5 Hard Truths for Climbing the Corporate Ladder

5 Hard Truths for Climbing the Corporate Ladder5 Hard Truths for Climbing the Corporate LadderClimbing the corporate ladder to become a C-level executive is not an overnight process. It takes time and you have to be aware of the hard truths involved along the way. We explain what entry-level employees, and those halfway up the corporate ladder, can expect to deal with to get ahead when climbing the corporate ladderWarning Some of what you read may sound polarizing. But in no way should it ever stop you from trying to be successful.1. The smartest part in the room does not always winIt is tough to discover that the people with no college degree, a 2.1 GPA, and a 3.9 GPA can all climb the corporate ladder as quickly as the other.People who get things done tend to go farther than those who think a degree is a free pass to the top. The determined leader survives longer than the rolle who believes, I have a Masters degree. I should be promotedYou should be proud of your degree. You worked hard for it. It will be helpful and you will be better off than those without a degree. However, if you cannot lead and execute strategies, you will be seen as a doer.2. You must take risks and lose your fear of being wrongTaking risks breeds both failure and confidence. Those that climb the corporate ladder are fearless, never afraid to be wrong and sometimes dive in headfirst without knowing the depth of the water.You are the very thing that Monday Morning Quarterbacks love to complain about. In the face of all danger, you know the outcome of taking a successful risk outweighs the criticism for taking the risk.Additionally, you often take the risk of speaking your mind and doing what you believe is right. You do not mind being the unpopular one in the room. In fact, you love being calleuchtdiode crazy or outspoken in meetings and in public. To you, it means you are doing something right.3. You hold yourself accountable to all stakeholders even when it hurtsTodays world of public trial by social media has led to an increase in corporate leaders who have to accept accountability for the mistakes of people they had no control over. When someone at the bottom of a corporate ladder messes up so badly that it hurts a companys reputation, the person at the top of the corporate ladder pays for it.However, the popularity of using social media to harm company and peoples reputations has also led to an increase in leaders assigning blame to those beneath them. Unfortunately, all employees trying to climb the corporate ladderare vulnerable to being knocked off the corporate ladder at the mere scent of trouble or PR issue.Your ability to proactively take responsibility for your actions before problems arise will be tomorrows powerful predictor of long-term success on the corporate ladder.4. Loyalty to a company matters very littleThe mutual loyalty between you and the corporation is prone to falling apart for unpredictable reasons. Your loyalty to the company matters ve ry little if it does fall apart. To give you a true example, an unnamed executive worked at a company for 17 years. He was responsible for saving the company tens of millions of dollars through denying insurance claims. He was one of the most popular Vice Presidents in North America and his successes were used often as training materials.One day, he shows up to work and his entire office is packed up and boxed. Security stood by him waiting to escort him out of the building. He was officially fired without discussion. Why? One of the claims he had handled fell into default status. The reportedclaim was not acknowledged as filed by the company.In English, a claim was reported and the insurance policy owner never heard back. The person who filed the claimwas automatically rewarded $100,000. It was a simple, yet costly mistake.When you weigh 17 years of service and tens of millions of dollars saved, $100,000 seems like a drop in the bucket. But that did not matter. He was escorted out of the building without a moments chance to say goodbye to the people he worked with for 17 years.Note See 3. It was not completely his fault. Both he and his staff had dropped the ball.5. Big decisions affecting your status on the corporate ladder happen over dinnerThis is the hardest one to stomach. You spend all day at work trying really hard to do your best. You have meetings about company direction and strategy. Everything seems to be going wellThen suddenly something changes overnight. All the final decisions affecting the company (and your job), are made by those on top of the corporate ladder outside of work. They were either having dinner, drinks at the bar, playing golf, at a conference, or some other social event where leaders gather.Work your way to the top of a corporate ladder and you will see for yourself. It almost sounds too strange to believe. On the other hand, you can do what millions of other people in the USA have done to avoid the corporate ladder Start your o wn business

