An alternative to the MBA for getting ahead It depends on where people are in their career, but launching or working at a tech startup might be a better education than pursuing an MBA, writes Vivek Wadhwa, distinguished fellow at Harvard Law School and Carnegie Mellon's School of Engineering at Silicon Valley. He argues people will learn more while paying less, as the cost of a startup is usually less than business school tuition. MarketWatch (3/28)Procrastination might really be indecision Telling others you need to think about something is often an excuse to overthink and avoid making a decision, writes career coach Adunola Adeshola. Telling yourself you'll get to tough tasks later indicates you need to overcome fears or doubts about the outcome. Forbes (3/27)
Making the Connection
11 reads to deepen your connections with other people The books on this list help people create lasting, meaningful business relationships as well as explain strategies that re-energize connections over the years. writes John Hall, president of Calendar. "When you network, it's important to focus on a pay-it-forward approach," he writes. Inc. (4/2019)
Poll
Poll question: Have you ever played a round of golf for work? The azaleas are blooming so it must be time for the Masters Tournament, and the first practice round for the legendary golf tournament starts today. Traditionally a golf course was known as a place where business deals are made, but does that still hold true? Poll results on Friday.
Survey: Most companies see value in personalized benefits A survey of leaders at 58 large US employers showed 84% said personalization has a high or very high potential to match health benefits and resources to employees based on their needs. The report from Castlight Health and the National Business Group on Health found 51% of respondents gave their company a C grade for efforts to personalize benefits, but no one gave their company an A grade. BenefitsPRO (free registration) (4/3)
Your Next Challenge
Ideas for answering interview questions about your uniqueness When hiring managers ask candidates what makes them unique, they want to hear how their strengths relate to the role as well as examples of how their expertise has made a difference, says career coach Al Dea. They also want to know how well the candidate will fit into their culture, he writes, providing examples of how to answer these questions in a sentence or two. The Muse (4/8)3 scripts to follow when negotiating a salary Josh Doody, author of Fearless Salary Negotiation, explains how to handle salary questions early in the hiring process and during the counter-offer stage with these scripts. He also provides a scripted strategy for a raise request. Glassdoor (4/1)
Balancing Yourself
How to make peace with endless to-do lists Work-life balance begins with dismissing the belief we have to get everything done, writes Al Pittampalli. The "everything" never ends so focus on one to three of the most-pressing tasks each day. Thrive Global (4/8)
The European Parliament's agriculture community approved legislation that would ban vegetarian meat alternatives from being labeled with words usually used for meat, such as swapping out veggie "burgers" for veggie "discs" instead. The ban will be voted on the full parliament in May. The Guardian (London) (4/4)
There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance next time.
