The common refrain is that they do not control the resources that are assigned to them and the same resources are multiplexed to many other projects, so how their work gets done is left somewhat to how the functional manager, who controls the resources that are assigned to the project treats your priorities. It is the assignment of resources and the attention the functional manager can provide to the project team that dictates the outcomes created by the team. Also, in a complex project there are many interdependent tasks that can put any one of the tasks on a critical path when the commitments are not met. With the increasing complexity of delivered projects and the highly specialized expertise needed to contribute to the success of such projects the trend of matrixed structure is going to be even more of a norm as we move forward.

So, what are some of the strategies that the project managers can use to shepherd their projects with priority and to achieve the objectives against which they are measured?

Having worked in a matrix organization when I was shepherding a complex project with nearly 300 professionals (engineers, technicians, drafting staff, manufacturing engineers, just to name a few) working from about a dozen functional areas, I learned much about what works and what does not. Here is what I recommend that you work on, even if your project is much smaller than this:

1. Understand the overall objective and the deliverables on your project. Break it down to its components and organize the overall project into tasks that are assigned to each functional area. Spend enough time on planning the project (this is often a serious drawback on most projects) and carefully identifying key parts that are going to require the most attention.
2. Prepare a project plan showing dependencies and scope the size of each task to enough detail that allows everyone at the task-leader level to understand the scope of their responsibility.
3. Meet with the functional managers, who are going to assign you the resources to complete what is under their responsibility. Try not asking for specific resources (whom they assign is often their prerogative) but tell them what/when is expected of their group. Let them decide the who/how. Ask them how they plan to manage their part of the project: if they want to be actively involved or involved enough just to provide team members functional leadership. Each of these working modes dictates how you want to engage with that manger and their team.
4. Develop work packages for each functional group and get the manager to sign-off on the key deliverables, dates, and resources. Clearly understand the contingencies and dependencies that are driving their tasks. You, as a project manager are responsible for cross-functional tasks and how they are completed.
5. Create clear accountabilities with each manager and their team members. Manage by exception. In other words, only when someone is going to miss on their committed task must you know from the responsible task leader/manager what the situation is and how you must deal with it.
6. Provide a visible dashboard for everyone to see how the overall project and the subtasks are progressing. Often, it is the lack of visibility and the context that frustrates team members and they lose interest in their project.
7. One key tool you have as a project manager is to acknowledge exceptional performers. Merely by sending an email to the entire team and their manger (and even their boss) can do wonders when it comes to how teams and individuals behave. Writing such notes and emails is free, but has great impact on team morale.
8. Conversely, when you see someone missing deadlines and sloughing their work, you must have a discussion with them individually first. The next round is with their manager and then you must ask for their replacement. Such actions (#7 and #8) quickly establish you as a no-nonsense leader and people respond well to such acts of leadership.
9. Mid-way through your project re-assess where things are and make adjustments to your original plan. Re-publish the revised plan for everyone to see and explain why these revisions were made.
10. Celebrate small successes by having pizza or group get-togethers. Celebrations go a long way in keeping the team’s morale.

A matrix organization is a good battleground for learning how to lead through influence. It is much easier when people report directly to you and you are responsible for writing their reviews and for giving their raises and promotions. Successfully navigating through a matrixed organization requires special leadership and these are some of the secrets to getting there.

Good luck!

This blog upends that admonition and makes a case for you to be happy where you are, but to be impatient about the change that you want to make, first starting with yourself!

In this context one of my clients recently came to see me and to tell me how bad her manager was and how there was no growth opportunity in her group. She also surmised that despite being a part of a high-visibility group at this blockbuster company, there was no place to grow. Her company had broken every sales record in the past decade and its stock had taken an over twenty-fold hike in the same period.

After exploring further we both quickly realized that the change that she was seeking was not needed from the outside (a promotion, a new assignment, new co-workers), but from within her own self. This is where one of the Gandhi’s famous quotes about change hits home, Be the change in the world that you wish to see!

Within the span of our session we both realized that, yes, she was getting bored with her routine at work and not having any challenges to conquer in the way her work was structured. Her boss, who was a strict command-and-control micro-manager, further compounded this. So, she started losing patience and was increasingly feeling unhappy about her job and about her overall situation. She was beginning to question her career choice.

After some discussion we agreed that if she now made a change to her external environment (new job, new assignment, new boss) then she is likely to repeat this pattern after that new environment became a routine once again, just as the current one did. Without changing her basic view of how she deals with her environment and reframing it, we both agreed that there was no sense in making a change in her external environment. So, we agreed to the following plan, which was both practical and was driven by her own desire to change, not by some outside agent that would want her to be patient to see that change. The strategy was to create and find happiness within her own environment by making a change, but to make the necessary change on her own terms, not someone else’s:

1. Identify top three development needs that she could pursue on her own to improve her overall effectiveness as a professional, who is getting ready for a higher leadership responsibility. She identified those three areas as: Better communication, improving her own work environment, and connecting with new people.
   • For improving her communication she agreed to join the local Toastmasters club and actively participate to learn good communication skills.
   • For improving her work environment, she agreed to make a list of special projects that would help those working in her group to improve their productivity and output. She was confident that once her manager saw that list that he would suggest the priorities in which she should prosecute those projects and support her pursuits. Since this was work beyond her assigned duties, she could pace it as time allowed and as her own interests drove the effort.
   • Since she felt stagnant with the friends that surrounded her, she agreed to make new friends by frequently visiting the company cafeteria during lunch, instead of eating alone every day at her desk. She also agreed to be open to connecting with those attending her Toastmasters group to expand her circle of friends.
2. Start writing stories of her accomplishments for her résumé to realize how much she had contributed to the success of her team and her organization. Her current résumé showed many bullets in a very dry, factual, and transactional way. They lacked any juicy story that excited and intrigued its reader. By moving the focus from writing a one-line bullet for each task, to writing a short story (3-4 lines of leadership narrative) would create a new energy around her message. Having such a résumé would invigorate her to undertake even bigger tasks to pursue what is listed in #1b, above. These tasks would now also provide further ammunition for her résumé, making it even more powerful.
3. Change the mode of working on a task in her current role from mere order taking to proactively seeking the assignments that added value to her organization. This was going to require more insight and initiative, but she agreed to this mode of taking on new tasks.
4. Provide mentoring and guidance to those in her group that would benefit from it. Even though she had no one reporting to her, her natural inclination was to share her expertise and to make things better; the very reason she came to seek my advice. Taking that a step further, if she could mentor more junior members in her team her role would become more valuable to the manager, the team, and the organization.
5. Send emails to the manager reporting the progress on special projects and seeking his guidance in critical areas. This would keep her both visible to her manager and on a growth track.

