Sweet Reason with a dose of Common Sense
EVEN I GET SURPRISED when I see something like this: According to The Wall Street Journal, companies are now turning to robots to train and coach young managers. Please insert your “bad manager” joke here. According to The Journal, the training comes in the form of a bot, “a manager-training app powered by the artificial
I CAN HARDLY contain myself when I hear people touting the wonders of “unlimited” PTO. That’s because “unlimited” paid time off is really just a big fairy tale. I know … that sounds pretty harsh because there are a number of companies that have gone to “unlimited” PTO, and they will defend it to the
I LEARNED LONG AGO that user ratings — whether they be on Yelp, Amazon, TripAdvisor, or anywhere else — are easily manipulated. So, is anyone surprised that Glassdoor ratings get manipulated, too? The Wall Street Journal recently published an in-depth look at how some companies have figured out how to boost their ratings on Glassdoor
I’VE WORKED THROUGH so many holiday season that I’m starting to feel a little like Clark Griswold. If that name doesn’t immediately ring a bell, the character should. It’s the role Chevy Chase played numerous times, but most memorably, in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. One thread throughout movie was how Clark was anxiously waiting to
I’M A SUCKER for anything that tries to answer a question I almost never hear anyone ask much less answer: How can I be a better manager? Notice I say anything that “tries” to answer this question because I have found that most advice on how to better manage people usually goes one of two
YOU KNOW HOW the song goes — “it’s the most wonderful time of the year.” But, it’s the most stressful time, too. Everyone knows that the holiday season that runs from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day is pretty crazy for a great many people, and, that the stress of it all spills into other parts
HERE’S SOMETHING I’VE LEARNED from years of managing people: Great leadership wisdom is really hard to find. For all of the many leadership books that have been written — and there are more than 60,000 listed on Amazon — the really great V-8 moments, the “Blinding Flashes of the Obvious” where a truly great leadership
People are in denial about their smartphone addiction. That’s what I take from a recent survey from KDM Engineering titled Smartphone Etiquette that hit my email recently. As I read the findings, all I kept thinking was, “This doesn’t surprise me at all.” Here are a few of the topline findings: A whopping 92 percent of Americans believe
IT’S A TOPIC that only comes around every few years, but it comes down to this: What are your workplace policies for allowing employees to vote? A recent survey uncovered a new wrinkle about this issue that I had never thought about. It’s this: A company’s voting policies can also have a huge impact on the
I’M ALWAYS AMAZED at how so many leaders can get so far without learning one of the very basic tenants of management. It’s this: Good leaders have to give bad news. Patty Azzarello learned this back when she became the youngest general manager in Hewlett-Packard (HP) at the tender age of 33, and she reminded me
The Skeptical Guy 