Building Successful Careers

My son is an excellent baseball player; he is fast, strategic and calm under stress. This year, he is on a great team. They won the Saratoga AAA Little League Championship two weeks ago. The team advanced to the Regional Minor Tournament of Champions. Everyone was excited. The coaches and team practiced everyday. They won the first game on Saturday. They won the 2nd game on Monday. They won the 3rd game on Tuesday. Then they entered the final. It was a tough game. Luck was not on our side. Many hits were caught in mid of air, there were two questionable calls from the umpires and the team got frustrated. My son scored but the team lost the game. They are in the 2nd place. The final game wiped all recent victories, everyone felt defeated instead of enjoying the great season. I know I was one of them. My son and I walked to my car, I asked him: "How do you feel?" His face was still calm, showing neither excitement nor disappointment. "Mom, it is okay”, he said. “ I l...

The Business Style Handbook: An A-to-Z Guide for Writing on the Job with Tips from Communications Experts at the Fortune 500 (Paperback) by Helen Cunningham (Author), Brenda Greene (Author) This books is very helpful if English is your 2nd language.

My friend lost his job recently and has been actively interviewing for a new one. Last month he came out of an interview, calling his best friends, telling us how excited he was. He felt challenged by the hiring manager, by his energy, vision and ambitions. We all hoped he would get his dream job. But he didn’t. One of the stakeholders did not approve hiring him. We felt very sorry for him. He went to another interview a few days ago, another good opportunity; we were all excited for him and kept our fingers crossed. He called me after his interview; his voice was low, filled with sadness. He said he felt he would be “managed not challenged” by the hiring manager during the interview. How sad! being managed and not challenged! A creative mind that is challenged generates excellent ideas. A great leader sets the bar high, exudes high energy and challenges and inspires his employees. A good manager could use a matter of fact attitude, gather all facts about all the candidates, compare...