How to Work for a Boss Who Has Unrealistic Expectations - Harvard Business Review (No paywall)

It can be frustrating to work with a boss who has unrealistic expectations. Instead of just caving in or deciding it’s time to update your resume, there are a few approaches you can try to preserve your sanity and forge a stronger relationship with your boss. First, calm yourself so you can gather your thoughts and take measured, appropriate action, rather than reacting impulsively. You might try grounding techniques (also known as anchoring), which bring the overly reactive mind back to the body. Then, keep in mind that your boss and you presumably have shared goals. Showing that you’re on the same page may give you the leeway to explain some of the practical realities. You can acknowledge the requests without labeling them as unrealistic. Check to be sure you understand and are delivering on what your boss actually wants. Ask questions and lay out iterative plans that you feel are realistic. You might say something like, “Take a look at these scenarios, and let me know which aspects match your sense of things, and then I can build them out.” This approach can feel time-consuming, but it keeps you from straying far off-base and fosters a sense of partnership that will help you develop trust for the future.Whether your manager is a front-line supervisor or the CEO, every leader occasionally has unrealistic expectations. But some bosses are unrealistic most of the time. They don’t take into account the facts on the ground, or they habitually refer to their past experiences at other companies rather than to the people and events in the current organization, or perhaps they report to someone who’s even more aggressive or overly optimistic than they are.

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The seedy underbelly of the life coaching industry

Can a coach guide you to succeed? A growing cohort of people believe so. They are turning to professionals who promise self-improvement to change attitudes and habits, and set them on a course for personal and professional wins.Life coaching is a sprawling, multi-faceted industry that can include career coaches, financial coaches, happiness coaches and empowerment coaches. It's worth billions, and only growing: the International Coaching Federation estimates that the industry is worth $4.56bn (£3.64bn); and between 2019 and 2022, the number of life coaches rose by 54%, making it one of the fastest-growing careers in the US. This boom is happening alongside the "people development" industry that's emerged throughout the past 15 years, say experts.

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How a Super Bowl champion is re-igniting the iconic brand Starter

The first association people have with Carl Banks likely isn't entrepreneurship – it's his two Super Bowl titles (at least for American football fans). Yet the former New York Giants line-backer is as firmly rooted in the world of business as he is sports.As the president of G-III Sports – a US licencing firm that creates apparel for the National Football League, National Hockey League, National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball – Banks focuses on the intersection of fashion and fandom. He's spent three decades taking the pulse of consumer desire and cultural trends, creating products to match. On the heels of Super Bowl LVII in Las Vegas, Banks has partnered with Starter, one of the most storied brands in sports apparel, to release a new limited Super Bowl Collection.

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The meaning of one of Toby Keith's biggest hits

Toby Keith, who has died at the age of 62, forged his own path. As Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, said in a statement, "Keith was big, brash, and never bowed down or slowed down for anyone… He relished being an outsider and doing things his way." The terrorist attacks of 9/11 sparked a succession of songs in the years that followed, but none had the divisive impact of his country anthem Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American).The song, released in May 2002, begins with recognition of his father Hubert "HK" Covel Jr, a US Army veteran who had died the previous year. "He wanted my mother, my brother, my sister and me/to grow up and live happy in the land of the free," he sang.

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Somaliland-Ethiopia port deal: international opposition flags complex Red Sea politics

The memorandum of understanding between Ethiopia and Somaliland announced on 1 January 2024 set off diplomatic rows in the Horn of Africa – and beyond. Details of the agreement are not publicly known, but both state leaders have touched on its content. Among the main elements:

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Azerbaijan's attacks on Armenian heritage aim to erase an entire culture

On 25 December 2023, the Azerbaijan parliament (the Milli Majlis) passed a declaration claiming that, in what is currently Armenia, there was previously an Azerbaijani community that was displaced by conflict. Though based on scant evidence and flimsy rhetoric, this document also states the right of Azerbaijanis to return to these lands. Further aggression by Azerbaijan against Armenia can therefore not be ruled out, despite steps towards a possible truce in recent months. Several countries, including France and Iran, have already warned Azerbaijan against an occupying the southern Armenian province of Syunik to gain access to its Nakhchivan exclave via the Zangezur corridor, which runs along the Iran-Armenia border.

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Could protecting our proteins help us prevent ageing?

Existing theories on the chemistry of ageing are being turned on their head, thanks in particular to a small ultra-resistant bacterium capable of “coming back to life” after extremely harmful attacks.This is Deinococcus radiodurans, one of the most resistant bacteria known to date, which lives in arid environments such as desert sand. It survives in canned meat after the “shock” treatment of gamma radiation sterilisation. It can also overcome an irradiation dose 5,000 times greater than the lethal dose for humans.

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All of Us Strangers: coming to terms with the grief and trauma of being gay in the 1980s

A powerful film about intimacy, grief and gay identity, All of Us Strangers – featuring outstanding performances by Andrew Scott as Adam and Paul Mescal as Harry – can only be properly appreciated in the context in which it was produced. In a recent article I co-authored with the film studies academic Gary Needham on post-millennial LGBTQ+ film-making in the UK, we argued that there is no collective movement or recognisable trend that can be called British queer cinema.

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Why Canada needs to dramatically update how it prepares for and manages emergencies

Jack Lindsay is affiliated with the Canadian RIsk and Hazards Network and the International Association of Emergency Managers Canadians are facing larger disasters on a more frequent basis. There is no doubt that some of these recent and future events are the result of an increasingly unstable climate.

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Rwanda deal: why the media should focus more on the policy and less on the politics of immigration

Heading into an election year, the government’s handling of migration continues to dominate headlines. Much of the coverage has been about the plan to send those who enter the UK without legal paperwork to Rwanda. This plan was enshrined in law in July 2023 through the Illegal Migration Act. However, after the UK Supreme Court deemed the plan unlawful, its future remains uncertain.

