Human Strategies

Human Strategies #29 - Finding (or creating!) your dream job

Think your dream job is out of reach? Anything is possible when you have a plan! In this podcast, I'll walk you through the strategy I use with my coaching clients to help them create their ideal work experience. Some of them go from a job they are "meh" about (or downright miserable in) to a job they love in a matter of months. 

Human Strategies #28 - How To Deal With Employee Conflict

Have two employees who seem to be in constant conflict? The worst thing you can do is ignore it! Here are some tips to deal with it from a human perspective so that you can focus everyone back on the things that matter.

Human Strategies #27: Why annual performance reviews don't work, and how you can take control of your own performance management.

Think about losing weight. You go on a diet. You work out. You sacrifice. And you expect to see progress. Now imagine if you found out that you didn't have to wait a few weeks, or even a few months....imagine if you had to wait an entire year to find out if you made progress. What's the chance that you're going to be able to stick with it? Slim to none. This is just one of the reasons that annual performance reviews don't actually drive performance! In this episode, I cover more on this topic and tell you what you can do to take back control over your own performance management process. 

Human Strategies #26: Happiness at work works! Here's the hard data to prove it.

One of the biggest lies we’ve been told in our professional lives is that once you’re successful, you’ll be happy. You work hard, get ahead, make more money and all that is supposed to lead to happiness…right? Wrong. In the last several years, research has shown emphatically that the formula is reversed – happiness leads to success rather than success leading to happiness. This is true in pretty much every part of our lives – marriage, friendship, health, creativity, and (yes!) work. In fact, every single business metric that can be measured for goes up when the brain is in a state of positivity. I'll break down some of the numbers in this episode. 

Human Strategies #25: "I hate my boss!" and other psychological projections at work.

Psychological projection is a simple concept - we see in others what's going on with us internally. If we have a crush on someone, we project that they have a crush on us and start seeing all of the little things they do as confirmation of it. Or if we've been screwing around on Facebook all day at work, it can be easy to question the productivity of others. 

You'd be surprised how often this happens! In this episode, I'll explore some of the psychological projections we make at work and what you can do to bring yourself back to reality. 

Human Strategies #24: 15 ways to reduce stress at work

You can’t always control the things happening around you at work, but there’s a lot you can do to mitigate the impact of it on your stress level. Here are 15 quick tips that you can use to start reducing your work-related stress.

Human Strategies #23: Be Unapologetically Positive With Your Team

Think creating a positive working environment is just about giving people a warm, fuzzy feeling? Think again. When people have a positive mindset, every single business metric that can be measured for goes up, including creativity, productivity, and bottom-line results. 

In this episode, I'll share some additional research about what positive psychology says about the work environment, and give you a few tips to get started with your team.

Human Strategies #22: When nothing you can do is good enough

In this episode, I tell the story of a friend of mine who made some political mistakes in her organization. Unfortunately, her manager is taking what could be a fixable problem and making it much worse. I offer advice to managers to avoid making these types of mountains out of molehills, and for people who might find themselves in this position with their boss. 

Human Strategies #21: 3 easy (and cheap!) ways to recognize your employees

Recognizing your employees doesn't have to mean increasing their salary or other expensive endeavors! Sometimes it can literally be as simple as saying "thank you" and showing them they make a difference in your life. In this podcast, I'll give you three ideas for how you can recognize your employees without spending much of anything to do it. 

Human Strategies #20: People are NOT afraid of change

The saying that people are afraid of change has been repeated so often it has become cliche! Sadly, it misses what is really going on when there is pushback at work. In this podcast, I'll explain why people are not afraid of change, what they are really afraid of, and what that means when you're trying to lead change at work.