Daily Archives: June 28, 2022

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Career Management: 8 Tips For Disagreeing With The Boss

Disagreeing with other people, without taking a body count or courting disaster, is something most people try to avoid. Nevertheless, we recognize we can't always agree with everything that comes our wayâeven if it comes from the boss.

Many of us think disagreeing with the boss is one of those career-limiting moves to be avoided at all costs. Think again. Most managers want to think they've hired brilliant people who can think and act well on the company's behalf. That includes not letting them (or anyone else) drive off a metaphorical cliff. This means you are being paid to use your brain AND mouth.

The diversity that takes place in the workplace isn't just about race or religion; it's about ideas, perspectives, and insight. If you are truly engaging in what is taking place at work, it's not possible to agree with your boss 100% of the time.

You can disagree with your boss and make that disagreement a win-win for both of you. You can win because you can use it for career enhancement. The boss can win because they will come off as an engaging manager and get a much better end result.

Here are eight tips to turn disagreement into a great thing for your career.

1. Disagree, But Don't Be Disagreeable

When something strikes you as wrong or out of line, keep your emotions in check. No one, especially the boss, will appreciate an emotionally charged rebuttal. People tend to mirror each other's energy level, and if you turn red and flap your arms, it will be met with equal intensity.

2. Don't Make It Personal

The conversation will go much better if you are addressing the issue or topic and not making your disagreement about the person, your boss.

3. Be Clear About What You Don't Agree With

Woman discusses a disagreement with her boss

If you can't articulate what is troubling you about something, wait until you can be clear. If you can't be clear, you will not have a conversation that will make any sense to the other person. A confusing conversation will not leave a great impression.

4. Offer Alternatives

Man discusses a disagreement with his boss

Nothing falls flatter than squashing an idea only to have nothing to replace it with. If you can't think up a better idea, then what good is the disagreement? Sure, you might not like the idea, but if you can't come up with something else, then go with what you have. You have to solve problems to be an asset.

5. Make Things Private

Woman talks through a disagreement with her boss

Depending on the setting and issue, you may need to take your disagreement to a private setting with your boss. This allows you to cover whatever you need to, have a discussion, and keep both of you looking good to the rest of the office.

You never want to embarrass your boss; if you do, they will remember it for much too long. They will appreciate your sensitivity and professionalism when you have the insight to know when it's time to have a private discussion.

6. Seek To Understand

Woman disagrees with her boss during a meeting

Many conflicts and disagreements are rooted in a failure to communicate and understand the other person. When something does arise that doesn't hit you right, ask questions and gain clarity. You may discover that you do agree after all. Doing this will also help you avoid discomfort.

7. Don't Be A "Yes" Person

Man disagrees with his boss during a meeting

This is more than simply sucking up to the boss. This is agreeing with the boss at the cost of your character, values, and career. You might think it will enhance your career, but it will backfire against you as the higher-ups see that your contributions are limited.

8. Disagree And Commit

Man talks through a disagreement with his boss

The biggest issue that managers have when employees disagree is their becoming insubordinate and undermining efforts. If you have followed all of these steps and you still have a disagreement, then it's time for you to disagree and commit yourself to whatever is being proposed. After all, the idea or direction might really work out well. Your manager will think you are truly a professional if you can work through your disagreement, offer solutions, and be able to "get on board."

Certainly, out there in the universe are managers with fragile egos who can't tolerate anyone disagreeing with their mandates or directions. They too will only get just so far in their career. Anytime you limit the free flow of thought and contribution, you limit the possibilities.

You need to screen for these people in your job search. If you wound up with a boss like that, you should consider a different team or job. But most managers enjoy discussion and debate as a means of developing great ideas and direction. They understand that disagreement is part of the process.

Need more help navigating workplace relationships?

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This article was originally published at an earlier date.

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Career Management: 8 Tips For Disagreeing With …

You need people to have your back if you want a successful career. At some point, you need a hiring manager or similar individual to look at your resume and give you that first critical job that gets you started on a successful path. You might also look to references that will frame your personality […]

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4 References You Might Give a Potential …

Brand storytelling is an integral part of a brandâs identity and the way to communicate its personality. It is the ability to tell stories about your brand that build trust, loyalty, and advocacy with your customers.

