Personal Development

10 Fears That Keep Us Away From What We Want

Fear often stands between us and our ability to make decisions, take actions, ask for what we want –...

10 Money-saving tips for home businesses

One of the most common obstacles many home-based working moms face is trying to start or run a new business...

10 Ways to Relax During Stressful Times

We all go through stressful times in our lives. These past couple of weeks however have been unusually...

3 Ways To Feel Better At Work

How do you feel at work? Are you tired throughout the day? Being tired and having low energy is common...

4 Words That Control Most Career Decisions

Did you know that four little words form one simple question that, in my experience, has one of the greatest...

Accountability for your Career

When you leave a job after having had a demanding manager, you may feel like you just took off a tight...

Afraid of change

Q: I’ve worked for large corporations in the financial services industry for a long...

Are there really no stupid questions?

"There are no stupid questions," says Steve Wolff, CEO of AMS, a consulting company for the performing...

Are You a Negative Person?

Today, someone said to me again: "I'm having a bad week. I have a horrible attitude. I'm trying to change...

Are you Assertive or Aggressive?

Too often, people who think they're acting assertively are really acting aggressively. The mistake is...

Are You Experiencing A Mid-life Career Crisis?

It wasn't all that long ago that many Americans spent their entire work-lives in the employment of just...

Are you playing it too safe?

Our Safekeeping Self is the part of us which likes to maintain our status quo, guarantee us freedom from...

Are You The Best You Can Be?

So how does Peter hit his numbers so early in the quarter? How does Lauren stay on the ‘Top 10...

Ask!

In the job interview I had been in this field (Career Change and Job-hunting) for about twenty-five years...

Bad Choices Can Lead To Good Ones

Your career is a series of choices. Some are good and some are not so good. But either way, you are the...

Balance is a matter of mission and focus

I try really hard to balance my life and work. Sometimes it can be frustrating. Any ideas how I can be...

Be flexible and open to change

When you get used to something— when it’s always been there and...

Becoming a soft-side accountant

To build a better organization–or family, we need to account for the soft-side values. Most...

Blake Hoffarber and Start Ups

By now, you have probably heard about Blake. He is the Hopkins, MN, basketball player who last week...

Boring Degree, Amazing Job

If you're worried about the major you've chosen or are getting some ribbing for pursuing history or English...

Build credibility and trust with these career boosting tips

How many bad experiences does it take to destroy trust? Just one. That's why it's so important to protect...

Building A Secure Future Through Retirement Planning

Planning for retirement is a crucial part of your life and career. Whether you are young – or not...

Building Your Professional Brand

You might think that I’m giving you backwards advice, but I’m not. Before you start writing...

Busyness or Business... It's a Matter of Balance

You are commuting on freeways that are getting more congested and now, icy. Your cell phone continues...

Can You Get An Ivy Education Online?

How can you be a Harvard student without walking through Harvard Yard on your way to class? Can you get...

Career Change or Job Change - Which Do You Really Want?

Ask yourself the following questions to determine if a whole new career path is really what you desire....

Career Coaching Secrets to Finding True Meaning at Work - Aligning Personal and Organizational Purpose

        "Without work all life goes rotten- but when work is soulless,...

Career Damaging Habits

Dear Sue: I am appalled by the number of well educated people in professional positions who chew gum....

Career Planning Starts with Self-Assessment

One of the biggest mistakes that individuals make with their careers is to go aimlessly through school...

Career Slump?

When Donna Doyon decided to go back to school and earn a bachelor's degree online in business management,...

Career Tips from Dad

I grew up in a home with a father who was a Physical Fitness professor and speaker, basketball official,...

Career transition approach needs fine tuning

Question: I've worked in manufacturing for a good part of my career, but have always wanted to join corporate...

Challenging vs intimidating questions

Q: What’s the difference between challenging questions and intimidating questions? A:...

Change How You Feel At Work

Work can be frustrating and stressful sometimes.   Yet, no matter how tough your job is, you'll...

Change Your Approach

Wouldn't it be easier if your career could magically improve on its own? The working world has changed...

Change Your Future

Are you focused on the past or the potential your future holds? Many people can't let go of something...

Childhood dreams come back to save us

Many of us take a job early in life that seems to offer everything we could want in a job: it puts bread...

