Win at Work
Win at Work
Kept Waiting
People who are winning at working aren't playing the I-win-you-lose game, translated in this example as I-don't-want-to-wait-so-you-can. You see, for people who are winning at working, their perspective goes beyond themselves. These are the people whose consistent, everyday actions contribute to a better workplace and a better world.
May 8, 2008 - 12:07:15 AM
Win at Work
How About Thank You
It started with a turkey. In the early days of a start-up company I once worked for, a plump turkey was a small thank you token given to employees around the holidays. The turkey-giving practice lasted maybe three years, until the growing size of the organization necessitated its change. And while enhanced benefits emerged to replace that poultry gift, I found it amazing that the missing turkey still appeared as a resentment issue five years later in employee forums.
Apr 3, 2008 - 11:26:52 AM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: Being About
Once upon a time, a prince and princess lived in stressful palace, surrounded by a stressful village, inside a stressful land. They knew it was stressful because everyone said it was. Their parents, the king and queen, worked from sunrise to sunset hearing issues from their kingdom, weighing the requests, and appropriating the collective harvest to the people of their land.
Mar 14, 2008 - 11:01:07 AM
Win at Work
Winning At Working - Past or Future
Watching a rerun of "What Not to Wear" on The Learning Channel, I was struck by the dialogue between the individual being transformed and the cast of experts. While agreeing to follow the advice and input from these style-masters, "Joyce" was closed to the ideas presented of what she should wear, how her hair should be cut, and her make-up enhanced.
Feb 13, 2008 - 11:42:51 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working - Relationship Basics
People who are winning at working understand relationship basics. Common courtesy, mutual assistance, timely communication are tools they use to build, foster, and enhance their relationships. They understand their relationship approach is a reflection of their foundational principles. And those principles start with giving.
Feb 1, 2008 - 2:58:22 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: Making a Fresh Start
"How could that be?" I muttered silently as I reread the message. This was not a person I wanted to encounter as I returned from a holiday vacation filled with family, friends, and fun. And yet, there he was on my calendar. My first meeting of the New Year was scheduled with my nemesis.
Jan 11, 2008 - 4:54:11 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: Thought Conformity
People pass off others' thinking as their own. They parrot others' issues without personal analysis. And they embrace others' perspectives as if it was their original thought. But these repackaged perspectives hamper innovation, personal growth, and business results.
Dec 12, 2007 - 11:59:48 AM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: Being Present
It was a dimly lit restaurant. Still she was dressed in pink, and while I admit it's hard to tell the gender of three month old babies, clothing color is a reliable clue. So, it surprised me when the waitress began playing with my granddaughter, asking "How old is he?"
Nov 19, 2007 - 1:36:24 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: What is Experience Anyway?
I learned in first grade that one plus one equals two. But, that's not the right equation when counting work experience. We often think we're building experience to help us get ahead. In reality, we're passing time. Ten years working like a cloned Bill Murray in Groundhog Day is not ten years worth of experience. Doing the same thing again and again yields an experience formula more like: ten times one equals one.
Nov 7, 2007 - 4:40:31 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working - Hot Coals
Involved in an expensive developmental workshop, Chad volunteered first when the facilitator queried the group about their objectives. It was the morning session of a weekend event that a friend of mine was conducting, and she'd asked me to sit-in. So, on a Saturday morning when I'd normally be sleeping, I found myself listening to Chad's frustrations about his lack of success, his inflexible boss, and his difficult coworkers.
Oct 15, 2007 - 4:00:00 PM
Win at Work
Winning At Working: The Whole Person
Henry Ford is reported to have quipped, "Why is it that I always get the whole person when what I really want is a pair of hands?" The 21st century version doesn't sound quite like that, but its essence prevails in plenty of workplaces.
Oct 3, 2007 - 5:06:28 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: Tell Me Again
I had noticed her earlier, joyfully greeting and seating guests in the tourist-packed bistro of a resort near the entrance to Denali National Park. After several days in Denali's backcountry, we were once more in the busy bistro and I saw her again. This time, equally energetic and enthusiastic, she was bussing dishes and wiping down tables, along side a man doing the same.
Sep 3, 2007 - 11:20:50 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: What Does It Look Like?
Seated at the table next to me at a fast food restaurant, I couldn't help hearing the lack of conversation between a young woman and a younger uniformed man, clearly employees of the establishment. "You need to take pride in your work," she told him. There was no response.
Jul 6, 2007 - 12:25:16 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: But, It Will Take Too Long
Sitting in a waiting area above the tradeshow floor, I watched the forklift drivers deliver crates and boxes to small groups who were waiting to transform their rented cement floors into inviting marketing endeavors for the next day's expo opening, hosting seven thousand conference attendees. A microcosm of differing work styles, I found ...
