#mentor-influence
#mentor-influence

Nine Lessons on My Path From Engagement to Leadership

Curiosity is foundational in the arts, as demonstrated by the Menil Collection's exhibition, which transformed a gallery into an education room through public programs.

Arts

11 hours ago

I'm 66 and I spent forty years being extremely good at my job and last spring I realized I had optimized my entire existence for the approval of people I didn't particularly like - Silicon Canals

Professional dedication can sometimes mask a deeper need for approval from others, leading to personal sacrifices and a loss of self-identity.

3 hours ago

I Don't Want to Be Fixed, I Just Want to Be Heard

Couples often fight over whose reality is valid, but what they truly desire is to be heard without judgment or correction.

Mindfulness

15 hours ago

Psychology says people who constantly research self-improvement but never start aren't lazy - they've confused the feeling of learning with the feeling of changing - Silicon Canals

Learning about self-improvement can create a false sense of progress without actual change in behavior.

I'm 37 and the friendships in my life that have lasted are the ones where we stopped pretending - stopped curating what we showed each other, stopped performing the version of our lives that made sense on paper - and what replaced the pretending is the best thing I have built in the last decade - Silicon Canals

Authentic friendships emerge when individuals drop their facades and share their true struggles with each other.

Fundraising

How giving starts progress and leadership scales it

Volatility and accountability are transforming philanthropy, requiring leadership to drive impactful change.

Not everyone who avoids asking for help is proud. Some of them asked once, received it with a lecture attached, and learned that the cost of support was a small erosion of standing they could never quite earn back. - Silicon Canals

Asking for help can lead to unintended consequences that affect relationships and self-perception.

What to do after a life-defining mistake

The only thing worse than making a mistake is keeping it bottled up inside. Learning from the mistakes of others could help you embark on the healing journey of sharing and working through a mistake of your own, with someone you trust.

Books

Tech industry

Goodbye, middle managers. Hello, 'player-coaches' and 'org leads.'

Meta and Block are redefining managerial roles to embrace AI, with Meta introducing 'org leads' and Block using 'player-coaches'.

I spent a decade building a career I thought I wanted, a house I thought I needed, and a persona I thought would finally make me real - and one Saturday morning over coffee I sat with the quiet certainty that I had built all of it for someone who no longer lived inside me - Silicon Canals

When the person you're pretending to be gets too heavy to carry, you realize that the mask you've worn for so long has become your actual face.

Retirement

Your CEO gives you the ick. Now what?

Emily's perception of her CEO's integrity is compromised after discovering his affair, affecting her confidence in promoting company values.

How to Treat Your Successes Like Renewable Resources

Success can create pressure and lead to misaligned goals for entrepreneurs, making them feel obligated rather than fulfilled.

Bootstrapping

I started a business at 16 to make money. Now I'm building generational wealth.

Bootstrapping

How to Treat Your Successes Like Renewable Resources

Success can create pressure and lead to misaligned goals for entrepreneurs, making them feel obligated rather than fulfilled.

Bootstrapping

I started a business at 16 to make money. Now I'm building generational wealth.

more#entrepreneurship

Productivity

Many productivity programs solve the wrong problem. This is what leaders should do instead

Organizations face work design problems rather than productivity issues, leading to temporary solutions that fail to address underlying conflicts in problem-solving approaches.

Women in technology

It's not just the pay gap. This disparity also holds working women back

Women face a hidden time gap due to unpaid labor at home, impacting their career advancement opportunities.

The people who look most successful on the outside often have no idea what they're doing - they just learned early that confidence and competence look identical from a distance - Silicon Canals

The gap between perceived success and actual competence is significant, often leading to overconfidence in those with limited knowledge.

Exercise

Building Confidence Through Small Victories

Naming tasks and completing small actions can rebuild confidence after significant loss.

Growth hacking

The people who look most successful on the outside often have no idea what they're doing - they just learned early that confidence and competence look identical from a distance - Silicon Canals

The gap between perceived success and actual competence is significant, often leading to overconfidence in those with limited knowledge.

Exercise

Building Confidence Through Small Victories

Naming tasks and completing small actions can rebuild confidence after significant loss.

more#confidence

#trust

fromForbes

7 Ways Entrepreneurs Can Build Trust In Their Personal Brands

Trust is crucial for building a personal brand online, as many consumers are skeptical of social media information.

