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Every office has that coworker that turns up to a meeting coughing and sniffling while proudly proclaiming they have never once taken a sick day in their career. (If there isnt one, maybe its you.) But as one viral TikTok makes clear, those attitudes towards taking sick days may be changingjust as sick days themselves are changing, as some think being sick isnt a real excuse to not work in the WFH era. The skitwhich has more than 2.3 million viewssees popular TikTok creator Delaney Rowe adopting the role of that coworker, turning up to a meeting with a hospital tag still on wrist, oh-so bravely battling through the workday while simultaneously making it everyone elses business. Person you work with who thinks theyre a hero for ‘powering through’ while sick, she wrote. The days of powering through are now gone, as nearly a third of Americans say theyd rather you didnt show up to work if youre feeling sick, according to a new Talker Research survey of 2,000 people in the US. Many in the TikTok posts comments agreed. I get so mad when people risk ME getting sick, one wrote. Get away from me. Another joked: This is me but I’m just soft-launching calling out the next few days. Others have even offered scripts for how to successfully call in sick without guilt or fear. Take your sick days. Those days are for you and theyre not just for when youre sick, one TikTok creator advised. Theyre for when you just want a day to lay down all day and watch movies and eat food. You can do that. Theyre for when youre feeling a little bit off and you just dont want to deal with it today. The workplace is a minefield of unwritten rules which workers have long abided by. Not taking sick days, even when allotted by an employer, is one. However, 31% of those surveyed by Talker Research say theres no longer a badge of honor or admirable quality to employees turning up to work ill. Just a quarter of Americans strongly believe it would impress bosses or superiors. As one Reddit thread put it: Never taking sick days is not a flex some people think it is. One commenter went on to describe a coworker who point blank refuses to take sick days, writing: All of this goes unnoticed by management. No one gives a damn. No one is asking him to do it, no one is patting him on the back. They added: Then he proceeds to get frustrated with the rest of us that we don’t do the same. The COVID-19 pandemic permanently changed workers’ attitudes to sick leave, making clear the importance of staying home to avoid infecting coworkers. At the same time, Gen Zers entered the workforce in droves, championing mental health days, worklife balance, and the importance of boundaries at work. But some workers may still feel compelled to show up and put in face time with the boss. That translates to remote work, as well; a green active light on Slack or Teams communicates availability. But whether its in person or online, working while sick sets a bad example for the rest of the staff, chipping away at work-life boundaries that are already blurrier than ever. Working while sick can also lead to presenteeism: working while sick, but since youre sick, youre less productive. Presenteeism is bad for business, especially when it risks infecting an entire office with a cold or flu picked up over the weekend. And after witnessing layoff after layoff, todays employees may be more inclined to take that R&R thats available to themrather than give their all to a job that deems them disposable.
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E-Commerce
Have you ever felt like your brain was one of those viral egg experiments, cracked open and sizzling on a bare sidewalk that was truly, much too hot? You may have been experiencing signs of burnout (and dehydration). As an introverted professional, Ive been there as well, many times in my career. Over the years, Ive developed healthy reflective coping methods to recharge my batteries and prevent (or at least combat) that intense feeling of overwhelm. As a LinkedIn Top Voice and a very public keynote speaker whos learned to grow in the spotlight on my own terms, Im not the best at pretending to be an extrovert for any extended period of timeits too tiring! Instead, Ive found success by setting clear boundaries both online and offline, especially with growing my personal brand. Its how I stay true to my brand and avoid the dreaded burnout. And guess what? You can do the same. Youve probably tried a few personal branding tips that didnt work as well for you as an introvert, because they possibly felt too extroverted for your style. Here are my real-life strategies grounded in my own experience and ones that I feature in my new book Personal Branding for Introverts. These are the ideas that let me recharge properly while building a real, lasting brand. Overcoming Overwhelm With Boundaries As an introvert, youre likely to think more deeply and be more overwhelmed during events, big meetings or conferences, and that takes a lot of energy. Performing personal branding steps like making content, networking, or being active online can be really tiring for you (and me). Setting boundaries is the ultimate learned superpower for an introvert to combat the drowning feeling of being overwhelmed both in your daily life and at big events like conferences. It allows you to decide when and how you interact with others, which helps keep your mental health in check and allows you to show up as the best version of yourself at work. When you allow the people and activities that give you energy into your sphere and avoid the ones that take it away, you can create a brand that is easier to maintain in the long run. Lets go over four ways to think about boundaries as an introvert. 1. Establish Clear Boundaries Between Work and Personal Life While organizing my own work week, I think of this quote by Stephen Covey: The key is not to prioritize whats on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities. Focus on what is the most important work task for your week and use an energy-first approach to encourage your own balance and focus. Consider the following strategies: Match Work Hours with Your Energy: Prioritize the times of day when your energy and focus are highest. For example, if you are wide awake and alert in the morning, try scheduling meetings between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. rather than later in the day. These morning (or afternoon) hours are your core focus times and should be protected. Designate Time for Focused Work: Save specific blocks of time for your best uninterrupted, quiet work. Lessen the general distractions around you by limiting your email inbox and message time. Create A Habit For Your Work Day End: Start an ongoing ritual or task that marks the end of your work hours. This might include taking a comforting walk, writing in your journal or blog, or simply turning off your social or Slack notifications for a bit. These cues help reinforce the boundary between work and personal time, allowing your mind to transition and recharge. 