On his blog, Seth Godin responded to a reader who believes luck and randomness is just as critical to success as hard work and effort. Seth says: “Without a doubt, luck is involved. I don't think anyone would tell you otherwise. The choice one needs to make, though is this: either you believe that luck is dominant, in which case, why ...

I’ve encountered a lot of couples where one person has left his or her job to support the career of the other.  Typically, one spouse is an accomplished entrepreneur, so the other pitches in to help grow the business – often in a subordinate role. I’m wondering how many of you would do this if you had the chance.  It would ...

So Bill Gates is preparing to retire as CEO of Microsoft. Gates and his childhood friend Paul Allen founded Microsoft on April 4, 1975, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to make and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800, an early computer that was sold to hobbyists. Gates dropped out of Harvard University in his third year to focus on ...

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about success at work, and how it means different things to different people.  When I first graduated college, I thought success was setting and then achieving a goal to reach a certain level.  But for someone who is naturally ambitious, this doesn’t really work.  Because once you reach that ...

Last week, I gave a talk on twenty-first century recruitment and retention at the American Society of Training and Development’s annual conference in San Diego.  While I was there, I attended a few “train the trainer” sessions on improving your technique for delivering educational content in the workplace.  The guys (they were ...

Can you imagine a workplace with no pointless meetings, no boss hovering over your shoulder, and no punishment for arriving at 9:05AM?  Two online friends of mine, Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson, have just released a new book based on their popular Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE) concept, which they pioneered with electronics giant ...

Although 2008 has been pretty good so far, 2007 was a doozy, and it has taken me a little while to recover.  I’ve experienced a crisis of confidence, and only recently started talking to my friends about it.  My radio show co-hosts, Christine Hassler and Lindsey Pollak, have been especially helpful. Christine visited me in ...

Here’s the second part of last week’s interview with happiness expert Gretchen Rubin, who has a terrific blog called The Happiness Project and is currently working on a memoir about her own quest for happiness. Alex:  Is happiness overrated?  If not, why is it so important? Gretchen:   I don’t think happiness is ...

Today, I’m talking with Gretchen Rubin, a self-proclaimed happiness guru.  I’ve been a longtime fan of Gretchen’s blog, and I’m pleased to report that she’s now working on a memoir, The Happiness Project, based on the year she spent test-driving every principle, tip, theory, and scientific study she could find on happiness. – ...

A few months ago, I met Lia, a woman who has done what I think is a very sensible thing with her career – fulfilling her desire to make a difference in the world in the context of working for a large company – so I thought I’d share her story here.   When Lia chose to transition from the non-profit to the corporate sector, she wanted to ...