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Leadership:You Don’t Have To Be A People Manager To Have A Successful Career…Did you Know Research has Shown that Only about One in 10 Employees has the Necessary Traits to be a Good People Manager?

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At a recent coffee talk with several young people I mentor, the discussion took an interesting turn. When I asked the group what it meant to be successful in their careers, almost every person said that success meant being promoted into higher and higher-level jobs and eventually managing a large team of people.

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Don't try and fit square pegs into round holes — change the shape of the hole.

Don’t try and fit square pegs into round holes — change the shape of the hole.

So I asked the group if they thought someone could have a successful career if they weren’t a people manager. Most started squirming in their chairs. Then they looked at each other, hoping someone else would answer my question.

“Did you know research has shown that only about one in 10 employees has the necessary traits to be a good people manager?” I asked. Many raised their eyebrows in surprise.

“And what do you think happened with companies as they downsized during the recession and laid off workers?” I added.

“They let go a lot of managers,” one person responded.

Another said: “Companies flattened their organizational structures. That’s what happened where I work. Managers used to have about six employees. Now most of the managers have at least 15 to 20 people working for them.”
“What does that mean if you want to become a people manager?” I asked the group. You could have heard a pin drop in the silence that followed.

 

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One person leaned back and crossed his arms. “It means that it really sucks for us if we want to be a manager. Now it’ll be even harder because there are fewer and fewer management jobs.” The rest nodded their heads in agreement.

That’s when I changed the direction of the discussion to try and understand why so many of them felt the need to measure their career success against whether or not they became a people manager. Turns out that most had seen successful people managers being touted in the media or had listened to business speakers during college, all of whom were people managers, not individual contributors.

What this conversation with my mentees taught me is how important it is for mentors, career coaches, writers and the media to demonstrate to the next generation that you don’t have to be a people manager to have a successful career. There are successful individual contributors in all kinds of jobs, in almost every industry.

I know computer programmers, insurance agents, sales reps, supply chain engineers, artists, graphic designers, writers, medical personnel, lawyers and even consultants (and the list could go on forever) who are highly successful in their careers – and all are individual contributors. They love the independence they have in their jobs and that they don’t have to deal with a lot of the issues and stress that comes with managing other people.

Bottom Line: Don’t let peer pressure or what’s being shown in the media drive your definition of career success. Determine your unique differentiators and then build on those strengths to create the kind of career you want – because you don’t have to be a people manager to have a successful (and fulfilling) career.

~ Lisa Quast, author of the book, Secrets of a Hiring Manager Turned Career Coach: A Foolproof Guide to Getting the Job You Want. Every Time.   Join me on Twitter @careerwomaninc

 

Businessinsider.com | March 9, 2015  |  Lisa Quast

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Strategy: 6 Verbal Tricks Bosses use to Manipulate Employees…Now it’s Your Turn. Any Deceptive (or Just Irritating) Conversation Moves You’d Like to Add to the List?

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We all notice when people overuse certain words or phrases. (I love him, but as I write this somewhere Howard Stern is saying, “In other words…”)

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I’m guilty too, having once carried on an all too public affair with, “That’s neither here nor there.” (In my defense I always thought it was neither here nor there.)

You probably have your own verbal tics too… but at least you’re trying to say what you mean. What’s worse is when people — especially leaders — use certain expressions to divert attention, hide what they really mean, or simply fail to do their jobs.

Like these all too common moves:

1. The Fake Agreement: Pretending to agree while expressing the opposite point of view.

Example: “I definitely see what you’re saying… but I don’t think we should take on that project.”

In fact you don’t really see what I’m saying because otherwise you would agree with what I’m saying. Beginning a sentence with, “I hear you…” is like a condescending pat on the head.

Don’t try to couch a different opinion inside a warm and fuzzy Fake Agreement. If you disagree, say so.

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2. The Unsupported Closure: Ending a discussion or making a decision without backup or solid justification.

Example: “At the end of the day, we’re here to sell products.”

Really? I had no idea we’re supposed to sell products!

Unsupported Closure is the go-to move for people who want something a certain way and don’t feel like — or more likely can’t — justify why. Whenever you feel an, “At the end of the day…” coming on, take a deep breath and start over; otherwise you’ll spout inane platitudes instead of objective reasons that may actually help people get behind your decision.

Quick note: A Fake Agreement combines nicely with an Unjustified Closure: “I hear what you’re saying, but at the end of the day it’s my job to make the decision.” Win-win!

3. The Double Name: Using a person’s name twice — especially your own — in the same sentence as a way to justify unusual or unacceptable behavior.

Example: “Hey, what can I say? That’s just Joe being Joe.” (Even worse, “Hey, what can I say? That’s just me being me.”)

The Double Name is just a way to excuse behavior that wouldn’t be tolerated from others. You just being you… is you just being a jerk.

(And everyone knows it.)

4. The False Uncertainty: Pretending you’re not sure when, in fact, you are.

Example: “You know, when I think about it I’m not sure shutting down that facility isn’t actually the best option.”

Oh yes, you’re sure; you’re just trying to create buy-in or a sense of inclusion by pretending you still have an open mind… or you’re planting seeds for something you know you will eventually do.

