Category Archives for Career Advice

Generation Unretired, Gen U™ Humanizes Offices

There’s been a lot of discussion in recent months about the “unretired” – seniors who are returning to the workforce for economic or personal reasons. I call this formidable group, “Gen U™” because they represent an astounding number of workers – a true generation with a different mindset from previous retired generations. Because they have […]

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National Boss Day in L.A.: Tell Your Tales

For National Boss Day, I’ll be conducting person-on-the-street interviews with office workers in Los Angeles on Thursday, October 15th and Friday, October 16th, on the busy Third Street Promenade at the corner of Wilshire and 3rd in Santa Monica. If you live in the Southland, please join us and share your insights, good and bad, […]

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New Survey Shows Bad Boss Behaviors Are On The Rise

A new survey commissioned by my firm, Lynn Taylor Consulting, finds that bad boss behaviors are on the rise. The five-year, national comparative study looked at bad boss (a.k.a. TOT) traits and childish behavior, such as Stubborn, Self-oriented, Overly demanding, Impulsive, Interruptive and Tantrum-throwing, and found bad boss behaviors rose by 50 percent! The study, […]

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When Bad Bosses a.k.a. TOTs, Mark Their Spot

The recession isn’t over yet, but some economic sectors are sprouting again, so bad bosses, a.k.a. TOTs, are taking this opportunity to act out in some specific ways. As BusinessWeek and MSNBC point out this week, Terrible Office Tyrants (TOTs)™ are in full season. In particular, TOTs are now marking their territories like never before. […]

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Timing Helps with Bad Bosses

When workplace frustrations seem overwhelming because of a cranky, bad or childish boss, a.k.a., a Terrible Office Tyrant (TOT), you can quit – or decide what you want and go for it. If you like your job and are up for the challenge, then here’s my advice—focus on getting your timing right. As TOT readers […]

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Now is the Time to Increase Your “Career Currency”

In BusinessWeek.com, I’ve been talking about “Increasing Your Career Currency” during a time of hopeful impending economic turnaround. The comments I’ve received from career professionals at all levels have been relatively similar: it’s refreshing to get some empowering advice these days. There is so much understandable fear about change in every aspect of our lives, […]

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Knocking Down Doors – Literally!

Keeping the lines of communication open in the workplace is critical – both metaphorically and literally, as illustrated by a national independent workplace study commissioned by Lynn Taylor Consulting, and released in March. Interestingly, in April, AOL’s new CEO, Tim Armstrong, took a significant symbolic step consistent with this study which made some headlines. He […]

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How to Deal With an Unpredictable Boss

Is the mood in your office more changeable than the weather? Are the people around you bright and sunny one minute and cowering under threatening storm clouds the next? If so, the problem may not be the coffee or bad feng shui of your office, but the effects of having an unpredictable or volatile boss. […]

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Calm Them Down . . . And Manage Up

Sometimes it’s hard to know which is preferable: staying in an untenable situation such as working for a Terrible Office Tyrant™ (TOT) or overbearing boss (see The Detroit News) – or starting over with record numbers of job-hungry candidates. Given today’s outsourced, downsized mindset, it’s more critical than ever to ensure that your own career […]

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Calming Your Job Jitters

The unemployment climate has made even the most confident employees nervous as recently discussed in Inc. and our national study. With workplace stress up, it’s not only your manager’s responsibility to ease your worries. You can take proactive steps to overcome these jitters. As one proverb says, “Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is.” […]

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