This is a guest post by Georgina Stamp of Marble Hill Partners. So you’ve just reached that role you’ve been aiming for: You’re a manager, a person of authority with big plans for the company and all those that work in it, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. There are a number of traps

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If the topic of office romance stresses you more than your own relationships—should you even acknowledge the relationships? What if the couple’s cutesy nicknames and public displays of affection make everyone else uncomfortable? And how do you deal with the inevitable breakups? You’ll appreciate the advice from this interview with Halley Bock, president and CEO

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Sadly cold a flu season is right around the corner. Prepare your team by sharing with employees the following advice from guest writer Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla. It’s a crisp Monday morning; your agenda is interwoven with meetings, projects and the usual “catch-up,” from the week past. You awake with shaking chills and muscle pains that

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This is a guest post by business writer Amy Beth Miller. At the time I thought that I was being clever, but it was one of the dumbest things I ever did as a new manager. As I edited a rookie reporter’s story, I smirked as I typed “Sheraton is a hotel chain. The Civil

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More than a quarter of employees have felt bullied in the workplace, according to a recent CareerBuilder study. The number one offender? The boss. But you’re not stealing lunch money or pushing your employees around, so no one would accuse you of bullying, right? Don’t be too sure. Read the list of common offenses and

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In an interview for the Intuit Small Business Blog, Kevin Eikenberry offers entrepreneurs and small business owners advice for developing a leadership mindset. He points out three sins every leader should avoid: Micromanaging. Eikenberry says “No one wants to be micromanaged. You aren’t the only person responsible for the work. Prepare people to succeed by

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Some co-workers seem to take pleasure in seething, shouting or sharing snide comments. You might think their main goal is to make teamwork unpleasant and difficult, but the truth is that they may not mean much of anything by their bad behavior. Use these tips to identify and tame four troublesome types: Mr. Angry. He

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Few team members intend to impede the team’s progress. Yet their unintentional behaviors can really slow meetings down. Here are ways to keep troublesome types in check: The clown ridicules others, making jokes at their expense. Strategy: Redirect the team member’s attention with serious questions. But don’t try to quash the person entirely—humor is a

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Whether you are trying to resolve a conflict, coach an employee, or correct your child’s behavior; you have to wrestle with your real goals. You have to ask yourself, “Do I want compliance or commitment?” Many people might say, “As long as they do what I asked them to do, I don’t really care whether people

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This is a guest post by Jaimy Ford, business writer and editor.  This year my husband and I started volunteering for Habitat for Humanity. Our community is small, so most of the work involves fixing up homes for deserving people, rather than building new homes. The outcome is equally rewarding. For our first assignment, we

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