High Five Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: How to Collaborate Your Way to the Top

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 Collaborate Your Way to the Top: "Some people think business success is primarily about crushing the competition. But leaders who rise to the top actually do it by building up others."

• How to Keep Employees Happy and Motivated: "As a leader, get comfortable with the idea of allowing your staff to make mistakes to ensure they have the opportunity to learn from those mistakes."

• How to Find Fulfilling Work: "Find a job or build a business based on whatever you like to do when you aren’t working. If you don’t know what you like, try different things. Test out everything from operations to sales."

• Everything You Need to Know to Improve Your Life: "A big share of life is spent getting ready, getting prepared, and part of it is the development of skills that make for success in the marketplace. It starts with personal development, self-improvement and making measurable progress."
• The 10 Hottest Jobs Right Now:"in areas such as construction and retail, workers’ disposable income is responsible for more jobs such as wealth managers, personal shoppers, and food service workers."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 5 Traits of a Championship 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!

• The 5 Traits of a Championship Mindset: "Commitment should not be just about setting a goal, but living by a standard. A goal is a something you reach. A standard is something you live by."

• Why More Women Need to Say Yes to Top Leadership Positions: "There are other biases that women face in the workplace, but the number one bias that all women face is about family and career."

• How to "Sell" Yourself in a Job Interview: "You’ll be perceived as someone who is keenly interested in what the interviewer has to say and what the company can offer."

• How to Improve Mental Health at the Office: "Many individuals with psychiatric disability can and do work effectively. How the condition impacts work life varies considerably."
• 3 Tips for Making Collaboration Fun and Productive:"Keeping teammates in the dark can stall a project. By sharing the same information with every member of the team, it shows each person that they are essential to decision making and gives team members the ability to execute on their own."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Lessons from a World War II General

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!

• Leadership Lessons from a World War II General: "Next time your team is in dire straits, demonstrate fierce optimism in the face of overwhelming odds and gauge its effect. I bet that you will be surprised by how contagious optimistic leadership can be and by the incredible influence it can have on a team."

• We Need to Change the Conversation Around Motherhood & Work: "To make significant progress, we have to work together and change the conversation. That means seeing mothers as more than just mothers, and acknowledging that their identity outside of being a parent is just as important."

• A Simple Technique to Improve Your Communication: "Subheads are words or short phrases that help to group paragraphs together and introduce new pieces of information. They also visually break up large pieces of text, helping your reader digest information."

• 14 Morning Routine Hacks to Boost Productivity: "The good news is that some morning "best practices" have been shown to help successful business moguls and entrepreneurs make the most of their time and energy."
• The Need to Become More Collaborative in Business:"A truly connected value chain means businesses can innovate more quickly and provide better – and more ethical – products and services to increasingly demanding customers."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Connecting with People is the Key to Success

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!

• Connecting with People is the Key to Success: "When you shift your mindset and approach opportunities or new challenges from a state of curiosity, you open doors you didn’t know existed (and meet people you’d never dream of meeting)."

• The Good News About First Impressions: "others don’t have such a frame of reference when they meet us for the first time, and thus are more prone to offering the benefit of the doubt."

• How to Get Your Team Brainstorming Great Ideas: "Any idea that might elsewhere be too wacky could here be essential. Even if it's not viable on its own, that idea could help spark the company's next great innovative product or process."

• 5 Tools to Help Your Team Collaborate Better: "Do some research into what's available and you might just change the way you and your team work with others--for the better."
• To Be Successful You Need Friends, Not Just Goals:"Sharing your goals with others strengthens your commitment to achieving what you said you wanted to achieve."

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: 8 Simple Words Great Leaders Use Daily

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!

• 8 Simple Words Exceptional Leaders Use Each & Every Day: "Asking for help shows vulnerability, respect, and a willingness to listen--all are qualities of a great leader. And all are qualities you hope your employees exhibit."

• 7 Effective Ways to Initiate & Cultivate Business Referrals: "It is crucial from the start of any new business relationship, that we establish it to be reciprocal. We must be prepared to ask how we can refer business to others as well."

• The Painful Cycle of Employee Loneliness, and How it Hurts Companies: "loneliness is different from depression, being alone, or feelings of solitude. It has more to do with a person’s quality of social relationships rather than their quantity."