We often surrender our plight to many external forces as this client did. If she had changed her job or transferred to another group or company, without making the changes to her own style of working, in just a few years, we could have had another conversation, very similar to the one that started this chain, because nothing fundamentally was changed. When you start the change from within, the change you really seek comes naturally and a lot sooner than you realize. Here, now, you are in charge!

So, find happiness where you are and be impatient with the rate of change, by first starting the change within yourself.

Good luck!

1. Why is it so important for executives to have accountability, both in their personal and professional lives? How can this help them more successfully achieve their goals? Can/will such a strategy help executives become committed to achieving their goals and retain their focus on their end goals? Can this help them remain motivated?

Dilip

An executive’s success is measured by the results they produce in growing, both the top and the bottom lines of a business. Ideas, visions, and promises are plentiful, but what differentiates a winner from the rest is their ability to execute and deliver results. For a successful executive delivering results requires clear accountabilities and setting up responsibilities so that there is no doubt who has done what to create the right outcomes. This is hard work and it constantly demands inspiration for the front-liners. This inspiration is best provided by clear examples of leadership and not by merely repeating empty exhortations.

Dilip

Executive success requires clear accountabilities and to set an example they must set their own standards of holding themselves accountable beyond reproach. This is hard for many, so they must work on setting the right tone of accountability across the entire chain of command and throughout the organization. Recent study of women-led organizations has shown that women CEOs outperformed male-led businesses by a substantial margin (in FY-2009) and beat S&P returns also by large margins. One reason for their success has been their ability to hold others clearly accountable and by measuring everyone by the same objective standards of performance.

There is no greater motivator than the one coming from creating successful outcomes. This requires leadership, discipline, and clear accountability, starting from the top.

2. Sometimes it really is difficult to accomplish those goals without the support and guidance of trusted connections (friends, mentors, peers). How should an executive select his/her “accountability group”? Who should be included in the group? And what type of guidance should they be able to offer? (personal experience) What kinds of issues can an accountability group help address? (business challenges, etc.) Can this also be accomplished in a larger (and sometimes less formal) networking meeting setting or should it be a more personal exchange?

Dilip

When it comes to delivering on the personal front, in reality, the same rules apply. You cannot have two different sets of rules for personal and business accountabilities. Support groups have been shown to be more effective when overcoming something negative—obesity, anger management, addiction, and keeping fit through exercise—than they are when achieving something positive—a promotion, growth, or personal development goals. For stopping something negative often a support group can play a major role in keeping you on the right path. Such a support group can play an influential role in keeping one on track by reciprocal gestures: you provide someone critical inputs and they, in turn, reciprocate by being equally critical in keeping you on track. Support groups thus help each other through sharing of common goals and sharing their experiences to keep everyone motivated. But, even there, when it comes to action and results there is not substitute for taking charge of your own destiny.

When it comes to professional success such support groups do not always work. Why? One reason is, perhaps, because it is much easier to give advice than it is to make it work and to create the right outcomes for others. Because, peer groups, when it comes to helping someone else become successful, and letting them make you successful, in return, work less effectively than the groups that help you overcome personal weaknesses such as weight loss and addiction. Metaphorically, support groups are more effective safety nets than they are promoters of achievements; they are good at rescuing an errant fellow human being than they are at making someone else a hero! Heroes often have to fight their own personal battles. Such endeavors can often benefit more from hooking up with a personal coach than they do from joining a support group—even a purposefully designed one! Perhaps it is the basic human nature to feel good about rescuing someone than it is helping someone become a success. So, be careful in setting up a support group that does not have your basic interest at its heart. In such matters there is no substitute for holding oneself totally accountable.

3. How often should an executive meet with his accountability group? How much should an executive rely on his “board of advisors” for guidance? Sometimes leaders are afraid to share their concerns with others and/or take advice from other individuals. Can an accountability group help them overcome such concerns?

Dilip

The success of participating in an accountability group depends on how much you are willing to disclose and how much help you expect to get from the group as a whole. Executive leadership has unique challenges, not all of which can be easily articulated, framed, and presented for a reasonable solution. The meeting frequency of such a group should depend on how effective they are able to provide support to each person in that group and how much the group feels rewarded by how they create the right outcomes each time.

4. If an executive is asked to become part of an accountability group, what are the benefits to all involved? How can advising other executives help an executive with his own career and issues? What are some of the qualities of an “advice giver”? How can this become a win-win for all group participants?

Dilip

Forming such groups for the right support that will benefit all participants is the most important decision. Once again, when it comes to disabusing the negative—weight, addiction, negative behaviors, and personal growth—can be good topics for addressing through such groups. But, when it comes to creating executive accountabilities and career matters for personal growth the utility and effectiveness of such groups can be a matter of each design and how the group is organized, including the expectations of the participants. Individual coaching can be far more meaningful in such cases.

5. How are the processes used (through this accountability group) able to be transferred to help executives achieve both professional goals and personal goals? Can the same formula be used if an executive is trying to accomplish personal goals (such as those connected with health and wellness)? And can this be used for all facets of an executive’s career, from job search to career development (to gain knowledge regarding various business ideas and issues)?

Dilip

Groups of peers helping each other can do a much better job of helping participants in their personal growth and overcoming negative behaviors. When it comes to professional success, humans tend to be very competitive and they are reluctant to share their growth patterns, needs, and recipes with others readily. So, before setting such a support group be careful what the human needs are.

6. Is accountability required for executives to move to the next place in their careers as well as their personal lives? If they find that it’s missing in their lives, what can they do – in addition to creating an accountability group – to achieve it?

