How To Quit A Job Gracefully

How To Quit A Job Gracefully How To Quit A Job Gracefully Finding a new job, leaving an old one and getting acclimated to a new professional culture is a series of big life changes. I’m always eager to adjust to the new reality as quickly as I can. But what happens when that reality doesn’t seem to be a fit? There are some employees for whom fit is an ongoing struggle, but let’s suppose that’s not your issue. Instead, let’s say you have longevity in previous roles, and you have just accepted a great new job with the intention of throwing down roots there. Only the job or the culture is not what you were expecting, and you find that the position isn’t working out for you. I know. This feels deeply alarming. You are a seasoned professional. How did this happen to you? What now? When this happened to me I was relieved to learn that many of my contacts had similar experiences. It’s unsettling and stressful. But you can recover from this and so can your resume. So don’t think the sky is falling. This is fixable. Decide What You Need Examine what your gut is telling you. Is this a situation that is just not going to work out for you, or is this actually a toxic environment that is bad for you? How urgently do you need to get yourself out? If you feel like it’s safe enough, but it just falls short of ideal, then it may be salvageable. If you had a misunderstanding about the position, and it’s not what you were expecting, talk with your manager about this. Self-awareness and self-advocacy are positive qualities in a new hire, so let your manager in.     But as you do this self-analysis make sure that you are comfortable with your manager. Then carefully outline your communication plan for this important discussion. An orchestrated conversation about a difficult topic is more likely to have the results you need than an impromptu conversation. You should also meet with human resources to talk about the issues you are struggling with, especially if there was a misunderstanding about the position you accepted. Your HR colleagues may be able to offer support and perspective. It also helps in future job interviews, when you discuss a brief stint on a resume, to cite an HR meeting. This shows you were thorough in your efforts to work through your issues with the ill-fitting position.     When to Cut Your Losses If, on the other hand, you don’t feel comfortable in the culture. If it is a toxic or negative workplace and you don’t want to continue there, then plan a graceful resignation. It is still in your best interest to have a conversation about what you have experienced, but in this case it will likely serve you better to go directly to HR rather than one of the agents of the cultural dysfunction.   Moving Forward Your resume is a bank of work. If you have a questionable entry, you will probably be asked about it, but don’t assume it’s a deal breaker. It’s not. If your resume indicates a track record of good fit in a range of positions, then a recent short stint can be explained away. Use these tips to help you put your negative experiences into perspective  once you make your way back onto the interview circuit.   My experience was painful and stressful. I won’t say “I’m glad it happened.” But I wouldn’t trade the benefit I earned by living through it. Hang in there. These situations really do have a way of working out.

