Top company management usually comes from the ranks of those who sell the core business product-service, not from those on the firing line who deliver it.   That’s why in media, programming and news people rarely become management.  Since advertising sales is the primary product of media, the sales people become the managers.  In education, good teachers stay in the classroom.  In the energy industry, engineers dominate. Engineers steadfastly believe that they’re in the energy exploration and production business.  The companies themselves are in the energy marketing business.    Restaurants are in the business of marketing atmosphere and service.  Yet, they put food preparers (representing 20% of the pie) in charge.  Decisions are always food driven, explaining in part the high failure rate of restaurants.  Other reasons include poor planning, substandard customer service, low capitalization and inappropriate marketing.

A major problem with companies stems from the fact that management and company leadership come from one small piece of the organizational pie.  Filling all management slots with financial people, for example, serves to limit the organizational strategy and focus.  They all hire like-minded people and frame every business decision from their micro perspective.

The ideal executive has strong leadership skills first.  He or she develops organizational vision and sets strategies.  Leaders should reflect a diversity of focus, guaranteeing that a balance is achieved. The best management team looks at the macro, rather than just the niche micro.

None of us was born with sophisticated, finely tuned senses and highly enlightened viewpoints for life.  We muddle through, try our best and get hit in the gut several times.  Thus, we learn, amass knowledge and turn most experiences into strategies.  Such a perspective is what makes seasoned executives valuable in the business marketplace.

Life has a way of forcing the human condition to change.  Events which may inspire this to happen could include a recognition that the old methods are not working, financial failures or the monetary incentive to rapidly create or change plans of action.  At most crossroads, there is no choice but to change the modus operandi.  This may include the loss of substantial numbers of opportunities, customers, employees and market share or a “wake up call” of any type.

The most effective leaders accept that change is 90% positive and find reasons and rationale to embrace change.  Leadership skills are learned and synthesized daily.  Knowledge is usually amassed through unexpected sources.

The business leader as community leader
In eras following downturns and scandals, it is incumbent upon good companies to go the extra distance to be ethical and set good examples.  Demonstrating visible caring for communities by company executives is the ultimate form of Customer Focused Management.

No matter the size of the organization, goodwill must be banked.  Every company must make deposits for those inevitable times in which withdrawals will be made.

To say that business and its communities do not affect each other, is short-sighted…and will make business the loser every time.  Business marries the community that it settles with.  The community has to be given a reason to care for the business.  Business owes its well-being and livelihood to its communities.

Business leaders have an obligation to serve on community boards and be very visible in the communities in which they do business.  If done right, community stewardship builds executives into better leaders, as well as receiving deserved credit for the company.  Civic service is the ultimate way to steer heir apparents toward the leadership track.

Communities are clusters of individuals, each with its own agenda.  In order to be minimally successful, each company must know the components of its home community intimately.  Each company has a business stake for doing its part.  Community relations in reality is a function of self-interest, rather than just being a good citizen.

Companies should support off-duty involvement of employees in pro bono capacities but not take unfair credit.  Volunteers are essential to community relations.  Companies must show tangible evidence of supporting the community by assigning key executives to high-profile community assignments.  Create a formal volunteer guild, and allow employees the latitude and creativity to contribute to the common good.  Celebrate and reward their efforts.

Publicity and promotions should support effective community relations and not be the substitute or smokescreen for the process.  Recognition is as desirable for the community as for the business.  Good news shows progress and encourages others to participate.

The well-rounded community relations program embodies all elements: accessibility of company officials to citizens, participation by the company in business and civic activities, public service promotions, special events, plant communications materials and open houses, grassroots constituency building and good citizenry.

No entity can operate without affecting or being affected by its communities.  Business must behave like a guest in its communities, never failing to give potlatch or return courtesies.  Community acceptance for one project does not mean than the job of community relations has been completed. It is not “insurance” that can be bought overnight.  It is tied to the bottom line and must be treated accordingly, with the resources and expertise to do it effectively.  It is a bond of trust that, if violated, will haunt the business.  If steadily built, the trust can be exponentially parlayed into successful long-term business relationships.

Hank Moore has advised 5,000+ client organizations worldwide, two U.S. Presidents and spoken at five Economic Summits.  The Business Tree™ is his trademarked approach to growing, strengthening and evolving business, while mastering change.

Perhaps it’s time to move on. But where? And will you be successful in your new job? Or would it be a case of “out of the frying pan into the fire”?

