10 professional skills we should all master by 40

10 professional skills we should all master by 4010 professional skills we should all master by 40Becoming the perfect employee is probably a goal of the majority of women (we aim to please, dont we?). And while we desire to improve our professional selves, we also must set realistic expectations for making these improvements. There are certain skills that take time and effort to master, and we cant allow ourselves to get frustrated if we havent mastered them by the time were 25Weve laid out the 10 skills you should have mastered by the time youre 40. But if you arent quite there yet, not toworry. None of us will ever be the perfect employee.1. Identifying your strongest assetWhat are you truly good at when it comes to your professional career? Are you best at negotiating? Are you great at bringing positive energy to a kollektiv? Are you an amazing prioritizer? Are you best at working in a team? Are you an amazing saleswoman? You get the idea. By the age of 40, you should have identi fied your best asset and continue to build upon it, accessing this strength as much as possible.2. Identifying your biggest weakness.Similarly, you should have identified your biggest career weakness. Whether youre not a great delegator, you get frustrated easily, or you dont know when to rest, you should have identified your biggest weakness - the one quality that could potentially hold you back. And you should be working to combat it.3. Knowing how to learn from your mistakes.And more importantly how to actually admit you made a mistake. No one is perfect (even though everyone sure wants to be). One of the most admirable qualities is self honesty, especially in the workplace. When you can admit you made a mistake, youre more likely to analyze and learn from it, as well as prevent said mistake from occurring in the future.4. Being able to take constructivecriticism.It feels like accepting constructive criticism is an almost impossible task at the beginning of ones career. But by t he time youre 40, you should be able to put your pride aside and accept criticism and advice. You should be able to identify that the people you work with simply want you to do your best.5. Delegating.Delegating is important in order to prevent burnout and lessen the stress you experience in the workplace. You should be able to trust your colleagues with tasks rather than feeling as though you have to do everything yourself.6. Mediating.Regardless of how positive an sekretariat environment may be, there will always be conflicts. And some conflicts can be resolved without heading to HR. Being able to mediate a conflict in the office is a beneficial skill for maintaining office camaraderie, as well as showing younger employees that they can mediate as well.7. Crafting a strong portfolio.Not just aLinkedIn You should have a printed portfolio that best showcases your career, and your professional accomplishments. You may also want to create a digital version, like your own personal webp age to send over email.8. Eliminating yourimposter syndrome.By age 40, you should have worked to eliminate your imposter syndrome. Youve been in the game for a while now, and youve developed the careerconfidencenecessary to do this.9. Saying no.Its hard to say no at any age, but it does get easier the more you work on it. By this point in your life, you should be able to identify which tasks you need to (and want to) complete, and which tasks are unnecessary or can be delegated to others.10. Public speaking.Even if your job does not necessarily revolve around public speaking, everyone will need to make a speech in front of a group of people at some point in their lives. As with most skills, public speaking is mastered from sheer practice. Work your way into becoming a public speaking extraordinaire by starting small (speaking in front of your team at work) and gradually moving up (speaking in front of your entire company).This article originally appeared onFairygodboss. As the large st career community for women, Fairygodboss provides millions of women with career connections, community advice, and hard-to-find intel about how companies treat women.

