Little Wins. Every day, I’d jot down something I did that I was proud of, even if it was small.

“I want to learn to become a better presenter, so I’d be grateful if you kept an eye out for opportunities where I can get in front of others.

For example, I hold weekly office-hour blocks as a result of a direct tip from her.

“You must trust people,2 or life becomes impossible,” the writer Anton Chekhov once said. This is true of all relationships—friendships, marriages, partnerships—and the manager–report relationship is no different.

Gets a decision made (obviously) Includes the people most directly affected by the decision as well as a clearly designated decision-maker Presents all credible options objectively and with relevant background information, and includes the team’s recommendation if there is one Gives equal airtime to dissenting opinions and makes people feel that

Set Aside Time to Reflect and Set Goals

I left with a deeper appreciation of both the importance of planning good meetings and the value of giving feedback to improve bad meetings.

The solution is to help everyone come prepared. The change we made to our decision and review meetings was to ask the organizers to send out any presentations or documents the day before so that everyone got the chance to process the information in advance.

“I’m making a hiring call between two candidates with different strengths. Can I walk you through my thinking and get your advice?