By Daniel

“I learned two things: First, it’s good to solicit your people’s opinions before you give them yours. And second, your people will be very influenced by how you carry yourself under stress.”   - Lloyd Blankfein

FORTUNE’s June lineup highlighted the best advice I ever got from some of the most influential leaders today. The head honcho at Goldman Sachs gave some advice that rang out like lady wisdom herself; The formula for dealing with a crisis.

I currently work on one of the highest profile projects that has our two biggest divisions joining forces. Operating out of the “war room” I’ve been exposed to the highest levels in our company, and some high stress situations to say the least. Amidst all this fury, I’ve been able to observe multiple teams and the leaders that lead them.

In my three months on this project so far I’ve watched extreme anxiety in the room dissipate under a composed…

By Will

I’m a geek and proud of it. So to meet the needs of my nerd stereotype I read a lot of tech blogs - props to Techcrunch, ReadWriteWeb, Engadget, Gizmodo who deal in some fine technology news and acerbic wit to boot. Like most technofiles I followed the stories last year about Microsoft in a bid to buy Yahoo (affectionately dubbed Microhoo…) to increase their search capability in an attempt to topple the mighty G. Also followed the drama as Microsoft walked away from the deal when the Yahoo board balked at Moneysofts huge take over offer ($45 billion is just not enough don’t you think). Then earlier this year, when you thought Microsoft had given up the search ghost, puffs of smoke from the Internet volcano hinted that Microsoft still had “search” in their cross hairs. All this culminated in a definitive statement from Microsoft last week - we’re still in the game,…

By Daniel

Oh, shit… quite literally. I’m out of toilet paper again.

Unfortunately, the timing of this realization finds me sitting on the ivory throne with my pants at my ankles. I immediately flash back to earlier in the day when I made the observation that my roll was getting to its last rotation. Cursing myself, I start the ass out waddle to the cupboards at the other end of the bathroom. I pause and hope to god there’s one more roll left in my stash of Charmin Ultra… Fail!

I don’t know how many times laziness has kicked in and I’ve neglected to do what I should and succumbed to what I want. I should have switched out my toilet paper, but I wanted to quickly get back to 30 Rock that was paused on hulu. It’s in that moment of decision many of us fall victim to a lazy mindset and neglect good sense.

Our…

By Will

I never thought I would forget who I am. Reading around the internet these days there are a lot of blog inches dedicated to not losing your identity when you lose your job. I wasn’t surprised to read the statistic from here quoting that in a poll of more that 12,000 respondents, 30% reported that their personal identities are defined by their career. It make sense. Ever had a colleague make the joke “I spend more time with you, that I do with my wife”? Spend the majority of your time doing something, it will begin to feel like part of who you are.

By Daniel

The last time I left you I was having brunch with a gorgeous girl from LA and then taking a step back from life over a beer with my mentor. These past few posts have felt like a throw back to MTV’s Diary circa 2002.  Deep insights and revealing stories all around this thing we call a quarter-life crisis. “You think you know… but you have no idea”.

This is cringing at the thought of settling, the crossroads of life direction, and of course the new responsibilities and decisions of a different life stage. Welcome to team angst,  with the unrelenting feeling that happiness may be a fish you can’t catch.

So how to deal? Sifting through blogs and articles this week I couldn’t help but see things through these quarter life lenses. Here are some of my take outs from my literary dine-ins.

Your Calling is Something You Grow Into

In last month’s New…

by James

A year has passed since I took up my current role and those 12 months seem to have flown by without respect for my highly analysed career plans that mean I should have been promoted by now! Although, my role title, salary and office position haven’t changed in these 52 weeks, I have learnt an awful lot about working in the corporate world.

By Daniel

Putting his beer down, my mentor changed his tone to something a little more serious.

“Corporate loves guys like you; young, ambitious, driven, and…. impressionable. They pull you in and place the whole world on front of you. You don’t realize this yet, but it becomes a shackle, a sort of ball and chain”

He brought his hands up to my neckline and closed an imaginary shackle around my throat. I looked down and envisioned an iron chain that connected to a small cannon ball on the floor.

“As time goes on they throw in some nice promotions, pay increases, bonuses. You feel good and you want more. So they give it to you. Soon, you’re married and have kids so you need to throw that into the mix as well. You have obligations, responsibility and it begins to weigh heavy on your shoulders. You don’t notice it at first, but your ball…

By Daniel

Work was piling up on all fronts and I was on a collision course for classic burnout. Climbing up the corporate ladder, dedicating nights and weekends to a start-up, and of course blogging in between really left no time for anything… Then, she called me.

I hadn’t seen her in years, but she was just as I remembered her.

Sunday brunch was the request and it was exactly what the doctor ordered. A dose of champagne/mimosas, taken with great conversation and a small crush. It was refreshing and fun. I hadn’t felt so relaxed in months.

As we got up to leave I felt like that first grader running around the park and hearing the dreaded bell that ended recess. Is it over already?! Yes, sonny, it is… and she went leaving on a jet plane back to LA. I’m not sure if it was the champagne or the fact that it was my first deep conversation in months. I found myself standing there asking the question what should I do with my life now?

By Will

By the time I was 5 I had a savings account (well..a jar with money). I was doing all my own clothes shopping by 13 onwards (to my detriment as now I’m self styled or “fugly”) and I started my first business by the time I was 14 - a premium lawn cutting service to all my neighbours. I’m an independent person and I always have been. So over the last few years even though I’ve been working in various institutions and not in my own business, I’ve ended up in positions where I manage myself and my time (admittedly not really done by design on my part but maybe subconsciously I’ve gone for those roles). Staying true to form, my current position with my employer involves me managing myself and my activities quite independently - mainly due to the fact that my boss is a bit of a globe hopper and hence an absentee manager.

By Daniel

I’m not going to follow Jerry Maguire and write a twenty-five page mission statement, get fired, and steal a goldfish. The Michael Clayton monologue may be a little overkill as well (I don’t feel like I’m drenched in afterbirth). But, I’m having this angry/depressive corporate epiphany. It’s not so much a “let’s start a revolution” kind of thing, but more of a “I’m going to get on a soapbox and stick it to the man!” kind of thing… In which, after I’m done, I’ll quietly step off and go back to work.

So what gives?

To a certain extent, it’s always socially acceptable to hate corporate America. I’m thinking this is more cyclical, depending on the economy, but it is now “cool” to rant and rave about how much big fat corporate sucks. So I’m rolling with it…