Here’s nonsense at work. I am grateful to Sigmund Freud. He has helped me out of many a predicament by giving me a socially acceptable excuse. “It’s my mother’s fault. She didn’t potty train me.” Of course, he has also gotten me into trouble by creating the Freudian Slip. I know he didn’t create it,…
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#31: How not to join the dark side of emotional intelligence
Here’s nonsense at work. Unless you work alone, at the South Pole, your people skills matter. This is so obvious that we take it for granted, which is why the concept of emotional intelligence struck a chord. Actually, emotional intelligence should strike a very emotional chord, one with alarm bells. We believe that people skills…
#30: Stop encouraging leadership at work
Here’s nonsense at work. To all real business people, I say stop encouraging leadership at work. Actually, go the whole hog. Stop this leadership nonsense altogether. What are leaders supposed to do? That’s right, leaders are supposed to create a passionate vision that will inspire me to live up to my full potential. Well, guess…
#29: Don’t ignore clueless communicators who have earned respect
Here’s nonsense at work. I get very annoyed when I read a garbled report, a jumbled email or a truncated text message. Surely, being able to write well is a basic requirement for success. Note that I said well and basic, not excellent and essential. And why not? Because I have worked with successful people…
#28: Let them make excuses for you, not use you as the excuse
Here’s nonsense at work. Politics, it seems, is everywhere. Some optimists assume that politics is about governing by building alliances to influence citizens. That’s the politically correct definition. For us on the receiving end, politics is about power over others using smoke and mirrors. Politicians are either too polite to use naked force or too…