Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: How to Connect with Your Team

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.

The video below from Success magazine discusses ways to begin to find commonality with those you work with. Check out the video to learn more.

4 Ways to Reduce Conflict in a Work Team

If you work with human beings, you are going to experience conflict at some point. And if you work primarily in teams, it is likely you’ll experience conflict on a regular basis. Conflict doesn’t have to drag you or your team down, though, if you handle it correctly, and it can lead to work breakthroughs and the deepening of relationships with your colleagues.

Here are a few ways to manage conflicts among your work team.

Set clear expectations. Work teams need to be clear about what behavior is acceptable and the appropriate ways to communicate. This should be modeled by leaders and supervisors at work, and teams need to have conversations around expectations for how the team will function and work together to ensure everyone is on the same page from the start, and a process is put in place to specify expectations for new individuals who join the team later.

Define terms. Sometimes arguments and disagreements take place in a team because common terms related to the work have not been defined and understood in the same way by others on the team. 

Seek to create a shared vocabulary that will reduce tension and conflict in a group. It can helpful to write these definitions down and provide access to the team so when conflict arises this document can be referred to.

Meet face to face. When conflicts arise, it is best to meet face to face and communicate in person with a specific person or with the team. It becomes easier to understand nuance and read body language, which can help come to a resolution. When setting expectations, it can be useful to come to an agreement on the types of information or communications that will be handled in person and those that can be managed through email or text.

Seek to understand and practice empathy. A practice to model and stress for the team is habit five from Stephen R. Covey’s book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” Implementing this practice will go a long way toward preventing or resolving conflicts when they arise within your team.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: The Most Engaged Employee in the World

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.

The video below from Harvard Business Review offers insight into the factors that drive employee engagement, including working with others in a team. Check out the video to learn more.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: How to Manage Your Workload During the Holidays

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 Manage Your Workload During the Holiday Season:"if you’re concerned about keeping up with your workload in the absence of much of your team, try suggesting to your boss that you hire some temps to help compensate."

• Well-Meaning Career Advice to Avoid: "There are probably just five people in the world who have learned to like–or at least tolerate–the unfiltered version of you, and I doubt your boss is one of them."

• A New Way to Become More Open-Minded: "If openness to experience means you’re willing to try pickle-flavored ice cream, intellectual humility means you’re willing to admit you like it, even if you initially thought you wouldn’t."

• How to Ensure That You Are Constantly Improving: "Hearing others’ stories oftentimes helps me to avoid difficult situations but more importantly motivates me to set goals for myself."
• What Makes Teams Work?: "When we face the fact that none of us is above making a mistake, we create a space where innovation can take place."

5 Tips to Collaborate Successfully

If you plan to be successful in your career you will need to effectively collaborate with others. Rarely are projects undertaken by one individual.

Some collaborations are sustainable and last for the long-term (think of the musical collaboration between the members of U2), while others start strong and burst into flames (think of the brothers in Oasis).

In order to make your collaboration a success pick partners with the following qualities (and be sure to exemplify the traits yourself): 

Open to new ideas. Close-minded individuals who already have all the answers seldom make good collaborators and likely never scored highly on “plays well with others” ratings on their report card. Curiosity for new ideas and new ways of thinking is imperative, along with the humility to recognize that you don’t have all the answers and can learn from others.

Good listener. Someone who is open to new ideas will strive to effectively listen to others and gain a new perspective and view on a situation. Practice active listening in order to fully understand the other person and the solution they propose.

Disagree effectively. One can disagree without being disagreeable. Successful collaborations need the freedom to differ without resorting to rude behavior or shouting. It is often through disagreement that real breakthroughs and solutions can be developed. Don’t be afraid of conflict but manage it constructively.

Reliable. Can you rely on the individuals you are collaborating with? Will they fulfill their responsibilities? Are they hard-working or will they leave work undone? These are questions you need answers to when it comes to selecting those you collaborate with.

Honesty and Respect. These are the basic traits you want in a collaborative partner and they should underlie who you are and how you interact with others. By developing honest and respectful collaborations you make it more likely your team will find effective solutions to the problems you encounter and create a successful and impactful project, product, or event.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Tips for Showcasing Soft Skills on Job Interviews

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!

• Tips for Showcasing Soft Skills on Job Interviews: "As more companies recognize the importance of soft skills, they're becoming more interested in figuring out how candidates will respond to certain scenarios."

