Self-promotion is a struggle for many of us. We know we should do it and do it more often if we are to gain the visibility and credibility we need to advance our careers. But it’s not a simple task. Although women seem to agonize more about self-promotion, the challenges transcend gender and status. Photo by Yuri Arcurs In general, people fall into three different categories relative to promoting themselves. Those who promote often in a flamboyant, ego-driven manner.

Dear Liz, I run a regional office for an office-equipment leasing company. I’m pretty happy in my job. The people at headquarters including my boss Mickey are level-headed. As you know, that’s not always the case. I have a great crew. We have fourteen people in this office. We are one of the top offices in the country and I am well regarded at headquarters. My best guy is Dennis. He’s been here for three years. He’s basically an assistant manager already.

One day when my kids are grown and I have endless time to spend on whatever I want, I’m going to teach a college course on measurement. I’m not talking about how to measure — I’m talking about deciding what to measure, or whether to measure anything at all. In the U.S. and everywhere else toxic U.S.-based ideas about management have spread, we measure way too much, and we measure it badly.

Dear Liz, I was an HR intern in my first job after college. From that job I got a full-time job as a Recruiting Coordinator and a year later I got promoted to become a Recruiter. I loved that job but the company got rid of its internal Recruiting staff. One of our recruiting partner firms offered me a job and I took it. I work extremely hard. It gets really depressing when I hear people bashing recruiters. We are not evil! We are trying to help people get new jobs.

Leaving your day job and launching your own freelance business is a dream that many creatives share. However, like starting any business, becoming a successful freelancer takes a lot of hard work, a strong set of skills, and the willingness to learn from others. There are certain things you need to do, in order to prepare yourself for that jump to self-employment.

The bank can take your car. They can take your house. They can take whatever other measly assets you have, but they can never take your relationships. That’s the philosophy of Jayson Gaignard, bestselling author of Mastermind Dinners and one of the “25 Professional Networkers to Watch” according to Forbes contributor John Corcoran. I recently connected with Jayson to learn 3 fast networking tips and was fascinated by his personal story.

Now that we’re all paying attention to workplace culture, here’s the unfortunate news: It’s not always pretty. A workplace can be just as broken and dysfunctional as a rotten relationship. Like the couple in counseling, you don’t really know how bad it is until you’re focusing on it. As a leader, you’re in a uniquely powerful position. You can turn it into a total win. But that’s only if you’re willing to do the work.

This is Mentoring Moments (#20), a series of wow-you-need-to-know-these stories from successful women of multiple generations. Mentoring Moments is now a podcast. Kim Chambers swims with the sharks. She is drawn to the adrenaline rush she gets from immersing herself into the unknown and feeling emotions she doesn’t experience on land. She’s one of the world’s best marathon swimmers.

Over my 11 years of coaching professionals, five years as a therapist, and 18 years in corporate life, I’ve worked with and seen every type of person with every type of challenge you can imagine. Through the process of coaching and studying professionals, I’ve observed that there are six dominant action styles – six key ways in which humans naturally and preferentially take action towards a goal and approach change.

When asked what millennials need in the workplace, I struggle to answer concisely. Because it’s many things. It’s competency; it’s mentorship; it’s flexibility; it’s training; it’s clearly-outlined objectives; it’s independence. I didn’t realize that these desires had an overarching theme until I studied attachment theory, which suggests that our relationship styles are formed in childhood with enduring, pervasive consequences.