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Happywork TV Episode 39: Single-Tasking To Find a New Job

Posted on June 23, 2015 // 1 Comment

 
In Episode 39 of Happywork TV, I explain where the hell I’ve been for the past four months!

Sneak preview:

1. I prepared to launch a book
2. I was told I was losing my job
3. My book Happywork debuted to great reviews
4. I did quite a few fun speeches related to it
5. At the same time, time to find a new job! I looked far and wide
6. To look for a job, I roughly decided what I wanted my next job to look like, I networked, and I wrote a blog post announcing that I was available for hire. That’s one of the only blog posts I did for those four months, as I decided I needed to single-task in order to stay mentally fit and focus on the job search. I only worried about the job search, probably to the detriment of my book
7. I had 30+ interviews and meetings
8. I had job offers
9. I accepted one of those offers, a wonderful new job
10. It took me 8 weeks to find that job
11. I started working that job, and decided to continue single-tasking, this time on the new job. I want to keep this job (I really like it), so it made sense for me to stay hyper-focused on it
12. But, I do think my book and the subject of happiness and fulfillment in the workplace deserve some attention. So I’m committing to post one video a week
13. Ooooh, lucky 13 – wish me luck!

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Watch Episode 38 here!

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IMPORTANT STUFF!

Both the e-book and paperback versions of Happywork are now available! Order it up!

Test drive it first & see if you like it – Download chapters 1-3 of my book for free!

Please SUBSCRIBE to my email newsletter! Pretty please – you’ll get these blog posts delivered to you automatically. Thank you!

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Happywork TV Episode 38: Don’t Haze or Hate on Departing Employees

Posted on February 25, 2015 // 1 Comment

 
In Episode 38 of Happywork TV, we talk about the next commitment in the work code of conduct I’ve created called “The Happywork Agreement.”

This is a commitment that employers are going to make to their employees.

Here it is: “If an employee resigns, I will not make it hard on them. There’s no reason to haze or hate on people who are leaving the organization, even if they leave during a tough stretch. Timing is never good on things like this, and I acknowledge that. We need to look inward to see what happened, and we need to remember that these departing employees could turn out to be great walking, talking ambassadors for us (or just the opposite).”

Hating on departing employees is a terrible thing to do to a fellow human being, but it’s also bad business. Their work friends are still employed by you; don’t think they’re not going to find out how you mistreated your ex-employee. That’s a morale killer. The outgoing employee will tell everyone she knows that you were a jerkface to her. She may even start working it into some of her public presentations. That is NOT the kind of PR you need. Prospective employees will look her up on LinkedIn and ask to “pick her brain,” and she’ll get a chance to tell them to avoid going to work for you.

Why act like a jerk to departing employees? Yes, you’re a little pussyhurt because they’re leaving you. They’re breaking up with you! It’s really all about you!

Get a grip on yourself. You are not the center of the universe. They’re leaving. It sucks. Be nice to them (as long as they’re nice to you). And then, go find someone better!

 
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Watch Episode 37 here!

— — — — —

IMPORTANT STUFF!

Both the e-book and paperback versions of Happywork are now available! Order it up!

Test drive it first & see if you like it – Download chapters 1-3 of my book for free!

Please SUBSCRIBE to my email newsletter! Pretty please – you’ll get these blog posts delivered to you automatically. Thank you!

And subscribe on YouTube!

Filed Under: Book - Happywork // Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

Happywork TV Episode 19: Give Two Weeks Notice, But Don’t Quit!

Posted on December 9, 2014 // 1 Comment

In Episode 19 of Happywork TV, I present the next commitment in my work code of conduct called “The Happywork Agreement.”

This one is made by employees to their employers. It goes like this: “If I quit and give two weeks notice, I won’t quit on my employer. Keep in mind that I’m leaving for a reason, and may be eagerly anticipating my last day. So it’s possible my effort won’t be 100%. But I will try.”

I like this part of The Happywork Agreement because it doesn’t suck up to one side or the other with the simple answer. An employee will typically say, “F it, I quit, why should I care how my final two weeks go?” A hard-nosed, traditional-sounding employer might say, “Hey, if I’m paying you, put your nose down in it and do your job. Oh, and those projects you had committed to finish? Are they gonna get done?” And so on.

Notice there how BOTH SIDES ARE BEING UNREASONABLE. And that’s one of the main reasons human beings disagree and bicker and fight and argue!

