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...

Aggressive people are hostile, adopting the “my way or the highway” stance. Passive people give up their power and are easily taken advantage of, which creates a surefire recipe for burnout and resentment. You want to be a happy medium—an assertive person and assertive communication. Assertive people seek out win-win scenarios and make their desires and beliefs known. Confident and assured, they approac...

One of the biggest factors I see impacting many people’s pursuit of their employment goals stems from making excuses for not getting things done on time — or, in some cases, ever. When asking someone why they didn’t carry out their objectives for the week, I’ve heard everything from the usual “my dog ate my homework” to “I couldn’t do it because I had to take my dead cat to th...

As we wind down from the Independence Day weekend, let’s celebrate freedom of choice! Recent surveys have found that 80% of U.S. workers would turn down a job that does not offer flexibility with hours and location of work. Choosing a Job and Career with Flexibility If you want a job with flexible hours and/or location, the best way to start is by choosing a career and industry where flexibility is the norm. Job...

I once had a boss who informed me there was no such thing as company politics. At the time, I decided that depended on whether you were the person wielding power or influenced by it. I’d categorize self-serving antics, sabotaging behaviors, information hoarding, and artful manipulation under the heading of organizational politics. I’d throw in veiled threats, perpetuated mistruths, finger-pointing, and coerci...

Before analyzing the details of state of the art resume building, a bit of context is in order. As a job applicant you need to know how the process really works to gauge your perfect resume’s chance of success. Let’s take a quick quiz. True or false? 1) Your resume took hours or maybe even days to write so it will get a careful look. False: Even your visually appealing resume will get a quick glance. Som...

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...

Most people have never been taught how to conduct an executive job search, unless they have had the insight to work with an executive career coach. Research shows that the average executive spends 4 years in a job — and has as many as 12-15 jobs over the course of a career. You may thrive on variety and change in your career. But no one likes to linger in the “unknown’ too long when making a transition...

As many of my readers know, I had an 18-year corporate marketing career that was very “successful” on the outside, but entirely unsuccessful on the inside. I faced a myriad of crises and challenges including gender discrimination, sexual harassment, zero work-life control or balance, chronic illness, narcissistic bosses and colleagues, and more. But worse than all that was the painfully nagging question “I...