Jun 10, 2007 - 7:32:43 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: Your Actions Today
Exhausted from a six day business trip and facing a five hour flight on a packed, late departing evening plane, my desire was to block out noise from twenty-two high school students seated nearby. Favorites off my play list, and a just purchased mystery by a favorite author, seemed the perfect remedy to soothe my weariness.
May 2, 2007 - 7:34:11 AM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: Workplace Predators
Polar bears are known for fierceness and lack of natural predators, although wolves and walruses can kill them. Feeding primarily on seals, the hungry bear featured in a recent episode of Planet Earth, happened on larger prey. Outweighed by the Atlantic walruses, with tusks that can reach three feet long, the Polar bear sought to nuzzle, push and pry his way past a mother to her calf, despite added protection from the walrus group.
Apr 14, 2007 - 3:51:53 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: Cherry-Picking
Personable and enthusiastic about her work, it took me months to uncover the problem. Calling Cheryl to my office for a quick question, I inquired why the information I needed wasn't in the file. "Oh," responded Cheryl, "I haven't done the filing yet." Thinking she misunderstood what I needed, I explained that what I was looking for was from four months ago. "Yeah, that filing's not done yet," she said matter-of-factly.
Mar 27, 2007 - 10:27:55 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: Dangling Carrots Wilt
"Red tape. Infighting. Office politics. Employee morale. Can't get things done. Lack of communication. Layers of bureaucracy. Not valued. Rude, difficult people. Indecision. Lack of support. Inconsistency. No clear direction." These are sample answers from readers to a Winning at Working survey that asked about the biggest problems at work. And then we wonder, as supervisors and managers, why employees aren't motivated?
Mar 15, 2007 - 12:30:36 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: American Idol Syndrome
I like Simon, one of three judges on American Idol. I find his feedback refreshingly honest. While his words startle me with their ego wounding potential, the traditional feel-good, let-you-down-easy, sugar-coated feedback is not much of a gift. It's hard to tell someone they're not good enough and their dreams are not going to happen, at least in this venue. But not telling them is no gift either.
Mar 1, 2007 - 3:03:19 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: The "No Problem" Problem
I've lost track of the times I've been told in someone's positive or naïve thinking mode, "No problem," only to have the no problem become one. At the time they said it, there might not have been a problem, but they didn't factor in workplace potholes, speed bumps, detours or traffic stops. Like a high-wire acrobat in a Cirque du Soleil performance, winning at working necessitates the use of safety nets with your work, too.
Feb 14, 2007 - 10:48:59 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: About Your Future
When faced with catching a fly ball, Lucy missed again. "The past got in my eyes," she told Charlie Brown, "I thought I had it, but suddenly I remembered all the others I'd missed."
In two decades in management, I've known hundreds of workplace Lucys. People who let ...
Jan 30, 2007 - 10:57:01 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: A Better Measure of Success
The headline caught my eye, "The Goal: Wealth and Fame." The article in USA Today examined a recent survey of top life goals for the college-age crowd. It surprised me that there was a 33% jump, today versus thirty-eight years ago, in beliefs of college freshman that being financially well off was "essential" or "very important." But what surprised me more ...
Jan 17, 2007 - 9:24:36 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: About Those Words
Traveling over the holidays to visit family outside of Denver, we were fortunate to arrive after a blizzard stranded thousands at the airport, and depart before the cancellation of flights for a second storm. However, our holiday presents were not as fortunate. Okay, things happen.
Jan 8, 2007 - 12:28:09 AM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: Progress Trumps Perfection
In the late 17th century, Lord
Chesterfield, an English writer and politician, wrote to his son, "Whatever is
worth doing at all is worth doing well." Three hundred years later, we still
heed this advise from the fourth Earl of Chesterfield. Yet doing it well doesn't
mean doing it perfectly. The 21st century workplace requires more than doing
something well.
Nov 21, 2006 - 3:23:00 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: Time-Out
When young children misbehave, many
parents, teachers and caregivers insist on a time-out. Think how much better
your workplace would be if you initiated the same approach. No, not for your
boss or coworkers, but for yourself.
Nov 10, 2006 - 12:24:00 AM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: All in a Day's Work
You may have seen this headline or
heard about it on the news: "Sex, Shopping and Gambling All in a Day's Work." It
was generated by an Interior Department report, citing compelling numbers from
an investigation that discovered one million log entries involving 7700
employees visiting auction, gaming, gambling and sex sites on company time. The
article finished with plans being implemented to curb offenses and punish
violators.
Oct 23, 2006 - 12:17:00 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: Carved in Granite
In the Black Hills of South Dakota,
carved in granite, the six-story faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson,
Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt create a grand impression viewed from a
distant, or standing on the national monument's viewing terrace. Visiting Mount
Rushmore on vacation, I found the documentary of its making fascinating. Weeks
later, one story stayed with me.