Heres How to Develop a Job Plan at Work

Heres How to Develop a Job Plan at WorkHeres How to Develop a Job Plan at WorkNeed an employee and company friendly way to keep employee job descriptions, goals, and plans up-to-date without Human Resources intervention? Consider writing a job plan as an alternative to the traditional, normally not up-to-date, lengthy job description. Owned by the employee, in conjunction with and negotiated with his or her manager, the job plan solves the most frequent problems organizations experience with job descriptions. Similar to a job profile but with more detail, the job plan clearly defines the employees job. Advantages of an Employee-Led Job Plan An employee-led job plan is always up-to-date, is descriptive of the job the employee is doing and is owned by and important to the employee. The job plan is an improvement over an HR written job description that is usually out-of-date, tough to maintain, and a document that employees dont own and use as a guide. The written job plan will guid e an employees use of his or her work time and inform the employee of the priorities and needed outcomes. The job plan, done well, emphasizes an employees most significant goals and expectations. You can use a job plan to assess an employees progress on goals and core responsibilities. It makes a useful starting discussion point during weekly one-to-one meetings and in any meeting to discuss setting goals, planning the future, or desired changes to an employees job. Since the job plan is negotiated with the manager, heor she feels How to Develop the Job Plan Managers work with employees to make koranvers that every employee has an individually developed job plan. The document is maintained and updated as necessary by the employee with the concurrence of the employees manager. The document lists the employees responsibilities and thecore job functions, goals, and expectations for performance. It is the employees responsibility to execute the job plan with management support and a greement. Managers work with employees to ensure that employees have appropriate elements of their companys mission, goals, objectives and guiding principles in their job plans. Managers also work with employees to ensure that regular performance discussions and feedback are occurring relative to the core functions, job expectations and goals in the job plan. Managers work with employees to ensure that each employee has appropriate stretch goals that serve both the company and the employee in place in their job plan. Group Job Plan In developing the job plan, employees who have the same job with similar responsibilities will work as a kollektiv to develop the job plan for the job with the assistance and concurrence of their managers. In the instance of a group-developed job plan, each employee might also expect to have individual goals, that are specific to his or her position. In addition to these core responsibilities, activities and functions that wereagreed upon as a group, these additional expectations also define the scope and expectations of the individuals job. When an employee is performing core job plan functions and responsibilities and meeting job plan goals, the employee is making a solid contributionto his or her organization. Overall Approach to the Job Plan The employee who is doing the job takes the lead in writing the job plan using this job plan format. The goals and plans that become the final document are negotiated with the employees manager or supervisor. Progress should be reviewed periodically with the supervisor and success on the job plan and goals should affect compensation decisions. Unlike performance development planning, which is for employee development, the job plan measures progress toward goal accomplishment. The job plan provides clear expectations for employee performance. This guarantees that the employee and the manager are on the same page and share meaning on the employees performance expectations. This is a po sitive, powerful way to make sure that employees are focused on producing what the organizationmost needs from them.