Sound Like You

Authenticity always comes through. Make sure you're telling stories that make sense for your brand and its culture. It does you a disservice to sound like someone else or worseâmultiple people. It can be confusing to customers when they get mixed personalities for one brand. Brands that don't use their brand voice sound the same as everyone else and get lost in a sea of sameness. Use every opportunity you can to infuse your content with more you. Need help figuring that out, let me knowâI can help.

Share Sneak Peeks And Behind-The-Scenes

Share a sneak peek about how something is made, or behind-the-scenes content with the people on your team just being people. Let your audience see your company culture doing its thing. Shining a spotlight on the humans who keep your brand running not only lets customers see more of your story, it makes employees feel valued and respected, and that they are part of a true team. You already have product experts on your teamâtap them to help you create content that they know customers are looking for. They are solving your customers' pain points daily and can probably provide more content ideas than you imagine.

Use All Of Your Real Estate

Every touchpoint is an opportunity to tell a little more of your brand story. Your website, your packaging, and even something mundane as a confirmation message or a 404 error is an opportunity to say something in your brand voice. USE IT! Every touchpoint with your customer should be consistent. If you are funny on the website, be funny on the 404 too, why not?

It's A Two-Way Street

Sharing your brand story and message is important, but having an actual conversation with your customers can be a game-changer. Sometimes, it can be as simple as asking a question. Why spend hours trying to figure out what your audience wants to see when you can ask them, and incorporate them into the process? It is a win-win for everyone. Your audience gets relevant, personalized content, and your brand gets an engaged audience and original content for practically nothing. Using customer-generated content shows you value their opinions and experience and helps connect them to your brand.

Turn Spreadsheets Into Stories

Check the dataâa powerful tool you may have not even thought to use but can tell a compelling story is data. What? How do I turn spreadsheets into stories? Start by looking for patterns. Look for what is missing. Look for relationships. Data can come from internal sources like customer surveys, sales data, or even website analytics. For example, seeing what people respond to online or knowing the most searched FAQ data can help you see what your customers are looking for from you. If you cant use internal sources try to find reliable external sources like Pew Research or do a search for topic-specific sources.

There are lots of other ways to tell your brand story. Whatever you do, make sure your messaging is consistent with your brand and its culture, and use your voice to stand out and be authentically you.

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5 Ways Your Brand Can Connect Through …

Preparing For An Interview: Step-By-Step Guide

So, you received a call back for an in-person interview. Now what? The week leading up to the in-person interview probably deserves more effort and preparation than any other portion of the job search process. Here's a step-by-step guide on preparing for an interview.

The Day You Are Offered The Interview

These are some things you should do immediately after getting an interview:

Respond promptly - Waiting to respond may send a message that you're not interested (bad!) or have poor follow-up (also bad!). Respond promptly, thank the employer for the opportunity, and express your excitement without being over the top.

Ask about logistics - Aside from nailing down the location, it's generally acceptable to ask about the company's dress code and the names of those you'll be interviewing with. Avoid asking questions that you (or Google) can answer yourself (e.g. directions).

Clear your schedule - If you're currently employed or have other commitments, make sure the appropriate people know you will not be available on the day of your interview.

The Week Before The Interview

Man at computer prepares for a job interview

Your interview is a week away! Get prepared by doing the following:

Research the company - Even if you did this before applying for the job (which you should have!), it's time to revisit the company website, its blog and social media accounts, and recent news articles.

Research the hiring managers - If you know who the interviewers are, do a little research. Look for them on the company's team page and on online networks like LinkedIn. Try to get a feel for who the interviewers are and for the type of person the company employs.

Decide what to wear to the interview - Don't wait until the night before. Try on your interview outfit, ask others for their opinion, and make sure you don't need a trip to the dry cleaner or cobbler.

The Day Before The Interview

Woman looks at laptop while preparing for a job interview

In order to be completely prepared for your interview, make sure to do these things the day before:

Review the job posting - It will be far easier to tailor your interview answers if the job description is fresh in your mind.

Practice answering common interview questions - There are certain questions you can expect to be asked during a job interview. Look up the generic ones as well as ones specific to your industry, then rehearse them with a friend, family member, or patient pet.