How and Why to Create and Adopt Team Norms

How and Why to Create and Adopt gruppe NormsHow and Why to Create and Adopt Team NormsThe members of every kollektiv and workgroup develop particular ways of interacting with each other over time. Effective interpersonal communication among members and successful communication with managers and employees outside of the gruppe are critical components of gruppe functioning. How a team makes decisions, assigns work, and holds members accountable determines whether or not the team is successful. With so much riding on the outcome, it doesnt make sense to leave interactions to chance. If you form team relationship guidelines, or team norms, early on to ensure team success,you can shape the culture of the team in positive ways. Team Norms and Relationship Guidelines Team norms are a set of rules or guidelines that a team establishes to shape the interaction of its members with one other and with employees who are external to the team. Team norms can be developed during an early team me eting, preferably the first meeting, and more norms can be added as the team deems necessary. Once developed, team norms are used to help guide the behavior of team members and are used to assess how well team members are interacting. These guidelines enable members of a team to call each other out on any behavior that is dysfunctional, disruptive, or that is negatively impacting the success of the teams work. Perhaps Ken Blanchard, co-author of The One Minute Manager, said it best when he equated a river without banks to a pond. Likewise, a team without relationship norms leaves itself open to expand into potential interpersonal problems. Team Norm Essentials Predictably, teams can have trouble with particular components of interpersonal communication and interaction because they put a lot of diverse personalities and backgrounds into one space. Following some essential team norms can help alleviate many of the problems that may arise Team members as coworkers All team members are equal every team members opinion will be thoughtfully considered each team member will keep all commitments by the agreed upon due date each team member agrees to constantly assess whether team members are honoring their commitments to the team norms.Team member communication Team members will speak respectfully to each other, will not talk down to each other, and will recognize and thank each other for their contributions.Team member interaction in meetings Team members will listen without interrupting hold no side or competing conversations follow the rules for effective meetings attend meetings on time end meetings on time work from an agenda useminutesrecorded at each meeting as reference points. Team organization and function Leadership will rotate monthly, the team management sponsor will attend at least one meeting a month.Team communication with other employees including managers Team members will make certain they have agreement on what and when to communicate, and comp laints about team members will be addressed first among teammembers.Team problem solving, conflict resolution, and decision making Team members will make decisions by consensus, but the majority will rule if a timely consensus is not reached, and conflicts will be resolved directly among the people in conflict. Team norms can be expanded for your specific needs and can encompass as many topics as the team deems necessary for successful functioning. Its best to start with a few team norms and add more norms as needed. Make sure your team norms are written and posted where team members are reminded of their commitment.

