Category: 1-Minute Strategy

Ever agreed to give a lift to a co-worker or two—maybe even your boss—only to suddenly realize on your way out to the car that it’s filled with junk, soda bottles, food wrappers and whatever the kids have cluttered it with today? It’s not your proudest moment and tends to undo someone’s image of you […]

In his book The Lonely Crowd, David Riesman famously suggests that “inner-directed” people tend to be self-motivated, goal-oriented and led by their own sense of mission. Inner-directed people, he says, are most likely to become leaders. So if you have high ambitions, are truly locked onto them and can cut out the noise from others […]

If you’re gathering input from meeting attendees, you may want to go the oversized Post-it note route. The company makes 20-inch x 23-inch, 20-sheet pads that mount to a wall or easel. Sheets are bleed-resistant and can self-stick to other surfaces. Ideas can go from pad to wall to wherever, and can be repositioned without […]

Or, in other words, do you talk over a person’s last few words in their sentence just to get a jump on what you have to say? Be mindful if you engage in this rude conversation behavior. It sends a clear message that you haven’t listened to or don’t care what he or she is […]

Today at work, you may have dozens of interactions with people. How many of them, though, are actually worthy? Try this experiment on a busy day: On a sheet of paper, track with a simple mark how many individual times you discuss work with people—a mark for each meeting, office visit or casual chat at […]

If you send your print jobs to the copier/printer/scanner that all employees use, you’re asking for a security breach on the morale-busting level. An employee waiting at the copier for it to spit out his job just might see your “list of employees who are getting year-end bonuses,” and not see his name on it. […]

We’ve all been taken out for an awkward welcome lunch at a new job, and just tried to get through it without embarrassing ourselves. When a group takes an employee out, that person inevitably feels under the microscope in some way—or at the very least, too much like “the show.” If you really want to […]

Do you casually include your cellphone number in the email signature that’s seen by co-workers and clients alike? Watch out; if it’s there, it’s an invitation to use it when they can’t get through on your office line. Do you really want to be driving home and have some salesman calling your cell because he […]

There’s something simple that you never stop needing in the office, yet we bet you’re always out …

When you agree to complete a project of any size, never drop the old “Remind me if I forget” bomb on the person who requested it. When you do, you create an obligation for them to have to deal with, and you set up a situation where they have to play the thankless role of […]