Prepare questions for the employer - At the end of an interview, you will be given the opportunity to ask questions. It's an important part of the interview and the questions you ask could make or break your chances of landing the job offer, so put some serious thought into them.

Map the directions - One of the last things you want to do is be late for your interview. Find how long it should take you to get there, then give yourself plenty of extra time in case you get lost, stuck in traffic, or detoured.

Gather your day-of materials - Even if the hiring manager doesn't ask, it's common practice to bring enough copies of your resume for yourself and for each of the interviewers. You should also bring a pen and paper to take notes, as well as anything else specifically requested by the employer. Other things to consider include mints, grooming materials, money for parking, and a backup interview outfit (just in case you spill your Starbucks all over your lap).

Do the obvious things - Go to bed at a reasonable hour and set at least one alarm.

Think positively - Visualizing a positive outcome has a surprising impact on real-life performance. Think about past successes and envision, in detail, a stellar interview in your mind.

What steps do you take when preparing for an interview?

If you need more help preparing for your next job interview, we're here for you!

We'd love it if you joined our FREE community. Itâs a private, online platform where workers, just like you, are coming together to learn and grow into powerful Workplace Renegades. More importantly, we have tons of resources inside our community that can help you prepare for your next job interview.

It's time to find work that makes you feel happy, satisfied, and fulfilled. Join our FREE community today to finally become an empowered business-of-one!

This article was originally published at an earlier date.

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Preparing For An Interview: Step-By-Step Guide

How Do You Continually Improve Efficient Use Of Your Technology? Training!

Technology is one of the largest budget items for an organization, but does it seem like employees arenât using the systems as efficiently as they could be? Iâve found that the first step is to make sure youâre offering training to all of the employeesâmore than just handing them a user manual.

Your organization just purchased a brand-new system and wants to make sure they maximize the use of it. One key is to make sure everyone is trained so they understand how to use the system. Training is typically focused on when the new system is first implemented. Many organizations will have the vendor come onsite to train. Employees sign up to attend scheduled training sessions, or it may be a train-the-trainer scenario wherein designated trainers (department super users) train the rest of the organization. This gets your system implementation off on the right foot.

It would be considerably better if the organization offers continual training. This means providing formal training activities for new employees joining the organization months later, major system upgrades released annually, and when individuals simply want ârefresherâ training. Did you know that individuals typically only remember a fraction of the information from a training session?

Training Options

The second step is to have a variety of training options. Itâs important to understand that individuals learn differently (different methods and different speeds) as well as there may be various logistics to consider. For example:

Some individuals will prefer instructor-led classes (either in-person or virtual) while others are audiovisual and like videos.
- Some individuals like to read materials on their own. There are even third-party vendors who provide specific training materials such as quick reference cards and videos for products such as Microsoft Office 365 as well as Acrobat and Windows.
- You can create custom self-paced courses using tools like Articulate leveraging PowerPoint slides.
- Post training materials on the intranet so all employees can access the information.
If there is a large number of individuals to be trained and/or everyone canât be gone at the same time, you may need to offer multiple sessions for a specific training course.
If the organization has multiple locations, it may not be economical if individuals have to travel to attend in-person training sessions, so it may be more cost effective if the trainers travel or offer virtual training sessions.
Not all individuals work Monday-Friday 9-5 pm, and may instead work four 10-hour days or âoff-hoursâ (e.g. second/third shift, weekends) so itâs important to offer training to accommodate these schedules.

Learning Retention

Even with the above differences, there are specific concepts that will help individuals retain what theyâve learned during training. This includes:

Make sure the content is relevant (preferably with real-world examples), so individuals know how to apply what theyâve learned.
- If the topic is creating a new customer in the ERP, walk through the actual steps including required and valid values, and have an exercise wherein they actually practice setting up a new customer.
- When teaching individuals about Excel and features such as Pivot Tables, provide examples showing when/why/how to use a Pivot Table to analyze and categorize large amounts of data.
- If doing âtrain-the-trainer,â consider having the students do some role-playing.
Provide some type of handout (student training guide) for individuals to take notes on.
If itâs a âliveâ training session (either in-person or virtual), encourage individuals to participate in discussions. Engagement promotes retention.
Provide students with the opportunity to practice what theyâve learned with exercises, quiz questions, etc.
Create âcheat sheetsâ for common things like application-specific keyboard shortcuts/hotkeys, when there is a long list of valid value codes, etc.

