Are you a good negotiator? Most of us have been negotiating since we were toddlers making deals with our parents to get what we want. Our negotiating skills continue develop with our interactions with others, and our confidence grows the more we successfully obtain our objectives. However, how do we do against a skilled negotiator? […]
For the past couple of weeks I have been advising a young person who moved to a new area and was looking for a new job. She had an impressive resume and is very good at preparing and presenting herself at interviews. Although we did discuss some ways to phrase touchy interview questions, such as […]
Opportunity often appears at the worst times and in the strangest places. Sometimes they are disguised and hard to recognize. For example, one day I got on the elevator at work to go down from the seventh floor for lunch. The car was empty and I thought I might have a chance for a non-stop […]
Most of us talk a good game of wanting to climb the corporate ladder and assume leadership roles. We discuss education, skill sets, and career strategies to achieve our goals. For most of us our strategies never seem to achieve our objectives. In many cases we choose too narrow of a career path to follow. […]
Every office could use an office cowboy (See the video on the welcome page) to take care of the office loudmouth. I am not sure why, but no matter the make up of the group someone always emerges to fill the role of the office loudmouth. Perhaps it is an unwritten law of human nature […]
We often think we have very little power in challenging situations, but perhaps a change of perspective could improve our position. There is a joke making the rounds on the Internet about girls at a private school putting on lipstick after they got to school and testing it on the girl’s restroom mirror leaving scores […]
Last week’s post “Difficult Boss” discussed the importance of getting along with the boss. Many of us fail to consider that managers also answer to bosses. There is often a misconception that management is a club where once you are a member everything becomes easy. Managers get paid more for doing less. All a manager […]
Shelly’s wrote: Dear Practical Mentor, I have been working under my current boss for 1 year. His management style is one of a kind. I’m writing in for any advice that could help ease my frustration and view the situation from a different perspective. My boss has a Jeckel & Hyde personality. You never know […]
The goal of the PracticaL Mentor is to provide advice and a forum on career issues and challenges. Often when a workplace issue arises, there is no place to turn for sound advice. The PracticaL Mentor is an open forum to gather information and ideas that may be helpful in developing a successful action plan. […]