Shutterstock I’m an HR person and I have been one since Ronald Reagan was in the White House. I am an HR person, but I want you to know that your best bet as a job-seeker is to avoid the HR department. Give them a wide berth! There are so many applicants for each available job that many HR folks see their job as weeding people out of the pipeline rather than inviting them in. You are better off reaching out to your own department manager directly than going through HR.

Shutterstock Every working person with a few years of experience has at least one story about a sketchy organization they came in contact with at some point. They can tell you how they got a weird feeling at the job interview or even before that, while talking with a recruiter or an HR person on the phone. They can tell you how the organization they were interviewing with seemed to constantly lose their materials, waste their time and generally treat them like garbage.

Shutterstock Many more people under-promote themselves on their resumes than the reverse. They leave their most significant accomplishments off their resumes, because they are afraid to claim them! Why would anybody hesitate to claim their professional accomplishments? In this list of Ten Things You Didn’t Know You Can Claim on Your Resume, you’ll see why talented people so often understate their own career histories.

Shutterstock At a past job, I started to have major concerns about the company where I was working. These apprehensions went far beyond my specific job; they related directly to how the business was run and how employees were treated. And, yes—you better bet it’s scary to publicly admit I disliked (and sometimes loathed) the place that provided me with a salary and health benefits.

(Photo credit: Shutterstock) A former client “Catherine” approached me with an unusual career situation. Her problem? She was stressed out and didn’t know what to do because she had two job offers, but couldn’t decide which to take. Neither was her dream job, but both paid more than she currently made, and one could lead to a human resources manager position – her career goal. Most job opportunities are not quite the dream job we want.

While collaboration isn’t one of the 7 “soft skill” traits I cover in “The 7 Non-Negotiables of Winning” (Respect, Belief, Trust, Loyalty, Commitment, Courage, Gratitude), it is one of the core capabilities that helps every company go. Without collaboration, an organization can go only a fraction as far as the committed and synergistic result of a collaborative team. The sum of the parts is truly greater than the whole.

If you’re a millennial, and you’ve struggled since college to find meaning and fulfillment in your 9-5 job, it might be time to pursue a 6-11. A 6-11 isn’t a replacement for your more traditional 9-5 role. Think of it as a side gig or side hustle. It’s a complement to your daily responsibilities, and it might be the conduit you need to connect with your most closely held passions. Pexels.

Actor Tom Hanks attends the screening of The Warner Bros. Pictures ‘Sully.’ (VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images) Tom Hanks is starring in another movie that provides not only good entertainment, but a great tutorial in sound leadership practices. The movie is Sully. You know the story by now. When a flock of geese shut down the engines on a U.S.

Photo credit: Shutterstock Each month, I interview a corporate leader for my podcast series. Here are the highlights from my interview with top consultant and coach Michael Bungay Stanier, founder of Box of Crayons and author of The Coaching Habit. William: It seems that everyone knows what coaching is now, and everyone wants to connect with it on some level.

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” — John Quincy Adams I am going to keep today’s article short and to the point. I spend a lot of time writing and speaking on various aspects of leadership qualities in any environment that can drive a high-performance team to success. But at the end of the day, leaders either get things done or they don’t. They develop a winning team or one that falls short.