Dilip

Accountability comes from personal commitment to a cause—any cause. Without that accountability and personal commitment nothing useful can ever be achieved. It is required in both their personal lives and in their professional lives. The only difference stems from how the outcomes impact one’s immediate livelihood: a missed target can jeopardize the annual bonus, so keeping on tract there is not just a matter of personal pride, but of economic benefit. On the other hand not losing all that weight you signed-up for is not going to create an immediate jeopardy to everyday existence. This is where holding oneself accountable regardless of the benefit—economic or not—is critical.

“The human moment has two prerequisites: peoples’ physical presence and their emotional and intellectual attention.”—Edward Hallowell, author of The Human Moment

Today’s business world is becoming increasingly more virtual in which humans are becoming growingly more alienated. What has accelerated the disappearance of simple human contact in many business interactions and transactions is growing use of technology in almost every thing that a business does. At the core of it, though, it is the humans who actually make intelligent decisions, build relationships, and come up with creative ways of expanding a business. Increasing absence of simple human interactions has greatly increased the levels of stress in an everyday existence as it relates to work life. This toxic stress spills over into our personal life and there is no escaping of the vicious cycle of increased stress leading to not having time for human contact, which leads to even greater stress. This article is based on the original paper that Hallowell wrote for the Harvard Business Review.

With increasing use of emails, instant messages, voice mails, and distant communication, human beings on the one hand have been brought closer. The advent of email alone has resulted in more frequent communication between people who did not even communicate before. People reach across the globe just to touch base with those that matter to them in ways that they did not before. But, the irony in this development is that it has created an illusion of a relationship that is, in fact, purely transactional. This is the case of good communication that blocks relationship building! Just because you communicate more frequently does not mean that you know them any better!

Most business communications tend to be transactional in nature as well. As a result, they tend to be functional more than having any emotional component. Personal communication that has greatly increased as a result of the email becoming ubiquitous, on the other hand, tends to be more intimate and emotional.

In the business world this increasingly impersonal, functional, and harried way of communicating has alienated those who engage in these communications. Emails are notoriously casual, cryptic, or even abrupt—hence rude in may instances. Recipients of such emails often interpret such messages as emotional assaults on their sensibilities and they become gradually isolated from those who unwittingly engage in such communications. It is because of these instances and their growing trend in business that the human moment is becoming so critical in its need. Without such a human moment those who are involved in ongoing communications that avoid the human touch, become too isolated, gradually becoming less resilient. Once they lose their resilience, they gradually become brittle and stressed, reaching a breaking point. This now starts a vicious cycle as their own outgoing messages become the very examples of what got them in this space in the first place.

An antidote for this vicious cycle and the feeling of isolation is the creating and nurturing of the human moment. As the quote suggests, it requires two or more humans in the same physical space willing to share their thoughts and emotions in an open and mindful ways.

The following list suggests how to avoid a brownout and an eventual burnout resulting from the ongoing lack of the human moment and how to prolong the period between the need for the human moment in our increasingly virtual world:

1. When sending email messages, especially those that disparage the recipient in some way or demean what they have done, crafting the message with care can be a great way to prevent premature burnout for its recipients and, in turn, for you. Remember, for every action there is equal and opposite karmic reaction! If you are sitting up in the chain of command as someone who is high-and-mighty, that karmic reaction may take just a little longer!
2. Do not send angry or upset emails. Instead, pick up the phone and talk to the person one-on-one. Do not leave an angry voice mail, either.
3. Sending a message down the chain of command, the higher-ups have to be particularly careful in crafting their messages as they are typically read and re-read many times. Each subsequent reading can increase the perception of the severity of a message. Sending a curt, cryptic, or abrupt email can also have adverse effect on its reader. For example, if a manager finds a report that someone has spent much effort putting together not to their liking, instead of sending a message: “Unacceptable! Redo!!” send a more human message. Explain what needs to change and how to make that report acceptable. If you can coach that person one-on-one in a meeting, even better!
4. Higher ups need to use a tamer language and tone in their messages. By their very authority they can convey what they mean without having to be mean in their use of the language.
5. Never send an email to someone complaining about what they did with a cc to their superiors. Wait until they have had a chance to respond. If the response is then found to be not to your liking mention first that you plan to escalate this issue upwards, before doing it. Often, the mere mention of such intent can have the effect you are looking for, unless your intent is to demean this person in the eyes of their superiors. Remember, they can do the same to you in kind at other times! This is no way to build relationships.
6. Make a point of regularly meeting with those with whom you frequently communicate by distant methods, as emails, voice mail, video conferencing, etc. Make a scheduled meeting that periodically allows you to have a face-to-face discussion in an intimate and personal way. If this is not doable schedule a meeting where you connect just to chat without an express agenda and openly discuss what is working and what can change in the way you conduct business and in your relationship.
7. When in doubt about a message and its delivery mode, always decide in favor of a more personal way to communicate: from email to phone, from phone to a group meeting and from a group meeting to a personal meeting.
8. Much of the pent-up anger and resentment can be diffused with an occasional message of encouragement and good news. Catch someone doing something right and send a warm message of appreciation. When sending such messages of felicity keep them pure. Do not corrupt them with a “yes, but…” statement or give a left-handed compliment. Send the note in a memorable way: a Thank You! note in the mail sent to their desk or office, a card in the interoffice envelope, or a greeting card to the home address.

Take a moment to look around you and see how others are doing their best to do a good job. No one goes to work thinking that they are going to sabotage something or screw something deliberately just to make a point! A little bit of humanity shown at the right moment can create a tremendous amount of good will that can be a positive force in an otherwise competitive environment. We all could use that!

“The best politics is right action.”-Gandhi

In today’s business climate it is impossible to avoid getting tangled into the office politics. Why? An organization is a social entity, where people gather to conduct business. Although, the role of the leader that runs that business is to unify actions of all who gather and participate to make it successful, it is difficult for an average leader to truly unify all agendas and to create one grand vision so powerful that everyone works to service that single purpose. It is the lack of leadership force that creates political ferment in an organization.