• 8 Tips to Improve Team Collaboration: "If teams are important for your organization, you need to do what you can to facilitate their effectiveness. Make sure open communication exists. Create opportunities for all voices to be heard."
• 4 Tips for Listening (That Even an Extrovert Can Master): "Now, in every meeting, whether I’m with a group or in a 1:1, I make it a point to ask questions instead of make statements. It has drastically changed the dynamic in the room and has allowed me to grow closer with my entire team."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 10 Reasons Good Employees Quit

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!

• Top 10 Reasons Good Employees Quit: "They realize that it's up to them to have the career they want, and that their hopes of having that career with their current organization will never come true."

• How to Stay Focused When You're Working from Home: "It may sound silly, but if you want to have a focused day of work, pretend you’re not working from home."

• 10 Simple Ways to Build a Collaborative, Successful Work Environment: "The more compelling and exciting the mission, the easier it is to inspire team members to want to be a part of what the company aspires to accomplish."

• Why You Need to Make Over Your To-do List: "Instead of doing a million things poorly, the goal becomes to do a few things incredibly well--or better yet, do one thing better than anyone else in the world."
• The Health Benefits of Gratitude: "Whether you’re penning a note on personalized stationery, scribbling in a journal or just meditating, a deep contemplation of gratitude will probably be a tune-up for your mind and body in many ways."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: How to Handle Stress During a Job Interview

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 Handle Stress During a Job Interview: "Remind yourself that stress in an interview is not only normal — it’s necessary. Prepare yourself for stress while you train yourself to do a great job."

• How to Sidestep the "Nos" and Be Persistent in Your Career: "You will have people around you who can’t see how big your life is going to be. You have to sidestep them."

• 5 Skills You Need But Rarely See in Job Postings: "on the next resume or cover letter you write, make sure you pair those technical talents of yours with examples of ways you’ve deployed them collaboratively."

• Why Introverts Are Actually A Lot Better at Sales: "Inbound or email marketing, however, demands an ability to research a customer, see the world from the customer's perspective, and adapt to the customer's situation and specific response--all skills that come easier to introverts."
• 5 Ways to Put Mindfulness to Work in Your Life: "Simple things like noticing the sensations in your body or your breath as you brush your teeth, drink water, wash dishes or drive home from work… anything you do every day on a regular basis will work."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Leaving a Stable Job to Create Your Dream 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!

• Leaving a Stable Job to Create Your Dream Career: "Paying attention to what engages and excites you, what lights you up, and what stimulates your intellect points you toward the tasks and situations that enable you to be your best self."
• 4 Reasons Why the Most Successful People are Great Collaborators: "It doesn't matter what we do, where we do it, or how well we can create a product or offer a service. In order to succeed, we need to effectively create partnerships with many others around us."
• The Simple Truth to Accomplishing Significantly More, Faster: "Most tasks in life are significantly easier than we'd like to believe. In fact, nearly every goal you have is really just made up a series of small decisions followed by short actions."
• 10 Tips for Raising Your Public Speaking Game: "I believe that it’s the duty of every public speaker to find something right with the world, your view of it, or at least some hero along the way who has exemplified the positive attributes you’re standing behind."
• 5 Tips to Improve Nonverbal Communication in Meetings: "Effective nonverbal communication goes further than that first handshake. Here are five ways to improve nonverbal communication, especially during meetings or presentations."

5 Career Lessons from Martin Luther King, Jr.

While we're still considering the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we can also reflect on his words and mission and apply them to our professional lives.

Here are 5 career lessons one can take from Martin Luther King, Jr.:

1. "All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence." Our work choices should reflect a desire to uplift and bring benefit to everyone and everything and we should strive to do this work with excellence.

2. "Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'" Work choices that are primarily about making a lot of money and acquiring a lot of possessions ultimately are unsatisfying and bring little benefits to others or yourself (other than material). The greatest satisfaction comes from doing work that benefits others.

3. "The time is always right to do what is right." If you find that your work does not benefit others or yourself then it is time for change. The time is now to do work that provides you with meaning and provides some service to others. 

4. "Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." Sometimes we need to take a step in our career without the ability to see the whole picture. We need to trust ourselves, our strengths, and our vision for how we can utilize our skills to do work that matters.

5. "A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus." One who would be a leader must learn to work with others and help bring mutual understanding and benefit to a situation.

Whatever it is that we find ourselves doing now we can apply the words of Martin Luther King, Jr.: "Whatever your life's work is, do it well."

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.