Author Archives: Larry Janis

The ultimate guide to what’s in and what’s out for workers in 2024

 

 

 

 

By Aj Hess

 

The labor market ended 2023 on a quiet note. The most recent Job Openings and Labor Turnover report suggested the number of open jobs, and the number of people quitting their jobs, fell slightly in November. The final jobs report of 2023 revealed that employers added 216,000 jobs (more than expected) and unemployment held firm at 3.7% in December.

However, the past several years have been marked by much louder landmark moments in the labor force. For instance, many will remember 2020 as the year they went into lockdown and learned how to work remotely—or learned how to manage the risk of working alongside coronavirus. And 2021 will likely be known as the year of the Great Resignation; 2022, the year many workers were forced to return to the office.

Perhaps 2023 can best be described as a year of tug of war between leaders and workers. Many CEOs experiencing productivity paranoia threw tantrums to try to force more workers back into office. Meanwhile, more than half a million Americans went on strike to push for better pay and working conditions. And after years of the CEO-to-worker pay gap steadily expanding—CEOs at the top 350 U.S. firms earned 399 times what the typical worker earned in 2021—many workers are aware and angry about the inequality in their workplaces.

Of course, it is impossible to predict the future, but here’s what may be in store for workers in 2024, according to experts:

IN: CONTRACT WORK
In the year ahead, the gig economy is expected to grow. This means we can expect even more gig workers, freelancers, and consultants in 2024.

According to McKinsey, approximately 36% of Americans are independent workers—up from 27% in 2016. And according to the World Bank, demand for online gig work has shot up 41% between 2016 and the first quarter of 2023. And Dan Ives, senior equity research analyst at Wedbush, recently told Fast Company’s Jessica Bursztynsky that we will experience a “golden age for the gig economy in 2024.”

One reason for the expected expansion of the gig economy is because the demand for services like Uber, Lyft, and Taskrabbit remains high. Meanwhile, many traditional industries like IT, healthcare, and legal services are increasingly working with contractors and consultants to lower their labor costs. What’s more, in the face of rising inflation, more workers are taking on side gigs to make ends meet.

While there are certainly many challenges facing contract workers, a recent wave of legislation at the state and city levels is establishing minimum wages, better protections, and more benefits for non-full-time workers. (more…)

Why Good Communication Is Essential to Sales

 

 

 

 

BY JUSTIN ZAPPULLA

 

 

Mark Twain famously said, “The difference between the right word and almost the right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.” His statement, while not meant for salespeople, is a lesson every sales rep would be wise to remember. Selling is fundamentally about communication value. Value can be created through one conversation, one email, or one social media post at a time.

Sales reps who can improve their communication skills enhance their value to their clients and company. In this article we will explore how sales reps can enhance their communication skills, choose the right words, and prevent pesky errors that cost them deals.

More You and Less I

If the goal is to have a productive conversation, the less you talk about yourself, your company, and your product, the more your client will value you. Very often, sales reps begin the conversation talking about themselves with “I” statements.

The difference between “I” and “you” is subtle, but it’s the difference between talking about yourself or talking directly to your prospects. By deliberately removing “I” from your communications, it forces you to think about your prospect. Obviously, we can’t completely remove “I” from all communications and conversations, but, by using it less, we become better communicators. Starting the conversation with “you” is more engaging, don’t you think?

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3 Leadership Lessons You May Have Missed From ‘Ted Lasso’

 

 

 

 

 

by Juan M. Fernandez

 

 

Ted Lasso provides a blueprint for effective empathetic leadership

Anyone who has seen the award-winning Apple+ series Ted Lasso knows that it’s more than a show about sports. The heartwarming episodes about an American coach’s incursion into English soccer leave invaluable wisdom for coaches and leaders in any field. In effect, it’s a blueprint for effective leadership and coaching. From embracing change and focusing on emotional intelligence to fostering vulnerability and building a positive team culture, the show offers unique lessons for anyone looking to make a significant impact in their field.

As a former professional athlete and a coach myself, I’ve found profound connections between Ted’s journey and my own, revealing universal truths about leadership, resilience, and the power of vulnerability. Here are the leadership lessons that stand out to me as an executive coach.

