To Advance in Your Career Get to Know These Four People in Your Company

So, you got that new job and you're trying to better navigate the landscape and culture in order to set yourself up for success and a future promotion. There are a few people you'll want to get to know ... in addition to your boss and close colleagues and co-workers.

Take some time and set up meetings with the following people in your place of business. Go in with humility and curiosity to learn as much as you can and to be of service.

Your boss's boss. You want to understand how your company works, what the new initiatives are, who are your biggest competitors, and what are some of the biggest challenges to success, and developing a relationship with your boss's boss is a great way to gain some of this knowledge, while also demonstrating your knowledge, skills, and commitment to an important decision-maker and influencer.

Your Human Resources representative. Get to know how your Human Resources department works, how promotions are handled, and how and when they post new jobs by meeting your representative in the department. When you have a good relationship with your with HR you can be on the inside track for new job postings, and get detailed information about what skills a hiring manager is looking for. You also place yourself in a position to be first in mind when a position opens that you might be qualified for.

Your intern. Be sure to become a helpful resource to interns in your company. As they leave and take on jobs elsewhere they help to expand your network and can be an excellent source of information and resource about your industry. In addition, interns often have exit interviews with managers and HR and if they comment on your assistance during their time at the company this reflects positively on you to the leadership in your company.

Your IT support person. Things often go wrong when it comes to technology and by getting to know your tech support team you can often bypass some of the red tape and bureaucracy that can often come with getting help through the official channels. You can also get some patient hands-on training and instruction in some of the new technology that becomes part of your new processes and the quicker you become skilled at new technology the better off your prospects for promotion.

No matter how far along you are in your career you can benefit from getting to know the individuals in the four roles described above.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 6 Keys to Motivation

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career and life development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

In the video below Brendon Burchard discusses six keys to motivation, including having a positive attitude and the importance of daily effort. Learn more by watching the video.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 12 Tips for College Grads Entering the Workforce

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• 12 Tips for College Grads Entering the Workforce: "Make sure to take risks, make mistakes, then learn from them. Each experience, no matter how awful it might feel at the moment, is going to be a powerful learning experience for you in the future."

• 6 Daily Practices of Great Leaders: "A great leader is always enlisting other people to believe in the dream, shape the dream, stay dedicated to the dream. It’s an honest and authentic and genuine desire to see other people be involved in the process and to enjoy that process."

• The Essential To-Do List for New Leaders: "In short, you need to establish the rules of engagement out of the gate so people understand how the flow of communication is going to work and how much time you are going to spend seeking input. By managing their expectations, you manage their fear."

• 3 Things You Need to Do to Avoid Hitting a Career Plateau: "How you communicate is crucially important. Instead of focusing on what you transmit, make sure the message is received."
• 6 Perfect Ways to Start Your Day: "Checking a dreaded item off your to-do list gives you a lift and a feeling of accomplishment that carries you through the rest of the day."

4 Ways to Take Your Career from Good to Great

It can be easy to coast in a job or feel stuck in our careers but if we want to take our career from good to great it will require action.

However, it might be easier than you think to move your career toward greatness. Implement the following four simple tips and your job and career prospects will be soaring above average.

Get organized. Put the power of technology to work for you to organize your email and other electronic files you use. Develop a system to handle any paper and hard copy documents that pass through your hands, and utilize any effective strategies to reduce waste or eliminate attention spent on time-sucking and energy-draining activities. The more organized you are the more effective you'll be in your work and the more you'll enjoy it, too.

Get positive. Your attitude goes a long way toward determining your success in life and in your career. And the good news? You can largely control your attitude and response to life's curve balls. A positive attitude also increases your energy level and makes you more attractive to your boss and other potential employers. One way to be more positive is to start your day with some exercise and meditation. Even a brief practice of 20-30 minutes can be highly beneficial.

Get a mentor. You can't do this alone and succeed without the support of others. Seek out a supportive mentor who can provide honest feedback and guidance. And meet regularly with your mentor in order to move forward in your life and career, and avoid settling into mediocrity.

Get curious and learn as much as you can. People who attain greatness want to know as much as they can and never stop trying to better themselves. They continually learn new things and seek out unique experiences. A curiosity about the world, other people, and new technology will help you get out of a rut, avoid average, and move your life and career from good to great.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: How 5 Entrepreneurs Went From Rock Bottom to Rock Star

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career and life development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

In the video below from Entrepreneur meet five entrepreneurs and learn how they recovered from disappointment to build successful businesses and careers.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 5 Signs You Need to Take a Pause in Your Career

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• 5 Signs You Need to Take a Pause in Your Career: "If someone makes a remark that you're on your phone all the time, or you notice that you can't slip away without checking your email first, you may be getting too much screen time."

