A few years ago, having a flat organizational structure was all the rage. Well-known companies like Zappos, Medium, and Buffer were singing its praises and writing detailed posts explaining their reasoning. Tired of bad bosses, and corporate politics, the internet rejoiced. On paper it sounded so great. Why do we need managers? Who needs structure? […]
“I apologize for the length of this letter; I didn’t have time to make it shorter.” – Mark Twain Mark Twain was right. It takes effort to make a good point in just a few words. That’s part of the beauty of Twitter; the character limit forces those sharing thoughts to be concise. Today, we’re […]
“(Sigh…) Why didn’t you tell me about this issue sooner?!?” If you’ve ever received a surprise in your performance review, you’ve said (or thought) exactly that. Few things are as frustrating as feeling you didn’t receive constructive feedback when you needed it, and instead are punished by it at review time. Knowing this, as a […]
“Uh oh…sounds like somebody has a case of the Mondays!” If you’ve ever had a job you hated coming to work for each day, you know the feeling behind that statement from the iconic workplace comedy, Office Space. Fittingly, Boss’s Day is Monday, October 16th. Who wouldn’t want to celebrate the boss that ruins their […]
At many companies, low morale is a fact of life. Any number of problems can stifle people, leaving them unmotivated and struggling to do their job. As a manager, you may feel low morale yourself; no one is immune to the harsh realities of the modern workplace. Gallup’s engagement stats show us year after year […]
“Management isn’t some skill like drawing where you can just practice in isolation for hours and hours on end. You need to have the opportunity to be stretched in certain situations in order to learn and grow.“ – Julie Zhuo, Product Design VP at Facebook Learning leadership skills can be a steep challenge. Much of […]
“Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them, and you have their shoes.” – Jack Handey Most people have strong feelings about their managers. You either love working for them, or you find aspects of them very difficult. […]
Remote and flexible work is a growing phenomenon. In 2016, 43% of full-time employees worked remotely at least part of the time, up from 39% in 2012. Making this even more powerful, the working population has grown at the same time. During those 4 years, the U.S. workforce grew from 114 million in 2012 to […]
“Everybody is identical in their secret unspoken belief that way deep down they are different from everyone else.” – David Foster Wallace Most companies have some key characteristics that make them believe they’re different: a combination of their business model, mission, product, and other factors. But when you look inside these companies, quite a bit […]
“I’m a mid-level leader at my company and really unhappy. How do you know when to quit your job, when so many others depend on you?” That’s not an easy question, but it’s one of many we’ve heard before. In the process of growing Lighthouse and writing this blog, we have talked to a lot […]
