Dear Madeleine, I am a middle-aged accounting professional; I pride myself on working quickly and accurately. I was hoping this would be my last position and I could enjoy having a solid job that would take me to my retirement. I am in a CPA firm with three partners who are pretty much hands-off. Recently…
Dear Madeleine, What should I do about all of the requests I get from people who want to “pick my brain” or schedule an informational interview? My friends’ kids are all reaching the age where they are getting serious about having lucrative careers and satisfying jobs, and they’re all following the advice they’re getting to…
Dear Madeleine, I spent a decade of my career at a very sexy, high profile tech company and rose to a senior position. I worked 24/7 and my commute was a horror show. When my kids were little, my husband was traveling a lot for his job, and things started fraying around the edges, I…
Dear Madeleine, I started a business with my best friend about ten years ago after the real estate bubble burst and we were both laid off from our financial services business. Against considerable odds, we have been very successful. We decided when we started to grow that he would be CEO and I would CFO/COO. …
Dear Madeleine, There is a person on my team—a peer of mine—who rubs me the wrong way. Frankly, I just can’t stand her. She is a know-it-all, she talks incessantly, and she’s way too loud. She is constantly on the phone (not really required for the job), cracking her gum and throwing out commentary on…
Dear Madeleine, I made a resolution for the New Year that I was going to stop eating sugar and lose ten pounds. Sugar is my great weakness and I know if I cut it out I will stop craving it, lose weight, and feel better. My problem is a colleague at work. Ever since I…
Dear Madeleine, I have just been promoted. This has been my career ambition and it has been a long time coming. I have been leading a large team of individual contributors and will now be managing three other managers in addition to some individual contributors. Two of these managers had been my peers and…
Dear Madeleine, I work with a large team and I am getting overwhelmed by the number of requests to donate to different causes. I am one of the few people on the team without kids, and I have never asked my coworkers to donate to causes I support. But I am barraged by requests to…
Dear Madeleine, I have been part of a large team of great people for a few years. About a year ago we got a new boss. He is a few years older than me and very smart and creative. We had an immediate connection because we went to the same school for undergraduate and are…
Dear Madeleine, I am about eight months into my first senior department manager position at a government agency. I have a lot of experience in this sector and was brought in to shake things up and make some changes. My boss literally told me that my job is to kick *ss and take names. After…