3 Questions Smart People Ask Before Starting a Side Hustle

3 Questions Smart People Ask Before Starting a Side Hustle3 Questions Smart People Ask Before Starting a Side HustleEvery side hustle starts with an idea. And your first step to pulling off a successful one is to find the right ideas. They may not be obvious at first, but if you look closely, youll find no shortage of ideas that can be converted into money available for the taking.Before we go on, take note of an important fact about hustle ideas Not all of them are created equal. In fact, theres a tremendous range of potential profit among them.Still, almost every one thats worth pursuing will make you nod your head yes to the questions below1. Is Your Idea Feasible?Your goal is to start a project in a short period of time that earns money outside your day job. If any of these pieces of the equation arent immediately evident in the idea youre considering, you dont have a feasible idea.Lets break down what feasible meansAnd lets break that down even moraExcited to Start a Project You re actually going to do this, not just think about it. When you think about an idea, do you feel excited? Can you envision your next steps? If not, abandon the idea. Potential to Earn Money Remember A side hustle isnt a hobby- it produces income. If you dont see a clear way to get paid, abandon the idea. In a Short Period of Time If your idea requires three years to get going, abandon the idea.A feasible idea is one that you can turn into reality using the skills, time, and resources you already have. Even if you dont know every step of the way, you must be able to see a pathway from idea to launch. 2. Is Your Idea Profitable?Youre not looking for an idea that merely sounds interesting, youre looking for a profitable one. To make sure you understand the difference, consider two examples of entirely different ideas. Heres the first, from a personal chef with a love for high-quality dessertsI want to start an ice-cream-of-the-month club that delivers artisanal flavors to offices. The service is marketed to HR managers and small business CEOs as a way to increase morale and bring employees together for regular social experiences.In this example, theres a clear target market. Sure, the logistics of storing and delivering all that ice cream could get a little complicated, but it might be worth exploring if you knew how to source the ingredients and who your initial clients would be. This idea is at least potentially profitable.Now, consider another idea from a college graduate beginning the slow climb at a consulting firmId like to create an app that introduces a new form of payment for people who dont like credit cards or cash.Is that idea interesting? Sure, maybe. But how would you even begin to build and market it? It would be an enormous, expensive undertaking, even if you had a background in both information technology and finance. And even if you could easily build it, how would you go about making it stand out from all the other payment apps on the market? A t best, its a grandiose vision that would require a great deal of dedication and struggle. Thats not what a side hustle is about.Heres another quick test If you have a hard time explaining the primary benefit of your concept in more than a sentence or two, you may need to rethink the idea. If the primary benefit is unclear to potential customers, you wont convert many of them into paying customers.3. Is Your Idea Persuasive?Theres one more factor to consider as you brainstorm- and eventually select- your idea. Its not enough to have a good idea, even one thats potentially very profitable. Your idea has to arrive at the right time, and be so persuasive that its hard for customers to say no to.I recently went to an event where the parking cost $25. Normally, it costs $5 to park in this lot, but for the special event the price had increased 500% overnight. Was I happy about paying $25 for something that usually costs $5? Nope. Did I pay it? Yep. Supply and demand ensured that the parki ng lot owner welches providing a service that was very persuasive on that day.Sometimes, youll have ideas that just arent ready yet. Thats okay you can hold on to them for later. Better to focus your current efforts on ideas thatre persuasive now. To be successful, you want the right idea at the right time.Lets sum this all up into a short checklistCan you describe how to turn your idea into action in one sentence?Is there an obvious way to make money with this idea?Does this idea solve a problem for someone?Can you figure out how to make this idea happen quickly?Is it relatively low maintenance?Can you get paid more than once for this idea?The more yes answers you have to these questions, the more potential your idea has. And the more potential it has, the faster you should get to work. This excerpt was adapted from Side Hustle From Idea to Income in 27 Days by Chris Guillebeau, which came out September 2017. It has been republished here with permission.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn, R.I.P.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn, R.I.P.Alexander Solzhenitsyn, R.I.P.Today is the day of the Solzhenitsyn obituary (see here, here, and here.) In 1978, Solzhenitsyn gave the commencement address at Harvard. Some thought the speech was prophetic, others called it ayatollahlike. Either way, I think the section of his address concerning a society where the tissue of life is woven of legalistic relations is worth readingWestern society has given itself the organization best suited to its purposes, based, I would say, on the letter of the law. The limits of human rights and righteousness are determined by a system of laws such limits are very broad. People in the West have acquired considerable skill in using, interpreting and manipulating law, even though laws tend to be too complicated for an average person to understand without the help of an expert. Any conflict is solved according to the letter of the law and this is considered to be the supreme solution. If one is right from a legal point of view, nothing more is required, nobody may mention that one could mucksmuschenstill not be entirely right, and urge self-restraint, a willingness to renounce such legal rights, sacrifice and selfless risk it would sound simply absurd. One almost never sees voluntary self-restraint. Everybody operates at the extreme limit of those legal frames. An oil company is legally blameless when it purchases an invention of a new type of energy in order to prevent its use. A food product manufacturer is legally blameless when he poisons his produce to make it last longer after all, people are free not to buy it. I have spent all my life under a communist regime and I will tell you that a society without any objective legal scale is a terrible one indeed. But a society with no other scale but the legal one is not quite worthy of man either. A society which is based on the letter of the law and never reaches any higher is taking very scarce advantage of the high level of human possibilities. The letter of the law is too cold and formal to have a beneficial influence on society. Whenever the tissue of life is woven of legalistic relations, there is an atmosphere of moral mediocrity, paralyzing mans noblest impulses. And it will be simply impossible to stand through the trials of this threatening century with only the support of a legalistic structure. - posted by brian

