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9 Signs You Have the Mindset It Takes to Succeed by Jeff Haden

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There are a number of qualities that help you succeed. Learning to be more likable and charming is one; so is becoming more charismatic. Developing greater willpower and mental toughness — both of which you can definitely develop — can also help.

And so does approaching certain situations with a consistent mindset. There are certain qualities that successful people tend to share — especially the successful people who also make a significant impact on the lives of other people.

See how many apply to you:

1. They look past the messenger to focus on the message.

When people speak from a position of position of power or authority or fame, it’s tempting to place greater emphasis on their input, advice, and ideas.

Warren Buffett? Yep, gotta listen to him. Sheryl Sandberg? Yes. Richard Branson? Absolutely.

That approach works to a point-but only to a point. Really smart people strip away all the framing that comes with the source — both positive and negative — and evaluate information, advice, and input idea based solely on its merits.

When Branson says, “Screw it; just do it and get on with it,” it’s powerful.

If the guy who delivers your lunch says it, it should be just as powerful.

Never discount the message because you discount the messenger. Good advice is good advice — regardless of the source.

2. They work hard to collect knowledge…

Competing is a fact of professional life: with other businesses, other products, other people. It’s not a zero sum game, but it is a game we all try to win.

Smart people win a lot.

Smarter people win even more often.

Continually striving to gain more experience, more experience, and more knowledge is the second-best way to succeed.

3. …But they work even harder on collecting knowledgeable people.

You can’t know everything. But you can know enough smart people that together you know almost everything.

And, together, do almost anything.

Work hard on getting smarter. Work harder on getting smart people on your side.

How? Read more…

10 Non-Negotiable Traits Your New Hire Must Possess

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BY YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR COUNCIL
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Want a shot at landing your dream startup gig? While having a polished resume and company connections can help get your foot in the door, it’s your ingrained character traits that will likely determine your ability to thrive and make an impact on the business you’re so eager to work for.

Ten entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) share qualities they believe all new hires must possess in order to land a coveted position in their business.

1. Adaptability

The Internet space changes so quickly that what worked even two years ago may not work now. The best employees are not necessarily the most experienced, but are rather those who can learn the new rules of the game the quickest. Usually these people are smart, creative, have an insatiable love of learning and are always striving to improve their game.–Charlie Graham, Shop It To Me, Inc.

2. Coachability

I’ve found that with the right hire, new skills and procedures can be easily learned. That willingness to learn new things and forget old ways, however, will probably never change. That’s why I look at a new hire’s coachability first, and their previous knowledge second.–Elle Kaplan, LexION Capital

3. Agility

In a startup, everything changes quickly — whether it is your product roadmap, skills of your employee, titles, or market/industry you are in. For example, in the last two years, we rewrote our whole product and changed the tech stack. It is very important that the new hire does not become stuck on what title and role she is looking for or a certain type of work she wants to perform. You should join a startup for the vision.–Shilpi Sharma, Kvantum Inc.

4. Respectfulness

Respect means a new hire will treat his co-workers, clients and others fairly and consistently. When a new hire has respect for differing opinions and positions, mutually agreeable resolutions can be discovered. Respect also means accepting the cultural, socio-economic and personal beliefs of others without letting those interfere with getting the job done.–Nicole Munoz, Start Ranking Now  Read more…

4 Simple Ways to Be More Original (and Satisfied) at Work by J.T. O’Donnell

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For many people, work lacks freedom – a nagging feeling there’s a set of golden handcuffs keeping you from unleashing your potential. A study by Gallup shows just 13% of workers feel engaged at work. Leaving the majority of the world’s working population wondering how they got trapped in their careers and longing to not be one of the masses. But rather, an original.

Sadly, so few ever take the steps necessary to become an original. Why?

In a word: fear.

In his newest book, Originals, Professor Adam Grant sets upon a journey to debunk the myth being an original requires extreme risk taking. His goal? To persuade you and I that originals are actually far more ordinary than we realize. More importantly, to encourage us all to be more original because of the incredible professional benefits it provides.

2 Paths To Achievement… Which One Are You On?

Psychologists determined years ago achievement is accomplished in one of two ways: conformity or originality. The first stays the proven course. The second takes the road less traveled. Conformity plays it safe, while originality challenges the status quo. It’s not hard to see why we all admire originality – it’s so much rarer than conformity. As a result, it gets labeled as harder.  Read more…

 

Powerful Psychological Forces That Make Good People Do Bad Things by Travis Bradberry

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aaeaaqaaaaaaaaujaaaajgnmmjc0mtczlwm4odqtndg2mi1imdzlltq4otu2mzgwmmjjnwGiven the right circumstances, good people can get caught up in some very bad things. More often than not, psychology is to blame.

When it comes to unethical behavior, good people don’t tend to go right off the deep end like Bernie Madoff or Kenneth Lay. Rather, the mind plays tricks on them, pushing them down the slippery slope of questionable behavior.

“Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.” -C. S. Lewis

Dr. Muel Kaptein, Professor of Business Ethics and Integrity Management at the Rotterdam School of Management, has studied bad behavior for decades. A study he recently published sheds considerable light on what motivates good people to do bad things.

What follows are 14 of Dr. Kaptein’s most compelling findings into how the mind tricks good people into losing their moral compass and going astray.

The compensation effect. The compensation effect refers to the tendency for people to assume they accumulate moral capital. We use good deeds to balance out bad deeds, or alternately, we give ourselves breaks from goodness, like a piece of chocolate after a week of salads. This makes people more inclined to do bad things under the guise of “I’m a good person” or “It’s just this one thing.” A great example of this is a study in which people were observed lying and cheating more after they made the decision to purchase products that were good for the environment. Read more…

Top Five Skills Required For Librarians Today & Tomorrow

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Because today’s librarians must be experts in dealing with both physical and digital information, we have identified the Top 5 skills every librarian must have, or develop, in order to succeed now and into the future. I will touch on all five today and explore them individually in the weeks to come.

1. Information Curation

Since the primary role of any type of library is information curation, the need for that skill set will never go away. However it will evolve as volume and variety of information expands. As content creation becomes available to all, information curation becomes a more critical skill. Librarians are becoming increasingly vital in the process of evaluating and editing what is most valuable, as well as categorizing and classifying it for easy retrieval and use.

2. In-Depth, High Value Research

The digital information environment operates mostly on a ‘Find It Yourself’ paradigm, a model that has threatened the very existence of librarians. Yet finding what they need and want can be a significant challenge for consumers and users of information. Most people lack good research skills and all of us are dealing with a velocity and volume of information that is difficult to manage. As the proverbial haystack gets bigger, finding the needle gets tougher, making librarians a valuable go-to resource. Read more…