Career Tools

This cast explains how to respond to the announcement of impending layoffs at your firm. This is a long overdue cast, based on comments we get by email and on the forums. Far too many of us respond POORLY to an announcement or rumor of impending layoffs where we work. In fact, it's worse than that . . . MOST of us respond TERRIBLY, and HURT OUR CAREERS in doing so. But there's a better way, and there's a playbook to follow, and guess what? Career Tools has it, and that's what this cast shares.

This cast explains how to respond to requests for 360 degree input.

This cast explains how to respond to requests for 360 degree input.

This cast explains how to respond to requests for 360 degree input. 360 reviews are a powerful - and growing - part of the Human Resources toolbox. They help leadership teams find out what managers and other professionals "really" are like based on input from the people most likely to "know" them: their boss, their peers, and their directs (if they have any), and in some cases other related personnel. Why NOT ask the consumers of a manager's behaviors whether or not he is a good manager? Unfortunately, 360 reviews, as powerful as they are - and done well Manager Tools strongly recommends them - they are fraught with danger. Here's how to navigate them successfully.

This cast concludes our conversation on Press Relations.

The Internet and the explosion of communication media and media forms and software have changed the way most of us in our careers will interact with the press. All of us need some simple guidelines for our relationships with the press, if for no other reason than risk mitigation. We have a lot of straightforward ideas to share, some of which will surprise many of our listeners. Think about that: simple straightforward guidance that surprises...a clear indication that attention must be paid.

The conclusion of our conversation on Audio Visual Equipment Use.

In this cast, we're going to describe how to use the two most common audio-visual tools: slides and flip charts.

This cast explains how to handle exit interviews.

Part 3, and the conclusion, of our series on Attention Management - Distractions.

Part 2 of our series on Attention Management - Distractions.

Most of us do a poor job of managing our time - whoops, that's managing our priorities. None of us actually manage time, right? Time can't be managed. But what we DO with our time we CAN manage. One way we manage our priorities is we choose to schedule those things that we believe are in line with our priorities. An example of that is putting meetings on our calendars that help us accomplish our projects and responsibilities. Makes sense. When we schedule a meeting, we're saying, this is worthy of my attention. We're managing what we attend to, we're managing our attention. But unfortunately many of us, no matter how good we are at scheduling those things to which we wish to attend, also are terrible at managing those things that distract us from our priorities. But if we're going to have plenty of time for what we want to accomplish, we better not only schedule things well, but we ought to avoid distractions. And most of us are terrible at that. This cast recommends specific actions to take to reduce the pain of distractions on our effectiveness.

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 job without us applying for it. Maybe we really want the job, maybe we would have never considered it. But when they ask US - when the COMPANY seems to know more than we do, and we don't know what the invite MEANS ... it's confusing. And that's why Career Tools is here: to explain what to do and why.

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.

<p><strong>In this cast, we continue our conversation on how to work with an angry and demeaning boss.</strong></p> <p>In case you missed it, here is part 1 of the series: <a href="http://www.manager-tools.com/2009/02/bad-boss-1-angry-and-demeaning-boss-part-1">Bad Boss #1 - The Angry and Demeaning Boss, Part 1</a></p> <p></p>

<p><strong>This cast explains how to work with an angry and demeaning boss.</strong></p> <p>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 still exists. And if she’s a jerk, we’ve got to adapt. Here’s how.</p> <p></p>

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

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

<p>This cast explains how to handle gossip in the workplace.</p> <p></p>

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

<p><strong>This cast explains the SECOND most important behavior or habit to ensure your success as a project team member.</strong></p> <p>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”?</p> <p>We have a series of recommendations – this is the second one. ;-)</p> <p></p>

<p><strong>This cast explains an effective way to maintain relationships with professional recruiters. </strong> </p> <p>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.</p> <p></p>

<p><strong>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.</strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p></p>

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 [...]

This cast gives guidance for managers’ use of Social Networking Sites like MySpace and FaceBook. If you’re one of our younger listeners, members, or premium subscribers, with less than 5 years in the workforce, chances are you have a MySpace or a FaceBook page. You stay in touch with friends, let people know what you’re [...]

This cast tells you how to handle requests for your references when engaged in a job search. Even though “References Available Upon Request” is no longer a good idea, reference CHECKING is on the rise and will only increase in the coming years. It seems like since resumes don’t include the age-old line — the why [...]

We’re all in meetings all the time, right? So how come there’s not an instruction manual? We all complain about them. But no one seems able or willing to do something about it. We will. We shared - 3 years ago - our recommendations on how to RUN an Effective Meeting. [...]

This show describes a couple of simple techniques to help you remember people’s names. Whether we like it or not, other people are part of our professional lives. And, as Dale Carnegie sagely noted, “A person’s name, to that person, is the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” But how to remember [...]

This podcast is the second of two on the subtleties associated with being interviewed during a meal.

This podcast details all the subtleties associated with being interviewed during a meal. We have NO EXCUSE for why we didn’t do this podcast 2 years ago. We get this question all the time, so much so that we’re making it part of the standard weekly show rather than restricting it to the interview tool. [...]

This cast updates one of our most popular casts Your Resume Stinks [October 31, 2005] with learnings from our community and some timely recommendations regarding recent trends. And, in this cast, we make a very exciting New Product Announcement! The Link: Manager Tools Resume Service Description

This cast explains how to introduce one person to another in social and business settings. We surprised some of our members a couple of years ago when we included podcasts on how to attend a party, and how to introduce oneself to someone else. Some saw this as “etiquette”, which the modern business world had, [...]

This week, we conclude our conversation on the Manager Tools Annual Layoff Immunization Guidelines.

We received lots of comments and email regarding our show regarding the first rule of layoffs. While our recommendation struck some folks the wrong way - “finances rule??” - those who HAD been laid off told us we were dead solid perfect. The fact is, we did not expect three years ago to get [...]

This cast describes a simple way to handle a group interview. Interviewing is one of the real tragedies in most companies. It’s so easy to do it well (once you get over the Horstman Curve), but so few are willing to take the time. Oh, sure, everyone wants to complain about lousy output (low [...]

This is the second of our casts that describe our recommendations about calendar management.

This cast describes the first of our recommendations about calendar management.