A comprehensive and up-to-date training curriculum is an investment. Organizations that make this investment are demonstrating that employee development is important! Employees will appreciate the efforts to grow and make them more knowledgeable.

For more information on offering training to maximize the use of your technology, follow me on LinkedIn!

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How Do You Continually Improve Efficient Use …

Many people have been working from home for the past two years. However, not everyone took the time to properly set up their home office. This is because many people thought that remote work was a temporary situation for them. Now, however, more and more people are realizing that working from home might be their […]

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5 Items Every Home Office Needs

A business degree opens doors to many career opportunities with a handsome salary package and unlimited growth potential. However, if you are considering a business degree, you might not know what kind of door you would like to open and feel clueless about your career path. Plus, working towards a profession without knowing where it […]

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Top 8 Highest Paying Business Jobs to …

5 Signs Your Record Label Needs NFTs As A Music Distribution Differentiator

Anyone that buys or sells music has discovered that COVID-19 brought upon us all a new set of consumer expectations. Companies using outdated pre-COVID-19 music sales strategies will not survive in a post-COVID-19 world. If you are distributing music in a traditional way, such as streaming, and your sales strategies are similar to a few years ago chances are that those distribution methods are outdated which means that you may be unconsciously losing fanbase market share.

I recognize the pain points and that everyone has anxiety due to recent market shifts, and might be afraid or fearful about cryptocurrency, stock market concerns, economic unrest, and the like, but donât put this off because the rough spots in the market will pass, however, you cannot afford to not use NFTs as a true distribution source for music. NFTs are a differentiator for your record label. This is guaranteed and if you do not innovate others will pass you by.

Passing You By Due To Lack Of Innovation

I was working for one of the world's largest gaming companies, negotiating Influencer and streetwear licensing deals, when the pandemic hit and it was an overnight shift in how we saw buying. We use microtransactions for gamers' avatar vanity capsules, however, after COVID-19 the gamers began gaming differently, and music artists began broadcasting concerts in the gaming vertical on Twitch. Consumers started to communicate how they wanted to be contacted, how they wanted to buy, which platform, when, and how they made their own decisions. They were becoming a different type of consumer and this directly empowered them.

Itâs been painful to observe record labels struggling with artist music releases, where rollout plans have horribly failed for large artists, and where labels have failed to engage fans as they are not paying attention to new consumer patterns of buying and they keep doing the status quo.

Those who have tuned in to see where fans are hanging out like in Discord NFT rooms and Twitter rooms, community collaboration events with other music and NFT peers, and are open to experimenting with cryptocurrency, have shared insights of who will be able to differentiate or who will be successful.

From the cryptocurrency, Web3 conversations, which can be overwhelming and confusing as the market shifts, sometimes can provide a looking glass into the future.

Still, navigating the space will prove to be the key for successful labels, and without adoption of new strategies, it may also just be the grounds for early disqualification by fans. Especially for Gen Z and Gen Alpha, embracing NFTs as a form of distribution is beneficial for the artist fans and the labels and will be profitable for all.

5 Signs That Your Record Label Needs NFTs As A Music Distribution Differentiator And Is Begging For Leadership To Engage

Your consumers are picking cheaper subscription music service models from a competitor.
Your A&Rs, artist and label partnership managers, and C-suite executives appear to not be active in virtual spaces, AR spaces, engaging in crypto discussions, and designing record deals that included advances in cryptocurrency and address NFT procurement & distribution in major label deals.
A well-planned teaching initiative for fans, educating the audience in NFT/cryptocurrency basics, where the fans foster demand organically and achieve scalability. Effective planning to counter the learning gap for fans to buy NFTs must be closed and it must be constantly cultivated for ease of purchasing NFTs.
The artist marketing efforts are focused on traditional music distribution models rather than on educating on NFTS and creating demand for your artist's music in new platforms and innovative spaces like NFTs.
Buying new music from you is a hassle without an easy way to use cryptocurrency on the label website, where the labels provide links to Coinbase wallet, Opensea, and more. This helps fans understand the process for executing an NFT purchase.

What has been your experience with the modernization of the sales process and engaging modern buyers? I would love to get your perspective.

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