High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Career Advice Business Leaders Wold Give Their Younger Selves

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!

• Career Advice Business Leaders Would Give to Their Younger Selves: "Here’s what they told me about picking the right career path, finding the right mentor and getting in the right mindset to land the career of your dreams."

• What You Need to Know to Become a Great Leader: "If you want to be a leader who attracts quality people, the key is to become a person of quality yourself. Leadership is the ability to attract someone to the gifts, skills and opportunities you offer as an owner, as a manager, as a parent."

• How to Pursue Your Dream When Everyone Says it Won't Work: "Other people’s concerns about your potential for success or failure often have more to do with their realities than your own."

• Give Working Parents What They Really Want: "Companies that prioritize family-first benefits that support family responsibilities while emphasizing self-care and healthy living will see greater return on loyalty, morale, productivity and performance from all employees."
• 3 Types of Questions That Are Crucial for Employee Coaching:"Great managers use questions to lead employees to mutually agreed-upon solutions -- it significantly increases the likelihood of success."

5 Steps to Take After Your Performance Evaluation

Many companies and businesses implement a regular review process to evaluate employee performance. Employees often look upon these as a necessary evil to be dreaded and then moved past as quickly as possible.

But, like all aspects of our work experience, a small shift in the way we view and respond to the performance evaluation can bring significant value to our careers.

Here are five things to do after you’ve gone through the performance evaluation process.

Avoid defensiveness. This is a critical first step and it can help us take further action to improve our work performance. It is difficult to take criticism and often our first response is to disagree with the assessments of others, including our supervisor, or to make excuses for our failure to meet a goal. Instead, resolve to listen, avoid a defensive response, and take the time to really understand the feedback. You just might learn something valuable about yourself.

Get specific. While you seek to understand the areas you need to improve at work, get as specific as possible. It provides little in the way of insight to suggest that you need to improve your communication skills. What are we talking about here? Do you need to be clearer about what you need in your emails? Or is this about face-to-face meetings with clients? Or perhaps your manager believes you need improvement when speaking in front of large groups. Gain as much detail as possible to help you get specific about the areas you need to improve.

Take on new tasks. Once you’ve gotten specific volunteer to take on new tasks or responsibilities that will help you gain experience and improve your skills in the areas identified through the evaluation process. Be focused on those areas of the project that will help you gain new skills and strengthen your weaknesses.

Get additional training. In addition, seek out workshops, conferences, and other training opportunities to improve the skills you need to work on. Speak to your manager for recommendations, as well.

Set personal goals. Take some time to develop some personal goals as response to your performance review. These goals can be about anything from a promotion you’re seeking to some specific skills you want to acquire, or a degree or diploma that will help your career.

Taking these steps will help you gain the most from a formal performance review process at work.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: Overcoming Procrastination

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 Brendon Burchard, he discusses procrastination and how we can overcome it in our personal and work lives. Check out the video to learn more.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: How to Reach Your Most Ambitious Goals in 20 Minutes a Day

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!

• Reaching Your Most Ambitious Goals in 20 Minutes a Day: "This approach will require radical clarity. Trying to get something done in 20 minutes when you have a limp plan will be about as compelling as a limp handshake."

• 7 Lessons Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Elite Athletes: "You must be willing to invest time and energy into achieving each of those mini goals. You must be willing to go above and beyond to achieve each step of your plan."

• A Brainstorming Exercise to Come Up With Better Business Ideas: "Once all of your ideas are down on paper, begin working across the columns, and place a checkmark next to each idea that fits within the parameters."

• 4 Reasons Slowing Down Will Make You More Successful: "Slow down and make time for clarity. You can't see where you're going if you're too busy running with your head down."
• Finding Passion in Your Job:"leaders are more willing to invest more effort, time and energy into improving a competency they care about than one they don’t."

5 Ways to Think About Your Upcoming Job Interview

For many people the time spent in preparation for a job interview is one filled with incredible anxiety. There might be pressure to get a job due to unemployment or recent graduation from school. However, approaching a job interview with intense anxiety and concern will make it difficult to have a successful interview.