Choosing a Career Path

From the time children are old enough to talk, grown-ups persist in asking the foolish question "What...

Communicate

"I didn't say that I didn't say it. I said that I didn't say that I said it. I want to make that very...

Consider Becoming A Change Agent

  Change is coming. Oh boy is it coming and we aren’t even sure how to handle it! This was...

Copywriting - five ways to break into the field

We know how you are. You’ve got the greatest story of all time stuck in your head....

Create better decisions

What causes people to shut down and disengage from conversation? Due to the power differential between...

Creating good decisions

The best litmus test for whether a problem is simple or complex comes from the book Making Things Happen....

De-Stress Yourself on the Fly While You Work

Do you believe that you can't do anything to change your mood? Not true! You aren't a victim...

Depression In The Workplace

As a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist with more than 30 years of experience, I have successfully...

Do you enjoy your job?

Do you look forward to going to work? Or do you count the minutes until you can leave work at the end of...

Do You Have The Sunday Night Blues?

Do you have the Sunday night blues? You know…that dread in your gut about going to work the next...

Do You Know What I Mean?

Have you found yourself distracted by the number of times a person says, "umm" or "do you know what I...

Do you love what you do?

This may be the seminal question for our age. Warren Bennis has always been one of my heroes. Dr. Bennis...

Do You Need a Degree to Find a Job in Corporate America?

  You’ve worked your way up throughout your career, attaining a high-level rank through demonstrated...

Do You Plan Your Day? Maybe you should start!

As I have coached people over the years I have observed clients that have the following issues with organization:  1.  ...

Do you think I have a chance of being successful?

Dear Julie, I'm 34 years old and in a dead end job. I really want to start an events planning business...

Don't just check the box

Why your say-so won’t make it so—and how to follow up. A few years...

Don't Put A Square Peg In A Round Hole

Thanks to Fisher-Price, as babies we learn a concept that we seem to forget by the time we're adults: ...

Dream Job Turns Into Nightmare

Dear Joan: I recently started a "dream job" at a marketing company.  It is an increase in pay and...

Easing the Transition

Dear Sue: I am 42 years-old and I still am trying to figure out what I want to do with my life when I...

Ego vs. altruism

Why is it important to lead with questions? Why this strategy over others? Organizations are made up...

Enhance your image at work

As a woman you have so many more choices than men about what to wear to work. Unfortunately what this...

Enough Strikes Against Me!

Dear Julie, I hope you can advise me. I am currently seeking employment and have a concern regarding...

Eventual promotion often reward for initiative

Dear Joan: I am what I guess you could call a low-level manager in my office, a position I attained after...

Face Your Career Fears Head On

Is there something in your career that you really want, but you are afraid to go after it? Fear is normal....

Finding Balance and Meaning in a Nine-to-Five World

I have actually heard people say that the way they are at work is "not really the way they are." I cannot...

Finding your Passion

Today, I start with sharing what I call, “A Scene from Childhood”: My daughter Claire, 2...

Fire your Boss, Work for Yourself

Everyone's got that favorite daydream -- the one where, with an Indian Jones' sense of adventure, you...

First Impressions Count

First impressions are often the most lasting in any situation, be it meeting a new friend, speaking in...

Five Steps to Boost Your Salary

Step 1: Ask for a raise. Do your homework by asking your company's human resource compensation department...

Five Ways to Build Your Value at Work

Every day people go to work and wish their job were better. Besides better compensation, they want more...

Four Simple Rules that Guarantee Your Success

We live in an era of constant change, and at times it may seem as though "anything goes," but don't be...

From "Just A Job" To Your Dream Career

Are you in a career you love, or in a job you are tolerating? What's the difference? If you're working...

From good to great

By becoming aware of how we can improve, involving respected colleagues and following-up, we can get...

From the Hiring Side: How to Make Yourself a Valuable Commodity

  Having had the opportunity to hear from and interact with HR professionals and hiring managers...

Get Traction In Your Career

Not moving ahead in your career? Do you think it’s because the right opportunities have not come...

Give yourself a chance

The stories that we tell about ourselves can turn into traps. From FastCompany: Issue 76, Page 133 “I...

