Dear Madeleine, I work for a national mortgage company and recently took over a team from a leader who had led it for 37 years. Every single person on the team is more experienced in the business of the team than I am. And every one of them is very disengaged because their former leader…
Dear Madeleine, I recently graduated from college and started my first job. The job I was offered was the one I wanted, but on my first day I was moved to a different department and given a job that does not come close to the description of the job I signed up for. The person…
Dear Madeleine, I need your professional advice on career goals or growth. I worked in the construction industry for 25 years, starting out as an electrician and moving up to a field manager. I essentially went from pulling wiring through conduit to managing the entire field operation on very large, multi-million-dollar commercial and industrial projects.…
Feeling psychologically safe in the workplace has never been more important. The storm of the past two years has generated tidal waves of competing priorities and pressing demands, all vying for urgent attention. Hurricane-force winds of unrelenting and pervasive change continue to swirl around us. Without the critical lifeline of psychological safety, employees can feel…
Dear Madeleine, If relationships fail and one decides to pivot away from a toxic organization or situation, what is the best way to tell that story in a job interview? For example, I may be asked “Why did you leave that company?” My true feeling is it was all about the toxic culture. The objective truth…
When we think of innovation, people like Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and Steve Jobs tend to come to mind. The lone hero in solitude has a hold on our imagination, but the truth is that innovation is rarely the result of an inspired genius toiling away in a garage. Groundbreaking innovation takes lots of people.…
Reading about how tired we are is fatiguing. So let’s try something different. We’re built to want to be part of something that’s meaningful. We’re eager to learn. We love wrestling with a challenge. It’s in our nature and we can’t help it. So instead of focusing on how everyone is depleted, why not appeal…
Trust is the foundation of success, and the pandemic is putting enormous pressure on it. COVID has created a historic amount of stress and anxiety, which is testing the bonds of trust we have with each other. Making things more difficult is how seldom leaders and team members meet face to face these days, combined…
Dear Madeleine, I work for a company that required everyone to come back to the office the second week of November. I thought it was too early, and was proven right by Omicron. The company is a traditional, conservative kind of place, and the CEO lost patience with the whole remote thing. I was happy…
Tis the season for lists, and we offer ours: The five must-read blogs of 2021. But our list is a little different. It shines a little light for L&D professionals trying to find their way in 2022. That’s valuable, considering that the past year has been filled with numerous challenges. Everyone is struggling to stay…