Good manners are good business. Many potentially profitable alliances or promotional opportunities are lost because of unintentional breaches of manners. Second chances aren’t always possible. Test your business etiquette Which of the following demonstrate appropriate and inappropriate business etiquette? 1. Your boss, Ms. Andrews, enters the room when you’re meeting with a client, Mr. Block. You rise a...

ITM President and HR Bartender blogger Sharlyn Lauby recently discussed the current war for skilled talent. “It’s a candidate-driven market,” she said. “Finding the right people for the job is becoming increasingly difficult. The worst situation is when a company gets a new piece of business, but doesn’t know if it can deliver the service because it isn’t staffed appropriately.”...

Do you feel stuck in your career? Do you want to make a career change, but keep making excuses? Do you say, “yea, but,” to justify why you can’t pursue desired goals? What does this quiz say bout you? To identify the degree to which you may be stuck and reasons you’re trapped, answer “yes” or “no:” I. I’m usually tired. 2. I have little time for leisure activi...

Google the words “team, build, work,” and you will get an infinite number of results for pages filled with inspirational, motivational quotes, and uplifting stories of how to build an effective team. You also know the reality of many of the teams on which we work–one person takes the lead, one person’s ideas are rejected, another member contributes minimally, and the rest go along for the ride. We ar...

Few things warm my heart more than coming across more proof that the heart of success in business is found by cultivating matters of the heart. As an Extreme Leader, you’re no doubt working to cultivate certain effective behaviors in yourself and in the people who work with you or for you, all with the grand goal of advancing the mission of your business. And no matter how you label those effective behaviors, I bel...

Several studies suggest that having a sense of control over work plays a central role in workers' health. Employees, who are given more autonomy and challenge, have nearly half the number of stress related illnesses such as high blood pressure compared to workers who have little challenge and control over work. Are you in control of your work? Answer 'yes' or 'no.' 1. My job enables me to use my own ideas. 2....

Through my coaching practice and travels, I’ve met a number of women who’ve shared that they prefer to avoid the spotlight at work. When I’ve inquired as to why, some say they don’t want to seem like they’re “playing the political game,” or coming across as “too pushy.” Others say they don’t want to be perceived as “tooting their own horn.” Some women I...

“If put to the pinch, an ounce of loyalty is worth a pound of cleverness.” – Elbert Hubbard Loyalty involves faithfulness to commitments or obligations. It requires steadfast allegiance to a sovereign, government, organisation, leader, cause, person or other. Loyalty at work is a two-way street. Both employees and employers need to give and receive loyalty. Loyalty has nothing to do with length o...

You know that I’m all about content, and all about using content as a way to define, promote, and grow your personal brand. But do you think of things like the presentations you give, that thirty-second elevator pitch, or your answer to that often-asked interview question, “So, tell me about yourself” as “content”? Probably not. But you should. Everything you say, every Tweet, every interact...

'I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.' Nelson Mandela Nelson Mandela was a nonviolence anti-apartheid activist, politician and philanthropist who became South Africa’s first black president from 1994 to 1999. Becoming actively involved in the anti-apartheid movement in his 20s, Mandela joined the...