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Long before she left the corporate world to advise others on career advancement, Tabatha Jones didn’t get a promotion in a way she says felt completely unexpected. She was, after all, the person at the major telecom company her colleagues would consider the natural successor to her then-boss, who was getting ready to vacate the director-level role. I was her next person on the bench. I was sitting in the room when it was announced it was someone else. And it was very hard to contain my emotions, Jones recalls. After the meeting, Jones just looked at her and said, Im not feeling very well. Im going home. And when she came back the next day, she had a very honest conversation with her about how hard I had worked, my accomplishments, and why I felt I deserved that job. Difficult as it was, Jones is glad that she handled it the way she did. As she would later learn, her boss hadnt really snubbed her at all. In this piece, premium subscribers will learn: What you can learn from the viral response to Duolingo’s social impresario and her move to DoorDash How to manage ‘your story’ and avoid a victim mentality Why you need to take this moment to engage with your boss, not withdraw What I didnt know at the time was that the role was temporary, Jones says. She explains that just a few months later, the company underwent a major reorganization that eliminated the position. Had she put me in that role, I very likely would have become unemployed, or gone through a demotion. Which would have been even harder. Instead, Jones landed a senior manager role at the company, and negotiated a generous pay increase. Ten months later, the organization underwent yet another reorganization. Jones was finally hired for a director-level rolewhich she might not have gotten if she overreacted to getting passed over previously. Only this time, the opportunity wasnt temporary. You dont want to be too salty, says Jones. (She has since written a book about her experience called Promotion Ready in 3 Months.) Be very careful, because people talk. You want to make sure your brand is intact, so when the next promotion comes up, youre thought of in the right way. Taking the high road is easier said than done in the emotional aftermath of a devastating snub. Sometimes, throwing a little shade may feel warranted, and could even earn public praise. Take Zaria Parvez, who recently wrote a now-viral LinkedIn post that took a jab at Duolingo, heavily intimating that she had been overlooked for a position as its director of social. The companys former social media manager was responsible for killing the Duolingo owl in what became one of the years most successful viral campaigns. In her LinkedIn post, she even posted an original illustration of herself sitting atop the dead mascot, reading a notification from her new employer, DoorDash: Your career upgrade has arrived! It clearly struck a chord, receiving over 17,000 reactions and 700 comments. At the same time, career experts say that for most in that situation, your saltiness could come back to bite youand that the best approach is keeping a level head. (At least for those not in the business of going viral.) Taking the high road When someone else gets the nod for a promotion, its common to feel resentful, jealous, sad, angry, undervalued and underappreciated, says Monster career expert Vicki Salemi. People may feel like, I’m just going to do the bare minimum, because they don’t care. They don’t appreciate all my hard work, she says. Some may just start looking for a new job immediately. They may be thinking, Why am I going to work hard if it doesn’t matter anyway? Tempting as it may be to withdraw out of spite, Salemi says it wont do you any favors in the long run, especially if you plan to stick around at that company. If you act like you don’t care, and you don’t have a conversation about it, then next time there is a promotion, your boss may say, Well, I thought you were content where you were. We havent really developed your skills, so you’re not ready, she says. Though it never hurts to have an up-to-date résumé on hand and an eye on the job market, Salemi advises against burning bridges with existing or former employers, especially on social media. In a high-profile case like Parvezs, in which the former employee publicly insinuates they left after not being considered for a more senior title, its all up to the person and what they feel theyre most comfortable with, says Salemi. They may be upset and they want to show they landed on their feet and theyre doing really well. But there may also be a reason to tread carefully when throwing some shade at your former bosses. Its a small world, she says. You never know when your paths will cross again. Manage your emotions even if youre on the way out That doesnt mean you have to hide your disappointment, says Justin Hale, an author and course designer at Crucial Learning, a leadership and development training provider. Speak up in a way that shows your disappointment and shows that you’re mature, you’re accountable, you’re responsible. Those are the kinds of qualities that a leader is going to look for, he says. And then, rather than using it as an excuse to do less, Hale says to use the snub as motivation to accomplish more. Even if its for someone else. “Manage what we call your story, he says. In this case: “The story I’m telling myself is that, I was qualified, and for some reason, they passed me up. After identifying why being snubbed bothered you, you can then backtrack one more step and say, what are the facts? What did I actually see or hear that led me to that story? Separating fact from story, Hale explains, helps people overcome a victim mentality that can cloud their decision-making, and lead to reactions you could end up regretting later. And if nothing elseyou can transfer the energy youre putting into being salty into finding your next gig. Maybe your organization is being unfair to you, and the solution is to go find something else, he says. He adds that even if you decide to leave, theres value in having an honest and open dialogue with your boss. Even if your manager shares some things with you that make you think, okay, this place isn’t a fit for meisn’t it valuable to get their perspective before you head out?