This is the 1 leadership skill people tend to overlook

This is the 1 leadership skill people tend to overlook This is the 1 leadership skill people tend to overlook There are several key leadership skills all great CEOs possess: honesty, humility, empathy, the ability to delegate. Smarts.I’ve been blessed to work with, and for, a variety of leaders who possess these skills. CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. Editors of small Oregon newspapers. Today, I lead my own company - BookBaby, the nation’s eminent self publishing services company - but in developing and honing my personal leadership style, I’ve studied the people I’ve worked for in the past, analyzing what, exactly, made them so effective. What accounts for their ability to inspire, unite, create?The answer I return to time and time again stems from what on the surface may seem like a surprising source: their ability to tell great stories.Storytelling is the most underrated tool in business. It’s certainly proved the most impactful tool in my management career. In fact, I believe that in order to be a truly great leader, you need to be able to tell great stories.It’s unlikely yo u can run a successful, durable business otherwise.Simply put, stories inspireTo tell great stories is to convey the intangible, articulate the ineffable, and, yes, inspire the dejected. This is because great stories revolve around people - who they are, what they do, why they’re important. Telling stories about your employees, for your employees, can be a powerful way of engaging with them.Consider how much more impactful it is during an all-hands meeting to replace vague praise - “Good job on that quarterly report, Karen!” - with specific praise in the form of an engaging narrative: “Karen helped this new romance author achieve her dreams for her first book, starting with suggesting book editing, then with helping her understand why eBooks are preferred for romance readers. Now, she’s selling thousands of books on Amazon. Outstanding work, Karen!”This is backed up by science. A large 10-year, 100,000-person study conducted by HealthStream asked employees what they n eed most from their employers. Respondents with the highest morale reported that their managers were effective at singling them out for recognition, often by way of telling stories about the great work they’d done.Stories help teams and organizations bondSpeaking of science, Uri Hasses of Princeton University once conducted a study in which he analyzed brain activity in audiences as they listened to a speaker tell a story. He compared their brain activity to that of the speaker. He found that both the speaker and the listeners’ brains were operating and engaging on similar wavelengths when the story was being told, even though just one person was producing language - the others were merely consuming it.What this proves is telling a great story is quite literally a means of connection, which means it can double as a way to foster cohesion around a mission, a process, or a culture.Storytelling is the best medium of communication. The best leaders I’ve worked for have articulated who they are and what’s important to them through stories.To lead effectively, one must be identifiable as a real person. You must be relatable, approachable, and trustworthy. Telling stories about yourself or your experience is a great way to make yourself known like this.Stories prove powerful in explaining impersonal things, too. Especially when it comes to conveying your views on delicate issues such as diversity, inclusion, or some controversial new strategy - explanations which require nuance, subtly, definitions of ideas and feelings which are inherently hard to define - stories almost always prove more effective than PowerPoint slides or Excel sheets.That said, telling great stories is harder than you thinkIn his landmark book, “The Tipping Point,” Malcolm Gladwell identifies a key ingredient of telling great stories called, “The Stickiness Factor.” He defines The Stickiness Factor as “the quality that compels people to pay close, sustained attention to a product, concept, or idea.”So what kinds of stories are “Sticky”? They’re the ones that prove: Tangible and succinct. No management-speak is ever wanted or needed. Full of metaphors and analogies. Strong, image-invoking language adds impact and broadens context. Full of emotion. Emotion drives many peoples’ decisions. Don’t be afraid to appeal to both the logical and emotional parts of the brain. Surprising! Want to make your stories really sticky? Include a plot twist or surprise. Studies show surprise triggers the release of adrenaline in the brain, which enhances memory formation. At the end of the day, not everyone will be an incredibly engaging storyteller. It’s harder for some than it is for others. Yet the best way to improve - other than lending credence to the advice above - is somewhat simple: start listening.The biggest barrier to telling stories at work is not having stories to tell.Tomorrow’s leaders need to start collecting their own stories today. You never know when something teachable and memorable will happen to you. When it does, write it down, and file it away.Who knows? Your next great story - along with the next, more impactful chapter of your leadership career - is likely waiting to be told.This article was originally published on Medium.

