Soft skills

I was Harassed at Work 14 years ago

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Every year I take the workplace harassment training.   It didn’t dawn on me until this year that what happened to me at work 14 years ago was actually workplace harassment.   What happened to me didn’t have to do with my race, gender,  sexual orientation, nor religious beliefs.

Here was the first shock

14 years ago, I joined a marketing agency just next door to my house as a Vice President.   In my first business trip to LA, a senior female partner (let’s call her Meredith) suggested to a bunch of us to play a game – Fxxx, Marry, or Kill.   Meredith said, for every client we meet, let’s chat afterwards if we would  fxxx them, marry them or kill them assuming we had only one choice. ...  read more

Didn’t Get that Job Offer – What Should You Do Next?

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We had an incredible coaching call this month on How to Turn Any Difficult Situation into a Gift. Thank you for those of you who made it to share your questions and insights. I love hosting these coaching calls as we can go deep into one topic for almost an hour. Just by showing up and contributing to the conversation, you are improving your soft skills and helping others ...  read more

5 Tips on How to Command a “Virtual Room” with Your Presentation

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Remote work is here to stay even after the Covid 19 crisis is over. This means your ability to command a “virtual room” with your presentation is more important than ever. Even if you plan to go back to your office full time after the Pandemic, your senior leadership, your core partners, and/or your clients may not. You will need to continue to use video communication to conduct business and present your ideas. ...  read more

“5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins” – A Must Read to Transform Your Life

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Last weekend, I opened my Audible to decide what to listen to for a long walk. I forgot I bought the “5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins” a few months back. I don’t even remember why I bought it. I figured I would listen to the first chapter and see if it grabs me.

I have been listening to this book since last Sunday and am now on Chapter 8. It’s a must read (or must listen :-)) for anyone that want to transform their work or life. She shares her own gut-wrenching story of defeat, frustration, and shame in her work and personal life and how she accidentally discovered the “5 second rule” that forever changed her life. Her book and her ted talk “How to stop screwing yourself over” is now transforming the lives of millions around the world. ...  read more

3 Common Traits of Incompetent Leaders & How to Work with Them

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Unfortunately most of us spend at least 50-75% of our life working for incompetent leaders! Why? Four reasons:

  1. The working world in general continues to promote the wrong kind of people to leadership positions.
  2. It sometimes take us awhile to realize we are working for incompetent leaders.
  3. Finding a new job is hard work. Sometimes it’s just easier to stay working for a crappy leader vs find time to find a better job.
  4. There is no guarantee the next job we find doesn’t have an incompetent leader. It’s not easy to tell if your future manager is any good.

3 Common Traits of Incompetent Leaders

There are 3 common traits of incompetent leaders. Your leader could have one of these traits or worse all three.

Trait 1: Absentee leader – this leader “lets” the team do all the work and doesn’t really set strategy, lead, or coach others. Their style is often to outsource any or all efforts that a leader usually need to do to one of his or her team members. ...  read more

How to Stay Committed to Your New Year Resolutions – 5 Tips

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I know it’s March. I intentionally waited until now to talk about New Year Resolutions. We are usually super committed in January and perhaps still a bit in February on our New Year Resolutions. March is when we start slipping. I am hoping this post can reinvigorate our efforts 🙂

It’s human nature to stay waning on our commitments. Life gets too busy or it gets too hard. Here are 5 tips to stay the course or recommit to your New Year Resolutions. ...  read more

Do Nice Guys Have an Advantage or a Disadvantage at Work?

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I was amazed that there was a Wikipedia entry for the term “nice guy.” It focused however mostly on how nice guys fare in dating and relationships. This article is about whether nice guys have an advantage or a disadvantage in the work place.

Being a Nice Guy or Gal at Work can be an Advantage

I would argue that nice guys and gals at work in the long run can be an advantage. This advantage highly depends on how you are being nice though. I would argue being generally liked by many in the office from admin assistants to executives is a strength and an advantage in your career. It can broaden your influence skills in the long run. You never know who you are nice to in the hallway or out in social gathering at work that actually turn out to be helpful or powerful later on in your work. On the other hand, being nice even when co-workers or leaders are pushing you around is to be absolutely avoided.  ...  read more