Liz Trocchio Smith
Certified Executive Business Coach
and Trusted Advisor
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Social media may seem to be an endless stream of selfies, political rants, and clickbait articles, but there’s a lot you can learn from it. In fact, you can use social media to build professional skills, knowledge, and relationships. Start by thinking about what you want to learn. If you’re keen to know more about your industry, follow smart industry leaders on LinkedIn and Twitter to see what they’re reading…
It goes without saying that your relationship with your boss is one of the most important you have at work. So what do you do if you’re just not getting along? Here are some ways to improve your rapport. Align on goals. Talk to your manager and clarify what they expect of you. The onus is on you to establish a two-way conversation that aligns their priorities with your own….
Studies show that Americans are taking less vacation than they ever have before. In fact, more than half of Americans (55%) let their vacation days go to waste, which equates to 658 million unused vacation days. Remember, this is paid time off — by not taking your allotted days, you’re essentially volunteering for your company. Foregoing your vacation might be worth it if doing so made you more successful, but…
You’ve heard the phrase “garbage in, garbage out.” Bad data causes all sorts of trouble: poor decisions, angry customers, higher costs. Use this exercise to assess whether there are problems with your data. Gather. Assemble the last 100 data records your group used or created. For example, if your group takes customer orders, assemble the last 100 orders; if you create engineering drawings, assemble the last 100 drawings. Then focus…
There are things at work that make us want to hide under our desks. Perhaps you’d rather swallow nails than make small talk with strangers at a networking event. Or maybe the idea of speaking in public makes you break into a cold sweat. But the reality is that even if you find these tasks unpleasant, they’re necessary to growing in your career. You have to get out of your…
It’s easy to assume that because two teams are part of the same organizational culture, they share the same norms and values. But teams often have different ways of working, which can make collaboration a challenge. For example, one team may prefer to resolve conflicts as a group, while another may assume that conflicts are best resolved in private. To get two groups to work together effectively, you generally have…
Typically, knowing the upside of completing a task isn’t enough to make us put in the effort to actually do it. That’s because the present is concrete and the future is abstract. But you can short-circuit your procrastination tendencies by making the future feel more real. Here’s how: Visualize. Take a moment to paint a vivid mental picture of the benefits of completing the task. If there’s a phone call…
When you work at home, it can be a challenge to make sure others respect the arrangement. Perhaps you have a coworker who makes jokes about you slacking off while they’re all at the office or who regularly forgets to include you in meetings. You may not be able to change their opinions, but you can request that they change their behavior. Instead of having the “No, I’m actually working!”…
After a long day, it can be a struggle to leave work behind you. Too often, we take out job-related stress on our friends, children, or partners. Here are two ways to make sure your work troubles stay at the office: Have an end-of-work habit. Signal to your brain that it’s time to go home with a ritual that helps you unwind. Take a more scenic route home, listen to…
Many jobs require people to continually develop new skills. As a manager, you should be less worried with what people know and more concerned about whether they’re able to learn. But it’s not enough to hire curious, adaptable people; you also have to reward them for learning. When your employees have increased their knowledge and their value to the company, provide them with new and challenging opportunities. Promote people only…
It’s normal to shy away from disagreeing with your boss. You may think that doing so will make your manager perceive you negatively or trigger a defensive reaction. But most managers report that they don’t hear enough alternative points of view. To disagree constructively, try these things: Provide suggestions that your manager can act on, not just objections. Instead of pointing out that a system is faulty, say, “How about…
Morning traffic, spilled coffee, running late — it’s not uncommon for people to arrive to the office harried and annoyed. But if your team members start the day in a bad mood, they’re likely to stay that way, which can affect their performance. Luckily it’s possible for a manager to help people hit the reset button and shake a negative morning mood. Consider sending out morale-boosting messages in the morning…