4 soft skills you should have mastered by age 30

4 soft skills you should have mastered by age 30 4 soft skills you should have mastered by age 30 By the time you’re blowing out the candles on your 30th birthday cake, most professionals have been working for a solid eight years. Throw in internships from college (remember those days?) - and you might have upwards of a decade of experience as you reach the end of the first third of your life. Gulp.While you’ve likely been working tirelessly to learn an invaluable hard skill - coding computers, writing, strategy, analytics and so on - how do you measure up on the other half of your job performance?Soft skills are not as discussed as technical proficiencies, but as career expert and entrepreneur Christopher Kingman explains, soft skills are related to the interaction between two or more people and speak volumes about your ability to be a leader.Here, the indisputable soft skills you should have mastered by the time you reach the big 3-0:Active listeningWe all have someone in our lives - whether a treasured best friend or a parent or sibling - who just seems to “get you. ” No matter what earth-shattering or minuscule issue you’re going through, what you need advice about or achievement you need to celebrate, he or she is fully present with an open heart - and ears. Kingman says these types of people have mastered the art of active listening.While it might seem like anyone can do this, if they, ya know, listen - the keyword here is “active.” He explains this method refers not merely waiting for your turn to throw in two cents in but listening with a purpose.“This is listening with the intention of seeking to understand what the person is telling you with and without words,” he continues.To test if you’ve nailed this, Kingman says to pay attention the next time someone discusses something of importance with you. Instead of considering your response, stay right in the moment.“Pay attention to the words, timing, cadence, pauses and emotion in how they speak. Once they are done, validate what they said, and repeat back their version of what they told you,” he suggests. “If you really did hone in on words, timing, cadence, pauses and emotion, you’ll be able to recount their story, and its impact clearly. Active listening is about ingesting and processing what people are saying, and demonstrating that their message resonates with you.”Servant leadershipEveryone has a different leadership style but others are more successful and accepted than others. For career expert Joy Altimare, managers are most effective when they direct with a mind towards servitude. As defined, it’s a concept that suggests that true leaders understand the importance of the following characteristics as it relates to building and managing a loyal, high-performing team: listening, empathy, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people, and building community.Altimare says this style composed of many soft skills is a refreshing, desirable quality. “It is important for leaders to go beyond their ‘corporate values,’ and become invested in encouraging an environment that supports performance, collaboration, and camaraderie,” she adds.Effective communicationThis seems like a no-brainer, but it’s surprising how poorly some people can communicate. Now, I’m not talking about varying degrees of vocabulary â€" despite what grade school made you believe, most people don’t speak or write with complicated words. I’m talking about people’s ability to convey a message, or to get to the point. The challenge with communication is that just like anything else it’s a skill, one that gets stronger as you develop it. Kingsman explains that one of the false assumptions is that it is inherently a skill everyone has, but, expert communicators are those who get their message to listeners so they understand it.“They do it directly, succinctly and with little meandering or wavering. Simply put, they get the point across,” he adds.To improve your communication ski lls, Kingsman has one very important tip that’s easier than you think: pause. Much like your parents recommended you think before you speak when you were growing up, the same advice applies throughout your professional career, too. Kingsman suggests simply counting to three.“You’d be surprised how many thoughts pass through our brains in three seconds, let alone the ways to say what you need to say,” he continues. “When you leverage that pause, think to yourself, ‘what am I saying?’ and ‘Will it be understood?’ Being conscious of what you say and how you say it is the mark of a good communicator.”Emotional intelligenceOf all the skills to master before you enter your thirties, emotional intelligence is the most difficult and demanding, according to Kingsman. While it encompasses many aspects, Kingsman says, generally speaking, this is your ability to recognize and be aware of your emotions, others’ emotions, and practicing empathy for them. Sometimes this is an easy task: crying indicates sadness, while smiling usually means happiness. But when you really develop your EQ, as Kingsman puts it, you have the foresight to dig deeper.“Besides seeing and recognizing emotions, this skill helps us navigate social situations, make complex choices, and is arguably one of the key factors in our success,” he explains. “We need smart people to do things like run electrical grids and design clean energy, we also need people to interact in meaningful ways. Having emotional intelligence, both being aware of your own emotions and others, helps bridge the gap between people and situations.”When you’re able to pick up on the obvious and dubious signals people send, you’re more likely to gain their trust, foster stronger connections and overall, be perceived as a thoughtful, sincere human.