The Credit Crunch Hits Home

The Credit Crunch Hits HomeThe Credit Crunch Hits HomeCredit-card companies are reducing limits and removing customers to get risk off their books.There are plenty of economic factors to consider during a job search, especially during a down economy Housing prices have slumped, and 401(k)s and other investments are in decline.Now add the global market for leistungspunkt cards to the list of factors you must watch if youre looking for a job.Credit cards and access to credit can be crucial to bridge the gemeinsame agrarpolitik in living expenses during a stretch of unemployment and pay for the expenses of a job search, like membership to a job board or a new suit for a third interview. But that lifeline is being shortened by factors outside the control of the people who rely on them. The global crunch on corporate credit, rising unemployment and risk-averse banks are conspiring to make credit cards costly and less available. Nationwide, credit-card providers are raising interest rates, lowering credit limits, and closing accounts for card holders who did little or notlagehing wrong.More than 30 million U.S. card holders (16 percent of total card holders) saw their credit-card limits reduced in 2008, according to Fair Isaac Corp., which manages the FICO credit-score program. Twenty-two million of those affected never had a late payment, collections or other issues that would ordinarily have triggered a penalty. Most were card holders who barely used their cards or carried low balances that were unprofitable for the card provider, several credit experts said.What is happening to cause credit-card companies to cut good customers just when they need the help most?There are ways to better the odds you wont be in this group.Want to understand the pinch better? There are three global forces at work to crank up the pressure on your credit1. RiskBanks are not the only companies looking for ways to get rid of shaky debts, according to Steve Conover, founder and CEO of MyCr editABC.com, which specializes in helping customers check and resolve mistakes in their credit-bureau reports.Poisonous assets on the books at a bank might comprise a bundle of home loans, but bad debts on the books at a credit-card company compromise the many individual consumers who are having difficulty making ends meet.Credit-card companies are changing how they evaluate risk on a monthly basis, Conover said. They have a serious issue with the cash they have on hand and the Treasury rules on default, so they have to reduce their risk. Risk in this case is the credit-card customer, and theyre cutting a lot of them off its getting really ugly.Just as with banks, which went on a mortgage-lending spree during the early 2000s on the assumption they could bundle their loans into packages that would effectively reduce their risk, credit-card companies expanded rapidly both the number of customers and the amount of credit theyve granted.Thats not a problem when the economy is strong and people can keep making payments when its less than strong, the number of people defaulting rises. In the typical recessions in the past 50 years, the number of accounts the industry considered uncollectable (called a charge-off) rose to between 3 percent and 5 percent. In January, that rate struck 8.82 percent, the highest mark in mora than 20 years, according to Moodys Investors Services. CitiGroup and Capital One Financial, two of the leading issuers of MasterCard and Visa cards nationwide, announced that 9.33 percent of cardholders were in default for February and March respectively and American Express, which professes a more financially secure membership base, has a rate reaching 8.7 percent in March. Moodys expects the charge-off rate to ultimately reach 10.5 percent.This rapid rise in cardholders unable to repay their debt causes card issuers to do two thingsFirst, banks limit their exposure by dropping card holders they consider close to risky and lower the limits on those next in lineSecond, banks make up some of their losses with higher interest rates and fees. Capital One raised a rate on one card from 7.15 percent to 11.9 percent and another from 8.15 percent to 13.9 percent, according to The Motley Fool columnist Selena Maranjian. Citigroup raised its top rate to 30 percent, while Capital One instituted a penalty rate of 29.4 percent for customers who are late paying their bill two months in a year.Its getting pretty brutal out there in terms of contraction and delinquencies and interest-rate increases, according to Curtis Arnold, CEO of CreditRatings.com, a credit-card rating and review site. Were seeing millions of accounts closed off that havent been used in a while, and even people who have not been carrying substantial debt or being near their credit limit arent immune to having their interest rates raised.People arent even aware of this, but the credit-card companies are getting really aggressive about getting people they identify as high r isk off their books, Arnold said. If you always pay just the minimum, that will flag you as high risk.Worse, they can identify you as a bad risk and lower your credit limit below the amount you currently owe, demand that you pay the difference immediately, and then write you off as a bad debt if you dont respond, MyCreditABC.coms Conover said.Mortgage companies are more willing to work with consumers because theres a significant asset involved the house or condo. Credit-card companies dont care, Conover said. Credit cards are unsecured, so theyll just cut you off.2. Tight CreditEven in good times, credit-card companies themselves rely on credit to pay the bills. Card issuers are able to pay for your purchases and absorb your debt because they draw on corporate credit for 10- and 30-day loans from investment banks that put cash in their coffers to pay the bills and to maintain a cash-to-exposure balance (cash on hand versus the total debt exposure should every card holder reach his maximum debt limit). When investment banks began to collapse and bleed money last year, the source of those loans dried up, and credit-card companies were deprived of the source of cash to cover expenses and maintain the cash-to-exposure ratio.Banks faced the prospect of operating under a less-than-preferable cash-to-exposure ratio just as many card holders were most likely to achieve maximum debt load and others were defaulting at record rates. According to Conover, the response of most credit-card companies has been to limit their exposure by reducing the maximum debt load on their books closing accounts and reducing cardholders credit limits. This is especially true for risky card holders or cardholders they consider unprofitable.If you pay the whole card off and then dont use it for a month, they identify that as high risk, too, Conover said. Thats risk they carry on their books that theyre not making money off of, so theyll cut you off in a second.3. RulesBesides the tight eco nomy, the push is motivated by tighter Federal Reserve rules on how much cash a credit-card company has to have on hand and limits on changes it can make to credit rates and agreements. Although the rules have already been approved, they dont go into effect until July 2010. Until then, count on the credit-card companies to do everything they can to strip what they define as deadwood from their debt records.Credit-card companies are also racing to get ahead of consumer protections passed by Congress April 22 that also take effect in July 2010. The rules would limit increases on credit-card interest rates and fees and address how providers communicate to customers when they make changes to a cardholders credit limit.It would also ban a practice called universal default, whereby banks raise users rates or lower their limits because of late payments to completely different creditors. The new rules mean credit-card providers can only adjust your account based on your payment history with that account.With those rules looming, card providers are trying to drop potential problem customers and limit their credit exposure on others before the law limits what their ability to do so, Conover said.

