"I’ve been at my current company for over a decade. I’ve been a high performer throughout, received excellent reviews, I’m at the high end of pay for my role, and have been told that my leaving would be a blow. Not in the “you can’t go” way, but from a very senior person who has been a mentor for me and ...
... was trying to point out that while my manager doesn’t, everyone else sees and values my contribution." Not in the “you can’t go” way, but from a very senior person who has been a mentor for me and was trying to point out that while my manager doesn’t, everyone else sees and values my contribution."
This means I come back and am immediately drowning in missed or half done, sloppy work. Would it be a kindness to point out how his team feels?
I know you’re thinking you could help out your coworkers … but unless there’s someone in authority there who you know to be highly responsive to this kind of information, it’s so unlikely to cause meaningful changes.
"I am an undergraduate who is currently working in a part-time internship in the career field I want to get into. I am embarrassed to admit this because I feel so bad about this, but I have been really slacking on my internship work. I’ve been slow on my assignments and I have also started coming into work 20-30 minutes late, ...
... not on purpose but because I’ve been having trouble getting myself out of bed. I lost a close family friend unexpectedly earlier this month and it hit me super hard. I didn’t tell my work about the loss because I didn’t need to take any days off for the funeral and also it felt too personal to really tell my boss about."
Ever since then, I just have not been doing my best at work. And I feel really upset and ashamed about this. We’re in-person but we can ask to work remotely ever so often although it’s not encouraged.
You could say, “I want to let you know that I’ve been struggling over the last few weeks — I lost a close friend unexpectedly earlier this month and it’s hit me very hard. ...
... I will be redoubling my efforts not to let it affect my work, but when you talked to me about my schedule recently, I realized I needed to explain what’s been happening.”
"I know you have written about how to deal with pushy fundraising at the office, but I was wondering if you had any advice on how to respectfully approach this as a fundraiser? I have Type 1 diabetes (T1D), a chronic medical condition, and this month is the 20th anniversary ...
... of my diagnosis. It also happens to be an important anniversary for the T1D community as October 1923 is when insulin was produced and distributed on a commercial scale. October 25th also marks the anniversary of the inventors winning a Nobel prize for their work."
I plan to only post once, maybe twice publicly, then follow up individually with the folks I know well.
"As the communications director for my small org, when there’s an internal shake-up or news about leadership, I often know before my peers do because I provide counsel or have to write the emails and announcements. This puts ...
... me in a tricky position when a colleague who knows enough to know that “something’s up” asks me,”Do you know anything about what happened after that board meeting?” or “Did you know that Sally was going to step down?”"
But to maintain that trust on both sides, I need to be able to keep mum without feeling like I’m lying by saying, “No, I have/had no idea!” What’s the ...
... right way to respond that respects both my superiors’ confidence and my relationships with well-meaning peers who just want to know what’s going on?
To the questions after it’s been announced (“did you know…”): “Not until right beforehand.”
To the questions before anything has been announced (“do you know anything about…”): “I can never share anything from board meetings until there are public announcements, even dull stuff.” But ...
... obviously this one is trickier because you’re indicating you might know something but aren’t sharing it — but you’re also underscoring that maintaining confidentiality is part of your job.
Someone who presses you beyond that is being a jerk by putting you in an unfair position and you can respond flatly with, “I’m not allowed to share anything from those meetings. You’re putting me in a weird position.”