An adventure is a trip without a destination. A journey is when experience is more important than the destination. The quest is focused on exploration and discovery seeking a goal or result. Quests are personally relevant and can be done alone or with a group. They...
There was an article in The Guardian titled “Feel like quitting your job or your relationship? Maybe you should…”. The premise of the article that we may have gone too far with the Grit Culture made popular by Angela Duckworth’s book Grit: The Power of Passion...
Companies have a board of directors. The group provides high-level guidance on business strategy and performance. Board members offer an outside perspective and have different areas of expertise. What if we had the same for our career development? A group...
A career coach is often only discussed as someone is well into their career. The concept of having a coach is foreign to many. Common questions include: What is the role of a coach? How is this different from a mentor? And how much does it cost? There are many...
When we look for advice on our career, there are a lot of options. You can seek advice from books, 1on1 with others, and even within groups. Some options are free, while others take an investment. With each alternative, there is preparation needed. The...
When we hear the word portfolio, our minds typically go to a creative portfolio. This is where a designer, copywriter, photographer, or other creative can highlight their work. Why isn’t this practice present for knowledge workers in other disciplines?...
The concept of thought leadership has been on my mind lately. The dictionary definition of a thought leader is “a person whose views are taken to be authoritative and influential. Some articles suggest that thought leaders have a following while “regular”...
We will each hold an average of 12 different jobs in our lifetimes. This means that we will have many opportunities to adjust to how we fold into a new position. With each move, we need to learn a lot about the company, work, and co-workers. At the same time,...
While there aren’t any statistics available on the percentage of the population that identifies as being multi-passionate, there are some trends that indicate an increase in following multiple career passions. Rise of Gig Economy – Individuals working in the gig...
Yesterday we talked about “unicorns” at work introducing the concepts of I-, T-, and M-Shaped individuals. Today, I want to expand that conversation to another category. These are the multi-passionate or sometimes referred to as hybrid professionals. They...
Companies are looking for more creativity and innovation. This creativity often comes from looking at problems through different lenses. At the team level, this can be fostered by increasing the diversity of the team members ensuring there are varied...
I read a recent article in Fast Company titled “Five Key Skills New Managers Will Need This Year”. This is a good article full of statistics about transitions back to the office and hybrid work. The focus is around the responsibility of implementing return to office...
I recently read an article from Fast Company titled “Managers, You Can Support Your High Performers by Asking This Question Twice”. The article suggested that you repeat the question “how are you?” when people provide a short, canned answer like fine, good, or...
Everyone has them. A person at work that never seems to see the situation the way you do. They rub you the wrong way. Interactions with them are a challenge. Yet, there isn’t an option to avoid them. You may be on a team or project together. They may be your client or...
When we think about looking for a new job, the first thing we often do is freshen up our resume and make sure it’s up to date. We dive into the search and start sending resumes and cover letters to companies that seem of interest. Soon we realize that we want to...
I recently read a Fast Company article titled “The 4 Crucial Expectations Gen Z teams have for the Workplace”. For quite some time marketing conversations about Gen Z have focused on how younger buyers have higher expectations for getting information that is...
Thinking about several topics – personal branding, intentional connections, career development – a collision happened in my mind. How does our professional brand change as our career evolves? Can we be more intentional about what the long-term imprints look like? Is...
There are so many benefits of routines that help us keep positive habits. Morning routines can ease us into our day. A nighttime routine can do the same to ease into sleep. We add healthy habits to routines like exercise, skin care, brushing our teeth, meditation, and...
Careers are interesting. There are no roadmaps out there to help you navigate. The process is extremely personal and no one else can define what is best for you in your career journey. Personal branding is an area I’ve spent time learning and...
A few weeks ago, I had a thought that work meetings can start to feel like middle school. You go from class to class, on the hour, and when the day ends, the homework begins. Conversations with many adult knowledge workers sound similar. We just...
Jobs and careers move in cycles. When we start a new role, we are learning a lot about the responsibilities, the organization, the team, and the projects. The job is getting done. However, we are primarily following directions and process. This is the time...