Quitting your job is not something most employees would consider doing in light of today’s weak job market. Of course, fewer still would choose to hand over their two week’s notice to the accompaniment of a marching band. And yet, this is exactly what one hotel employee recently did as seen in the aptly titled video “Joey Quits”, which has been viewed over 2 million times on YouTube.

While the manner in which “Joey” went about quitting his job might be the focus of most news reports and discussions, where greater attention should be placed is looking at why these stories are being cheered and celebrated by the general public, transforming these employees into this era’s version of the everyman folk hero.

Granted, it’s easy to dismiss the popularity these individuals attain in the public eye as simply being the result of their unique and at times over-the-top antics, if not also the ease with which such incidents can now be captured and easily distributed anywhere in the world.

However, a deeper look reveals that these incidents are serving more as a lightening rod for the working masses; that seeing others openly expressing their frustration, discord and the fact that – to paraphrase the character Howard Beale from the film “Network” – they ‘are mad as hell and are not going to take this anymore’ resonates with so many employees who also feel they’re being pushed beyond the bounds of what should be considered acceptable treatment in the workplace.

Perhaps one key reason why there’s less discussion about this point is due to Click here to continue reading »”Are Your Employees Mad As Hell and Not Going to Take It Anymore?”

A few days ago, I decided to change a photograph that’s been on display for the last several years in one of the picture frames which currently grace my desk. The photograph was a picture I had taken of my girls several years ago on one of those days from summer which we tend to look back on fondly through a soft-focus lens. Of course, in the time since that photograph was taken, my girls have grown up and it seemed overdue for this photograph be replaced by a more recent memory of our time together.

Although the act of replacing this photograph was fairly mundane, I still found myself being much more aware of this picture frame’s presence on my desk. Naturally, my first assumption was that this was simply a result of the new image staring out at me from that frame. However, what I realized was that this greater sense of awareness regarding this picture frame on my desk had less to do with the image itself and more to do with the fact that it had changed from something familiar and consistent, to something new and different.

What’s also interesting is how Click here to continue reading »”Taking Another Look at Leadership and Change”

For the last few weeks I’ve been working with a client who has provided an interesting opportunity to examine one of the challenges leaders find themselves struggling with in today’s fast-paced business world. Tom* serves as one of the senior department heads at a mid-size technology firm, overseeing the development and marketing of some of his company’s key product lines.

On all accounts, Tom has consistently demonstrated the key traits of being an effective leader, as evidenced both in his performance reviews as well as in his team’s track record of successful product releases. However, on the heels of some rather lukewarm responses from both the market and industry critics to their latest efforts, Tom has been grappling with uncertainties over his ability to continue leading his team in the months ahead.

Although these recent developments haven’t lead to any negative reactions from senior management, Tom has nonetheless been feeling like he was thrown off the proverbial horse, despite the fact that his team remains determined to keep building on their past successes. The current situation has stirred up feelings of self-doubt in Tom; about whether he would be able to continue to successfully lead his team or even if he was still the right person for the job.

Through the course of our coaching sessions, we came up with a number of strategies Tom could use to help him overcome these feelings of self-doubt so he can continue to support his team as they push ahead.

Of course, Tom is not alone in feeling at times this sense of uncertainty over one’s ability to successfully lead those under their care.  With this in mind, here are some measures that can help others in leadership positions regain their footing onto more certain ground as they navigate their organization through this constantly-changing business environment. Click here to continue reading »”The One Challenge All Leaders Secretly Face”

In my previous post, I wrote about how it’s important for leaders to take advantage of the quiet time that comes with the end of the year to take stock of what was accomplished over the last 12 months and reflect on what those achievements gave rise to in terms of reaching their organization’s shared goals.

Although my blog is not an organization, I felt this exercise would be also beneficial here, in terms of looking back over the year and reflecting on how far things have progressed in terms of the vision I have for my blog; of what I’d like accomplish and share through my writing for this site.

One of the things that stood out what was how fortunate I was to have so many talented and diverse writers write a guest post for my blog. I was also reminded of the many invitations I received from my blogging colleagues to share my writings with readers of their blogs, something I plan on doing over the course of the upcoming year.

As it seems to be a constant of human behaviour to want to create some form of a list to mark the end of the year, I decided I would end this year not by creating a “Best of 2010” list, but rather by creating a list of all the guest pieces that were presented here on my blog, as well as the various guest pieces I’ve written on other blogs over the past 12 months.

The pieces are listed below according to the month they were published in order to make it easier to peruse and discover some interesting reads to enjoy over the course of the holiday break. Click here to continue reading »”Looking Back at 2010 – With a Little Help From My Friends”