As Hallmark so aptly-and annually-reminds us, this coming Sunday is Father's Day. For many families, there'll be the usual barbecue, perhaps a gift or two, and of course a greeting card. More likely than not, the card will depict a Waspish, American-ideal family gathered around 'dear ole' Dad,' as he relaxes in an almost Archie Bunkeresqe easy chair. Though the smoking pipe and hunting rifle are now gone from today's scene, the general idea has remained consistant.

Corny? Sure it is, yet the whole idea of this holiday, and the cultural accoutrements that accompany it, are really pretty damned nice. It is, after all, about love, and the safety and security that a warm, healthy father son/daughter relationship brings to the overall family dynamic. Despite social engineering mantras to the contrary, guess what? Fathers do indeed still count-just ask their children.

It's ironic, if you think about it, that not only are we always told at work how we are really one big happy family, but also how we never, and I mean ever, believe even one single word of it. Yet, the fact remains that the existence of mentors, patrons, sponsors or the like have existed in every workplace for, well, forever. While it may be too much of a stretch to say that a mentor is really a father surrogate, the fact is that there are a number of similarities that may well warrant some thought here. And so, the one big happy work family routine may well be, in part, actually true.

A mentor-student relationship may typically begin as two people, at differing ages and status in an organization,  who are most likely a junior-senior mix.  They come to know and genuinely like/respect one another. It may be that there's a natural, unspoken need on the part of both for mutual support, so that a kind of symbiotic interaction begins. And, as with almost everything else, there are benefits as well as deficits in such a relationship.

Don't get me wrong-having a mentor at work is generally a great thing, and if you can actively recruit one, so much the better for you. It's even better, though somewhat unlikely, if you can maintain control over the relationship. But here's just a few of the plusses and minuses that you need to watch out for, should you be able or willing to expand your work family to include a mentor...

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Summer is a time that we all look forward to, for a variety of reasons.  This anticipation starts with childhood, when, after a school year that we never thought would end, we finally got a free pass from the confines of the stuffy classroom.  Even if it was only for two months, we felt free.

"No more school, no more books, no more teacher's dirty looks"

We now carry on in our careers, feeling almost confined in our cubes, basking in light at best florescent. Yet, the sheer physicality of summer; its sunshine, warmth and the almost endless possibilities for all sorts of pleasures, never really leaves us. Nor should it. For those of us who pretty much work through most of the summer, there is, I have to admit, a lot of wistful gazing out the window. And a lot of restless energy, while wishing that we were biking, swimming, golfing, playing softball, tennis, golf, or indulging in the not so simple task of trying lazily to do absolutely nothing.

If you're stuck at work during the summer season, do not fret! The coming months are rife with opportunity.  Consider these possibilities...

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Like a lot of us, I too tend to sometimes concentrate on what appears to be an endless array of human failings. Behavior and conduct  (not by me of course) that's so disgusting, so enraging, that, paradoxically, I almost feel drawn to. Like picking at a scab, or making a toothache hurt more...I really need (or want) confirmation of the crappy way I view my colleagues and, really, the world. And, where's the best Petri dish to peek at this pathology? You guessed it, at work.

So, the corporate environment becomes almost a biosphere, a colony of cubes, housing our co-workers. Busy and active, they cease being people, and instead are nothing more than a bunch of bacteria. Germs mindlessly swimming through the company agar, looking for that next promotion, raise, or whatever. Worse yet, some even seek to infect your environment with an unhealthy dose of  their hypocrisy, deceit or sheer stupidity...

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Snake bit: To be cursed, extremely unlucky or destined to fail at anything you try.

Fear of snakes has always haunted mankind, and for at least some of us, it's too creepy a subject to even think about. After all, it's a phobia that we've carried with us, ever since we left the primeval ooze - and remains with us - even into the age of the cubicle...

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There's not one of us who, at least sometimes, doesn't find ourselves slodging through our daily cubicle continuums, leading lives of quiet desperation, oppressed by the seeming sameness of everything and everybody. Where the world just appears to us in monochromatic grey. Where everything tastes, feels and even smells metallic and stale. And, beyond all of the personal feelings of mega-blah, you also know that your work will at best be on automatic pilot...

