You’ve gotten that promotion and does it ever feel GREAT! You are now the boss. You’re in charge and from here on out, things are going to be different. Your department WILL come in under budget, make their deadlines and, under your leadership, they WILL get things done. Right?

Many new bosses take the position that their only goal is to meet deadlines, drive “continuous improvement,” and just get things done (whatever that means). These bosses regularly treat their employees like cogs in a machine – replaceable parts that have little value.

Though these tactics may work in the short term, in the long term they plant the seeds of low morale and productivity, and they grow to produce employees that do ONLY what they have to do to keep their job. A far more effective policy is to develop methods to gain the loyalty and admiration of those working under you by showing them respect. Here are some specific ways to do that:

• Ask rather than tell: Instead of issuing orders, present assignments to employees as requests. That doesn’t mean you should be wishy-washy or passive-aggressive. Just issue a clear, direct, and concise request.
• Be clear when giving instructions: Make sure your employees understand their responsibilities and your expectations.
• Don’t be afraid to admit a mistake: If you take responsibility, employees will follow suit, taking responsibility for their actions, and your workplace will be both more pleasant and productive.
• Encourage disagreement: Employees who disagree (and can back it up) and those with questions can help you uncover flaws in your thinking and processes. Listening to employees also makes them feel valued and respected.
• Give regular feedback: Make sure employees have a strong sense of their performance level, including areas in which they could improve. Give praise and compliments when they’re deserved.
• Always be polite: Never belittle your employees. Criticize when it’s warranted, but never in public or in front of other employees. If you make people feel dumb or ashamed even once, they won’t work hard for you.
• Set a good example: Abide by the rules you set for employees. If you don’t, you’ll look like BE a hypocrite.
• Never make it personal: Always focus on work performance. Don’t comment on appearance, dress, or anything that might offend.

It all boils down to treating employees the way you want to be treated. And that’s the best way to develop a cohesive, winning team that produces desired results.

Photo by Wespionage

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If you assembled the top 100 career management professionals across the top 10 industries and asked them for their best advice, I seriously doubt you’d hear anything about “value justification” or “user engagement.” You might not even hear change management, going forward, setting them up for success, best practices, organic growth, or value added. Most of those buzzwords are just that: buzzwords – ambiguous phrases to make one person seem “in the know” to junior managers who don’t know better.

No one would win a game of “corporate buzzword bingo” at that gathering. I doubt you’d hear any nonsensical buzzwords from anyone who’s actually built a business from the ground up, or from a wise veteran who has served as a mentor, or from someone who’s got the calluses and scars from actually doing the work to build a company. What WOULD you hear?

1. Be willing to admit when you don’t know something. Never try to bluff your way through. It’s painfully obvious to everyone around you. You probably know when your boss or co-workers do this. Don’t do it yourself!

2. If you’re at fault, admit it. Take any blame that rightfully belongs to you and work to correct things as soon as possible. It’s called being an adult.

3. When you’re right, never gloat. The only time you should ever say, “I told you so!” is when someone says, “You were right. I did have it in me to succeed.”

4. No task is beneath you. Even if you’re the top manager in your department, especially if you’re the top manager, pitch in and help – even if it’s a job no one else wants to do.

5. Share credit as much as possible. If you spread credit for successes around to others, you’ll come off as a much stronger person and you’ll build loyalty with your team.

6. When you don’t care for someone, never let it show. And especially if they report to you. No matter whether you outrank them or not, never burn a bridge or offend others. Your personality may grate on their every nerve too.

7. Reprimand in private, praise in public. That’s how you would want to be treated, isn’t it? Always treat each member of your team like you would want to be treated.

8. Never gossip. When someone gossips, two careers are potentially hurt, the one being gossiped about and the one doing the talking.

9. Don’t let your drive for excellence make you a jerk. There is a diminishing return for continuous improvement (another tired old buzzword). You’ll never be perfect and neither will your team. Strive for the best, but know when to let it go.

10. Keep your salary numbers to yourself. Discussing your paycheck with anyone other than your boss, human resources, the payroll department or your spouse is a complete no-win proposition. Either you’ll feel slighted because someone makes more than you, or someone will be upset with your compensation.

11. Delegate and let them work. Don’t delegate then micromanage your team. Give them the target, the standards you expect, and a completion date – then get out of the way. If they perform, praise them. If they don’t, make the needed adjustments.

12. Don’t be a second guesser. There is a lot of difference between being eyeball to eyeball with customers and sitting in a comfy office behind a computer monitor. Your team may be having to make decisions on the fly. If you have the benefit of hindsight and more information, don’t second guess their decisions.

What gems of wisdom have you learned over the years? What would you add to this list?

