Author: k

I know I’ve blogged about this before
but it is time for a reminder…
You absolutely need a dirt file.
You need a top secret file
documenting every shady thing
that your manager
or manager’s manager
or manager’s manager’s manager
has ever done.

Why?

Because, in these economic times,
employers are thinking up new ways
NOT to pay severance.
The ‘temporary’ layoff
is gaining popularity
where the company lays employees off
and
doesn’t pay severance up front
(they don’t have to pay severance
unless you haven’t worked for X amount of days
– depending on where you live,
X could be six months or more).
They hope you’ll find another job
before they have to pay up.
This is perfectly legal.

The only solution to this
is the threat of other, more costly legal action.
That’s when the dirt file comes in handy.

You never ever want to use the dirt file
but if something like this happens,
you’ll be glad you have it.

Tom Peters has a must-read list
of 48 things that matter
in business strategy.

My favorite?

“Expose all would-be hires
to something unexpected-weird.
Observe their reaction.”

I’ve done a thousand interviews
(especially now that I’m consulting).
Anyone my level has.
The questions are standard,
the strategy is standard.

Not only will shaking an interview up
let you see
how your candidate responds to stress
but, if she’s a pro like I am,
it’ll wake up her brain
and
she’ll thank you for it.

Have an ’emergency.’
See if she offers to pitch in.
Have to leave a ‘client.’
See if she steps up to the plate
and makes small talk while you’re gone.

Fun stuff like that.

I attended a charity event on Thursday.
The charity rep at our table
treated our waitress terribly.
She actually pulled a Sex In the City
and snapped her fingers at the waitress.
I was horrified.

She also talked down to the waitress
and didn’t tip for her drinks in this bar like setting,
simply telling her to put it on the tab.

In other words,
she violated the Waiter Rule.
“A person who is nice to you
but rude to the waiter, or to others,
is not a nice person.
(This rule never fails).”

I don’t (intentionally) do business or give money to
people who are not nice.
There are plenty of nice people
in the world.

Unless it is an emergency,
No.

Why?
Because your staff considers
you changing a staff meeting
an indication of your priorities.

They will feel you value them less
than the event you bumped the meeting for.
The more our managers value us,
the harder we work for them.
That’s true at all levels.
So if you have to re-schedule,
you better ensure
the event is pretty DARN important.

What if you expect to get more information
a day later?
Then have two short meetings.
Use the first as an opportunity
to let your staff speak.

There are two roads
to the top of the corporate ladder:
you can succeed at a high risk project
and become an overnight success
or you can inch your way up,
rung by rung.

To be a successful novelist,
you can write a runaway bestseller
or you can build up your readership
book by book.

To be a top blogger,
you can get links in from the greats
or write 3,000 solid posts.

One way isn’t right for everyone.
However, one way
is normally the right way for
YOU.

I’m a gradual build person.
If I try to rush success,
I’m miserable during the process
and I usually fail.
Give me a project I can build on
over time
and I will succeed.

Work with who you are.