The Monster Blog

Firing Executives for Their Ethical Lapses

Late last week, MSNBC reported on the twisted tale of David Colby, a former health insurance CFO who was fired for misconduct of a “non-business nature." Turns out, that misconduct is alleged to have included the mistreatment of several women, whom he was purported to be having affairs with and making false promises to.

This is a tricky topic. On the one hand, how employees behave in their private lives should be their own business.  But on the other hand, it's foolish to say that employees who misbehave on their own time aren't a a poor reflection of their company. They are. This is especially true for organizational leaders, who often have a high public profile and an obligation to set a good example for their employees, especially when it comes to demonstrating sound ethics.

After all, it stands to follow that someone who lies, cheats and steals around his or her family and personal friends isn't exactly the kind of person you want leading your company.

Update: Listen to a brief discussion I had with Monster Leadership Expert Joan Runnheim Olson about this subject: Audio: Ethics and Leadership.

Here some Monster resources on leadership and ethics in business:

• "How Leaders Can Be Ethical Role Models"    
  
• "Business Ethics Quiz"    
  
• "Deal with an Unethical Boss"    
  
• Monster's New Leadership Message Board

 

Pro Athletes Do Earn Their Millions

Weep not for Brett Favre and Philip Rivers, whose respective NFL squads, the Packers and Chargers, were bounced from the NFL playoffs over the weekend.

Though Rivers is headed to the operating table and Favre is once again pondering whether to hang up his cleats for good (my prediction: He won't), it's not as if the two men will need to work a second job this offseason just to make ends meet. Favre ($11 million total compensation package) and Rivers ($5 million) were among the NFL's highest-paid quarterbacks this season, according to data provided by Salary.com, which powers Monster's Salary Wizard.

I used to resent the exorbitant salaries that top athletes routinely command. For example, I once would have wailed against the fact that Tennessee Titans QB Vince Young took home just over $13 million (No. 1 among all NFL quarterbacks) in 2007, even though he's played only two seasons and hasn't exactly put up Canton-worthy statistics just yet (21 touchdowns, 30 interceptions and a meager rating of 69.0 through his first 30 games).

But with almost a decade of work experience now under my belt, it no longer bothers me that baseball, basketball, football and, to a lesser extent, hockey players just want the biggest portion of the lucrative pies that owners in today's money-making machines of professional sports leagues are willing to give them. In today's age of multimillion and multibillion dollar TV contracts, state-of-the-art playing facilities and non-stop sales of sports merchandise, you can be sure there's plenty of revenue to go around.

Today, I'm fine with the reality that guys who throw farther, run faster and jump higher than the rest of us can parlay their unique skills into astronomical salaries and a comfortable lifestyle for themselves. After all, if you were in their position, wouldn't you be trying do the same?

And while we're talking NFL, how about a little Super Bowl XLII prognosticating? I see the underdog New York Giants, led by Eli Manning ($6.45 million in compensation in 2007), keeping the score close for a while, but in the end, Tom Brady ($6 million) and the vaunted New England Patriots offense will pull away and win by 10, 31-21.  And hey, come to think of it: A Super Bowl title means a bonus check for the winning team, too!

Meanwhile, here are a few Monster resources that can help you in your next salary negotiation -- even if it isn't for six figures a year:

• "Salary Negotiation Know-How"
• "Be Paid What You're Really Worth"
• "The Negotiation Dance"
• Salary & Negotiation Tips message board

 

The Trouble with Follow-Through in the Workplace

Tell me you haven't been guilty of one or all of the following:

• You meet and spend time with a dozen people at an industry conference and diligently take all of their business cards. You pledge to follow up with them within the next few days -- but you never do.


• During lunch one afternoon, you and a coworker brainstorm the beginnings of a new product that could make the company millions and turn the two of you into the office darlings. But then you don't get around to putting a project plan in place and the competition launches a similar product to the one you had envisioned -- to great success -- a few months later.


• You leave a weekly planning meeting full of priority items that you announce you'll get cracking on right away. But by Friday afternoon, all you've managed to accomplish is a reprioritization of your priority list. Most of those scheduled to-do items simply didn't get done.

Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

Just why aren't we very good at follow-through?

Here are my thoughts, with an assist from my Twitter friends:

• Brainstorming Is Sexy;  Execution Isn't: Sitting around a table with our workmates and coming up with ideas in every-suggestion-is-a-good-suggestion fashion for 30 or 60 minutes allows us to dream about what could be. It's fun and energizing and requires no real commitment. But overcoming eventual objections to your idea from other factions of the company and having to compromise your pristine vision by laying out a rigorous step-by-step action plan that's chock-full of deadlines is the hard part, and it's where we usually fall down.