2. Rethink your Endless Meetings Ever hear of the office saying This could have been an email? Not every meeting needs an in-person chat. If youre able (and allowed to) express your thoughts in an email or message, do that. Fewer live meetings means more energy for focused work. Group similar meetings together on the same day or days if possible so theres less distractions. That way, the rest of your schedule stays more open and quiet. Also, leave time between meetings. At least 15 minutes and a quick walk outside or inside the office will help you reset. Back-to-back calls can wear you down quickly and harm your focus. 3. Strategically Manage Your Digital Energy Ive watched many introverted professionals experience burnout from attempting to maintain a constant presence across multiple platforms. Focusing your energy on one or two channels leads to being able to deep-dive more into those spaces, and introverts excel in being thorough thinkers. Try these energy-saving tactics: Pick One Platform: Focus your energy on one or two social media platforms where your target audience is active. This platform should also be where you feel comfortable and capable of maintaining a presence that wont fizzle out in a month. Batch Content Creation: Create a bank of posts by setting aside dedicated time once a week or month to write, record, or design your content.This method lowers the pressure to be constantly working on new ideas and allows you breathing room for more thoughtful, consistent content creation. Determine Your Response Times: Find and segment out specific time blocks for responding to all of your messages or comments across social media platforms, such as 30 minutes every Tuesday at 11am. Its helpful to do this so youre less distracted by a ton of notifications at work. As your audience grows over time, this method will help you maintain balance and sustainability. 4. Prioritize Rest and Recharging Throughout the day, I intentionally give myself short breaks. A walk to feel the sunlight and get some vitamin D. A few deep breaths away from sitting in front of my screens. These pauses allow me to reset mentally and clear my head.. I treat alone time as part of my daily rhythm. Reading. Writing. Walking. Or just sitting quietly. These deliberate time pauses replenishes my energy while keeping me grounded. Persistent fatigue, lessened focus or the need to hide from everyone (social anxiety, anyone?) can be a clear and early indicator of burnout at work. Instead of ignoring these signals, consider them thoughtful invitations from your body to begin to slow down and rest before you fully burn out. Establishing and maintaining boundaries is crucial to growing a personal brand as an introvert and will stop overwhelm and burnout before they spiral out of control. Boundaries are wonderful tools that enable your brand to grow consistently and in a healthy way. You do not need to be everywhere online or offline or constantly available. Instead, focus your energy and attention on being present during specific blocks of time that you choose. Your audience will recognize the intentionalityand so will you. Adapted from Personal Branding for Introverts. Copyright 2025 by Goldie Chan. Available from Basic Venture, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
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E-Commerce
When Steve Jobs wanted to motivate his Mac team at Apple, he didn’t give them corporate pep talks or send them to management retreats. Instead, he told them they were “pirates” fighting against the “navy.” The message was clear: stay scrappy, stay rebellious, and don’t let the corporate machine slow you down. That pirate mentality worked. The Mac team moved fast, took risks, and delivered something revolutionary. But here’s the irony: Apple was itself the navy they were once fighting against. Today, with over 160,000 employees and a market cap exceeding $3 trillion, Apple faces the same challenge that confronts every successful companyhow do you stay pirates when you’ve become the fleet? The challenge as you grow, is not just survival but scaling the pirate playbook itself. Having built products at Pixar, YouTube, and Google, I’ve learned that startup DNA is not a luxury; it is an essential mechanism to continue to thrive as you grow. Ive identified five ways to do this, but first, you have to realize this is about more than thinking like a startup. The Glacier vs. Snowball Dilemma: The Stakes Have Risen The difference between a small and a large company is not just size, but physics. Small companies are snowballsfast, gaining unstoppable momentum down the mountain. Big companies are like glaciersmassive, powerful, but moving at a glacial pace. This is the innovation paradox: the big guys have the resources, but the small guys have the speed. Today, with the rise of AI, the stakes have been dramatically raised. A single, AI-empowered nano-startup (a tiny “snowball”) can now deliver an impact that previously required hundreds of engineers. The trick is to stay as nimble as a snowball while deploying the resources of a glacier. So how do you solve this dilemma? You don’t just mimic a startup; you design an internal ecosystem for relentless piracy. Here are five learnings for moving at breakneck speed, even at scale. 