First Thing Monday #32
This week we deal with communication overload, dream of Rihanna in India, and check-in on your work-life balance ☎️💎🤹
🌅 Good morning! It’s our 32nd week here at
! Thank you to all of our subscribers who read First Thing Monday every week!☑️ FTM is a weekly newsletter that includes a recap of all the news Millennial and Gen Z leaders need to know to help make better career decisions. Each issue includes four tips for developing better relationships in your workplace. Weekly issues come out on Monday mornings!
❓ Have a work question or topics you’d like us to discuss? Drop me a line 📱 simply reply to this email or leave us a comment below!
I’m Jon Cochran, a consumer goods executive with 15 years of experience leading sales, marketing, and product development teams and working with brands like J.Crew, Hilton, and Mattel. I want to provide resources to help you take control of your career and maximize your satisfaction in the workplace.
⏰ What to read before your first meeting:
How to Support Someone Who Has Lost a Pet (NY Times): Many colleagues might not understand the grief associated with pet loss. But validating the loss is crucial. Instead of minimizing your coworker’s feelings, acknowledge how much their pet meant to them. Avoid generic platitudes like "You are not alone" and instead focus on offering specific ways to help. Grief is a personal journey with no set timeline. Offering a listening ear and maintaining support, even months after the initial loss, can be meaningful.
- : Turns out, many companies in the US, especially the ones pushing RTO, invested heavily in office spaces before the pandemic. Now, with looming debt and expiring leases, they're looking for ways to justify those investments— a.k.a. forcing workers back to their offices. This RTO push could be a desperate attempt to justify those real estate investments and appease nervous shareholders. With the evolving conversation about where to work, the reduced number of jobs tied to physical offices may mean there will be less need to work in an office sooner than later.
Mastering the Trust Equation for Strong Relationships
: Forget fancy tactics, trust is the real key to business relationships. Strong teams built on trust outperform others. The good news? Trust isn't magic; you can develop it through the Trust Equation: be an expert, keep your promises, build safe spaces, and prioritize team goals. Keeping your promises resonates the most for me; if you say you’re going to do something, you do it. Remember, trust is a two-way street!How to learn the most about a candidate from a single interview question
: Keeping your interviewing skills sharp is critical for being a manager. This article emphasizes the importance of the right questions during interviews. You can go beyond standard questions by focusing on how candidates handle challenges, think critically, and adapt to unexpected outcomes.Asking questions like "Tell me about your biggest flop" or "Tell me about a time when you needed to disagree with your manager", can help you gain a deeper understanding of a candidate's skills, adaptability, and independent thinking.
One Reason Hybrid Work Makes Employees Miserable (The Atlantic): While many Americans enjoy the flexibility of remote and hybrid work arrangements, a surprising trend has emerged: the "overhead tax", a burden created by incessant digital communication. Each new task, email, or meeting generates additional administrative demands, leading to an overload of "talking about work" instead of actually doing it. As an alternative, you could dedicate specific remote days to uninterrupted work without meetings, emails, or chats. Fewer incoming requests during dedicated workdays means less to juggle. Teams should be in sync, saving work discussions and collaboration for in-office days.
🚰 The Water Cooler
Are red carpet remakes of vintage gowns the way of the future for preserving fashion history? Zendaya, Margot Robbie, and Natalie Portman have all recently worn remakes of dresses that ordinarily live in museums. No one wants to repeat the Kim K. debacle from the Met Gala in 2022.
Many people (myself very much included) are concerned about when we’ll next hear music from Rihanna. While the rest of us wait, a few lucky guests were able to see her first live concert performance in 8 years (don’t forget the 2023 Super Bowl!) at a very fancy wedding in India this past weekend.
Frieze LA wrapped up last week. My fave booth was from Roberts Projects, which included works from Amoako Boafo, Alexandre Diop, and Suchitra Mattai. Boafo’s been making some of my favorite portraits over the last few years.
Sometimes I find the blizzard of “-cores” and “aesthetics” dizzying. Then Nymphet Alumni altered me to Aesthetics Wiki—which conveniently lists many of these trends with deeper details and images so we know just what people are talking about.
📖 Reflections for this week:
For yourself: Don't be your own worst critic! Mistakes and setbacks are inevitable, but dwelling on them only holds you back. Embrace self-compassion, where you acknowledge your struggles without harsh judgment and offer yourself kindness. Unlike self-pity, this empowers you to learn, move forward, and grow from your experiences.
For your boss: Make one-on-ones a two-way street—come prepared with updates, questions, and desired feedback. Don't wait for your boss to lead; take initiative and propose solutions or discuss career goals. If these meetings lack depth, initiate a conversation about seeking more strategic guidance or development support. Follow up after each meeting to make sure everyone's on the same page. Remember, active participation from both sides builds trust and fosters growth.
For your direct report(s): Providing clear goals and expectations is essential, but so is ongoing support. Offer regular feedback to help your team track progress and identify areas for improvement. However, when someone consistently struggles to meet expectations, a more targeted approach may be necessary. Schedule a dedicated meeting to discuss their challenges and offer additional resources or training. Be direct but empathetic, offering constructive criticism and exploring potential solutions together. This demonstrates your commitment to their success while maintaining clear expectations.
For your co-workers: Communication is key, but it's crucial to be mindful of your communication style. Avoid making assumptions about how others prefer information. Inclusive language is essential - use respectful terms, avoid jargon, and be mindful of gendered language or phrases with cultural biases. This could mean using "they/them" pronouns for someone whose gender identity is unknown, or avoiding idioms or slang that might not be universally understood.
⚡️ And one last thing…
Working from home (WFH) can be a double-edged sword. While we've embraced the flexibility and skipped the commute since the 2020 shift, the lines between work and personal life have blurred. The pressure to be "always-on" can be demotivating at work and disruptive at home.
Here's the thing, achieving a healthy balance in this new remote landscape is totally possible, but it requires some intentional effort. How are you taking care of yourself, as a professional and as a person? Here are some strategies that have helped me:
Carve Out Your Work Zone: Even if it's just a corner of your living room, creating a designated workspace helps your brain switch gears and establish a physical separation between work and personal life.
Boundaries: Communicate your working hours to everyone - colleagues, family, roommates, even your dog (seriously, the constant tail wags can be distracting). Stick to these boundaries and avoid checking work emails when you're "off the clock."
Schedule Your "Me Time": Treat your personal life with the same respect you give your work schedule. Block out specific times for personal commitments, hobbies, exercise, or simply chilling out. You wouldn't skip a client meeting, so don't skip your personal time either.
Communication is Key: Talk to your family! Discuss household responsibilities and work together to create a schedule that works for everyone. This is a dialog among your household members—delegate tasks and avoid the "lone wolf" mentality – everyone needs support.
Tech Can Be Your Friend, But Use It Wisely: Leverage tools like time-management apps, calendar reminders, and "do not disturb" features to manage your time effectively and minimize distractions.
Finding balance is a process. Experiment, adjust your approach as needed, and don't be afraid to ask for help from colleagues, family, or even professionals. By prioritizing both your professional and personal well-being, you can conquer the WFH world and thrive on your own terms.
One more cup of coffee is just what you need,
Follow me on Instagram at @misterfantastik
Thanks Jon. As always, a few things to read right away and a few more to get back to - and if you can find an article on how to "get back to" that would be helpful. Cheers.
The aesthetics wiki is SO amazing!