October 27, 2015 • Volume 6, Issue 22 • ISSN: 2154-3240

In This Issue

♦	Feature Article: To Compare Is to Despair
♦	Ask Amanda: How can I accurately plan my career?
♦	Practical Tips: Data Dumpers

To Compare Is to Despair

Conventional wisdom suggests that comparing yourself to others is unwise. After all, it’s rare that we are privy to all the circumstances around other’s decisions/actions/achievements, and our own insecurities can lead us to disempowering conclusions, e.g., “I should have done x, y, z, etc.”

“There’s a lot of imperfect comparison going on. We never see the whole picture,” says Heidi Grand Halvorson, a social psychologist and author of Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals. “Upward comparison can be punishing and make you feel terrible. But you can also look upward to learn.”
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	Opportunity sometimes knocks very softly.

Practical Tips:
Data Dumpers

Acting as a sounding board for your direct reports is part of being a manager. It’s also an ideal opportunity to build leadership within your team. You should expect your direct reports to come up with ideas on how to solve problems, but make sure you don’t allow them to bring stacks of slides describing issues in bone-crushing detail.
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I am having trouble planning my career path, given how much technology is changing the way we work—who knew 10 years ago that some of these companies/positions would even exist? Any tips? K.S., New York, NY

Kudos for understanding that your career success is your responsibility. However, the idea of a “career path” is an outdated way to view your work life. Career paths were created by companies to meet their needs with the assumption that employees were planning to stay for the entirety of their career.
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