• We Have a Warped Sense of Time:  We continue to be fooled by the notion that we'll somehow have more time next week or next month than we have today. And yet, when next week and next month finally roll around, our calendars are just as packed as ever.


• We're Too Scatterbrained: Our always-on, always-connected mentality combined with the ever-present tools of technology can -- and often do -- help us do our jobs more efficiently than ever before. But many of us are also just flat-out distracted and overwhelmed by these tools, and we struggle to keep up with the frenetic pace we've subscribed to. As a result, we either can't remember our original promises, or when we can, we just can't get organized enough to fulfill them.

What's Your Take?

What would you add to my list? Why do you think we often fail miserably in following through on our workplace pledges, promises and plans? And perhaps most important, what are your suggested solutions?

So What Do You Want to Do with the Rest of Your Career?

You go to work every day. You do your job, you collect your paycheck, perhaps you even connect with a few of your coworkers. But are you excited about what you are doing?

I believe that when it comes to work, you have three choices. You can find a job you’re really passionate about. You can find a job that pays you well enough so you can enjoy the activities you’re really passionate about outside of work. Or you can find a job that encompasses both.

Of course, the third option would be the best. But where do you begin? How do you determine what you’re passionate about, and then work it into a way to make money?

You need to take some time to examine yourself and set priorities. Then you can establish some clear goals. You just need to have a little faith in yourself and remember that the steps you take are not irreversible. It’s OK to head down the wrong path a bit. You can always turn back, and who knows what possibilities may come out of it? Most people have several careers over the course of their work life -- what will yours be?

These resources can help you along your road to discovery:

• “Discover Your Perfect Career Quiz”
• “Discover the Work You Were Born to Do”
• “Select the Right Career Path”
• “Reach Career Success”
• “Work Values Checklist”
• “Find the Right Job for You”
• “Find Your Blue Flame to Heat Up Your Career”
• “Self-Employment at Any Age”

For more information, visit Monster’s Self-Assessment Center.

Now, tell us in the comments below, what do you want to do with the rest of your career?

Trying to Organize Your Email? Keep it Simple

If you’re like most people I know, you have trouble managing your email.

Maybe you can’t keep up with the dozens or hundreds of messages (yes, some people get hundreds) you receive each day. Perhaps you’re fed up with all those silly forwards from your uncle or coworker, or frustrated by the series of 12 back-and-forth emails it takes to set up a meeting or get a basic question answered by your IT department (we don’t have that problem here at Monster, of course).

And what should you do with the email requests from your boss that you’re not quite ready, willing or able to act on? Should you keep them in your inbox so that you don’t forget them but then run the risk of cluttering said inbox with too many actionable messages? Or should you move them to a special “to-do” folder as part of your quest to achieve a state of Inbox Zero each day -- and then forget about them because they’re not staring you down in your main inbox?

Then there’s also the tricky question of where to store that message from Jack in accounting once you’ve completed the associated actionable item. Should it go in the “Jack” folder? The “accounting” folder? The “January 2008 folder”? Maybe you’d like to delete the message forever, too, but what if the legal team needs it three years from now?

What a conundrum, huh?

Sorting, saving and retrieving email just requires far too much time and effort for most of us (myself included) to get right, and as a result, we’re woefully inefficient in using a tool that is meant to make our lives -- and jobs -- easier.

Too Many Folders? Stick to 3

But there just might be a refreshingly simple solution to the email management problem. I learned about it last night while listening to a podcast about organizing our digital lives. Lifehacker editor Gina Trapani put forth this suggestion: Use just three folders.

1. Follow-up, for those messages that still require action from us
2. Hold, for emails that require action from someone else
3. Archive, for everything else

And that’s it! When you read a new message for the first time, you either respond and act on it right away or you move the message to one of these three folders. And if you need to find a message later, you can rely on the power of your email system’s search engine rather than your own memory.

What do you think? Would this system work for you, or do you have a better suggestion?

If you want to consider a couple of other resources for managing your email, check out these Monster articles:

• “Don’t Let Email Steal Your Time”
• “Win the War Against Interruptions”
• “Don't Maximize Your Multitasking, Optimize It”

Kick-Start Your 2008 Job Search

It’s January 2 (you haven’t broken your New Year’s resolution(s) already, have you?), which for most of us means it’s time to head back to work and ramp up operations once again.

Today might also be the day you get serious about starting or renewing your job search or weighing the pros and cons of a major career change. To help you in your quest, we’re offering our Kick-Start Your Career in 2008 guide, which offers both salary and hiring outlooks for the new year, as well as articles on refreshing your resume and boosting your interview IQ, among others.

Happy New Year! May 2008 be the year you find your calling.