In terms of managing upward, getting feedback from people junior to you can be tricky—you have to make the junior person feel comfortable sharing his/her thoughts.  The best way to do this is to propose a mutual feedback session—let him know you’re interested in hearing about how you’re doing and at the same time offer to share some feedback about his performance as well.  By making it mutual, you’ll in effect give your subordinate permission to think critically about how you are doing (because you’re doing the same for him).  As always, schedule the meeting in advance (don’t ever ask for feedback on the spot!) and let him know the specific areas you’d like feedback on.  Questions might center around: Did I give you enough direction to complete the assignment?  Was the timeline reasonable for you or do you need more help/time next time around?  What I can do to help you do a better job next time?

Excerpt from the Forte Foundation webinar: Sucessfully Navigating the Workplace: Communication Strategies for Women Leaders

Monthly is too often—it can overwhelm the person from whom you’re requesting the feedback.  About once a quarter is a good target—the goal is to have 3-5 touch points over the course of the year. You can and should spread those requests for feedback out—don’t always ask the same person for feedback.  Have a stable of people you’re hearing from and listening to—both junior and senior to you.

from the Q&A portion of the Forte Foundation webinar “Successfully Navigating the Workplace: Communication Strategies for Women Leaders”

Keith Ferrazzi, relationship guru and NYT best-selling author of Never Eat Alone, posted a greatest-hits list last week- The Top 20 Relationship Posts of 2009.  Great on the Job’s How to Get More from Your Mentor made the list- thanks Keith!  For anyone looking for some great relationship building advice, be sure to check out the list.  Here are a few other’s I really enjoyed: Marci Alboher’s 7 Deadly Sins of Networking and How to Avoid them is a brilliant summary of what NOT to do these days in our networking-crazed race to find a new or better job, get introduced to a talent agent or meet the President of the company.  And in Maintaining Networking Momentum After You Land the Job: Liz Lynch offers some very practical advice for staying in touch and building new networks once you’ve got that new dream job.

December is performance review month. While the merits and validity of a year-end review are often the subject of great debate, the fact that many firms use them as a tool for compensation and promotion is not.

Your managers will spend much time (hopefully) preparing to deliver your review in a thoughtful and constructive manner. You should spend as much time, if not more, preparing yourself to receive the feedback in a thoughtful and constructive way too—to impress your manager, address negative issues head-on, and set a positive tone for the year ahead.

2009 has been a tough year for many of us. Most people I know have been hanging on for dear life at their jobs, versus swinging for the fences. It is rare, these days, to hear, “I knocked it out of the park.”

Read More »

Last week, more evidence emerged in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s debacle over the mishandling of the Bernie Madoff über-fraud. While the SEC failed repeatedly to uncover the greatest Ponzi scheme in our country’s history ($50 billion and counting), the New York Times revealed a tale of “unseasoned people uncertain about what to do and unwilling to ask for help.”

But learning how to ask for help — and how to do it right — is critical to doing your job well and setting yourself up for success.

You may be afraid of looking dumb, but to be afraid to ask for and get the help you need is inexcusable, especially when the stakes are high. Asking for help in the workplace is a good thing. In fact, asking for help the right way can show how smart you are: it demonstrates that you’ve got good judgment and shows that you know what you know and what you don’t know. Moreover, getting help up front saves endless time, energy and resources on the back end; in the Madoff case, it could have saved billions of dollars and immeasurable heartache.

Read More »

I’ve been captivated as of late by David Letterman and his walk of shame as he navigates the uncomfortable world of adultery, bribery and blackmail . By now, we all know the sordid details of Letterman’s adulterous affairs and the alleged blackmail scheme of a former CBS colleague. I’m struck, however, by the deftness with which he’s managed the crisis and how he has been able, in large part, to control the conversation himself.

In managing through the crisis, Letterman has been effective and endearing in getting his message out he’s done three important things right:

1. He got out in front of the problem
2. He took ownership of the problem
3. He told everyone how he planned on fixing the problem

Read More »

People often think of the elevator pitch as something you use when you’re interviewing for a new job or trying to raise capital for a new venture. The elevator pitch, however, is no less important once you’ve got the job as it is when you’re looking.

In fact, your personal 30-second spiel about who you are, how you’re different, and why you’re memorable is arguably more important once you’ve landed that great position or won the support of investors and now interact with senior colleagues and important clients regularly.

A managing director on Wall Street once told me of a summer associate who made an uncharacteristically strong impression on senior leadership during a welcoming cocktail party. Within days, the managing director received numerous calls from senior partners advising him to “make sure she gets the attention and resources she needs to succeed this summer.” The young woman’s career has been on the fast track ever since.

Read More »

See my guest post below from today’s Harvard Business Review Blog:  How To Get More From Your Mentor

A senior publishing executive at William Morris once told me how baffled she was when an aspiring literary agent asked her to be a mentor. She looked at me and said, “She’s got to make me want to be her mentor. Isn’t she supposed to do something for me?” The answer is a definitive yes.

A mentor can prove invaluable when it comes to providing insight into your organization, inside information about the politics of the place, or just some over-the-shoulder advice about who to work with and who to stay away from. Mentorship, however, is a two-way street — and you’ve got to figure out how to repay the favor and make the relationship work for both of you.

Read More »

You know how when you’ve never heard of something, a brand or a concept for instance, and someone mentions it and all of a sudden it’s everywhere?  And you then wonder how you could have been so out of the loop for so long?  I had that happen with the word “sommelier” recently.  At a shi-shi dinner with friends in Tribeca a few weeks back, the discussion turned to my friend’s friend, a sommelier, who was very well dressed and had an “in” to all the good restaurants.  I didn’t understand why being from Somalia made him so hip.  We all had a good laugh at my expense when I blurted out my ignorance and found out he was a wine connoisseur from Connecticut, not just a cool guy from Africa.  Now of course everywhere I turn, someone’s talking about a sommelier.

I had the same feeling this weekend reading the New York Times, although instead of not being “in the know” this time, I was right where I wanted to be.  I had just last week written a blog post when I read the NYT Corner Office interview with Maigread Eichten, president and chief executive of FRS, a maker of energy drinks.  Maigread was asked about how she gives feedback. Here’s what she said:

Read More »

1. Take it “off-line” immediately. Negative feedback should never be given in front of anyone else not directly related to the situation.  It should always be given one-on-one, behind closed doors and in the moment (so it doesn’t become something bigger than it really is).  The goal is not to humiliate the recipient nor make him/her defensive.  The goal is to get the good/right behavior/work product next time around.

2. Share the good before the bad-always try to find something good about the work someone has done-even if the deliverable or work product is a total failure, you can and should try to at least acknowledge someone’s effort or their time, a good attitude or intentions, or someone’s willingness to attempt the task. * this is not always possible, see below for exception to the rule.

Read More »