You can minimize that risk. You should find a job that fires you with hwyl—the Celtic concept of passion, fervor, and spirit that can lift you to extremes of success. Then you need to check that market conditions at this job are favorable, and that you will be at least reasonably well placed to succeed in the job. But first things first.

Find a Job with Hwyl

To find a job you feel passionate about, you need a process. Make three columns on a sheet of paper or on the computer. In column one, write down all the names of people who have jobs that inspire you. In the middle column, write down the type of work they do. In the third column, put 1–5 tick marks according to how passionate you feel about these jobs, where 1 = okay job, and 5 = truly inspired.

For ideas, look to friends, family, and colleagues—and their friends, family, and colleagues. Think of fellow members of interest groups you belong to. Think of people you have read about in the press or seen on TV. Don’t forget fictional people in books, movies, and plays. Don’t limit yourself. Dream large. Write down any job that sounds fun or exciting to you.

Use a Screening Process to Arrive at a Short List

Okay, now you have a long list, and you’ve given each job a hwyl rating (a ranking between 1 and 5 on your “passion-o-meter”). Now rearrange them in order of hwyl rating. Hopefully you will have a list of at least a dozen or so jobs to which you have given four or five ticks.

But this will be no more than a wish list. It could range from such entries as Barack Obama, president, 5 ticks, to Uncle Joe, plumber, 4 ticks.

The list should be screened against two criteria: job market conditions and your likely competitiveness in the job. Gut feel is all you need at this stage. You won’t have detailed information on either criterion at this stage, but you don’t need it yet. The aim is to find out whether any of these top dozen jobs is a runner.

Under job market conditions, consider such factors as job market size (just the one in the case of president, thousands more for plumbers), job market growth (zero in the presidency, strong in plumbing), competitive intensity (cut-throat at the top in politics, not too tough in plumbing), and job risk (brutal at the White House, low in plumbing).

For the competitiveness criterion, don’t be too harsh on yourself. This is a new job you will be seeking, so it is clear that you can’t be a stellar performer straight away compared to current practitioners. Consider factors such as your capabilities, current and potential, pertinent to the job, and your related experience, direct and indirect. For the presidency, how do you rate your capabilities in, for example, law, policy analysis, and public speaking? For plumbing, what experience in, for example, fixing or installation have you had over the years?

Research the Short List

Which of those top dozen jobs with hwyl have managed to pass through the screen? That is, where market conditions and your capabilities are generally favourable. If one or two, that’s great. If none, that’s too bad, but move down the list and bring up the next dozen or so jobs, perhaps those with at least three hwyl ticks. And so on, until you have a short list of two or three jobs. These are jobs that not only have, hopefully, plenty of hwyl, but where you may also be backable to a potential investor in yourself.

But that investor will want more detail. You must now thoroughly research these short-listed jobs. Talk to practitioners, talk to their customers. Just what are the capabilities required to do the job? How would you fare? What entry strategy should you deploy? What should you be doing now to strengthen your positioning before you take the leap?

The Realtor Turned Plumber

I included the plumber example above for a reason. Randy was a realtor in Atlanta, a very good one. He had the knack of empathizing with both vendor and buyer to close the deal. Yet his heart was not wholly in it. What he really loved doing was fixing things, getting his hands dirty. His Uncle Joe was a plumber and he had helped him out a couple of times and thoroughly enjoyed it. But was plumbing a serious potential career switch, or a fancy?

Plumbing sailed through Randy’s screening process, beating off fire-fighting and pro basketball. Then he did some serious research. He spoke at length with Uncle Joe, many of his uncle’s colleagues, and a few customers. Greatly encouraged, he prepared an entry strategy. He signed up for two evening courses, one on basic plumbing and one on a specialized area. He helped out his uncle on weekends. Well researched, well prepared, he quit his realtor job and launched his own plumbing business. It has flourished. These days he wakes up each morning with a spring in his step. He is living the hwyl.

Randy’s story illustrates how you can find unexpected, fulfilling careers by following your passion. Randy’s hwyl lay in plumbing. He backed it. So can you.

Vaughan Evans is a renowned economist, business strategist, sought-after speaker, and the author of Backing U! A Business-Oriented Guide to Backing Your Passion and Achieving Career Success (Business and Careers Press, 2009, www.backingu.com).

However, if you can stay focused, determined, upbeat and flexible these times offer opportunities for not only continuing but also advancing your career. Here is the straight scoop as I see it. While the number of jobs may be on the decline there is still work to be done. Doing more with less is a mantra I hear resonating with employers I speak to around the country.

