Ever had to smile at work, even when you didn’t want to? Or, show empathy and warmth to someone you’re caring for, when you are at your wits’ end? Or, stayed silent when what you really wanted to do was speak up? I got my hand raised. All of these workplace actions involved ‘emotional labour’. […]
The Trust Battery: Keep it positively charged to energize your workplace relationships
April 2, 2019 by · Leave a Comment
“Jim is probably going to freak out if I disagree with him, and I’m ok with that.” “Miriam delivers, when I give her a job to do.” “I know Yuri will do the right thing.” Those are all statements of “trust”. You trust that they still truly care about you, even when you disagree with […]
Is swearing good for you and your team?
March 1, 2019 by · Leave a Comment
I feel like I’m opening a can of worms with this post, about swearing. I’ve been blogging for ten years. This is my 401st post. I rarely swear. As best as my memory serves me, the number of times I’ve cussed on this blog is not far removed from zero. That seems a bit odd […]
The quality of our relationships determines the quality of our lives
February 22, 2019 by · Leave a Comment
Esther Perel says, “the quality of our relationships determines the quality of our lives.” Perel, the popular Belgian psychotherapist and relationship expert, has made it her mission to help us improve how we connect. Over the years, I’ve discovered and adapted much from experts in human relationships (e.g., John Gottman’s magic relationship ratio); to my work, […]
Make your “Open Door Policy” a two-way street
February 11, 2019 by · Leave a Comment
“When the boss says “my door is always open” – it’s a cop-out, not an invitation. ” So says the authors of It Doesn’t Have To Be Crazy At Work, Jason fried and David Heinemeier Hansson. The authors are partners (Fried is CEO) in Basecamp, a leading project management and team communications software product. It Doesn’t […]
