Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom

How to Avoid Self-Destructing on Foreign Soil

On April 20, 2010, the oil rigger Deepwater Horizon exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, causing the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry.  After the explosion killed or injured 28 workers and released 4.9 million barrels of crude oil, the gushing wellhead was finally capped. British Petroleum (BP), the multi-billion dollar oil and gas company, was indisputably responsible.

Instead of expressing true remorse and compassion for the disaster, then CEO Tony Hayward committed a series of cultural gaffes that enraged U.S. citizens and lawmakers. For instance, well before the Gulf crisis was resolved, Hayward proclaimed that he “wanted his life back.” Then, as efforts to plug the leak continued feverishly in the U.S., he casually took in a sailing race with his son off the Isle of Wight in the UK.

Hayward’s American Disconnect

This behavior was consistent with Hayward’s work/life balance philosophy.  He once said publicly that he didn’t work weekends and took all of his holidays no matter what.  What the British Hayward failed to realize was that most Americans don’t necessarily agree with this point of view. It is the American way to take responsibility for one’s mistakes and do everything you can to remedy a bad situation. Until the problem is solved, free time does not exist. Since Americans were affected most when Deepwater Horizon exploded, many wanted to see Tony Hayward on a boat participating in the clean-up.

Although much of his business is conducted in the U.S., Hayward did not demonstrate strong global competence. His lack of understanding regarding how the crisis would be received in the U.S. led to a backward slide of goodwill and a plunging stock price for BP. That summer, it would also cost him his job.

To find out how you can avoid a Tony Hayward-like PR catastrophe, read my advice over at the AMEX Open Forum.

 

Apple's New Leader is a Model for Us

Tim Cook was a 14-year veteran of Apple when Steve Jobs passed away and Cook took over the company for good. From the beginning, Cook let it be known that he would continue in Jobs’ footsteps. At the February Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference, he said “Apple is this unique company, unique culture, that you can’t replicate. I’m not going to witness or permit the slow undoing of it, because I believe in it so deeply.”

So far, Cook has made good on that promise, prompting Adam Lashinsky, author of Inside Apple, to comment to Matt Nesto, “What stands out is how little he stands out.” According to Lashinsky, Cook has been a good steward of Apple's culture, a corporate climate that is famous for being very product focused, intensely secretive and unapologetic about doing things its own way.

For more lessons we can learn from Cook's leadership, check out my Culture Beat column over at the AMEX Open Forum.

Coming Up with the Idea is Only Half the Battle

Life in a large organization isn’t always easy for people who want to solve problems.  Usually, the issue isn’t coming up with a solution.  Rather, it’s convincing other people that the solution is viable and should be implemented.  And whether you’re sitting on a blockbuster idea yet or not, now is the time to consider your strategy.

Build Your Reputation in Advance

In order to diminish the perceived risk of an unusual or out-of-the-box idea, the person proposing it has to be a proven entity.  That means that you’re established at the organization and have done well there.  Your boss trusts you and you are on the short list of employees with whom everyone wants to work.  You are known as the one who pitches in during a crisis, and the one who is a champion of smart internal initiatives.

For many more ideas on selling your ideas to the higher-ups, read the full post on the Fast Track blog.

Hold on to Your Power

When I was in third grade, my teacher took the twenty-two kids in my class to wilderness camp.  My friends and I stood in a circle and held hands.  Someone had to stand in the middle blindfolded, and then fall backwards.  She had to trust that the people in the circle would catch her and she wouldn’t get seriously injured.

At eight years old, we were already being taught to depend on other people.

In the business world, I don’t necessarily believe this is the best idea.  Think about it – there are already numerous circumstances about your job that you can’t control, like your company’s financial health, your boss’ state of mind, and whether or not your department has layoffs.  So when it comes to your daily responsibilities, I feel that you should keep the power in your own hands whenever possible. 

For recommendations in that vein, I've written a post on Fast Track I'd love you to review!

Help! My Colleague is a Mooch!

Picture this scenario from a reader:

Recently, a new colleague has joined my team. My boss has instructed us that we have to work very closely together as a team to deliver on goals, but whenever there is a brainstorming session on she never fails to say, “I don’t know,” and I end up being the one coming up with all the ideas. I tried bringing this up with my boss, and she said I’ll have to iron this matter out with my new colleague. Is there is a way of politely telling my new colleague that she can’t always give an “I don’t know” answer and needs to pitch in and do her part?

For answers from four career experts (myself included), check out the Fast Track blog.

Too Much Honesty Can Come Back to Haunt You

Olivia had been working in what she termed “offensive” corporate environments for over 10 years, and she was at her wits end.  While working for one consumer healthcare giant in particular, Olivia was criticized for wearing clothing to cover a disability and pulled out of a major client account because her boss wanted it for himself.

Since the company’s HR department spent a lot of time and money developing a new employee survey, Olivia decided to be honest when she received it.  The intention seemed earnest enough, after all, and Olivia thought her feedback would help the company reach its goal of increased employee engagement.