6 Strange Job Interview Questions

6 Strange Job Interview Questions 6 Strange Job Interview Questions 4The anticipation. A bit of excitement. Probably a dash of anxiety. Job interviews can bring on a mixed bag of emotions. Then there are the times when the employer asks some really strange job interview questions and it feels like everything comes to a screeching halt. Conventional wisdom says when faced with a difficult interview question, try to figure out what bit of information the interviewer is trying to find out through the question and answer that. As we have learned through personal experiences and stories from our blog readers, sometimes it’s more complicated than that. Here are six strange interview questions with the great- and not-so-great- responses that were given: Interviewer: If I (interviewer and potential boss) died tomorrow what would you do? Asking the candidate what they would do if they themselves knew that they were going to die tomorrow makes sense. It gives the interviewer an opportunity to determine the person’s values, priorities, and motivations. But really? What would you do if a person you were meeting for the first time died tomorrow? Give your condolences to their replacement? Interviewer: Which Saved by the Bell character are you most like? “I said ‘Lisa Turtle’ but it came out more l like ‘Lisa Turtle?’ because, really, who can answer that question definitively?” Interviewer: I’m going to be upfront with you. This company sucks. I mean, it really sucks. We suck and the team sucks. If there’s a wrong way to do something, that’s what we do. Why do you want to work here? “I don’t suck.” Interviewer (To an internship candidate in her 50s): Most of my employees are fresh out of high school and are constantly goofing off. Are you sure you want to work with a bunch of kids who lack discipline? “Are you sure you shouldn’t be interviewing for a babysitter?” I didn’t get the job, but I think he heeded my advice, as he hired another student from my school who was in her late 40s. Interviewer: You have to work with a lot of young people. Do you think you can keep up and not be insulted by the way they treat you? “What kind of manager are you?” Its possible that a better response would have been, I can definitely keep up and probably share my experience for the benefit of the team. Of course, Ill expect to be treated with the same respect that I will treat everyone here with. Interviewer: How do you feel about working 50 hours a week? “I am looking for more flexibility than that. Is it possible to job share this position?” Rolling with the punches, as well as one can, is the best way to get through an unconventional interview. Do your best to prepare for different types of interviews as a job seeker and, worst case, hope that your sense of humor and frankness impress! What strange job interview questions have you been faced with in the past? Tell us in the comments section and you might see your answer in a future blog post!

