Communication and Influence

Having career conversations with your boss is so important for your advancement. But they can feel stressful and it’s easy to get them wrong. Here is one simple thing you can start right now to improve the outcomes of your career conversations.

Whether you’re interviewing for a job, getting hired by a new client, or getting senior managers to notice you in the right way, managing perceptions is key for career success. So, how do you go about managing other people’s perceptions of you?

Your career is a journey, and feedback is essential for you to learn, grow and improve along the way. How you handle your year end performance review is key. So when it’s time for your year end review, get the most from it with these three steps.

Conflicts at work are messy and there are common pitfalls that can make the situation worse. Prepare yourself and avoid these pitfalls with these three strategies to resolve a conflict between the parties involved.

When you’re faced with keeping your boss’s boss (or someone in senior management) updated in the best possible way, these steps will help you to sound more senior – and avoid upsetting your boss!

You won’t always have the luxury in your career of having an ardent advocate, such as a sponsor, mentor or manager, fighting your corner. That’s why speaking on your own behalf is an important skill to have.

People pay attention to what their leaders say. That’s why as a leader, you have to be especially conscious of how you communicate. But no matter how good your intentions may be, it’s easy for your communications to be misconstrued if you’re not careful.

One of the challenges of the “new normal” is adjusting to online meetings. Doing virtual meetings well is an important skill to have if you want to keep advancing in your career. The key is to avoid the basic mistakes most people make.

You don’t have to be in a seat of authority to demonstrate leadership. Anyone at any level can behave like a leader and a key part of being seen as a leader is to sound like a leader.

Every leader has blind spots. Things you don’t see from your perspective, but everyone else does. And like driving a car, it’s the things in your blind spots that can cause big problems. This common blind spot can hold you back from achieving greater success.

Your network of relationships is critical for career success, and connecting people within your network strengthens those relationships and adds value. But while email can be the quickest, easiest way to connect people, it can also be tricky to get right.

Do you ever find yourself in conversations that are more combative than they really need to be? These five ways have worked well for me to avoid combative conversations and to collaborate more effectively.