As leaders, being confronted by emotion is part of the job. Often, the actions we take as leaders can contribute to or generate that emotion. Emotional displays can be genuine or they can be manufactured as a defense against whatever it is you are bringing. Performance management is a particular venue in which a blowup […]
Category Archives: Professional Presence
January
19
Category….”I told You So”
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
According to the Interbuzzblognetfeed, apparently, there is some controversy over the proper definition of whether “a moment” was reached and that Should Have Known Better definitely Should Have Been There. This led to further discussion about They Did It Too and whether we should get off Should Have Been There’s back since They Did It […]
November
04
The Real Meaning of Work Ethic
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
How often have you observed a person at work who seems to be indifferent to the job they are doing? Is it because they wish they were somewhere else? Or doing something else? Or unhappy that whatever job they are doing was assigned to them and they are way too important for this stuff? The […]
September
26
Leaders Show Up
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
There is a running conversation I have had with a peer for some time about the concept of “butt in seat”. As defined, it meant that one did not miss an opportunity to be present as a leader. Showing up is a moment in time, that may take a few minutes, or a few hours. Generally […]
July
17
Stand A Taut Watch
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
Standing a taut watch. Many of you may understand that phrase, but for those who have not had the opportunity of service at sea, it relates to the duties of the watchstander. There are many terms for those who stand the watch, and you can find them everywhere from the bridge of the ship at […]
July
04
The Wandering Mind
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
Apparently, the average person (who participates in scientific experiments) would rather get an electrical jolt than spend time alone without electronic stimuli. For Baby-Boom or Gen-X managers, smartphones and desktop computers were certainly not as prevalent when you started your working career as they were just a generation later. For those who have come into the workplace in the last […]
June
13
Accountability
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
I was recently fortunate to enjoy a vacation in the Federal Republic of Germany. For those who missed some big goings-on about 25 years ago, Germany was divided into two countries from 1949 to 1990 following the conclusion of World War II. The city of Berlin was also divided following the conflict and jointly occupied […]
April
10
Attitude is Every Day
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
For those of you who just took a chewing from the boss, or experienced a spectacular fail, or got crushed under a huge Rock Of Unrealistically High Expectations, coming in to work the next day (or the next minute, depending on the circumstances) can be an ordeal. Sometimes, it’s even worse if you have had […]
March
03
The Hard Truth About Interviews
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
One of the frequent actions a leader must undertake is the autopsy of a failed promotional interview. Leaders strive to achieve and upgrade their seat from coach to business class when opportunities present. As the saying goes, “nothing ventured, nothing gained”. However, taking a positive step of trying to make a vertical move in your organization brings with […]
February
14
Captain Miller’s Rule – Gripes Go Up
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
War movies are sort of a cliche for finding leadership material. For one, they are not everyone’s favorite genre’, so a respectable portion of aspirant leaders may not read any farther when someone starts quoting their favorite scenes. On the other hand, the topic of leadership is something endemic to the military, especially due to the […]
December
22
Culture vs. People
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
In my morning newspaper today was a story about the hometown college football team who suspended the quarterback for the rest of the season for violating a team rule. While this may not be a higher order “man bites dog” story, I was struck by a number of elements to the drama. The player in […]
October
17
Your Own Kobayashi Maru – Leadership in a Crisis
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
For the Trekkie‘s amongst you, the K-Maru scenario has been fodder for uncountable arguments. In the fictional Star Trek universe, the Maru is a training simulation every Star Fleet cadet is put through. In essence, the decisions available to the student are all “no-win” and the entire exercise is about how you come to terms with […]
October
08
When it Sucks – Suck it Up!
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
It is pretty unlikely that a worker in our traditional American workplace will spend their entire working life without at some point feeling the sting of a defeat. It could be the failure of a project, or getting passed by for an opportunity, or simply unexpected feedback that conflicts with their own self-narrative. I clearly remember […]
The Truth, and Other Things
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
There are two possibilities about your team that you can contemplate from your position of leader. The first possibility is that they will follow you because they want to. Or, they will follow you because they have to. Despite the apparent differences that each of these realities suggest, there is one important similarity. You have […]
Things That Nobody Gets
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
Forbes recently had an article suggesting that 20-somethings are missing some important facts about success in life and work. The author, aged 34, referred to himself as a curmudgeon in relation to his team of millenials at his self-created business. Beside the chuckle thatwelled up in me reading that, when I reviewed a list of […]
Is the Interview Started? – Leading Self
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
The point at which you make a decision to attempt to advance your position in your current job can come at many points. It may have been when you were first considering joining an organization in the first place. It may have been after you started (at the bottom) and having put in some time and […]
How Resilient Is Your Organization?
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
Social psychologists generally define resilience as the human capacity to remain both flexible and strong in the midst of ambiguity, stress, and change. The “resilient” person perseveres by showing above average ability to remain positive, focused, flexible, organized and proactive. According to researchers at the National Mental Health Institute, the answer to human resiliency might […]
When Leaders Make Mistakes – Leading With Maturity
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
The art of the apology is one that has had a lifetime of practice given that it has a well stocked and steady stream of imperfect humans making error after error. The relationships of family, marriage, work, business, and society provide numerous opportunities to offend, enrage, sadden, or otherwise damage the connection. It could be between a business […]
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