The trend line of success is not a hockey stick. Actually, what we normally expect to see overtime it is an upward zigzag of ups and downs. So, the key question is what do we do when the trend line is an inverse hockey stick and we can’t seem to stop the decline?

The term “banana republic” was coined in 1901 to describe primarily a corrupted country where you had exploitation of workers and laws that did not apply to some individuals or institutions but they did to everyone else. This of course included an economy, which exported a limited resource product like bananas. So, if someone says the U.S. is becoming a “banana republic” in the 21st century, what do you say?

The expression of “drinking the Kool-Aid” is not limited to politics. You can see it in the workplace as well when an initiative or plan for example cannot be challenged nor questioned because if you do you would be perceived as not being a “company person.” So, how do you manage blind acceptance when you know the decision is simply a poor one?

When a company is facing loss of sales for three consecutive years, you normally hear “reasons” or as some may call “excuses” blaming external factors such as the weather. At some point, this pivots to internal factors such as having a workforce, which is not “motivated” enough. So, if sales continue to slide after three years, who takes the blame?

You can always find a list of skills attributed to the success of someone’s career but valued personal traits are also very important. A common one is “loyal” and another is “gets things done.” So, what are your top three personal traits that makes you competitive and what story would you share to show you got these?

Managers must have a number of essential skills and decision-making is a critical one. Just like in baseball, those with average performance don’t last long and this applies to managers as well when we talk about decision-making. So, from one to five, how would you rate yourself on decision-making? If you score yourself as perfect, prove it!

When someone says you “are not ready” for a management position or if you are a manager but seem not to be able to move up to the next level, trying to understand the “ready” part is hard. And you may not get a straight answer. So, how can you decode “are not ready” so that you can prepare accordingly?

Did you know that in 2019 the approval rating of Congress was 17%? The perception is that politicians are egotistical and dishonest and incompetent but there are politicians in the workplace as well. Some will say that they will do anything to advance their careers at the expense of the team as some see as simply hypocrisy.  So how do you manage working with or for one of them?