A customer arrives at a service department he visits frequently to take care of some account maintenance. Before he leaves, he asks the department receptionist if she can pass along a document to another department.... Continue reading
A lot of what passes for coaching -- in workplaces, in homes, even on kids’ sports teams -- is really just a lot of exhortations and fervent repetitions of normative statements. It doesn’t help the... Continue reading
How do you handle a perpetually negative employee? You may get an idea from this bit of conversation that I had with a distressed client about a pivotal but consistently negative staff member we’ll refer... Continue reading
At the third annual Wisdom 2.0 Conference in Silicon Valley last week, I had the wonderful opportunity to hear Dr. Dan Siegel, executive director of the Mindsight Institute and clinical professor of psychiatry at the... Continue reading
In any organization -- and it only takes two people to make an organization -- you’ll be exposed to bad behavior from time to time. This is true in all kinds of settings: at school,... Continue reading
The Customer is always right, comes first, and is King! And Service is our middle name, with a smile. These are lovely slogans and declarations of intent -- but truthfully, people tend to pay more... Continue reading
For the past six weeks I’ve been writing about why employees need to be able to give their bosses feedback -- and what both managers and organizations lose when they discourage that feedback. Now it’s... Continue reading
Any student of management will tell you that it’s stupid to ignore your staff’s feedback -- not to mention impolite, inefficient, and often directly and obviously damaging. You don’t necessarily have to act on staff... Continue reading
In recent posts, we’ve discussed the difficulty of approaching your management with critical feedback even if you’re full of compassion for their difficult situation and have chosen the most propitious time, place, and circumstances possible.... Continue reading
If you manage others, you may find it hard to believe that your subordinates aren’t comfortable engaging with you about the work and the workplace. But don’t assume it’s because they’re apathetic or weak. Leading... Continue reading
Want help coping with conflict?
Download your free Field Guide to help you identify and resolve interpersonal conflicts. You’ll also get Liz’s monthly Workplace Wisdom emails from which you can unsubscribe at any time.