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Posted by Donna Flagg on March 13, 2010
 It’s a funny thing ~ sort of. I work with Patty and Dito, both of whom are Chinese and have presented an interesting pattern in our company. It took several instances before I noticed, but then every time the two of them agreed on something or realized that they shared something in common, they’d look at each other, then look at me and say, “It’s an Asian thing.” At first, I was intrigued and wanted to understand how being Asian brought them to make such attributions about themselves. It’s the ultimate appreciation of diversity, right? Learning from differences and gleaning insights into how cultural identities help shape who we are. But then after it continued from ever...Read More Industries: Human Resources
Posted by Donna Flagg on March 11, 2010
 If you stop to think for a minute just how much people get away with by justifying their behavior, it’s mind-boggling. Of course politicians and CEO’s come to mind first as some of the best examples that show people who weave elaborate tales to support the reasons why they just had to do what they did. In fact, look at what’s been happening lately with the rationale du jour of sexual addiction. It's absurd. What I find really frightening though is the extent to which these folks are able to convince themselves, not that they are right necessarily, but that their excuses put them well within the means of acceptable behavior. And worse, they think that the people who make sense and are morally sound, are the crazy ones? It scares me speechless.
Industries: Human Resources
Posted by Donna Flagg on March 7, 2010
 I think it’s strange how success is measured in this country. Most would agree that the markers exclusively point to either money or the things that money can buy. It doesn’t even seem to matter how people get or make their money, as long as they’ve got it, they are perceived as having “succeeded.” My question then becomes, “Succeeded at what – exactly?” Isn’t there more to it than that, because let’s face it, as mad as it is, it takes a Bernie Madoff to turn all of that cash into something gross and disgraceful. Indeed, we look at accomplishments too, but even then only seem to deem those people “successful” if their accomplishments ...Read More Industries: Human Resources
Posted by Donna Flagg on March 4, 2010
 Regardless of what position I’ve held in any given organization over the course of my career, I always found it odd (and disturbing) when I saw people change their behavior based on the make up of the audience whose attention they had. It was disappointing to witness these folks adapt the way they acted according to the “levels” of the individuals in the room and their perceived importance, or lack thereof. How people turn off and on like that and seem to go unnoticed so much of the time, has forever perplexed me. One would think that such Jekyll and Hyde personalities would be easy to pick out of a crowd. Apparently, not so, at least not until now. When I read a ...Read More
Industries: Human Resources
Posted by Donna Flagg on February 28, 2010
 Debate has long surrounded the topic of whether managers differ from leaders and vice versa, and if so, how. I think the reason that we never seem able to settle on a single answer is because they are both different and the same simultaneously. What I mean by this is that managing requires getting work done. It’s the nitty gritty of the day-to-day - organizing people, logistics, communication, etc… and making sure that things run smoothly like how the moving parts of a machine work together to create a functional whole. Leading on the other hand is about inspiration, the epitome of ideals, having vision and being able to effectively communicate its tenets. Implicitly workplace leaders have followers. Managers...Read More
Industries: Human Resources
Posted by Donna Flagg on February 27, 2010
 Something interesting happened when I read an article on my friend Alan Ibbotson’s UKNY Facebook page. It caused me to think about the issue of responsiveness in the workplace differently than I had in the past. Usually, I make little leeway for people who ignore other people’s messages, queries, requests and questions and I could go off on a tangent, as I often do, about how rude it is to consciously ignore another human being. But actually, I shouldn’t really even need to go that far, because at the end of the day, it boils down to one very simple thing; and that is that people don’t like being o...Read More
Industries: Human Resources
Posted by Donna Flagg on February 20, 2010
 It only seems appropriate that I chime in on Tiger's press conference yesterday, what with it likely being one of the most dreaded conversations of his life and all. So let me start out by saying that the whole thing left me feeling a little flat and a lot of nausea. First, I think that someone should make a rule that counts apologies as credible only after they’ve been repeated once – twice max. After that it should come out of the remorse category and be classified as annoying and incredulous. The actual apologizing got old. He belabored the point. A big no, no in the world of difficult conversations. ...Read More Industries: Human Resources Industries: Human Resources
Posted by Donna Flagg on February 14, 2010
 I find that managers often have a hard time telling their staffers on-the-spot when they mess up. It’s something called “instant feedback,” a concept that circulates corporate life for its effectiveness in performance management, but that tends to fall short in practice.Managers are apt to swing like pendulums between the two extremes of either saying nothing at all or over complicating the matter by engaging in a whole, big “sit down” conversation. But neither of those things is necessary. The former is foolish because ignoring something doesn’t make it go away. Rather, it reinforces whatever went wrong and makes it worse by increasing the chances that it will happen again.&...Read More Industries: Human Resources
Posted by Donna Flagg on February 12, 2010
 This one is loaded and here just in time for Valentine’s Day! I came across a rather bizarre situation and began to wonder how common a scenario it really is – or isn’t. There was this guy who apparently hired a girl, and in that transaction a romantic relationship was attached. I know. It sounds so screwed up. Holy cow. Where to even begin? This was a first for me, although it is similar to something I saw years ago where the reverse was true. A guy was in a relationship with a woman because she hired him. Oy. Maybe I’ll write about that next time. Actually, on second thought, I think I’ll save it for National Bosses...Read More
Industries: Human Resources
Posted by Donna Flagg on February 7, 2010
 I realized after my book was published that having to tell a direct report that he or she “smells drunk” would have been a great “difficult conversation” to include, and I was also surprised that no one wrote in with it as an example. Oh well, no biggie. Nothing wasted. It makes for perfect blogging fodder now.It has happened to me several times and also to lots of managers I know – an employee comes into work reeking of booze and has no idea. Admittedly, it can be awkward to tell someone that he smells as if he’s been drinking at 9 o'clock in the morning (or earlier). It’s a tricky one because discussing it could sound as though you are judging your employee for ...Read More Industries: Human Resources
Posted by Donna Flagg on February 5, 2010
 Here I am doling out all of this advice on how to survive the dreaded conversations that haunt us in the workplace, only to find myself stumped in the middle of a conversation at a party when someone asked me what she should have done during a situation when she broke into tears while being chided by her boss. The problem is that I get stuck somewhere between what I really think someone should do when that happens and what is actually feasible within a work setting when a boss is involved. See power, and the misuse thereof, is the biggest, most inherent obstacle at work that keeps people from functioning normally, healthily, openly and honestly. So while my gut advice is always to want the boss to hear the truth… “You can...Read More
Industries: Human Resources
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