Never say you are not sure unless you truly are not — and are willing to consider other viewpoints.

5. The First Person Theoretical: Pretending to be another person in order to explore different points of view.

Example: “Let’s say I’m the average customer. I walk in your store. I want to buy a shirt…and so on.”

You can get away with this occasionally, but more than once a year is really irritating.

Think about it. Let’s say I’m the average reader and I know someone who uses the First Person Theoretical to pretend they’re putting themselves in someone else’s shoes. And let’s say I’m thinking it’s really irritating.

And let’s say I’m thinking we should just move on… and circle back to where we started:

6. The Favorite Word: Using a word so often… that word becomes the only word anyone hears.

Examples: Endless.

Not really deceptive, but still diverts attention.

For example, I had a boss who never met a sentence he couldn’t find a way to shoehorn “in other words,” “in general,” and “regarding” into. Often he could cram all three into the same sentence. I once kept track and counted thirty-seven “in other words” in four minutes. (Hey, I’m not proud.)

When you fall in love with a word or expression other people not only tire of it but they start to hear nothing else — and whatever you hoped to get across gets lost while people think, “Oh jeez. For once could he leave out the ‘that’s neither here nor there'”?

Trust me. I know.

Now it’s your turn. Any deceptive (or just irritating) conversation moves you’d like to add to the list?

 

Businessinsider.com |  March 2, 2015  |  JEFF HADEN, LINKEDIN

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/6-verbal-tricks-bosses-use-deceive-employees-just-jeff-haden#ixzz3To7RemCe

Leadership: We Are All Temporary Workers…It Will all be Over Sooner Than you Think. Whether you Love or Hate your Job, it is Not Permanent

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Nothing is permanent. It is easy to forget that.  Day after day, you take the same commute to work. Month after month, someone – your client or boss, perhaps – manages to annoy you. They are unreasonable, over-demanding, insensitive. You long for the day when no one is your boss.

Clock Man

Not so fast.

It will all be over sooner than you think. Whether you love or hate your job, it is not permanent. No human being has yet managed to hold a job for, say, five centuries. No one has been VP of Business Development for 87 years.

In the midst of day-to-day routines, your life can seem static, unchanging, even boring. This is a misperception. It is a failure of imagination.

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On any given day, you can approach your tasks with a fresh perspective. You can bring to the front of your mind the recognition that some day you will yearn for what you take for granted today: responsibility, obligations and routine. You can understand that you have room for improvement. Even more importantly, you have room for gratitude.

Some days, I wake up and everything seems to be a struggle. The weather seems oppressive, perhaps gray, dreary and chilling. People around me are in a bad mood. My mood is worse. I yearn for something different, for anything new.

Other days, everything seems to be a miracle. The sun is shining brightly, as it is today. It may be freezing in the morning, but the hint of spring is in the air. There are five projects that demand my attention, and I’m excited about each one.

You know what I mean. The main difference between these days is not some external factor. It is you. Inspiration comes from inside. So does joy, satisfaction and pride.

Across the span of my life, one lesson rises above all others:

We have a much greater ability to change than we believe.

When people say, “Change is the only constant,” it implies that change is something that happens to us, something out of our control. In fact, that is only partially true.

You have the ability to take control of far more change than may be obvious.

You can change how proactive you are.

You can change how positive you are.

You can change how much effort you exert.

You can change how grateful you are.

You can change your expectations.

You can change your willingness to be honest and open.

You can change the level of grit you display.

You can change how curious and imaginative you are.

You can change how respectful you are.

This point in time is YOUR point in time. Make it matter. Make it special. As a marketer might say, “For a limited time only, you get the deal of a lifetime.”

Love your work. Love your life.

Bruce Kasanoff is a ghostwriter and speaker.

 

Your Career: How To Conduct A Pain Interview With Your Hiring Manager…You May have to Ask Several Pain-Related Questions. Even Very Competent & Astute Managers Don’t Always have a Clear View of What’s Working Well & What isn’t. You Will be a Consultant to your Hiring Manager, Even Before you Get a Job! Practice Pain Interviewing & ee if you don’t find what other Job-Seekers have Found: That it’s More Interesting, more Intellectually Stimulating, More Fun & More Likely to Lead to a Job Offer to Talk about Pain & Solutions Than to Stick to the Interview Script!

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Pain Interviewing begins when you shift your hiring executive’s focus from the standard interview script to the actual business matters he or she is responsible for.

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We call it Pain Interviewing because in the same way that a Pain Letter deals with the real Business Pain behind the job ad, a Pain Interview digs into what isn’t working right now in your hiring manager’s world. That’s the meat of the matter.

Who cares what kind of soup you would be if you were a can of soup, or what you think your greatest weaknesses are or what you had for breakfast? An interview is a business meeting, so let’s talk about business!

 

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You can help your hiring manager get off the interview script and begin the Pain Interviewing process.

You’ll do it by answering one of your hiring manager’s questions, often the question “Tell me about yourself!” with a short answer and then ‘spinning the table’ to ask a question of your own.

Here’s a script to illustrate the Spin the Table processand get your hiring manager off the interview script into a human conversation about real business issues.

