Employaid Blog » Working Philosophy

Don’t Pick up the Bait

Barbara Poole — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 20:30:29 +0000

I am writing this tonight on the way to St. Petersburg, Russia. It is a place I never thought I would visit. A world of mystery, harshness, and over-reaching government. Of all the places to find an analogy to life in corporate America, this was the last place I thought I would find it. But there is one. I learned that Russian police have such meager salaries that they seek to fatten their wallets by harassing tourists for money. It goes like this: at any moment, a tourist can expect to be approached by a policeman, who demands passport and documents for inspection. The cop finds “an irregularity” and immediately demands payment of a fine. If you push back, he will eventually go away without the fine. However, if you’re not a Russian native, you will not be as lucky. Another situation involves petty thieves who will throw a wallet on the street, and wait until an unsuspecting tourist picks it up. At that moment, he leaps out and demands that the tourist pay back the money he “stole” from the wallet. While wallet scams can happen in Russia, we’re also talking about petty crimincals in other metro areas where people are desparate for survival.

Times are tough in today’s job economy. And in corporate America, the landscape is just as rough. How often does it happen that employees in companies that are experiencing layoffs and restructurings are called out for faulty reports, hours irregularitiess, or any infractions too many to list here? The fact is that as jobs become more precious, people become more intense in their desire for self preservation. Whether it is a “document irregularity”, or a symbolic wallet on the street, savvy employees learn the art of being participant observers in the movie called work. They are as much in the movie as they are observing it, giving themselves strategic advantage over those who will intentionally trip them up for their own gain. The moral of the story: Push back if the message you receive is a faulty one, and whatever you do, run from a wallet on the sidewalk like it has the plague.

Wearing the Paper Dress

Barbara Poole — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 04:12:43 +0000

So, you go to the doctor for a check-up. Or maybe you’re there to get some tests. Everything’s fine, you’re feeling like you, and things are cool until you get to the office. At some point you get taken into a room and are told to take off your clothes and put on this stupid paper dress and wait for the doctor. Sometimes it’s not made out of paper. It could be made of some kind of fabric, but the crinkly feel of fabric you would never wear in your right mind makes it feel the same as paper.

OK. You’re in the dress, feeling pretty undignified, and you climb up on the table and wait. After awhile the doc walks in, and all of a sudden, you become a deaf mute. Can’t remember what you wanted to ask, can’t understand what’s being explained, and in 10 minutes – wham, bam, you’re done and back in your clothes. And the dress, with its’ magical powers is stuffed in the bin, not looking at all magical.

We’ve started the Employaid Exchange this week. It’s a place where you can go on www.employaid.com to ask a question or get some advice from one of our Exchange Experts. We’re having a great time answering the questions. What does this have to do with the paper dress? Well, a lot, or so it seems. For many employees, going into work means putting on a paper dress when they hit the office. What is it about work that can turn competent people into employees who feel, whether they’re dealing with tyrannical bosses or twisted co-workers, that they can’t speak up for themselves? It all goes back to the paper dress. They’re never stylish, and most of us certainly don’t wear them well.

Whose Portrait is on Your Paycheck?

Barbara Poole — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 02:53:11 +0000

How often have you been introduced to someone, and the first question you’re asked is, “What do you do?” Probably more than a few times. It’s a fact of life: people judge others by where they work, and what they earn. In certain circles, people are judged by how many letters of the alphabet they have after their name.

What happens when you let your work define how others perceive you, and in fact, how you perceive yourself? It’s a double edged sword. When people are highly successful, they often lose themselves in the role of, for example, a lawyer, stock trader, banker, or internet guru. Some would say that they get so wrapped up in their role, that it becomes their reality. That may be troubling, but it pays the mortgage.

