Remember that scene from The Matrix where that kid with the spoon is all like, “There is no spoon,” when there's clearly a spoon right there in front of Neo's face? Yeah—well, it turns out that kid is now managing a team, except now, instead of “There is no spoon,” it's “There is no snow.” as if they somehow know more about the situation than what their subordinates are currently witnessing outside of their own window.

Walking the walk of your own talk is important as a leader as it shows that you're willing to stand by the words that are coming out of your own mouth. It also helps your subordinates realize that there's no hypocrisy at play and that the rules and requirements you're enforcing apply to everyone equally.

Even if your work, knowledge, and contributions make you irreplaceable in your organization, your employer is never going to admit it. For one thing, they probably aren't even going to be aware of it until long after you're gone. They probably think that there are dozens of people out there who can do exactly what you do. For another, if they did admit how valuable you were, they know that you'd likely want to be paid fairly for that fact—and that's just never going to happen. No, it's better t…

One of the most horrible realities that slowly dawns on you as you settle into your working life is that political standing and social status have far more bearing on your career than aptitude, skills, or results ever will.

They say the customer is always right, even though that's usually not the case; this time, however, the customer was very right indeed when they put a manager in their place who was being impolite to their staff in front of the customers.

Working is all about time: clock-in, clock-out, lunchtime, break time, taking a ten, filling in a timesheet, etc., etc. Still, while you might think a watch would be a great gift for keeping track of all of that time… It depends on the watch, and whatever watch your company gives to you says a lot about how you feel about them… Is it a Rolex? Timex? Seiko? Patek Philippe? Or is it just some random piece of junk they got from the bargain bin at the dollar store? One thing's for sure, if you're g…

"I have altered the deal… pray I don't alter it further…" is a great quote when it's being spoken by one of the greatest movie villains of the 20th century, but is not something you want to hear coming from your boss—especially when the thing they're changing directly affects your upcoming pay.

Merchandizing is one of the oldest professions—wait, maybe that's not the right line… but the trade certainly does teach you a lot about the comings and goings of the working world. Show up on time, take some pride in your work, and you'll do just fine. Add managing unruly clients and battling tyrannical backroom managers to that, and you've got some solid real-world experience.

Working for a small family-owned-and-operated business is either going to be the best job you ever had or the worst by a considerable margin… there's no in-between—and whichever one it is depends wholly on the people who are running it.

Fantasizing about quitting a job that you hate is one of the few things that can get you through a shift. Fueled by caffeine, pure hatred, and the dream of one day leaving this wretched place behind… you find the strength to go on. And, on that note, nothing is more likely to make you want to quit your terrible job than a horrible boss. As we've learned many times, people don't usually quit jobs; they quit their boss. This overworked and underappreciated IT worker, who works in the notoriously…

Usually, helping your team is considered to be a positive trait and one that your employer will look for when they first hire you, to the point where including somewhere that you're a “team player” is pretty much a default part of a CV. Seldom, if ever, would you ever expect to be told to leave well enough alone and ignore your overworked teammates, leaving them to their fate.

There's no feeling like constantly being behind the ball, especially when that ball is a heavy boulder that you're being forced to push eternally uphill only to have it roll back down, forcing you to start over. The Greeks regarded this tortuous task as suitable eternal punishment for violating the rite of hospitality and killing guests in your home, along with a long list of other crimes that included cheating the personification of death himself. Nowadays, we just call that “employment." The…

Nothing shows you how essential you are to the business like taking a vacation. If your boss or team can't handle a week without things going off the rails, then that's saying a lot. The thing is, the types of bosses who insist on being able to contact you during your “vacation” are the same bosses who try to tell you how expendable you and your role are, negging and gaslighting you to keep you in your place. This worker went out of the country in order to visit their family for the holidays, l…

If there's one thing your manager probably hates, it's having more work to do. Whether they're just lazy or already have too much on their plate, chances are pretty good that they won't want to be spending hours combing over your work in addition to what they're already working on. Even the most micromanaging sort will quickly grow tired of the additional work if you can manage to reflect their time-consuming processes back onto them.

In shift work, particularly in locations that rely on staffing part-time workers to handle annual increases in foot traffic and trade, it's pretty common to have workers list their availability, determining when they're available to work and be scheduled. This allows for part-timers to keep a second job, attend class, look after their kids, or whatever other life obligations they might have. Usually, some indication of your availability will be given and negotiated upon during the interview pro…

Some employers have this tendency to assume that you're trying to get one over on them, constantly accusing their workers of claiming time they're not working or flat-out stealing from the business. Whatever the accusation is, it seems they're always looking over their shoulder, waiting for you to drive the knife in and pick their wallet out of their back pocket. Despite their constant insistence, you'll probably never see any evidence of this happening, with stocktakes always coming out clean…