A late September batch of links
Since the most recent batch of links went out, paying subscribers received some reflections on my time at summer camp, then a meditation on the lies people tell sometimes. This coming weekend, they’ll enjoy an essay about permissions.
Below, you’ll find a batch of links that span the topics this newsletter covers, which are career development, community building, and self care.
Embarrassment, what is it good for?
As our identities have become less shaped by the roles given to us by society, and more connected to our “personal brand”, we seem to have become more and more concerned about the things that damage that brand rather than those that hurt others.
Office Romances Aren’t New—Why Are They Still So Complicated? I wasn’t aware of the Meta policy listed here, which makes a good deal of sense. It’s not the company’s role to teach people how to get along, and to compose themselves, but it is the company’s role to acknowledge appropriate guidelines and boundaries to protect people who might feel they’re made uncomfortable by people too persistent.
As Corporate Natalie, she’s become a social media celeb. She’s still not moving to L.A.
20-Somethings Learn to Love Their Corporate Jobs. This is among the most overlooked aspects of the current way of work, how normal it is - even better it is - for young employees who can find regular jobs for themselves. So much has poured into the other side of this debate, leading a story like this that’s more levelheaded to appear contrarian in comparison.
I’m a credit card writer. Here are 7 things I wish I’d known about money in my early 20s.
Amazon tells employees to return to office five days a week. Lots of people will have bad opinions about this announcement, and the thing to remember is that every company can determine what’s best for them, and it’s been nearly five years of flexibility, some of which will remain, and people who want more of that now and forever can elect to work at companies that offer more of it, since there’s more flexibility to be found now than there was five years ago.
A Decade After ‘Lean In,’ Progress for Women Isn’t Trickling Down.
US Companies Nix Career Programs for Women Amid DEI Backslide. “The availability of programs for women of color has been especially vulnerable over the past two years, with companies reporting declines in every type of program measured by the survey.” This is the most concerning part, and it’s also been reflected in who I see at networking events and who I am asked to speak with toward finding jobs this year.
The return-to-office wars have diminished workplace well-being—especially for these groups.
Why more Americans than ever are starting small businesses.
More than 80% of small businesses in America historically have no employees, Sullivan said. But what’s changed is that one woman with an idea can compete with multinational firms thanks to the great equalizer of technology.
Companies that ‘prioritize work flexibility’ have the happiest workers, new ranking shows.
Welcome to the Golden Age of Scams. I like the point made in this piece about how social media opened up possibilities for people to find more information about each of us online and then to exploit what they find. We all have shared, whether posts we made or permissions we gave, more than we probably should have, and now we wait to see if those long-ago decisions will turn against us.
Why you should take more risks, with Nate Silver.
LinkedIn's CEO On How AI Changes Your Job — With Ryan Roslansky. I’ve been repeating a lot of late, when the topic comes up, what I heard someone else say, which is that AI won’t replace your job, rather someone using AI will replace your job. It’s not important to use ChatGPT every day to cut corners; it' is important to work on behalf of people and companies issuing AI to increase efficiencies.