Once you begin to get off the script and talk about the Business Pain behind the job ad, you’ll find that the conversation gets easier and more interesting. All you can do when you’re being asked traditional interview questions is sit and answer them.

You are not an active participant in the interview process as long as you’re answering questions like a person taking an oral exam or a citizenship test.

You have to get off the script to get to the heart of what’s going on in the organization you’re thinking about joining.

Here are some Business Pain questions you can ask your hiring manager at your job interview. When you ask these questions and talk about your hiring executive’s business obstacles, you’ll be in a Pain Interview!

You have to start with a Pain Hypothesis that you formulated long before the interview, maybe a week or two ago. You researched the organization. You read your hiring manager’s LinkedIn LNKD -1.38% profile from top to bottom. You thought about the question “If I were this manager, what would be keeping me up at night?”

Is it customer service hold times, or the fact that the company has no social media strategy from what you can tell? Is it problems with financing for new product development? You know a lot about your industry and your function. Let’s put that learning to use!

Here’s how you’ll advance a Pain Hypothesis to get the Pain Interview party started!

MANAGER: So, how long have you been using Excel?

YOU: Oh, about five years I guess – I love Excel. I’m a spreadsheet geek, for sure. Listen, can I ask you a quick question about the job?

MANAGER: Sure! (He’s bored with the dumb scripted interview questions, too.) 

YOU: Fantastic. I’m wondering about your product roadmap. You launched the edible nail-polish line about 18 month ago, right?

MANAGER: Give or take.

YOU: And it looks like it’s doing well, but it’s more of a novelty than your other products. I see it in the novelty gift stores at the mall, rather than chocolate shops.

MANAGER: Yeah, that product didn’t really work in chocolate shops.

YOU: But it was a big seller when it launched. I’m curious what your product roadmap looks like now, and how you’re feeling about the new product release schedule for 2015.

MANAGER: That’s an insightful question. It’s one of the reasons I’m hiring a Number Two here in Marketing. I have my plate full. We need to keep coming out with new products.

YOU: What would your ideal release schedule look like?

Now you are talking about something real. You’re talking about what’s working and what isn’t. You are way too polite and professional to point out that when you asked your manager about the schedule for new product releases this year, you didn’t get an answer. That’s good! You love to hear about Business Pain. Business Pain is your favorite topic, because you can solve your hiring manager’s pain.

You can’t ask your hiring manager “What isn’t working here?” You have to advance a Pain Hypothesis and let him or her react to it.

You may have to ask several pain-related questions. Even very competent and astute managers don’t always have a clear view of what’s working well and what isn’t. You will be a consultant to your hiring manager, even before you get a job!

Practice Pain Interviewing and see if you don’t find what other job-seekers have found: that it’s more interesting, more intellectually stimulating, more fun and more likely to lead to a job offer to talk about pain and solutions than to stick to the interview script!

Forbes.com | March 6, 2015  |  Liz Ryan 



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Strategy: Tips for Dealing with Employees Whose Social Media Posts Reflect Badly on Your Company…Today, Employees Share Gripes & Gossip Online, as They Used to Around a Water Cooler

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In early February 2015, a Texas pizzeria owner “terminated” an employee before she’d even had her first day of work after she tweeted vulgarities about her future job. In January 2015, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals found that a Mississippi police sergeant, fired in 2012 after she posted Facebook comments criticizing her police chief, had no First Amendment protections for her statements.

One Way Sign

And in December 2014, Nordstrom fired an Oregon employee who had posted a Facebook comment seeming to advocate violence against white police officers. So, are employees’ off-duty social media postings fair grounds for termination? They can be—but be sure to keep the following tips in mind.

1. Employees’ Off-Duty Social Media Postings May Constitute “Protected Concerted Activity.”

Today, employees share gripes and gossip online, as they used to around a water cooler. The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) has long protected employees who use any avenue, including social media, to discuss working conditions, including pay and benefits. Such “protected concerted activity” cannot support a termination. Importantly, however, this protection is not extended to employees who merely vent individual gripes. Nor does it protect categories of employees expressly excluded by the NLRA, such as supervisors.

Last August the scope of protected activity was expanded to nonverbal online communication. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found that an restaurant employee who had merely clicked a button “liking” a Facebook post critical of his employer had engaged in protected concerted activity and was unlawfully discharged as a result. Employers should consider that similar online activity, such as retweeting and pinning, may merely indicate approval of another’s content regarding workplace concerns or grievances, and may therefore be found to constitute protected activity.

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2. State Laws May Protect Employees’ Off-Duty Conduct.

State laws may prevent employers from firing or taking adverse employment actions against a person based on that employee’s lawful off-duty conduct. New York, for example, prohibits employers from taking adverse employment actions against employees who engaged, off-duty and off-premises, in (a) legal political activities; (b) legal use of consumable products; (c) legal recreational activities; and (d) membership in a union or exercise of rights relating to union activity. Employment actions may be taken, however, if the offensive activity “creates a material conflict of interest related to the employer’s trade secrets, proprietary information or other proprietary or business interest.”

Employers must thus take into account both federal laws such as the NLRA and any applicable state laws.

