I'm always struck by the number of people who complain about the amount of email they receive and how much they despise their inbox -- not because their complaints aren't valid but because my own view couldn't be more different.
My cofounders and I started Contently in 2010 because we saw the world of journalism shifting. Where newspapers and magazines once provided stable, salaried jobs for reporters, writers and editors, they now largely shun fixed costs for an employment model that relies on an increasing percentage of freelancers.
Henry Blodget's excellent piece on short-term greed got me thinking about a very basic question: do companies owe their employees loyalty when the economy gets tough? For some time, I've been appalled that major companies are simultaneously laying off employees and reporting record profits.
Would you be open to explore a situation if it were clearly superior to what you're doing today? This past weekend I conducted a 10-second survey comparing job-hunting activity with current job satisfaction. So far almost 8,500 people have taken survey, and only 12% indicated they were extremely satisfied with their jobs.
My young friend Joey DiFrancesco became an internet celebrity by quitting his job with a marching-band fanfare. Joe won massive points for style with his creative resignation, and snagged four millions views to his Youtube video commemorating the event.
Word that Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is buying The Washington Post might cause consternation in its newsroom, but uneasy journalists wondering about what lies in store might be reassured if they read the letters he has sent to shareholders since 1997. Most annual letters to shareholders are crammed with fatuous drivel.
"Now I'll be bold as well as strong. Use my head alongside my heart." I Will Wait - Mumford and Sons In my last post, I talked about lessons I learned about myself during my continuing journey as an entrepreneur. You gain knowledge, mostly from your mistakes and your peers.
We all want to get on in life and move our career forward as quickly as possible and that often means being able to stand out from the rest of the crowd. But in such competitive times that can be a lot harder then it sounds.
This post is a checklist of questions to ask yourself and to be prepared to answer when you enter the process of seeking a new role. If you are volunteering yourself for consideration, it is a wise investment in time to thoughtfully prepare your case as to why you would be a good fit.
Spectacular news broke yesterday that Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post. Why WaPo was sold is obvious: running a newspaper sucks. It really, really, really sucks.
I often hear people say, "I'm the kind of person who..." or, "I'm not a people person." These seemingly off-the-cuff comments suggest they're resigned to not changing their self-perception - regardless if it's inaccurate or self-defeating.
I see the future of our youth and they are playing Minecraft. If you are not familiar with the online building game Minecraft, you either live in a hole or do not have kids. Minecraft was originally created by Swedish programmer Markus "Notch" Persson and was released to the public in 2009.
I recently wrote a post on My Two Very Simple Rules for Networking. They are: 1) Meet one new person in my area of interest every month, or significantly deepen an existing relationship. 2) Do something nice for someone in my network every week.
What do you do when you find yourself sitting across the table from someone who makes a comment that strikes at the core of everything you believe in? I'm not talking here about intervening in cases of clear wrongdoing, violence or aggression.
Every now and then, and usually not very often, are some words spoken that deeply resonate with you. They make you stop and reflect. The words and their meaning will stay with you for a long time. They might even inspire or motivate you to do something different or to change direction.
Human beings are creatures of habit. We'll tolerate a bad situation waaaaay longer than we should, and then, once we've woken from our stupor and noticed that the water in the pot around us has gotten close to the boiling point, we'll ask "Why the heck did I put up with that for so long?"
Two years ago Fortune magazine identified me as the best networker on LinkedIn; this in turn led to some wonderful stories in Adam Grant's excellent book, GIVE AND TAKE . Since then, every day people ask me about things I've learned about networking on Twitter, PandaWhale, and in real life.
I see there are discussions again about the airline boarding process, as American Airlines is letting people without carry-on bags board first so as not to clog the aisles. American's announcement of their "new" boarding process sounds reasonable and worth trying until you discover the "new" boarding procedure is only new to American.
LinkedIn is rife with advice from CEOs. They say lots of CEO things, that sound great to the vast masses that would love to be respected, rich, and powerful. But let's get real: The vast, vast majority of us are middle managers and will always remain so.
When was the last time you emailed your entire company? On purpose? If you're not a C-level executive sending missives to employees about company policy, your "Reply All" average is probably zero. And for good reason: Business email etiquette forbids the potentially career-damaging practice.
From Anthony Weiner to Mountain Dew, controversial stories have flooded the news. But does controversy hurt or help? Controversy has been in the news a lot lately. While thousands of New Yorkers stand behind Anthony Weiner's run for Mayor, his sexting scandal has threatened to overwhelm his politics.
Although I originally created this list for medical practices, I think it easily applies to all workplace situations. Sometimes employees do not understand or follow the most basic workplace guidelines. Here is a simple but comprehensive list that you can tweak to make your own.
I was stuck in an elevator in one of those loft buildings turned into a hipster office building in New York. There were at least 30 of us in the elevator, which was packed wall-to-wall with bodies. The elevator stopped to let one more person on, and my cell phone rang.
Small businesses can have big problems - but not always the big budgets needed to solve them. In the early days of my company, we were always on the lookout for affordable technology that would make our jobs easier. Unfortunately, poor user interfaces and inadequate support meant most business apps were often more trouble than they were worth.
When I was 21, the U.S. Navy taught me how to fly an airplane. We practiced for a while in a flight simulator, and eventually the opportunity came to do the real thing. With an instructor sitting behind me in the cockpit, I started the engine, taxied out to the runway, got clearance for takeoff, set the power, scanned the instruments and released the brakes.