Pain-Free Ways to Stop Being a Pushover at Work

Pain-Free Ways to Stop Being a Pushover at WorkPain-Free Ways to Stop Being a Pushover at WorkHave you realized that, somewhere along the way, youve become the person who will say yes to just about anything? Do you take on new projects regardless of whether or not you have the bandwidth or if the work is even appropriate for your role? Are you struggling to break the cycle without offending your boss or co-workers? Its natural to want to be considerate of others at work and take on extra projects in the name of going the extra mile to show your commitment to your job. But this eagerness to please can quickly go too far. While at first it may have seemed like doing it all and volunteering to take on more responsibiity will prove your worth, in the end accepting each and every request can seriously compromise not just the quality of your work, but also your happiness and satisfaction. Fact is, your pushover tendencies can leave you feeling resentful toward your colleagues and just plai n burned out. If youre constantly working, the likelihood youre devoting any time to personal upkeep (like getting to the gym or catching up with friends) is low, and the quality of your work, not to mention your mood, can suffer greatly. Entrepreneurs see this, too By focusing so much on growing their business, they soon find themselves victims of scope creep- saying yes to every new client demand and projects so much that it surpasses their bandwidth to provide good service.So, whether youre running a business or running on low at the office, how do you recover? How exactly can you begin shedding your pushover ways and learn to be more assertive and protective of your schedule?Fundamentally, its about learning to better set and manage relationship boundaries and flexing your self-respect muscle. Here are some steps to take.1. Uncover the Roots of Your Pushover WaysIn order to be your best, fruchtwein productive self, you must protect your top essential priorities from those that a re mentally and emotionally draining. Start by identifying the passive habits you have that are incrementally eating away at your focus and control. Think about your average day How much time do you spend simply reacting to other peoples demands? For example, do you drop everything the moment an schmelzglas comes in from your boss to respond to it? Now, take it a step further and see if you can figure out the true reason why youre triggered to automatically say yes. For example, are you yearning for more responsibility, hoping that your enthusiasm will get you noticed, rather than confronting your boss directly about a promotion? Do you take on extra projects because you crave recognition? Or, if there is an office clique, do you want to feel included and more like part of the crew? Recognizing what youre dealing with is the first step to helping you identify and manage trouble situations in the future. Related 31 Things You Should Know About Yourself2. Create a To-Dont ListSet asi de time at the beginning of your day (or whenever you feel least distracted) to take stock of your responsibilities. For each to-do item, ask yourself What will I accomplish or learn from this? How will it help me advance? Now, as you scan your list, be bullish about moving anything that does not align with your top priorities to a to-dont list. For example, if increasing revenue by 10% in the next quarter is your top priority, dont agree to take on a pro bono project right now to diversify. If youre looking to gain experience managing juniorchefin employees, anything non-essential that takes time away from working directly with your reports should be on your to-dont list. Related Crazy To-Do List? What to Tackle First3. Enlist HelpAre you delegating as much as you could be? Ambitious self-starters often get caught up on multiple projects, but if you dont start passing off certain tasks now, it will only overwhelm you when it becomes too much. Start with anything that comes across your desk thats on your to-dont list and see if theres someone who may be better suited to take it on. No one to delegate to? Then perhaps an overflowing workload is a sign that its time to talk to your boss about expanding the team and hiring someone who has the skills to pick up some of the work. Related The Right Way to Ask for Help at Work4. Practice What You Preach- in the MomentThis is the hardest part, because saying no to others demands can feel uncomfortable and unfamiliar at first. But its also the most important. Next time youre asked to take on a project that falls outside the boundaries youve identified, you need to say no and stick to it. Not the next time it happens, not most of the time, but right now. If its something youre struggling to say no to- say, a request from your manager- ask questions and look for ways to compromise. For example, if your boss asks you to work on a Saturday when youd planned to go visit your parents, first try to understand why he may w ant the project done ASAP. If youre not sure, ask. Then, when sticking to your boundaries, make the explanation about the business, not about you. Do recommend an alternative for how the project can be completed (for example, Saturday wont work, but I will clear my schedule on Monday morning because I understand why you want this completed early in the week). Youre still showing value and dedication- but youre also maintaining your sanity. Related How to Tell Your Boss No Without Saying NoWhile it might be difficult to say no and stick to it initially, practicing assertiveness based on the priorities youve identified and commitment to delegating when appropriate will not only help you shed your reputation as the office pushover, but it will improve the quality of your life. Building a successful business or career takes a lot of self-respect and requires having a thick skin and knowing when to say no. Start with these steps, and youll be on your way to building a reputation based o n the quality of your work, not the quantity you take on.Photo of woman at work courtesy of Shutterstock.

