Does your workplace have talent density? According to Reed Hastings, the founder of Netflix, talent density is when innovative workplaces with highly skilled people collaborate effectively. When talent density is high, people devote more energy to their jobs, and work harder to make the company succeed. Talent density can be diluted when one or more […]
Clean Up Your Digital Footprint
What would a stranger think if he or she googled you? Before the internet, job applicants could tailor the images they presented to employers by sending in paper résumés that listed all their best qualities. In today’s world, however, we don’t quite have as much control over how other people perceive us. Often, potential employers […]
How to Be a Player
Perhaps you’re familiar with the board game Monopoly, where you can purchase premium properties like Boardwalk and Park Place, or build a hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue. The objective of the game is to acquire as many properties as possible, so that you can bankrupt your opponents by charging steep rents. In the real world, of […]
Can You Spot a Psychopath?
A mysterious manuscript led journalist Jon Ronson into the heart of the “madness industry,” where he talked to some of the top psychologists and neurologists who study psychopaths. Ronson’s investigation introduced him to a researcher with an interesting idea: that murderous criminals and corporate executives share many of the same psychological traits. The main difference is […]
Don’t Work Hard. Work Smart.
Most work is about quality over quantity. If you’re working long hours every day, every week, you might not be working intelligently enough. Underearners often think they’ll never make high wages because it would require a superhuman amount of hard work. But the real secret to success is to be a high earner while setting […]
How to Handle Feedback
We need other people’s feedback to make ourselves (and our organizations) better. But what many people fail to realize is that collecting feedback is only one step in a longer process of self-improvement. The next two steps in the feedback loop, processing and responding, are must not be forgotten. Feedback needs to be heard, yes; […]
Do You Have a Motive?
People are motivated by many kinds of desires. To sell something, first you need to get to know your audience—especially what motivates them. Understanding the psychology of motivation is the key to the art of persuasion. People are much more apt to buy into ideas and personalities than they are to buy products or plans. […]
The Art of Customer Service
A lot of experts talk about how important it is to provide good customer service. But a single extraordinary experience where customer service goes above and beyond does not guarantee continued patronage. The truth is that most consumers don’t need stellar customer service. They just want to achieve their desired outcome with as little effort […]
2 Things You Need to Know About Teamwork
Successful endeavors are difficult, if not impossible, to undertake as as an individual. To reach the upper echelons of achievement, you need a great team. But simply forming that team won’t lead to great teamwork by itself. One way to make sure that everyone on the team is on the same page is to align […]
Unfinished Business
It’s much easier to start a new project than to finish an old one. Our open tasks can accrue over time, piling up until they become intimidating to address. Such unfinished business can become a mental roadblock. Tackling unfinished work may feel overwhelming at first, but if the task is broken into smaller steps, you […]