Female college students feel less comfortable voicing their opinions

Female college students feel less comfortable voicing their opinionsFemale college students feel less comfortable voicing their opinionsA new Gallup survey of over 51,000 recent graduates that earned bachelors degrees between 2010 and 2018, found that women are less likely than men to feel comfortable sharing views in the classroom that may conflict with their peers opinions. Stephanie Marken, who co-authored the report, titled, Inclusive Environments Produce Attached Alumni, explained further to InsiderHighED,Many believe these differences are cultural and will take time to break, but if any organization or institution can do so, its an inclusive higher education institution that embraces what is unique and allows students to bring their whole selves to their educational experiences.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreThe irony of the college gender gemeinsame agrarpolitikMarken we nt on to stress the importance of fostering a thriving campus where students feel engaged, as college seems to be paying the most, for our shared fear of having bad opinions. The studys co-author, Tom Matson added, Allowing students to better understand their unique strengths is the first step in helping them articulate their opinions and needs.Both authors noted the irony of the findings explored in their study against the previously observed gender gap that defines most college campuses in the US. Despite the fact that more women receive higher education than men, when asked on a scale of one to five, regarding whether or not they felt comfortable expressing ideas believed to be held by a minority, one meaning they strongly disagreed that they felt comfortable enough sharing this viewpoint and five meaning they strongly agreed with the statement even if it meant they were in the minority, about 58% of female graduates suggested they were confidently sharing a minority opinion. The y gave either a four or a five on the survey and 68% of men mirrored this figure.Gallup conducted further research in order to determine if race played a role in these numbers. but found no discernible discrepancy. White and black respondents rated just about the same. A modest 14% of all graduates surveyed answered either a one or a two. Eleven percent of female graduates answered two, compared to the 5% of male participants that responded in this way.The freer a student felt to speak honestly, the greater the emotional attainment said student felt to their respective university. To this, the authors remark that it is in an intuitions best interest to foster an environment conducive to comfortable discourse, as an active alumnus is much more likely to donate later on in life.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule tha t will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people

4 proven ways to change your life (2 are really easy!)

