The Lean Startup movement has changed the global startup landscape over the last few years, providing a simple methodology for resource-constrained companies to quickly learn from their customers, iterate their product development, and ultimately create products that people want. However, in practice, many startup founders misinterpret one of the key principles of the lean startup: “the pivot”.

Shutterstock If you’re thinking about taking a new step in your career, your resume’s probably high on your mind. When’s the last time you updated it? How will you transfer the skills from your current job or industry to a new one? How will you set yourself apart from other candidates? How long and horrible will this revision process actually be? Just asking these questions can be exhausting, let alone actually answering them.

Shutterstock In working with entrepreneurs and consultants, and in my own business, I’ve seen that many of us are experiencing a fascinating shift in our thinking and our goals, from customer and client “support” to customer success – moving away from just helping a client or customer use our programs and services well, to ensuring that they succeed in a very big way from the total experience of working together and leveraging our materials.

I believe that retailing is undergoing a revolutionary change. Merchants are no longer the driving force for retailers. This is a major change that will be hard to swallow. In the past merchants interacted with customers. They talked to them as a market. Now these same customers are demanding products and services that match their specific needs. In other words, the customer is now in charge. Retail culture does not easily accept disruption.

Shutterstock Dear Liz, I enjoyed your column “I Would Never Hire a Candidate Who Did This” and I fully support your advice to Hank. I manage a 14-person team and I can’t imagine why any manager would need to know a job-seeker’s complete job history just to make a hiring decision. Speaking for myself, I’d rather not know about a six-month stint in a totally different field or a short-term job that someone held 20 years ago.

Shutterstock Ever wonder how some people seem to be swimming in interviews and job offers, even though you never hear about them talking about pounding the job-hunt pavement? It’s totally annoying, right? I’ll let you in on their secret: They’re still hustling, just not in the here’s-my-resume-and-cover-letter way everybody else does.

Shutterstock I worked with Alex years ago. He and I hired at least 30 people together. One day Alex came into my office with a job requisition form that had just been approved. He handed me the form and I read through it. I resisted the urge to laugh out loud as I reviewed the 20 or 25 Essential Requirements on Alex’s job requisition form. “Alex, my brother,” I said, “We have to lose at least half of these requirements.

Photo: Courtesy Third Eye Motion Picture Co “The number one reason people are ineffective speakers is because they’re focused on themselves. If you’re focused on yourself, then you can’t possibly connect with the audience,” Tony Robbins told me in a recent interview to discuss the new Netflix Original film, Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru.

Struggling to figure out “What should I do next?” in midlife or in retirement? You’re in great company. The good news: It’s never too late to come up with an answer. You might be thinking about hiring a coach, taking an assessment or asking a mentor for advice to navigate this transition. But as a career coach with over two decades of experience, I know all too well that those strategies aren’t always enough.

It is frustrating when great organizations, organizations you would love to join, say they are not currently hiring or do not have job openings that match your experience or geographic area. But this need not be the end of the road for you. That job you covet might still exist, and there is a strategy you can use to make yourself stand out and create a job opportunity .