The following five ways to think about, and approach, an upcoming interview can help reduce anxiety and allow you to better demonstrate the talent and skills you have to offer the company.

The interview is all about the interviewer. You likely want the job you are interviewing for, but the interviewer is seeking out someone who will make their job easier. If you can demonstrate to the interviewer what you can do for them, and how you can meet the needs of the company, you are in a better position to land the job.

And it’s about determining if the job/employer is a good fit for you. Sure, the job might sound great on paper, but the interview process might reveal that you’d be working for a jerk or at a company that does not respect an employee’s personal life and obligations. The interview is a great opportunity for you to ensure that this job would be a good fit for you.

Practice makes better. Like anything, the more we do something the better we can become at it. Think of your job interview as practice. You might not get this job, but you’ve practiced interviewing and are now better prepared for the next interview that comes your way. Evaluate your performance and identify areas for you to improve upon in your next interview.

This is an opportunity to expand your network. You’ll be meeting other people throughout the interviewing process, from the person who greets you when you arrive, to the manager or human resource representative who interviews you. This provides you with introductions to new people who can expand your network, and who you might work with in the future. Be kind and remember those you might.

You’ll learn something about your field. The interview, if you approach it correctly, can also serve as a learning opportunity. You can deepen your knowledge of your chosen field by asking pertinent questions and gain an understanding of how other companies in the industry operate.

Adjust your thoughts and approach to your upcoming job interview and you can reduce stress and enjoy the process more.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 3 Tips for Honing Your Leadership Habits

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, learn three ways to develop your leadership skills, starting with imagining your ideal self. Check out the video to learn more.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 5 Questions to Ask Yourself to Align Personal & Career Goals

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 Questions to Ask Yourself to Align Personal & Career Goals: "At times, you do have to choose between your career goals and personal goals in order to accomplish one....The key is to take the time to reflect, and ask yourself some questions before you make the decision. Here’s where to start."

• 4 Reasons Good Employees Lose Their Motivation: "With each of these four motivation traps, the trick is to think more comprehensively about what stops employees from initiating, persisting, and putting in mental effort."

• 5 Principles to Follow to Make Your Mark on the World: "People with different backgrounds and skill sets. If you're looking at an opportunity or challenge and you have five ways to look at it versus one, you'll see each other's blind spots."

• 25 Best Habits to Have in Life: "Focus on these 25 habits, consistently making efforts to instill them into your daily routine, and in time, your progress and momentum towards your goals will skyrocket."
• The 5 Principles of Building Trust:"Talk is educational and edifying; but actions are evidence. Provide iconic tangible evidence that what you are claiming can be trusted."

How to Leave a Job on Good Terms

Very few people stay in one job their entire career and so at some point you will move on to a new position. How you leave and on what terms you depart can have an impact on your future professional life. Of course, we don’t always leave a position by choice but, even then, we can implement some of these practices to make the separation more manageable. 

Give sufficient notice. A good way to burn bridges at a job is to leave abruptly, making it difficult for your former employer to transition to a new employee smoothly. Strive to provide your employer with at least a two week notice before you move on, and up to four weeks or more if your work is complex and requires a unique skill-set.

Train your replacement. Even if your company is unable to hire someone while you’re still there, it is likely they’ll have someone take over on an interim basis. Offer to train that person and do a good job, ensuring that your work will continue unimpeded and your company will not miss a beat.

Get documentation in order. You can also make life easier for your replacement, and for your former employer, by making sure that all documentation and written instructions related to your position are up-to-date, clearly written, and stored in a location that will be easy to locate.

Provide contact info. The questions about your job or project might not end once you leave the company. Offer to leave your personal contact information in case a question comes up and no one else seems to have the answer. Instead of looking at this as a bother, recognize that you have gained some important expertise that will be useful as you more ahead in your career.

