Professional Development – Page 2

Links to Navigate the NOW Normal.

In last week’s blog post, we provided a list of links to help consultants, job seekers, and others navigate the “now” normal. In this week’s post, we provide additional links with a focus on networking.

8 smart ways to keep networking while you’re stuck at home.
The wisest among us are not letting the quarantine stop mission-critical networking. Fast Company magazine shares 8 tips from a networking guru.
C lick here.

How to network in the age of Coronavirus.
A marketing & branding consultant shares her advice with Ladders.
Click here.

The dawn of the virtual happy hour.
Happy hours haven’t gone away. They are still going strong, and they definitely fuel networking. Learn more via Forbes.
Click here.

Virtual happy hours are boosting morale at work.
Chief Executive magazine provides additional perspective on the virtual happy hour trend.
Click here.

10 tips to secure your Zoom video calls and meetings.
Stay safe with these helpful tips from cybersecurity advisory Joseph Steinberg.
Click here.

Tune Up Your Elevator Pitch for the Fall Season

Every business professional needs to know how to communicate the essence of who they are and what they do – in a succinct and memorable way (whether or not there’s an elevator in sight)! Take 5 minutes today and learn how to tune up your elevator pitch for the fall networking season. Click here.

Don’t Be a Creature of Habit

Did you know that in the world of karate, there is a better chance of breaking a board with the strike of your hand if you aim for a spot about 6″ behind the board? There is a lesson to be learned here. Aiming beyond the target can be beneficial when planning for the future. Read this article from Chief Executive magazine to learn more.

Two Characteristics of High Potential Leaders

Two of the more subtle characteristics of high potential leaders are their belief in themselves and their candor regarding the failures they have experienced. Read this thought-provoking article from Chief Executive magazine to learn more.

Mainstream Mindfulness

Last week, members of the Croixstone Consulting crew attended an educational seminar hosted by HopeWay Foundation, a Charlotte-based 501(c)(3) that supports mental health wellness. The guest speaker was Dan Harris, ABC News anchor and author of 10% Happier and Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics.

Dan Harris has become a huge advocate of mental health wellness, and meditation, following his personal experience with a nationally televised panic attack.

Meditation has become fully mainstream, and companies like Google, Nike, and Apple are proponents of mindfulness training. Learn more here.

Consulting Trends…September 2018

Read the September 2018 issue of CONSULTING magazine to keep informed of trends in the industry and for ongoing professional development. The Croixstone team recommends that you be certain to read the articles entitled “Workforce Consultants Tackle Future Phobia” and “Mastering the Art of Organizational Change.”

Professional Development Opportunity!

Our friends at Wily—a design agency based at Camp North End in Charlotte—are running a Design Sprint Bootcamp on September 11-12. Jake Knapp—creator of Design Sprints and author of NYT bestseller “Sprint“—will lead Day 1 of the two day training. Jake perfected Design Sprints while at GV/Google Ventures helping companies like AirBnB, Slack, Nest, Flatiron Health, and 23andMe solve big challenges. Jeff Grant will be leading Day 2 to cover prototyping and testing. Jeff innovates the retail security experience as head of product and innovation at InVue, has created satellite hardware for NASA, and was former co-founder and director of IDEO’s toy business line where he helped invent new products. Jake and Jeff will walk you step-by-step through the training and will be spilling all of their design and prototyping secrets.

Details are at wilysprints.com and a nice Harvard Business Review article about sprints can be found here.

Be Your Cognitive Best

Don’t take your brain power for granted. It takes intentionality to function at your cognitive best.
Here are five ways to increase your fluid intelligence (or cognitive ability).

Rethink Your Business Presentation

We’ve all heard the expression “death by PowerPoint”.

We’ve all experienced the pain of sitting through yet another bullet-intensive presentation.

It’s time to rethink the business presentation.

It’s time to build your next presentation around the concept of “visual storytelling”.

Here’s how Google is changing the presentation game.

Books That May Change Your Life

Did you know that one of the core habits that highly successful people have in common is reading? Socio-economist Randall Bell spent 25 years studying success and found that, “Those who read seven or more books per year are more than 122 percent more likely to be millionaires as opposed to those who never read or only read one to three [books].” Reading is not only a great source of knowledge and inspiration, but reading reduces stress and feeds your imagination.

Billionaire Warren Buffett has been known for saying that a single book, The Intelligent Investor, written by Benjamin Graham changed his life. In Buffett’s 2013 annual letter to shareholders he stated, “Of all the investments I ever made, buying Ben’s book was the best.” Now, Buffett spends up to 80% of his day reading. Billionaire Richard Branson once stated that the book that changed his life was Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie. “I’ve drawn a lot of inspiration from the book. I’ve never really wanted to grow up and I’ve always wanted to fly!”

Maybe one of the books from the below links may change your life!

Check out 24 books successful people read here.

Learn about 9 books Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffett think you should read here.

Looking for a great business book? Check out the latest Financial Times & McKinsey‘s book list for 2017 here.

Finally, here are 13 must-read books on success according to the Young Entrepreneur Council.

Here’s to your next great book!

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