Don’t Let One Bad Experience Stop You from Giving Feedback It can be tough to get up the nerve to give a colleague — or your boss — constructive feedback,  even if they’ve  requested it. And if the person becomes defensive, it’s easy to shut down and tell yourself that offering your thoughts is a… Continue reading Don’t Let One Bad Experience Stop You from Giving Feedback

Use Social Media to Learn More About Your Industry Social media may seem to be an endless  stream of selfies, political rants, and clickbait articles, but there’s a lot you can learn from it. In fact, you can use social media to build professional skills, knowledge, and relationships. Start by thinking about what you want… Continue reading Use Social Media to Learn More About Your Industry

Three Good Reasons to Admit You’ve Failed As a leader, admitting  failure is critical. Many people try to shrug off mistakes as things that happen to everyone. Although  doing so  might  seem harmless, there are many good reasons why you should admit you’ve messed up. Here are three: To connect with your employees. While it’s… Continue reading Three Good Reasons to Admit You’ve Failed

Create Smarter Return Policies New research  shows that offering a lenient  return  policy can increase the number of items  purchased more than it increases the number of items returned. But in the real world, most companies impose  restrictions to try to prevent too many returns. This is understandable, but companies should take a more balanced … Continue reading Create Smarter Return Policies

Two Ways to Leave Work Stress Behind After a long day, it can be a struggle to leave work behind you. Too often, we take out  job-related stress on our friends, children, or partners.  Here are two ways to make sure your work troubles   stay at the office: Have an end-of-work   habit.   Signal to your… Continue reading Two Ways to Leave Work Stress Behind

Help Your Team Shake a Bad Mood Morning traffic, spilled coffee, running late — it’s not uncommon for people to arrive to work harried and annoyed. But if your team members start the day in a bad mood, they’re likely to stay that way, which can affect their performance. Luckily it’s possible to help people… Continue reading Help Your Team Shake a Bad Mood

Make the Most of a Short-Term Assignment Short-term assignments, transfers, or rotation programs can have big advantages:  You’re exposed to new geographies, functions, cultures, and people. But these temporary positions often  come with little or no training, so it’s your responsibility to get up to speed fast. Here are three ways to make sure you’re… Continue reading Make the Most of a Short-Term Assignment

Good Listeners Ask Good Questions Some people equate good listening with sitting silently, nodding, making eye contact, and, when the speaker is done, paraphrasing what you heard. But these things are only part of what makes someone feel that you heard them. The best listeners go deeper by trying to understand the substance of what… Continue reading Good Listeners Ask Good Questions

When You’re Annoyed by a Colleague, Take a Look in the Mirror Sometimes you work with someone you just don’t like. Maybe your colleague rubs you the wrong way, disagrees with you constantly, or is arrogant and entitled. Before you start pointing fingers,  take a look in the mirror. Think about how you might be… Continue reading When You’re Annoyed by a Colleague, Take a Look in the Mirror

Simple Ways to Be More Considerate to Your Colleagues No one wants to be told they’re a selfish  jerk at work — and being thought as one could hold you back in your career. But if you are inconsiderate,  chances are it’s not because you’re mean; it may be because you’re not paying attention or… Continue reading Simple Ways to Be More Considerate to Your Colleagues