Remote teams

How to Handle Trusts and Psychological Safety When Scaling Organizations

Trust must be built team by team; it cannot be replicated as organizations scale.

fromForbes

7 Ways Entrepreneurs Can Build Trust In Their Personal Brands

Trust is crucial for building a personal brand online, as many consumers are skeptical of social media information.

Remote teams

How to Handle Trusts and Psychological Safety When Scaling Organizations

Trust must be built team by team; it cannot be replicated as organizations scale.

Should You Serve on the Board of Your Alma Mater?

Higher education is essential for the U.S. economy and requires significant institutional change to adapt to current challenges.

Right-wing politics

fromThe New Yorker

The Camps Promising to Turn Men Into Alphas

Donald Trump appointed Nick Adams as a Special Presidential Envoy, highlighting a resurgence of the alpha male concept.

Writing

fromSocial Media Examiner

The unexpected childhood activity that predicted my career path

A childhood fascination with weddings evolved into a career in wedding planning, driven by a desire to streamline chaotic logistics.

#linkedin

Online marketing

LinkedIn Is Rewriting the Rules of Visibility : Social Media Examiner

LinkedIn content is increasingly being indexed by AI tools, impacting lead generation and engagement strategies.

fromTech Times

fromSocial Media Examiner

How LinkedIn Influencers Share Career Advice, Build Thought Leadership & Grow Networking Fast

LinkedIn influencers transform professional networking into a career engine through consistent engagement and valuable content sharing.

Online marketing

LinkedIn Is Rewriting the Rules of Visibility : Social Media Examiner

LinkedIn content is increasingly being indexed by AI tools, impacting lead generation and engagement strategies.

fromTech Times

How LinkedIn Influencers Share Career Advice, Build Thought Leadership & Grow Networking Fast

LinkedIn influencers transform professional networking into a career engine through consistent engagement and valuable content sharing.

more#linkedin

I was laid off twice from the same company. The second time was a gut punch but taught me not to take cuts personally.

When the CEO held a virtual town hall in 2020 and said there needed to be layoffs, I knew I would be one of the first to go because I served zero purpose at that point.

Marketing

Graphic design

fromItsnicethat

in 1 week

"You may need to step down in order to segue"

A degree is not necessary to become a designer; understanding fundamentals and tools is essential.

fromWarpweftandway

Upcoming Collaborative Learning Events

The first event is a roundtable on "Zhuangzi: Fate, Desires, Transformation" on April 6th at 9:00am Beijing time.

Philosophy

Online learning

fromeLearning Industry

Continuous Learning Cultures: What High Performing Organizations Do Differently

Organizations must adopt a continuous learning culture to keep pace with rapid changes in technology and evolving job roles.

9 things people who command respect at work do that have nothing to do with their title or seniority - Silicon Canals

Respect at work is earned through listening and accountability, not through titles or positions.

How to Help Someone Have an Empathy Makeover

Empathy can be developed through structured reflection and practice, enhancing mental health and relationship dynamics.

Some people don't fear failure. They fear succeeding and then being expected to sustain it, because the version of them that achieved it was running on adrenaline and desperation, and the person who shows up on Monday is someone quieter who doesn't know how to replicate what the emergency produced. - Silicon Canals

The fear of success stems from the pressure to replicate high performance, not from a desire to avoid good outcomes.

Bootstrapping

Clear Job Responsibilities Helps You Grow Faster - Here's How

Deliberate governance design is essential as companies grow to avoid confusion and inefficiency.

#mentorship

Real estate

fromwww.housingwire.com

How mentorship, not recruiting alone, builds strong loan officers

Mentorship is essential for developing reliable loan officers, as it provides real-time learning and judgment skills that recruiting alone cannot offer.

fromBig Think

Venture

How to be a great mentor in business and life

Startup companies

Why Smart Entrepreneurs Still Fall for Mentorship Myths

Higher education

The Mentor I Didn't Know I Needed at 60 - And Why Every Leader Needs One

Real estate

fromwww.housingwire.com

How mentorship, not recruiting alone, builds strong loan officers

Mentorship is essential for developing reliable loan officers, as it provides real-time learning and judgment skills that recruiting alone cannot offer.

fromBig Think

Venture

How to be a great mentor in business and life

Startup companies

Why Smart Entrepreneurs Still Fall for Mentorship Myths

Higher education

The Mentor I Didn't Know I Needed at 60 - And Why Every Leader Needs One

How to Retrain Your Brain to See Challenges as Opportunities

Avoiding problems creates new challenges that must be faced later.

