High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: How to Live a Longer, Happier & More Productive Life

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 Live a Longer, Happier & More Productive Life: "If you’re worrying, you’re not working. Many people waste energy worrying instead of focusing on the immediate problem and potential solutions -- which is much more beneficial."

• 4 Ways to Attract & Hire Your Company's Next Leaders: "Millennials recognize that leadership skills are critical to professional growth, but believe that businesses are not doing enough to build the next generation of leadership. If businesses would do more to develop leaders, Millennials would be more loyal."

• 7 Simple Ways to Spread Kindness: "Acting generously not only heightens your happiness, it also releases nearly 50 percent more of oxytocin—the feel-good chemical in your brain—and boosts creativity, resilience and problem-solving skills."

• Why New Hires Should Start on Friday: "No matter how much you love your job, Mondays come with stress. There are meetings to prepare for, schedules to plan and a whole week of deadlines looming over you. Suffice to say this isn’t the optimal environment to help a new hire settle in."
• How to Avoid Hiring Toxic Employees: "The more team members who interview a candidate, the better. Each candidate that begins the interview process with your company should be introduced to a well-rounded roster of current employees who will be calibrating the candidate for the role."

Six Ways to Be a Great Coworker

To be successful in your career you need to learn to work well with others, similarly to when report cards noted when an elementary school student could play well with others.

It is unlikely that your career will lead you occupy a solitary position that doesn’t require you to work closely in collaboration with other people. Your ability to be a good colleague and coworker can significantly benefit your career and help you enjoy your job.

Here are six ways to rock the workplace as a great colleague.

Share the credit. Your success is not your own and is made possible by the support of others working with you. Be sure to recognize and acknowledge the others that help you successfully complete your tasks and projects. 

Be supportive and help out. In turn, offer your assistance to your colleagues and volunteer to help out with other projects when possible. Stay alert to co-workers who might be struggling with a particular task or project and step in to support them.

   

Let your guard down and be social. Some people try to keep their professional and personal lives separate but it’s important to be authentically you in the office. It’s difficult to develop meaningful relationships with colleagues without sharing some details about your personal life and finding some things to bond over. Develop these relationships by socializing with your colleagues at lunch, for dinner and drinks after work, and at the company-wide holiday party.

Smile and be kind. Your generous smile and greeting to a passing coworker can help ease a stressful day and brighten the office for others. Showing kindness to your colleagues is a simple way to build rapport and contribute to a positive work environment.

Offer what you know. You don’t need to have a formal mentoring relationship with someone to provide them with some training and offer guidance. You don’t want to come across as a know-it-all but be willing to share your skills and knowledge with others who could benefit from it.

Communicate effectively. It’s impossible to overestimate the importance of learning how to effectively communicate with you colleagues, customers, and supervisors. Developing positive ways of communicating with others will enable success in many other areas of your career.

Implement these practices and you’ll develop a reputation around the workplace as someone others look forward to working with.

4 Practices to Network Your Way to Success

A lot is written about the importance of networking for your career success and much of it is good, solid advice. However, rather than complicate things there are four practices that, if implemented, will help you gain deeper connections that ultimately provide you with lasting resources to support you through all phases of your career--the good, the bad, and everything in between.

The following are four practices to network effectively for lasting and meaningful success:  

1. Be social. This is obvious but is also difficult for those who identify as introverts (up to half the population). The easiest way to be social is to be present: attend the party, the conference, the networking event. Develop a set of introductory questions or statements to break the ice with someone new and show interest in the other person. You don't have to be at a formal networking event to practice being social. You can be social in the work cafeteria or at the coffee shop. You never know when you might develop a last relationship with someone. After all, every one of your friends was a stranger at some point.

2. Be kind. Yes, kindness and compassion win out. Kindness is attractive and others will be drawn to you. But you must make it genuine. Speak words of kindness and encouragement to others and you will find that you are also encouraged and in a better mood, and likely to be more social.

3. Be curious. Take an interest in others and desire to learn what you can about their work, their interests, and their lives. Ask questions. Listen well. Not only will you develop deeper relationships but you'll gain more knowledge, making you a more skilled and valuable employee or entrepreneur.

4. Be a connector. When you meet someone find a way to connect them with someone you know who might be of interest or service to them. For example, if you meet someone who talks of the need to update their web site let them know about the graphic designer friend you have. Or perhaps you meet someone interested in learning more about film-making, introduce them to your friend who directs commercials for TV. When you become a connector others will seek out your advice and suggestions and they will also connect you to the people in their lives who might of interest or service to you.

5 Steps to Developing a Positive Reputation at Your Workplace

In order to achieve great things in your life and career you need to work at it. Success will not be handed to you without putting in the time necessary. One key to becoming successful in your career is to develop a great reputation in your workplace. This will carry over to other jobs as your former colleagues speak positively and enthusiastically about you and the work you do.

Here are five steps to developing a great reputation at work:

1. Do great work. Of course the first thing you need to do is deliver on your promises. Do great work, deliver it on time (or preferably early), and meet or exceed any financial targets for your work. Doing a great job in all aspects of your work is the foundation for your reputation.

2. Be of service. Support your colleagues and co-workers and provide assistance when and where needed. Be the first to volunteer to help on a project or step in when another colleague is out sick.

3. Participate in task-forces or work groups. Get to know others within your company and increase your understanding of the industry by participating in cross-functional teams, task-forces, and other types of work groups.

4. Avoid negative talk. Do not criticize your supervisor or upper management in conversation with your colleagues. If you have an issue or concern take it directly to your supervisor of executive. Make every effort to speak positively about your work and the people you work with. Be a source of encouragement, rather than another naysayer in the workplace.

5. Be kind. In addition to doing great work, your reputation will be cemented by the way you treat people. Don't just watch your words. Your body language can indicate that you're not listening to someone or don't respect their opinion. And be kind to everyone, including the person at the front desk when you walk in. Greet everyone with a smile and treat them with kindness and you will be well on your way to developing a positive reputation at work.

5 Ways to be a Success in Your Career (and Life)

There have been many books and articles written about how to be successful in your career. You could spend the next few years reading through them all but if you put into practice the following principals you'll be well on your way to career and life success.

1. Control your speech. In other words, learn to avoid speaking to others when you are angry or

frustrated. If you receive an email that is hurtful or offensive take some time before crafting your response. It can be very difficult to repair a relationship that has been damaged by careless words.

2. Be humble. Few people want to work for, or spend time with, a boastful individual. Let your accomplishments and successes stand on their own and speak for you. This does not mean that you keep silent about them. They should be noted on your resume and personal web site and you can discuss your successes and strengths with anyone you seek to humbly lead, serve, and support.

3. Acknowledge others. You did not arrive at your successes on your own. Be sure to recognize those who help and support you in your work and life.

4. Be kind. Similar to what has been mentioned so far, kindness toward others will strengthen relationships and enable you to lead effectively. For some encouragement in this watch George Saunders' remarks about kindness at Syracuse University.

5. Make others a success. If you apply your strengths and skills to making those around you successful then you will achieve great things and others will seek you out. You will likely discover that you have many more opportunities than you imagined and others will take note that you work on successful projects. This also applies to your friends and family. Work to make others successful and you will be a great success in life and in your career.