Workers with flexibility are more satisfied, innovative, and productive.| Harvard Business Review
As humans, we tend to interpret information in a way that confirms our existing beliefs and serves our own self-interest. In situations that lack clarity, we often make assumptions that serve to bolster our egos and self-esteem. We selectively interpret information to support our own position, and overlook or dismiss information that contradicts our views. This is known as the self-serving bias, and it can lead to suboptimal decision-making or even contribute to conflict, as we become more en...| Harvard Business Review
The personality traits of a salesperson can determine the success of a career. Rather than relying solely on product knowledge or charisma, grit and drive will fuel achievement while curiosity and conscientiousness bring credibility.| salesfuel.com
Continuous learning is the key to having lasting influence in your career, yet a heavy workload makes it hard to find the time. To ensure you’re creating opportunities even when you’re feeling depleted or overwhelmed, try these five strategies: 1) Challenge your beliefs about your capacity; 2) Start with topics that solve urgent problems; 3) Don’t limit yourself to formal programs; 4) Make an emotional connection to learning; and 5) Work with your brain, not against it.| Harvard Business Review
Reprint: R1301L The more uncertain your environment, the greater the opportunity—if you have the leadership skills to capitalize on it. Research at the Wharton School and at the authors’ consulting firm, involving more than 20,000 executives to date, has identified six skills that, when mastered and used in concert, allow leaders to think strategically and navigate the unknown effectively. They are the abilities to anticipate, challenge, interpret, decide, align, and learn. This article d...| Harvard Business Review
Making sure your employees regularly take time off is key to creating a more sustainable workplace. Research shows that taking time off benefits employees in three ways: 1) Mentally. Taking a vacation provides greater opportunity for rest and better sleep (both quantity and quality), which can help unclutter your mind to boost creativity. 2) Body. Relaxing on vacation can reduce the levels of your stress hormones and allow your immune system to recover, making you less prone to get sick. 3) S...| Harvard Business Review
What’s the best way to follow up after a job interview? First, write a thank-you note to the hiring manager no later than a day after. Keep it short and sweet, but mention one specific thing that you learned about their organization. If you don’t hear back by the date they said they’d make a decision, don’t panic. Wait a week, and if it’s still radio silence, follow up with a short note expressing your excitement about the role. Finally, if you don’t get the job, you can send one ...| Harvard Business Review
In the twenty-first century, human capital is the most valuable resource in our economy. And though much has been done (rightly) to promote diversity at work, there’s a giant hole when it comes to understanding how temperament and sentiment play into the trajectory of success. Mental illness is a challenge, but it is not a weakness. Understanding your psyche can be the key to unleashing your strengths — whether it’s using your sensitivity to empathize with clients, your anxiety to be a ...| Harvard Business Review
Although most people believe that they are self-aware, true self-awareness is a rare quality. In this piece, the author describes a recent large-scale investigation that shed light on some of the biggest roadblocks, myths, and truths about what self-awareness really is — and what it takes to cultivate it. Specifically, the study found that there are actually two distinct types of self-awareness, that experience and power can hinder self-awareness, and that introspection doesn’t always mak...| Harvard Business Review
Outbound lead generation is effective. However, when you open a cold call, you must be ready to listen and have a strategic follow up.| salesfuel.com
The high cost of overwork.| Harvard Business Review
Active listening requires mastering many skills, including reading body language and tone of voice, maintaining your attention, and being aware of and controlling your emotional response. In this article, the author explains what active listening is and how to improve this essential communication skill.| Harvard Business Review
89% of employees waste at least part of their time working every day. And what might be even more shocking, an employee can spend as much as 30 hours per week checking emails. These statistics are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to challenges that people face trying to spend their time more productively. And when you consider how challenging utilizing each minute you have can be, these struggles are not surprising. Finding time management techniques that work for you can be a hass...| David Henzel