1. Headline with a Deadline: The North Star That Cuts Through Noise At Pixar, when we were creating Toy Story, everyone from the animators to the accountants understood our mission. We were making the world’s first full-length computer-animated film, and we were going to prove that this technology could tell stories that would move audiences to tears and laughter. That clarity kept us focused. Trust me, there is nothing like a press release and booked theaters to keep you focussed on delivery. But mission clarity becomes harder as you scale. With thousands of employees working on hundreds of projects, it’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. This is where the “headline with a deadline” mentality becomes crucial. Every team, no matter how large the company, should be able to articulate their work as a newspaper headline with a specific deadline. Not “improve user engagement metrics” but “Launch AI-powered personalization that increases daily active users by 30% by Q2.” Not “enhance platform capabilities” but “Enable creators to monetize live streams within 90 days.” Google’s mission to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful” has guided everything from search algorithms to YouTube’s creator ecosystem. When we were building Google TV, that mission clarity helped us see that television wasn’t dyingit was just another way to organize and deliver information to users. That north star kept our small team focused, even as we launched the first GoogleTV streamer during Covid! 2. Flatten the Pyramid: Management That Enables (No Dilbert Syndrome) The biggest enemy of startup speed isn’t bureaucracyit’s the Dilbert manager. You know the type: they think their job is to manage people rather than enable great work. They attend meetings about meetings, create processes that solve yesterday’s problems, and somehow always seem to be the bottleneck in getting things done. At Google, I learned that the best managers don’t just understand what their team is buildingthey understand why it matters and how it connects to other teams’ work. They can see the 1+1=3 opportunities where collaboration creates exponential value rather than additive effort. They are close to the work and heck, many times roll up their sleeves and do the work themselves. The key is keeping management layers lean and purposeful. Every additional layer doesn’t just slow communicationit slows decision-making exponentially. When I worked on YouTube’s creator tools with just three people, we could make product decisions in a hallway conversation. As the team grew, we had to work deliberately to preserve those short communication paths. The solution isn’t to eliminate management, but to ensure every manager is deeply involved in the product and technology decisions. They need to be translators and connectors, not just people-processors. 3. The Reverse Hierarchy: Bottom-Up Innovation in the AI Era Plot twist: Your best AI innovations aren’t coming from the C-suite. They’re coming from individual contributors who understand their workflows intimately and can see exactly how AI can improve them. These innovations bubble up organically because the people closest to the work have the clearest vision of how to improve it. This is the bottom-up innovation that Google’s famous 20% time was designed to capture. While that specific program has evolved, the principle remains vital: the best ideas often come from unexpected places, and big companies need formal mechanisms to surface and scale them. The challenge is creating systems that can recognize these grassroots innovations and turn them into company-wide capabilities without crushing the entrepreneurial spirit that created them. 4. Permission to Fail: The Failure Budget is Your Growth Capital Startups take risks because they have tosurvival depends on finding something that works. Big companies often become risk-averse because they have a fleet to protect. But without intelligent risk-taking, you lose the very innovation that made you successful. When I joined the Google TV team, television was considered antiquated technology. But we believed that TV wasn’t dying; it was transforming. We created a vision for how television could embrace the future of streaming and on-demand content. Today, Google TV is recognized as a leading streaming platform. That success required maintaining a startup-like tolerance for risk even within a company where failure could affect thousands of jobs, and we continue to take risk by bringing TVs (and the company) into the AI era. The solution is the “failure budget”an explicit acknowledgment that a certain percentage of initiatives must fail. It’s not just acceptable; it’s a necessary investment in your next breakthrough. When your teams know they have te permission to fail intelligently, they are free to take the bold, calculated risks that lead to platform-defining success. 5. The Pirate Code: Direct Lines, Bold Moves Speed is irrelevant if you cant integrate the results into the main fleet. This is the final paradox: How do you move fast on innovation while maintaining stability in your core products? The challenge is that a scrappy pirate crew can move fast, but if their efforts are not designed to integrate with the enterprise architecture, the snowball melts before it can cause an avalanche. Users become accustomed to process and resist change, requiring a delicate balance. The modern pirate must be an intrapreneursomeone who looks for opportunities where their disruptor mindset can expand existing structures rather than competing with them. This requires building deliberate bridges between the startup-mode teams and the enterprise operations. Maintaining startup DNA at scale requires deliberate choices about structure, culture, and leadership. Pirates need direct communication channelsat Google, we continue to maintain TGIFa forum where everyone in the company is invited to hear what is on executives’ minds and to directly ask questions. Leaders need to think like founders, taking personal ownership of outcomes and making decisions quickly. And successful intrapreneurs learn to pick their fights carefully, looking for opportunities where their disruptor mindset can expand existing structures rather than competing with them. Choosing to Stay Pirates The choice to maintain Startup DNA is not about company size; it is a deliberate design choice about mindset, systems, culture, and leadership practices. The companies that will dominate the next decade won’t be the ones that perfected the corporate playbook. Theyll be the ones that figured out how to scale the pirate playbook. They will be the ones that cracked the code on how to be pirates at navy scale. In a world where change is moving at startup speed, corporate thinking gets left in the wake. Only the modern pirates will keep up.
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E-Commerce
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