Relationships

The most liberating thing you can learn after 40 is that 'because I don't want to' is a complete and legitimate reason - not an opening argument - Silicon Canals

Mindfulness

How to Retrain Your Brain to See Challenges as Opportunities

Avoiding problems creates new challenges that must be faced later.

The most liberating thing you can learn after 40 is that 'because I don't want to' is a complete and legitimate reason - not an opening argument - Silicon Canals

Saying 'no' without justification can lead to a more fulfilling life.

The 3-Step Talent Audit That Keeps Your Leadership Team Aligned and Performing

Treat talent as capital to enhance team performance and strategic alignment.

Higher education

Being a Late Career Professor

Late-career academics can play diverse and productive roles, challenging the notion of them as 'dead wood' in academia.

It took me until 37 to realize that almost all successful people let go of these 7 habits, but average performers keep clinging to them - Silicon Canals

Successful people abandon habits that keep others stuck, focusing instead on effectiveness and prioritizing their time.

I snail-mailed my resume to potential employers with a 'cringey' note. It worked.

Camille Manaois applied for 56 jobs, faced challenges with AI filters, and resorted to sending handwritten letters to HR to stand out.

Agriculture

fromRealagriculture

How Could I Know? Ep 3: Seizing opportunity before you feel ready, with Rachel Sheffield

A 24-year-old Nova Scotia farmer shares her transition from university to chicken production, emphasizing opportunity recognition, uncertainty navigation, and mentorship's critical role in agricultural success.

Teaching Executives to Shed Trauma Responses

Stress and burnout are increasing in the workforce, exacerbated by past trauma affecting employee behavior and productivity.

Online learning

fromeLearning Industry

Are Your Training Results Improving Production, Or Just Looking Good?

Learning program metrics like completion rates and satisfaction do not guarantee business value or effective skill application in the workplace.

Mindfulness

I'm 37 and I realized I wasn't actually a good person the day my wife said "you're kind to strangers and cruel to the people closest to you" - and the worst part wasn't the accusation, it was that I couldn't argue because I'd been using up all my patience on people who didn't matter and coming home empty - Silicon Canals

Kindness should be abundant at home, not rationed for public interactions, to foster authentic connections with loved ones.

What Are Young People's Most Important Life Goals?

Life History Theory emphasizes the tradeoffs individuals make in allocating energy to survival, growth, and reproduction, highlighting the competitive nature of energy acquisition.

Psychology

fromDear Media

How to Re-Enter the Workforce After a Career Break

You have more to offer than you think; focus on your strengths and take action in your job search.

Women in technology

How to Be Seen for the Work You Actually Want to Be Doing

Opportunities depend on strategic visibility, ensuring work is seen and valued, rather than solely on consistent performance and effort.

Yes, it's possible to lead without dominating. Here's how

Modern leadership requires balancing authority with openness, fostering shared ownership while delivering results, and avoiding the pitfalls of dominance.

Are Leaders Made Or Born? This Navy SEAL Commander Says It's Neither.

Leadership is defined by behavior and the ability to create a thriving environment for growth.

11 ways to make leadership skills contagious

Effective leaders exhibit curiosity, self-awareness, and investment in team growth, fostering an environment that encourages interpersonal risk-taking and meaningful contributions.

Lead With What You've Got

All personality traits can enhance leadership effectiveness; there is no single ideal leader type.

Higher education

Why Great Leaders Build Other People's Legacies First - And How It Strengthens Your Own Impact

Yes, it's possible to lead without dominating. Here's how

Modern leadership requires balancing authority with openness, fostering shared ownership while delivering results, and avoiding the pitfalls of dominance.

Are Leaders Made Or Born? This Navy SEAL Commander Says It's Neither.

Leadership is defined by behavior and the ability to create a thriving environment for growth.