In the comments section of the survey, Olivia noted the lack of empowerment among junior staff as well as the overly critical eye of management.  She cited examples of inconsistent expectations and unkept promises.

Although the survey was not anonymous, Olivia never imagined she would be called out for being insubordinate.  She received a “talking to” from her boss as well as her Group Head and was treated like a naughty child until the situation was so intolerable Olivia felt she had to leave.

The Truth?  You Can’t Handle the Truth!

It’s tempting to use company evaluations, your own performance reviews, or others’ performance reviews to express your true opinions about the organization or its people.  I urge you to use discretion, because blatant honest comments – especially when your feedback is negative – can wreck havoc on your career if they fall into the wrong hands.

For guidance on how to avoid getting in trouble due to too much honesty, have a look at my post on the Fast Track blog.

Stop Being a Victim of the Re-Org

I was at a meeting in which a c-suite executive proclaimed that her organization had experienced too much tumult lately.  This organization had decided on a new policy: managers in new positions would now have to wait a full year before changing absolutely anything.

Halleluyah.

It is well known that in the business world, people starting a new job will try to make their mark immediately, and this inevitably involves many transitions that may or may not be in the best interest of everyone involved.  Since human beings are not big fans of change, this often causes quite an uproar.

A Fact of Life

It’s good news, of course, that senior leaders are becoming more enlightened, but this does not mean that re-organizations and management upheavals are going to go away.  They are a fact of life.  And how you conduct yourself in the midst of a transition says a lot about you as an employee.  If you think about it, you have two choices: 1) you can leave the company, or 2) you can stay and add value through the transition.

If you choose the latter option, it’s critical that you are perceived as flexible, capable, and supportive of the company’s direction.  For guidance on how to do this effectively, check out my post at the Fast Track blog.

Would You Work With Your Spouse?

If you want to know the future, your best bet is to ask Weiner, Edrich, Brown (WEB), one of the world’s top futurist consulting firms. WEB, a four-person operation founded in 1977, identifies and analyzes long-term trends that impact business. The direction of the firm is guided by two dynamic co-vice presidents who happen to be husband and wife.

Erica Orange and Jared Weiner met at the University of Rochester, and several years later, Erica began working for Jared’s mother Edie at her firm Weiner, Edrich, Brown. Edie gave Jared the ultimatum that if “things don’t work out between the two of you, I’m still keeping her.” Fortunately, it did. The two married and eventually Jared joined the firm.

The pair lives in an apartment in Manhattan and works in the same office two feet from one another. Incredibly, they don’t drive each other crazy.  To learn what makes their unique arrangement work, check out my full post at the AMEX Open Forum.

 

Is Gen Y Taking Over Your Company?

Bruce Tulgan is one of the top thinkers in the world of generational differences and intergenerational communication.  In fact, he has served as a mentor to me in this space for the better part of a decade.

On his blog, Bruce recently shared this scenario:

At a major food conglomerate, summer interns are usually given an assignment, such as a big data-entry project, that they can complete during the course of their summer employment.  An executive there shared with me the story of one of his latest interns.  On the first day, she announced she had invented a new cereal. She had a box, complete with artwork and a bag of her cereal inside, that she called her ‘prototype.’ Clearly she had gone to great lengths, including the recipe and nutritional information and preparing a slide show. She wanted to know when she would be able to pitch her idea to senior executives. “The sooner the better,” she said.

Over at the Fast Track blog, we discuss what we'd do if we were this intern's manager.  Check it out and let me know what YOU think.

Managers: Should You Sweat the Small Stuff?

A reader wrote in with this scenario:

As a manager, I know how to handle big performance issues; people need to be warned, given time to improve, and then either shape up or ship out. I’m wondering, though, about less severe issues and how to properly handle them.

One of my biggest day-to-day headaches are the minor transgressions, those behaviors that technically violate policy or slightly inconvenience employees, but are far from a fireable offense. For example, our company doesn’t allow sneakers as part of the dress code. We have an employee who walks to work, so he wears sneakers to come in and keeps a pair of appropriate shoes at his desk. This would be fine, but he often forgets to change and will spend the majority of the day violating the dress code. Generally he forgets because he jumps right in and focuses on something more important: his job! I don’t feel like I can sit this guy down and tell him that he’s violated our shoe policy and he’ll need to remember to change or he’ll be fired. That just seems silly.

Another example is an employee who doesn’t check our message board and won’t set up email reminders. She doesn’t want the email clutter, but also doesn’t want to take the time out of her schedule to check in for important messages every now and then. So if we need something like a health insurance form filled out, I need to hunt her down to get it completed. Obviously this example DOES affect my job, but am I to threaten the job of one of our top performers over it?

These ARE policies and requirements we’ve set though, and I don’t want to give the impression that our policies (small or large) can be violated without consequence. There are many examples of minor transgressions at the office. Each one adds up to drain more of my time/energy, and I do see signs of other employees following suit. Without consequences, there is no motivation to change.

Over at Fast Track, I weighed in along with three other fantastic career and workplace experts.  Let us know what you think of our advice and if you have anything to add!