3. Broad Social Media Policies May Be Invalid.

Employers often rely on social media policies to define the scope of what employees can or cannot publicize about the company online. Such policies, when enforced uniformly, can indeed help validate the firing of an employee who criticizes customers, reveals trade secrets, or creates a hostile environment for co-workers. However, a grey area arises when employers seek to ban social media posts that are critical of the company itself, or prohibit exchange of certain information. Those policies may run afoul of NLRB advisories and rulings, which apply even if the company does not have any unionized employees. In general, the NLRB has been critical of policies that prevent employees from disparaging a company or its employees, or from discussing their own compensation information, on the grounds that such policies may improperly discourage employees from taking protected actions in efforts to improve their working conditions.

4. Employers Should Consider Potential Public Relations Backlash.

In recent years, racist, sexist or otherwise offensive social media posts by employees have gone viral, often resulting in the employment of the poster being terminated. In early July, for example, SiriusXM fired an on-air personality who posted what the company described as “racially-charged and hate-filled remarks on social media.” In December 2013, the IAC media company fired its senior director of corporate communications after she tweeted what many characterized as a racially offensive comment about AIDS.

Both firings were lawful. Indeed, subject to federal and state laws, employers may terminate employees whose off-duty comments, online or otherwise, negatively affect the company’s reputation, affect morale, or pose potential liability to the company.

Sometimes, however, the firing itself can generate negative publicity—especially when it is discussed on social media. For example, last fall, Uber was the focus of attention when it terminated, and later reinstated, a driver who had tweeted a link to an article claiming that driving for Uber wasn’t that much safer than driving a taxi. In early 2013, Applebee’s president fired a waitress who had posted a customer’s receipt, but was then forced to publically justify its decision after social media criticism of the termination.

A well-crafted social media policy, which takes into account the law, covers the type of activities that led to the terminations, and is consistently applied, can help employers deal with such situations.

Like the Texas pizzeria owner, the Mississippi police department and Nordstrom, you may be within your rights to fire employees for off-duty social media postings. Following the above tips and having appropriate social media policies in place can help ensure that you are.

Joel J. Greenwald, Esq., is the managing partner of Greenwald Doherty, LLP, an employment and labor law firm, representing exclusively management, and can be reached at (212) 644-1310 or jg@greenwaldllp.com.

DISCLAIMER: The foregoing is a summary of the laws discussed above for the purpose of providing a general overview of these laws. These materials are not meant, nor should they be construed, to provide information that is specific to any law(s). The above is not legal advice and you should consult with counsel concerning the applicability of any law to your particular situation.

Forbes.com |  March 6, 2015  |  Joel J. Greenwald, Esq.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/entrepreneursorganization/2015/03/06/tips-for-dealing-with-employees-whose-social-media-posts-reflect-badly-on-your-company

Leadership: To Get To The Top, Know What You Want & Be Prepared To Take Risks…So, If you Want to Make Waves in the Office, Treat your Career Like an Adventure. Be Single Minded, be Determined, Listen, & Learn

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Last week I spoke to Shellye Archambeau, CEO of Silicon Valley based Governance, Risk and Compliance Cloud Apps company, MetricStream. Additionally a Board Director of Verizon, Nordstrom, Watermark, and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, in 2014 Shellye featured at #2 in Business Insider’s list of the 25 most influential African Americans in Technology.

Shellye Archambeau

One of four children, Shellye knew from an early age that she was destined for a role in management; “I always wanted to be leading organisations and clubs in my teens; getting things done together as a group was what inspired me” she says. Sporty at school, Shellye turned to academic groups and societies after a growth spurt left her with long term damage to her knees.

Her career began at IBM in the mid 80s when the tech industry was beginning to explode, where she held numerous executive positions including an overseas posting in Tokyo, undefined“Quite an experience for both myself and my family, and the first time IBM had ever posted an African American woman overseas”, as she recalls.

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Shellye subsequently joined Blockbuster as President of their nascent e-commerce division, before realising the company “lacked the vision” to overcome a growing trend towards online streaming film rentals

 

Headhunted to Silicon Valley to become CMO & EVP of sales at Northpoint communications, Shellye was thrilled to become part of the Palo Alto community. She describes it as “one of the most energetic and creative environments I have ever worked amongst”, but was surprised by the lack of diversity at the management level in the Valley.

She puts this down to a pervasive “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality; “there is no conspiracy here, but you could call it pattern recognition; it’s natural for people to have bias towards what they have seen succeed in the past. In the Valley, what they have seen is male dominated with a skew towards certain educational pedigrees. Silicon Valley is surrounded by some of the very best universities and colleges, so there isn’t a pressing need to cast the net wider. The Valley has always been a prolific builder of companies, folks have always known where the next great leaders were going to come from, without having to be overly innovative about it.”

“Leaders and bosses find it easier to manage people who talk and act like they do, and if it has worked before, why change it? There’s no glass ceiling, but it’s proven that if you send a company the same CV, one with a male name and one with a female, the male one will receive more call-backs than the female one; the number drops off further if it’s an African American sounding name.”

Does Shellye think it can change? “We need to keep talking about the issue until conscious awareness changes the unconscious decision making process; change happens in small increments so we have to be patient; I see it with almost every group I take over; a lot of people still regard a man’s role in the family as the sole wage earner, for example.”