So, what are some of the reasons why people have different agendas to begin with? The following list will shed some light on the origins of the ferment. If this ferment is not dealt with early-on and not managed on an ongoing basis, an organization can become dysfunctional and can be torn asunder. A leader’s job is to recognize this ferment and to deal with it to unite the purpose of all and achieve the goal to which the organization is committed:

1. Not bringing everyone together before making a major decision. The hallmark of a great leader is to have a vision and then to have the ability to infect everyone in their organization with that vision. A business or an organization is not a democracy, not by a long shot, yet, its leader has the responsibility to bring everyone together in ways that all agendas unite under their leadership. The command and control structure of an organization is what makes this aspect of a leader’s job particularly challenging. This is counterintuitive.
2. Not having a studied vision. One of the main roles of a leader is to formulate a compelling vision for their business. Creating such a vision requires hard work. Once a vision is formulated, the next challenge is for the leader to socialize that vision across the organization. This is not always easy. Socializing a vision when there are different agendas to begin with takes special leadership. Without everyone coming on-board, moving ahead with a major decision can be foolhardy.
3. Not inspiring and empowering others to act decisively. One of the key duties of a leader is to develop their followers by showing them how to move forward in uncertainty, take risks, and to learn from failures. Many leaders fail in their roles by micromanaging and paralyzing their organization. It is here when independent-minded activists start looking to form their own agendas and this is where the seed for political ferment is germinated.
4. Not listening to diverse opinions as things evolve and then not uniting others to the original purpose in a way that dissent becomes the source of achieving clarity in the original vision. This is also one of the toughest challenges of leadership.
5. Not making course corrections as things change. It is difficult, nay impossible, to foresee all possibilities at the onset of making a decision. As new surprises come to light or loom, a wise leader makes course corrections and informs everyone why. Without such an intervention politics can take over and soon agendas become diverse.
6. Not acknowledging mistakes and soon. No one is perfect and great leaders know their limitations. When they have a new insight or a new learning from doing things differently than how they should have been done they immediately acknowledge their foibles and get on with the right course of action. Without such actions politics takes over and the organization suffers because of it.
7. Not giving credit to those who excel in what they do. No leader is omniscient. They should have the willingness to surrender themselves to others when their own abilities do not serve them well in certain critical areas. When they are helped by the experts who bring new energy to the cause good leaders always acknowledge such help.
8. Not knowing when to quit. Not all causes are just. Things change. Wrong assumptions derail an otherwise noble cause. A good leader always assesses their options in light of new knowledge and takes appropriate action to make course correction, including reversing the original decision and moving forward with a new one. This takes courage. Without it, politics can take over an otherwise well-functioning organization.
9. Not being truthful. When things go south it is tempting to go into denial. When leaders go into denial their followers start diverging on their views of what is really going on. This sets the stage for a political revolt. A good leader goes out of their way to find the truth and to deal with it in a forceful way.
10. Not being consistent. This is one of greatest reasons for politics to take over an organization. Unless everyone who is following a leader knows what to expect in typically encountered situations those around a leader get confused. It is this confusion that is a breeding ground for politics in an organization. Consistency over convenience is the mantra good leaders diligently follow.

The list above is by no means a complete prescription to avoid the office politics. In fact, a certain amount of politicking is healthy for a leader and its business. It keeps them vibrant and on their edge.

Cultural barriers are perceived or real impediments to successfully navigating through a job search process or even doing a good job at your place of employment. They typically stem from the cultural value differences between the jobseeker/employee and those in the selection process/the chain of command. These barriers manifest as unspoken signals that a jobseeker or an employee has to intercept and overcome to conquer.

Cultural norms are real. They vary from country and culture. However, if you are conducting your search within the US, the cultures of other countries are less of a concern, although you cannot ignore them. While in the US, you are bound by the cultural norms practiced here.

First-generation immigrants can be most challenged by the cultural norms and this applies to those on both sides of the process. If you are an immigrant, you do not need to surrender your roots or identity, to integrate into the culture here. You will be better accepted, however, if you show that you are well adjusted to the norms of this society. One way to achieve this is to make sure that your own lifestyle is not too steeped into your past.

Many immigrants often socialize frequently–sometimes exclusively–with those from their own country or region, speaking their native tongue in their normal daily exchange, even at a place of business. Many speak only their own native language at home; and even watch indigenous movies. As a result, they are unaware of the gross cultural norms of this society, let alone the finer points of social etiquette. Often, they are unable to even follow colloquial English in a conversation. If you feel yourself at a disadvantage because of some of the points listed here, make serious attempts to change your habits and to try to create ones that allow you to integrate the cultural norms of this country.

The following list summarizes cross-sexual and cross-cultural barriers that can be overcome with some awareness. If you are culturally raised to treat an employer as a provider or a master, then be mindful of the following areas. These considerations apply, even if you were raised here, with the cultural norms of this country, and the interviewer holds other norms:

