Dear Madeleine, I manage a fully remote team and have one member who is wonderful—when he is able to focus on work. His contribution is valuable, he is easy to get along with, and other team members depend on his experience and wisdom. But he is always dealing with some kind of personal crisis. He…
Dear Madeleine, My boss is the Chief Revenue Officer for a billion-dollar, publicly traded company, and I am watching her melt down in real time. She has been in the job for two years and has made one spectacularly bad decision after another. Sales have tanked to an all-time low. I know for a fact…
Dear Madeleine, I am a partner in a medium-sized professional services organization headquartered in a large metropolitan city. I was recently at a private social function that some employees of my company also attended. It was quite a party, and pretty much everyone had way too much to drink, including me. One employee, a person…
Dear Madeleine, I manage an operations department for the headquarters of a large media company. I have six direct reports and about 70 workers who report to them. One of my direct reports recently left, and I was absolutely shocked at the things he told HR in his exit interview. He worked for me for…
Dear Madeleine, There is a woman on my team who is driving me crazy. I am on the young side and she is nearing the end of her career, but I don’t think it is just about generational differences. In fact, she drives everyone crazy. She always thinks she knows best and assumes I know…
Dear Madeleine, I have been offered a promotion and need to make a recommendation for the team member who will be promoted into my job. I have one very likely candidate: my most promising employee. She is consistent with her deliverables and has led some projects for the team with great results. She gets along…
Dear Madeleine, I am an executive leader for a giant global organization. Last week, massive layoffs were announced. I have a team of twelve direct reports with hundreds of people reporting up to them. I don’t know every person, but I know a lot of them. Layoffs are going to be devastating for these people.…
Dear Madeleine, This isn’t really a work problem, it is a life problem caused by success at work. I am the CEO of a respected company and have been successful beyond my wildest dreams. I was the first in my family to go to college, let alone get an advanced degree. I am incredibly persistent…
Dear Madeleine, I was recently promoted to a VP role in my company. It was a bit of a surprise as I thought my boss would never leave—but he did, quite suddenly. I have been in the role now for about five months. My new boss keeps telling me I need to “get out of…
Dear Madeleine, I manage a large regional business unit, and a few years ago all managers went through a coaching class. We learned to ask fewer why questions when coaching, and I have found it to be a helpful tip. I know it’s generally not a good idea to ask why questions, because they can…