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☆ When Bringing Your ‘Whole Self’ to Work Is Too Much
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Callum Borchers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Ask a co-worker that most mundane of questions— How’s it going?—and brace yourself. You might get a real answer. The pandemic made many of us more comfortable talking about our mental health at work, surveys show. Feeling less pressure to act like we’ve got it all together, some people now swap struggles with burnout and impostor syndrome almost as freely as they talk about sore joints after a weekend 5k.

☆ ‘Hey, I Am a Human.’ In Sales, the People Are Battling the Chatbots.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Callum Borchers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Nanit baby monitor uses a high-tech camera and software to track an infant’s sleep habits. It is like a $249 AI parent who stays up all night logging rollovers and breathing patterns, and doesn’t need coffee the next morning. So imagine shoppers’ surprise when they type a question into the Nanit website and get a response from a real person instead of a chatbot.

☆ In This Worker vs. Bot Battle, Humans Are Winning by a Mile
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Callum Borchers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/artificial-intelligence-sales-jobs-workers-127289f3

☆ Bosses Want Hard Workers—So They’re Hiring Older People
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Callum Borchers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Kip Conforti is hiring for a part-time position at one of two package-shipping stations that he owns in Pennsylvania. He’s filled such roles with high school and college students during two decades in business, but this time his top candidate is a man in his 70s. Mr. Conforti has grown weary of younger employees who, he says, arrive late for shifts, call out of work often and spend more time scrolling social media feeds than chatting with customers. About a year ago, he tried something different—recruiting people who are more likely to carry AARP cards than the latest iPhone.

☆ Do Older Workers Work Harder? Some Bosses Think So
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Callum Borchers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Why Bosses Who Praised Remote Work Sour on Productivity From Home
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Callum Borchers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-bosses-who-praised-remote-work-soured-on-productivity-from-home-eae8783d

☆ Why Bosses Who Praised Remote Work Soured on Productivity From Home
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Callum Borchers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-bosses-who-praised-remote-work-soured-on-productivity-from-home-eae8783d

☆ Lost Your Drive at Work? Maybe You Need a Rival
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Callum Borchers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

When John Winner (yes, that’s his real name) needs a winning idea, he breaks some of his 45 employees into teams and challenges each group to outdo the others. The co-founder and chief executive of Kizen, a data automation startup in Austin, Texas, believes that friendly rivalries produce better results than having everyone work together. “Competition can be really fun and useful,” says Mr. Winner, 34, who considers himself a math whiz but admits he can’t match the perfect score his business partner achieved on the SAT’s quantitative section—in middle school. “I don’t believe these narratives that people are soft nowadays.

☆ Executives Lose a Coveted Status Symbol—Their Assistants
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Callum Borchers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Valerie Balensiefen remembers the directive she got from a former boss on her first day as his executive assistant in 2019: She’d been hired to support him, and him alone. If others tried to steal her time, she was to tell them to fend for themselves. A couple of years later, she says, the technology company where she worked in the Dallas area assigned her a second executive. In January, her position was eliminated. She started a new job last week as an EA to five leaders of a different company.

☆ These Three Words Are Taking Over LinkedIn
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Callum Borchers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

James Parry has watched thousands of his fellow tech workers lose their jobs in recent months, so a few weeks ago he posted a rallying cry on LinkedIn. “Let’s unite as a community and help get folks interviews lined up,” he wrote, urging viewers to comment if they are looking for work or actively hiring.

☆ Dear Co-Workers, Call Me by My Real Name
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Callum Borchers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A familiar host greeted viewers tuning into the Winter X Games on ESPN last month, but many of them may not have known—or known how to pronounce—the name that appeared under his face: Selema Masekela. After going by Sal for more than two decades as a sports commentator, Mr. Masekela, 51 years old, wants to be known by his full name.

☆ The Secret to Being a Star at Work Right Now
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Callum Borchers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A young professional I recently asked to interview said yes but added that she had taken time to read my latest columns before accepting. She does her homework, I thought. Or maybe I’m easily impressed.

☆ You’re Good at Your Job, but Are You ‘Fun’ Enough?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Callum Borchers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Beastie Boys warned that you gotta fight for your right to party. The real battle at work (of all places) might be for your right to be boring. It’s no longer just a happy hour here and a holiday party there. In the hybrid era, when bosses feel compelled to make up for the reduction of daily chitchat, the quarterly all-hands meeting now comes with a team-building trip to the go-kart track, brewery or ballgame.

