Career development is about more than just “growing” your career. It’s about defining the career you want, and then mapping a path for getting there. In this post, we’ll explore a step-by-step approach to vision-driven career planning. Just as a good gardener does some planning while dreaming of exciting growth ahead, so a smart professional…
Toxic Leadership: Identify It, Remove It, Prevent It
Toxic leadership poses a dangerous threat to businesses, nonprofits, and teams everywhere. It’s a real and persistent issue—but it’s not contagious, nor is the cure controversial. So let’s eradicate this one, once and for all. COVID-19 has delivered unimaginable pain and revealed the power of our perseverance. Its lessons will inform our future in both…
5 Steps to Mastering the Law of Compensation
Applying the law of compensation is not just the secret to earning more money. It’s a mindset that helps you continuously grow, increase your value, and contribute to your team and community. The approach is a timeless one, but it’s worth considering anew: your effort and contributions determine the return you receive. In other words,…
Simple Management Lessons from Small Tax Forms
Blame my accountant’s wall, but I have some strong opinions about the value of simplicity, the epidemic of complexity, and the opportunity we all have to choose one path or the other. For leaders and managers, this is an especially important topic. Because in the world of business, we don’t always get to select the…
Active Listening and Beyond: 3 Steps toward Effective Communication
Active listening skills aren’t just a nice-to-have. They improve communication, strengthen relationships, boost team performance, spur personal and professional growth, and play a huge role in leadership excellence. Taken further, active listening is not just functional. It’s effective. How so? Anyone who has experienced good listening can understand its power. When someone listens to you well,…
Should I Retire or Not? 3 Questions to Ask During the Next Retirement Ad
Should I retire or not? This is an increasingly common and important question—one that challenges a broken paradigm and points to some intrinsic truths about your career goals and personal life vision. In this post, we’ll look at “traditional” retirement, nonretirement, and unretirement, specifically discussing: The status quo of assumed retirement A brief history of retirement (hint: it’s sociological,…