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Photo by Webbelina

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“The unexamined life is not worth living.”  –Plato, speaking through Socrates in The Apology

Am I the only one who finds it ironic that one of the world’s wealthiest nations is the most impoverished in personal time? The more prosperous we become, the more we work and the less time we have for personal matters, including rest. We already know we must conquer the clock at work and get as much accomplished as possible, but many of those same principles should also apply at home.

• Get your goals in gear
• Make moments for things that matter
• Put your personal place in order
• Curb your commitments
• Hunt for harmony

Get your goals in gear

Just like at work, time management begins with goals, and just like at work, far too many times we’re reactive to the interruptions, opportunities, and problems as they arise. But unlike our careers, where expectations are hammered into our minds, we have the opportunity to decide which goals we should accommodate and which we should jettison.

1. Clarify your goals. Describe each of your goals in a written statement. Goals can range from rest, relaxation, family time, and exercise to hobbies, volunteering, and personal development.
2. Prioritize your goals. Arrange them into what’s most important to you.
3. Get your goals in gear. Determine what steps you need to take to get going on your goals. Decide what the next step will be.

Make moments for things that matter

“There’s never enough time to do everything, but there’s always enough time to do the important things.” –Brian Tracy

Schedule those things that are important then jealously guard that schedule. If a family vacation is highly important to you, then later you find that a retirement reception for a co-worker is scheduled for the evening you and your loved ones plan to leave, send your regrets. Don’t allow unimportant things, especially URGENT unimportant things, to crowd out what’s important to you. Make your moments matter!

Avoid scheduling your personal life so tightly that you have no flexibility for unanticipated events or opportunities. Keep a log of what you do during your empty time slots so you can evaluate whether you’re filling them with things that really don’t matter and have room for more things that do matter.

Put your personal place in order

Material possessions take up time whether you realize it or not. Cleaning, maintaining, caretaking, and working to make the payments all stem from the possessions we put in our personal home. By reducing the amount of “stuff” we own, we can realize time savings since we don’t have to clean, maintain, or pay for it.

Every so often, go around your home with a cardboard box. Fill it with anything you haven’t used for quite some time and with things you don’t anticipate needing anytime soon, including clothing. Seal the box and label it with the contents and the date. Then put it into storage for one year. At the end of the year, if you haven’t needed or used any of the items in the box, get rid of it. Donate the unused items to charity or give them away to someone who will use them. Alternately, sell them in a yard sale or online.

Curb your commitments

Commitments also take up your time Whether commitments are made to family, friends, civic organizations, the kid’s school, or volunteering, they’re the social glue that binds families and communities together. But some of us agree to commitments far too readily and without thinking about the impact they’ll have on our time management. To evaluate a commitment, ask yourself:

1. Will it produce real value for me and for others?
2. Are the benefits I will receive in line with the value I’ll provide?
3. Would ending this commitment cause harm to anyone?
4. Will I gain any time by ending this commitment?

Some commitments, like some relationships, aren’t worth the time we put into them – they’re lopsided one way or the other and lopsided relationships indicate an unhealthy dependency.

Hunt for harmony

A good work/life balance is as personal as personal finance and it’s an issue that won’t go away. It isn’t a “feel good issue” or an executive perk. A good work/life balance is how companies can insure that employees are able to meet both their work and personal goals. Both are important and by meeting both, companies realize the benefits of happy workers and lower turnover.

Summary

Three things take up the majority of your personal time:

• Things
• Commitments
• Relationships

By setting and prioritizing goals, making moments for things that matter, de-cluttering your life and home, reining in your commitments, and seeking a good work/life balance, you and I can insure that we make the most of our personal time and increase the richness of our relationships as well.

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Though credit cards are not the only cause of consumer debt, they’re by far the easiest type of debt to accumulate. Some people advise “cutting up your plastic” in order to prevent more debt, but it’s much more effective to retrain yourself to use those little pieces of plastic responsibly.

How to Use Credit Cards Responsibly

The first rule, the ONLY rule, is this: you must pay off your credit card bill in full each and every month. Once you’re able to consistently do that, there are currently only two reasons I’d recommend using a credit card:

1. Convenience
2. Rewards

Convenience

No, not the convenience you’re probably thinking of. I’m talking about the convenience of recordkeeping. Credit cards are easier and more accurate than cash for budgeting and recordkeeping. If you make almost all of your purchases with a credit card, you’ll receive a documented record of your spending each month. BUT, the convenience of credit cards has one main catch—the temptation to make purchases on credit by not paying off your balance in full each month. If you do intend to use a credit card after getting out of debt, you must pay off the balance in full each month.

Rewards

Using a credit card for the rewards make sense, a lot of sense, but again, you must pay off the balance in full each month. Failing to pay the balance will only get you right back into debt. Here’s a list of three popular rewards credit cards.

