What’s Next?

When where you matter has changed I spoke with a longtime friend recently. We’ve known each other since third grade. It was his birthday, and we were catching up. At one point he said he had a negative critique of my writing. I prepared myself for what he was about to say. Then he said, […]

I haven’t written a What’s Next piece since early December. Not because I ran out of ideas, but because one question kept circling without settling. A recent Wall Street Journal article helped me name it. The problem no one warns you about in work, and work transitions, is not boredom or inactivity. It is the

Its time our heads have a training program, too When I was at the gym this weekend, trying to work off the holiday feast, I noticed someone meditating in the corner. My first thought was, “Good for you.” My second thought was, “Why aren’t more of us building mental fitness into our schedule the way

And it may not be family anymore For years, my Thanksgiving message has always been about why we should be thankful for more than just this one week. A few years ago, I even wrote an op-ed for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about celebrating the holiday and finding ways to actualize gratitude in our daily lives.

Are You? Amazon announced this week that it’s laying off 14,000 employees—about 5% of its workforce. Paramount Skydance is releasing 1,000 people, and Target is trimming another 800. A story in The Wall Street Journal noted that more and more companies are betting they can get by with fewer employees. That means they’re not replacing

What Has Changed—and What Never Will In 2021, I wrote a Resilient Wednesday post about the strength of the job market for candidates. Job seekers had choices, while employers struggled to fill roles. At the time, I added a small warning: “This won’t last forever. Keep learning, keep networking, and keep building your value.” I

Your Life…on the “Back of the Tombstone” A friend of mine reads obituaries every day. He tells me they’re always the same: everyone looks good in print. Accomplishments are polished, quirks get smoothed out, and the messy, complicated, and less-than-pretty parts rarely make it onto the page. That got me wondering: what if we wrote

From backpacks to breakthroughs, this is the time for fresh starts — at any age. Although we’re still a few weeks away from the official turn of the season, the energy of September is already in the air. One friend’s daughter is nervously packing for her first year of college. A couple has their two-year-old

The timeless life skill that still outperforms today’s tech tools. A recent Wall Street Journal story described how tough today’s job market has become—and how career coaching, LinkedIn fees, résumé services, certifications, and conference travel are driving up the cost of finding work. When I lost my last corporate job fifteen years ago, I hired

Last weekend, I played golf with friends, and one of them brought his father, Bob. In his younger days, Bob was an accomplished golfer, having won the club championship numerous times. At 94, his drives may only go 100 yards, but his focus, love of learning, and joy in the game are proof of a