 

1. Coaching is founded on relationships.

Much like my experience playing basketball overseas, Ted Lasso’s arrival in England represents a journey of adaptation. In Lasso’s case, the adjustment isn’t only cultural but also professional–he’s never coached soccer before.

Upon his arrival, Lasso struggles to understand the offside rule in soccer, humorously highlighting his unfamiliarity with the sport. Yet, as seen later in the series, his strength lies not in technical expertise but in his innate ability to coach humans before athletes–to inspire, lead, and help his players become a better version of themselves, on and off the pitch.

Ted Lasso teaches us that effective coaching transcends technical knowledge and that the person comes before the professional. It’s about understanding people, guiding them through challenges, and helping them grow. The focus as a leader, therefore, should be on genuine connection and emotional intelligence. The heart of coaching and leading is not in the playbook, be it business or sports, but in the relationships we build.

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Taming the Guru: How to Handle Dominant Leaders

 

 

 

 

by Graham Ward

 

In the workplace, we are often in a semi-dependent state. We seek approval and guidance from colleagues and superiors, all while hiding our deepest vulnerabilities. 

Our insecurities drive us to seek external validation, which shapes our actions and decisions. In essence, we exhibit what psychologist Robert Kegan refers to as a “socialised mind”, where we are unable to detach from the expectations of others or make decisions that align with our authentic selves. 

For some, it can feel like a great blessing to enter the ambit of a super-confident, omniscient powerhouse. Such leaders positively glimmer, and we are easily pulled into their orbit when they bestow attention on us. Their gravity can become irresistible, leading us into a Faustian pact where we become uncritical of their words and actions. If enough people join the throng, a guru is born, and danger awaits. 

The appeal of the guru

Many people will be familiar with the story of the 1994 Korean Air crash, where the plane skidded off a runway upon landing and burst into flames, miraculously causing no casualties. In this case, the pilot decided to land the aircraft and bring it to a full stop despite his co-pilot’s warning that there wasn’t sufficient runway. As a result, the plane rammed into a safety barricade. 

Analogies of that horrendous example abound in corporate life. Of course, leaders are expected to make courageous decisions in critical situations, but it is also their responsibility to surround themselves with skillful and intelligent individuals and heed their advice. Had the pilot trusted his co-pilot’s judgement to abort the landing, perhaps they wouldn’t have argued, and crash landed. 

Leaders succumb to the guru complex when they believe their own hype and stop listening to others. Instead, they surround themselves with weak or insecure people and believe that they are all-knowing. Slowly, often unconsciously, they begin to exert authoritarian tendencies. (more…)

Why We Can Be Quicker to Judge Others Than We Think

 

 

 

by Nadav Klein and Rachel Eva Lim

 

People tend to violate the thresholds they set for evaluating others, which can have significant consequences for their reputation and relationships.

Actions tend to be judged based on some set of expectations, standards or thresholds. For example, managers may set sales targets that employees must achieve before getting a bonus; parents may establish ground rules that children need to abide by before rewarding or punishing them; and content moderators may let social media users commit a certain number of rule breaches before permanently banning them.

These common associations between actions and thresholds imply that there are two distinct stages to most judgments and decisions. The first is the threshold-setting stage, in which we set standards to determine when the behaviour of others would lead to action on our part. The second is the application stage, in which we are supposed to follow through on our own pre-set thresholds.

In theory, one would hope that the thresholds we set in prospect are indeed the ones we adhere to in practice. However, in a recent study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, my co-author Ed O’Brien from the University of Chicago and I (Nadav Klein) found that we routinely decide to punish or praise others before or after they cross the thresholds we establish. In other words, we are often either harsher or more lenient than we plan to be. This discrepancy occurs, we suggest, because the psychology of setting thresholds and standards is distinct from the psychology of following them.

Setting thresholds in prospect and following them in practice

Let’s take the case of an employee who is underperforming. As their manager, you might consider placing them in a dreaded “performance improvement plan”. However, as you are not sure if they require these remedial measures, you decide to examine the next three client presentations they send you. If all of them fail to meet the standard of being client-ready, you would then be certain that this employee must undertake remedial training to remain in the job. (more…)