Oct 12, 2006 - 10:53:00 AM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: Playing the Wrong Game
He was concerned with the direction
a decision was leaning, Jon said on his voice mail. Could I meet him for lunch
in the cafeteria before Friday's meeting to talk it through?
Sep 13, 2006 - 4:00:00 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: Changing Rules
Poor Pluto. Stripped of its
planetary status by the International Astronomical Union and reclassified as a
"dwarf planet," Pluto's demotion heralds new rules for planet classification. A
week of debate by renowned astronomers from seventy-five countries culminated in
the decision to reduce the number of planets to eight "classic"
ones. This reclassification got me
thinking.
Aug 30, 2006 - 6:13:00 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: Six Tips for Trust-Enhancing Communication
In an era where more people trust infomercials than company leaders,
trust-enhancing communication skills, at any level, stand out. Below you'll find
a few I learned in my twenty years in management. Some I learned the hard way,
while others took me nearly a career to recognize. So, in the interest of saving
you learning-years, I've put them into six tips:
Aug 14, 2006 - 2:18:00 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: Bad Drum?
"He who cannot dance will say:
the drum is bad." Too many people I've encountered use a philosophy akin to
this African proverb to navigate their work. It's easier to blame the drum or
the boss, the co-worker or the company. Easier to criticize the workload, the
training or lack of it, the pay or one's upbringing And easier to fault anything
and everyone rather than their own actions, choices, and results.
Jul 31, 2006 - 6:20:00 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: How About a Heads Up?
It didn't take long while on safari
in Botswana, to begin to recognize the animal calls heralding a predator roaming
in the area. What intrigued me was the pass-along path those calls took, from
animal group to animal group. The shrieks of baboons, the trumpeting of
elephants, the screams of francolins, the cries of impalas were picked up by
adjacent animals and sent out for as long as the threat remained.
Jul 21, 2006 - 1:34:00 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: It's Not About Time
With mounting to-do lists, big projects with short delivery dates, consuming workloads, growing obligations and festering unfinished tasks, it's no wonder in this what-have-you-done-for-me-today world we often feel time deprived. Work-life flows to home-life, balance becomes imbalance, and goals and dreams ...
Jul 5, 2006 - 3:00:00 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: Check Your Thoughts
It was clear she was having "one of those days." But to be truthful, I didn't care. I was too nervous about my surgery to pay attention to Doris, the nurse grousing about how overworked she was that Thursday. But by the time I was wheeled back to my same-day surgical room, she was even less hospitable and entrenched in complaining.
Jun 19, 2006 - 9:25:00 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: Your Brand Promise
Brands evoke responses. Talk to
anyone who loves their Starbucks coffee, or hates their car; loves their Apple
iPod, or hates their internet provider. When you think of your favorite or least
favorite brands, certain feelings and attributes come to mind. These represent
the brand. The same is true for people.
Jun 5, 2006 - 6:56:00 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: Big Hat, No Cattle
I did exactly what the magazine
wanted me to do. I bought it solely for an article featured on the cover. But
when I got it home and started searching for the piece I wanted to read, I
couldn't find it. The headline drew me in, but hidden behind other features was
an article with a different title that sort of, kind of, talked about the topic.
I felt cheated. I
feel cheated sometimes at work, too.
May 22, 2006 - 8:19:00 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: Serving Company Politics
I once had a boss who informed me there was no such thing as company politics. At the time, I decided that depended on whether you were the person wielding power or influenced by it. In my career experience, I’d categorize self-serving antics, sabotaging behaviors, information hoarding and ...
May 8, 2006 - 5:06:00 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: Ancora Imparo
Ancora imparo, translated as "I am still learning" or "Still, I am learning," is attributed to Michelangelo in his eighty-seventh year. The man who painted the Sistine Chapel and sculpted the Pieta and David, whose very name evokes mastery of his craft, exemplifies a lifelong learning philosophy. Contrast him with ...
Apr 24, 2006 - 12:53:00 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: The It Factor
American Idol judge, Simon Cowell, periodically remarks about the it
factor when assessing contestants. It seems to be one of those nebulous,
undefined and subjective attributes one either has or doesn't have. And it falls
into the category ...
Apr 10, 2006 - 12:10:00 PM
Win at Work
Winning at Working: It Takes a Little Fear
Opening this week on Broadway,
Julia Roberts makes her debut in "Three Days of Rain." The Oscar-winning actress
expressed her fear about her upcoming theater début this way, "By the time I get
there," Roberts told The New York Times, "I'll be entirely apoplectic. But the
terror is part of the excitement."
Mar 27, 2006 - 12:13:00 PM
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