• 6 Good Daily Habits for a Fulfilled Life: "My best daily habit is waking up each morning feeling grateful for the opportunity to live another day and have impact on the world around me."

• How the Best Companies for Women Neutralize the Mommy Wars: "Ultimately, I find that most women will say there is gender equality at their firms if an equal amount of sacrifice is required of both men and women, whether they have families or not."

• If Your Team Agrees on Everything, Working Together is Pointless: "What we need is collaboration where tension, disagreement, and conflict improve the value of the ideas, expose the risks inherent in the plan, and lead to enhanced trust among the participants."
• 28 Best Habits to Have in Business: "Considering the difficulties involved with building a notable business, it's important to stay inspired. Find something that inspires you every single day."

5 Characteristics of a Great Employee

Sometimes it feels like being a good employee simply requires us to keep our head down, plug along, mind our own business, and get the work done.

However, that might have been true years ago but today's great employees take initiative and bring a passionate approach to their work.

Below are five additional characteristics of a great employee.

1. Team player. Great employees know that to be successful others on the team need to be successful and so she works well with others in the company, helping them to achieve their goals.

2. Curiosity. To be a great employee one must be curious about the company you work at, curious about all the divisions and areas within the company. curious about the company's competitors, and curious about how to make the company better and more effective.

3. Humility. Instead of glorying in success and taking credit, great employees will deflect praise in humility, understanding that successes require a team.

4. Communicates effectively. Great employees understand the importance of (and practice) good communication. In addition to excellent verbal communication skills, good employees know that effective written skills are important, too. Good communication also means avoiding gossip, and speaking positively about your job and company.

5. Takes responsibility. Every employee will experience some failure in the workplace at some point but it is the great employee who will get back up without blaming anyone else, take responsibility for the failure, and move forward to make things right.

What other characteristics does a great employee have?

4 Soft Skills You Need to Develop for Your Career

In surveys employers and businesses often note that many applicants are lacking soft skills they deem necessary. Even many job postings will note the soft skills an employer is seeking, in addition to the technical skills and mastery required of the job.

Below are 4 soft skills to develop and highlight in a job interview, along with several tips to improve these skills.

1. Communication. It's important to write professional emails, speak appropriately on the phone, and look people in the eye and shake hands firmly when meeting and speaking in person. Watch others who are good communicators and model their behaviors. Ensure that your emails include a greeting a and a closing. You might also consider joining a local Toastmasters to develop your communication skills.

2. Initiative. An effective way to develop initiative is to volunteer for new opportunities as they come up at work. An even better way is to suggest new processes or projects and take the lead in testing them out.

3. Team work/collaboration. A great way to develop team work and collaboration skills is to

volunteer with a local nonprofit or church organization and participate in planning an event or fundraiser. The more opportunities you have to work in collaboration with others the more you'll be able to improve your skills in this area.

4. Creativity. Everyone is creative in some way. Creativity is not just for artists and designers. Creativity enables you to look at problems in a different way and come up with unique solutions. It may even mean that you come to understand that the problem really isn't a problem after all. You can continue to develop your creativity by being curious. Don't stop learning. Meet new people and travel to new places. And don't neglect your personal passions. They can co-exist with your job.

Consider finding a mentor to support you in developing these soft skills and you'll find yourself improving in ways you never imagined.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Thanksgiving Edition

We share some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., every weekend, so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. This is our weekly roundup on job searching, careers, and the Thanksgiving holiday. Enjoy!

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• "Even though Thanksgiving is a time when most people are focusing on family, football, shopping and celebrating the holiday, you shouldn't shut down your job search just because it's a holiday week." Check out Thanksgiving Week Job Searching.


• "There are "plenty of lessons you [and your organizational team] can learn from how the Native Americans and Pilgrims" at Plymouth worked together. Discover them at Teamwork Lessons From The First Thanksgiving.


• "Although we may not control anything outside of ourselves, we are in control of what we think, feel and do." Read about 4 simple gratitude steps to improve your job search in Let Thanksgiving Inspire Your Job Search.


• "Now’s a great time for job seekers to really focus on their job search before the holiday craziness begins." Check out 5 Things Job Seekers Should Do Before Thanksgiving.


• More chain stores are starting Black Friday sales on Thanksgiving Day. Find out how this decision impacts seasonal retail workers at Retail Workers, Consumers Upset With Thanksgiving Day Hours.