Careerstone Group Insights

Setting (and Achieving!) Your Professional Goals in the New Year

The New Year is officially here, and by now you’ve probably thought of a few changes you’d like to make in your personal and professional life. Everyone loves the allure of a fresh start and many of us hope to end next year with more successes than in years past. But, as we all know, good…  Read More

How to Deal with a Bad Boss

Your boss has an enormous influence over how you work and the quality of your work life. Sadly, bad bosses are a fact of working life. Forbes magazine recently reported that three out of four employees say that their boss is the worst and most stressful part of their job. And another 65…  Read More

The Boss from Hell! How to Deal with a Bad Boss

The bad news is that if the toxic person is your boss, then you have a very, very tough situation. The good news is that it’s not impossible. You do have options (though none are really great). In any workplace, it’s smart to “manage up,” which means you should manage…  Read More

Bad Apples: Six Strategies to Deal with Nightmare Co-Workers

Every company has at least one bad apple. These are the people who don’t respect the organization or their coworkers, are negative, don’t carry their own weight, or sabotage the work of others.   A bad apple is like a bad virus—their attitude can affect morale, trust, and productivity.…  Read More

Suck Ups Need Not Apply

“Let’s be clear: Managing up is NOT about brown nosing, sucking up, or becoming a sycophant. Managing up is about consciously and intentionally developing effective relationships with supervisors, bosses, and other people above you in the food chain. It is a deliberate and strategic effort…  Read More

Is Your Boss an Innie or an Outie?

Personality preferences drive behavior. At work, it’s easy to feel frustrated by the behaviors of others. When we experience annoying behaviors, we tend to make up stories (usually negative ones) about the reasons behind those behaviors. For example, if our boss prefers to keep his door closed…  Read More

It’s Time to Embrace the “F” Word!

In the American workplace, followership has become a four-letter word. We equate being a follower with being powerless, insignificant, and unimportant. We focus all our energy on leadership development and seem to forget that most of us are not in leadership roles – at least not exclusively. Well,…  Read More

Managing Up to Mary Abbajay

  As a touted workplace guru and author of Managing Up, you might assume that Mary Abbajay is the perfect boss. She has researched workplace effectiveness, leadership styles, and personality preferences for decades. She has designed and presented courses to tens of thousands to help improve workplace…  Read More

The Art of Shameless Self-Promotion

March is National Women’s History Month – a time to celebrate women’s contributions to history, culture, and society—both past and present. While we are celebrating other women’s achievements, why not use this month as an opportunity to also honor our own achievements?    Ladies,…  Read More

New Careerstone Survey: Young Employees Lack the Skills to Work with a Difficult Boss

Filling the soft-skills gap: young employees rate employee/boss relations as the most challenging soft-skill in the workplace Younger employees face challenges working with their managers and supervisors.   Careerstone Group’s most recent survey revealed young employees, those aged 18 to…  Read More

Managing Up for Graduates: An Interview with Careerstone President, Mary Abbajay, Author of Managing

What does it mean to “manage up”, and how can managing up help you succeed in your first job, and beyond? Managing up means managing the relationships that matter most in the workplace—especially the ones with our bosses. It is not about sucking up, kissing butt, or becoming a sycophant.…  Read More

Don’t Ghost Your Boss: How to Manage Up in a Virtual World

Our bosses have enormous influence over our career trajectory, so the ability to work successfully with one’s boss is a critical element for achieving success in the workplace. This is called “managing up.” Those who successfully manage up, know how to intentionally cultivate a robust…  Read More

Top Five Skills for Every Career Professional

As the professional world evolves at a rapid rate, it’s important to stay ahead of the game by developing essential skills through the process of upskilling. A recent survey by Gartner found that 58% of the workforce needs new skill sets to perform well in their jobs. Experts report that rapidly changing…  Read More

We Manage Up, Too! How the CSG Team Manages Up to Mary Abbajay

With Boss’ Day right around the corner, we’ve decided to focus on the importance of Managing Up. Not only did our talented boss, Mary Abbajay, write a whole book on the topic, we work hard to put her advice into action. Yes, that’s right, here at Careerstone Group, we don’t just teach Managing…  Read More

Write a Holiday Letter for Your Career

With the holiday season in full swing, your mailbox is probably filled with cards and letters from loved ones sharing the highlights of their year: the places they’ve traveled, their kids’ new hobbies, and the addition of new pets to the family. We typically use the end of the year to reflect on…  Read More

Manage Up, Down, & Across For Career Success

As much as we would love to believe that the workplace is (or should be) a complete meritocracy, where just being great at our individual job is all that we need to succeed, reality tells a different story. The real (and inconvenient) truth is that the workplace is a social system—and in a social system,…  Read More