Go On And Unstress Yourself Today

If I told you that you should take an entire day to un-stress your life, would have a clue how to do...

Going from 'Mom' to 'Employee'

It happens five days a week. You have to shift gears from being a mom to being an employee – even...

Good Places To Work Use Good Communication Strategies

What makes for a positive work environment and happy employees? Duh! One of the key factors is good communication...

Hard Worker Gets No Respect

Dear Sue: I am an architect for a company I started working for eight years ago. In addition to the many projects...

Hate Your Job? Take the e-Classroom Escape Route

The numbers tell all: More than a third of workers are unhappy and dissatisfied with their jobs, according...

Have Realistic Expectations

"It's amazing what ordinary people can do if they set out without preconceived notions." - Charles F....

Have the courage to ask

Peter Drucker has a great way with words. He distills meaningful concepts into short phrases more effectively...

Have You Done Any Life/Work Planning Lately?

Life/Work Planning isn't a future activity in our lives: something we will vow to do, when it's time...

Health Insurance Options

I'm going to graduate in May. I've had several promising interviews lately and think it's just...

How Did I Get Here?

How did you get to where you are in your career? Was it a haphazard, disconnected journey, or by a detailed...

How Do I Approach My Boss?

Dear Joan: Two years ago I made a major career change and my boss still thinks I am not doing a good...

How do I regain my enthusiasm for my old job?

I have worked in Human Resources in state government since November 16, 2001, beginning as an HR Assistant...

How Email Can Get You Fired

Jobseekers are increasingly searching the Internet during paid business hours. Making matters worse is...

How long should you wait for your dream job?

It‘s always interesting how we tend to rush things. For example, summer. Technically,...

How Multitasking and Email Waste Time

Why is it that some people get so much done in a day while others operate at a hectic pace with little...

How to Be Bulletproof in the Outsourced Economy

Thousands of jobs are moving to countries every month where they can be done as well for less money....

How To Create A Powerful Career

If you compared you career to the Wizard of Oz, would you be at the start of the path, where the Lion...

How to Earn More Money - 3 Lessons that Your Mother Never Taught You

If you are looking to earn more money working for an employer, there are lessons you learned in the past...

How to Enjoy a Better Career

You want to be a success at work, doing a job you love, right? Right. But sometimes it's hard to figure...

How to get the idea

If “getting the idea† is the part that is keeping you from striking...

How To Get What You Want In Your Career

We all have something that we want in our career. Some people see potential where they work, so they...

How to Handle a Performance Review

  Most people look forward to job reviews about as much as they do a root canal. No matter how well...

How to learn the truth about yourself (To find out how you come across at work, check in with the people at home.)

From FastCompany Issue 75, Page 127 Remember the character Gordon Gekko in the movie Wall Street? Michael...

How To Make The Right Career Moves

Are you making the right career moves? Or, are you waiting for the right career moves to come to you?...

How to Manage Your Career During an Economic Downturn

The economy is reeling under the pressures of a downturn. Unemployment rates are staggering and layoffs...

How to maximize the effectiveness of your informational interviews

Over the past couple of years, I have stepped up my networking efforts and have been meeting with various...

How To Perform Well At Work

Everything you do at work comes down to how you perform. Good performers produce results quickly and...

How to Stop Playing it so Safe

How do we get the Safekeeping Self to alter its behavior? How do we get it to stop ruling the roost?...

How To Successfully Implement A Career Plan

Are you a good planner, but not a good implementer? Do you begin strong, but get sidetracked along the...

How To Successfully Navigate The Course Of Your Career

Do you know where your career is headed? Are you on track, implementing your plan, or waiting for someone...

How to Win Over Your New Co-Workers

You have been interviewed, background-checked, researched, discussed, and—finally—hired. Congratulations!...

I am the Stunt Double for Matthew McConaughey

It may have been the burnt orange uniforms I saw on TV.  Or it may have been the fact that there...

I Hate My Job: Now What?

From an outside observer, it would seem Cameron Herald had it made. As the vice president of corporate...

I have this idea for a business...

This is how it all starts. And, unless you have a partner or a frog in your pocket, it’s...

I'm afriad I'm going to get fired, what should I do?

