Tag Archives: management

The Emptiness of Empowerment

Long, long ago, maybe back in the ’80s, “empowerment” was the hot new thing in workplaces. The word itself had a regenerative, creative, motivating sound. It held the possibility that, instead of laboring under bureaucratic Theory X command-and-control management structures (with an emphasis on control), employees could take responsibility for exercising business judgment in their [...]

Sometimes Appearances Really Count

Is this little hotel room presentation cute, or what? A couple of weeks ago my colleague Katie and I went to an all-day meeting in Virginia Beach, VA where we stayed at a Hilton Garden Inn. The property was well located, surrounded by perfect café and restaurant options. We received a pleasant welcome at check-in. [...]

Crazy-Making Boss Behavior, Encore: “It Feels Brainstormy Today!”

In my last post, I responded to a reader’s request to revisit “crazy-making boss behavior” with a review of the “Have You Gotten Any Better at That Yet?” boss. But of course there isn’t only one type of this behavior, so you might also want to know more about the “Brainstormy” Boss, who creates a [...]

Crazy-Making Boss Behavior, Redux: Have You Gotten Any Better at That Yet?

A reader asked me to revisit my earlier post about Crazy-Making Boss Behavior and provide details about how to cope with some of the extreme behaviors. Let’s start with the “Have You Gotten Any Better at That Yet?” boss. This type is confident that she knows exactly how various aspects of your job should be [...]

How to Use Emotional Data at Work, Part IV: When Emotions Are Used to Manipulate

Here’s a different kind of example of the use of emotional data to help individuals work more effectively. A frontline manager in a service company was known to have an emotional hair trigger. When Charisse didn’t care for the way a conversation was going, she would lower her voice, her lip would tremble and, in [...]