Episodes

Progress Report MAC029-MAC034
Jan. 15, 2024

Progress Report MAC029-MAC034

After every six episodes, I have a review episode to highlight some of the episodes you may have missed. This progress report covers episodes 029 to 034. Episode 029 - Building a Network covers several ways that you can grow ...

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Office Politics (pt. 2) - MAC034
Jan. 8, 2024

Office Politics (pt. 2) - MAC034

Let's start with a quick review of , but for the full details go back to that episode and listen there. We started by covering the key players in office politics. Decision Makers, Gatekeepers, Connectors, Influencers, Observers, and...

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Office Politics (pt. 1) - MAC033
Jan. 1, 2024

Office Politics (pt. 1) - MAC033

At some point in your career, you will find yourself in a position where you have to deal with office politics. Office politics aren't bad in and of themselves, but it is important to understand how they work and what your pl...

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What if I don't want the "next" role? - MAC032
Dec. 25, 2023

What if I don't want the "next" role? - MAC032

When I was talking to my relative the other day, he was describing how his bosses have gained a lot of trust in him and are giving him more and more responsibility and more and more autonomy. As someone who leads a team, ever...

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Does Your Manager Trust You? - MAC031
Dec. 18, 2023

Does Your Manager Trust You? - MAC031

At my job, I have the title of "Director" and I have responsibility for the team that builds an internal application that is important to the sales team of the company I work for. I also manage -- either directly or indirectl...

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Getting Ahead By Saying "No" - MAC030
Dec. 11, 2023

Getting Ahead By Saying "No" - MAC030

When you are looking towards career advancement, you may have heard advice along the lines of "say yes to every opportunity". And sometimes, that advice is perfectly fine. But today, we're going to look at when the better cho...

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Building a Network - MAC029
Dec. 4, 2023

Building a Network - MAC029

Networking is not about the quantity of connections, but rather the quality and depth of those connections. It's not just about amassing a hundreds of LinkedIn connections; it's about nurturing meaningful relationships that a...

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Progress Report - MAC022 - MAC027
Nov. 27, 2023

Progress Report - MAC022 - MAC027

As always, it's good to periodically look back and review your accomplishments and progress. So, every few episodes, we take a look back and call out the highlights of the recent episodes. In Episode 022 - Interviewing Candid...

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Knowing Your Worth - MAC027
Nov. 20, 2023

Knowing Your Worth - MAC027

When most people think about providing a status on their work, they usually think in terms of completed tasks. At some level, this is relevant to ensure that projects remain on time. But if you'd like to set yourself apart fr...

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Should you be promoted? - MAC026
Nov. 13, 2023

Should you be promoted? - MAC026

As we approach the end of the calendar year, it's the time of year when many employees are evaluated against their goals and considered for merit increases and potentially promotions. Have you positioned yourself to be one of...

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Who is driving your career? - MAC025
Nov. 6, 2023

Who is driving your career? - MAC025

Today, we're tackling a question that's crucial for everyone navigating the professional landscape: how much faster does your career progress if you actively own it instead of waiting for your career to happen to you? To trul...

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Preparing for the end of the year - MAC024
Oct. 30, 2023

Preparing for the end of the year - MAC024

For many companies, the end of the year is a time when employees have their annual reviews. Today, we'll talk about the things you can do with what's left of the year to prepare. Review your incomplete goals. Start by looking...

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Can you be successful working remotely? - MAC023
Oct. 23, 2023

Can you be successful working remotely? - MAC023

During a recent one-on-one with a member of my team, the question came up as to whether someone can be successful when working remote. I'll start with the answer. Yes…..assuming your work can actually be done somewhere other ...

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Interviewing Candidates - MAC022
Oct. 16, 2023

Interviewing Candidates - MAC022

If you are in any of the LinkedIn groups related to your profession, you've likely come across posts that list questions and answers that are core to your field. These are the types of questions I would expect to see on a uni...

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Progress Report - MAC015 to MAC020
Oct. 9, 2023

Progress Report - MAC015 to MAC020

These past six episodes have covered a lot of good content. Have you spent any time implementing the ideas in your career? Episode 015 - Asking vs Guessing was about how some people default to Ask mode where they will ask for...

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Reorganizations - MAC020
Oct. 2, 2023

Reorganizations - MAC020

If you're listening to this podcast in real time, the calendar has just flipped to October. This is often when discussions begin within a company that a reorganization (often shortened to "reorg") might be necessary. Many reo...

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Work / Life Balance - MAC019
Sept. 25, 2023

Work / Life Balance - MAC019

This week, we take a break from looking at career advancement and we focus on the "life" side of the work/life balance equation. While everyone has a different idea of what their non-work life should look like, ensuring that ...

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Selling Yourself - MAC018
Sept. 18, 2023

Selling Yourself - MAC018

As I covered in last week's episode on the , you may eventually reach a point in your career where the next rung has a limited number of opportunities to progress. In , I talked about how luck is when preparation meets opportunity and that...

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The Corporate Ladder - MAC017
Sept. 11, 2023

The Corporate Ladder - MAC017

For the majority of people, their career is going to last somewhere in the ballpark of forty years depending on when they start and when they decide to retire. While there are no hard and fast rules about how your career shou...

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What does it mean to be a leader? - MAC016
Sept. 4, 2023

What does it mean to be a leader? - MAC016

When your career begins, your key responsibilities are to do your tasks and to grow your skills. With enough time, this is often sufficient to justify a promotion. However, as you reach higher career levels, there comes with ...

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Ask vs Guess - MAC015
Aug. 28, 2023

Ask vs Guess - MAC015

The other day, I was reading a series of articles by on Substack (link to ). These articles outline how ask-culture and guess-culture can clash at work and how to navigate the differences. Ask Culture is when members of the group are...

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Progress report MAC008-MAC013
Aug. 21, 2023

Progress report MAC008-MAC013

As with any career, it's important to periodically check your progress. Since this podcast started you should have held at least two career development discussions with your leader. Hopefully you're making the most of these s...

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A Little Bit of Luck - MAC013
Aug. 14, 2023

A Little Bit of Luck - MAC013

The Roman philosopher Seneca has a quote about how luck happens when preparation meets opportunity. When it comes to your career, this is so very true. If you spend your time waiting for an advancement to fall into your lap, ...

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Receiving Effective Feedback - MAC012
Aug. 7, 2023

Receiving Effective Feedback - MAC012

I was inspired to cover this topic by a post that I saw on LinkedIn by . In that post, she listed . This was a good follow-up to my previous episode on how to structure your one-on-one. One topic in that structure was focused on...

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