4 proven ways to change your life (2 are really easy)4 proven ways to change your life (2 are really easy)Im fascinated by the topic of changing ones life, because I changed my own and I help others to do the saatkorn. I found the most convincing methods set out by BJ Fogg, a head of Persuasive Lab at the Stanford University. The guy spent over two decades researching how humans change their behaviors and he found three ways to change your life1 Experience an epiphany2 Change your environment (what surrounds you)3 Take baby steps (change of your habits)I also found the 4th way which is kind of shortcut.You can useanyof them to change your life, but they arenotequal. Lets analyze them one by one.1 way to change your life EPIPHANYWe know plenty of stories of people who experienced a sudden epiphany and revolutionized their lives. This path is tempting. A light bulb emblazing over your head and you have everything figured out.The trouble with enlightenments is that they are hard to cura te.In fact, its close to impossible to engineer a true epiphany. You can practice spiritual disciplines or take psychedelic drugs for years and still a life-changing enlightenment will elude you.So, its great if you get an epiphany, but its a poor strategy. You may pursuit enlightenment your whole life and never really change your life.2 way to change your life ENVIRONMENTIts a pretty decent strategy if you can use it. When I decided to change my life I was 33 years old, I had been married for 12 years, had three kids, a day job in a big media company and 35-year mortgage to pay off. I wasnt in a position to introduce any rapid and significant changes into my surroundings.Change of environment doesnt come easy.Its usually connoted with big changes in our routine a death of someone close, getting married, changing jobs, graduation, a birth of the first kid, buying a house, moving to another city, state or country Its not something you can engineer often and not something you can tak e lightly.The awesome thing about this strategy is that it robs you out of the most of your old patterns. The more radical the change, the more it affects your daily routine. It is one thing to change job in the same town between competing companies and totally different to start a new position in a faraway city.The not-so-good thing is that whatever change in your environment you introduce, you are still yourself. You may neglect all the new external influence and stay the same.3 way to change your life HABITSAccording to BJ Fogg, this is the most reliable strategy. I fully agree with him. For the first 22 months of my life transformation there wasnt a single change of environment in my life. I had the same family, the same job and lived in the same flat.After 22 months we bought a house and moved into it after another two months. My commute routine shifted slightly. The next external change took another year. I changed jobs.But in the same timespan I developed dozens and dozens of new daily habits. My daily routine changed dramatically.Why BJ Fogg talks about baby steps? Because according to his research,most people are incapable of changing their habits in any other way. The pitiful 9% success ratio ofNew Years resolutionsmakes a pretty solid supporting argument for this thesis.I guess Fogg is right. Expert after expert says that developing more than one new habit at a time overwhelms most of people. We also have this stupid tendency to start something really strong, burn out and quit quickly.Tiny habitsBJ Fogg also invented a way to develop habits without a fail called Tiny Habits. According to the definition, they are somethingyou do at least once a day,takes you less than 30 seconds,requires little effort.In my experience, points 1 and 3 are crucial, but not 2. I developed multitude of habits very fast, because I aimed for daily habits and they were relatively effortlessfor ME.Reading a book written by a saint for 10 minutes a day couldve been a torture for many. For me, it is a pure bliss. The same with studying the Bible for 10 minutes a day.For many people studying the professional documentation about database administration its something between black magic and reading in foreign language. But I had already had over 6 years of experience in that area. It wasnt a pleasure for me, but I could force myself to do that for 10 minutes a day (not 30 seconds).Daily actionCreating a daily habit is like 10 times easier than a habit you perform six days a week. When there is no gemeinsame agrarpolitik in your streak, consistency comes more natural and faster. It is also stickier.And you need to adjust the difficulty level for your abilities. In 2012 I adopted a habit of doing a consecutive series of pullups to a failure point. It required little effort for me.For the previous six years I had been doing a consecutive series of pushups to a failure point, and believe me, its much more difficult. When you do pushups your lungs and heart give up before your muscles do.Pullups? Even now I cannot do them longer than for a couple of minutes. When I finish doing pushups, I feel like Ive just gone through hell. In case of chin-ups only my arms muscles protest loudly.4 Way to change your life SHORTCUTOnly about two years ago, despite two decades of research, Dr. Fogg admitted that he didnt pay enough attention to a social aspect of developing new habits (and changing oneself). If your closest social circles actively oppose your life change, your chances decrease rapidly. If you have a social support for your change, your chances rise disproportionally high.I drove my wife crazy with all the changes I adopted. She scorned and derided me for everything I wanted to accomplish. Less than a month into my author career she sent me an email saying that my books are no good, I should rather find myself a better job. She also added a few curses and invectives for balance??The shortcut for a life change I practiced and recommend is spe nding time with people you want to be like.I survived my wifes foul moods, because I found a different source of social support. I met online new friends and spent time with them.The spezial shortcutDr. Dunbar, an English anthropologist, discovered that humans include only about 250 people into their internal circle. He supposed that that was an average number of the tribe members in prehistoric times. But he was most blown away by accidental discovery we can allow into our internal circles even superficial entities like brands.The more so, we can allow into this internal social circle real people who we know only through books, videos and audio. The man who had the most influence in the early stage of my life transformation was Jim Rohn. I discovered him three years after his death, but I consumed hundreds of hours of his videos and audio programs. He became my virtual mentor. He was the main reason I didnt give up.You can do the same follow someone online and consume their mater ials to the point when they become real to you, a part of your internal tribe.If you want to change your life focus on changing your habits. I wholeheartedly recommendthe Tiny Habits course. Its free and takes only a tiny amount of your time during a single week, yet it will teach you all the basics about habits development. What is more, the course is practical, so youll also immediately put this knowledge into practice.If you want to explore habits development beyond tiny size, check out myInfallible Framework for Habit Development.To accelerate your progress, habitually spend time with people you want to be like. The awesome thing is that nowadays you can do it via online means with practically anybody. They can even be deceased and still provide an immense influence on who you will become.Michal Stawicki isa coachand self-published author writing about how to expand beyond your limits so you can regain control over your life (based on my personal experience).

