Weekly Hotlist: 99% of Networking Is a Waste of Time

 

January 26, 2015 99% of Networking Is a Waste of Time By Greg McKeown And other lessons learned from "Mr. Davos."

Managing yourself Assessment: How Resilient Are You? by Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries Answer these questions to see how you compare with others. Business education What Is a Business Model? by Andrea Ovans A history, from Drucker to Christensen. Hiring How to Conduct an Effective Job Interview by Rebecca Knight Don't waste your breath with absurd questions like: What are your weaknesses? Sales What Top Sales Teams Have in Common, in 5 Charts by Steve W. Martin New research shows what differentiates the best sales organizations. Politics Robert Reich on Redefining Full-Time Work, Obamacare, and Employer Benefits by Walter Frick What the debate in Congress says about the American labor market. Time management Stop Playing the Victim with Your Time by Elizabeth Grace Saunders Blaming others just leaves you powerless. Managing yourself The Pros and Cons of Doing One Thing at a Time by Andrew O'Connell It's more efficient, but juggling tasks can spark creativity. Productivity How to Trick Yourself into Doing Tasks You Dread by Alexandra Samuel Four types of rewards that work.

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FEATURED PRODUCT Well-Designed: How to Use Empathy to Create Products People Love HBR Press Book In this refreshingly jargon-free and practical book, product design expert Jon Kolko maps out this process, demonstrating how it will help you and your team conceive and build successful, emotionally resonant products again and again. The key, says Kolko, is empathy. You need to deeply understand customer needs and feelings, and this understanding must be reflected in the product. In successive chapters of the book, we see how leading companies use a design process of storytelling and iteration that evokes positive emotions, changes behavior, and creates deep engagement. Here are the four key steps: (1) Determine a product-market fit by seeking signals from communities of users, (2) Identify behavioral insights by conducting ethnographic research, (3) Sketch a product strategy by synthesizing complex research data into simple insights, and (4) Polish the product details using visual representations to simplify complex ideas. Kolko walks the reader through each step, sharing insights from his fifteen-year career in product design along the way. Whether you're a designer, a product developer, or a marketer thinking about your company's next offering, this book will forever change the way you think about--and create--successful products. Buy It Now

FEATURED PRODUCT HBR Guide to Coaching Your Employees HBR Press Book When you're swamped with your own work, how can you make time to coach your employees—and do it well? If you don't help them build their skills, they'll keep coming to you for answers instead of finding their own solutions. Got a star on your team who's eager to advance? An underperformer who's dragging the group down? A steady contributor who feels bored and neglected? You'll need to agree on goals for growth, motivate your people to achieve them, support their efforts, and measure their progress. This guide gives you the tools to do that. You'll get better at (1) Matching people's skills with your organization's needs; (2) Creating realistic but inspiring plans for growth; (3) Customizing your approach; (4) Prompting with questions before you dispense advice; (5) Providing the support your employees need to achieve peak performance; (6) Giving them feedback they'll actually apply; (7) Tapping their learning styles to make greater progress; (8) Giving people room to grapple with problems and discover solutions; (9) Engaging your employees and fostering independence. Buy It Now

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