Career, Coaching, Conflict & communications, Office politics, Personal growth, Professional growth

When You Sit Next to the Quiet Quitter: How not to be become the office life support system

You’re the human shock absorber between her disengagement and the consequences. At the moment, she isn’t paying for your withdrawal. Your manager isn’t. You are.
Quiet quitting thrives when others quietly compensate. Think of it this way: if someone leaves her trash in the hallway and you keep taking it out, your manager doesn’t realize there’s a trash problem. Continue reading When You Sit Next to the Quiet Quitter: How not to be become the office life support system

I’m Done: When the Employees Who Keep Things From Falling Apart Call It Quits
HR/Human Resources & Operations, Management/supervision

I’m Done: When the Employees Who Keep Things From Falling Apart Call It Quits

Every workplace has at least one employee who quietly keeps thing from falling apart. These employees find the good in each manager. They patch over awkward processes with time, emotional energy and problem-solving. They translate confusion into action. They make dysfunction workable.
Until one day they don’t.
Continue reading I’m Done: When the Employees Who Keep Things From Falling Apart Call It Quits

Tactics for Dealing with Toxic Leadership
Career, Coaching, Conflict & communications, Management/supervision, Office politics, Professional growth

Tactics for Dealing with Toxic Leadership

You work for a manager who keeps his employees divided, rattled, and demoralized so no one pushes back. Unfortunately, because Brad delivers bottom-line results, your senior leaders have situational blindness. They see the numbers, not the wreckage.
Here’s how to protect yourself, regain your footing and stay effective.
Continue reading Tactics for Dealing with Toxic Leadership

When Extremism Walks into the Workplace: 3 steps
Coaching, Conflict & communications, HR/Human Resources & Operations, Office politics

When Extremism Walks into the Workplace: 3 steps

No one should be asked to work in an environment that requires swallowing hate in order to belong.  Nazi imagery and praise signal exclusion, intimidation and threat, especially to Jewish employees, people of color, LGBTQ+ coworkers, immigrants and anyone with a basic grasp of history. It poisons the workplace and creates a hostile work environment. Continue reading When Extremism Walks into the Workplace: 3 steps

Dealing with an Arrogant Boss: Strategies for Success
Career, Coaching, Conflict & communications, Professional growth, Uncategorized

Dealing with an Arrogant Boss: Strategies for Success

Your boss: charismatic, confident and allergic to being challenged. He mistakes dominance for leadership and disagreement for disrespect. The hardest part of what’s happening comes from the way it changes you. You’ve started rehearsing sentences before meetings. You’re editing yourself in real time to avoid setting him off. Over time, this chip away at your confidence.
Continue reading Dealing with an Arrogant Boss: Strategies for Success

16 Ways to Kill Your Managers (Metaphorically, Mostly)
Conflict & communications, HR/Human Resources & Operations, Office politics, Writing

16 Ways to Kill Your Managers (Metaphorically, Mostly)

Number six: drown in a vat of burnt office coffee, slow, bitter, company blend.
Number seven: death by paperclips, swallowed one by one.
Number eight: Lock Willy and Ken in the conference room with a malfunctioning speakerphone; feedback shrieking, brains scrambled, meeting finally useful.
Office fridge salmonella surprise. HR report: “unfortunate potluck accident.”
Continue reading 16 Ways to Kill Your Managers (Metaphorically, Mostly)

The Managerial Promotion Underbelly: Side Order of Chaos
Coaching, Management/supervision, Professional growth

The Managerial Promotion Underbelly: Side Order of Chaos

you can’t let your focus get hijacked and expect to feel successful. Reclaiming control isn’t about hustling harder—it’s about refusing to let every ping dictate your day. When your day becomes one long loop of: start task → ping → approval → “quick question” → begin again, you feel wiped out. No one thrives in a job that forces a full focus reboot every few minutes. Continue reading The Managerial Promotion Underbelly: Side Order of Chaos