Resume Guidelines: the Ultimate Convenience!

Resume Guidelines the Ultimate Convenience The duration of your resume is a crucial formatting factor that will earn a huge effect on the general aesthetic of the document. Professional resume template a highly effective instrument, which isnt only aid you to structure all the data, but might help to raise your odds to be selected in a special resume pile. Part of creating an effective resume is deciding on the most suitable format to inform your private story. Order of Sections How you present the info in your resume is nearly as critical as the content. Content Your resume should contain all the information about you pertinent to your capacity to do the job which youre applying for. Employers know your purpose is to find the job. Everyone can say which he or she excelled at their final job. To put it simply, employing a Resume Young Student speeds up the practice of producing a winning resume and ensures that its going to stick out in the application practice. The Resum e Young Student can likewise be structured in the way which best presents your abilities and experience. Each possible employer has different priorities, and theres not anything wrong in tailoring a resume to suit their specific needs. Highly relevant knowledge in a field is the very first thing employers search for. Remember employment gaps, career trajectory, where youre in your industry, and where you intend on going. Whether you are searching for your very first job or attempting to earn a career change, the procedure starts with your resume. A Secret Weapon for Resume Guidelines Make certain it is not likely to hurt your odds of finding the job. The work description might also earn a difference. Just make sure, whichever format you select, which youre targeting it for the job that youre applying to. Dont make the error of answering each job posting with the exact generic resume. The Pain of Resume Guidelines The majority of the applicants neglect to do so, but most of recruiters doing their search, searching for some skills, and just then contact you, clarifying some info. Resumes normally have one-inch margins. Resumes should only consist of important information regarding you that the provider should know. A simple resume template is going to be your very best bet. There are many free creative resume templates it is possible to use, permitting you to focus your energy on everything else you have to do. You dont need to invent a totally new layout. If you take advantage of a template as a starting point, we recommend that you change the font and layout to prevent a template impression. The guidelines which we will be discussing are applicable to both the resume below in addition to your very own personal resume. Do not be hesitant to use simply the latest resume 2018 templates and boost your odds to find a new job As parte of picking the best resume builder, consider whether it provides you with the flexibility to modify section head ings. Life, Death and Resume Guidelines The truth is that its tricky to place someone into one definitive category. If youre thinking about how to create a resume, youre in the correct spot When youve reviewed resumes in your field, peruse resumes across fields to learn how to vary using action verbs and receive a feel for what makes a highly effective accomplishment statement. Keep in mind, your resume must present only the ideal mixture of meaningful information related to your objective. Dont forget that recruiters may see the name of the file that you send them and also try to remember they get lots of resumes daily. You must make sure your resume isnt difficult to read and highlights the most relevant details on your resume. Below, you will discover a list of resume examples that could aid you with your work search. Resume Guidelines - Dead or Alive? Functional summary resume examples will show job seekers how to market their skills effectively to fit the skills req uired for the position which theyre applying for. Just concentrate on the experience gained at the occupations youve had. At the same time that you may still list all your prior jobs, the sum of space you want to describe your role, responsibilities, and achievements will be much less, because youll want to focus the info on the skills you used and accomplishments you achieved that are related to your new job targets. For some jobs, you will want to highlight certain abilities, while for others, you will want to demonstrate related experience. Finding Resume Guidelines on the Web Once you receive a work done from us you will return again if you need assistance with another one of your essays. A 1 page resume is highly encouraged, and many law students utilize a 1 page resume. The sort of essay youre looking for will be offered to you within the deadline offered to you. Now you can get genuine college essay online, one that is going to fit your financial plan and get your wor k done also.

