You’ve had it with your job. You’re demoralized, stagnant, underpaid, overworked, bored, and/or unappreciated.  You’ve decided – you’re out of here! But before you hand in that resignation letter or share with your boss those choice words running around your head, perhaps you should take a step back and make sure you’re leaving for the right reasons

Our word choices that may have the unintended effect of ceding control and influence to the other party fall into four primary categories: indicating self-doubt, indicating a need for permission or approval, indicating lack of importance, and indicating "wrongness."

People rely on their perceptions of others to assess situations and make decisions, so we are constantly scanning for signals from the people around us and coming to conclusions based on what we’ve observed.  Here’s the cool part – you get to choose how people perceive you! 

Increase your awareness of some of the non-verbal signals we give off, particularly with body language, and what impact they may have.

It is said that a journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step (Lao Tzu). Similarly, to boost your career in a short period of time, start with a single action.  Choose one that will give you the most “bang for your buck.”  Especially when starting a new role, these are often called “quick wins” or “early wins.”

Alice Walker said “the most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” Women in particular tend to fall into this trap. Even an accomplished, successful professional can at times doubt herself, self-sabotage in subtle ways, and back away from opportunities without knowing why.

Managing expectations proactively will increase your chances of success, a great performance review, and the resulting ripple effects in your career progression. 

Congratulations!  You’ve landed a great new job and you’re excited to get started.  You worked relentlessly to get the job offer — networking, applying, researching and interviewing — but if you’re thinking the hard part is over, think again.

When we have confidence in ourselves at work, we tend to be more decisive, assertive, and take more initiative.  On the other hand, when we lack complete confidence we tend to over-react, over-think things, and procrastinate.   We feel out of control, helpless, or out of our depth.  And others perceive us as weaker, less capable, less reliable.

A successful work-life balance plan is all about personalization and flexibility.  Use these tips to determine what you need in yours.

Sometimes people think they do not have to manage their careers because their company will do it for them, but this is attitude can be self-defeating.  You are your own best advocate.

You may have heard the term, or even used it: career planning.  But what is it really?  And do you need it?

The capacity to grow and change is a gift. A gift to our current and future selves.  When we expand our minds, we expand our horizons and therefore our possibilities.  With the ability to change comes the potential that what appeared impossible before may suddenly become possible. The gift of growth and change can come from three places in our lives: internal (ourselves), external (others), or circumstantial (events).

Employee engagement describes the level of emotional involvement and enthusiasm employees demonstrate for their work, and how that influences their performance and willingness to further the organization’s interests.  While that may seem “soft” and intangible, many researchers show that the benefits of increased engagement are very tangible and impact the bottom line.

You’re ready and raring to climb the corporate ladder, but there seem to be no programs in the organization to help you get to the next level.  Or perhaps there doesn’t appear to be an opportunity to move up in the company.  What do you do? 

A career map is like a roadmap of your professional life – it allows you to visualize where you are, where you want to go, and possible routes to get there.  Without such a map, your career will be built by default rather than by design.

Is fear still a healthy survival tool, or does it now simply keep us in our comfort zone and therefore smaller and less significant than we could be? What would happen if we lived every day without the trace of fear?

Why is it that we do what we do, why we reach for a dream or a goal or a vision?  What drives us?  And what is it that inspires others to take action in the same direction?  This last question is key for business leaders, entrepreneurs, those dedicated to a cause, or anyone who wants to inspire change.

You may know the story of the four-minute mile.  For years, the fastest runners in the world could not run the mile in less than four minutes.  Everyone therefore believed it could not be done.  When Roger Bannister ran the mile in 3 minutes 59 seconds in 1954, it seemed an earth-shattering feat. Within 46 days, another great runner, John Landy, had also broken the 4-minute threshold.  And by the end of 1957, sixteen runners had recorded sub-four-minute miles.  As soon as people let into their thoughts and their beliefs that it could be done, it was. Over and over.