It’s hard to put my finger on a specific time that basic civility started to decline. I suppose we could blame the changes in the use of courtesy on many things. Technology replacing the personal touch has been one excuse, but it seems to be more than that. Is it apathy or something else? In general, people appear to be overloaded, overwhelmed and overstimulated. If that is the case, are we really living in an age whe...

How do you react to unexpected challenges? Do you rebound from major setbacks stronger than before? Or do you play the victim, blame others? It's essential to strengthen resilience to adapt and succeed in changing times. How resilient are you? Answer 'yes' or 'no.' 1. I like trying new ways of doing things. 2. I find it challenging to recover emotionally from losses. 3. I adapt quickly to new situations. 4...

A few weeks ago, I ran a reader survey. One of the top concerns I heard from my readers were fears about getting your ideas across clearly and powerfully. Many of you said you struggle with speaking up and communicating well. You said things like… “Clear, straightforward communication of ideas and information is a challenge for me.” “I’m growing into a leadership role and need to le...

I dread the end of the year. There are endless office parties and niceties that, although technically optional, feel mandatory. For example, I am invited to my department’s holiday party, the company-wide holiday party, and another product team’s holiday party. Both my team’s and my product team’s parties require that I bring a $25 grab bag gift. In addition, one coworker is collecting donations of...

Emoji can be useful to make workplace communication friendlier and less abrupt. When used in moderation and in the right context, it can bring people closer together. If you spend any time on social media, you have seen your share of emoji—those little pictures of yellow smiling faces, cups of coffee, and soccer balls. (The older term, “emoticon,” refers to the ones that are done with typographical imag...

In the past 13 years of coaching and training professional women around the globe, I’ve seen firsthand that thousands of women have spent years building careers they thought would make them happy, only to wake up and realize they are very far from where they want to be, without a clue as to what’s in the way. Thousands are expending great amounts of energy hiding the fact that they’re scared, sad and de...

When the company taps you on the back, don’t look back. Think about what you need to do (and what not to do) to make yourself successful in your new role. If this scenario hasn’t happened to you, or not recently, it is surely something you dream about. You’re called in to the boss’s office for a meeting. There, you get the happy news that you’ve been tapped for a new role at your company, p...

Employees are critical to the success of most businesses. They are the profit makers of any company, without whom delivering products and services to customers would be impossible. Savvy managers understand that success is dependent upon teamwork. But are you sure that you’re making the most of the talents your team members have? Each individual is unique and has her own set of experiences and strengths formed thro...

When the concept of reverse mentoring burst on the scene in the multigenerational workplace, it was all about having cool 20-somethings teach the older crowd how to use “the Facebook.” Now most generations are pretty savvy—in fact their takeover of Facebook has sent Gen Z scurrying to Instagram or Snapchat. But that doesn’t mean that they still can’t learn a thing or two from the younger gener...

If you’re looking for more challenge in your job, and there doesn’t seem to be a promotion in the offing, you may be asking yourself, ‘What’s next?’ That’s how my coaching client (I’ll call her Dawn) was feeling when we first met. Dawn was a manager at a non-profit and felt like she’d gone as far as she could go in her position. She’d been taking on more responsibilit...