

Previous Work Archive
Winning at Working began as a blog, and a way to enhance platform building for my book, Hitting Your Stride, Your Work, Your Way. It morphed into a centerpiece of a monthly newsletter and served as foundational thinking for my later non-fiction books: The Titleless Leader, Trust, Inc., and It’s Not About Time.
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Winning at Working columns have also appeared in various workplace publications and online information hubs for over fifteen years. These archive pages represent a small portion of that work.
Nan Russell
Sep 30, 2019
What Does It Look Like?
Seated at the table next to me at a fast food restaurant, I couldn't help hearing the lack of conversation between a young woman and a younger ...
Nan Russell
Nov 14, 2018
Time-Out
When young children misbehave, parents, teachers, and caregivers frequently insist on a time-out. Think how much better your workplace would be if ...
Nan Russell
May 16, 2018
So You Were Wrong
I once worked for a boss who was never wrong, never made a mistake or a bad decision. All you had to do was ask him. To his staff he was Teflon-man. ...
Nan Russell
Nov 15, 2017
Those Crazy People
The man in front of me in the breakfast order line at the food court, in one of the busiest airports in the country, wanted a "full" cup of coffee. ...
Nan Russell
Jul 16, 2017
What You Control
During The Great Recession, thanks to frequent-flyer points and a vacation club exchange, we spent a week in Hawaii for the cost of a rental car and ...
Nan Russell
Aug 18, 2016
Progress Over Perfection
In the late 17th-century, Lord Chesterfield, an English writer and politician, wrote to his son, "Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing ...
Nan Russell
Mar 21, 2016
But, What Are You For?
Against. Against. Against. It seems that's the political model of late. What one party is for, the other is against. Even before an idea makes it to ...
Nan Russell
Nov 18, 2015
It Started With a Turkey
In the early days of a start-up company I once worked for, a plump turkey was a small thank you token given to employees around the holidays. The ...
Nan Russell
Aug 29, 2015
The Not-Me-Syndrome
A common pastime at work, it seems, is pointing out flaws, missteps, and problems -- especially the boss's, a coworker's down the hall, or that ...
Nan Russell
May 19, 2015
The Next Essential Skill
"Remember, the feeling you get from a good run is far better than the feeling you get from sitting around wishing you were running." Those words from ...
Nan Russell
Feb 16, 2015
Blurred Lines Require New Skills
Instead of an early start, with time to read the news, check key messages, and write uninterruptedly for a pending project, I spent it down a rabbit ...
Nan Russell
May 20, 2014
The Things We Say
A three hour delayed connecting flight in Minneapolis created headaches for me and other business travelers seeking to still reach their destinations ...
Nan Russell
Jun 14, 2019
Serving Company Politics
I once had a boss who informed me there was no such thing as company politics. At the time, I decided that depended on whether you were the person ...
Nan Russell
Sep 23, 2018
What Are We Busy About?
Once upon a time, a prince and princess lived in stressful palace, surrounded by a stressful village, inside a stressful land. They knew it was ...
Nan Russell
Mar 20, 2018
Being Present
It was a dimly lit restaurant. Still she was dressed in pink, and while I admit it's hard to tell the gender of babies, clothing color is a ...
Nan Russell
Oct 26, 2017
Simple Things
I still have the email. It's been years since a highly placed corporate boss, who had the reputation and approach that things were never quite good ...
Nan Russell
Oct 25, 2016
Bad Drum?
"He who cannot dance will say: the drum is bad." Too many people I've encountered use a philosophy akin to this African proverb to navigate ...
Nan Russell
Jul 28, 2016
Get the Facts
It was his perception that caused the outburst. "Why aren't there any managers in these sessions? Why aren't they required to attend, too?" ...
Nan Russell
Feb 23, 2016
Grow Thick Skin
There's a line in the movie Gracie that I love. Gracie is a teenager in the 70s who is competing for a spot on the boy's high school varsity ...
Nan Russell
Oct 20, 2015
Convenient Mistruths
The subject line of the email read: "We met at ..." and the name of a conference where I'd recently spoken. Thinking it was from someone who attended ...
Nan Russell
Jul 22, 2015
Getting Past the Hurdles
One of my work favorites is crossing items off my to-do list. At the end of the day, it feels great to know you've made progress, resolved a problem, ...
Nan Russell
Apr 16, 2015
Off Track
Unfamiliar with the city and location where I was to speak, I added the address to the GPS before leaving home. Arriving in the conference city hours ...
Nan Russell
Jan 25, 2015
What Do You See?
Based on dozens of articles that arrived in my inbox in a single week, one might think that the majority of people work in difficult work-cultures ...
Nan Russell
Feb 28, 2014
Check Your Words
They're only words. Some believe the school-yard taunt: "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me." They're wrong. Words can ...
Nan Russell
Mar 18, 2019
Working for the Right Person
"I don't know," a young acquaintance mused. "I'm thinking about grad school, but it's more work than I thought to prepare for the GREs. Then, if I do ...
Nan Russell
Jul 24, 2018
Workplace Ladder Fuel
Maybe you read on Facebook that Dollar General Stores were celebrating their anniversary by giving out $150 shopping coupons to those who liked and ...
Nan Russell
Jan 23, 2018
Wishing and Hoping
After the completion of Walt Disney World, the story goes that someone went up to Mike Vance, Creative Director for Walt Disney Studios and said, ...
Nan Russell
Sep 18, 2017
Two Kinds of People
Twelve minutes before I was to speak to a large group in a hotel ballroom, I was struggling with A/V equipment. With hundreds of presentations under ...
Nan Russell
Sep 22, 2016
About Your Future
When faced with catching a fly ball, Lucy missed again. "The past got in my eyes," she told Charlie Brown, "I thought I had it, but suddenly I ...
Nan Russell
Jun 23, 2016
Choosing a Path
Reading in the airport while waiting for a flight, a housekeeper was tidying around me when approached by another facilities employee. After a few ...
Nan Russell
Jan 26, 2016
Lying on a Nail
Once there was a young woman who didn't like her job. Everyday when she came home from work, she told her husband how terrible her day had been, how ...
Nan Russell
Sep 26, 2015
Simple Solutions
On our first morning of vacation, we were pleased to find open tables when we arrived for breakfast at a popular and highly recommended cafe. With ...
Nan Russell
Jun 20, 2015
Perpetuated Myths
Myths. Beliefs. Conventional wisdom. Even our own eyes get in our way. Consider what happened to Galileo. In 1589, he gathered the world's most ...
Nan Russell
Mar 20, 2015
Which Clock?
I hesitated before I answered the question. It was just a slight hesitation, but the question took me by surprise. Someone asked me how could they ...
Nan Russell
Dec 10, 2014
Incremental Action Trumps New Year's Resolutions
A recent study found that nearly half of us will make New Year's resolutions in 2015, but only eight percent of us will reach the goals or keep the ...
Nan Russell
Nov 9, 2013
What Do You Expect?
I like teaching workshops. On one hand, I'm humbled by the knowledge, insights, and challenges of those attending. I'm invigorated by the persistence ...
