For those with passion and ambition, there are few things more motivating than game-changing career advice. Whether ideas you’d never considered, or simply having what you knew in your gut confirmed by the experts, taking time out to listen to and learn from others can prove to be extremely worthwhile in the long run. Here’s what five well-known experts in their fields have to say with regard to getting ahead in your career.
Angela Lee Duckworth: The Key to Success? Grit.
After leaving her impressive position in management consulting at the age of 27, Angela Lee Duckworth became a math teacher. After some time it became clear to her that her brightest students were not always the ones scoring the highest grades on tests. She became fascinated with the concept of success, and the idea that factors other than IQ were more accurate predictors of success. Further research revealed the unexpected characteristic that is most accurate in terms of predicting future success. In this talk she explores what it is, how it helps and how to further develop this characteristic yourself.
Shawn Achor: The Happy Secret to Better Work
In this talk, psychologist Shawn Achor delivers a brilliantly humorous case for happiness and its effect on productivity in the work place. He draws attention to research that has indicated this in a number of different fields and occupations, and discusses what we can do, practically and cognitively, to become happier people.
Sarah Lewis: Embrace the Near Win
While working in her first job as an art historian, Sarah Lewis began to notice a trend to the artwork she was working with; many of the pieces weren’t masterpieces. This resulted in her considering the value of the “almost-failure” and “near-win” in the context of her own success in life and in the lives of others. In this talk she questions what claims most of the responsibility for pushing us forward in life, and how we can all capitalise on that force.
Stefan Sagmeister: The Power of Time Off
It is often said that rest is an essential part of maximising productivity, but few take it to heart. In this talk, Stefan Sagmeister talks about how and why he shuts down his design studio once every seven years to take a yearlong sabbatical and rest. He details the value in taking this time off from a practical perspective and displays the results of what his time off has achieved in the past.
Susan Colantuono: The Career Advice You Probably Didn’t Get
In her talk, Susan Colantuono draws the audience’s attention to the fact that while there may be equal numbers of men and women in middle-management positions, there are far fewer women in senior management positions than there are men. Research has indicated that this most likely has more to do with priming, and what men and women are told when striving for these management positions, than with ability. She then breaks down into specifics what men are being told and women aren’t, and offers profound universal takeaways for anyone who is keen on achieving success.
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