Improve your performance by lying to yourself
January 25th, 2004
Maybe it's time to set aside all those “know yourself” advice books, and try lying to yourself about who you are. You are a finance wiz. You are a sales guru. You are a genius writer.
Any successful careerist needs to be these things. But most of us are not really all of these things. The …
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How to do workplace sports talk
January 24th, 2004
For those of you who cannot shut up about this weekend's Super Bowl, think about your impact on the workplace atmosphere: A study of Harvard Business School graduates found that in 85 percent of the cases — drum roll, please — men initiated sports talk. This is because female population does not care about spectator …
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Learn to give a compliment
January 17th, 2004
The problem with being nice is that it is not very interesting. It's the people with dirt to dish who are magnets at the water cooler.
But if you want your boss to like you, give him compliments. I know, that sounds like I'm telling you to brownnose. Instead, I'm telling you to find genuine ways …
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Trying to network like a guy
January 15th, 2004
Everyone says, “Penelope why don't you write a book?” and I always reply, “Good idea.” And then I say, “I mean, I *am* writing one.” Because that's what you're supposed to say when someone asks if you’re close to accomplishing your next big goal — that you’re “working on it.” But I wasn't working on …
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10 counter-intuitive career tips
January 1st, 2004
1. Don't be the hardest worker.
No one can work 70-hour weeks forever without losing their mind — or at least their perspective. You need to pace yourself. Besides, at this kind of pace, you may not always the best worker, but you’ll surely look like the most desperate.
2. Hire people you wouldn't want as friends.
Diverse …
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