Do bad bosses and employers deserve to be ghosted by employees?

I love getting a question that my immediate reaction to is probably not what the asker is expecting. This one is my favorite Quora questions to date… First, an explanation for those who don’t know where the term ‘ghosting’ comes from. (Don’t feel bad, I didn’t know what it was till way after I was […]

The Ten Commandments of Coaching

I get accused of making pronouncements a lot, but I’m okay with that, because the accusation is so often followed by a plaintive sigh, quickly followed by ‘if I had only done what you said…’ Then I get told a sad, and thoroughly unnecessary, tale of miscommunication, misdirection, and just plain misery. That’s the frustrating […]

Five Life Lessons from Woodstock 1969

I’m not admitting to actually being alive in 1969, or if I was, old enough to get there, or do anything that might or might not have been legal then. Right? But I do like to learn from the past, and there’s something very cool about semicentennials. Yes, that’s the word for 50th anniversary. You use […]

I Love You Just the Way You Are

Every so often someone tells me they want to ‘confront’ their ‘shortcomings’ and then ‘make strategic changes.’ Sounds sweet, so why am I cringing? For one, it’s almost always after someone has told them they need to change because they don’t fit in. It’s usually their manager of some sort, but occasionally it’s someone more […]

Networking for the New Year (and beyond)

I’ve been talking with some people for years, trying to define ‘relationship’ in the context of networking as a step to defining how to value those relationships. I’m giving up on those conversations as of today. For one, they are based in the assumption that one person is worth more than another. No doubt, someone […]

The End is Coming

Of the year, that is, not the world. I usually don’t think about my New Year’s resolutions until at least the 30th of December, but I’ve got a couple of big goals for 2019, so I’m starting early. Since it’s easier to give advice than take it, I’m going to write this for you, too. […]

Leading Into the Light

There is a famous old Peanuts cartoon. Linus, ever philosophical, quotes “It is better to light one candle rather than curse the darkness”, whereupon Lucy, ever the pessimist, says something like, “You stupid darkness!” Before you choose your favorite (and yes, one choice is more ‘socially desirable’) consider the advantages of being a Lucy. You […]