The term innovation can seem intimidating. In fact, you might even have a mental block about it. ‘It’s what big companies with unlimited resources do…’ or ‘…It’s what small agile companies without bureaucracy do…’ or ‘it’s what senior executives do.’ Not me, not us. It can even seem scary or risky. What if the idea [...]

Ask one hundred people about their number one email pet peeve, and you’ll see a sizeable percentage report long emails. Long emails simply aren’t received well. They either don’t get read, or they are skimmed and the message is misunderstood. The result? The receiver’s response is not what you expected or needed. If you tend [...]

Reader question: “As a manager, I know how to handle big performance issues; people need to be warned, given time to improve, and then either shape up or ship out. I’m wondering, though, about less severe issues and how to properly handle them. Am I to threaten the job of one of our top performers over a behavioral issue or violation of a policy?”

Is your company lacking in employee engagement? Is there high turnover? Or perhaps your company is on the 100 Great Places to work list like Intuit? No matter where your organization falls on this spectrum, there might still be room for improvement! Last month, Tony Schwartz had a fantastic blog post over at HBR [...]

As a leader, what do you consider your purpose? What guides you to make the decisions that you choose? One style of leadership is servant leadership; servant leadership is characterized by achieving results by putting attention on those who you serve first. But who do you serve?

In Harvard Business School’s Working Knowledge article, [...]

Reader question: “When I hire entry-level nonprofit employees, it’s often pretty tough to identify the best candidates—so many of them don’t really know how to give me the information I need to evaluate their abilities. Any advice on how to see the superstar-in-the-making when she’s hidden by the uninspiring cover letter, light-on-the-details resume, and jangly interview nerves that often come along with entry-level candidates?”

How should I approach it when I need to chase down my fellow colleagues and manager about matters that require their prompt assistance and attention? Despite sending 1-2 email follow-up emails to my boss asking for his approval on the issue on hand, every time I check in with him (face-to-face) his reply is, “I haven’t seen it yet.” How do I go about asking him to please take a look at my email?

Who hasn’t been involved with or witnessed workplace conflict in some form or another? Dealing with conflict in the workplace is absolutely essential for a successful career. You have to be able to get along with people, collaborate with others to get things done, and negotiate to get your way when necessary.

First, let’s define conflict. [...]