Working at a slower pace can help you think more rationally and avoid time-wasting mistakes, writes Faisal Hoque. A slower pace can also help you improve your listening skills and limit misunderstandings. FastCoCreate (3/18) Why leaders should take sabbaticals Taking long sabbaticals is a great way for leaders to recharge their batteries while learning new skills, and also for companies to test out future leaders as stand-ins in senior roles, writes David Burkus. "Put simply, time away from work makes work better," he writes. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Leadership (3/17)
Making the Connection
5 ways to avoid a conversational meltdown Conversations can easily flare up into screaming fights, so it's important to figure out how to de-escalate as you go along, writes Joseph Grenny. That means noticing when a conversation is going off the rails, acknowledging your part in the problem, adopting a softer tone, and refocusing on areas of agreement. "If you try some of these small interventions, you're far more likely to clear up the conflict," Grenny writes. Harvard Business Review online (tiered subscription model) (3/17)
The Landscape
SEC: Amazon shareholders should vote on pay equity The Securities and Exchange Commission has rejected Amazon's request to omit a proposal involving gender pay equity in its annual shareholder vote. The proposal calls for Amazon to report information on its gender pay gap before an October deadline. Reuters (3/18),Fast Company online (3/18)
Your Next Challenge
Job hoppers should tell a story with their career transitions If your job changes can be explained as a coherent story of professional development, you can avoid being labeled a "job hopper," writes Beth Masterman. Ensure that your choices make sense and that you "find a balance between curiosity and commitment," Masterman writes. Forbes (3/18)
See a museum of garbage from NYC's sanitation department A now-retired worker in the New York City Department of Sanitation has assembled a hall of curiosities and treasures from his years collecting garbage. This trash museum, which spills over from his former locker at a warehouse building in East Harlem, includes everything from toys to guitars to a shrine to Michael Jackson. Atlas Obscura (3/17)
If your dream is a big dream, and if you want your life to work on the high level that you say you do, there's no way around doing the work it takes to get you there.
