This is the 7th essay in the #26essays2017 challenge that I’ve set for myself this year. I’m doing this because I’m the first to admit I’ve become a lazy writer: allowing guest posts and series and cross-posting to make up the bulk of content on The Diane Lee Project across 2016. The brave, fearless writing that readers admired and respected me for has all but disappeared. This year—2017—will be different. I’m reclaiming my voice—my write like a motherfucker voice! Opportunity (noun) – a set of circumstances that makes it possible to do anything. In Australian workplaces, there exists a strange, mythological beast. This beast is
Continue reading...I had a conversation with a colleague at work today about the leadership and management in my current workplace. To cut a long story short, she admitted that she “hid” the inadequacies of her manager from others in the workplace. She did this because she was concerned about the perceptions others had of him, and the damage these perceptions could have caused to the unit he managed, which was new and had yet to make its mark. While I understand her motives (it’s primarily about her career and sustaining her role in the organisation and continuing to do work she
Continue reading...(Wanted, dead or alive: decent fucking management!) “People leave managers, not companies.” ~ Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman, First Break All The Rules I can count on one hand the number of good managers I have worked for. Not so bad, you say, until I tell you this: I have been working more than 30 years, and change jobs on average every 12 -18 months. So that’s around 30 jobs, with over 30 managers (as they move on and up). So say around 40 managers, give or take. If you do the math, around 15% of my managers have actually
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