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The brain is the most complicated object in the universe. This is the story of scientists' quest to decode it - and read people's minds

In the middle of 2023, a study conducted by the HuthLab at the University of Texas sent shockwaves through the realms of neuroscience and technology. For the first time, the thoughts and impressions of people unable to communicate with the outside world were translated into continuous natural language, using a combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and brain imaging technology.This isn’t just a language stimulus. We’re getting at meaning – something about the idea of what’s happening. And the fact that’s possible is very exciting.

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'Digitising' your wardrobe can help you save money and make sustainable fashion choices

Spring is traditionally the season for a good clean – and maybe a clear out. Taking stock and having a bit of a declutter can freshen things up domestically. One popular new way of doing this involves targeting your wardrobe by making digital inventories of your clothes – and then tracking what you wear. You note the price, brand and category of your garments (and shoes and bags) and then record how much use they get.

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Trees can make farms more sustainable - here's how to help farmers plant more

Imagine making one change to a farm field so that as well as producing food, it also generated building materials, fuel and fodder. At the same time, this change would nourish the health of the soil, regulate the micro-climate and support pest-controlling wildlife. In fact, it could even produce a whole other crop.All these things could be possible by simply planting trees amid crops – and not just trees, but also shrubs, palms and bamboo.

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With airstrikes on Houthi rebels, are the US and UK playing fast and loose with international law?

The US and UK have over the past few weeks carried out a number of joint military strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen. The strikes have been in response to attacks by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels on both commercial and state vessels in the Red Sea since conflict broke out in Gaza on October 7 2023. The US and UK have justified their strikes by invoking the right of self-defence, as enshrined in article 51 of the United Nations’ charter. The same right is also found within customary international law.

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How an online tool allows parents and therapists to work together to help children with anxiety

A recent report from the charity YoungMinds found that over 1.2 million children and young people aged 18 and under were referred to mental health services in England in 2022. This is more than double the number in 2019. When the number of young people needing help is so great, services become overstretched and there are enormous challenges in providing timely support.

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Russia's next election is likely to put Putin in power for longer than anyone since Peter the Great

Presidential elections will be held in Russia in March. It is inevitable that the incumbent president, Vladimir Putin, will win. Putin has been in power (whether as president or as prime minister) since 2000. If he wins again, and he serves his full six-year term, he will have been in power for 30 years, longer than any Russian or Soviet leader since Tsar Peter the Great (who died in 1721).

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How Iran controls a network of armed groups to pursue its regional strategy

It took the US several days to respond to the January 28 attack on its military base in Jordan that killed three of its service personnel. But when it did, it hit at least 85 targets across Iraq and Syria. The Pentagon was careful not to directly attack Iran itself, but it targeted Iranian-backed groups which have been conducting raids on US military assets in the region since before Hamas launched its attack on Israel on October 7.

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Democratic organizations struggle with democracy, too. Here's what they can do about it

Democratic member-based organizations like labour unions, co-operatives, student unions and recreational clubs play profound roles in society. Whether building community, driving social change or grappling with shared challenges around work, childcare and learning, these organizations offer opportunities to advance members’ interests through localized democracy.

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Whether of politicians, pop stars or teenage girls, sexualised deepfakes are on the rise. They hold a mirror to our sexist world

Victorian MP Georgie Purcell recently spoke out against a digitally edited image in the news media that had altered her body and partially removed some of her clothing. Whether or not the editing was assisted by artificial intelligence (AI), her experience demonstrates the potential sexist, discriminatory and gender-based harms that can occur when these technologies are used unchecked.

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How First Nations artists are reclaiming colonial objects and celebrating culture through garments

A few years back, I started collecting vintage Australian tourist scarves that portray First Nations people as primitive caricatures and noble savages. Now, I own more than ten scarves with images ranging from Western depictions of First Nations art and objects, to Indigenous people in tokenistic scenes.Collecting these tourist wares isn’t new. Kitsch items are often gathered and reclaimed by First Nations peoples, artists, designers and academics.

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Hidden women of history: Saint Perpetua, a young mother put to death in a Roman amphitheatre

In 203 CE, a young, African Christian woman named Vibia Perpetua was executed in a brutal fashion. She and her fellow Christians were taken to the amphitheatre of Carthage (now in Tunisia), where they were grievously wounded by wild beasts before their throats were slit by gladiators. This horrific scene formed part of the celebrations for the birthday of Caesar Geta, the son of the emperor Septimius Severus.

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Underground nuclear tests are hard to detect. A new method can spot them 99% of the time

Since the first detonation of an atomic bomb in 1945, more than 2,000 nuclear weapons tests have been conducted by eight countries: the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan and North Korea. Groups such as the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization are constantly on the lookout for new tests. However, for reasons of safety and secrecy, modern nuclear tests are carried out underground – which makes them difficult to detect. Often, the only indication they have occurred is from the seismic waves they generate.

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Wholesale power prices are falling fast - but consumers will have to wait for relief. Here's why

Tony Wood may have interests in companies impacted by the energy transition through his superannuation fund. Wholesale power prices are falling steeply in Australia, following two years of surging prices after the Ukraine war triggered an energy crisis. New data shows annualised spot prices for power in Australia’s main grid fell by about 50% in 2023. That brings the cost of wholesale power down towards the levels seen in 2021.

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The Nationals want renewables to stay in the cities - but the clean energy grid doesn't work like that

Director, ARC Centre of Excellence for the Weather of the 21st Century, Monash University The bush is full up – no room for more renewables, according to Nationals leader David Littleproud. Instead, renewables should be restricted to large solar arrays on commercial buildings in the cities.

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