11 ways to make leadership skills contagious

Effective leaders exhibit curiosity, self-awareness, and investment in team growth, fostering an environment that encourages interpersonal risk-taking and meaningful contributions.

Lead With What You've Got

All personality traits can enhance leadership effectiveness; there is no single ideal leader type.

Higher education

Why Great Leaders Build Other People's Legacies First - And How It Strengthens Your Own Impact

How to build a manager development program from scratch

Darktrace built a scalable manager development program training 75% of global managers across 20 cohorts in under two years using a three-person team and a four-tier curriculum framework.

There's a specific kind of loyalty that keeps people in jobs, cities, and friendships years after the reason they stayed has disappeared. It's not inertia. It's that leaving would require admitting the time already spent wasn't building toward something, and that admission costs more than staying another year. - Silicon Canals

People remain in unfulfilling situations due to the fear of admitting past investments were unproductive, not because of passivity or fear of change.

17 ideas on coaching new managers

Not every employee should move to management; coaching individual contributors is essential for their growth and success.

Careers

When You're Worn Down-and Your Team Is Too

17 ideas on coaching new managers

Not every employee should move to management; coaching individual contributors is essential for their growth and success.

When You're Worn Down-and Your Team Is Too

Joy in management is about finding deep satisfaction and fostering meaningful connections, not just fleeting happiness.

Want a Leadership Coach? Just Ask AI

AI disrupts leadership practices, and leaders can use AI itself as a coaching tool to navigate uncertainty, test ideas, and develop better decision-making skills.

The hardest friendships to maintain aren't the ones with conflict. They're the ones where both people are growing but in different directions, and neither person is wrong, and there's no argument to have, just a slow widening that nobody caused and nobody can fix. - Silicon Canals

Friendships often end due to gradual emotional distance rather than specific events, highlighting the importance of recognizing blameless drift.

3 weeks ago

You Weren't Born to Blend In - You Were Built to Lead

Leaders who embrace diverse thinking, authenticity, and differentiation outperform conformists and drive organizational innovation and success.

#career-development

Careers

The Principal Engineer's Path: Skills, Strategies, and Lessons Learned

Careers

Create Your Unicorn Career, Explore the Multiverse

5 Career Myths Standing Between You and Your Next Level

Nonlinear careers foster adaptable skillsets and personal growth more effectively than traditional career paths.

Marketing

Weave Mentorship into the Fabric of Your Organization

The Principal Engineer's Path: Skills, Strategies, and Lessons Learned

Careers are non-linear journeys requiring adaptability, influence, and support, not just technical expertise, to reach leadership roles like principal engineer.

Create Your Unicorn Career, Explore the Multiverse

Harness your superpowers and embrace infinite opportunities to create a fulfilling career.

5 Career Myths Standing Between You and Your Next Level

Nonlinear careers foster adaptable skillsets and personal growth more effectively than traditional career paths.

Marketing

Weave Mentorship into the Fabric of Your Organization

more#career-development

There's a particular kind of strength that belongs to people who rebuilt their entire personality after 40 - not because something broke them, but because they finally had enough distance from their childhood to see what was never theirs to carry - Silicon Canals

Personality changes after forty often reflect a deeper honesty about one's true self rather than a crisis or breakdown.

When Executive Presence Backfires

Executive presence is essential for senior leaders, characterized by confidence and decisiveness, influencing career advancement and performance evaluations.

Why Great Employees Still Fail Inside the Wrong Strategy

Culture drives behavior under pressure, influencing differentiation through shared conviction and adaptive thinking.

Your Team Doesn't Need a 'Work Family' - It Needs This System That Holds Up When It Counts

Teams struggle with clarity, not effort; accountability erodes when support blurs lines between family and business.

3 ways to take the 'work' out of networking

Make it easy for your network to help you by reclaiming control of your job search.

From Contender to Champion

Champions manage pressure and maintain focus, allowing them to perform effectively under high-stakes situations.

fromwww.housingwire.com

You can't automate trust: Why I built my business on relationships

Relationships drive growth and sales revenue more than AI; trust, confidence, and connection are what people truly buy in business.

How to Create Your "Unicorn Career"

Create Your Unicorn Career for joy, meaning, and financial success, even in uncertain times.

