Dear Bradley, I am writing to you because I feel stupid all the time, well since my bitch office manger let me go after working with her for 7 years. She said I always made mistakes, maybe so, but so didn’t everyone else in the office. She always yelled and screamed at me and made me feel that I couldn’t do anything right. I will admit that I am not perfect but she is certainly not. She also would talk... Read more
Hi Bradley, I do indeed feel stupid at work. I’m always being told that I miss details and no matter how many times I check and check again my work, it always seems I miss SOMETHING. This has been haunting me since first grade, and right into the work world, I’m 33 and an office worker, and am currently being treated for ADD, though I don’t think the meds are helping. Only at work do I miss details... Read more
Hi Brad, I am constantly aggravated at work. I go above and beyond at work on special projects (that I do on my own/take initiative to do), etc and still feel like my “higher ups” think I’m a 17 year old out of high school. I’m 23 in actuality but have a young face. Recently, for example, I asked my boss about a project a customer was inquiring about. It’s been 3 weeks and I found out he passed it... Read more
Hi Bradley, I don’t know if it’s the environment or the culture, but I just don’t feel like I bond very well the people at work. I have no one that I feel I could go to and chat to about how I am feeling. I am a marketing manager here, and we started having these marketing strategy meetings where everyone seems to have an input/idea and I feel like the one who should have the most ideas should be... Read more
Over the past year or so since starting up Shrinking the Camel, I have come across some interesting opportunities that I never would have expected from blogging. Of course I have met many wonderful new friends and acquaintances from all over the world, and these people make it all worthwhile, interesting and fun. But there have been other, unexpected sidelines. For instance, I receive free books and magazines from people who want me to review them. I always say “Yes,” so... Read more
I once heard a story about Henry Kissinger falling asleep in the middle of a very important meeting. Everyone noticed, but no one dared say anything because he was such a highly respected diplomat. The moment he came to, upon picking up the few fragments of sentences that were being discussed in mid-conversation, he immediately interrupted the group with some blinding insight. I try not to fall asleep in meetings, whether I am making the presentation, or receiving one. Because,... Read more
A CEO friend of mine was approached recently by an employee who complained that a co-worker was trying to poison him. When he told me, I laughed at first, because that is just so hilarious, to think someone is so paranoid as to imagine a co-worker is trying to poison him. This sounds more like it came right out of a wacky comedy, like the “Nine to Five” movie with Dolly Parton and Lilly Tomlin. My friend then grimaced a bit, an... Read more
It might upset some good Christian business leaders to think too much about power. “But we are servant-leaders!” they will say. “True leadership is about humility, not amassing power!” But the authors of a very good article I read in Monday’s Wall Street Journal pose a spiritually-incorrect possibility: “Whatever else a leader must do, a leader must gain, exercise and retain power.” Why? Well, in order to become a leader in the first place, of course. Which will inevitably involve facing... Read more
A friend of mine, Mark, was recently telling me of his harrowing experiences with his Board of Directors each month. I wouldn’t have expected him to be the type that gets flustered or easily intimidated, since he is pretty powerful in his own right. As a serial entrepreneur in the telecommunications industry, he had already built and sold a company or two, not to mention the boatload of bucks I knew he had scored along the way. But Mark’s latest... Read more
Back by popular demand! For my end-of month repost, here is that heartwarming Christmas Holiday story that you have all been waiting for… Each year as Christmas approaches I get a number of Holiday letters from friends and family. Of course I enjoy reading them, but I can’t help but notice an alarming trend of these generic-style family newsletters on the rise. It appears that these impersonal summaries of the mundane accomplishments of the children, grandchildren and pets have somehow... Read more
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