Real stories

Who Would You Rather Be – Elsa or Anna?

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Lei:  I am excited to introduce a new Executive Author to our Soft Skills Gym – Cindy Wong-Zarahn.  I only met Cindy last year but feel like we have been old friends for years.  She has close to 20 years of experience in the corporate world with plenty of battle scars as well as very sage advice.  I already personally benefited from her advice for my own career. Click here to read her bio and why she wants to join our community.  You can also follow Cindy on twitter @CZarahn    ...  read more

How to Better Communicate Work Status to Your Boss – 4 Tips

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boss communication

Effective communication with your boss is essential to your career success.  One of the things your boss will always want is proactive communication of your work status & progress.  It will show that you are on top of your work and you respect him enough to keep him informed.

This not always easy.   Below is a situation a Soft Skills Gym member faced.  What would you do if you were him?  Share your comments below.  He agreed to let me share it in case his situation and my advice can  help you learn how to better communicate work status with your boss. ...  read more

Growth Mindset Example – Learnings from My 4-day Cleanse

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growth mindset example

A few months ago, I did a veggie and fruit cleanse for the first time in my life.  Why?  All the usual reasons

  • Vanity – I wanted to get back to my college weight after having two kids.
  • Peer Pressure – My husband and my friend were doing it that week
  • Efficiency  – I didn’t have to worry about what I will eat for 4 days.  Everything was pre-prepared by our friend.  That actually helped a lot as I was starting to have meetings all day long.
  • New experience – I have been curious about doing a cleanse for the last two years.    I almost did a juice only cleanse once last year, but backed out the last minute.  I realized I rather still chew during a cleanse.

This article is less about the cleanse and more about what I learned during the experience.  First of all, I actually didn’t expect to last four days.  This is because I had some very strong pre-notions when it came to food and cleanses. ...  read more

How to Stop Thinking about Work – 5 Tips

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How to Stop thinking about work

It is critical to your mental and physical health to know How to Stop Thinking about Work.  This post is written for my benefit and yours, if you find yourself in a similar situation.

During the last six weeks, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about work.   I love my new job, and theoretically I am only working about 40 hours a week,  8:30 am to about 5:30pm, Monday through Friday.  I don’t take my computer home, and I only look at my work phone at home to check on my meeting schedule for the next day. ...  read more

A Necessary Skill For Every Senior Executive

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senior executive

What skill does every senior executive has in common?

  • Is it an MBA?  No.  You do not need an MBA to succeed!
  • Is it an ability to achieve financial results?  maybe.  Achieving measurable results can always help, but this article is not about that
  • Is it ability to present well? Not always.  Not all executive are good at presentations, surprisingly

So what is the one skill that every successful senior executive has?  Listen to this 9 minute candidate conversation with Helena Light to find out.  I was even surprised at what she said and how executives practiced this skill every day.  You can also read the Audio Transcription of Our Conversation below ...  read more

Changing Careers – How to Interview Effectively

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changing careers

 Changing careers is not easy for some. However, once you master effective interviewing when changing careers, the path to success becomes a lot clearer.

I had a chance to interview one of our Executive Authors, Helena Light, who is a master at changing careers. In eight years at one bank, she had four different careers: ...  read more

How to Keep Your Job During Massive Layoffs

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how to keep your job

Are you worried about keeping your job? Is your company announcing layoffs?  If so, you need to listen to the recording below.

It is my distinct pleasure to introduce a new Executive Author, Helena Light, to our site.  Helena has been a friend and neighbor of mine for the last 10+ years.  She is also the Partner and COO of a small start up company in the financial industry.  She has over 30 years of experience, and is one of the most humble, personable executives I have ever met.  I am truly blessed to have Helena in my life. ...  read more