#8216;Artists Are Hardwired to Run the Best Businesses#8217; Alexis Fedor on the Business of Art and the Art of Business

8216Artists Are Hardwired to Run the Best Businesses8217 Alexis Fedor on the Business of Art and the Art of Business Ah, the stereotype of the starving speciesist. As a poet married to a visual akrobat, I know it quite well. You probably do, too, even if youre not an artist yourself. But just because the stereotype seems to have lodged itself perpetually inthe zeitgeist, that doesnt mean its necessarily accurate. Despite what many of us may believe about the opposition between art and commerce, it turns out that art and geschftlicher umgang can actually fit quite nicely together.Just askAlexis Fedor, a performance artist who teaches other artists how to turn their passions into profitable ventures.As an artist myself, I struggled for years trying to figure out how to make ends meet and how to put together a business plan for my own work, Fedor says. I had a vision that one day I would figure it ou t and help other artists do the same.Fedor started by studying. She enrolled in a number of courses, including classes in business and marketing. But she quickly found that these courses missed the mark in terms of the artists lifestyle and learning curves when it came to money and business growth.So she took matters into her own hands and launched her own company to teach artists how to pay their bills withouttrading their easels for office desks. Through the 14-Day Art Biz Challenge, Fedor addresses the specific challenges artists face in business development. After testing the course on more than 500 artists, Fedor says the results have been extraordinary.Art and Business Not Such Strange Bedfellows After AllThe words art and business dont often go together in many peoples minds. The stereotypical artist broke, bohemian, free-spirited is, in many ways, the opposite of the stereotypical businessperson professional, disciplined, fixated on a business plan. But Fedor doesnt enter tain these notions. From experience, shes knows theyre simply caricatures and bad ones at that.I truly believe after seven years of running a successful business of my own, mentoring with multimillion-dollar business owners and working with more than500 artists, that artists are hardwired to run the best businesses in the world, she says. Artists have two-thirds of what makes a business successful covered a passion for what they offer and a desire to understand their ideal clients intimately.The only thing artists are missing, Fedor says, is the financial piece the knowledge of how to run a smart business from a monetary point of view.Alexis FedorOnce they master that step, they are the best at building thriving businesses, Fedor says. Running a business is such a creative act that requires careful decision making combined with spontaneity and the ability to pivot when necessary in order to stay on the course you believe in. No one is better equipped to handle such a ride than art istsThe Business of Art and the Art of BusinessIt isnt only in the realm of money-making that artists can learn a thing or two from their business-world counterparts. Artistscan also pull a few pages from the business playbook to improve their art practices.Artists can learn how to systematize, organize and become excellent project managers, all skills that they can use in their process of creation, Fedor says. It is in these times that artists can become their own worst enemies in terms of resisting the process or letting the process pull them too far out so they lose sight of what they were working on to begin with. Being able to consciously reign that in on the business side or roll with the resistance by putting your own structure in place is invaluable.Fedor also believes artists can benefit from learning to work within a community and to hire the right people they need to help them accomplish their goals.Becoming your own boss and switching to a business-owner mindset can bene fit all artists, she adds. It leads them to take control and confront their own limitations.But that isnt to say that artistscant teach businesspeople anything in return. In fact, Fedor believes theres much that the corporate world could gain by paying attention to how artists work.I think the business world can learn how to look at their own businesses and clients from a creative point of view, Fedor says. The many business owners who do this are successful, and its such a pleasure to watch and learn from them. Still though, there are many businesses that lack that ability to look at what theyre doing from a creative standpoint, and it can only behoove them in both their personal success and the growth of their brand.