How to Cope with a Colleague Who Can’t Cope
Is it really possible to do good work with managers who are unwilling to accept and absorb bad news? What can you do if you’re the subordinate, colleague, or boss of someone who’s avoidant at... Continue reading
How to Stop Suppressing Your Staff’s Potential
In last week’s post, Don’t Threaten Me with the Truth, I suggested that managers make themselves ineffectual when they try to avoid the bad news that is part of all organizational and business life. Executives... Continue reading
Don’t Threaten Me With the Truth
On a recent trip through yet another airport, I passed a man whining into his phone: “I cannot take any more bad news! I cannot!” It’s possible that he was having a terrible conversation about... Continue reading
This Is How to Find a Happier Ending to Workplace Dramas
The last few blogs have covered various kinds of typical workplace dramas and their instigators: The eager beaver type who’s “overwhelmed and overreacting;” The intelligent, intense, easily triggered “conspiracy theorist;” The “perfect victim,” who’s always... Continue reading
What to Do About a Workplace Scold
Many workplaces have a person like Ermengarde, who’s an excellent worker and a dedicated employee in her own right, but often takes it upon herself to bring to management the concerns and complaints of other... Continue reading
How to Handle an Employee Who Plays the Perfect Victim
“I’m a victim! I’m a victim!” Have you dealt with someone who sounds like that -- maybe not as clearly, but just as dramatically? For Perfect Victims, everything that goes wrong is the result of... Continue reading
How to Cope with a Workplace Conspiracy Theorist
Most human relationships involve subtext: What you see on the surface is rarely everything that exists. But if you’ve ever worked with someone like Englebert, you know how an innocuous comment about some administrative matter... Continue reading
How to Help an Overwhelmed and Overreacting Employee
At some point in our careers, we’ve all crossed paths with people who create unnecessary drama as part of their daily workplace routine. “Valentina” is a pretty typical example. Valentina believes she has to get... Continue reading