“In a sense, a lack of diversity can be identified as a vulnerability. The more diverse a team is, the more its members will push one another and help them to grow as people. It’s fine to keep dipping into the same pool of talent but eventually that pool will begin to shrink, and that is beginning to happen within the Valley; there is a shortage of appropriate talent.”

In Shellye’s case, she has never concerned herself with “calls I may have never gotten” because of her sex or race, and certainly does not believe that MetricStream, the company she has led for over 10 years, lacks diversity or direction. The company helps other firms manage their financial and operational risk, helping them to make “better risk based decisions”. MetricStream has a global client base and a strong focus on the financial, retail and pharmaceutical industries.

In 2002, when Archambeau joined Zaplet, Inc. as the company’s CEO, the company was struggling: “We didn’t have a strong product market fit, and I was hired to fix things.” Archambeau oversaw it through the merger with MetricStream in 2004, and as the CEO of the newly formed company, drove forward with the vision to create an entirely new GRC industry, and cater to a market of substantial size and scale.
So how did she do it? “People say it all the time, and it’s fundamentally true; it’s all about the team! There is only so much a CEO can physically do; you have to create a vision, communicate it and make sure that everybody buys into it. Staff must understand the strategy, and be accountable to it. Every member of the team has to be able to clearly articulate what the culture is, and they must be able to execute it in every business transaction that they do on behalf of the company.”

“I am in the business of making sure that our team is customer focused, exhibits strong teamwork, and most importantly, I try to instil a “never say die” attitude that drives innovation. The culture starts at the top and is shaped by the management team. It’s down to them to hire the right people to make sure the vision becomes a reality.”

Shellye believes that being a mother or having a maternal instinct helps: “It helps you to understand what needs to be done. Taking over at the top of a company, you treat it like your first baby; you learn more and more about it and begin to understand how it needs to change and evolve in order to survive and flourish in the world”, she explains.

“But, and I can’t tell you how important this is, you must never fall in love your product”, she cautions. “You know how hard you have worked on it and you might believe, just like you believe about your own children, that it is the best thing out there. You have to try and see it from a critical perspective, be constantly innovating and trying to make improvements. Being your own worst critic is a tactic that pays off in the fullness of time.”

There are two things that Shellye believes more than anything else have helped her achieve her business goals and to rise as far as she has. Mentoring, and not being afraid to take risks. “Take advantage of other’s experiences, because you can’t experience everything yourself”, she advises. “Find mentors that you respect and ask them how they overcame the toughest problems that they have had to face. Go to them with your own problems and find out how they would have dealt with them. Follow their advice, and, and this is important, feed back to them what you did and what the result was. They will appreciate the fact that you listened to them and will be interested to hear how it panned out.”

Secondly, “never be afraid to take risks. This goes particularly for women and minorities who tend to be more risk averse. If you don’t try, you’ll never learn! You always have more to gain than to lose in business.”

Now that she has been in Silicon Valley for some time, Shellye, who lives not far from Google’s headquarters, is starting to feel like one of the family, but laughs at the idea that raising money in Palo Alto is easy to do. It’s a myth that has grown up around the area; start-up businesses around the world look on with envy at the apparently inexhaustible supply of funding for companies which start out as little more than ideas, but can achieve multi-million dollar valuations in what seems like only a matter of months.

“It’s not that easy”, she tells me, “there is definitely money here for sure, of course there is, VCs, Private Equity, Angels, but these companies invest with the expectation that the founders they back will make and deliver returns. Everyone’s trying to go out and conquer the world but you have to have the right team, the right business model, and the right market to get funding.

Leadership is about inspiring the people around you, bringing the best out of them and encouraging them to go beyond what they thought they were capable of. In order to do that, you have to be prepared to do all of those things yourself. Shellye’s career has been full of “so many wonderful teams and locations”, and throughout she has never doubted her abilities and has never been afraid to go out on a limb, be outspoken or seek advice from somebody in a more senior position. So, if you want to make waves in the office, treat your career like an adventure. Be single minded, be determined, listen, and learn. And, as Shellye clearly does, enjoy every minute of it!

Forbes.com | March 4, 2015  |   Edmund Ingham Contributor

I cover entrepreneurship and focus on London’s Silicon Roundabout

Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/edmundingham/2015/03/04/to-get-to-the-top-know-what-you-want-and-be-prepared-to-take-risks/

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Strategy: 13 Podcasts that will Make you Smarter…If You’ve ever been Tempted to Describe Yourself as a Productivity Nerd, then “Back to Work” is Right Up your Hotkey-Laden Alley

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46 million Americans listen to a podcast every month. Podcasts are gaining in popularity for a number of reasons: You can listen in the car or on the train to work, you can dig deep into a topic, and you don’t have to burn your eyes out on a screen.

 

‘Radiolab’ will help you appreciate how mysterious science is.

'Radiolab' will help you appreciate how mysterious science is.

Stephen Lovekin/Getty

Robert Krulwich and Jad Abumrad, hosts of “Radiolab.”

While it may seem normal, existence is weird.