Understanding Worked Synonym Resume

Understanding Worked Synonym Resume Naturally, the resume objective needs to be the job you would like to take. A well written resume is one that is not so overwhelming in the opinion of employers. You cant blame them since they are trained to sift through loads of resumes everyday simply to discover the ideal candidate for employment. A career change resume example should teach you the way to concentrate on your prior employment. Since you currently have a prior career, you will automatically have some abilities and experience that are necessary to gaining employment. Therefore, among the methods to grab the interest of a prospective employer is to get an extremely attractive CV, because this is inclined to be the very first kind of encounter they will have with you. It isnt fatal to have just one employer listed on your resume in a very long career. The employer should have the chance to obey the law. A big reason behind the low yearly hours worked in Europe is a comparati vely substantial amount of paid annual leave. On these days, locating a good job demands someone to go the additional mile, to stick out from the competition. The modell rate for each worker is set by dividing the pay received by the range of hours worked. It was hard to discover a place on a ship where asbestos was not employed. If youre paid a salary, youre still entitled to overtime if you dont satisfy all the requirements for one of the exemptions. Make sure it is presentable. The overtime resets at midnight, or so the work on Tuesday is not regarded as daily overtime as it is only 8 hours, although you worked straight through from the prior night. The Worked Synonym Resume Cover Up If you believe that your job could possibly be entitled to overtime, please email or call me. It is quite easy to track down examples for resumes which are job specific. You have to get a couple of your files right, before you complete an application to find a certification. It is among the files that youre ready to get you have worked for previously, because it is a summary of your sanity in the provider. Experience letters, requesting prospective organizations to provide you a chance to work with them can ensure it is feasible that you create a positive impression. Where a desktop notification may be well formatted, the cell notification for the identical event may have HTML leakage. Calendars are likely to become increasingly more important as an advertising tool over the upcoming few decades, as our advertising and marketing campaigns become a growing number of time sensitive. You will also need to hope that its set up using the right format. Search online for nursery certification templates and youll see lots of distinct templates that you choose. The templates can readily be downloadable from the internet. This template will give you with an extremely straightforward notion about the appropriate way of issuing and composing a letter thats blooming. Findin g Worked Synonym Resume Although not technically a state or society, the Bir Tawil Triangle is among the few regions of the world thats not claimed by a recognized nation-state and, thus, is effectively a lawless region free of government. Actually, you are going to get the job done together with diverse individuals doing innovative, meaningful work when receiving excellent reparation. fruchtwein of the folks dont have a thing to do with and dont have any influence over Hitler in terms of his conduct of the war and so on. There are different laws for certain industries that are relevant to the protection of operations. The 3 carpenters finally have various colours. Among the biggest myths about overtime is the concept that people that are paid a salary arent eligible for overtime. For instance, the region of the hospital in which physicians and their teams work may earn a difference. For some reason, lots of people feel that any bonus paid would be subtracted from the overt ime due. The Chronicles of Worked Synonym Resume Contrary to what you may have heard, there is not any requirement an employer provide any range of hours off between shifts except in the motion picture manufacturing market. Efforts to cut back healthcare costs may result in a decline in physician reimbursement, which then prompts doctors to take on more patients, he explained. Due to the pressure of working, time is increasingly regarded as a commodity. Resume examples for free will help you in a detailed process about how to compose your resume.

