In this article, Ramesh Subramanian explains why infrastructure engineers should start thinking like software developers. Several years ago I started my career as a C++ programmer but to be relevant as a software engineer today would require many more software engineering skills. The same logic holds for Infrastructure engineers. About 94% of enterprises (and 50% of Governments) use some form of cloud (private/public) today. And as per an estimate from Forbes, 83% of workloads will be in the cloud by…

In this article, Geoff Wilson shares how the secret to success lies under your feet. If you have spent more than a few minutes with me, then you likely have heard me chatter on about my passion for the game of golf dating back to when I started playing seriously twenty years ago. In my experience in the professional world, I am often struck by how many of the lessons I’ve learned playing golf apply to the work I do…

Jeffery Perry shares an article on the mutual benefits of mentor-mentee relationships. Throughout the career development journey for most professionals, the value of having a mentor as a guiding light, advisor, and counselor has been regularly noted. Most mentors also highlight the personal satisfaction they receive from playing this role in the lives of others. However, mentors also benefit in many other ways that may be overlooked. When these benefits are fully recognized, it further elevates the mentor-mentee relationship to…

Natalie Ceeney shares a job posting for an independent assessor who will report to the Cash Action Group. Although cash use is declining in the UK, there remain 5m – 10m people who depend on cash. In order to ensure that these people – and small businesses – can get access to and deposit the cash that they need, the largest UK banks have agreed a voluntary scheme whereby any time that there is a bank branch closure, the needs…

Rahul Bhargava shares an article and advice on how to stay motivated by following the strategies of high output achievers.  Few years back, I was part of a ‘merger/acquisition management’ project. These projects are unusually stressful. As a professional, you are not sure of your next role for weeks or months. It’s like the phase after an exam and before the results. One just waits, and waits. The numerous failed attempts of mine always keeps me curious about the secrets…

In this article, Susan Drumm provides concrete steps on how to find, request, and secure a sponsor to help guide your career growth. I recently led a powerful workshop for some of the top women CEOs in biotech who are building up the next generation of leaders. There’s one unmistakable method to advocate for women’s career development: sponsorship. After I shared my podcast episode on the importance of sponsoring women in the workplace, I received an overwhelming response from women…

Susan Meier shares a post that identifies the courage it takes to face your fears especially if that means going against the flow.  ‘Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.’ – Nelson Mandela Each year, the French celebrate the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, a major event in the French Revolution. Americans celebrate Independence Day, the day on which the colonies’ separation from Great Britain was made official. On these days, what we…

In this article, Brittany Blackamore shares a few professional tips on how to land your dream job and move your career forward. It’s recruiting season. This is the busiest time of year for me, when hundreds of students reach out and want to know how to get in. How can they break into a top management consulting firm? How did I pivot from a back-end role for an engineering company to a coveted leadership development program, promotion to a director,…

Marja Fox shares a blog post on the strengths-based approach to enhancing performance and fostering diversity. In a previous post, I laid out the case for a strengths-based approach to developing others: how it enhances performance and fosters diversity, what it is (and is not), what it requires of practitioners and what employee, coach and company get out of it. As strengths-based coaching has gained popularity, so too has it accumulated naysayers. While researching, I encountered a frequently-referenced source staking…

Susan Drumm tackles the problem of CEO imposter syndrome and provides valuable tips to help overcome the problem.  Is there such a thing as CEO Impostor Syndrome?  When most of us hear Impostor Syndrome we picture 20-somethings who are new to their fields and feeling out of their depth. We might imagine fresh-faced new hires, struggling through client interactions and meetings, worrying that they’ll be “found out.” What if I told you that 90% of CEOs have had Impostor Syndrome-type…

As we head into a new year and the new normal is old news, we may be thinking about who we are and how we are going to move forward. Mirko Jens Luebke’s article on reputation management provides a few signposts.  Companies invest a significant amount of time and resources in creating and marketing brands that they hope will become household names. What are you willing to invest to do the same for your “Personal Brand”? As Tom Peters once…

Paul Millerd recently self-published a book, and in this article, he shares the process and the practical details that will be useful for anyone considering self-publishing. “#1 There is a big gap between publishing blog posts and “writing a book” I decided to write a book with the mindset of I will throw together some blog posts, edit them, smooth the rough edges and hit publish. I estimated this would take me about three months. I was wrong. Quickly, I…

A six-minute read from Kaihan Krippendorff on how to be more influential at work.  Whether you’re trying to get your dream job, convince your boss to give you more responsibility, get your colleagues excited about your idea, get neighbors to vote for your proposal, or simply persuade family members to consider somewhere new for vacation, your influencing skills are key. We all know this. And yet, few of us do it well because we fail to exercise the full breadth…

Jeremy Greenberg shares an article published on Entrepreneur.com that offers three ways we can improve our performance through self-monitoring.  Tens of millions of us — two thirds of all American full-time workers — are now working from home. This often means we’ve had little direct supervision or oversight in months, away from our colleagues’ (and our boss’s) watchful eye. That may feel nice… but data shows that we perform better when we know we’re being observed. For example, in a…

Kathryn Valentine shares an article published in Fast Company that offers an original approach to preventing burnout and includes tips on how to do it.  As the working mom of a 2- and 4-year old, I have felt it.  This pandemic is exhausting and seems to just. Keep. Dragging. On.  I’m not the only one. A report released by McKinsey and LeanIn.org shows that one in three women are considering leaving the workforce or significantly downshifting. Research by the National…

Anubhav Raina shares a series that presents a model for understanding how influencing works and how you can train yourself to excel at it. It combines his personal observations with the latest research in influencing. Note this is a three-part series: Intro (this article) CIF — Core Influence Framework Building Trust Convincing people Appendices Using effective questioning Expanding the size of the pie Negotiation: sweetening the deal Using biases to your advantage Negotiation: When to walk away Being able to…

Self-doubt can stop the best talent from moving forward, but for all those who struggle with a negative voice, Rahul Bhargava provides practical steps that can be taken to deal with doubt. We all have experienced self-doubts, especially when it came to undertaking significant life decisions. Whether it is the selection of a career or prospects of a current job, we all have been there. There is that voice ringing in your head that constantly says that you cannot do…

  Paul Millerd shares an article that comments on a capitalist system that has revived Calvinist attitudes towards those who may be less financially fortunate. One thing I absorbed from the culture I grew up in was that someone who didn’t make a lot of money or that spent their time at something deemed a “low-skill” job was of questionable character. There were always carve outs for people you might become acquainted with, but generally people that had more money…

  Priyanka Ghosh shares an always valuable reminder on the importance of minding your assumptions and making sure others are reminded of your value. Early in my career at a top Management Consulting Firm in New York my Senior Manager had asked me a question…”what is your brand, Priyanka”….that question had left me stumped! a) I had no idea what he was talking about; b) I always thought that when you do good work you get noticed for your work. …