Get a raise by presenting a personal business plan Think of your job as its own independent business and present an analysis of your role within the company to your manager that shows your work positively affects the bottom line, Nick Corcodilos recommends. Show how your work has and will provide a positive return on investment, he adds. PBS (8/29)Ways to sharpen your focus Set deadlines to accomplish tasks. With limited time, you essentially trap yourself into focusing, Chris Bailey writes. Harvard Business Review online (tiered subscription model) (8/30)
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Making the Connection
Make work arguments more productive Manage conflict during important conversations by staying calm and letting go of the fear and anxiety that arises during an argument. Step away for a moment to collect yourself, suggests Susan Steinbrecher, and don't take the other person's actions personally. Inc. online (8/30)
The Landscape
Laws, employer policies vary on secret workplace recordings Eleven states consider workplace recordings illegal unless both parties have consented, and some employers' policies forbid such recordings, says employment law attorney Katrina Patrick. The prospect of such recordings -- brought to public prominence in cases such as Omarosa Manigault Newman's recording of conversations with White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and President Donald Trump -- can also undermine transparency efforts in the workplace, says Johnny Taylor Jr. of the Society for Human Resource Management. National Public Radio (8/28)
Your Next Challenge
Choose companies that offer a clear path for career growth Pursue jobs that will fill gaps in your skill set. Check a company's track record for employee development by talking to recruiters or inquiring about whether it's more common for employees to move up in the company or laterally, writes Caroline Ceniza-Levine. Forbes (8/30)
The length of your commute affects what reading materials work best, and poetry and short stories are enough for commutes of 30 minutes or less while commuters traveling over an hour can dig into a novel, writes Padraig Belton. "[I]n the six hours you might commute each week, you could read some 108,000 words, and still have enough time left to check in and update your Twitter. That's about the length of 'Wuthering Heights,' 'Gulliver's Travels' or 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.'" BBC (8/25)
The Water Cooler
Confiscated "drug" was sugar, not fentanyl Law enforcement in North Carolina took custody of 13 pounds of a substance that a preliminary CSI field test identified as fentanyl, but private lab results determined the powder was actually sugar. The so-called drug bust was initially thought to be "one of the largest seizures in the state," according to the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office. WRAL-TV (Raleigh, N.C.) (8/28)
Editor's Note
SmartBrief will not publish Sept. 3 In observance of Labor Day in the US, YourCareer will not publish Monday, Sept. 3. Publication will resume Tuesday, Sept. 4.
The suppression of liberty is always likely to be irrational.