WNYC’s “Radiolab” — the brainchild of topflight journos Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich — investigates that weirdness with a blend of science, philosophy, and music.

You probably want to start with the “Colors” episode.

Start listening here >

 

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‘Invisibilia’ will lead you on a journey to the frontier of psychology.

'Invisibilia' will lead you on a journey to the frontier of psychology.

John W. Poole / NPR

Lulu Miller and Alix Spiegel, hosts of ‘Invisibilia.’

Radiolab spun off ‘Invisibilia,” whose name is Latin for all the invisible things.

It’s a podcast about the unseen, unconscious forces that guide our lives: biases, dreams, quirks of perception.

The first episode tells the story of a boy who couldn’t communicate for 12 years. His only company was his thoughts — until, one day, it wasn’t.

Start listening here >

 

 

‘StartUp’ chronicles the glorious challenge of founding a company.

'StartUp' chronicles the glorious challenge of founding a company.

Penn State / flickr

Alex Blumberg, host of ‘StartUp.’

NPR veteran Alex Blumberg wanted to make a podcast startup.

So he made a podcast about it.

The result is StartUp, and it’s deliciously entrepreneurial listening.

Start listening here >

 

 

‘Employee of the Month’ shows you that famous people have to work, too.

'Employee of the Month' shows you that famous people have to work, too.

Anya Garrett / flickr

Catie Lazarus, host of ‘Employee of the Month.’

On ‘Employee of the Month,’ the writer-comedian talks to famous people about the most universal of topics: work.

Guests include legendary intellectual Gloria Steinem, former New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson, and Broad City stars Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson.

Notably, Jon Stewart gave Lazarus his first interview since leaving the Daily Show.

Start listening here >

 

‘The Jay And Farhad Show’ gives you insight into tech.

'The Jay And Farhad Show' gives you insight into tech.

Jay Yarow

Farhad Manjoo and Jay Yarow, hosts of ‘The Jay and Farhad Show.’

New York Times tech writer Farhad Manjoo and Business Insider’s own Jay Yarow host a podcast that digests what’s happening in tech, like the mythical Apple car, what Snapchat is doing this week, and what exactly Bitcoin is.

Start listening here >

 

‘Startalk Radio’ will open your mind to the cosmos.

'Startalk Radio' will open your mind to the cosmos.

Will Wei, Business Insider

Neil deGrasse Tyson, host of “Startalk Radio.”

Neil deGrasse Tyson is the public face of astronomy right now — and his voice is just as magnetizing.

Dig into his podcast to learn about space tourism, comets, and the basics of astrophysics, to name a few.

Start listening here >

 

‘WTF’ offers unexpected revelations about success.

'WTF' offers unexpected revelations about success.

Kevin Winter/Getty

Marc Maron, host of “WTF.”

Few things can be more instructive than a life story, and comedian-turned-broadcaster Marc Maron draws the ups and downs of life out of people with a certain raucous grace.

Some especially intellectual episodes include his interviews with comedian Wanda Sykes, actor Vince Vaughn, and the late Robin Williams.

Start listening here >

 

‘This American Life’ provides a deep look into American society.

'This American Life' provides a deep look into American society.

Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

Ira Glass, host and creator of “This American Life.”

“This American Life” has become a byword for oral storytelling.

Beyond being a place for moving and hilarious stories, “This American Life” does staggering levels of reporting; few outlets made the financial crisis as human and understandable as Ira Glass and the gang.

It lives up to the hype.

Start listening here >

 

‘99% Invisible’ will give you the lowdown on design.

'99% Invisible' will give you the lowdown on design.

prx/flickr

Roman Mars, host of “99% Invisible.”

“99% Invisible” is probably the coolest design podcast on earth.

Roman Mars’ show uses design as a lens to look at the thought behind the many structures in our lives, from prehistoric hand axes to airport layouts and high heels. After listening you’ll have an appreciation for the minds and tastes that these objects sprang from.

Not only that, but the podcasts are snack-sized, clocking in at about 15 minutes.

Start listening here >

 

‘Back to Work’ offers insights on productivity.

'Back to Work' offers insights on productivity.

grahamb/flickr

Merlin Mann, cohost of “Back To Work.”

If you’ve ever been tempted to describe yourself as a productivity nerd, then “Back to Work” is right up your hotkey-laden alley.

The show is hosted by Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin, both writers and entrepreneurs. The podcast is brilliant for the way it puts the basics of our working lives — email, motivation, workflows — under the microscope.

Start listening here >

 

‘The Tim Ferriss Show’ will help you understand the mechanics of success.

'The Tim Ferriss Show' will help you understand the mechanics of success.

Getty/Jemal Countess

Tim Ferriss, host of “The Tim Ferriss Show.”

Tim Ferriss puts the life into life hacking. His “4-Hour Work Week,” “4-Hour Body,” and “4-Hour Chef” books have all become bestsellers for the way he combines insight with irreverence.

His podcast carries that rascally inquisitiveness into long-form interviews, with subjects ranging from billionaire investor Peter Thiel to Pixar cofounder Ed Catmull and neuroscientist Sam Harriss.

Start listening here >

 

‘Point of Inquiry’ will teach you to debate.

'Point of Inquiry' will teach you to debate.

