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…
Hi Madeleine, I just started a new position with an organization that is pretty young in the association world. I accepted the job because everyone gets along really well and works as a team to accomplish yearly goals. This type of culture is something I didn’t experience at my previous place of employment, but I…
Dear Madeleine, I am a young, new manager at a large health food grocery. I love the company, I love the job, and I am really learning a lot about being a new manager. Here is my problem: when I joined the company as a cashier, I told one of my friends about my new…
Dear Madeleine, I am regular reader and a fan. I’m about to graduate from my grad school program. You talk a lot about the importance of networking. I feel like I’ve been somewhat insulated from the reality and necessity of building a network and was wondering if you could give me some ideas of what…