Managers need 3 critical skills to be effective | Can distributed teams give your company an advantage? | Hybrid work, video interviewing continue to trend in 2023
Three key skills are necessary to be an effective manager of people -- charisma, clarity and adaptability -- especially in light of the changing workplace landscape. Charisma helps managers connect with people over shared values, clarity in communication and expectations help ensure everyone is on the same wavelength, and adaptability means being open to learning, growth and change.
Crenshaw Communications' Dorothy Crenshaw explores classic storytelling formats such as the hero's journey, rags to riches and riches to rags, comedies and tragedies and with examples of each. "In some ways, good storytelling is like fine art or even obscenity. People struggle to define it, but they insist, 'I'll know it when I see it,' " Crenshaw writes.
Companies that have embraced distributed teams, such as HubSpot and Reddit, are modeling how such workforce strategies can widen their talent pool and create more engagement and satisfaction for their employees, writes Cory Hymel, vice president of product at Gigster. "Company leaders have to effectively manage and organize team members to bring out the best in them, which can attract more opportunities for business growth and success," Hymel writes.
The US unemployment rate is near historic lows, and the economy added an unexpectedly high number of jobs in January, so it's a favorable time for people who are looking for a new position. Important points to know about the current employment market are the fact that there are more jobs open than there are workers available, employers are continuing to move toward hybrid models of work, pay increases are on a slowing trend, and video interviewing continues to be popular.
Headlines have detailed layoffs in the fintech sector, but some startups may be able to use the disruption to fill vacant positions. Cambrian Ventures' Rex Salisbury said the founders of early-stage fintechs "are the big winners in the current job market and are pulling in top talent that would have been inaccessible six months ago."
A Harvard University study of more than 2,000 people over three generations has unearthed the key to happiness: good relationships which can contribute to better health and longevity, says Robert Waldinger, director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development. "If you don't have people to help you weather the inevitable stresses that come along, the body stays in a low-level fight-or-flight mode, with higher levels of circulating stress hormones and higher levels of inflammation, and we know that those things gradually wear away many different body systems," Waldinger says.
In an effort to bolster the country's lagging birth rate, Japan's government has rolled out artificial intelligence- and big data-driven matchmaking systems, sponsored singles parties, and will make "marriage support concierges" available for its residents starting in April. Japan's population is aging faster than any other post-industrial country in the world, and its fertility rate is significantly lower than it needs to be to ensure population stability. The government may be facing an uphill fight, though: According to a survey, close to 20% of Japanese men and 15% of Japanese women aren't interested in marriage, and one-third of men and 20% of women in their 50s have never tied the knot.
NBA phenom Michael Jordan, who turns 60 today, took a break from basketball and played minor league baseball in 1994. What was his official career batting average?