1. Do not hesitate to ask questions during an interview when the time is right. Do not wait till the end of the interview–you may not have time. Do not confuse being respectful with being deferential or solicitous. The latter is a matter of your attitude adopted towards someone of superior status. This also applies in your everyday work situations.
2. Always maintain eye contact with the person interviewing you or talking to you. Some cultures believe that looking directly at superiors is a sign of disrespect. In the US, not looking at someone, while talking to them is considered a sign of disrespect. If you avoid eye contact, you may come across as evasive, non-committal, or less than truthful. Do not stare; instead, use a five-to seven-second eye contact with the person, and then look away at something else, as writing notes or making a gesture. Smiling is a great aid when you are confused about how long to look at someone.
3. During an interview ethos (“I am like you”) is critical to connect with the interviewer–we can analogize ethos with personal chemistry. An easy way to strike ethos is to find as much about the decision maker, before the interview, as possible. Dressing in colors that the person favors can be a good ethos builder. Of course, for the interview, you may want to dress a bit more formally, and make a good impression. It is all right to dress a notch above the person who will see you–the main decision maker–and dress for that person. Other signs to watch are: speed with which this person talks, their gestures, and mannerisms. Of course, you do not want to mimic this person–that can be fatal–you want to make this person feel comfortable in the responses you provide. Observing the way in which speaking language and tone are used can also quickly overcome cultural barriers and even personal barriers, especially if you are able to mirror that usage.
4. If something is important to the interviewer, you might see that displayed in their office or on their desk. Take it all in, and do not make any disparaging comments, even inadvertently, about any symbols that this person may hold in high regard. Once, a candidate made a humorous comment about a particular image of a goddess that the hiring manager was displaying in her office, just as he finished an otherwise winning interview session. Her husband, who was of East Indian descent, had given her that image as a symbol of wealth and prosperity. This candidate never heard from the hiring manager again, despite a “great” interview!
5. Do not suggest any religious, spiritual, or personal preferences unless the discussion comes from the interviewer. Even if the interviewer brings it up, dodge the issue and move on by cleverly switching topics. Such discussions can be minefields and are dangerous grounds. They are illegal, but do not go there on those grounds.
6. Do not wear any cultural or religious symbols during an interview. Some cultures display elaborate body decorations on their hands, and other parts of their bodies as an omen of good luck. Avoid such superstitious practices. Do not wear ethnic clothing for an interview, no matter how elaborate. You are signaling that you have not integrated in this culture, and may come across as making a statement.
7. If you are invited to go out for a meal with the interviewer, make sure that you practice good etiquette and manners in restaurants. This is not a cultural matter, just social. Do not go out to eat but to ace the interview. Read a book on proper table manners, if in doubt. If your religious convictions make you avoid certain foods, mention that before you head out to a restaurant. Do not impose your restaurant choice on your host.
8. The overriding criterion is value. As long as you are able to clearly articulate your value and show that you are not just an applicant (of many), but also a must-hire candidate, the chances of cultural barriers getting in the way are minimal. Showing compelling value deflects any focus on minor cultural gaps that may be perceived by the interviewer(s). It may also result in minor infractions becoming a non-issue.
9. At times, the hiring manager could also be a first-generation immigrant, with yet-to-be aligned cultural norms. If they exhibit behaviors that are unacceptable to your sensibilities then you have to decide if you want to work for such a person. In such a case, you have to wonder how the company accepted such behavior to begin with, and you have to assess, if you want to be working for such an individual and the company.
10. During an interview or while working do not make any comments or jokes that refer to a particular ethnic group or culture. You’ll never know how your manager or interviewer feels about that particular group that you just made fun of. This may be a strike against you.
11. Do not confuse behaviors stemming from cultural upbringing, from those that are simply rude, boorish, and antisocial!

Do not be intimidated by cultural or ethic barriers that exist between people. There barriers are just layers below which most operate as regular human beings. As long as you treat everyone with respect and focus on your value proposition, navigating through a tough interview or doing a good job at your place of work should not be a problem.

“If you do not manage your boss, she cannot manage you!”—Anonymous

Managing your boss appears like an irony! Why? Most assume that it is the boss’s responsibility to manage you. Yet, Dilbert is the most widely syndicated cartoon strip that almost anyone who has worked in the corporate jungle can relate to in how they deal with their boss.

Why, then, is managing your boss such an important part of a job? One reason is that today’s role the boss plays is very different from the one they played during our parents’ time. With telecommuting and departments dispersed around the world your boss’s responsibilities are now very different as are their priorities. Under these conditions it is easy to fall victim to the “Out of sight, out of mind” syndrome!

If you feel that you are maundering through your job, getting no where, especially with your own boss, then you must become aware of how to manage your boss. Worse yet, if your boss is undermining your efforts and you are at the risk of losing your job, not because of what you did or did not do, but because of what your boss did, then you must awaken to a new reality.

Before taking for granted what your boss is going to do for you, or if you feel unappreciated, frustrated, dumped on, or set up for a fall, ask yourself these questions:

• What is my goal with this particular job or assignment?
• What is my superiors’ agenda and what is their style of managing?
• How will they know the real contribution I have made in advancing their agenda?
• What must I do to work within their framework so that I can be viewed as a valuable contributor without compromising my values?
• What can I do to rise above my colleagues to make a positive impression on my chain of command?
• If I stay and commit myself to the current job, what can I do to help myself and to help my boss to succeed?
• If I decided to move on how can I prevent getting into a similar situation—or even worse—with my next boss?
• Can I change my boss? (Ha! No one has changed anybody)

The following list is provided to help those who wonder about the process of managing their boss:

