Live coaching office hour for new professionals.

Meet up with fellow professionals—0-3 years into their career—in a virtual space where you can track your work accomplishments, articulate your skills, troubleshoot challenges, share experiences, and receive guidance in addition to what your organization provides. REGISTER TODAY

It’s easy to think that clothes are just fabric, but in a professional setting, work attire is often the first thing about you that people use to assess your judgment. When you feel out of place or underdressed, it creates a nagging self-consciousness that drains your mental energy and keeps you from speaking up in meetings.

Power dynamics are often tied to visual cues. “Dressing for the job you want” sounds like a tired cliché, because there’s truth in the idea that your outfit can either grant you a sense of belonging or make you feel like an outsider. If you spend your morning worrying that your jeans are too casual or your shoes are too scuffed, you’re already carrying mental weight that prevents you from focusing on the actual work that’ll get you noticed.

To stop this drag on your performance, think of your work wardrobe as a tool that removes obstacles. By observing the formality in your specific department and matching it, you effectively make your clothes compliment your professional style. You want people to remember your contributions, not your hoodie. When you’re not preoccupied with your appearance, you free up the cognitive space needed to solve problems and collaborate effectively.

The goal is to maintain your identity while ensuring your wardrobe isn’t working against your ambitions. Proactively choosing attire that fits the office culture helps eliminate a major source of anxiety and projects a sense of preparedness. This simple adjustment allows you to walk into any room with the quiet confidence that you belong there.

Put these approaches into practice.

Let’s look at practical ways your fashion style can enhance the function of your role.

Read more

Read more

Read more

Read more

If you’re entering data, who uses that information to make big decisions? If you’re creating a design, who has to approve the budget? Map out the internal customers to help you see the ripple effect of your work. This prevents you from working in a bubble and ensures you’re giving the next person exactly what they need.

Understanding how the company is connected helps you see it as a larger system. When you realize that a delay on your desk causes a bottleneck three departments away, you gain a natural sense of what to prioritize. This broader perspective allows you to speak more intelligently in meetings because you’re not just thinking about your own inbox. It shows that you care about the health of the entire organization.

Put these approaches into practice.

Let’s look at practical ways to identify your "internal customers" and understand how your output serves the next person in the value chain.

Read more

Navigating conflict builds your leadership and emotional intelligence. As you move up, your success may depend on your ability to manage different personalities and keep a team focused on the mission.

Instead, reach out to the person involved and say, “I think we have different views on the next steps; can we chat for five minutes to get on the same page?” Approach conflict with a desire to understand someone’s perspective rather than try to win the argument. And if you must vent, do it is after you solve the problem and with someone outside of your workplace.

The goal of resolving a disagreement isn’t just to stop the fighting. The goal is also to find a better way forward for the project. Friction often happens because two people who are focused on different, but equally important, goals. By talking it out, you can usually find a “third way” that solves both problems. Be the person who handles difficult conversations with a calm, solution-oriented mindset.

Put these approaches into practice.

Let’s look at practical ways to address disagreements directly and calmly rather than venting or ignoring the issue.

Read more

Transparency builds your integrity. As you move up, the decisions you make will have bigger consequences, and your team will need to rely on your word.

Taking initiative also means to be the person who pays attention to the small print. If a number looks a bit off or a source seems outdated, don’t just ignore it to get the task done faster. Respectfully bring it up by saying, “I noticed a small discrepancy in this figure; should we double-check it before we send this to the client?” By acting as the guardian of the team’s accuracy, you show your care for the quality of the company’s reputation.

Put these approaches into practice.

Let’s look at practical ways to prioritize accuracy over appearance.

Read more

Receiving and using feedback builds your professional maturity. As you move up, you’ll face more complex challenges where constant adjustment—and a thick skin—is required.

Think of every piece of correction as a free coaching session rather than a setback. When a leader takes the time (that they don’t have) to make a suggestion (they could’ve kept to themselves) about a different tone for an email or a better way to format a slide, they’re actually investing in your professional growth. By implementing that advice immediately and making sure you don’t repeat the same mistake are quick ways to build trust to work on more important, independent projects.

Put these approaches into practice.

Let’s look at practical ways to view correction as a free coaching session.

Read more

Taking initiative demonstrates that you can manage more than just yourself. As you move up, your success depends on your ability to keep projects organized and help others stay on track.

You can also start leading by taking a step into gaps where no one has claimed responsibility. If you see a part of a project that’s being ignored, volunteer to handle it. It shows that you care about the team’s success more than just your own tasks. Leaders make sure the job gets done, even if they’re not the ones getting all the credit at the start.

Put these approaches into practice.

Let’s look at practical ways to provide structure where there is none and prioritize team success over individual task lists.

Read more

In any workplace, you’ll work with people who have different communication styles, backgrounds, and ways of solving problems. Instead of seeing these differences as hurdles, treat them as chances to learn. When a coworker approaches a task in a way that feels wrong to you, stop and ask yourself, “What do they see that I might be missing?”

Inclusion is a habit you practice every day by making sure the loudest voice isn’t the only one heard. In group chats or meetings, you can lead by example by inviting others to the conversation. Simply saying, “We haven’t heard from the technical team yet; what are your thoughts?” ensures the final result is better for everyone. Being a professional who values every perspective doesn’t just make you a nice person—it makes you a more informed and effective decision-maker.

Put these approaches into practice.

Let’s look at practical ways to treat differences as data points that prevent blind spots.

Read more

Success comes from more than just blending in and doing your tasks perfectly. If you spend all your energy trying to fit the mold, you might miss out on discovering your unique parts that take on their own shape, like your specific way of solving problems. It’s important to look at your daily work through a critical lens. This means, make sure you’re building a portfolio of valuable skills—like data analysis or decision-making—rather than just becoming the person who always handles office housework like organizing lunches or filing papers.

Treat your professional growth as a non-negotiable part of your job. To steer your career in the right direction, you must take full ownership of your own learning. Every two weeks, pick one growth target to focus on, such as mastering a new software or shadowing a leader in a different department. By intentionally choosing tasks that offer visibility and high-level skills, you ensure your work builds a foundation for moving up and being helpful in the foreground rather than just a history of being helpful in the background.

Put these approaches into practice.

Let’s look at practical ways to treat your professional development as a non-negotiable job requirement.

Read more

Working hard in silence doesn’t guarantee that people will notice your potential. If you wait for a formal title before you start acting like a leader, you might stay stuck in the background while others move ahead. You’re allowed to be a high-achiever and take up space in the room. Real leadership is about helping the team move forward, and you can do this by volunteering for important tasks or being the first to raise your hand for a tough project.

You can build natural authority by focusing on the team’s success. Try summarizing the main points at a meeting, be the first to raise your hand for a complex project, or publicly thank a coworker for a job well done. If you see a teammate struggling with a bottleneck, offer a solution before anyone even asks you to. These small acts of leadership show that you’re not just a guest in the office; you’re someone who influences the energy and progress of the entire group.

Put these approaches into practice.

Let’s look at practical ways to earn trust, respect, and social currency by taking initiative before being asked.

Read more

Developing empathy helps you handle workplace s…

Read more

Don’t wait for a formal review to find out if you’re …

Read more

Building your “figure-it-out” mus…

Read more