkling lights, a lot of people aren’t feeling the holiday cheer. Holidays can bring on the blues, leaving you feeling sad, isolated, and even mournful. It may seem counter-intuitive, but in order to dispel these feelings, it’s important to first acknowledge and honor them. The more you try to ignore them, the more often…
If you want to be seen as a leader, you need to act like one first. Being seen as a leader is a choice you make. From the outside, leadership looks like a role or a post that your organization gives you. Nothing could be further from the truth. People in leadership roles are there as a result of their decision to be leaders, and not the other way around. No one but you can make you a leader. So,…
We’ve all seen out-sized reactions: when little incidents trigger big responses. If we’re honest with ourselves, most of us would admit that at one time or another, it’s happened to us. In an office place, out-sized reactions that can wreak havoc. In my teaching days, there was a teacher who used to throw chalk at his students when they were whispering. Eventually he threw a book and was fired. Once I saw the director of a non-profit demean his entire…
Learn the seven signs of anxiety that show your stress level has tipped beyond the healthy point. Secretly, I like stress. It revs me up and puts me in warrior mode. I’m at my best when I have too much to do and too many problems to solve. But when stress tips into anxiety, the opposite happens. I can’t get anything done. Anxiety is the low static hum left over from unresolved stress, a persistent, residual pattern that grates on the…