When one of your staff members makes this statement, how do you react? If the person is a strong contributor you may agree with them. If they are a marginal producer, you might have to work hard to keep a straight face. In both of these cases, the employee has applied pressure to you as the manager to respond to their demand. They are in the driver's seat and you are on the defensive.

In the case of the top performer, while you may agree that they should be promoted, you may not be the only decision maker. Many companies require at least two levels of management to approve a promotion. Additionally, there may not be a business need for another position at that level.

The marginal performer clearly has an unrealistic view of the results they have achieved. You are faced with turning the conversation into a tough performance discussion.

Rather than accepting the responsibility to respond immediately, I recommend that you open a dialogue with the employee. Don't immediately agree or disagree. First, remind them that while their growth opportunities are important, their individual goals need to match up to the company's goals. Then ask a few open questions:

• What have you accomplished that has prepared you for this promotion?
• How has the business gained from your contributions?
• How will this new position benefit your career goals as well as the company's goals?

These questions move the conversation away from the emotional reactions. They give you the ability to have a candid conversation with the employee about your assessment of their contribution and the business needs. If the employee is really ready for that promotion, it will give you concrete results that you can use as you pursue additional approvals. If they're not ready, it gives you the opportunity to coach them on how to strengthen their case for the future.

            I just received a very timely joke in my email in basket. The story starts with a woman of a certain age going out to wash her car. On the way to the garage, she notices the mail on the hall table and stops to read it. Putting the junk mail in the trash can reminds her that the garbage needs to be taken out. Since she’ll pass the mailbox on the way out, she decides to write some bills to drop off on her way. These distractions go on all day. She jumps from activity to activity, never completing any of them. The joke ends with the car unwashed, the bills not paid, the flowers not watered, and our heroine trying to figure out why she didn’t get anything done even though she was busy all day. 

  No matter what our age, we can all relate to her dilemma. It seems that our list of things to accomplish each day gets longer and longer both at work and at home. We start to give our attention to one thing which reminds us of something else that is not getting done, or we start a project only to be interrupted. It seems that the only time we can truly concentrate is when we have an imminent deadline and are forced to work on one thing until it’s done. When the cookies need to be ready for the bake sale the next day or an important report is due to the client we force ourselves to concentrate on the task at hand.

 The ability to concentrate is a valuable asset in life and in business. Strengthening our skills in this area will give us a distinct advantage in accomplishing our goals.

One way to do this is to give yourself permission to concentrate for only a short period of time. For example, if you are working on a task that will take four hours, tell yourself you only have to work on it for the next thirty minutes (or fifteen or ten). In those thirty minutes, close the door and don’t answer the phone. Give all of your attention to the project.  At the end of the thirty minutes, relax and do something else. By working on the project in small chunks of time, you increase the odds that you won’t get bored or distracted and lose concentration. 

 Try this technique the next time you are struggling to complete a task and let me know how you make out.

Yahoo HotJobs has ten tips for employees who want to make the boss' A-list. Most of the tips center around creating a better working relationship with the boss. A great manager will take the mystery and guess work out of this process by sharing their preferred work style with the team. Here's how you can put a manager's spin on the tips.

1. Set communication boundaries. Let your team know how frequently and in what manner they should communicate with you. Tell them if you prefer quick updates via email and voicemail or would rather have face to face meetings.
2. Always acknowledge their communications. If you are unable to focus on their issue right away, give them a time frame of when you will discuss it with them.
3. Collaborate with your team. Call on them to provide their technical expertise and insight on project decisions.
4. Make your team look good to your boss. Take every opportunity to highlight the success of one or more of your team in discussions.
5. Tell them your pet peeves. My employees knew that I didn't like long emails and understood that anything over 2 paragraphs would not be read. If they wanted me to take action on something, it needed to be in the first few lines.

Applying these five habits will help you welcome communications from your team and avoid running the other way when you see them coming.

Today's quiz comes from Presidential Trivia: The Feats, Fates, Families, Foibles and Firsts of our American Presidents by Richard Lederer.

Who was the……

1. Only President who could write with both hands at the same time in two different languages.
2. First President who spoke on the radio
3. Youngest elected President
4. First President who was born a U.S. citizen
5. Only President who was a bachelor
6. President who fathered the most children
7. First President who was a baby boomer
8. First President who was born in a hospital
9. Only President who founded a University
10. Only President who resigned

I didn't get as many of these right as I would like. See how you did…..

Answers:

1. James Garfield
2. Warren G. Harding
3. John F. Kennedy
4. Martin Van Buren
5. James Buchanan
6. John Tyler (15)
7. Bill Clinton
8. Jimmy Carter
9. Thomas Jefferson ( University of Virginia)
10. Richard Nixon

I joined the millions of tennis fans a couple of weeks ago who enjoyed the Wimbledon Championships. I saw a lot of great tennis, some surprises and some heartbreaks. As usual, there was much speculation about who would end up in the Men’s and Women’s finals. When it was clear that Venus and Serena Williams would compete on the women’s side and Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer would compete on the men’s side, the commentary reached a fever pitch which didn’t end until the matches were over. Aside from the fantastic tennis in both matches, I was struck by the leadership qualities that were displayed by each of these ‘final four’ and the lessons that we can learn from them.

 Most of us could never imagine competing head to head with a sibling for a job or promotion, yet that is exactly the position that the Williams sisters found themselves in. Having to separate the job from the friendship is one of the hardest things to do in business, particularly if you are in a leadership position.  We can use the same technique as the Williams’ did. They handled this dilemma by accepting no less than excellence in each other as it pertained to the job of tennis while honoring and preserving their family connection. On the court, Venus Williams was totally focused on winning each point. But when the match was over, she put her ‘big sister’ hat back on. She down played her normal exuberance at winning in deference to the fact that it wasn’t just any opponent that she had defeated. 

 On the men’s side, there was a challenge of a different sort. Both Federer and Nadal are at the top of their profession. They are ranked numbers one and two in the world. While they are both strong players, they have different strengths. Federer seemed to be able to get points by serving an ace whenever he needed it while Nadal was able to make shots that would be impossible for a lesser player.  What is typically a two to three hour match went on for almost five hours. During those five hours, the match was suspended twice due to rain. At one point it seemed that they would have to stop and pick up the next day due to the fading light. Yet each time the tarps came off, these two players picked up the game as if it were the beginning of the match.

The take-away I got from them was to stay motivated, stay focused and keep your eyes on your goals. During the second rain delay, Nadal’s hopes of winning seemed to be fading. In the locker room his coach said to him ‘You’re in a worse position now than you were before but just keep playing each point to win’. What wonderful advice! Don’t give up until the game ends. You never know when it could turn your way. Nadal went on to win the match becoming the first Spaniard in forty years to be a Wimbledon champion.

 Focusing on job excellence and keeping your eye on the goal are two vital lessons that can be applied to every career and every position.