Your gremlins: Your gremlins (the committee) are your Inner Bully, the continuous narrator in your head. They have influenced you since you came into this world, and follow you throughout your life. They are with you when you wake up in the morning and when you go to sleep at night. They tell you who and how you are, and tries to define and interpret your every experience mostly with a negative viewpoint. They want you to accept its interpretations as reality, and their goal is to always squelch the natural, vibrant you within. They want you to believe that they have your best interests at heart and that their primary purpose is to serve and protect you. The committee’s motive is actually less honorable—they are intent on making you miserable. Your gremlins want you to feel bad and it carries out this loathsome pursuit by: (more...)

Politics is a fact of organizational life! So why not concentrate on the positive political techniques? Acknowledge and accept its existence and impact on your work. Politics is the way we get things done at work—it is individuals and teams competing for resources, responsibility, power, position and privileges. Because those things define our success, getting them will determine whether or not we are dong a good job at playing the political game. The way to get money, resources, project approvals and all of the other factors that define success is to become effective at office politics. That does not mean playing dirty as in negative politics. It means building relationships, being diplomatic, collaborating with others, being an effective team player in a modern work environment that is more complex, and dynamic than ever before. (more...)

The employee/boss relationship has always been a tricky one, no matter how high (or low) the parties rank on the corporate ladder. Management guru Peter Drucker once said, "You don’t have to like or admire your boss, nor do you have to hate him. You do have to manage him or her so that he or she becomes your resource for achievement, and personal success. “ (more...)

What you focus on increases. I’m sure you already know this, but it bears repeating. Whatever you focus your attention on, over time will increase in your experience. Fear and worry is an excellent way of focusing to bring what you don’t want into your life. To attract what you do want check these 10 ways to keep fear and worry in perspective: (more...)

Sensitive issues and major decisions often arrive with a lot of baggage: emotions, fears, risks, and consequences. Changing your perspective on an issue might help you find a win-win solution. Here are a few creative ways to think outside of the box: (more...)

While looking for a job you may be indignant about taking drug tests because you are not an illegal substance abuser. Drug tests are legal. Moreover, drug tests have been helpful in elimination potential substance abusers in some industries. Five to eight percent of the 15 million people who were tested last year tested positive. You can complain against the unfairness of drug testing if you wish, but it may be interpreted as uncooperative and even suspicious behavior. (more...)

It seems like every time you turn on the television or read the papers more companies are laying off more people. If you are sensitive like me, the bad news feels like someone punched you in the stomach. You feel sorry for the people who are losing their jobs and you grow even more concerned and worry about our economy and future. (more...)

I have been a Coach for over 20 years and I have found that for the most part people are bright, concerned, thick-skinned, hard-nosed and very busy. We are extremely talented at walking the fence line of no controversy. Our survival depends on it. And self-preservation is, after all a basic survival instinct. (more...)

Recently I heard someone say, "Communication is easy." I disagree. Talking is easy; communication, which means an exchange or communion with another, requires a much greater skill. An exchange that is a communion demands that we listen and speak skillfully, not just talk mindlessly. And interacting with fearful, angry, or frustrated people can be even more difficult, because we're less skillful when get caught up in such emotions. Yet don't despair or resign yourself to a lifetime of miscommunication at work or home! Good communicators can be trained as well as born. Here are a few tips to get you started. (more...)

More than 70 percent of America’s workers are still living paycheck to paycheck according to a recent American Payroll association poll. And current tough economic times have everyone wondering what they can do to stretch their paycheck a bit further. We’ve compiled a list of what we feel are ten of the best ideas to help stretch your paycheck. With a little extra effort, you can yield some big savings. 1. Stop Buying Bottled Water Americans spend a staggering amount on bottled water - $15 billion last year. Name brands in small bottles can cost more than $10 per gallon while tap water costs about ½ of a cent per gallon. (more...)