“So, Michael, what’s your leadership style?” This question makes a lot of job-seekers flinch. How to sum up the way you work and relate to people professionally in a soundbite? If you’re interviewing, it's a good idea to have a pre-thought answer in your pocket. To...
Are you the best remote boss you could be? People in leadership positions have had to make a deft switch to leading remotely. By now, you probably have a rhythm and system down. But if remote work is going to continue to be a norm at...
Forget about Zoom. Plenty of hiring managers are still conducting initial interviews over the good old-fashioned phone. So, if you’re on hunt for a job right now, make sure your skills are polished in that arena. Some people find it challenging to build rapport over the phone,...
Are you supporting your employees’ well-being? You should be, if you want to be a competitive employer. As SHRM reports in “5 Talent Management Trends and the HR Skills They Require,” employees today expect more than a simple health insurance benefit. They want benefits that support...
Want to get the most out of your team members? Encourage them to be themselves. Study after study shows that supporting individuality is good for business. Encourage your employees to be themselves. One 2011 study of recent MBA grads showed that those who felt they could express...
You know you have an excellent IQ. But what about your EQ? EQ stands for “emotional quotient,” and like IQ, it measures intelligence—but in a different way. EQ measures how well you understand emotions (both yours and those of other people), and, in turn, how you...
A group of people ride the same bus on the same route every day. They all keep to themselves. The bus is a pretty quiet place. One day, an older gentlemen gets onboard. “Hello!” he addresses the bus driver. The driver gives him a funny look. The...
It turns out, we’re all pretty terrible at reading each other’s mood if we can’t see faces. Specifically, it’s harder to recognize a pleased look when it’s coming from the mouth. Anger and frustration, on the other hand, tend to show up more obviously in...
“So, Michael, tell me about yourself.” It’s not a trick question, but if you’re interviewing for a job, you want to be thoughtful about how you answer it. Most people freeze when they hear this question in an interview. Or they get nervous and overshare, starting...
Virtual negotiation is one of those things people either love or hate. And whether it’s about negotiating for a job or brokering a deal, there’s a lot more of it happening via videoconferencing and email these days. One recent study found that we’re significantly worse at reading...