Frances Horibe's

When to Surrender and Take One for the Team As in life, people who never compromise, volunteer, or surrender their own wishes and needs to those of others—well, they might be successful but they surely aren’t popular. And frankly, I doubt they are all that successful either. Purely pragmatically, it is in your best interest to be seen as someone who will take one for the team. Your colleagues like you more and are more likely to help out when...

Are You the Fall Guy for Your Team? Being the fall guy has a negative connotation. It can mean dupe but it can also mean taking on an unpalatable task to help your team. Let’s look at an example. You work in a large company with a history of developing its people, but upheavals in the industry have meant cutbacks of all kinds. You’ve been in your job for two years and, every year, the company allows your unit (three of you—YOU, Sacha, and T...

Are You Invisible in Your Job? In previous posts, you actually had it good when your boss valued you too much to let you go. You get the same outcome but none of the kudos if you’re invisible even if you do your job well. In previous posts, you actually had it good when your boss valued you too much to let you go. You get the same outcome but none of the kudos if you’re invisible even if you do your job well. Some jobs are mostly invisible to...

Talking to Your Boss about Being Stalled in Your Job We’ve discussed when being too good at your job can impede your career. This can occur when your boss has a dog-in-the-manger view of good staff; he wants to keep them even if they don’t want to be kept. It can result in being stalled in your career. Whether to talk to your boss about feeling stalled It’s an option. With some real benefits. If he truly didn’t realize you were unhappy, y...

Avoiding the Dangers of Being Too Good at Your Job You fear your boss is holding you back because you’re too good at your job. The answer is not, of course, to start being bad at it. That really is cutting your nose off to spite your face. And I am assuming you are keeping your eye on the job ads. While you are doing that, there are other options to try to avoid the dangers. Is talking to your boss one of the dangers? This is where the assessme...