Alternatives to Credit Cards

Debit cards and prepaid (secured) credit cards can give you the convenience of credit cards while eliminating the temptation to spend more than you have.

For debit cards, nothing beats Perkstreet®. Their MasterCard® debit card gives you the best of both worlds — no debt and rewards. Yep, they give you two percent cash back! The average family could get back $600 per year in cash back rewards just for using the Perkstreet debit card.

For secured cards, there are several good choices.

Public Savings Bank has a great program.

• Build credit history – They report to all 3 major credit bureaus
• No credit check for approval
• Prime plus 6.5% variable APR – Not an introductory rate
• No checking account required

Apply Now for the Public Savings Bank card!

Another great option is the SilverCard Prepaid MasterCard®

• Perfect card for Government/Benefits Checks recipients
• $0 activation with rebate*
• 100% guaranteed approval*/no credit check
• Free direct deposit of your pay or government check
• Free unlimited purchase transactions anywhere where MasterCard Debit card is accepted
• No overdraft fees or minimum balances
• Online Checking – Electronic or paper checks
• Apply for the SilverCard prepaid Mastercard®!

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You’ve clawed your way to the top of the candidate list by polishing your resume and doing well in the interview. As a matter of fact, you made it through several rounds of interviews and secured a job offer that’s contingent on passing a background check. But there’s that gnawing concern something will pop up to ruin your plans. Don’t fear a background check, prepare for it.

Background checks are becoming more common these days as employers strive to insure that they’re getting everything that’s been advertised in a candidate. If you’re like me, you’d much rather know what someone will see in that background check than get surprised. To make sure neither you nor your potential employer are surprised, take these steps:

Order your credit report

It doesn’t cost anything if you use Annual Credit Report.com and you can get one each year free of charge from each of the three credit bureaus. It really is the first step in preparing for a background check. If there is anything you don’t recognize or disagree with, dispute the information in writing (certified mail) with the creditor and/or credit bureau before you have to explain it to the interviewer. It’s a good idea to get your credit report each year anyway to help detect identity theft.

Look at old background checks

If you’ve been the subject of a previous background check, you may be legally entitled to receive a copy from the employment screening company. If you don’t know the name of the company performing the background check, ask the employer who requested the investigation. Of course there probably isn’t anything in there if that employer hired you, but it could give you some insight into what is included in a background check.

Check your DMV records

Request a copy of your driving record from your state’s Department of Motor Vehicles, especially if you are applying for a job that involves driving. A thorough background check always includes driving records.

Ask to see your personnel file from your old jobs

State law might enable you to see your personnel file – even if you don’t work for that employer anymore. For example, under California law, you can access your file until a year from the last date of employment, and you are allowed to make copies of documents in your file that have your signature on them. Ask your former employer if there is a policy about the release of personnel records. Many companies limit the amount of information they disclose.

Check court records yourself

If you already know you have an arrest record or if you’ve been involved in any court cases, go to the county courthouse where the records are stored and ask to inspect those files. Make sure the information is correct and up to date. Reporting agencies have been known to report felony convictions when the defendant truly believes the crime was reduced to a misdemeanor. Court records are not always updated correctly. If the needed signature to reduce the charges wasn’t obtained or wasn’t recorded by the court, those inaccurate records could thwart your employment plans. Don’t rely on what an attorney may have told you. If you think the conviction was expunged or dismissed, get a certified copy from the court saying so.

Do it yourself background check

If you have a friend who can sound professional on the phone, ask him or her to act as an HR manager and call your job references, your old employers, old colleagues, and even your neighbors to see what they will say. Sneaky? Sure, but what gets revealed might surprise you. This is potentially dangerous so be careful.

Clean your digital room

Search your name, in quotations, on all the major search engines to see what comes up. If you find anything objectionable, contact the website to ask how to get it removed. I’ve had people make comments on this blog and later ask me to remove them because they were coming up in searches!

Read your Facebook or MySpace profiles from your potential employer’s perspective. Have you written something that puts your previous employer in a bad light? Have you mentioned that you’re sick and tired of your boss? Have you said that you plan to quit your job? Remove or edit postings that could damage your job-seeking efforts. Don’t remove content that shines a light on your positive achievements, though. If you’ve been listed as a volunteer or if your race times in the United Way’s 10k Run are listed, those could actually help!

Many times, companies will ask you to submit to a background check when you fill out the application. The background check authorization has to be on a separate form. The only other information this form can include is your signature and information that identifies you such as a Social Security or driver’s license number. No form in the application process is allowed to ask questions like "race," "sex," "full date of birth," or "maiden name." Such questions violate the federal Equal Employment Opportunity laws. And, you should NEVER sign any document that waives your right to sue a screening company or the employer for violations of the law.

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