Dear Julie,   I am an attorney and a senior vice president at a reinsurance company. A few months...

If they don't care, don't waste your time

Try to change people who don’t care, and you end up wasting everyone’s...

Improving Your Career – A Contact Sport

Shaping Your Career You need to have great career skills to climb the corporate ladder successfully....

In College, Small Improvements Mean Greater Success

When I was in college, I took a class in Industrial Psychology. In it, we studied the concept of Just...

In Search of "The One"

  Have you ever wondered when your career is going to take off? Or when you will finally get the...

Increase Your Likeability Factor

He walks into a room and heads turn. She commands attention. People gravitate toward her. Her success...

Is a Hostess Gift Appropriate for a Company Party?

Dear Sue: I've been invited to attend an after-work social function at the home of my company's CEO....

Is Fear Wrecking Your Career?

Here's an email I got from a job seeker who knows how important networking is, yet is reluctant to do...

Is telling the boss always the right thing to do?

Dear Joan: I work at a bar where I got along with all the other girls until recently. I came to one particular...

Job satisfaction? Take action. Who's on your gift list this year?

We often wait for other people to do something nice for us. What about doing something nice for yourself?...

Keeping skills sharp, interest high at work

I am a mid-level staffer with more than 10 years in my current position. I am quite content with my organization,...

Keeping skills sharp, interest high at work

I am a mid-level staffer with more than 10 years in my current position. I am quite content with my organization,...

Know What's Expected of You

"There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all." -Peter Drucker Starting...

Knowing what you want

When have you been most motivated? This question is more than an interview question; it is a question...

Learning Your Way to a New Career

Millions of people feel stuck in a rut every year and turn to education to get the job they want. But,...

Leave it at the stream

Instead of being a Monday-morning quarterback, focus on next week’s game. From FastCompany:...

Lessons Learned as Brett Favre Retires

Brett Favre’s resume profile might read: 17 year career in the NFL with 16 years as the Green Bay...

Let yourself love what you love

  I was driving and listening to one of my many inspirational tapes when I heard this line and it...

Looking for Ways to Advance Your Career? It's Time for a Career Check-Up!

Worried about your job security? Unhappy with your current position? Hoping to get a raise or promotion...

Make a Date With Your Money

You have a living, breathing relationship with your money. And just as any great relationship relies...

Make A Fresh Start In The New Year

Are you caught up in the day to day doldrums of your career? The New Year is here. This means, it's...

Make yourself valuable

“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether this happens at twenty or eighty. Anyone...

Making Mistakes and Handling Criticism

Three weeks into his new job, Eric made a mistake. Not a "show up for a meeting a minute late" mistake,...

Making the Transition to Manager

Getting promoted is a common goal, but perhaps the most difficult promotion is transitioning from line...

Management Favoritism

Dear Joan: I work for a large company that has favoritism issues and a committee was formed to resolve...

Marketing Brand You

“The days of the mammoth corporations are coming to an end. People are going to have to create...

Moms Going Back to Work for Financial Security

There has been a ton of discussion lately about stay-at-home moms sacrificing their financial health...

Myth Surrounding Job Insecurity

The information highway definitely provides us with that much needed link to information we need and...

Networking Focuses on Giving

One of the first pieces of advice you’ll get when you start a career or a career transition is...

Networking Through Professional Organizations

There are many reasons for attending industry-related meetings and joining organizations or community...

Never Climb Alone

The biggest key in climbing to greater career success is learning to let go! Rudy was the most highly...

New Year's Resolutions

The holidays are over and most of us are hard at work again. You may (or may not) be sticking to your...

NEW YEAR…Looking Forward

The holidays are over; it’s a new month, a new year. January provides us with a clean slate,...

Options for Moms Returning to Work

Many working moms struggle with the day-to-day grind of the workweek. While many may enjoy their jobs,...

Overcome "I Don't Want To" In Your Career

What do you not want to do in your career? Do you not want to research new job opportunities because...

Performance review – tips for writing your self assessment

Dear Joan: My performance review is coming up in a few weeks and I would like to ask you a question about...

Positive Self-Talk for Good Health: It's Good Business!

Zig Ziegler's terrific book, "Success for Dummies," has had a tremendous impact on my life. I first encountered...

