An early November batch of links
Since the last batch of links went out, paying subscribers read columns that focused on breaking out of a holding pattern, a common feeling for many at the moment, and how to find the right questions to ask. This coming weekend, they’ll find a long Q&A with a software engineer based overseas. More people are more open right now to figuring out what comes next, and they’re taking that search into their own hands beginning with speaking about it with others.
Below, you’ll find a batch of links that reflect the themes of this newsletter. They are: professional development, community building, and self care.
How to give middle managers the support they need. The framing of this entire interview is wrong. It shouldn’t be around how we can better support middle managers going forward, it should be about what the pandemic era has exposed about the shortcomings of middle managers, and how we can build businesses to be better than they were before. I’ll look for a middle manager from the immediate past who has shifted gears since to discuss this topic with me in a column to run next year.
Talking About Grief with Anderson Cooper.
The handwritten "thank you" card isn't what it once was. I’m quoted briefly in this story about what a delightful surprise it was for me to have a thank-you note waiting for me at my desk.
What Moneyball-for-Everything Has Done to American Culture.
JPMorgan, Macy’s and Other Companies Reveal What They Pay Workers as Deadline Looms.
A position for a tax services director at accounting and consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, for example, has a posted range of $158,400 to $434,000 in New York, plus a discretionary annual bonus. “Actual compensation within that range will be dependent upon the individual’s skills, experience, qualifications, and applicable laws,” the posting notes. A PwC spokeswoman declined to comment.
Headhunters wonder, where are all the chief people officers? In 2020-21, you saw HR people talk endlessly about how they should always have had a seat at the table, and the pandemic proved what they’d long believed. And then in 2022 those same people individually decided that the next stage of the pandemic wasn’t for them, and they were way too burnt out to address what the future of work should look and feel like.
Can You Get Ahead and Still Have a Life? Younger Women Are Trying to Find Out.
Moves like this one, and changes to the scope of Reed’s responsibilities are recorded and evaluated every year. She and her bosses do an audit of the house operations and what it takes to keep the family and home humming along. They look into what’s working, what’s not, what needs to change, and she makes sure to always ask for a cost-of-living raise.
U.S. workers have gotten way less productive. No one is sure why.
My mom has 7 rules to be happy and successful as you age: No. 1 is, ‘Your 20s are mostly practice’. I think this really nails it. Nobody tells you what a mess your 20s will be. People should know that ahead of their 20s, not later.
Multitasking can hurt your productivity. Here are ways to improve focus.
New York City Pay Law Escalates Raise Frenzy. I had a hand in lining up some of the sources included in this story, which happened with a relatively fast turnaround. Nice to see some familiar names to me included to add some color and commentary on a topic and trend that’s picking up steam.
The unlikely key to surviving the recession: Keep your people.
Stop saying ‘I’m sorry’ at work, which can make you look weak: Try these phrases instead, says CEO of career consulting firm. I think the framing of this story is great. Makes it very actionable. And you can make it your own in language that suits your style rather than repeat what others have told you to replicate.