Growth mindset

Career Advancement – How Louis Quadrupled His Income

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career advancement

Mastering soft skills is critical to your career advancement.   Louis Johnston, one of our executive authors, agrees.  He shared in this interview how mastering certain soft skills helped him skyrocket his career and quadruple his compensation.

Louis started as an Online Marketing Associate, 10 years ago.  He has since been promoted to Manager, Director, Senior Director, and now Head of Growth. This may sound like a straight-forward success story.  It is not.  He didn’t just happen to become super successful by working hard or hitting all his marketing numbers.  On the contrary, he was hitting his numbers, but not getting much credit for it.  Louis was stuck at the same level for awhile. ...  read more

3 Unexpected Lessons from My 15K Race

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hot chocolate run 2016

Two weeks ago, I ran in a 15K race in San Francisco.  It was the Hot Chocolate Run.   I didn’t run fast nor break any records.  On the contrary, I didn’t train for it, had only two hours of sleep the night before, and almost didn’t make it to the race.   This was not like me.  This article is less about the race and more about the three lessons I unexpectedly learned along the way. ...  read more

Paris Terrorist Attack Puts Life in Perspective

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paris terrorist attack puts life in perspective

It was our team’s assistant who told me about the Paris terrorist attack on Friday afternoon.   Right before, I was busy updating a presentation and worrying about something I don’t even remember now.  I quickly halted both to follow what was going on in Paris and contacted our neighbor to find out if his daughter and son are okay in Paris.  I have yet to hear back. ...  read more

Less than Ideal Job? Go Beyond Your Job Description

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go beyond your job description

In part 1 and 2 of our talk with Executive Author, Jane Lin, we discussed the

  1. Best Secret to Finding Your Dream Job.
  2. Negotiating Job Offer – What 70% of People Fail to Do

In this final part, we migrated our conversation from job search to on the job success.   We don’t always have the ideal job.  Sometimes we have to take jobs just to make sure we can pay the mortgage or rent.   In these cases, does this mean we put on career on hold until we find another job?  Jane’s advice is no.   Even with a less than ideal job, you have the power to make it more and progress your career.  How?  Go beyond your job description! ...  read more

5 Success Tips for College Graduates – What I Wish I Knew

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tips for college graduates

Just graduated from college?   Congratulations and welcome to the workforce!  Do these words excite you or scare you to death?  If you are anything like me when I graduated from college, it’s probably both.

Transitioning from college to work can be a huge change.  It’s okay to feel exhilarated and nervous. I still remember how much I looked forward to starting my first full time job.  I was excited to finally make money and be part of the “real world”, but I also clearly remember my anxieties. ...  read more

How Basketball Coach Valvano Changed My Career Perspective

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coach valvano

A big thank you to our Executive Author, Cindy Wong-Zarahn for writing this article

In the U.S., the national college basketball tournament affectionately known as “March Madness” mesmerizes much of the country for a few weeks in March. The latest tournament is recently behind us, and throughout the TV coverage I was reminded of one of the most inspirational speeches I have ever heard, from Coach Valvano back in 1993. ...  read more