As an executive joining a new organization, you are expected to achieve a higher level of productivity within the first few months with a lower learning curve than other employees. Executives must be ready to make an immediate contribution once they’ve accepted their job offer. You can achieve this by knowing everything you can about the organization, its culture, your team, your executive colleagues, and the Bo...

We live in an age of remarkable products and services from inventive thinkers with lofty ideas. These visionary leaders, who don’t think or work like anyone else, have started businesses based on novel concepts, and those whose achievements greatly impact society are afforded special status. Employees often flock to these visionaries’ companies, hoping the future will offer prosperity within a corporate cultu...

Grit is defined as firmness of mind or spirit – an unyielding courage in the face of hardship. The career world is changing so fast that grit has also become a sought after competency for hiring and a necessity for entrepreneurs and innovators. The emerging research indicates that grit can determine success or achievement far better than grades, credentials or professional pedigree. Linda Kaplan Thaler and initiati...

In the bygone era, prior to the late 1980s, life in corporate America was good. It was comfortable. Predictable. Secure. All you had to do was go to college (or not), get a job, work your way up, and then, 40 years later, retire with a full pension. By 1988, “downsizing” had come into favor as a quick way to boost both shareholder value and earnings per share. In 1993, IBM, which had previously never reduced it...

Among the pressing fears for human beings, public speaking ranks at the very top along with heights and snakes. As someone who really enjoys public speaking, I realize that I may be part of a small population but I also know how speaking has enhanced my communication and leveraged my career brand. I offer wisdom to the non-speaker about how to get started and consider how speaking – from the intimate board room or...

It's easy to understand why entrepreneurs start multiple businesses. Taking risks and innovating are in their blood. However, even the savviest entrepreneur is human, and we can only focus our energy and resources in so many directions before our cash flow takes a hit. Let's explore some tips for getting promising new enterprises off the ground while keeping a watchful eye on the business that currently earns you...

There’s a lot of talk surrounding the impending “robot apocalypse.” Over the last couple of decades, driverless cars and life-like robots only appeared in sci-fi movies, but the lines between fiction and reality have started to blur. Examining the influence of automation on the American job market, researchers from Oxford University state that almost 50% of U.S. workers are likely to lose their jobs to aut...

In the movie, 'Star Wars,' Obi Wan-Kenobi gave Luke Skywalker a sword that seemed to have magical powers. The sword was useless to Luke when he lacked confidence in his abilities. But when Luke realized that he had the magical powers within to create his own perception of reality, he wielded the sword with confidence and accuracy. Do you have control over your life career? Indicate yes or no: I didn't get t...

“Find your passion.” The phrase conjures up some mixed feelings. On one hand, we imagine Future Me living our best life, one where we’re smiling at work and making real and important change happen. There’s a glossy filter on this fantasy. And on the other hand, we feel a small bubble of panic rise from our stomachs; I haven’t found my passion yet—was is wrong with me? Or I thought I found...

Almost 10% of white-collar workers in the US now work from home on a full-time basis, and more than 40% of all white-collar workers work from home at least once per week. This flexible work arrangement is one that costs employers nothing but engenders high engagement from employees. While many people report that they are more productive when they work from home, many also struggle with the blurred line between home and wor...