1. Have an initial meeting with your boss as you come on board (or if you get a new boss midstream).
2. If you have not had such a meeting to begin with, it is never too late to have one.
3. In this meeting clearly lay out roles, responsibilities, expectations, measurements, rewards, and deliverable. Boss’s role and responsibilities must also be made clear in this meeting.
4. If you are in a matrix organization with two (or more) bosses, make sure that you keep them in the loop. Have individual meetings regularly. If you do not agree with the way things are going with the project boss (the one to whom you are assigned) meet with your functional boss (the one who writes your reviews and manages your salary) and get their support.
5. Agree on a scheduled reporting structure and the method of reporting. A weekly summary of progress and issues can be sent to the boss by email every Friday afternoon. If any items need attention or help, they must be at the top of this short message that is more in a bulletized form than as a long narrative. Also, it should be presented as an exception report than as a status report.
6. Under promise and over deliver. Move from managing expectations to managing excellence.
7. Periodically meet (or you can also have a cyber meeting) with your boss and ask for their ongoing agenda and how they are driving it. Ask how you can help in their success and show how you have been helping them already. Do not assume that because you work for them that they already know this.
8. It is not unusual that your boss will act so busy that there is never time to get together. In that case send an email and calendar a meeting. If the boss ignores it call and leave a voice mail and, failing a response, write a follow-up note. Check with your peers to see if they are having a similar experience. If the boss continues to ignore, inform your boss that you are going to get in touch with HR and the boss’s boss. Wait a few days and then “meet” with them to show them your notes. Better yet, let the HR representative take care of this. By choosing to take this route, however, you have compromised your relationship with your boss.
9. Without getting personally close to the boss, develop a relationship of trust and respect. The ideal relationship is when the boss comes to you asking for help in shepherding their agenda or just comes and chats with you when they are having a difficult day.
10. Every quarter schedule to have a substantial meeting (1-2 hours) with your boss. Going out to lunch is a good way to conduct such a meeting. Treat your boss to a nice lunch.
11. If you get a chance to spontaneously compliment your boss for something that they have done well, bring it in a meeting with their superiors and comment on that achievement. Nothing is more gratifying to a boss than when a subordinate conveys to their superiors their great work! Such occasions can quickly change your boss’s view of your relationship with them in a very positive way. Just make sure that the compliment is genuine.
12. Figure out your manager’s blind spots or weaknesses. Collaborate with them to neutralize those weaknesses so that your boss looks good to their chain of command.
13. If you do not agree with your boss’s stand or views on an issue, do not contradict them in a public meeting, especially when superiors are present. Even if they are not, someone in the meeting will rat on you to elevate themselves.
14. Volunteer to take on jobs that your boss avoids.
15. Request a formal acknowledgement of your contribution from those who benefited from it, especially when they volunteered that information as a compliment. Ask those who can influence your chain of command with inputs about you that can set the tone of your future course of work at the employer. Asking for something in writing to be sent to your chain of command is never a bad idea. It is how you ask that sets the tone of how people respond to it. Also, acknowledging someone, whom you want, in turn, to acknowledge you, can work wonders, both ways.
16. Engage in “straight talk” with those who are undermining your efforts to make things better.
17. Keep your boss informed about what you know is happening around your own circle of awareness. Do not assume that your boss knows what you know. Although gossiping or spreading rumors should not be what you have to resort to, if there is some trouble brewing that affects your boss, keeping your eyes open and then communicating what is happening to your boss can only help your relationship.
18. Focus on the organization and place its agenda ahead of yours or your boss’s. Always keep the big picture in mind in every action you take.
19. If you are expecting a child or are pregnant wait until a few months before the child is due to announce it to your boss. If possible do this in person.
20. If a task or the job itself does not work out, do not personalize the failure. May be changing the place of work is your best option. Find ways to put the best face on what you have done and honestly discuss with your boss what might be done better. Move on with a positive outlook, without blaming anyone, especially your boss.
21. If your boss sees you as a threat because, perhaps, you are an overachiever or that you have more to offer, slow down and see if you can collaborate with others, including your boss, to improve the situation. If this does not work move on.
22. If your boss is like Dilbert’s they are riddled with insecurities and self doubts. Do not openly challenge them or threaten them, this makes their insecurities worse. Because of the power they hold they can make you pay for your criticism.
23. Always show respect for your manager’s position, if not for them personally. Remember, they are the manager and hold the power of employment over you!
24. In today’s world, every employee is expected to do more. Always be on the look out for learning something new and increasing your value to your boss and the organization.
25. Avoid going around your boss to their superiors. If you must or that if it happens because the superiors initiate it, make sure that your boss is immediately apprised of this and the circumstances. When this happens do not get ahead of yourself by undermining your boss.
26. Find out what your boss does for fun, charity, or hobby. If you can connect that way, it is always a plus.
27. It is a good idea to explore your boss’s Type by directly asking and then looking at how you can manage your interaction. For example if your boss is ISTP and you, an ENTJ, then make sure that when you present an idea, go with data (she is an “S”), do not force a decision (she is a “P” and you a “J”). Such strategies generally work well to increase your “compatibility.”
28. Remember: An ounce of loyalty is worth more than a pound of cleverness!
29. Act positively and smile often. People often wonder about those who smile and it annoys other enough to make it worth your while.
30. If all of this sounds basic, it is. But, how many do not follow this simple prescription and suddenly get surprised by a “Notice of Concern” or a sudden and unexpected termination or a layoff?

If you are successful at work, you have to pay a price for that advantage! Mediocre co-workers, often jealous of that success, will show their insidious opposition in ways that are both overt and covert. To show overt opposition takes guts, energy, and a plan. Most mediocre people lack any or all these characteristics, so they resort to covert activities and to playing coy games that can sabotage you and your possible success. These activities include getting you into trouble by misleading you, planting incriminating evidence that can get you in trouble, stealing your work, sabotaging your experiments, and spreading vicious rumors about you, just to name a few. It takes little thought or courage to plot behind someone’s back and to denigrate them in ways that is “untraceable.”

Despite their mediocrity and cunning mean colleges leave a footprint of their jealous acts that is unmistakable. Subconsciously they want you to know who is causing you harm. Otherwise their needs are not met. Merely making you look bad is not good enough for their petty mind, but they have to do it in such underhanded ways that defies civility and decency. In the process they often betray their own insecurities and identities.

So, how do you deal with this pernicious and baneful weasel? Jealous colleagues create a toxic environment at work. Their ploy is to elevate themselves by bringing you down.

When this happens you have two options: ignoring them or dealing with them head-on. Ignoring jealous acts of baneful colleagues merely abets their committing more acts of jealousy. No matter how much you elevate yourself above their pettiness, on a bad day you are bound to recoil and react, even explode. But, that is exactly what they are looking for. So, by falling into this trap you have demeaned yourself to their level and you have become them in that moment. Yuck!

Confronting jealous colleagues takes a strategy, patience, and impregnable evidence of their deceit and duplicity. If they have kept at it for a while you are in good shape. Normally, jealous colleagues keep at it until they see a reaction from you in ways that satisfies them. They love to gloat in the pleasure of seeing you suffer in something for which they were responsible. This is so common that there is even a word for it: schadenfreude. In so doing, however, they provide you the trail of their actions and their fingerprints for you to make your case.

If you are really successful at work, jealous colleagues often go out of the way to round up others who can band against you and join their “club.” They often bring some complaint about your behavior and use other “club” members to fortify their view of how they see things. They will even proffer gratuitous and invidious comments, attributing them to others. They know that relaying an insult is worse than being insulted directly, but they delight in that reaction. In fact, a better measure of one’s success at work is often the number of colleagues you have in that “club.” If you look at it dispassionately, it is actually your fan club with a perverse mission!

Often, too, is that those who band against you will try their insidious charm to harm you. When a particular act goes too far and pierces their conscience, those who perpetrate such acts quickly regroup by offering you gifts, or taking you out to lunch, or making some kind of a peace offering. Their strategy is to keep you confused about their loyalties and to ingratiate themselves to you. They often succeed at this because achievers are straight shooters; they are not good at playing complicated games, just to get along with others.