Prove It And Get Hired

Think you're qualified for that job you want? Prove it! If you do, it's a sure bet that you'll get hired...

Put The Sparkle Back Into Your Career

Are you hiding out in your career? Are you waiting for the hiding period to go away on its own?  Since...

Put Your Glasses On

Are you going through your career with blinders on? Change in your career (and your circumstances) can...

Q: How can I generate a cohesive group identity through storytelling?

A: Surely the shortest distance between setting a goal and achieving it is a command, right? Like the...

Re-Entering the Job Market

Dear Sue: I am a fifty-year-old woman. I used to teach Junior High, then substituted as my family grew....

Ready, Fire, Aim

Let’s call him “Joe.†Joe has worked for others all...

Rescue Fantasies

No judgment here. Based on conversations I’ve had with my friends, co-workers and young women around...

Resolution or Revolution

It comes once a year, that month of January…new year, new calendar, new ideas, new goals and sometimes,...

Resolve to be courageous in 2009

As the New Year approaches, with difficult times ahead, I would like to propose a toast, "To be more...

Rethinking Work: Life's Too Short

      I never think of the future. It comes soon enough.        ...

Returning to the Workforce

Question: I know of two persons who have been struggling for several months after situations involving...

Salary Negotiations

Dear Sue: What is the appropriate way to respond when asked about salary history or salary requirements...

Self Management

When it comes to self management, I don't think there are many mysteries. It's much like understanding...

Set Goal to Focus on Career Goals

People don't think about composing a resume until they're forced to do it. They spend hours trying to...

Should I Leave My Job?

Dear Joan: I am in a specialized career field.  When jobs do open up, I look at them closely for...

Social Graces, Business Places

Some companies would never consider hiring someone for an important position without first taking them...

Spice Up Your Career

You want to be a success at work, doing a job you love, right? Right. But sometimes it's hard to figure...

Springing Forward with Personal Action

We see the signs of spring all around us... the robins return and flowers are popping. People exchange...

Standing out from the crowd…

Inevitably, entrepreneurs compete for business alongside others offering the same or similar services....

Step up or step out

Recently, I got the opportunity to work with, Nick Smith, a fascinating client, in fact, one of the most...

Suggestions For First Year College Students

After your parents have dropped you off at college and have headed back home, you may experience a slight...

Take a Side Job for the Sake of Your Career

When was the last time you looked at your life and said, “How in the world did I get here?” A...

Taking the "BIG Step"

After working at one company for 10 years, I would like to begin my own business. What issues do I need...

Technology can be a major hurdle among workers of different generations

Lindsey Powell didn't have access to the Internet on her desktop computer at her last job, and it was...

The 7 key qualities...

Being an entrepreneur is about more than just starting a business or two—it’s...

The Care and Feeding of Generation Y

Employers are gearing up for the coming generational change-out…the departure of the Baby Boomers...

The Cubicle Isn't Always Bigger on the Other Side

Patience. It’s a difficult trait to possess when you’re in the middle of a job search. This...

The Importance of Socializing with Coworkers

Dear Sue: I am a teacher in an adult school. Although it is written in the student handbook that no food...

The Key to Success in the Workplace

Ever wonder why in some cases the high school dropout does better in business than the person who earned...

The roles of the follower

“It may be the devil, or it may be the Lord, but you’re gonna have...

The Rules of Confidence

No one can give it to you I'm reminded of a boyfriend who had everything going for him – good looks,...

The Seven Deadly Sins of (Not) Listening

As we learn communication during our school years we experience many speech classes and writing classes. ...

The true test of an idea…

In analyzing your business ideas you must be able to pass them through a test to determine if they truly...

Three Questions Lead To Student Success

Most students would like to be successful in college, career and life endeavors. However, not nearly...

Three Ways You Can Protect Your Job in Times of Economic Uncertainty

Are you looking for positive and tangible ways to increase your real and perceived value to your current...

Time for a Change?

Dear Sue: I have a great position. I make good money, have a great boss and a wonderful staff working...

Time management-friend or foe?

As I write this article I’m sitting here with a desk that even a bulldozer couldn’t...

To Find Work, Do What Works.

If you're not getting many interviews and job offers, have you ever stopped to wonder why? One man did,...

