Human Strategies

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. 

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.

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.

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.

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. 

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. 

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. 

You may think of the “leaders” in your organization as the ones at the top of the org chart, but true leadership isn’t dependent on a title or a reporting structure. It’s in how you treat and inspire the people around you. Whether you’re a veteran CEO or just have a few years of professional experience, here are five leadership tips that you can start using today at work regardless of your current role or title. Consider these your secret weapons – use them well and they will allow you to get more of your goals accomplished and create a working environment that your whole team can enjoy.

When someone does something to irk us at work, it can be very easy to assume it was the result of negative intent. In this podcast, I'll explain why, and explore a more productive route. 

I hear some version of the "I HATE my coworker" problem every week. In this podcast, I tackle it head on and give you some ideas about how to proactively approach the situation and create a more positive environment for all involved.

Everyone alive in the world deals with stress on some level - it's inescapable! So this week, I'm getting a bit academicy with a discussion of how stress impacts your body and your health, and what you need to do to make sure you're setting yourself up to fix the problems it causes before they become problems! 

So, you’ve been promoted to a manager position and have people reporting directly to you. But with great power comes great responsibility! No matter how successful you’ve been previously in your professional life, managing people for the first time can be a daunting task. Here are ten things to keep in mind to start you off on the right foot.

We've all heard the phrase "everyone's replaceable", and for many, it's very true. But when it comes to your best employees, you may be able to hire someone else for their role but that doesn't mean you can find someone that will match their contribution. In this podcast, I discuss 10 quick things to keep in mind when managing your top performers to keep them happy, motivated, and productive. 

Assumptions at work are a dangerous thing because when you get it wrong, you not only create problems for the people you're making assumptions about (which always comes back to bite you!). We can always choose to stop ourselves and make a different choice about how we're approaching the situation. 

In this episode, I'll explain how we human beings are hardwired to make decisions to show you why it's so important for you to build positive relationships for the people you work with, and look for ways to compromise to give others a win-win. Trust me, it's for your success and sanity just as much as it is to make them feel good!

In this podcast, I'll take you through six of the most critical leadership skills that anyone in any position - regardless of current role or title - can develop that will help them go to the next level. Want to know more? Join me for my Leadership Workshop half day online intensive on April 7: www.zenworkplace.com/leadershipworkshop.

It's one thing to say you want an innovation organization...it's another entirely to put the structures and systems in place required to support it. In this podcast, I discuss three things that are critical if you're going to cultivate innovation in your organization. 

This is the audio recording of a live Periscope broadcast I did, riffing on two different organizations I've worked with. The first is really interested in empowering their employees...the second has some work to do. If you want to catch one of my live Periscope broadcasts in the future, make sure to look me up on the app at KarlynMB. You can also follow me on Twitter - I send out a tweet when I'm doing a live broadcast.

In this podcast, I take a roundabout way to riff on authenticity at work. I start by talking about how people make decisions (hint: it's not based on logic and reason), discuss why it's important to develop genuine, authentic relationships at work, and offer a few examples of things that might get in the way.

Managing people is a two way street, and if you're not asking your staff for feedback about how you're doing on a regular basis, you're doing it wrong. In this podcast, I discuss why it's important o engage in those proactive conversations, and how to do it in a way that will set it up for success. Want to know more about my management framework? Sign up for my free webinar How To Be A Kick Ass Manager.  Like the podcast? Please consider supporting it. Learn more here

Google released some interesting data last week about the attributes that make for a successful team. This podcast walks through each of those attributes.Like the podcast? Please consider supporting it. Learn more here.

In the first episode of the rebooted podcast, I briefly commented that you should make every effort to separate your work from your real life, and not let your job define you. In this episode, I expand on that philosophy, and give you access to a free tool that will help you define your priorities to achieve a better work/life balance. Like the podcast? Please consider supporting it. Learn more here. 

In the previous episode, I discussed what to do if you work on a toxic team. In this episode, I offer some advice about what leaders can do to bring their team together, and dramatically reduce the people problems. We'll look at some typical team dysfunction, and talk about creating a rallying cry that will bring the team together. Then, you'll get another episode of Stupid Things Bosses Do! This week's story involves someone being hired to do a job...and then their boss standing in their way from actually DOING that job. I mention my management framework in the podcast. You can get your free download at www.zenworkplace.com/managementframework

Toxic co-workers and workplace bullies are a particular passion area of mine. In this podcast, I discuss some high level ideas on what to do when you work with people who just don't want to acknowledge that you're all on the same team. 

In this episode of Human Strategies, I rant about one of my biggest workplace pet peeves - generalizing about people based on the year they happened to be born. I also introduce a new segment to the podcast called Stupid Things Bosses Do. Want to submit your story? Head over to stupidthingsbossesdo.com. I touch briefly on my Management Framework in this week's episode. For a free download of the Management Framework, head over to zenworkplace.com/managementframework

In this episode, I'm rebooting my podcast and my whole approach to Zen Workplace. I'll explain why and what to expect moving forward, discuss a narcissist that sucked me in, and share why finding your zen is so important at work.