What happens when, on the dull edge of the sword, people find themselves in a position of working to live? The relentless pressure to make ends meet can slowly begin to lower peoples’ expectations for their present and future. That’s the paradox examined by Oprah Winfrey this month. Early in life, she worked in demeaning jobs that paid far less than her worth, until she started in the $100.00 a week broadcasting job that changed everything. Although her lifestyle has improved a thousand fold, Oprah knows for sure that throughout her life, in good times and those devastating early years. “I let money serve its purpose. But I don’t live to serve money.”

When you are in a job that you don’t love, or when you find that you are working to pay the bills, you are the only force that can change the situation you’re in. Change comes slowly sometimes, but it comes to those who can paint a different portrait than the one they’ve created for themselves. How will you climb to the top of your career expectations – with a step stool or an extension ladder?

Escape from Corporate America

Barbara Poole — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 02:38:45 +0000

With journalistic flair, author Pamela Skillings bares all – the good, the bad, the ugly – and the misery – endured by corporate employees across the United States. Through anecdotes and characters all too painfully real, Pam recounts the corporate life that sent her packing from her own circle of hell in corporate America. Her colleagues’ prodding her to write a book about the experience led to Escape from Corporate America. Thanks to Pam’s entertaining style, readers realize that they are not alone in their shackles. There are millions of compatriots rattling their chains through the halls of office buildings everywhere. Skillfully designed self-assessment worksheets and analysis offer readers the opportunity to plan their escape from a cubicle into the job of their dreams. All without needing a file baked into a birthday cake. As a fellow traveler on the road of the empowered employee, Employaid endorses Escape from Corporate America as yet another tool for corporate employees to find their future – and here’s the twist – outside the “safety and security” of a corporate position. Congrats to Pam Skillings on a groundbreaking success!

The Corporate Rockstar

Barbara Poole — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 02:35:22 +0000

Just what is going on in the business world? Has cyberspace given license to people all over the universe to lob insults, affronts and other atrocities over the Internet? Where are the wackiest real life headlines culled from the Web and hung out in all their glory? Meet Rodger Roeser, impresario behind the Corporate Rockstar. As in the Man Himself. I recently was introduced to Rodger, and one look at his entertaining Blog, The Corporate Rockstar had me hooked. Think Jay Leno’s Headlines meets the Internet, and you’ll know a little more about Rodger.

Rodger’s Blog is an outlet (who doesn’t need one?) for the more frustrating side of his life as CEO of the Eisen Management Group, a real deal, no fluff PR Firm for small business owners. They have a cavalcade of successes under their belt. Small business owners seek out Rodger and his incredible staff when they are looking not just to spend down their precious budgets, but instead to develop true business partners. As one who spent far too many a year in Consultant World, I know one truth. Rodger is the real deal.

Even if you are not a small business owner, log on to Rodger’s Blog to see just where your your next poorly conceived e-mail may wind up….as a headline on the Corporate Rockstar.

What’s The Secret of Work and Life Balance?

Barbara Poole — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 02:21:28 +0000

“I would have enjoyed getting together, but I did not have the time.” Or, “I wish I had more time with my family, but I haven’t been able to leave work on time in months.” Are these time managment issues? Are they an example of schedules gone wild under the pressure of attempting to combine work and life issues? At face value, it seems that either work or life plays slave to the other. But what if we re-interpreted these plaintiff laments into what’s really happening? They would likely sound more like this. “I really wanted to see you, but it wasn’t important enough to me.” “I wish I could see my friends, but my work life is totally more important to me these days.” While the issues of work-life balance are often thought to be win or lose, an important distinction is made by Stewart D. Friedman, Director of the Total Leadership Program at the Wharton School of Business. His April 2008 article in the Harvard Business Review breaks through the myth that work and life exist mutually exclusive of the other. The article is a preview of the June release of his new book, Total Leadership: Be a Better Leader, Have a Richer Life. Be sure to check out Stew Friedman’s web site, www.totalleadership.org In it, you will learn about his renowned methodology to lead change in your life at work and home.