Are the Keys to Future Success in The Good Old Days

Are the Keys to Future Success in ''The Good Old Days'' Are the Keys to Future Success in ''The Good Old Days'' Learn from the past to create a blueprint for future triumphs.In 1989 I was the head soccer coach at DePaul University. It was a remarkably good learning experience even though my salary came out to exactly $11.51 per day ($4200 divided by 365 days) for recruiting, scheduling, coaching, driving the team bus and countless one-on-one meetings with the players. In truth, I would have paid DePaul for the opportunity. I was 27 years old and it was my fifth and final year as a college coach.Our starting goalkeeper that year was Rich Horwath. Rich was an exceptionally focused, intense, and prepared player. His leadership, passion, and skills helped us to be competitive in every game we played against our very tough NCAA Division I schedule. After that final season I stayed in touch with Rich for about six more months, and then we lost track of each other.Twenty-one years later I was walking through the bookstore in the Orlando airport. I scanned the business section and saw an intriguing bo ok called, “Deep Dive: Mastering the Three Disciplines of Strategic Thinking for Competitive Advantage”. I had been looking for a good book on business strategy so I started flipping through it. Wondering who wrote it, I closed the book and looked for the author’s name. It was by Rich Horwath. I thought to myself, “I knew a Rich Horwath. I wonder if these two guys are related.” I flipped to the back cover, and there was Rich staring me in the face as though he had never changed. I bought the book and started studying it immediately. It was an exceptionally well-written and clear book on a topic that often becomes amazingly complicated.I went to Rich’s website, tracked him down, and met with him for lunch in Chicago. In listening to his stories about the past two decades I realized that what made Rich such an exceptionally good goalkeeper was the same thing that has made him a tremendously successful management consultant in the area of business strategy. He has maintaine d the same process of having clear objectives, a well-defined action plan, relentless focus, and the capacity to change and improve.The Downside of Defining Yourself by Your SuccessesI’ve had two careers of equal length. For thirteen years I was a math teacher and soccer coach in university and high school settings. For the past thirteen years I have been a keynote speaker, seminar leader, and executive coach on leadership, innovation, and branding for business executives and managers. There have been a few key common denominators between the academic and corporate environments.One of the biggest has been that formerly successful people who were unable to sustain their success failed to make the connection between their past successes and their potential future successes. Sometimes great athletes and theater performers did poorly in the classroom even though they demonstrated great thinking skills in the areas where they thrived. Straight ‘A’ students were unable to grasp the mental approach necessary to succeed in sports or theater. Great sales people were unable to manage effectively.The problem for many of them was the way they saw themselves. A student would say, “I’m an All-State Soccer Player. I’m not a math guy.”An adult would say, “I’m an operations guy. I can’t work with marketing people.” Highly successful people were trapping themselves in very tightly confined quarters because they saw themselves as only being able to be successful in the area where they had gained the most positive recognition.Sustain Success by Seeing Accomplishments as Processes, Not EventsRather than looking at your life as the bullet points on a resume, look at it as a series of journeys. Each one of those journeys provides you with insights on how you can improve your performance today and in the future in other areas of your life. The key is to ask, “How did I succeed?” rather than “What did I achieve?”Walk with me through a simple exercise.Writ e down three major successes you have had at any point in your life. Put a little detail around each of them so that you remember them as though they have just happened.Now for each of your three successes write down your answers to each of these questions: What was your objective? What were the obstacles you had to overcome? Specifically what steps did you take to overcome the obstacles and achieve the desired outcome? What are you trying to achieve today? How can you duplicate some of your previous steps for success in your current situation? Far too often we brag about “the good old days” without realizing that those situations hold within them the codes for succeeding today. Sometimes people think that their past successes were solely the result of market conditions or being in the right place at the right time. Well, what caused you to be in the right place at the right time? What actually led up to you being ready for those ripe market conditions? Don’t buy this nonsense that times are tough and there’s no way to succeed. Times have always been tough, and people have always found ways to succeed. This era is no different than any other. You have to take the time to figure out what made you successful in the past, and then apply those steps to the new challenge you are facing.Be Master of Your Own ClassroomOn her new show, Master Class, which is on her own network called the Oprah Winfrey Network or OWN, highly successful people talk about what has made them successful. I’ve enjoyed every minute of every epis ode. Some of the best stories came from Oprah herself as she explained how she replicated her success in high school in a wide variety of formats from interviewing people on a talk show to being an actress to creating a magazine. She makes a great point that life is a classroom and that we can all learn from our own lives. The key is to dig into your past successes not as a photo album, but rather as a dvd on how to succeed in other areas of your life.In reviewing your successes, you might realize that they took longer than you remembered. Persevering through years of hard work created your successes in the past and is required for your successes in the future.Expand this Mindset to Your Whole Organization How did The Walt Disney Company move from making animated short films to full-length animated feature films to theme parks to television shows? How did Marriott move from root-beer stands to upscale, full-service hotels to amazing resorts around the world? How did Apple move from making computers to changing the telephone and music industries? How did Google go from search engines to global maps? How can your company go from what it does well today to providing far greater value in the future? I believe the key is to identify what has made your organization successful in the past and then to reapply those steps today and in the future. Take the time to study the biography of your own life and the history of your organization, extract the proven processes for success, and then reapply them over and over again.