The majority of the success you can achieve in your professional career won’t happen by accident. It also won’t be a result of dumb luck or circumstances. Instead, you will probably find that the professional situation you’re in will be largely a result of your decisions over the years. But unfortunately, many professionals fail to take a structured approach to planning out their careers, relying on intuition and circumstances. And that doesn’t always get them where they truly wante...| David Henzel
According to a survey of key executives, business coaching can provide an ROI of $6 for every dollar spent. Some of the key areas of improvement were a boost in productivity, job satisfaction, and organizational strengths, just to name a few. But despite that, many entrepreneurs and business leaders are still hesitant about hiring a business coach to help them grow and reach their goals. Whether it’s lack of time, fear of high costs, or even uncertainty of how to find the right coach, man...| David Henzel
Having direction is one of the key ingredients to success in life. But while most people understand it, only 14% of people actually have a plan in mind that they follow. And unsurprisingly, that 14% is up to ten times more successful than the vast majority of people that don’t set goals and try to accomplish them. But at the same time, setting just any goals isn’t very practical as well. You can spend years working towards something only to realize that it doesn’t align with who you...| David Henzel
Being proactive is an integral part of running a business. Whether you’re an employee, a CEO, or anyone in between, being proactive is one of those traits that’s seen as essential to success and one of the company’s key assets. And the truth is, proactive behavior does usually live up to its reputation, especially when comparing proactive vs. reactive behavior. You’ll find many examples of ways that being proactive can transform a business, and some of the most successful people in bu...| David Henzel
If you feel like you could be spending your time more effectively, you’re not alone. Up to 80% of the average workday is spent on low-value or unproductive activities, which leaves only 20% for truly meaningful tasks. But while most people understand the importance of becoming more productive, finding an approach that works in each situation is difficult. After all, each person has their own unique challenges, priorities, and time availability, so how can you address all that and still be...| David Henzel
Especially if they are older workers, or confident ones.| Harvard Business Review
The year end is a busy time for almost everyone. As we use our smartphones to confirm online gift orders, we’re also trying to wrap up those work tasks we should have finished in November. We feel overwhelmed but also productive, pleased with our ability to juggle so many things. In reality, however, that sort […]| Harvard Business Review
Don’t let poor lunch decisions derail your day.| Harvard Business Review
What exactly is psychological safety? It’s a term that’s used a lot but is often misunderstood. In this piece, the author answers the following questions with input from Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson, who coined the phrase “team psychological safety”: 1) What is psychological safety? 2) Why is psychological safety important? 3) How has the idea evolved? 4) How do you know if your team has it? 5) How do you create psychological safety? 6) What are common misconceptions?| Harvard Business Review
Nearly every company in the world gives lip service to the idea that “our people are our greatest asset.” Yet when the Conference Board Survey came out earlier this year, employees were the unhappiest they have been in their 22 years of tracking job satisfaction rates. Around the same time, CNNMoney reported a survey that […]| Harvard Business Review
Start by getting the challenge/skills ratio right.| Harvard Business Review
Research has shed light on the power of focus and its role as a hidden driver of success. Yet as helpful as focus can be, research also shows there’s a downside to it: excessive focus exhausts the focus circuits in your brain. It can drain your energy, make you lose self-control, impair your decision-making, and make you less collaborative. The brain operates optimally when it toggles between focus and unfocus. When you unfocus, you engage a brain circuit called the default mode network (DM...| Harvard Business Review
While world-class organizations craft banner vision statements to inspire their efforts toward success, most people haven’t thought to do so for themselves. As we watch the Olympic Games in Beijing, we are reminded in interview after interview with champion athletes about the importance of envisioning their success, of visualizing their performance flowing perfectly, leading to […]| Harvard Business Review
Email has become the bane of the 21 st century workers’ existence, but by making a few changes to how we process e-mail, we can take back time in our workday. For starters, move every email out of your inbox the first time you read it, so you don’t run the risk of re-reading it later, thus wasting time. Turn off distracting notifications and instead check your email hourly, setting aside 5 to 8 minutes per hour to do so. Instead of filing e-mails you want to keep in multiple folders, use ...| Harvard Business Review
