Okay, so here are my thoughts on the other side of the mentorship equation: being a mentor. As you know, I believe seeking mentors is extremely important when you are making your way up. What about when you have made it (or at least made it part way)? How do you give back? Finding and supporting mentees…
This week, someone asked me an interesting question: “What if you don’t need any more mentors?” That was a tough question for me because I find huge value in mentorship. I love finding great mentors and, in turn, being the best mentor I can. I cannot imagine my life without mentors or mentees. These relationships…
“I’m so burned out!” “I’m exhausted.” and “I just need to make it to the weekend.” These should be red flags, but are often just the response to “How are you doing?” Burnout is rampant for so many people. How do you avoid it? How do you recover? Take care of your health. Now, I…
For whatever reason, the past couple weeks I have been talking to a number of folks about jobs that just weren’t a fit for them. There are mixed stories. Horror at being fired or waiting too long to leave and triumph at leaving early enough to avoid pain and suffering. How do you know if you are…
As human beings, we have natural instincts that help us to survive. The primal part of the brain (the brainstem, to be technical about it) takes care of these instincts. You know the brainstem is working because you don’t have to think “breathe in, breathe out” all day to remember to move oxygen through your body. A…
Communication is one of the things that I believe everyone should get training in. We need to communicate effectively to be successful in our relationships, in our jobs, and pretty much every aspect of our lives. I am not talking about eloquence, I am talking about clearly communicating what you intend to communicate with another…
When you manage others, you are evaluated based on the work your employees perform (by your customers, by your boss, etc.). This can feel like a very risky proposition, if you don’t know how to get your employees to do good work. Here are some of the reasons I’ve encountered that employees don’t perform. You don’t act like…
When we hate conflict, it can feel horrifying to find an angry, dissatisfied customer yelling at us. In our personal lives, we yell back, shut down, give in, or whatever. But when we’re facing customers, we feel responsible to handle it better. Here are six steps to diffuse conflict in a different way: Take a…