Category:
E-Commerce
Youre in a meeting, the slides are rolling, people are nodding, others are fiddling on their phones, and then it happens. You have a question. You want to be seen as engaged, so you open your mouth, and words start to tumble out . . .and the room goes still. Silence. Weve all been told there are no dumb questions. But if youve ever watched a room collectively glaze over while someone tries to stitch a stream of consciousness into something coherent, you know dumb questions are alive and well. At their core, questions are about curiosity. And while curiosity may have killed the cat, in your career questions can be pure rocket fuel. When done right, curiosity makes you look sharp, collaborative, and strategic. However, haphazard curiosity may lead to you finding yourself metaphorically under a conference table wishing for a 13 Going on 30 moment where you magically reappear as 30, flirty, and thriving, just anywhere but in that meeting. So how do you harness curiosity as career capital instead of career sabotage? Thats a smart question. And in this five-part playbook well dive into practical (and slightly cheeky) ways to do it. 1. Timing is everything: Ask early, but not TOO early When youre new to a project, your brain lights up with questions like a big ol neon sign. Resist the urge to fire them all off at once. Half will answer themselves as you absorb context. The other half will get sharper the longer they simmer. Try this: Start a secret doc, dump all your questions in, and revisit after 48 hours. Cross off the ones that solved themselves, and reframe the ones worth asking. Now youre not blurting. Youre curating like a purveyor of art. 2. Make it about the work, not about you Curiosity should sharpen the team, not sound like a personal confession. Theres a big difference between I dont get slide 7 and Can we talk about how slide 7 connects to the project goal? The first highlights your gap (and unlike the London Tube, you should definitely mind that gap). The second elevates collective clarity. Try this: Swap I dont understand for Can we walk through. Same curiosity, different energy. Suddenly, youre not lost. Instead, youre leading alignment. 3. Use the after-action window Right after a big meeting or decision, the team takes a collective exhale. Thats your sweet spot. People are reflective, not defensive. A question in this window is constructive. (Cue Angela Bassett walking away from the burning car in Waiting to Exhale. Big exhale. Big release. Right timing.) Try this: Send a quick note: Great discussion today. One thing Im still noodling on: how does this decision ripple out six months from now? Thats not nitpicking, its being future-focused. And leadership loves a forward thinker. 4. Model Curiosity If youre running a meeting, the best way to spark smart curiosity is to show your own. Leaders who frame questions strategically demonstrate how to ask questions in ways that move work forward and dont suck air out of the room. Try this: Instead of ending a meeting with the standard Any questions?which usually results in blank stares because everyones already at lunchmodel the kind of curiosity you want from the team. For example: This was a great discussion. What perspectives might we still be missing? That shows curiosity as a tool to sharpen impact, not poke holes. 5. Aim for impact Curiosity is about impact, not volume. Not every question deserves airtime. Theres a fine line between thoughtful and time-wasting. The fastest way to tank your reputation is asking something Google couldve quickly answered, or a question that only benefits yourself. Talking doesnt always equal contributing. Sometimes adding value means being a great active listener. Try this: Before speaking, ask yourself if the answer is easily searchable on your own and if the answer will benefit more than just you. If the answer is yes to either, park it. After the meeting, conduct the search or find a way to bring it up privately (either in a 1:1 or a Slack) and protect the groups momentum and keep your credibility. Nobody wants to be the human embodiment of this meeting couldve been an email. No one likes that person. Sorry, not sorry. Questions dont just reveal what you dont know, they reveal how you think. Curate them with care, and you wont just be asking questions. Youll be shaping the conversation.
Category:
E-Commerce
The labor market may be weaker than previously reported. According to newly revised Bureau and Labor Statistics (BLS) data, the U.S. added nearly a million fewer jobs than it had said earlier. On Tuesday, a press release explained that 911,000 fewer jobs (-0.6%) were added to the U.S. economy over the last year, in a period that ended in March. The new data reveals that only an estimated 70,000 jobs were added each month, instead of 147,000. Overall, only 850,000 were added to the market over the past year, less than half of what was previously reported. The new report is significant, as it marks the largest preliminary revision of BLS data since the year 2000. The data also represents the largest number of jobs lost since the 2009 financial crisis. The official report will come in February 2026. The new data comes weeks after Trump fired the BLS’s top official, Erika McEntarfer, who was confirmed last year. McEntarfer’s firing followed another string of data revisions, which also pointed to job losses and weak hiring. We need accurate Jobs Numbers. I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY, Trump posted on Truth Social. The post continued: Important numbers like this must be fair and accurate; they cant be manipulated for political purposes, the president wrote. McEntarfer said there were only 73,000 Jobs added (a shock!) but, more importantly, that a major mistake was made by them, 258,000 Jobs downward, in the prior two months. Similar things happened in the first part of the year, always to the negative. Trump, who has been highly critical of the Labor Department in the past, most notably for its data revisions, has continuously insisted that the economy is strong. But experts say the new report is a sign that the labor market is slowing down.“Today’s data suggests that cooling in the labor market is more dramatic than previously thought,” Elizabeth Renter, senior economist at NerdWallet, told CBS. “This strengthens the likelihood that the Fed will cut rates next week, as it’s additional evidence that the labor market side of the dual mandate needs some attention.” While the president is pushing back against claims that job growth is stalled, employees seem to be feeling the pressure to keep their current jobs. Likewise, anxiety about the economy is high as workers worry about mass layoffs.
Category:
E-Commerce
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