In psychology, compartmentalizing is a defense mechanism people use to avoid cognitive dissonance—the uncomfortable feeling of conflicting thoughts, emotions, or experiences. For example, if you just went through a bad breakup, you might listen to lov…
Some might say there is no better place to build your confidence and character than at work. Others might say there is no place worse.
If you have ever been belittled or ostracized while on the job, you probably haven’t forgotten how it felt—and yo…
There are days at work when there is an all-hands-on-deck, this-is-not-a-drill, drop-whatever-you’re-doing-and-help emergency. And on those days, you find a way to be useful to address the crisis at hand before you return to your regularly scheduled t…
As a writer and editor and manager, my job involves words. One of the most important things I need to get right is getting a message across clearly. And yet still, like all humans, every day has moments of crossed wires and misunderstandings.
In a…
What if you couldn’t see others as they really are?
What if you couldn’t see yourself as you really are?
And what if you had no way of knowing that what you thought you saw was not at all what there was to see?
On a recent e…
You made it to the end of the first interview. Chances are, the hiring manager will ask this final question: Do you have any questions for me? You probably know you should ask something—having a question at the ready will show that you’re interested—b…
I am not a business coach. But as life in corporate America shifts, I’ve become a version of one to many of my C-suite clients who now find themselves in a career holding pattern. As the ground shifts beneath these executives, they are suddenly mighty…
As an adult, you’ve gotten used to certain things about your parents that your childhood never prepared you for—like your mom’s affinity for pickleball or your dad’s sudden fascination with ancient alien documentaries. But the frailty that comes with …
Many leaders are perplexed when their people don’t do what they want. They usually blame it on the employee. But that is not always the case. When employees don’t do what you want, it comes down to one or more of these three things that you as the lea…
You can probably think of a time when you’ve used math to solve an everyday problem, such as calculating a tip at a restaurant or determining the square footage of a room. But what role does math play in solving complex problems such as curing a disea…