Lindsay Beyerstein/flickr

Lindsay Beyerstein, cohost of “Point of Inquiry.”

“Point of Inquiry” comes care of the Center for Inquiry, the secular-humanist advocacy group.

The show is hosted by hard-charging journalists Lindsay Beyerstein and Josh Zepps. The interviews are like the best philosophy class you could imagine with guests such as Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker, economist Paul Krugman, and biologist Richard Dawkins.

Start listening here >

 

‘Freakonomics Radio’ will show you surprising connections.

'Freakonomics Radio' will show you surprising connections.

Vito Palmisano

Steven D. Levitt, “Freakonomics” coauthor.

Journalist Stephen J. Dubner and economist Steven D. Levitt became sensations when their book “Freakonomics” was published in 2005. In 2010, they launched a podcast with the same mission as their bestselling books: ferreting out connections between seemingly unrelated things.

Unsurprisingly, their shows tend toward the intellectually provocative, with the biggest hits having titles like “Is College Really Worth It?” and “How Much Does the President of the U.S. Really Matter?”

Start listening here >

Businessinsider.com |  March 4, 2015  |  Drake Baer

http://www.businessinsider.com/podcasts-that-will-make-you-smarter-2015-3?op=1#ixzz3TSNIe7Hp

Strategy: Listen Up Gen Y! Advice on Personal & Professional Growth from Gen X…Those Born From 1982-2000(Gen Y) Represent the Largest Growing Segment of the Workforce Today

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Those born from around 1982 until around 2000 are commonly referred to as Gen Y. They represent the largest growing segment of the workforce today. It is estimated that 45% of the workforce today consists of Gen Y, and that number is projected to grow to about 75% by 2025. That means that Gen Y will soon be running most of our businesses, creating emerging business trends, and influencing the social direction of our society. So listen up Gen Y, I have some advice for you about the single best way for you to prepare to take the reins from Gen X.

zappos-happy-employees-7

I recently wondered if I’ve ever had a thought or idea that wasn’t already thought of by someone else. So, as a self-proclaimed Knowledge Enthusiast, I did what I always do and turned to Google for some insight. Ironically, I found that I am certainly not the first, or millionth, person to wonder about unique ideas.

The Original Thought Theory suggests that anything anyone can ever think of has already been thought by someone else. Of course, this is only a theory because it cannot scientifically be proved or disproved. But, it seems logical to me that unique ideas must exist because someone has to be the first to have an idea, right? I don’t believe that the human race’s collective pool of ideas is finite; therefore, while original ideas are probably rare in the scope of things, they must exist.

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I believe that what IS unique to every individual thought or idea, even if it is recycled, is its origin. An idea is a culmination of the bits of knowledge floating around in our brain. This knowledge is obtained from data, information, and perceptions about our experiences. My body of knowledge is not the same as that of anyone that has ever or will ever live. And my ideas are simply two, or more likely hundreds, of these morsels of knowledge colliding in Big Bang sort of way to create a new thought.

My advice to Gen Y (and every other generation for that matter) is to strive to constantly expand your own body of knowledge. In fact, devour knowledge! Learn about factual information but also explore, consider, and form your own opinion about the ideas of others. We all have technology at our fingertips. In today’s world, you can find a blog, a book, or an article to read about someone’s opinion on any topic. You certainly won’t and shouldn’t agree with everything you read or hear, but even as you assess the validity of someone else’s idea, you are expanding your own pool of knowledge which spontaneously leads to personal and professional growth.

Knowledge begets ideas. Ideas beget innovation. Innovation begets growth and progress. Growth and progress keep our society moving forward. So, get out there and stockpile as much knowledge as you possibly can. The next great idea might just be floating around in your head waiting to be born!

Posted: November 11, 2014

 

Jennifer Duff

Chief Financial Officer and Strategic Management Expert

Read More: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20141111030548-46919785-listen-up-gen-y-advice-on-personal-and-professional-growth-from-gen-x

Leadership:Changing The Workplace: Past & Future…The 5 Trends Shaping the Future of Work Which are Creating an Unprecendented War for Talent That is Forcing Organizations to Shift

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At most organizations around the world decisions around how we work follow a very top down chain of command . The executives or key stakeholders that sit at the top of our organizations decide everything including how we work, what we work on, what we wear, who we work with, what technologies we use, and of course where we work. These decisions are then passed down the food chain to senior and mid-level managers who then enforce these rules and pass them down to employees.

 

FutureView

However we are now starting to see this trends completely take a 180 degree turn and employees are starting to drive the conversation. Why? Because of the five trends shaping the future of work which are creating an unprecendented war for talent that is forcing organizations to shift from creating an environment where they assume employees need to work there to creating an environment where employees want to work there. Dan Pink said it best, “ talented people need organizations less than organizations need talented people. ”

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Shaping_Work_Past_and_Future

In the corresponding image you can see how this is being reversed. Employees are bringing new values, attitudes, expectations, and ways of working into their organizations.

This starts with the 7 principles of the future employee which in turn allows for the 10 principles of the future manager, and finally forces the adoption of the 14 principles of the future organization. We already hear about organizations offering flexible work programs, implementing new management and leadership models, replacing annual reviews with real-time feedback, deploying collaboration technologies, offering new “cool” perks, and much more. This is all as a result of employees starting to drive more of the conversation around what they want and expect in the workplace.

