Workplace Coach

Question: My bully is my subordinate.  He presents to others as “the nice guy,” and appears hapless and lost most of the time.  I’m just now realizing that some of this...

When an apparently suicidal pilot flew his plane into the side of a mountain, he killed 150 people, and devastated the lives of those who loved them. The pilot, Andreas Lubitz,...

Question: As head of accounting, I’m the office watchdog and expected to enforce my boss’ quirky policies, even the ones I don’t agree with. He doesn’t, however, back me up when...

Question: My office mate hums every so often. It’s really annoying and totally breaks my concentration. It’s not like she hums a tune, she just does a little hum when she...

Question: I work full time and have kids. There’s no way I can stop working for three to four years to get a college degree; however, our company only promotes those...

Question: I was fired for texting while driving. Here’s the situation. My supervisor is the one who texted me in the first place and I only texted back a one-word answer,...

Question: A former employee joined my company planning to start his own competing business and worked for me just long enough to pilfer materials I spent the last decade creating. I...

Question: One of our employees, “Kelly,” is gay and recently came out to everyone in our workplace. Many of the guys in the workplace feel awkward around him now, and uneasy...

Question: We have one employee who takes intermittent Family Medical Leave. We suspect her of using the guise of FMLA leave to cover alcohol abuse and extended weekends, as she’s absent...

Question: My best friends at work and I all share the same “geez, who are they kidding?” reaction to the crap that comes down from above in our company. We get...