A late September batch of links
Since the last batch of links went out, paying subscribers read a Q&A with a CEO who’d done layoffs for the first time this year, and then got a primer on how to choose a company around its correct, appropriate size to match what you’d like to do next. This coming weekend, I’ll wax on what customer experience looks like in a hybrid world.
For now, have a look at a batch of links, below, that mirror the subjects that this newsletter covers each and every week: professional development, community building, and self care.
The Performance Review Is Back, as Recession Fears Loom. I’ve long believed that annual performance reviews are good for employees, and if anything surprising turns up in that conversation, it’s the manager’s fault for not disclosing it sooner to be addressed. In regular times, every year is a cadence that makes sense. These days, every six months is a good reset on what’s happening, to make sure that people are still feeling okay despite everything.
Who’s in the startup C-suite? Not women.
These Bosses Are OK With Boundaries. They Promise.
Promises of balance are one thing, but candidates won’t know the realities of any given job situation until they start. Some bosses may fail to live up to their pledges, and plenty of jobs—especially in a market where it has been hard to fully staff up—require long hours, extra assignments and responding to client demands outside the 9-to-5.
Sit All Day for Work? This Is the Best Way to Break the Cycle.
How to figure out what you want out of life. The last section in this story gets it right. Most people don’t want to do the existential work, because it’s hard, and wind up dealing with what they have, not shifting gears toward what they want.
The mental health effects of living with long COVID.
Microsoft exec: My 2-step rule for having hard conversations at work. There’s some good advice here, if not conventional, but the big takeaway from the first section of this story is not to say the first thing that comes to your mind. Usually, it won’t be the best thing for you to say. You don’t need to workshop it as much as you should reconsider it. This is generally helpful advice toward living a healthier life without saying things unnecessarily the wrong way.
Why sponsorship is winning over mentorship in DEI efforts.
Work-life policies are increasingly high-stakes economics. The past 2.5 years have revealed both that people can and will get sick and also that they can and will work from home when they are sick. So it’s up to companies to set the stage for what happens when someone gets sick, before they get sick.
It’s Not Just You. A good new series that’s timely, too. Someone said to me on the phone the other day, “It used to be that if you were in therapy, there was something deemed wrong with you. Now, it’s the opposite.”
Tech job listings are way up. So are salaries. What downturn?
Four-Day Week Pilot Findings: Successful for Most Firms, But Not All. I’m glad this experiment has been paying off for some people. This wouldn’t be my ideal way to work, but everyone should file into the category of perk and work that suits them and matches their needs. We need to move past a predictable future and come up with alternatives.
What the office return means for workers with disabilities.
For New Yorkers, 6 p.m. Is the New 8 p.m. Many of the social norms of the past will be replaced by new behaviors and best practices. The best story angles and the best discussions, too, will emanate from paying attention to how people you know are choosing to live differently, daily.