Of course this is by no means yet commonplace among organizations but it’s something that we are going to start to see much more of, especially as job security and longer term employe tenure continue to come into question by both employers and employees. The next few years are going to be very interesting for the future of work .

Jacob Morgan is a futurist, author, and speaker. You can get the first 30 pages of his book for free as well as weekly content on the future of work by subscribing to his newsletter.

Forbes.com | March 4, 2015 |  Jacob Morgan 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2015/03/04/changing-workplace-past-future/

Strategy: How To Stop A Presentation That’s Going Badly…I Had Just Violated What They Thought was a Cardinal Rule of Presenting: Never Stop, No Matter How Bad it’s Going

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I learned at Skip Barber’s racecar driving school that “when you spin, put both feet in.” This means that if you’re on the racetrack and your car spins out, press the clutch and brake hard, fast and simultaneously. It’s your best chance of stopping without crashing into the wall. The same rule applies to presentations.

meeting-13

Years ago, I was part of a multi-company team making a sales pitch to the c-suite of a large company we’ll call CompuGlobalDyne. (Each presenter was a principal in a consulting firm, and we had combined forces to sell a large consulting engagement to CompuGlobalDyne).

I presented last, so I got to watch the other presenters. It wasn’t pretty. The guy before me (let’s call him Rock) was especially bad—he had a 20-minute time slot and a 50-slide deck. The presentation was pretty dry up to this point, but Rock put the CEO of CompuGlobalDyne over the edge. The poor CEO was sighing and slouching in his chair, scowling, until finally he completely shut down into arms crossed in a death grip and a scowl. And Rock just kept clicking his slides, oblivious.

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Finally, Rock finished his deck and passed me the metaphorical baton. In that moment I had a choice: present my deck and hope the CEO didn’t punch me, or just stop the presentation. The CEO was a big guy, so I opted to stop the presentation.

I stood up and said “I don’t think y’all are super happy with what you’ve seen so far, and I think I’m going to make that worse, so I’d like to relinquish my time and just let you go 20 minutes early.”

Two things happened. First, the other consultants whirled on me with crazy eyes thinking I had just ruined their sales pitch. Clearly, they were ignorant of the fact that our sales pitch was already dead. But, I had just violated what they thought was a cardinal rule of presenting: never stop, no matter how bad it’s going.

The second thing that happened was that the ticked-off CEO looked at me and said “well, we’ve sat through it this long, I want to hear what you have to say.” To which I replied “Sir, I’m quite certain you don’t want to hear what I have to say. Let’s just end this and part as friends.” And of course, you know what the CEO said next–“Let me hear your damn pitch!”

So, I said that I would make him a deal; I would show him 2 slides and speak for 2 minutes. If he wanted to hear more I’d keep going, but if he wasn’t interested I would stop. He did want more, so I ended up giving him the whole pitch.

Lest you think everything was rosy, CompuGlobalDyne didn’t hire any of the firms on this consulting team. But, 2 years later, that CEO was at a new company and he did hire my firm. Because, he told me, I was the only person that day who cared more about meeting the audience’s needs than finishing the slides in my deck.

In the years that followed, as I studied thousands of great leaders and presenters, I discovered that many great presenters will stop a presentation that’s going badly. They seem to understand that there’s no point in finishing a presentation that the audience doesn’t want to hear (and it’s not like we get a special prize for reaching the last slide).

Between my research and some hard-won life experience, I developed a simple approach for stopping (and restarting) a bad presentation.

First, stop the presentation. If it’s going so badly that you can see it on the faces of your audience, you’re not going to steer your way out of it. So just stop. I like to say something like “Let me stop for a minute, because I have a feeling I’m not hitting the mark here.”

Not only does stopping the presentation keep you from (figuratively) crashing into a wall, it also awakens your audience. So few presenters have the courage to stop a presentation that it’s a surprise. And with presentations going badly, it’s a very nice surprise.

Second, don’t just stop your presentation; try to restart it. The beginners approach is asking the audience “I know the presentation wasn’t hitting the mark, but is there 1 question you really wanted to get answered today? Because I’m happy to spend a few minutes just tackling that issue directly.”

This gives your audience comfort that you do want to meet their needs, and it tells you what those needs are.

A more advanced version of this is asking your audience “Should I pack up and tell headquarters I really messed this meeting up, or is there anything I can share in the next 6 minutes that would add some value to you?” This version is not for the feint-hearted, but if done with the right amount self-deprecation, it can absolutely wow your audience and immediately turn them from adversaries to allies.

Eventually you’re going to have a presentation go badly. That’s okay as long as you know how to respond. Don’t bury your head in the sand and hope that it magically turns itself around. Stop the presentation, engage your audience in helping you fix the presentation, and there’s a very good chance they’ll ask you to present even more.

Mark Murphy is the founder of Leadership IQ, NY Times bestselling author, a sought-after speaker, and he also teaches a weekly series of leadership training webinars.

 

Forbes.com |  March 3, 2015  |  Mark Murphy