While we want the best of home and work, too often we end up with the worst of both. Employees show up at the office for a scheduled number of days only to find a ghost town. They commute long distances to spend their time alone and on Zoom calls. Likewise, work-from-home days can feel robotic and blur the lines between work and life. Without clear boundaries, work takes over home, and high-performing employees can burn out.

Having studied what we call “both/and thinking” for the last 25 years, we know there’s a better approach. Rather than bland compromises that become worse for everyone, both/and thinking enables creative integrations in which each option benefits the other.

Joe Lemay (CEO) and Jacob Epstein (CIO) knew that they wanted this kind of integration when they launched Rocketbook (now a subsidiary of BIC). The Rocketbook team is on a mission to transition the world to reusable paper. They know that serving their customers and the world best means having exceptionally talented, high-performing, energized, and committed people. They also know that the where as well as the how and why of work matters. In fact, their hybrid approaches started well before the COVID-19 pandemic.

When it comes to experience and skill, you may be exactly what a potential employer is looking for. But, if the person interviewing you senses you lack the passion and roll-your-sleeves-up mentality their team thrives on, you’ll likely not get the job offer. That’s because soft skills like grit, excitement, and respect are what make a stellar employee. The skills outlined on a résumé only tell a fraction of the story, while understanding an individual’s work ethic, how they overcome adversity, and how they interact with their peers is much more indicative of success.

A LinkedIn Global Talent Trends report shows that 92% of talent professionals reported that soft skills are equally or more important to hire for than hard skills. The same study reveals that 89% surveyed said that when a new hire doesn’t work out, it’s because they lack much-needed soft skills.

The hard truth about hard skills is that they can have a short half-life. Constant innovation, technology updates, and new feature releases render many of these skills obsolete quickly. Meanwhile, soft skills never expire—they are relevant, transferable, and keep a person highly employable.

I have seen firsthand the value of soft skills in my career path—I became a C-suite executive in my twenties and am now chief creative officer at ClickUp, a fast-growing, four-billion-dollar productivity company. Here are the 10 soft skills that helped me get ahead—and can do the same for you and your career.

The media narrative of the Great Resignation often centers around two parties: the 47.4 million employees who gave notice in 2021 and the employers who are scrambling to stem the outflow and backfill open positions. Those employees who remained are now working longer hours with fewer resources and less team support. Unsurprisingly, they’re tired.

It’s never good when a large percentage of employees say they’re disconnected, unmotivated, and unhappy at work, but work-related exhaustion isn’t new. Some workers were disengaged long before COVID-19 held any real meaning. The difference is that employees now have the added stress of a deadly virus, historic inflation rates, and employers who seem more interested in blocking the exit doors than improving the working conditions for people who stayed.

So, what can you do? More than ever, employees are seeking employers who share their values and treat them as individuals. They want to feel seen and heard, and they want to believe that you’re investing in them as much as they’re investing in you. To that end, consider hosting internal events, which help foster a true sense of community. Here’s how to get started.

A lot of articles talk about the downside of negative thoughts—including how they can shape our outlook, relationships, and potential for success.

Here are four kinds of negative thoughts you have probably entertained and what you can do to neutralize their damage—and even make them work for you:

NEGATIVE THOUGHTS ABOUT YOURSELF

One of the most self-limiting kinds of thoughts involve negative self-talk. Often, you think about traits you have that you don’t like about yourself or reasons why you are not capable of achieving some goal.