Entries by First Sun Team

Strategy: How To Write Emails That Get Replies From Extremely Busy People…If you’re Looking to Initiate a Mutually Beneficial, Professional Relationship with Someone you Admire, Consider these Email Tips

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Over the past five years, Jon Levy has built “the Influencers,” a network of over 400 impressive people in a wide variety of fields.  Twice a month, Levy hosts a private dinner in his sprawling New York City apartment followed by a Salon featuring TED Talk-like presentations from the likes of Bill Nye the Science […]

Your Career: Job Hunting In 2015: 7 Things You Need To Know…Get Creative with Your CVs. Don’t just Opt for the Standard Words on a Page, Do Something Different to Stand Out

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Work.  The dreaded, daily, servitude that burdens your already tired and weary shoulders. Beaten, bedraggled and crestfallen you slump out of your bed at 6am, ready for another day of instant coffee, TPS reports and habitual sighing. If any part of that sounds like you -or your daily routine – then there’s a good chance […]

Leadership: 13 Habits of Exceptionally Likeable People…Mistaken Belief that Being Likeable Comes from Natural, Unteachable Traits that Belong Only to a Lucky Few

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Too many people succumb to the mistaken belief that being likeable comes from natural, unteachable traits that belong only to a lucky few—the good looking, the fiercely social, and the incredibly talented. It’s easy to fall prey to this misconception. In reality, being likeable is under your control, and it’s a matter of emotional intelligence […]

Strategy: A Master Networker Shares His Top 20 Networking Tips…Appreciate That the Most Influential People Operate on a Different Level

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At one of Jon Levy’s house parties you could find yourself, as we recently did, making fajitas with Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Regina Spektor and leading snake venom expert Zoltan Takacs before watching live presentations from Bill Nye the Science Guy and break-dancing pioneer Richard “Crazy Legs” Colón. Jon Levy introduces one of his Salon guests in […]

Your Career: How To Spend The Hour Before Your Job Interview…Don’t Let Last-Minute Anxiety Spoil your Long-Term Preparation. Follow this Expert Advice to Feel Calm & Focused

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Your suit is ironed, tucked and free of cat hairs. Your own hairs are combed, your padfolio is organized and your employer research is thorough. And your mind? For this interview, you’ve packed it like a filing cabinet: Answers to typical interview questions are filed under A; smart questions you plan to ask your interviewers are under […]

Leadership: Why Do Managers Hate Agile?…Agile Involves Self-Organizing Teams that Work in an Iterative Fashion & Deliver Continuous Additional Value Directly to Customers

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Why don’t Agile and management get along? In a poll last Wednesday of some 400 people working in many different firms where the practices known as Agile and Scrum are being implemented, 88 percent reported tension between the way Agile/Scrum teams are managed in their organization and the way the rest of the organization is […]

Strategy: 11 Productivity Tips That Will Make You More Effective…Every Project Requires an Action Plan. There is Always a Most Efficient Series of Steps for Each Project.

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With the abundance of demands on our time today, it’s easy to feel like we’re losing control. Even if we’ve decided what really is important, we still require a few sensible suggestions to assist us in organizing our time more effectively. That is the purpose of these 11 tips for time management and productivity. 1. Synchronize all […]

Strategy: The Complete Guide To Crafting A Perfect LinkedIn Profile…”Pledge to Banish Trite Buzzwords & Take These Easy Steps to Reinvigorate Your Profile,”

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January 21 is the most popular day of the month for LinkedIn users to update their profiles.  If you’re one of the millions of people rewriting your “summary statement” or uploading a new cover photo today, Catherine Fisher, a LinkedIn career expert, has some advice for you. “Pledge to banish trite buzzwords and take these […]

Strategy: These 8 Scales Reveal Everything You Should Know About Different Cultures…How Organizations Make Decisions Relates Closely to How they View Leadership, but with Some Important Differences

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Many people, perhaps especially Americans, underestimate how differently people do things in other countries.  Examples and insights for avoiding this can be found in “The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business,” a 2014 bestseller by INSEAD professor Erin Meyer (also check out those global communication diagrams from Richard Lewis). Japan is the opposite of America when it comes […]