How I Built Meaningful Success After Leaving Corporate Life

As an Asian-American kid growing up to an immigrant mom in North Carolina, I was taught to follow the rules (no exceptions). I was a Boy Scout, graduated top of my class and was hired by Goldman Sachs immediately after graduating undergrad. I had followed what I thought was the "right" path. I was living in the greatest city in the world (New York City, of course) and working at one of the best companies in the world ... but none of it felt right.

Startup companies

Ditch the Elevator Pitch. Focus on Corridors of Conversation

Elevator pitches often hinder meaningful connections; engaging in two-way conversations fosters better professional relationships.

Made a mistake at work? Here's how to fix it in three easy steps

To successfully repair after a mistake, you need to acknowledge and name the mistake, validate the other person's feelings and viewpoint, and create a plan for the specific actions you will take to prevent this mistake from occurring again.

Careers

Want a promotion? Ask yourself these three questions

Timing and readiness are crucial for successfully pursuing a promotion.

The 5 most important work relationships you should prioritize for career growth besides your boss

Career advancement relies on a network of relationships, not just on a single boss's support.

fromwww.theguardian.com

Careers

Want a better job and a pay rise? Eleven ways to progress at work and avoid a dry promotion'

Want a promotion? Ask yourself these three questions

Timing and readiness are crucial for successfully pursuing a promotion.

The 5 most important work relationships you should prioritize for career growth besides your boss

Career advancement relies on a network of relationships, not just on a single boss's support.

fromwww.theguardian.com

Careers

Want a better job and a pay rise? Eleven ways to progress at work and avoid a dry promotion'

more#career-advancement

Women

Your Leadership Identity: Who You Are Becoming at Work in 2026

Align inner leadership identity with evolved role by shifting from hands-on doer to strategic, visible leader who owns authority and leads differently.

Major League Baseball

fromBattery Power

What move that you hated worked out okay in the end?

Strong fan reactions to baseball transactions often become invalidated later because the sport mixes predictable elements with unpredictable surprises.

How leaders and managers can befriend their inner critic and get ahead at work

Befriending your inner critic can lead to better decision-making and improved leadership skills.

How to grow at work when your manager won't give you feedback

Senior leaders receive less feedback than early-career employees due to authority bias and organizational hierarchy, requiring proactive strategies to solicit advice and create psychological safety.

fromhbr.org

When You've Outgrown Your Relationship with a Trusted Advisor

Leaders cultivate a small circle of trusted advisors—former bosses, investors, mentors, peers, and family—whose advice shapes decisions and provides stability during uncertainty.

What Rising Through the Ranks to CEO Taught Me About Leadership at Any Scale

I've spent my career straddling the structured discipline of Fortune 500 companies and the entrepreneurial scrappiness of startups. Each side has its strengths. Startups move fast, fueled by creativity and urgency. Corporations scale big, built on systems and predictability. But the future of leadership belongs to those who can bridge the two; leaders who think like founders and lead like CEOs.

Startup companies

I Learned the Hardest Lessons From This Niche Industry

Business leaders are increasingly prioritizing transparency and long-term trust over short-term profits to dismantle information asymmetry in opaque industries.

Don't Underestimate the Value of Professional Friendships

Workplace emotional distance is outdated; rising employee isolation and loneliness significantly harm productivity, engagement, retention, and contribute to nearly one million premature deaths annually.

fromForbes

You've Been Promoted, Now What? 5 Secrets To Gain Trust In 90 Days

Prioritize building trust over asserting authority when starting a new management role to improve team performance and prevent early mistakes.

3 weeks ago

The 4 most reliable ways to build confidence at work

Confidence directly impacts career success, salary, and job satisfaction, yet most people struggle with self-doubt despite achieving success.

The First Step to a Successful Career Pivot - Without Losing Momentum

A disciplined, evidence-based self-audit aligns career direction with personal strengths and the environments where those strengths multiply.

How your personality impacts your career success (and what you can do about it)

Five universal traits—emotional stability, extraversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness—predict career outcomes and can be reliably measured by multiple methods.

fromTerrible Software

Creating Your Own Opportunities

Proactively create growth by expanding assigned tasks into higher-impact, reusable work that benefits your career and the team.

This is what happens when failure leads to a promotion

Organizations often promote underperformers into higher-status roles to avoid accountability, which rewards poor behavior and damages teams and trust.