Entries by First Sun Team

Your Career: Is College Still Worth It?… Less Than 40% of Hiring Managers Felt that Recent Graduates Were Ready for Jobs in Their Fields of Study

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Mark Zuckerberg. Bill Gates. Steve Jobs. Sir Richard Branson. These are some of the world’s most illustrious college dropouts. Of course, they’re also outliers – extraordinary individuals who probably didn’t need college to be successful in the first place. For most people, though, common wisdom says that a college degree is practically a requirement for […]

Strategy: The 7 Most Important Lessons from 30 years of Best-Selling Business Books…Wouldn’t it be Nice to Have an Overview of Their Best Advice? We Thought so, Too.

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Each year brings with it scores of new business books filled with secrets.  Become a better leader! Start a million dollar company!  Be your best at work! they tell you, We’ll show you how! Even if you maxed out on vacation days, it would be impossible to read them all. But wouldn’t it be nice […]

Strategy: 23 Super-Successful People Share the Best Advice they Ever Received…The Path to Success isn’t Always Straight. There are Often Bumps/Turns/Forks in the Road

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The path to success isn’t always straight. There are often bumps and turns and forks in the road. But a little bit of guidance can help you find your way.  In fact, many of the most successful leaders are where they are today because they took advice from people they trusted. Eric Schmidt, executive chairman, […]

Leadership:How New Leaders Can Keep Their Nerve & Avoid Distractions…Managers Who Think they are Fully Prepared & Equipped to Take on Top Jobs can Come Unstuck when They Finally Land the Role

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Countless books and articles have been written about what might be termed “the grander aspects” of leadership – the need to have a vision, the ability to decide on and execute a strategy, the importance of communication, the crucial role of motivation and such like – but rather less attention is paid to the “nuts […]

Strategy: 9 Rules of Office Politics you Have to Understand to Get Ahead…Women are More Likely than Men to Avoid the Politics & Believe That If they Focus on Their Performance & Work Hard

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There isn’t any topic about the workplace that brings up more anger and frustration than office politics.  “It’s just not fair!” is what I hear over and over again when addressing this topic in presentations and workshops. Women especially find this an emotional issue. Why? Because women are more likely than men to avoid the […]

Leadership: Managers Need to Make Time for Face Time…Heavy Travel Schedules often Interfere with Necessary Interaction with Subordinates

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Alan Buckelew, chief operations officer of Carnival Corp., moved to Shanghai last September so he could help the world’s biggest cruise-ship company expand in China. He still supervises five executives at its Miami headquarters. A heavy workload forced Mr. Buckelew to conduct year-end performance reviews for three of those deputies via videoconference—but he wasn’t happy […]

Strategy: The Algorithm That Tells the Boss Who Might Quit…Wal-Mart, Credit Suisse Crunch Data to see Which Workers are Likely to Leave or Stay

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Employers want to know who has one foot out the door. As turnover becomes a bigger worry—and expense—in a tightening labor market, companies including Wal-Mart Stores Inc.,Credit Suisse Group AG and Box Inc. are analyzing a vast array of data points to determine who is likely to leave a post. The idea, say people who […]

Strategy: Here’s a Simple Exercise that Can Help you Think Through any Big Decision…It’s Respecting my Natural Inclination to Think Through the Worst that Could Happen

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Anxiety gets a bad rap. We often talk about it as something that needs to be “cured.” But according to “Anxiety Toolkit” author and psychologist Alice Boyes, that’s over-simplifying.  With a little mental finesse, anxiety can be an ally. Boyes herself uses a simple thinking exercise to put her anxious nature to good use. “I make […]

Strategy: The Shocking Differences in Basic Body Language Around the World…The Body Speaks Volumes. But what it Says Depends on the Culture you’re In.

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The body speaks volumes.  But what it says depends on the culture you’re in. Facial expressions, gestures, mannerisms, and degree of eye contact vary greatly across countries. For example, “Arms, which are used little by Nordics during conversation, are an indispensable element in one’s communicative weaponry in Italy, Spain, and South America,” writes Richard Lewis in “When […]