Glassdoor Reveals the Average American Is Underpaid By $7,500

Glassdoor Reveals the Average American Is Underpaid By $7,500 Glassdoor Reveals the Average American Is Underpaid By $7,500 Have you ever had the sneaking suspicion that you could be making more than what you’re earning at your current job? According to new salary data from Glassdoor, you might be right. Using information gathered by the Know Your Worthâ„¢ personalized salary estimator, Glassdoor discovered that the average U.S. employee could be earning $7,528, or 13.3 percent, more per year than his or her current annual base salary.* Why might this be, exactly? Well, for one, “we’re in the best labor market we’ve seen in a generation,” said Dr. Andrew Chamberlain, Glassdoor chief economist. “With the job market full of opportunities and the economy hitting full employment, the value of skilled workers has increased. We see this even more in industries like technology and healthcare , in which demand for competitive skillsets outpaces supply.” The problem, though, is that not enough employees are using this increased market value to their advantage. In fact, Glassdoor found that three in five U.S. employees did not negotiate their salaries upon being offered a job, with rates even lower among certain groups - for example, 68 percent of women accepted a salary offer without negotiating compared to 52 percent of men. “The big takeaway for job seekers is that our Know Your Worth tool can shed light on your current market value, based in part on market conditions where you live, to help you decide whether it’s time to negotiate your pay,” Chamberlain said - so if you haven’t yet gotten your free, personal salary estimate , there’s no time like the present. Beyond helping you calculate your market value, Glassdoor is also making it easier for you to earn what you deserve by introducing an improved, customized salaries experience . With the latest updates, you can now research salary data for a specific job title in a particular location and filter this information by years of experience, industry and/or company size. You’ll also be able to see a helpful data visualization of your salaries search, displaying the average and specific ranges of annual base pay based on your preferences, a comparison to the national average, additional cash compensation data and salaries for related job titles, among other insights. While salary isn’t everything when it comes to your career contentment - maybe what matters most to you is culture and values, career opportunities or trust in senior leadership - it is a major consideration that anyone who is about to accept a job offer or negotiate a raise should take into account. If you find that your current pay is at odds with your Know Your Worth estimate, it’s time to initiate a salary discussion with your recruiter, manager, HR department or whoever else is in charge of compensation at your company. Who knows how much money you could be leaving on the table? *Pay data based on the 1.3 million U.S. employees who submitted their current base pay to the Know Your Worth tool between October 18, 2016 and October 6, 2017.  Learn more about the Know Your Worth methodology: https://www.glassdoor.com/knowyourworth/about.htm

4 Common VLC Android Issues Solved

4 Common VLC Android Issues Solved 4 Common VLC Android Issues Solved Developers, meet VLC Android, a mobile version of VLC, the great desktop open-source media player. VLC Android is relatively new, and, just like any new friend, it’s worth taking the time to get to know it. These four tips will help you get started developing with VLC Android. 1. Dude, where’s my passport? It’s no secret that VLC Android Beta isn’t yet available for U.S. or Canadian users, even though it’s on Google Play. You can access the software via nightly builds from the VideoLAN project website, or by setting your VPN to look like you’re working in another country. 2. Super-size me: file management issues File management is a work-in-progress for VLC Android, so resulting apps may be plus-size. Since Google Play only allows apps that are 50 MB or less, file-size issues can be a problem. To remedy this, use either a main or patch expansion file (each up to 2 GB). The main file serves your app’s main resources needs; the patch is designed for small updates. Locate expansion files here: shared-storage/Android/obb/package-name/shared-storage is the path to the shared storage space, available from getExternalStorageDirectory(). package-name is your application’s Java-style package name, available from getPackageName(). You can also disable many of the contrib modules that you don’t intend to use. This reduces the amount of statically linked libs and could drastically reduce your file size. Not seeing the results? Don’t forget to cleanly rebuild your tree after the changes by using the following code: source env.sh3. The inevitable crash Of course, your app-in-development will crash at times. If VLC Android crashes, look for a vlc_logcat_date and some numbers.log file in your SD card’s root and retrieve it using your phone file transfer or an open-source file browser like OI File Manager. If no vlc_logcat_....log file appears, the crash is likely native and requires a different kind of fix. Check the VideoLAN development wiki for advice. Other issues with VLC crashes can be resolved by checking in with the very active VLC Forum. For example, if your VLC crashes when streaming from a computer to Android, you can fix the problem easily. Go to VLC Direct menusettingsstreaming settings, and check “Avoid Audio Transcoding.” 4. Handle with care: security vulnerabilities The nonprofit-generated, open-source VLC freely admits its flaws. On the nightly build site, you’ll find the disclaimer that “issues that existed in previous versions of VLC might be fixed here, but since this version of VLC is not yet finished, you should expect other problems and issues.” The VLC Forum is the place to go to see if problems that have plagued you have been answered. One such issue, use-after-free vulnerabilities (attributed to the underlying FFmpeg library to which VLC statically links), may still exist in VLC. Security firm Secunia Research considers that the vulnerabilities still exist; VLC contends that the patches provided have resolved them. In short, VLC Android is a work in progress, but the opportunities for development are great. Want to know what a VLC Android developer makes in your area? Check out our salary calculator.