The blog for all things Apochromatik.
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7 Tips to Turn Around a Disappointed Client
Whether you’re an accountant, attorney, bus driver, business owner, or teacher, you have clients. Next week we’ll focus on how to keep those clients happy. At some point, though, no matter how hard you try, you will inevitably disappoint and even lose clients, whether for a reason you can agree with (maybe they need a service you can’t provide) or one you can’t (they aren’t happy with the services you’ve provided). How you treat disappointed clients not only reflects on you and your business, but also can impact whether they come back and what they say about you to others.
Here are seven tips to turn around a disappointed client, and to make sure even those who leave say good things about you.
10 Strategies to Keep Productive & Positive During a Crisis
Almost exactly 6 months ago — March 26 — we shared these 10 Strategies to Keep Productive & Positive During a Crisis. We’ve since heard from many readers how helpful they’ve been, so we’re sharing them again today in case you missed it the first time or could use a reminder.
Career Lessons from [Virtual] Adult Summer Camp
Recently I got to attend Heather Hubbard’s Summer Camp, a one-of-a-kind, three day virtual event that fulfilled Heather’s promise for attendees to leave “inspired, replenished, and refreshed.” (I was honored to also get to lead a workshop on career resiliency and career planning when circumstances are out of your control.) The event included several career lessons worth repeating, and these four may be especially helpful as you look forward to the rest of 2020.
What if 2020 is a cocoon? Career lessons from butterflies.
“Are you sure she’s ready?”
“Open the lid, Amy.”
“But what if she’s not ready?”
“She’s ready. Open. The. Lid.”
A few months ago, I found myself having this exchange at a butterfly park. As family members stood waiting, the tour guide kept nudging me to open the lid of what appeared to be a takeout soup container. Inside the container, a rare butterfly had emerged from the cocoon she had made on the underside of the lid. As she sat there, I kept wondering – what if she isn’t ready? And what I would see if I had a microscope? To my untrained and unenhanced eyes, this butterfly looked less like a runner at starting blocks, ready to launch, and more like a creature clutching the remnants of her old life.
2020 Has Really Been Something...Embrace Support
*OK, so maybe I’ve never had a direct conversation with TV character Leslie Knope of “Parks and Recreation." Or with Amy Poehler. But I’m pretty sure if I could, they’d both be in favor of masterminds. And, as we know, waffles.
Shift Your Mindset
I talked about my favorite word (“yet”) in Tuesday’s ApochroMinute and was blown away by the response. (If you missed this week’s video, you can check it out here.)
People who have overcome enormous physical, mental, financial, and other challenges let me know that they appreciated my comments, that they’d seen for themselves what a different “yet” can make, or just that they were going to give it a try. First of all, thank you. In these days when all of our interactions are online, a message means even more.
Looking for help to stay motivated and resilient during this challenging time?
Looking for help to stay motivated and resilient during this challenging time? Amy M. Gardner was a featured panelist for a Becker Group C-Suite Reports webinar on Motivation and Resilience – Key Thoughts in a Complex World.
Summer is just around the corner: Everything You Need to Know to Succeed in Your Career I Learned at Noah's Ark Waterpark
With all that’s going on, we thought you might like to be transported for a few minutes to summer, and to times that now seem so much simpler. That’s why we’re resharing this post that has resonated with readers from around the world.
3 Ways to Serve Your Network
Some of the ways you may typically network are off-limits right now, but this can actually be an ideal time to expand your network and deepen connections.
10 Strategies to Keep Productive & Positive During a Crisis
I was recently on a panel asked to share strategies for keeping productive and positive during a crisis. (For the entire discussion on “Motivation and Resilience – Key Thoughts in a Complex World,” click here to listen.) Some of the ideas my fellow panelists and I shared might be helpful to you.
To be clear, we certainly don’t want to minimize the current – or any – crisis. If you are in the middle of a life and death crisis, these strategies will be of very limited use, and reaching out to a therapist or other support will be more helpful. But for others, I hope these ten strategies can help you keep productive and positive.
11 Rules for Supervising Remote Employees
Last week we shared 11 Rules You Need to Know for Working Remotely, whether occasionally or full-time. As we noted, 70% of workers around the world are remote at least one day per week, and more than 50% work remotely at least half of the time. That means that more and more managers now supervise people working remotely. And, particularly due to COVID-19, more and more employees are suddenly working remotely without time for them or their supervisors to nail down the logistics.
11 Rules You Need to Know for Working Remotely
With more workers being given the option to work remotely either in general or due to Covid-19, this week we’re resharing our popular 11 Rules You Need to Know for Working Remotely.
Lawyer Well-Being Week, May 4-8, 2020
With the announcement of Lawyer Well-Being Week May 4-8, many firms are wondering how they’ll participate without adding more stress to already overloaded staff.
8 Tips to Fit More Reading into Your Schedule in 2020
There are plenty of reasons reading more is important for professionals, from improving brain functions to keeping up on trends and developments in your industry, giving you something to talk about and think about outside work and family, to just feeling like you are using your brain. But when was the last time you sat down with a novel or any other book you didn’t have to read for work? In fact, 31% of Americans report that they have read just 1-5 books in the last year.
Exercise: 9 Tips to Find the Time
If you have a fitness-related goal you haven’t made progress on yet, you’re not alone. When you’re trying to juggle a career and a semblance of a life outside work, finding time to exercise isn’t easy. Here are some tips to help.
Go Streaking and 4 Other Tips to Create New Habits
“I’m too old to create new habits,” the client told me.
“What do you mean?” I asked, assuming I was misunderstanding. Nope, I was not:
“I’m too far along in my career and too set in my ways at this age to learn a new habit,” he clarified.
“Aren’t you 30?” I asked.
“No,” he said – “I’m 31.”
Apochromatik's Holiday Guide
The holidays are here! With the combination of work parties, family activities, an expanded to do list, and all the end of the year craziness, you may not have been sitting at your desk, hitting refresh on the Apochromatik blog. We’ve rounded up some of our resources on the holidays, both articles that have quoted us as experts, and our own blog posts that can help you end December with deepened work relationships, having advanced your career, and with time and energy left for your most important relationships.
How Holiday Parties Can Help You Expand Your Network
It’s holiday party time!
Whether you love everything about networking opportunities or started sweating just reading the title of this post, December can be a great time to expand and deepen your network. Here are some tips to do just that (and avoid the alternative scenarios that are the stuff of office gossip everywhere). This topic is so important and so fraught with peril that has been addressed by numerous people over the years. No one blog post can fully exhaust it, but our goal is to get you ready in 1,400 words or less.
How can a mastermind help you transform your career in 2020? | VOTW 111919
For this week’s Video of the Week, we’re featuring an episode of the Hustle & Flow podcast hosted by Heather Hubbard. This particular episode discusses masterminds: what they are, and why attorneys and other professionals can benefit. If you haven’t joined a mastermind this is your chance to learn what they are all about.
University of Chicago Career Webinar...TODAY! | VOTW 111219
Does the thought of answering the question “where do you see yourself in five years?” in a job interview make you want to melt into the floor?