Keep Your Cool This Summer With Daily Acts of Kindness

Keep Your Cool This Summer With Daily abrollcontainer-transportsystem of Kindness If youve ever crammed into a packed, sweaty subway car on a sweltering July morning, you know that a hot morning commute can set the tone for your whole day. Multiple studies have shown strong correlations between heat and aggression. And sometimes this aggression can be wrongfully taken out on coworkers. Whether you walk, drive, use public transportation, or work from home, there are myriad tiny ways the heat can affect your mood - and your work.But theres no reason you cant beat the heat and keep your cool at workHow, you ask?Great question Each time youre feeling a little on edge because youre too sweaty to think straight, imagine that your coworkers/friends/family might be feeling just as exhausted and overwhelmed... think of all the things those people could do to make your day better, and then do it for them insteadIts about seeing the good in each day, and actively looking for ways you can improv e others days as well.Were halfway through our monthly challenges for 2019, and this month, were challenging you to bring positivity to your office/work environment with daily acts of kindness. Below Ive shared some ideas you can try out at the office or at home. Daily Acts of Kindness Challenge - Ideas to Get You StartedBuy a coworker lunchGive a compliment (stick to choices people have made or work theyve done)Hold the door openBring in coffee/breakfast to shareAsk a coworker whos new to grab lunchSay hi in the hallwayDonate to a friends fundraiser/charityWatch someones child for freeLeave your waiter an extra generous tipPay for someones bus/metro fare if theyve forgotten their cardHelp a coworker solve a problemBring your neighbors paper to their front doorMake a meal for someone who could use some supportWrite a handwritten thank you to someone whos helped you in the pastGive out cold water/gatorade to folks working outdoors (maybe your mail person, garbage collectors, or anyon e youve hired to work on your yard)VolunteerCall an elderly relative you havent spoken to in a whileShare an article or post thats made you smile with someone else who might appreciate itKeep an extra umbrella at your desk at work so you can lend it when it rainsTell a coworker when theyre doing well at work (this includes your peers, bosses, and those below you)When you get good service, write a nice review or share what they did with their bossText family/friends you know are going through a tough time to check inPost sticky notes at home/work with positive phrasesSmile Sometimes the littlest things make all the difference---So get out there, and look for a way to make someone elses day, every day. (No need to come up with a fresh idea for each day, just do something kind for someone else every day.)If youre competitive, enlist a friend who you can text at the end of each day to ask what they did. The friend whos completed the most acts of kindness by the end of the month wins bra gging rights - and the opportunity to complete one last act of kindness by taking their losing friend out for a conciliatory dinner.Jot down what you do each day and be sure to let us know what other great ideas you come up withRelated Articles Around the Web 30-Day Kindness Challenge Doing Good Together One of the biggest challenges in almost all industries today is achieving gender parity. Gender diversity provides huge benefits in the workplace. pWhile some industries have made significant advancements in gender diversity, some industries lag further behind... and the construction industry is well-known for being in the latter category. If someone says, construction workers, youll likely picture a group of men in yellow hard hats analyzing an architects plans or laying bricks on top of a scaffold. And men at work signs only help to reinforce this image.pThis stereotype is rooted in r eality. When was the last time you actually spotted a woman on a construction site? Or hired a female plumber or carpenter? Your answer is most likely never. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statisticsreports that only 3.4% of the total of 8.3 million construction employees are women.pBut the construction industry has a lot more to offer than steel-toed boots and hard hats, and it needs women to help advance the industry in this era of rapid change. Here are 5 reasons why women joining the workforce or looking to make a pivot should consider a career in construction.h21. Fuel Innovation/h2pNot only is diversity the socially and morally right thing to do, but it is also actually an excellent geschftlicher umgang strategy. pResearch presented in the Harvard Business Reviewshows that diverse teams develop more innovative ideas. This is further supported by a study conducted by Gallupon the performance of gender-diverse teams versus single-gender teams, which found that the difference in ba ckgrounds and perspectives led to better business performance and problem-solving. h22. Capitalize on Demand/h2pThe construction industry is currently experiencing a labor shortage. The industry itself is booming and projected to be one of the fastest-growing industries, with total spending projected to exceed $1.45 trillion in 2023/a. However, most construction companies are unable to meet the rising demand. pAccording to the Associated General Contractors of America/a, more than 80% of contractors are experiencing difficulties filling hourly craft positions that represent the bulk of the construction workforce.pAnd demand isnt limited to individual contributor roles. Given the industry boom, there are a number of open stable and high-paying roles (any project managers out there?) waiting for the right candidateh23. Leadership Opportunities/h2pAccording to the Bureau of Labor Statistics/a, women compose only 7.7% of the total 1 million managerial positions in construction.br/pBut g iven the highly collaborative nature of construction work, more women in leadership roles would help drive innovation and enhance productivity.Furthermore, as a woman in construction in a leadership position, youd have the unique opportunity to drive change for the industry and make it a more attractive option for other women.h24. High-Income Potential/h2pSalaries for many skilled positions in construction are on the rise, making a construction career a prime choice for women looking for a high-paying job,pThe 2018 Construction Craft Salary Surveyconducted by the National Center for Construction Education and Research revealed that salaries for many skilled craft areas are increasing. Project managers and project supervisors topped the list at $92,523 and $88,355, respectively. The next set of highest-paying jobs include those of combo welders ($71,067), instrumentation technicians ($70,080), pipe welders ($69,222), power line workers ($68,262) and industrial electricians ($67,269). Of the 32 categories of workers in the survey, 19 positions earned an average salary of $60,000 or higher.h25. Sense of accomplishment/h2p The construction industry can give employees a unique sense of achievement. Yes, the job is stressful and the work can be demanding, but nothing beats the feeling of being able to build something from the ground up. pHow many professionals in other industries can point at a school, a hospital, or a skyscraper and say I helped build that?pThe construction industry has a long way to go in combating gender bias and supporting women in the workforce, but given the current demand for workers, theres no better time to pick up a sledgehammer (figurative or literal) and smash the gender stereotypes plaguing the construction industry.