Any demanding employer in the employee’s shoes – truly in their shoes, quitting a job – would act in much the same way as the employee. In fact, when they quit their VP and EVP jobs, they’re not always giving 100%. Sometimes they’re leaving without two weeks notice, and they’re taking company secrets with them. But knowing this (or maybe conveniently ignoring it), they still can’t forgive their employees for quitting. They take it personally, like it’s a girlfriend breaking up with them, and they hate how you can’t give 150% effort up until the last day. On the other side, how many times have you heard this from an employee who’s submitted her two weeks notice: “What are they gonna do? Fire me?” Ha! How lazy can you possibly be! Your employer doesn’t deserve your half-ass, slovenly effort. Get in there and show them how you carry yourself as a human being. Try!

The gulf between employer and employee frustrated me so much that I wrote a book about it! And this episode was about one of those intractable differences that keep human beings at odds. I hope we can change that.

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Watch Episode 18 here!

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IMPORTANT!

Happywork is available for pre-order on Amazon – HERE!

Please SUBSCRIBE to my email newsletter! Pretty please – you’ll get these blog posts delivered to you automatically. Merci!

And subscribe on YouTube!

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Happywork TV Episode 10: Hire People Smarter Than You

Posted on November 6, 2014 // 1 Comment

In Episode 10 of Happywork TV, I discuss commitment 8 in the list of 46 commitments in my book Happywork. Here it is: I implore you, Mr. Manager and Miss Owner, to hire people smarter than you! As I say in the video, it’s the sign of a great owner and a confident manager.

Reasons why this doesn’t happen more often? Control and ego, I think. Ego = for some entrepreneurs and leaders, it’s difficult to fathom that anyone is more talented than them. It’s this bravado that might allow them to take the risk of starting a business in the first place. Control = in certain situations, you don’t want to bring in someone who could challenge you for control of a situation, or worse, control of a company. It would be like LeBron and Kobe on the same team – they’d win tons of games! Or would they? Who’s the alpha dog? Who’s more talented?

We enjoy when ESPN pundits get into such sports discussions, but you may not have realized that this same situation happens (perhaps on a slightly smaller scale) in businesses every day! It’s not just about accomplishment as a team. It’s WHO accomplished it. Some of us are constantly scratching and clawing for recognition – we don’t want to merely succeed. We want the credit for the success of the business. And we absolutely do NOT want anyone else getting ANY credit for stuff we did. So, to avoid this, we consciously or subconsciously ensure that such situations do not rear their ugly heads – we don’t bring talented people who could challenge us for supremacy.

So that’s my take on this. However, guys, this is the episode I need some comments on! I can speculate as to why a person in power wouldn’t want to bring in someone of similar ability and intellect, but WHY would that person decide not to do so?

(By the way, at the beginning at this video, I explain something that I probably should have already explained. I keep referring to these commitments and this “work code of conduct.” Without giving too much away, this work code of conduct is used to fix Vunorri Inc., the incredibly broken company in my story. My two main characters write the code of conduct, and they call it “The Happywork Agreement.” My book was almost titled “The Happywork Agreement,” but we decided on Happywork instead.)

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Watch Episode 9 here!

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Happywork is available for pre-order on Amazon – HERE!

Please SUBSCRIBE to my email newsletter! Pretty please – you’ll get these blog posts delivered to you automatically. Merci!

And subscribe on YouTube!

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Happywork TV Episode 7: Provide Performance Reviews to Your Employees

Posted on October 27, 2014 // 1 Comment

In Episode 7 of Happywork TV, I discuss the fifth of 46 work commitments in my new book, “Happywork.”

Here it is: “I will give my employees constructive feedback, taking both their career advancement and feelings into consideration. Such feedback will be provided during the course of everyday business, or in an official performance review, or both.”

Some businesses don’t provide official performance reviews, which I’ve always found odd. Some people are scared to get reviewed. Maybe that’s because they’re doing a poor job, or maybe they think the system is rigged, or maybe the advice isn’t that great.

Here’s a real tough one – I’ve worked at businesses that only told me what they thought of me after I quit. I once quit a job and the damn meeting took three hours. What???? Only after I resign do I start hearing about all the crap I’m not doing right? This is a business that’s being mismanaged.

And when it comes to feedback, if you’re not going to do annual reviews, try to give some feedback every now and then. Note: doing this via email is very dangerous. The intended tone of the emails you send is often completely lost.

Employees don’t just come to work to get their job done. Many of us want to excel at work. We want to achieve. Managers and owners, help us get there!

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Click here to watch Episode 6!

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Happywork is available for pre-order on Amazon – HERE!

Please SUBSCRIBE to my email newsletter! Pretty please – you’ll get these blog posts delivered to you automatically. Gracias!

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