How to Destroy Your Professional Reputation in 7 Easy Steps

Do you take your professional reputation for granted? Do you assume that others share the image you have of yourself? You might see yourself as the “joker,” or the “by the numbers” person, the “peacemaker,” the “ideas person,” the “kid” or the “father figure.” But others may see you very differently. And its the perceptions…

Building Credibility – A Quiz

Are you building credibility in your professional life? Whether you’re corporate or entrepreneurial, credibility is critical for success. We’re familiar with credibility in our roles as purchasers, consumers and customers. We gravitate toward those restaurants with rave reviews and writeups in trendy publications. We ask hairdressers what products they recommend. We seek the advice of…

Be Promotable: Seven Critical Considerations

Career growth requires one thing – that you be promotable. For most of us, promotion is a desirable thing. It can include a wider scope of responsibility and authority, more challenging assignments, new opportunities and an increase in salary and benefits. Promotion is seldom automatic or random. There is a conscious decision made by a…

6 Steps for Embracing Failure

How successful are you at embracing failure? Failure is inevitable. No matter how hard we try, sometime, somewhere, things aren’t going to go our way. Failure can be a minor inconvenience, or it can be a disaster that churns your stomach. You can step into a landmine, and suddenly your world is flipped end over…

6 Tips Before You Land “In Transition”

Landing “In Transition” Being “in transition” can be your worst nightmare, or greatest blessing. Your next career move might be wholly voluntary. The work situation is growing intense. Stress, anger and frustration take over. You decide that anything is better than staying where you are, and you walk out the door, into both freedom and…

Business Ethics and Success

What are your professional and business ethics? What will you do, and won’t do, and under what circumstances? In life, things are often convoluted. There are extenuating circumstances, and nuances that truly blur the line between absolute right and absolute wrong. Sometimes the choice is between two evils, and even the lesser of the two…

Power Networking: 5 Tips to Avoid Disaster

Power networking builds; thoughtless networking destroys. Visibility in person and online can attract customers, supporters and affiliates. But the wrong actions or the wrong communications can at best make your efforts useless. More likely, the unknowing steps you take can damage your business and tarnish your personal reputation. Beyond the basics, networking adheres to unwritten…

Smart Decisions, Bad Decisions

In business, smart decisions can save grief in the present, and launch you into the future. On the other hand, just one poor decision can plunge you into a never-ending, frustrating morass. Your reputation, your effectiveness and potentially your career depend on your decisions. Bad Decisions Run Deep What was the last really bad decision you…

Change Management – Don’t Get Blown Out of the Water!

Change Management: Danger Ahead Change management is like sailing into a minefield. One wrong turn can take a simple project and transform it into a bloodied mess. You’re progressing on schedule and on plan, only to be blindsided by something that throws you into damage control. A critical component has been discontinued. Contractors find asbestos…