The following guidelines are provided to deal with jealous colleagues. Remember, that by virtue of your superiority you have an upper hand in this dynamic. Do not stoop to their level and compromise your advantage. Just follow this prescription and you will come out on top:

1. If you see ongoing acts of sabotage, rumor mongering, and betrayal, the best response is confrontation. Make a note of all the “evidence” you have and ask for a face-to-face meeting with the person you wish to confront. Open the meeting by first telling them why you organized this meeting. Then lay down the evidence, one element at a time, and see their reaction. Here you must have incontrovertible evidence otherwise your case will fall apart and you will have to leave the meeting crestfallen. You cannot let this happen. This is why patience and good material evidence are critical to this meeting.
2. Once you lay down all your evidence ask the person if your observations are accurate. They may quibble over the details and stickle over your choice of certain words to show you that you are out of your mind. But, stick to the basic facts and do not exaggerate or embellish. Watch their body language. If you see them writhing in pain (because of their guilt) confront them with what you see and ask them why they are sweating over an interchange between two colleagues.
3. They may not admit to all their shenanigans but will accept blame for some of what you have experienced. They may even accuse you of how sensitive you are and that all their games were meant as acts in jest. They may even admonish you to grow up and to have a sense of humor about such things! You can quiet their concerns about your welfare by stating that the sense of humor you tolerate is from someone your respect and that it is no longer the case here. This usually drives home the point that you are making about your relationship with them.
4. When you get to this point it usually means that they do not want to own up to all their actions but are willing to acknowledge or even concede to their “inadvertent” participation in acts that are reprehensible. At this point you must ask them to cease and desist. At this point you can put them on notice by saying that if this did not stop immediately that you plan to take formal action to stop this. This may include reporting the incidents to your boss and HR.
5. If they have gone to your boss and spread nasty rumors about you to demean you or your work. Get the details from your boss and request that you would like to have a three-way meeting to sort this out. In this situation your boss my feel caught in an uncomfortable predicament, but by being firm and businesslike, you can get them to divulge enough about the squealing that you can get out what you are looking for. You take control of this step and organize such a meeting. If appropriate bring HR representative to this meeting.
6. Suggest to your boss that in the future if someone came to them with a similar complaint about anyone else that it would behoove your boss to have all parties present when discussing such perceived transgressions.
7. After the meeting write a factual memo to your boss about the meeting and send a copy to the jealous colleague and the HR representative who attended the meeting.
8. Although it is easier said than done, maintain an air of professionalism, even a soupcon of insouciance, if you can marshal it, when interacting with jealous colleagues. Maintain your own dignity in the way you deal with them. Treat them as if there is nothing wrong as far as the rest of the team members are concerned. They know what is going on and will have even greater respect for you because how you are able to maintain your aplomb, composure, and professionalism.
9. If you see the jealous colleague doing something good on their own, acknowledge their accomplishment by sending them a congratulatory note or a memo with a copy to your boss. This will bring them back to the reality that you are abundantly human and that they should treat you in kind and with respect from here on out.

Jealous colleagues are a reality that goes back to the origins of the human race itself. It is a reality stemming from the primordial human condition and that it is virtually impossible to avoid it. Do not delude yourself by thinking that if a situation with a jealous colleague becomes unbearable at one place of work that you would want to find another to give yourself a fresh start. No, instead redeem yourself where you are and learn a life skill.

Good luck!

The following prescription may be useful:

1. The conventional wisdom is to challenge the boss and to make them feel even more insecure. This does not work because then they can find ways to make you irrelevant or even make you lose your job. Remember, insecure people are manipulative magicians. They can even set you up for a fall and that can hurt your resume.
2. Others retreat when they come to realize that their boss is a feckless aberration in the scheme of their organization’s hierarchy. They quietly resign to their fate and stay out of sight and off the radar screen. This is a mistake.
3. One strategy that can work with an insecure boss is to meet with them privately and to ask what their agenda is. This must be done tactfully. If you already have had an adversarial or confrontational relationship with them it is time to recognize that this must stop.
4. In this “agenda discussion” see if you can slowly open up the dialog to bring in the broader aspects of the job: the department, the company, the customer and the relationships your company has with them, and so on. Generally starting a discussion from the customer’s vantage point can work well. You just need to connect the dots between the customer expectations and your team’s behaviors that accommodate those expectations.
5. Because insecure people are suspicious by nature, do not drag others from your department in these discussions. Any negative remarks about someone, especially, their favorites can scuttle your mission. Stay objective, focused, and non-judgmental. Even if they ask about someone else, if you do not have a positive thing to say about them, pass on the opportunity.
6. You may need to have a series of dialogs in this vein just to bring the boss to think that you are there to make them look good. Once that trust begins to develop you may want to start setting things up so that your ideas on how to repair customer relationships or to improve department’s performance slowly become your boss’s ideas.
7. Collaborating with your boss start implementing the ideas to improve things and to give your boss credit in departmental meeting or even in larger venues. Insecure people like nothing more than to be acknowledged for things that happen despite them.
8. Once the boss start feeling secure in your relationships with you, you have taken charge of that relationship. The boss will continue to get credit and feel increasingly more secure in their ability to do things that are happening in spite of their insecurities. As you turn up the gain on your initiative the chain of command will come to see the change and the progress in areas that had tanked in the past. If the chain of command is otherwise smart, higher ups will know who is really pulling the strings.
9. Once the higher-ups come to know what is going on, you need to decide whether you want to gradually expose your ideas to these managers, thus making your boss gradually irrelevant.
10. If your chain of command is not smart enough to see this, you must update your resume (make sure the updates include this achievement) and get out.

It is estimated that more than 50% of the managers reflect some deficiency that is based on their inability to lead. Working for such feckless managers prevents your own growth, especially during your early career and as you are looking for opportunities to expand your reach.

Good luck!

Deprogramming the Campus Mindset

Many students do not adequately plan, well before graduation, during their college days to position themselves more strongly for their first job. Why? For one, they do not have a clear understanding of what the business world expects from them. Also, they simply do not know how to do things differently in college so that they are better positioned when they start their job search. This is the state of “unconscious incompetence.” Most academic curricula and programs promote keeping students insulated from the realities of the business world because those who run these institutions take great pride in “academic purity!” The campus career-counseling center sometimes is not much help, either. Many, who staff it, are more involved in its administrative functioning and its political stature than almost anything else. Often, in a university setting there is a very definite “social order;” how a career center is run depends largely on who is running it and how they fit in that scheme. The purpose of this brief discussion is to move the student reader to “conscious incompetence.” It is provided so that they can look for help or become aware of what they do not know.