• Writing Your Resume When Your Job Title Doesn't Reflect Your Responsibilities: "Use your résumé headline, summary, and brief stories about accomplishments to demonstrate how well you can meet hiring managers’ needs."

• This is What the Best Candidates I Ever Interviewed Had in Common: "I was always impressed with the applicants who listened close enough to what I said to ask an unrehearsed follow-up question."

• 12 Lessons from the 100 Most Creative People of 2017: "artists are infusing entertainment with social impact. In the corporate world too, the human factor is at the core of our advancements."
• 5 Things You Need for a Successful Mindset: "Grit helps us push past the desire to give up, especially when things get rough. Fortunately, it can be learned and continually developed over time."

How to Fire Someone or Have a Difficult Conversation with an Employee

There has been a lot of news recently about some high-profile firings in government, along with some discussion about how best to let an employee go so this seems like a good time to cover some of the basics.

In addition to following your company protocol, when having a tough conversation with an employee or colleague, or when firing someone on your team consider the following basics.

Meet in person. Difficult conversations are best held face to face. This allows you to convey some degree of warmth and compassion for the other person through your body language, in addition to your words. It also provides a sense of dignity and brings professionalism to the situation. Just as you should never break up with a romantic partner by text or email, do not have tough work conversations through these methods of communication.

Stick to the facts. You'll want to focus on the specific details related to the firing or the need for the meeting and keep it simple and short. There is no need to do a lot of unnecessary small talk because the other person will likely need time away to process the information and their changed situation.

Read the situation. Upon providing the news or feedback be silent. Let the other person decide if they want to ask questions or ask for clarification. As noted above, some people will simply want to leave, others might get upset and emotional. Be prepared for a variety of responses and respond calmly and kindly.

Don't make it about the other person. As noted above, you'll want to focus on the specific facts or behaviors that have led to the firing or the need for the discussion. Do not comment on the other person's personality, psychological, or emotional qualities. You are not there to attack their character or personality but to provide a reasoned critique of their work performance.

Follow these basic principles to make a difficult conversation proceed more smoothly.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: Advice for Millennials Working at Their First Job

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career and life development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

In the video below Gary Vaynerchuk offers some advice to millennials working in their first job and advises them to "put your head down and work".

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 15 Ways to Get the Confidence Boost You Need at Work

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• 15 Ways to Get the Confidence Boost You Need at Work: "Confidence can build heavily on memory – if you lack confidence in a new opportunity or a new environment, remember what got you there in the first place."

• 27 Things Truly Exceptional Bosses Do Every Day: "Good leaders can gather lots of followers, but truly great leaders demonstrate their eagerness to help other people become even better leaders."

• 8 Ways to Create Momentum: "Not all good habits are created equal. Some are more powerful than others. See the ones that will strengthen your confidence, help you get what you want and result in a satisfying journey."

• The More Essential Your Job is to Your Company, the Happier You'll Be: "Occupying a lynchpin position may offer greater opportunities to experience meaningful work, commitment to the organization, and less job insecurity and burnout."
• 10 Reasons You're Still Not Happy: "A great deal of unhappiness stems from comparing your life to others, which can quickly make you feel inferior. When you feel inferior, it can be hard to feel grateful."

5 Ways to Get Back Up and Benefit from Failure in Your Life and Career

If you succeed long enough in life you're going to fail. A lot. In fact, you might turn that around: if you fail long enough in life you're going to succeed. It is in our failures that we learn how to succeed if we are willing to take those failures and do something constructive with them.

When you fail, and you will, consider the following five ways to benefit from failure in a way that sets you up to succeed.

1. Increase gratitude. When we go through difficult times of failure, such as an unexpected job loss, it can help us recognize and be more grateful for the successes and good things we experience in our lives and careers. The most successful individuals are those that make a daily practice of expressing gratitude and recognizing the beauty in their lives.

2. Clarify and deepen support systems. We learn who we can trust and depend on during times of stress and difficulty. Our close friendships and relationships with colleagues are deepened and made more whole as we vulnerably share with them our experiences of failure and these people become our greatest support as we move toward new challenges and successes.

3. Develop humility. Sometimes success makes us forget who we are, disassociates us from our values, or leads us to treat others as inferior. Failure can be just the antidote we need to deal with an inflated ego and return us to reality, helping us understand anew the good we want to accomplish with others in our personal and work lives.

4. Take time to reflect. Failure often affords us the opportunity to take some time away, to reflect on and understand the reasons behind our failure, and to reset our lives and careers, and renew our focus on our vision and purpose.  