To help others develop, start with yourself

Great leaders encourage leadership development by openly developing themselves. Listen to what General...

Top 10 customer service tips for entrepreneurs

Be there! There’s nothing better than the good old fashioned personal touch- answer...

Turning New Years' Resolutions into Reality

In my practice as a psychiatrist, I have found helping people to develop personal goals has proved to...

Ultimate outcomes of coaching expectations

Question: I have been thinking about hiring an exec coach. What should I expect and what will be the...

Unchallenging Job

Dear Sue: Three months ago I changed jobs and companies. The change resulted in both significant salary...

Up Your Salary, Value, and Brainpower... And Bill Your Boss

On the campus of California Institute of Technology (Caltech), not only are students advancing their...

Want A Great Career? You Gotta Have Passion

Do you dread going to work on Monday morning? Are you one of those people who can't wait until Friday rolls...

What Did You Say?

In a recent Life After Graduation, LLC survey, employers and college career centers ranked verbal communication...

What Do Employers Want? Smooth Talkers, Good Readers

Talk is cheap, unless you are competing against hundreds of other candidates for your dream job. In that...

What do you have to offer the world

I was reading the papers the other day, and came across someone talking about “unskilled...

What do you have to offer to the world?

I was reading the papers the other day, and came across someone talking about "unskilled American workers."...

What doors will I open?

Work can be a source of greater happiness, if you become adapt at opening and closing doors. There are...

What is your unique vision of yourself?

Each of us has goals in life. As a personal coach, I have been fortunate to help execs develop those...

What Pilots and Pro Athletes Share: Downside to Achieving Your Career Dreams

Last week, a pilot I know found out that a bunch of his friends who work at another company are going...

What would I do to put me out of business?

Q: If I were the competition, what would I do to put us out of business? A: Successful corporations reinvent...

What's the big deal with a business plan?

Q: In last week’s column, you gave advice about starting a business, and you kept...

What's Your Game Plan?

Are you going through the motions in your career? Lost your get up and go? Do you want it back? It's...

What’s a Career Coach? Do I Need One?

One of the latest trends in career management is to have a career coach. It’s not really a...

When and How to Put an End to Procrastination

Early in my career I had the opportunity to teach a student success class (Becoming a Master Student,...

When Getting Fired Isn't a Surprise

Ever been fired and it was a complete surprise? If you have, it shouldn't have been. You missed the cues....

When Getting Fired Isn't a Surprise

Ever been fired and it was a complete surprise?If you have, it shouldn't have been. You missed the cues.Whether...

When the Golden Rule Doesn't Work

Treating others the way we want to be treated may not work – they aren’t...

When to stay, when to leave

Q: I am at a crossroads. I’m 32 years old this year. I have an MBA. I have been with...

Where Did We Go Right?

Career Success - 3 Surprisingly Simple Ways to Bullet Proof Your Career In all the years that I have...

Where Have All the Manners Gone?

Dear Sue: Has civilized, well-mannered life in the business world (as we used to know it) taken a nose-dive?...

Who are you arguing with?

Everyone has heard motivational speeches that exclaim “You can do it!â€...

Why even thinking about retirement - can be a bad idea

We often dream about all the things we’ll do once we retire. What we don’t...

Why Some People Almost Always Succeed At Work

Some people always seem to get hired faster, get more promotions and make more money on the job, in any...

Wish Upon A Star

What are you wishing for in your career? More money? Recognition? Work/life balance? A new job or career? A...

You can't clean the garage with the Winnebago parked there

I have a hilarious friend.  No matter what the conversation, he always comes up with a phrase that...

You Control Your Own Feelings

Dear Sue: Two years ago my boss agreed to let an attorney in the building use our office for his reception services....

You Give What You Get In Your Career

How do you treat the people you work with? Do you say hello in the morning or stare at something else...

You Have to Know What You Want

I am really confused. I hardly know what I want in life anymore. Any suggestions? Although I am not clear...

You're Ready For a Career Change... Is Your Resume?

You finally did it. You made the decision to leave a career that makes you dread every Monday morning...

Your Phone is a Valuable Business Tool

   If you spend more time talking to people on the phone than in person, you are not alone. Just...