It was a typical day for Pete, a division manager who oversees the work of 1200 employees for a large multinational enterprise. Like many others, the day was full of meetings, deadlines and urgent tasks, when one issue rose above the rest: rumors had surfaced that the company was planning on selling off one of…
Workplace Dynamics
The Ambiguity Factor in Leadership Communication
As a leader, have you planned for the Ambiguity Factor in your leadership communication plans? When it comes to communicating about change, there are oodles of reasons why the launch of a new system goes awry— competing values, unclear objectives, unrealistic deadlines, budget constraints and so on. From a social psychology standpoint, here’s another reason…
Navigating Snarky Colleagues: Staying Professional for a Healthy Workplace
Here’s an interesting question about workplace communication: What do you say to someone who says, “Want some cheese with that whine?” to you at work? Google is sending folks to this blog with those keywords, so apparently, there are people who are grappling with it. So, let’s take a look at how to handle the…
The 3 Myths of Office Politics
I have long maintained that there is such a thing as “positive” office politics. “Bah!” You say with skepticism. “No such thing.” Here’s my counter-argument: there’s nothing inherently wrong with people who use power and status, but it’s the way in which they use it that gives office politics its bad name. It’s those “people…
5 Tips for Building Your Superhero Power at Work
When we were kids, all it took was donning a beach towel cape and running through the neighborhood to make us feel strong and competent. A simple garment addition and voila! We were superheroes. Then, we grew up and went to work. At your place of employment, you might be less inclined to feel the superhero…