My friend Christine Hassler frequently talks about the concept of “expectation hangovers” in her books and lectures.  Christine says that an expectation hangover occurs when we hold a certain expectation but things do not turn out as we thought they should or would have liked, and then they feel awful.  Every day, people beat themselves ...

My husband watches a lot of sports on television, and he usually sticks around for the post-game interviews.  He recently noticed a common thread in these conversations.  Inevitably, a reporter will be congratulating an athlete on a spectacular play, and in response the athlete will blush, shrug his/her shoulders, and say something like: ...

Calling people, especially ones I haven’t spoken to before, is not one of my favorite activities, this advice from Heather Mundell at Life @Work and the bloggers at Hiring Revolution.  Heather’s post is dedicated to people who will do just about anything to avoid picking up the phone.  For these folks, the worst types of calls are when ...

I’ve been taking on some new management responsibilities recently.  And you know what I realized?  The number one quality I appreciate most in a direct report is reliability.  By reliable, I mean a person who says she is going to do something, and then actually does it in the agreed-upon manner.     You’d think this one ...

The following is an e-mail that came my way this week.  Dear Alexandra: I graduated from college last year, so I’m still at the bottom of the totem pole at my company.  I have four senior colleagues who delegate work to me, and they have no problem doing so…all day long.  Trouble is, there aren’t enough hours in the day to do ...

A few weeks ago, my husband and I were in a car accident in which our 1997 Saturn SL2 sedan unfortunately met a bad end.  As a result, our plans to purchase a hybrid had to be moved up a year.     We visited several dealerships in the Chicagoland area, and it continually amazed me when we’d walk in and stand unattended for a few ...

[ImageAttachment]   This week, my friend Lisa Haneberg at Management Craft had a great post on ways to inspire others.  Here are some of the highlights:   Take a stand. Share your perspective and be open.  The most inspiring leaders have a strong vision for how things ought to be. Listen more, speak less.  Show ...

I still remember the day six months ago when a good friend of mine called me up to tell me about this new junior-level employee she wanted to hire.  I had never heard my friend, the director of the tourism division at a global advertising agency, sound this jazzed about a potential new employee.    Apparently, at twenty-four, the ...

Rob over at Business Pundit posted about some interesting research being presented this week at the annual conference at The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.  Catherine Connelly, assistant professor of human resources & management at the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University, has found ...