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Okay, time's up, pens down. Whether you actually took the leadership mini-quiz or not, the idea was to explore this important issue, and it's possible impact on your cubicle career. As we said last week, our world accommodates both carnivores and vegetarians, and the one doesn't necessarily fall prey to the other. In other words, the task - and yes, privilege, of leading - isn't for everyone, nor should it be. I mean, what an absurd world it would be if there were only leaders...who would the followers be? After all, there can only be leaders if there are followers.

Without further delay, here are your long-awaited answers to last weeks questions...

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Ah, the mystique of leadership - a phenomenon that we've all been brought up to value, revere and even aspire to. Leaders are made, not born, or so they say...and they abound in just about every movie ever made. After all, it's really a continuation of the Horatio Alger myth; ever striving onwards and upwards, fighting adversity, and overcoming all odds to be a 'success,' a leader of others.

Yet, in our real world cubicle continuum, all too often we've seen not the best and the brightest, but the kiss-asses, sychophants, back-stabbers and other assorted dirt-bags promoted way, WAY beyond their capabilities. And so we've been generally more cursed than blessed with poor managers and even worse leaders. It's almost a generic - or genetic - institutional flaw. Just look around you. All too often, the charismatic, Pied Piper types are the worst of all...

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What the hell has happened to the way the average American white collar male looks today? If I didn't know better, and just looking around, scanning offices and cubicles, I would swear that I had just landed in SLOBovia, no passport or visa required.

True, the number of studies, books, advice columns, etc. are virtually endless in stating the very obvious - that looks do indeed count. And not just first impressions, either. In fact, a recent book by Prof. Gordon Patzer 'The Power and Paradox of Physical Attractiveness,' states that not only is physical attractiveness a very potent measure of a guys' future, but that this is a universal phenomena, transcending all cultures and countries. So what happened to the gentlemen at my office?

Well, this thinking is directly at odds with, yup, you guessed it, the ethos of our old pals at HR and EEO. One might say that to them, ugly for men, anyway, is 'in,' and plug-ugly is, well, even better. I'm not sure if this is due to the phony glorification of the grubby under the guise of 'democracy,' or a desire to protect the underdog (as if he were an endangered species). In many cases, especially where men are concerned, being a slob can almost have its' benefits.

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If you think about it, it's really kinda ironic that, for all of the corporate propaganda about 'openness,' so many of us feel more closed off - more trapped - than ever before. Incidences of claustrophobia seem to have been very much on the rise in recent years, afflicting a broad swath of white-collar types. It appears that we've graduated from the more rural-sounding cabin fever to the more modern and corporate cubicle fever. Irrespective, the feeling sucks.

The Setting

They’ve issued you a cubicle, a 'Herman Miller'esque workspace. A place for you to spend at least seven hours a day; ergonomically designed to insure that you do what you get paid to do, while occupying the least amount of floor space possible.  

And, I would add, with the very least amount of human interaction possible. Everyone chained to their computer screen, the silence pretty much only broken by the click-clack of many keyboards. So the feeling of isolation and confinement intensifies,  after all, they've limited your peripheral vision and made it possible for people to approach from behind without warning.  No wonder your internal tension mounts. Before you know it, you've got Cubicle Fever.

The symptoms and the cure...

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Joe and Stacey work next to each other. They sit no more than five feet apart.  Even though they often arrive at work before the rest of the team, there's no communication between them.  

Only silence.

No morning greeting.  No acknowledgement that they are sharing the same office oxygen.

Saying 'good morning' should not be difficult. Yet, there's an increasing trend, almost a rebellion, against saying these two simple words to our co-workers.  It's not like we're required to salute, bow, kneel or curtsey.  Even a casual nod and mumble would be a lot better than the nothing that's now occurring at far too many work sites.

Don't become part of this alarming trend.  Experience the power of 'good morning.' Here are 7 reasons why...

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