Hostile Workplace
« Previous EntriesStop battles between “leapers” and “steppers”
Wednesday, February 1st, 2012If you have a “leaper” and a “stepper” on your staff who are at war with one another, you have a big problem that needs immediate attention. Leapers are people with fast biological clocks. Steppers approach the world slowly and cautiously. Their very different views of the world can lead to disastrous results if they’re [...]
Managers must be decisive in handling problems
Wednesday, January 25th, 2012Good managers don’t clean up messes caused by their staffs. They prevent messes from happening. Carl, head of a division, finally had to fix the problems in a department run by a senior manager, Brenda. He transferred one supervisor and three high-ranking staff members to other departments. He was satisfied: once again, he showed that [...]
To Stop Bullies: Don’t Give in to Fear, Despair, Defeat
Sunday, January 22nd, 2012Stopping bullies, whether overt, covert or cyberbullying, and especially stopping self-bullying, requires time, effort, courage, determination and perseverance – grit. It’s easy to lose heart along the way, but we must not give into fear, discouragement, despair, defeat, loss of hope or depression. We must not listen to negative self-talk, or give in to the [...]
Snitches, vendettas hurt productivity
Wednesday, January 18th, 2012It’s easy to dislike stalkers and snitches with personal vendettas. But you can’t fire them just because they’re relentless, stir up conflict and waste your time and energy, can you? Most of us dislike snitches. And there are rules and laws against stalking someone in the workplace. But if you’re a manager, someone who tells [...]
Members of Whiners’ Club definitely bad for business
Wednesday, January 11th, 2012With one exception, workplace cliques are bad for business. If you allow them to operate behind the scenes, they’ll destroy morale, teamwork and productivity. Yet, as the economy continues in a recession, people’s fear and stress will lead them to band together to find comfort and scapegoats. We usually recognize cliques that use bullying tactics [...]
Beware meeting saboteurs who can derail effectiveness
Wednesday, January 4th, 2012Marie couldn’t run a productive meeting. Even after leadership training to fix the problem, her teams’ meetings lost focus, ran way over their scheduled times and repeatedly became time-wasters. She couldn’t see why she had these problems. She’d prepared ahead, the meetings had agendas, she solicited input and she always sought consensus. So what was [...]
Stop office ‘energy vampires’ before they suck you dry
Wednesday, December 28th, 2011Inefficient technology and operational systems can suck the energy out of a company. Bottomless-pit projects are interminable, yielding few benefits from more effort thrown at them. They’re the subjects of fruitless, time-wasting meetings. But fixing them is child’s play compared to stopping the human “vampires” who suck the energy out of those around them at [...]
My staff doesn’t care: What’s the problem? Is it me?
Wednesday, December 21st, 2011Honest self-evaluation and course correction are key traits of great leaders, managers and employees. For example, suppose you complain that almost everyone in your department or organization is turned off and tuned out. Are they all just a bunch of self-indulgent, narcissistic, lazy slackers or a rotten generation – or have you failed somehow?
Can Fear and Anger Help Stop Bullies?
Sunday, December 18th, 2011Some people think that fear and anger are always bad. Some people think that fear and anger can’t help stop bullies. I disagree.
Don’t let continually cranky co-workers ruin your day
Wednesday, December 14th, 2011Friendly, upbeat, helpful co-workers can ease the burden of difficult, stressful projects. But what can you do about chronically cranky co-workers who make you wish for a snow day or a hurricane? Joe is one of these toxic bullies. He’s the scourge of his office. It’s hard to tell if he’s unaware of his co-workers’ [...]
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