Four years is a long time during the impressionable years to imprint your mind with beliefs that are counter to those that run the business world. This is why it is important to start changing your imprinting early, as you get closer to leaving your academic environment. When on the campus the focus is on getting the degree quickly and making the grades. The academic focus is also on solitary (solo) achievements. In the outside world of the jobs, business, and economy all of this matters not as much as most think. Very few employers care to check how fast you graduated. Many do not pay as much attention to the grades (GPA) as those on the campus believe. In today’s business reality, teams are in, solo player is out. So, what is important to the “real world?”

The following checklist may provide some insights on how to manage your student affairs more carefully so that you are better positioned to enter the business world:

• When engaging in part-time work as a student, summer internships, project work, final team project, or any other activity that defines your “brand,” make a conscious effort to differentiate yourself. Rather than just doing what the job is, going out of the way to make something better for the employer on your own initiative has much more value. Create value beyond merely earning your paycheck. When you take on a class assignment don’t be a passive participant to hurry the project, but provide creative suggestions to make the project unique. All of these differentiators can be on your first résumé and they matter more than your GPA. These factors show your independent thinking and your thought leadership.
• Many final-year projects are team efforts, especially for engineering and science graduates. Make sure that you participate fully in the team and understand how teams work. Most of the academic life is spent in solitary assignments and those graduating do not appreciate the value of teamwork, which is expected in business life. Make an effort to understand the team dynamic and how you made a difference to how your team performed. (Here, teamwork does not imply collaborating to earn a better grade than otherwise possible!)
• Take on a role in activities that are outside the academic sphere to develop your leadership qualities. Participating in the campus newspaper, student activities, taking a project to make the departmental laboratory or library a better place and so on. All of these accomplishments can be put on your first résumé and they will go a long way to differentiate yourself from the pack in your first job.
• Identify your own “development gaps” and make a conscious effort to overcome them. For example, if you are afraid to speak publicly, join Toastmasters or a similar group and develop your elocutionary skills. This will not only make you a better leader, but it will also strengthen your résumé. This is now your differentiator.
• In your senior year take on someone who has just entered the college campus and help them in some way to make their life easier. Remember your own early days and see how it might have made it better for you. In doing this work you make yourself a better person and it is something you can write in your otherwise “empty” first résumé. In the business world this is called mentoring. Empower yourself to mentor others.

How these suggestions translate into a “Business” résumé for a fresh graduate can be easily visualized by comparing it to its quotidian “Academic” counterpart, where a person merely lists their academic credentials, list their coursework, and grades. In the Academic résumé the job seekers keep their focus on the scholarly achievements. Such message does not capture the business world’s attention because it does not speak the employers’ language. The “Business” résumé, however, presents a good rounding out of activities on the campus and shows how using the business language to present credentials, makes for a compelling résumé. In transitioning from the academic world to the business world one must learn how to translate their scholarship into leadership.

The Biggest Transition

Why is going from being a student to getting a full-time job is such a big deal? There are many reasons: the foremost is that being a student in your school, college, or university, you enjoy a “rank” that few share. You were the top dog in the highly ordered academic world during your graduation year. Many fraternities bestow unlimited powers on the graduating class, allowing them to “order around” any one else of “lower” rank, even those graduating barely a year behind them. You enjoy certain freedoms of expressions that others respected and even promoted.

All of that comes to a sudden halt at the doorstep of your first job. In fact, your status completely reverses. In your first job, you are the new kid on the block. You don’t know anything! Although no one says that to your face, the treatment and its implications become apparent in every interaction you suffer, even at the hands of those who are hierarchically “below” you. Your ability to adjust to this new treatment and how quickly you adjust to this shift determine how quickly you integrate in the new culture. Some bring their campus “nerdiness” to their jobs and expect the business world to respect it. They are the ones who find that their integration periods are the longest; some never do integrate and stay on the fringe, hoping that others my join in or that the future fresh crop of recruits will bring in more of their own type. Nearly 20% of new hires drop out in two years in the labor market because of this problem.

Your First Job-Some Considerations

How you land your first job is driven by many variables. The most influential are your own vision of yourself, how you have managed your academic development, and the state of the economy. Here, academic development does not merely mean scholarship and grades; it includes how you rounded out your overall development and the perspective you hold of how the world really works. If you just graduated, you are full of hopes and expectations.

Many graduate without knowing what they are going to pursue because they have little or no idea if a job provides what they are looking for. Many are happy just getting a paying job that allows them to apply what they have learned in their years of schooling. Many are so deep in debt, especially with student loans and permissive credit card limits that they jump at the chance of making “real money.” In such situations, and some others as well, many end up going after the highest-paying job available, regardless of other important factors. Often this means taking a job that pays well, but without knowing what they are getting into.

The reason why merely looking at how much money you make in your first job is myopic—albeit seductive—is that there is a reason why some jobs pay such high salaries compared to other jobs for similarly qualified candidates. Some reasons: high-risk jobs (oil exploration), and dead-end jobs (construction). The other aspect of going after such jobs is that once you get used to the salary what matters is how you are able to derive some satisfaction from what you do. If the job offers no lateral expansion into other areas to enrich your career because similar jobs pay much lower salaries in other industry verticals, it is financially difficult to consider making a move into other areas before it gets too late to make such a change. Then the job does become a dead-end job and the career even more so!

Acing the Interview

Once you have decided on how to go after the right job the following tips are offered to ace the interview and get the right offer:

• Research the company well and know the questions to ask about your job, company, and industry
• Get a great resume pulled together that shows a good balance between your scholarship and leadership.
• Get your business card ready. Few bother with this. A well-presented business card with a clever tagline can make a big impact. For example if you are software engineer have a tagline A Software Acrobat!
• During the interview don’t allow yourself to be interrogated. Ask intelligent questions (see #1) and engage in a dialog. Interlace your research in a conversational way.
• Be confident, poised, and alert. You must show your eagerness and alacrity to win over the interviewer. Express your interest in the company and what it does, even if it is “C” company for you.
• Line up several serial interviews and land multiple offers in a short time. Ask to be given a few weeks to make a decision. This will allow you to collect multiple offers and sit on them until you are ready to make the best decision. You may even be able to negotiate an offer from an “A” company to get the best package. Then determine which one keeps you on the best career track.
• Do not choose an offer based on money alone, especially if it is abnormally high

Going after your first job after your degree is one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make. Make sure that it is the right one!