With many people still working from home, finding the right work-life balance is more difficult than ever. Here’s an important rule of thumb: Productivity is a means, not an end. Hard work should be viewed as a tool for reaching your goals rather than an inherently noble character trait. A professional who gives the impression of being […]
Learn from the Middle
There’s no such thing as having too many leaders in a workplace. Famed leadership consultant and author John C. Maxwell doesn’t just define leadership as a top-down phenomenon that is limited to people in managerial roles. Maxwell says that most leadership takes place in the middle of the organizational hierarchy—and that it’s important for these […]
Is Your Service Up to Snuff?
Disney has made headlines recently with its plans to reopen parts of its flagship theme park in Orlando, Florida in just a few weeks. (The Shanghai location opened on June 16, and the California location may follow suit later this summer.) A Disney vacation may look different for the foreseeable future, but the company has […]
Let a Stranger Fix Your Life
Professional networking norms have been different in 2020. (Obviously!) Around the world, in-person conferences have been cancelled or postponed, which has eliminated many of the pathways by which people find the mentors who guide them to the next phase in their personal and career development. Fortunately, you don’t have to be well-connected to find a first-class mentor. Self-help guru […]
Style Your Business Like a Startup
These days, everyone’s an entrepreneur. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, startups were still all the rage: eye-popping IPOs drew attention to the ways that startups used dense talent pools and perk-laden headquarters to attract top talent and generate big wins for venture capitalists and early employees. But now that the economic outlook has soured, VC […]
3 Tips for Weathering a Downturn
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 40 million Americans have filed for unemployment. According to the World Bank, the global pandemic has triggered a recession that will be the deepest one the world has seen in decades. Many people, particularly those who have lost their jobs or fear they soon will, feel […]
How to Make a Good Impression
Most of us don’t remember every detail of our daily activities. It’s the defining moments, whether they’re terrible or great, that make experiences memorable and give our lives shape and meaning. When defining moments are positive, they can deepen our relationships with individuals, organizations, and customers. Defining moments make or break the customer experience. In business, […]
How to Play the Game
As research for his book Tools of Titans, self-help guru Tim Ferriss interviewed hundreds of world-class performers to learn about the habits, tools, and tactics they used to become successful. One of the themes that emerged from these interviews was that all problems in life should be tackled with a two-pronged strategy, involving both offensive and […]
The Upside to Upending Your Routine
Distraction and change can be beneficial, even under difficult circumstances. Amid the global upheaval caused by the novel coronavirus, many of us are dealing with more distraction and change than usual. A small silver lining: the disruption might help develop your capacity for creative thinking and innovation. Changing plans, working in different environments, and negotiating general […]
Working From Home? We’ll help you stay productive.
In the late seventeenth century, Trinity College in Cambridge, England issued an urgent message to its students and faculty: go home, or risk getting sick. At the time, London was being ravaged by an outbreak of the bubonic plague that ultimately killed a quarter of the city’s population. However, the warning sent by that school’s […]