Category Archives for Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant

Let Your Inner Child Play

Make Sure, Though, That It “Plays Nice” Recently, to mark Take Your Kids To Work Day Huffington Post held a webcast titled An Office Full Of Kids where executives, bloggers, and experts, including yours truly, discussed the significance of this day for both children and parents. My key point there was that adults can also […]

Read More

Gain the Confidence of Your Boss

Enhance Your Career Without Alienating Your Co-Workers Being a boss’s go-to person and confidante can help your career in life changing ways. It demonstrates that you can be trusted and have leadership skills to take charge in your manager’s absence. The positive reinforcement you receive feeds on itself and enhances your productivity. Call it Pavlovian or just human nature, but we’re […]

Read More

Help a Self-Centered, Bad Boss Change His Tune

It’s not that bad or childish bosses— “TOTs” (Terrible Office Tyrants)—are intentionally out to sabotage your career. Many are just “me-focused.” They believe the world really does focus around them in the workplace. Unfortunately, employees who don’t stand up for themselves (diplomatically) can get trampled in their desire to please. I address the issue of […]

Read More

Time Off During the Holidays

Holidays are already stressful, especially when you’re in a hurry to finish up loose ends so you can make it out the door. But what if your boss is a TOT who suffers from “separation anxiety” and doesn’t want you to go? The signs include a last minute barrage of questions, unreasonable requests or other […]

Read More

Why You Should Job-Hunt During the Holidays

Many people think that the holidays are a bad time to job hunt, but that is a common myth. In my latest BloombergBusinessweek and Psychology Today blogs I challenge that misconception and show how you can use it to your advantage. In fact, even during times of high unemployment, when things slow down at the office there’s […]

Read More

Is It Better to Be Liked or Feared?

Do you find your newly promoted manager vacillating between wanting to be feared and needing to be liked? It may be that the new position requires interpersonal skills that the manager doesn’t possess. He was great at his previous job where working solo was a necessity, but how to lead a team currently eludes him. […]

Read More

TOT-taming for Beleaguered Office Workers

TOT-taming is reaching out to more beleaguered office workers this month with articles appearing in Forbes, CBS/MoneyWatch and Media Bistro. Forbes highlighted Seven Ways to Tame an Office Tyrant — don’t let them see you sweat, listen actively, be a role model, be a problem solver, harness strengths and weaknesses, use humor and show empathy. Of […]

Read More

Holiday Season Separation Anxiety

Having tied all loose ends at work, you are about to take a well-deserved holiday vacation. But do you feel that your boss is uncomfortable letting you go, as if even more is expected of you in addition to all you’ve done? Fear is a big driver, and when bosses – and kids – don’t […]

Read More

Survey: Boss Behavior Causes Rampant Worrying

Workplace Expert, Author, Provides Career Tips for 2010 and Beyond SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jan. 13 — According to a new survey released today by national workplace expert Lynn Taylor, author of Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant™ (TOT) (John Wiley & Sons), U.S. employees spend 19.2 hours a week (13 hours during the work week and […]

Read More

Is Your Career Poised for Success in 2010?

In Psychology Today.com, I talk about how you can shore up your job and career skills for 2010, and I’d like to address that here. I also hope that the New Year brings you much joy in your career, and life! Many had to settle for a less-than-agreeable (or bad) boss, take a pay cut, […]

Read More