Blog
Debra Wheatman, President of Careers Done Write, provides expert insight to the job search process that puts your career in gear with tips for interviewing, networking, job search strategies and how to create a winning resume and cover letter.
Why Your Boss Wants You Back in the Office
Many leaders have established long-standing cultures of control and monitoring. They genuinely believe the only way to ensure hard work and productivity is through micromanaging and physical conversations. Remote work gives employees a high level of autonomy, and executives are worried this could make them slack off or break the rules. I would characterize it as a form of cognitive dissonance. The truth is evident and is supported with facts, yet they can’t accept the new reality. These decisions are based entirely on emotion rather than logic and reason….
Think Your Boss is Bad? Wait Until You Hear About ‘Mr. Jones’
In my 20 years as a career coach, I’ve talked to thousands of people and have heard countless stories about bad bosses, irritating coworkers, and overly demanding customers. While I never assume that any story I hear is the most shocking, I am always shocked at the bad behavior of people in general. This week, I received an email from a client describing her boss’s behavior….
How to Spot a Bad Boss
A good leader possesses soft skills like effective communication, a commitment to teamwork, and problem-solving abilities. Good leaders motivate and inspire their employees to become better workers, which improves the company’s bottom line while reducing turnover. However, excellent leaders are rare, and bad bosses are everywhere; I don’t know a working professional who has not had an experience with a bad boss. Here are some bad boss behaviors that you should be on the lookout for….
Ask Deb: What Do I Do About My Boss’s Habit of Blaming Me?
Hi Deb:
We have a new VP who came into our organization about 6 months ago. He is building out a large team, bringing in people from his network, and shaking things up. He is the kind of guy that my grandfather would have said “talks out of both sides of his mouth.” When I’ve tried to bring up these issues, he just talks and talks and talks without saying anything. What do you suggest I do about being constantly thrown under the bus here?….
Handling bullies in the workplace
I’ve often said that the workplace can be a microcosm of middle school behavior. You have your popular kids, the “star players” who aren’t all that smart, the geeks and nerds, and the bullies. Workplace bullies are more common than you may think. A full 30% of people recently surveyed indicated that they’d been the victims of such behavior. Bullying is a form of harassment—uninvited, undeserved, and unwarranted—and should not be tolerated as with any other form of harassment. However, we all know that what should happen and what does happen in real life can be two different things. Bullies are sneaky and pull their stunts when no one is around to witness them. Also, it can be problematic to get HR and management to understand the extent of the bullying and the impact of this abusive behavior. That’s why everyone should be armed to stand up to such conduct and defuse it….
Managing your incompetent boss
Last week, I talked about the reasons why your incompetent boss is allowed to continue to hold a management position, and by extension, authority over you. So many people responded to me saying “Yeah, my boss is incompetent. What do I do about it?” So that’s what I’m going to school you on this week. The first thing you need to remember is that you can only change yourself and control how you react in various situations, and that is what we will focus on….
Why your boss is incompetent
At some point or another, most of us have worked for a bad boss. In fact, incompetence can seem like a rather prevalent managerial trait! High-performing leaders and their teams are the drivers of results, yet subpar performers are still tolerated. Why don’t companies replace ineffective leaders with talented people who will inspire teams, eliminating boredom and drudgery, and stimulating innovation and productivity?
My boss doesn’t know that pickles are actually cucumbers!
Hi Deb: I have an unusual situation with my new manager. In short, she’s both incompetent and not particularly smart. She doesn’t write well at all; I have taken to rewriting much of what she does, because it pains me that she doesn’t know the difference between their, they’re, and there. We are in the…