Debra Benton 
In business, too often a courageous, think-and-act-outside-of-the-box individual is pejoratively labeled a cowboy. As if being a cowboy is a bad thing! Whoa! That’s exactly what I want on my team. Why? Because I know cowboys — real cowboys. They are about inspiration, not regulation. They don’t worry about rules but rather principles, values, and … Read more
What’s your New Year’s Resolution this year? Eating healthier? Changing careers? Working out more? Most of our resolutions revolve around external activities and habits (and according to studies shared on Inc., most of us quit on them by the second week of February – yikes!). But could I suggest a different resolution for this year? … Read more
Emerson Spartz is the 34-year-old Internet media entrepreneur who founded Dose and created the most popular Harry Potter fan site in the world, MuggleNet, at age 12. In an interview with The New Yorker magazine a few years back, he shared that when he was growing up, his parents made him read four short biographies … Read more
Conflict at work is inevitable. You are, after all, working with people. In today’s culturally diverse, multigenerational workforce, it’s bound to happen. According to the Center for Management and Organization Effectiveness, a CPP study found that 85% of individuals and leaders agreed they experienced some amount of inevitable conflict at work. And 29% of all … Read more
Today’s workforce is multigenerational and diverse, but despite generational and cultural differences, there is one fact that remains true for everyone. Whether you are Gen-Z, a Millenial, Boomer, or Gen-X, you have to separate yourself from contenders in a competitive environment. This fact remains true even if you are working virtually rather than face to … Read more
There is about a 100 percent possibility that in the course of your day you will be communicating with someone from a different country who has had a different cultural upbringing and who speaks a different first language than you do. As one of my coaching clients explained, “I was with team members on a … Read more
Good employees look out for their company and their boss, even if it means standing up to the boss. Good bosses don’t want “yes” people to lazily agree with all of their decisions. Sure, everyone likes to feel validated and hear that their ideas are wonderful, excellent, and stupendous, but a good boss knows to … Read more
The days when you stayed in one company for your entire career are long gone. According to a 2019 Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) survey of baby boomers, the average number of jobs held in a lifetime was around twelve (12!). Whether by choice or not, most of us will find ourselves transitioning from one … Read more
You don’t have to change who you are to be successful in your career. You may have to change some habits and add a little “window dressing” to your appearance and comportment, but part of what makes you unique and help you stand out from the competition is that you are, well, YOU. So be … Read more
You’re going to make mistakes. In fact, if you’re going to go anywhere in your career, you should be making mistakes at work. Mistakes mean you’re taking risks and learning, not failing. But we’re often scared of making mistakes. A survey by Accountemps found that 28% of employees were scared of making mistakes. Sometimes, in … Read more