Shifting from Manager to Leader Just because you have a management title doesn’t automatically mean you’re a great leader. But making that sometimes-subtle shift is essential for the success of your career and your organization. There’s a lot at stake. So what’s the real difference between management and leadership? Effective managers are task-focused and might be described as dependable and...

One of my teammates, George, forwarded me this blog post, “Why I Don’t Talk to Google Recruiters” where the author says he does not do interviews with Google’s (or Amazon’s, or other big tech companies’) recruiters who contact him via email or social media. Why? He is a programmer and his perspective is that he has come to learn that HR recruiters don’t know much about how to...

How to Do What You Love The number one resolution each year is change. Be it weight loss or leaving bad habits behind, the beginning of the year always represents a fresh start. For many women, it seems as though you spend each day trudging into work, doing what you must to get by. Then one day you wake up, aged 20 years and completely unfulfilled. No one has intentions of being this person, but it happens all too often....

Marketing resumes are a favorite for me to write because the role of marketing has changed so much in the past years. For example, marketing professionals are now finding themselves nose-deep in social media strategies, customer value analysis, growth hacking, customer relationship management (CRM), split testing, and yes, deep-dive data analysis. There are now job titles where IT and marketing are being mashed together...

Last week I wrote about apprenticeship, the ancient business strategy that I recommend every modern manager use. But, ahem, not all managers read my blog and even the most well-meaning managers don’t always follow best practices when it comes to training and coaching employees. (And yes, I know it’s weird to write about apprenticeship when this is going on…) While you can’t change your manager&rs...

Have you ever thought about how you learned to do your job? While there are new challenges every day, of course, there is also so much that you seem to just “know.” That proficiency not only inspires your clients and team to trust you, but it creates a self-confidence that boosts you to perform even better, day after day. But when you think back, it’s hard to remember how you figured out the ins and out...

Resume and hiring trends can confuse even executives, especially when they are getting advice from multiple sources, and some information may contradict what others are saying. So what data, specific to hiring and resume trends, can you depend upon? Career Directors International (CDI) created a Global Hiring Trends report after surveying professionals worldwide for their insights and preferences and brought context a...

We’re living in a golden age of entrepreneurship. There’s never been a more favorable time for founders, freelancers and members of the side-hustle generation seeking to define success on their own terms. Look around and you’ll find no shortage of inspirational figures leading the way. They are today’s visionaries, including self-made women who have built history-making brands with genius, guts...

Let’s hear some more! Here is one powerful way that I stand out as an executive coach. I have a unique compensation system – I only get paid if my clients get better. And, “better” means my clients achieve positive, measurable change in behavior, not as judged by themselves but by their key stakeholders. This process usually takes about 18 months and involves an average of 16 stakeholders. My c...

Considering the number of people they deal with every day, project managers are ripe for professional rejection. But although unpleasant, rejection can be seen as a critical warning and/or badge of honor. This post, featuring an exclusive interview with Halley Bock, author of Life, Incorporated, will explore the types of professional rejection, how you should take it in different situations, and what it means when you&rsquo...