5. Build strength and resilience. If we let it, failure can be a great source of strength, building our willpower and determination to success, and helping us develop the resources to recover more quickly from future setbacks.

Yes, you can do this.

As the Japanese proverb says: fall seven times, stand up eight.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: How to Turn Your Fear of Failure Into a Motivator

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career and life development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

In the video below from Business Insider, Jenny Blake, the author of Pivot, shares some tips for managing fear of failure and how to use that fear as motivation to succeed.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: How to Get the Life and Career You Really Want

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• How to Get the Life and Career You Really Want: "You summon up all your energy and your creativity. You're not afraid because when you only have today, what are you afraid of? You have nothing to lose. You give it your all."

• 5 Steps to Achieve the Life You've Always Dreamed Of: "It starts by creating a vision of who you want to become. Seeing is believing, so walk by sight and believe that your best days are ahead of you."

• Send This Email When You're Running Late to a Job Interview: "if you’re worried about it working, know that it’s inspired by one of the best messages I received from a candidate who was going to be late for an interview."

• How to Fire Someone Gracefully: "If you need to talk about how you feel, talk about your emotions with your mentor before having the conversation with your employee. This will allow you to keep a cool head and stay collected, especially if the employee becomes emotional."
• 8 Things You Should Never Put On a Resume: "Objectives or statements of purpose take up space that could be put to better use ― and your cover letter is where you should really expand on what you have to offer."

Romance in the Workplace: Dos and Don'ts

Yes, dating a co-worker is common and according to some studies as many as 40% of workers have experienced an office romance. A flirtation at work can certainly make it more interesting to come into work on a Monday morning but there are also some dangers involved and before embarking on dating a co-worker it's best to understand the risks, such as developing a negative reputation in your HR department.

Here then are some dos and don'ts when it comes to romance in the workplace.

DON'TS 

Don't romance on company time. When starting a new relationship there is often a lot of excitement and interest in spending time with that other person, and talking with them as much as possible. Be sure to limit this at work. Avoid private lunch dates that could result in excessive (and unapproved) time away from the workplace, and definitely avoid public displays of affection, while resisting any fantasies you might have about sex in the office. Keep your romance to non-working hours (like evenings and the weekend) and you'll avoid any potential work conflicts.

Don't start a romance with someone who is not available. This should go without saying but only pursue a romance with someone who is single and unattached. In addition to the ethical issues involved, starting a relationship with someone who is married or otherwise attached can result in many problems and conflicts that can significantly impact your work and personal life.

Don't let it impact your work. If you're going to fall in love at work be sure to continue to do your job well. This involves fulfilling your basic work responsibilities and, as noted above, avoiding romancing on company time.

Don't date your manager or someone who reports to you. Avoid the power dynamics and conflicts that come from dating someone you report to or someone who reports to you. This will prevent any ethical violations on your job, such as showing or receiving favoritism when it comes to promotions, opportunities, or pay raises.

DOS

Do watch what you say. It can be tempting to talk about your work days and struggles and it can be a real positive to have someone close to you who understands the dynamics and struggles of your particular job. However, avoid gossiping about co-workers or sharing negative comments about your boss. If your office romance comes to an end some of your words might just be shared with others you work with. 

Do maintain a good working relationship if the romance ends. Most office romances do not result in marriage and so you need to be prepared for the end of the romance and a continuation of an effective and professional working relationship. If this seems unlikely for you it might be best to avoid a workplace romance altogether.

Do follow company protocol and policy. Many companies have policies in place in regard to work-place romance and if you want a future in your company it's best to consider these. Some discourage these relationships while others encourage you to be transparent about an office romance. It is particularly important to consider company policy and consult your HR department if you decide to embark on one of the "don'ts" from above: dating a supervisor or someone who reports to you.

Do take no for an answer. Workplace harassment is a common and serious issue. If your potential partner does not return your interest or decides to break things off after a few dates handle the situation maturely and do not press the situation. If you have a difficult time letting go in relationships that might just be a clue to avoid a workplace relationship.

A workplace romance can help make the job more interesting, and provide you with someone who understands the daily struggles of the job. You might just even find a life partner on the job (like I was fortunate to do).

However, there are negative aspects to office romances and risks involved and it's best to know what you're getting into before you pursue a relationship with a coworker.  

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 12 Side Hustles You Can Do From Bed

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career and life development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

In the video below from The Financial Diet, Chelsea Fagan and Lauren Ver Hage discuss earning additional income with 12 side hustles that offer the flexibility of working from home.