Both men, who are part of the RNC team tasked with reviewing the midterms, confirmed the discussion to NBC News. “We had a little bit of a debate between me and Henry Barbour over candidate quality versus candidate support,” Bowyer, who is also chief operating officer of Turning Point Action, a conservative group, said. And what we control here at the RNC is money that comes in and money that goes out. Many in the party have cited candidate quality as the chief reason for a subpar performance. … When people say candidate quality, some perceive that as a code word for Trump endorsement.

☆ When It’s Time to Pull a Prince Harry and Burn That Bridge
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Callum Borchers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The job that Prince Harry renounced is a fantasy for many. Even more enviable, however, might be his burn-the-bridges style of quitting. Leaving on good terms is one of the sacred tenets of business. You never know when someone from your professional past will wield influence over your future, the thinking goes, so you’d have to be reckless, rich or royal to light relationships on fire.

The Republican National Committee plans to closely examine what role former President Donald Trump played in the party's underwhelming 2022 midterm results as part of its audit of the GOP's performance. And how do we learn from that to win elections going forward?" Henry Barbour, an RNC committeeman from Mississippi who was tasked in November with co-authoring the RNC’s post-election review, said in an interview Tuesday. Barbour said his examination seeks to "get into the weeds" on everything from Trump to turnout to ticket-splitting. Dhillon has since announced a challenge to McDaniel for party chair, but Barbour said she is still on the team overseeing the post-election audit.

☆ Why Working Out During the Workday Is the Ultimate Power Move
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Callum Borchers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Maybe your office building has a gym where you can squeeze in a few bicep curls on your lunch break. Or perhaps you’re still working from home and could go for a run between Zoom calls. Working out in the middle of the workday makes perfect sense…in theory. In reality, a certain type of person has a distinct advantage in pulling it off routinely.

☆ What ‘Get Into a Fistfight’ and Bosses’ Other New Year’s Resolutions Mean for You
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Callum Borchers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

There’s something that the strategy and development team at AppFolio should know about their boss: His New Year’s resolution is to get into a fistfight. “I’m excited to take one in the face and see what that feels like,” says Jay Choi, the Santa Barbara, Calif., real-estate software firm’s chief strategy and corporate-development officer.

☆ If Layoffs Continue, Will You Be Ready? What It’s Like From Those Recently Let Go
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Callum Borchers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

One person who was laid off recently went from earning six figures to needing help from mom and dad. Another made a contingency plan that includes living out of a camper to save money. A third has two years’ worth of savings and is trying independent consulting while holding out for the right full-time opportunity. People going through layoffs are in wide-ranging positions, most of which are uncomfortable in one way or another.

☆ Life After Layoff: Set Yourself Up for the Next Big Thing
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Callum Borchers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Is That Co-Worker Really ‘Off to a New Adventure’?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Callum Borchers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/is-that-co-worker-really-off-to-a-new-adventure-11671061540

☆ Is Elon Musk Your Boss’s Anger Translator?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Callum Borchers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Your boss probably hasn’t demanded a loyalty pledge and almost certainly doesn’t own a rocket ship, but the person calling the shots at your company might be more like Elon Musk than you realize. On the inside, anyway.

☆ The New Office Status Symbol Holds a Lot of Water—and Has a Wait List
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Callum Borchers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The $50 Stanley Quencher boasts a double-walled design that puts an end to melting ice and frequent refills. Its real achievement might be solving a less technical problem: how to show off in today’s casual, hybrid workplace. Put the Jimmy Choo shoes and Armani suits back in the closet. The new on-the-job status symbol is a tumbler only slightly smaller than hockey’s Stanley Cup and nearly as valuable to some. Sometimes going for two to three times its retail price on the secondary market, this desktop trophy allows its owner to flaunt a combination of trendiness, disposable income and, presumably, bladder control.

☆ Work From Anywhere! (Well, Not Really)
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Callum Borchers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

It is a professional fantasy turned reality for some: Escape the office and travel the country, even the world, working remotely in rented beach houses and ski lodges or, on a leaner budget, a home on wheels while living the #vanlife. Digital nomads, as these wanderers call themselves, say their adventures can be thrilling. They also describe an unsexy side of maintaining a career on the go. Complicated taxes, breakdowns on remote highways and pangs of loneliness can weigh down free spirits.

☆ Psst…There’s a Hidden Market for Six-Figure Jobs. Here’s How to Get In.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Callum Borchers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Almost every day, someone who is quietly hunting for a key hire calls Diane Hessan to ask the same question: Whom do you recommend? Ms. Hessan, a former consulting group CEO who sits on the boards of Panera Bread, Eastern Bank and Tufts University, is one of the best-connected business figures in Boston—and something like a password keeper at a speakeasy for six-figure job seekers.

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