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Expert Advice, Directly to You
Through this blog, Carmelina aims to provide you with insightful and practical advice to help you make informed decisions about your career.
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How To Find True Happiness
Author: Carmelina Piedra
February 22, 2023
Most people in life just want true happiness. While money seems to make things better and seems like the logical way to bring true happiness, there is a lot of research that tells us differently. In fact, in my travels abroad, I’ve...
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Contributor: Carmelina Piedra
May 2, 2023
How can service companies that face a summer slowdown every year ensure their staff members are able to stay productive during the summertime (even if it doesn't involve handling customer or client work)?
Companies should be encouraging teams to take PTO with family and friends during the summer months. Research shows that offering sabbaticals is the best way to get people to return to the office refreshed, showing gratitude, and being more productive than before they left. So, organizations should allow more time off in the summer so that employees come back refreshed, doing their best work.
Contributor: Carmelina Piedra
May 2, 2023
What does becoming an "agile" leader mean to you, and why is it important?
Being an “agile” leader means empowering teams to do their best work. It doesn’t mean micromanaging them which disempowers and slows down performance. “Agile” leaders should always provide teams the tools needed to get their jobs accomplished, but they should step away when they are executing. Demo meetings are the appropriate time to allow stakeholders space to provide feedback prior to launch.
Contributor: Carmelina Piedra
April 4, 2023
What is one way a leader might inadvertently micromanage their team members, and what are the potential consequences?
Managers moving up the chain traditionally have been doing the work of their direct reports in the past. So, they find it difficult to give up management of the work because they are still tied to it. The best managers empower their teams to do their best work. Alternatively, when managers micromanage, they disempower teams, productivity goes down, and oftentimes see high turn over rates.
Contributor: Carmelina Piedra
April 4, 2023
How can a company identify leadership gaps?
There are so many people managers who are not fit for this role and really should be in a higher individual contributor role instead. For those who are truly meant to manage people, there is a huge gap. So many people managers stay too close to the work and have not been provided adequate people management training. So, they are unable to mentor and support their directs in the right way.
