Before starting a job search, ask yourself: What do I want to do? Why do I want to do it? and How do I get it? "Really thinking about the job you want and why you want it will help you determine how hard you are willing to work to get it," writes Carolyn Crandall, chief security advocate at Attivo Networks.

Increase your influence as a leader by creating a strategic vision and making decisions that move it forward while forming relationships needed for success, writes Joel Garfinkle. "Conviction, even enthusiasm, signals to others that you are setting out on the right path; you give people the ability to embrace change when you first embrace it yourself," he writes.

Estee Lauder Chairman Emeritus Leonard Lauder joined his family's company in 1958 and is now worth an estimated $22 billion. "A bit of advice that I'd give to all young people: Never come in late," he says. "Be the first there and, if you can, be the last to leave."

The key to an effective LinkedIn profile is sounding "like a real person" and describing "what it will be like working with you," writes legal marketing consultant Nancy Slome. In this how-to, Slome recommends ditching third-person pronouns and leaving out awards and honors more than three years old.

Consumer confidence dropped to a four-month low of 88.6 in December, the second consecutive monthly decline, according to The Conference Board's index. Optimism is fading as the labor market deteriorates and the coronavirus pandemic leads to new restrictions on business.

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This is pretty funny. Despite concerns that US lawmakers might use information they glean from briefings on Capitol Hill to guide their stock trades, a recent study found lawmakers aren't all that good at playing the market. A group of reindeer that selected stocks by stepping on papers with company names outperformed the supposedly in-the-know lawmakers.