Right-sized, down-sized, cut lose, laid off , let go, declared excess, victimized by a company’s collapse, or fired, losing one’s job — for whatever reason — is just plain AWFUL and very painful in most cases. I was involuntarily let go once. I was 19 years old and a busboy at a resort hotel in Florida. [...]
Read more
Tag Archives: managing stress at work
THE VICTIM MENTALITY: AN EMOTIONAL BLACK HOLE
October 21, 2011
0 Comments
At some point during a career, most people — managers and non-managers — have the misfortune of drawing the proverbial short straw. Perhaps you were passed over for an assignment or promotion you absolutely believe should have been yours. Or perhaps you were laid off through no fault of your own due to consolidation, a merger, [...]
Read moreCHANGE AND A SENSE OF LOSS
August 2, 2011
0 Comments
A number of years ago, I had the opportunity to attend a workshop conducted by the current chairman emeritus and founder of the Levinson Institute — Psychologist Harry Levinson, Ph.D. — focused on the topic of organizational change. Early in my management career, the insights of Dr. Levinson contained in his monthly “Levinson Newsletter” were part [...]
Read moreTHE PROFESSIONAL MID-LIFE CRISIS
July 5, 2011
0 Comments
Let’s say you’re 44 and have been in you profession for over a decade. You have risen to the management ranks and by most reasonable standards are a professional success. You and your partner have a family, a home, a mortgage, car payments, the usual monthly bills, hefty family health insurance payments, one child in [...]
Read moreTHE LETTING IT ROLL OFF YOUR BACK FALACY
February 2, 2011
0 Comments
At times of stress, it is always valuable for a manager to keep her or his “COOL”. Subordinates are watching and there is something reassuring about a boss who is able to stay calm, unflappable, and able to handle the stress of the management job without always showing it. I believe there are some individuals [...]
Read moreDEMEANING SUBORDINATES IS NEVER OK
December 16, 2010
0 Comments
If you have ever received a highly personal verbal attack from a boss, you know how embarrassing, demoralizing, emotionally traumatic, and infuriating that can be. It’s even worse if it was done in public If you have spent any time talking with subordinates who have had these experiences — and I have logged many hours [...]
Read moreTHE COST OF UNNECESSARY ORGANIZATIONAL SECRECY
December 3, 2010
0 Comments
You wonder what’s going on at work? Things just don’t seem right. You called your friend top-side who works with the boss and they told you there have been a lot of behind-closed-door discussions among the managers of late but they are being quite tight-lipped. Your friend also told you they had heard rumors about [...]
Read moreABOUT YOU or ABOUT IT?
October 14, 2010
0 Comments
Do you ever take something personally? I thought so. Don’t we all? For some, it is a chronic problem; wired into our temperament and emotional DNA. On the other hand, I actually know a few folks on the far opposite end of the spectrum that you actually have to grab by the shirt and say to them: “no, [...]
Read moreLEAVING YOUR WORK AT WORK
August 29, 2010
1 Comment
During my interviews with practicing managers, I normally ask them at some point ”what keeps you awake at night”? While the substance of their concerns varies, they always have some answer. The point is, all managers take some of their work home with them from time to time. Whether this is good or bad depends. [...]
Read moreMANAGING YOUR FRUSTRATIONS
August 27, 2010
0 Comments
I’m sitting by Lake of the Woods in Northern Minnesota one recent morning, enjoying the sun rise, when I ask my sister-in-law about the most difficult part of her job as a sixth grade teacher. “Managing my frustrations”, she replied “getting the students to do what they are supposed to do and their parents to [...]
Read more
