Career Tools

It seems that a lot of people still don't realize that we're all managing our own careers now. Yes, your organization has some say and power in the equation. But that ability to influence our choices is often misunderstood as managing what job we're in, why we're in it, and what other jobs we can have. And one of the situations that confuses us is when our organization asks us to interview for a j...

In this cast, we finish our conversation on how to work with an angry and demeaning boss.

In this cast, we continue with part 4 of our conversation on how to work with an angry and demeaning boss.

In this cast, we continue with part 3 of our conversation on how to work with an angry and demeaning boss.

In this cast, we continue our conversation on how to work with an angry and demeaning boss. In case you missed it, here is part 1 of the series: Bad Boss #1 - The Angry and Demeaning Boss, Part 1

This cast explains how to work with an angry and demeaning boss. We wish we didn’t have to do casts like this, but angry and demeaning bosses are a fact of life. And, for most of us, it doesn’t matter how great a boss WE are if we WORK FOR someone who is angry, demeaning, and generally unprofessional. Despite our recommendations to focus on your team, because that’s where the leverage is, OUR boss...

This cast recommends a simple approach to speed up your fitting in to a new organization and role.

This cast explains how to improve an especially important relationship during economic downturns: your boss's peers.

This cast explains how to handle gossip in the workplace.

This cast describes a recruiting “technique” called the “Dangle”, and how to combat it.

This cast explains the SECOND most important behavior or habit to ensure your success as a project team member. It’s one thing to manage a project. But far more of us are ON projects, not managing them. How can we do this while still getting “all of our real work done”? We have a series of recommendations – this is the second one. ;-)

This cast explains an effective way to maintain relationships with professional recruiters. In today’s slow economy, we don’t want to NEED a recruiter and then discover none of them remember us. Almost no one but smart senior executives reach out proactively – but you can do it too. Here’s how.

This cast describes the reasons why leaving your company or industry in a downturn CAN be a bad idea, and recommends options to consider in those situations. Too many professionals fail to realize that leaving their company or industry during a downturn has a long-term consequence – executives are expected to have experience navigating all the way through a slowdown.

This cast explains an important career search question, and how to answer it: "What do you want to do, and where do you want to do it?" You're going to be asked this question, and you have to know how to answer it, without limiting yourself. It's one of those fleeting career moments whose outcome is defined likely BEFORE the moment arrives.

This cast makes the case for the most important thing you do at the beginning of your professional life: get good grades in College/University.   This is the first in a series of what surely will be many Career Tools casts about college and university as preparation for one’s professional adult life. As with so many other [...]

This cast describes a simple way to handle the interviewing question, “What’s your location preference?”

This cast describes a way to approximate One on Ones (O3s) with your boss.

This cast describes your initial communications with a friend or associate whose career is at risk, for whatever reason. We read in the Wall Street Journal this week about a bank failure in the US due to the mortgage/debt crisis the markets are facing. As it turns out, we have several Manager Tools members there, [...]

This cast describes steps to take when you realize early in a job that you don’t like it. One of the things that has changed as individuals have had to take over their own career management is more mistakes made by younger professionals. Years ago, larger organizations had a more complete HR approach, and managed their [...]

This cast describes a simple verbal tool for addressing tension, conflict or other ineffective emotions in the workplace. Mark has finally gotten around to writing this cast down! Every time Mark teaches this technique to an executive or manager, he turns to Mike and says, “we gotta make this a cast.” And then he doesn’t. When [...]

For years pundits have been predicting that technology (videoconferencing, etc.) will lead to the decline and death of business travel. We here at Manager Tools don’t agree. We're human, and humans do better with face to face connections to ensure a complex project does well.

In this cast, we cover part 3 of our conversation with John Lucht, premier executive recruiter and author of "Rites of Passage".

In this cast, we cover part 2 of our conversation with John Lucht, premier executive recruiter and author of “Rites of Passage”. Note: John’s website can be found here: RiteSite.com

In today’s cast, we conclude our conversation on Myspace and social networks. As always, if you’re new to Manager Tools and haven’t listened to the first part, you may wish to go back and listen to that first.

We have a special treat for you … as a matter of fact, today we’re publishing the very first podcast with someone other than Mark and Mike. Mark and Mike recently had an opportunity to meet with John Lucht. In this show, you get to hear the first part of the 90 minute interview. If [...]