Leaders & Managers

When you feel like you’ve hit a wall, consider that you may have landed on an excuse that’s merely disguised as an immovable barrier.

John Chambers, Cisco's CEO, survived both the Internet bubble burst in 2000 and the financial bubble burst in 2008, when so many of his colleagues did not. He refused to let the huge computer company stagnate. Chambers pushed Cisco to innovate in videoconferencing, idea generation and sharing, and acquisitions.

The entitlement mentality comes in all colors of the rainbow, from employees complaining if they have to work late, demanding perks, wanting to be consulted before any workplace change is made, and thinking they can do no wrong. Tips on how to burst employees’ “me me me” bubbles:

Don’t let the big boys shoot down an idea just because it’s new and weird. Another word for “new weirdness” is innovation. Consider Will Wright, the first leader of modern game design. Big companies couldn’t see the point of his game in which nobody “wins,” so Wright joined with two partners and self-published SimCity in 1989. Within a year, the game was a monster hit.

The talent of Jeremy Lin may seem patently clear now. But when Lin was just out of college, no NBA general manager or coach saw his potential. Why didn’t anyone have an inkling of what Lin could do? Stereotypes.

The very definition of “lead” begins with “show the way.” So why do so many leaders tell, rather than teach?

Not every new hire works out. Chances are, you’ll realize early on that you made a hiring mistake. You’ll want to give the employee a chance to improve, but you’ll also want to protect the company in the event of a lawsuit. To do that, provide a detailed and thorough performance review that includes specific examples and suggestions.

As the temperatures rise, so, too, will pant and skirt lengths, as employees begin dressing in their favorite “keeping-cool” summer attire. Now it’s up to the manager to handle these infractions—if the company has a dress code. Tips for that uncomfortable chat:

U.S. Olympic swimmer Trudy Ederle became the first woman to swim the English Channel, in 1926—and, briefly, the most famous woman in the world—for three reasons:

Each year, new employment laws go on the books and courts write thousands upon thousands of decisions interpreting old laws. Yet, year after year, many HR professionals reach up onto a dusty shelf to hand new employees the same old employee handbook someone wrote years ago—too often without a second of consideration whether the contents still pass legal muster.