For the first time in history, we now have five generations in the workforce, with employees ranging in age and experience across six decades. How do you manage multigenerational teams with such diversity and possible differences? The good news is that it might be easier than you think, since most generations want essentially the same things in a workplace, including camaraderie, interesting work and respect (and I am be...

Do you ever wish you could have coffee with the bloggers and people you follow online? Because, let’s be real, many of us follow the lives of our “internet friends” more than our real life buds these days. Blogger Jess Lawlor does “virtual coffee dates” where she shares details of her life. Jess Lively (a podcaster I adore) also does a version of this called “Things I’m afraid to...

I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence.” - Frederick Douglass Famed 19th-century author and orator Frederick Douglass was an eminent human rights leader in the anti-slavery movement and the first African-American citizen to hold a high U.S. government rank. Frederick Douglass was born into slavery around 18...

Twelve minutes before I was to speak to a large group in a hotel ballroom, I was struggling with A/V equipment. With hundreds of presentations under my belt, I’m accustomed to glitches, but no matter what I tried my presentation wouldn’t project. Hailing the meeting planner, he did his magic and within minutes an A/V tech arrived with another projector. That, too, failed and with five minutes remaining, he be...

Many American workers accomplish at least some of their work tasks remotely. Working remotely has many advantages, but it also has unique challenges. In fact, a recent Harvard Business Review study found that remote workers feel “shunned” and “left out” when it comes to office politics. If you work remotely, what can you do to still feel part of your organization? 1) Take the initiative to communi...

If only I’d done more networking, I’d be able to find a new job.” “If only they’d stop bothering me with trivial meetings, I could finish this project.” “If only I’d gotten that promotion, I wouldn’t hate this company.” “If only I were younger, I bet they’d listen.” One of the more self-destructive phrases used in discussing careers is...

Are you overloaded with communications all day, every day? I know that I am! It seems like many of us spend an inordinate amount of time reading emails and texts, and watching and listening to news clips, videos and sound bites, yet very few messages are received with the sender’s true intent. It’s startling to see how many duplicate messages from advertisers land in my inbox and how many unnecessary texts I rec...

The world of work is changing at an ever increasing pace. To succeed, we must embrace new ideas and technologies, and strengthen Questers traits such as adaptability and flexibility. Adaptability and flexibility have meanings which are broadly the same but not identical. Adaptable indicates long-term changes; flexible more short-term alterations. One might adapt to the introduction of a new shift pattern, and be flexible e...

A top-notch salesman, who recently won a prestigious sales award, has had 20 years of successful experience with his company. A year ago, a new regional manager became his boss. The manager is criticizing the salesman’s ethics and blocking access to needed resources. Do you feel discriminated against or harassed at work? Are you humiliated or falsely accused of being incompetent? Do you feel apprehensive about go...

Every day, we're faced with situations that require us to make decisions that have ethical implications. They may be decisions about what to tell somebody, how to react to a situation, or what to do? We have different ideas about what's 'right' in any given situation. Ethics is the branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions a...