Soft Skills - Ask a Wharton MBA
Develop Soft Skills – Work Smart & Live More
“To get to the next level in your career, you need to be more strategic.” Have you heard this feedback before? If so, read on. It’s one of the most common pieces of feedback given to upcoming professionals as well as the least explained.
“Strategy” is one of the most overused words in the business world. Many professionals use it purely to sound smart but actually have no idea what it means. Here are some good definitions of “strategy.” ...
This is a guest post with edits by Lei Han
Millennials officially became the most populous segment of the U.S. workforce in 2016 and by the following year stood tall at 56 million total contributors. It’s a trend that isn’t going away any time soon, either.
As Generation X and the baby boomers continue to make room for the new wave of young blood (and begin to look for space for the even larger Generation Z crowd that’s following in their wake) it behooves business leaders to pay attention to the shift in professional attitude and culture that this unique group of employees brings along with them. ...
I received shocking news last week. I found out a dear friend and colleague was diagnosed with aggressive spine cancer. It was a complete surprise to him and his wife. I couldn’t believe it until I confirmed it with “Henry” directly.
Henry just retired and is only in his sixties. He is one of the most positive people I have ever met. Underneath an initial tough exterior, Henry is like “Grandpa Santa Claus” – he laughs with his belly; he gives great hugs, and he can stay calm under the most stressful circumstances. ...
Hiring good talent is hard. It’s more of an art than a science. You usually have to do it on top of a full time job. Just asking behavioral questions do not work. And there is usually little time to evaluate each candidate.
When done right however, hiring the right talent for your team is one of the most critical skills for a manager. The right talent can ramp up quickly and save you time. He or she can also increase team performance and morale. The right talent will in turn hire high quality people. On the other hand, if you hire the wrong talent, work can become a nightmare not just for you but also for your team. This is why no matter how busy you are, you must invest time and energy in hiring. ...
This is a guest post by Charlie Fletcher with edits by Lei Han
A couple years ago, I knew I needed to ask for a raise. Like many of my millennial peers, I had enough to get by, but I couldn’t do much more beyond that. Having enough down payment to buy a house, maintaining regular car payments, affording the right ring and ceremony to tie the knot with my significant other — these hallmarks of the American dream were just out of reach. My paycheck was just too low to achieve any of these. ...
I was agonizing about what to do for weeks. I have dealt with incompetent co-workers before. Most of the time, I can make up for their incompetence fairly easily or at least work around it and not be affected. Not this time. This time, this colleague is a key partner to my work. If she or her team is not doing their job to the highest quality, neither I nor my team nor my program can be successful. ...
For the last 5 years, I have been running the 15K hot chocolate run with a friend. We have been late to start the race for the last two years so ended up running with folks that are much slower than our speed. As soon as I crossed the start line, I started passing people left and right. At first, it was a great feeling, but then I started getting blocked to run any faster as there were simply too many walkers. ...