Imagine it’s the day of your annual performance review. You’re sitting down with your leader to talk about what’s happened, and what’s next. Your technical skills are awesome. Of course they are—you focus on excellence every single day. But your communication skills—the long-mislabeled “soft skills?” Well, you’re told they could use some work. Honestly, you knew […]Read the full post >>
If you’re ready to end the year strong, then first you need to define your career progress. Wait . . progress? Not achievements, accomplishments, or wins? Nope. Truth is, our work today can’t always be measured by reaching a finish line. So many of the knowledge-based tasks we do each day are part of bigger, […]Read the full post >>
For the most part, I love birthdays. What I don’t love about birthdays is they can sometimes make us think too much about our lives and our careers. I’m all for deep thoughts. But too often the birthday-triggered thoughts sound something like this: What am I doing with my life? Does my work really matter? […]Read the full post >>
For kids, back-to-school means buses and backpacks. But for grown-ups like you, the turn of the season might jump-start your desire to get back to your goals—the ones you have for your career and life. We’re suddenly motivated to look at the list of goals and projects we conjured up on January 1 and—after our […]Read the full post >>
What if the best career strategy you could put in place right now was to plan—and take—your next vacation? Sounds crazy, right? I mean, how can taking time off possibly help grow your career? Haven’t you and I learned that the only way to career success is to work harder, stay focused, and not take […]Read the full post >>
Is it finally time to discover your superpowers at work? It is, if: You’re no longer sure about the things that make you unique and special. You’re thinking about what’s next for you, but you’re not exactly sure what that looks like. You want to more effectively talk about who you are when you’re at […]Read the full post >>
“I think I’m worth more, but honestly, Darcy, I’m afraid to ask for more money at work. What if it ticks my boss off? Do I look greedy? Or what if she says no? Or even worse, what if I’m wrong and I’m really not worth it? Help!!” If you’ve ever been afraid to ask […]Read the full post >>
For many of us, just saying the words “annual review” sends our nervous system into overdrive. But the best way to lower the pressure is to focus NOW on what to do BEFORE your annual review. Plus, while it’s trendy for companies to talk about shifting from annual performance reviews to continuous feedback, most companies […]Read the full post >>
Once again, it’s Independence Day in the United States of America. It’s a good time to remind ourselves of all the ways we can exercise our independence, especially in our career. So, in honor of the thirteen original colonies that bravely started this union, here are thirteen ideas (plus tools) you can use this holiday […]Read the full post >>
So, what does a coach do–really? One of our readers asked this question recently as their manager was offering to “coach” them. In this video, Coach Darcy Eikenberg shares the three things a coach REALLY does (and should do)–whether it’s a full-time professional like Coach Darcy, or someone else in your organization who’s coaching. Listen […]Read the full post >>