Be grateful. Take some time before you leave to say thanks to colleagues and supervisors for the opportunities, experience, and knowledge you received from them while on the job. Let then know you are grateful for the time they took to add value to your job and professional life. When appropriate ask a co-worker or manager to serve as a reference for you in the future.

Apply these basic practices the next time you leave a job and you’ll likely have a former employer that could return to one day, if desired, or at least obtain a good reference from.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: Do's and Don'ts for Dressing Professionally

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 Inc., learn five do's and don'ts to dress professionally for your job. Check out the video to learn more.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: The Most Important Career Moves To Make In Your 20s, 30s, 40s & 50s

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!

• The Most Important Career Moves to Make During the Stages of Your Life: "There is no more waiting for someone else to decide how your career progresses, or waiting to be in the job market only when you are unhappy or when you are forced to job search."

• Why You Need to Embrace Your Ambition: "You’re scared, and I understand what it is to be scared of the unknown. But you’re not going to achieve anything if you don’t get comfortable with the idea of achievement."

• How to Turn Your Side Hustle into a Full-Time Career: "you may have dreamed of quitting your 9 to 5 to pursue your true passion, but maybe you’re not convinced it’s truly possible."

• A Good Meeting Needs a Clear Decision-Making Process: "we’ve seen leaders give plenty of thought to the data and analysis needed to kick off and carry on these sorts of discussions. But they typically don’t consider how they’d like to finish them."
• Why Micro-Internships Will Be the Next Big Thing:"It gives students the opportunity to work in a field that may not be available to them due to geographic reasons."

5 Steps to Regain Your Focus

There are times when work seems overwhelming and we feel like we can’t possibly manage all the tasks on our to-do list. It can be particularly easy to lose focus at times like these.

Here are five steps you can take to regain your focus at work and reduce your stress and anxiety, too.

Identify tasks. Be clear on the things you need to accomplish by writing them down. If you’re a pen and paper type of person write them down in a planner or on a sheet of paper that you post nearby. Otherwise, create a list to access from your laptop or phone. You’ll also want to identify due dates for each task to help you with the next step.

Prioritize and align with company goals. Evaluate your tasks and rank them according to due dates and importance. You will also want to consider how your tasks align with your company goals. It’s possible to get distracted by tasks that are not really a priority for your company. If you’re unsure about which tasks should take priority seek out help from your manager or supervisor.

Delegate when possible. If it’s possible to hand off some tasks to other people, do so. Look through your tasks and determine whether one or more might be better handled by someone else on your team or should be moved to another department.

Remove distractions. This should be part of your every day routine but turn off your social media notifications, avoid surfing the internet, turn off your phone, and turn your attention exclusively to the task at hand.

Avoid multitasking. Notice I just wrote “the task at hand”. Singular. Not plural. Trying to multitask not only slows you down but it distracts you and makes it more difficult to get something done.

And it’s important to start small. You don’t have to tackle the biggest, most difficult task on your to-do list first. Complete one task. A small one. Gain a quick victory to start your day and propel you onto the more important work.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 8 Things to Stop Buying This Month

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, Chelsea Fagan from The Financial Diet, presents 8 ways you can cut down on your spending this month, allowing you to save more and experience less financial stress. Check out the video for more.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: How a Journal Can Help Change Your Mindset

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 a Journal Can Help Change Your Mindset: "How we think ultimately influences how we behave. Getting to the truth about our mindset can help us shift our beliefs and take action to make important changes to our life."

• How to Talk to an Employee Who Isn't Meeting Their Goals: "Start by asking your employee how they think they’re doing on their goals. In addition to an overall assessment, ask them to list key metrics and examples by which they measure their performance."

• 5 Ways to Make a Steady Freelance Income: "Keep reading to learn about five different freelance jobs that offer competitive compensation, and find out how to train yourself to thrive in each position."

• What Separates High Achievers from Mere Dreamers?: "That would be the person who is generous, honest, and who gave credit to other people for their own ideas."
• Why Great Leaders Need to Be Their Best Selves:"Your best self is who you authentically are at your core. Your best self is wise, fearless, and leads you towards what is best for your life."