Dear Madeleine, I supervise a number of educational professionals who are required to report to a team (including parents) regarding their evaluation. A recent hire, with more than 25 years’ experience in the field, uses phrases such as “um” and “you know” excessively when giving his evaluation results to the team. At a recent meeting,…
Dear Madeleine, I run a very lean team and one of my people is a hypochondriac. Every week there is a new reason he needs to go to the doctor. Any cold that comes through he gets, and it is worse for him than for anybody else. He gets the flu every year. It is…
Dear Madeleine, I am a ruminator. I second-guess everything I do. My wife is tired of me spending hours every night going over and over the events of the day. I work in finance and have a lot of technical expertise in my field. My organization counts on me for their reports, budgets, etc. I’m…
Teams are everywhere. Our organizations are made up of teams in all forms—project teams, work groups, executive, and leadership teams. Teams are not just a nice-to-have perk; they’re a major strategy for getting work done. Fast-paced, agile work environments require teams to operate virtually around the globe. The demand is for collaboration and teamwork in…
Dear Madeleine, I have a long-time employee who is very smart, understands his job, and gets things done. He manages a small but powerful team of individual contributors and his people really like and respect him. We recently invited him to join an elite group in the company to do visioning and strategy work. It…
For many years I reported to the same manager. He was very supportive and made time frequently to meet in person, one-on-one, to discuss both my ongoing work and my development. Then something changed. My manager became very distracted. The source of this distraction? His new smartphone. Every time it buzzed or beeped, he would…
Dear Madeleine, I am what’s called a “people leader”—I lead individual contributors at a global software giant. I am also a technical contributor as a subject matter expert in a specific application. I don’t love managing people. I am quite reserved and I find it tiring—but it is the only way to get ahead in…
Dear Madeleine, I missed a back to school event for my kids last night. My wife called to ask where I was, and I had completely forgotten that I was supposed to be there. I saw it on my calendar and then it was gone from my mind. My wife is really mad because I…
Dear Madeleine, I was asked to present to the senior leadership team and the board of my company. I was excited and nervous—and prepared, I thought—but probably not enough as it turns out. Just as I was about to begin, I kind of lost my mind. I started to sweat uncontrollably and my heart started…
Dear Madeleine, I work as a subject matter expert on sales and implementation teams for integrated software. I get pulled into all kinds of teams. I am constantly being told to join new teams and I feel like I’m doing most of the work on the teams I am already a part of. My problem…
Dear Madeleine, A couple of months ago I received a promotion I was really hoping for. Now I have fifteen direct reports where I used to have seven. Everything I am reading says I should be doing regular one-on-one meetings with each person, but my own workload has doubled and I have no idea how…
Dear Madeleine, I lead a business for a global company. I am very bright and hardworking, have risen fast, and continue to rise. I will probably end up being a senior leader for the company someday—if not here, then in another area. My problem: I am a jerk. I have heard others describe me as…
Dear Madeleine, I am smart, I work hard, and I am a pleaser. These qualities have made me very successful. I am now a senior manager in a fast-paced, high-pressure service business. My problem is that I have created a monster in my boss. She is so used to my pleasing perfection that she pretty…
Dear Madeleine, My boss is amazing. She has been a mentor for me and I admire her and learn from her every day. She has freakish stamina, is extremely bright and creative, and has a ton of experience and a huge grasp of strategy, management, and execution. There is nothing I wouldn’t feel comfortable asking…
Power. The word itself evokes a reaction. What thoughts or feelings do you have when you think of power? Perhaps you picture an organizational chart where the boxes at the top are imbued with more power than those below. Maybe you imagine an iron fist, representative of a person who rules over others with absolute authority.…