So here are a few tips to help you get and stay employed:

• Be a “force multiplier”. Both in interviews or with your existing employer show that you will make a difference by giving 110% and being willing to wear more than one hat. Become that “go to” person in your department.
  
• Upgrade you skills immediately. Look for new opportunities in your existing role. Develop a “new and improved” skill set. Take some courses, volunteer for a new project.
• Sell your skills first and then your experience. Remember, your experience is your past; your skills are what you bring to the workplace now and in the future. Demonstrate your flexibility to tackle whatever needs to be done.
• Interview with your ears. Eighty-five percent of all job seekers talk too much in the interview. Listen closely to what the employer needs then respond as someone who can satisfy those needs. An open-ended question such as “Could you please tell me more about that?” will elicit additional information from an interviewer as well as clearly demonstrate your interest in learning more about the position.
• What your boss tells you directly about your performance is important. However, what he or she doesn’t say may be even more important. Watch for the more informal signals such as what meetings you are invited to, what emails you are copied on, or even off handed comments that come your way at a meeting. Stay focused on this informal feedback and the signals it sends to you about where you stand in our boss’s eyes.
• In an interview, ask questions that set you up to make the sale. A question such as “What results do you ant me to produce immediately?” sends a strong message that you will hit the ground running if they hire you.
• Brand and promote yourself. Your personal brand is the image you want others to have of you. Put this in writing. For example, if you want to be seen as the “consummate team player” be sure to write down the specific behaviors you will do everyday to create that brand image.
• For older job seekers, you don’t have to fake youth to get a good job, but you usually do need to present yourself as in touch with relevant current trends, in sync with current technology, generally energetic and vigorous. Look for opportunities to present age as an asset by translating “age” into “experience”, “maturity”, and “sound judgment”.

Marc Dorio is a results oriented Organizational Effectiveness and Training professional and the author of books such as The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Perfect Interview .

For students who have studied abroad, this is good news, especially considering the contracting U.S. job market. However, many students with who have lived abroad don’t understand how to package this experience in a way that’s appealing to prospective global employers.

And what do companies value most in the study abroad experience? Based on my conversations with many large, multi-national companies, the general attraction stems from the inherent curiosity in these global-minded citizens. For some industries or companies, the benefit ends there as they need global thinkers not employees willing to go overseas.

For those global companies for which an international experience is a true hiring differentiator, however, the payoff can be huge. The vast majority of professionals I interviewed on this topic agreed that if two applicants have essentially the same resume credentials, they would choose the one who studied abroad or possessed other international experience. The following attributes were cited:

• Enhanced cross-cultural awareness critical to diverse, global teams
• Ability to bring global thinking skills to bear on problems across the board
• Multiple language skills, especially for non-American students who go abroad to English-speaking campuses
• Predisposition to and experience with global mobility

But would-be employees shouldn’t expect these companies just to tick the box of international experience and move on. Generally, this overseas experience opens up a whole line of questioning during the interview process – questions that, depending on the answers, will impact the interview. For example, companies want to know what the student did, learned and how he or she can bring that international experience to bear on the job. Was the experience a rigorous one with a full academic load on campus – or was it primarily just for fun with a light course load? Were classes in the local language; was an internship part of the term? Variations provide insight to a prospective employer.

Where a student studies increasingly matters to prospective employers. Branching out beyond the typical Western European countries into China, Brazil, Russia or India signals an enhanced awareness of growing global economies – and a direct link to the places most companies are expanding and growing within. These non-traditional destinations often offer more challenging situations intensifying the learning curve. Moreover, opportunities for employment in the U.S., UK or South Africa working for a Brazilian, Indian or Chinese company are on the rise.

Students can use not only study abroad experience, but also second or third language fluency, internships abroad and international business classes and personal interest can make a difference. I have found, however, that many such students don’t know how to package these skills, how to apply them to current global business trends, or know where to start if they simply want to take a chance and move to another country to look for a job.

Both students and their career counselors, therefore, must make a concerted effort to learn how to adequately enter today’s increasingly global job market – or bring in the experts. In the workshops I conduct on campuses, I provide practical advice that students can follow right away.  Here are a few tips to consider:

1. Make sure that an international career is right for you. Understand the skills needed, learn about the challenges of working cross-culturally, and use the appropriate tools to search for international jobs.

2. Develop a strategy after you have done extensive research by gathering intelligence, networking with as many people as you know and who know someone, and targeting relevant markets, industries and companies.

3. Package your experience as appropriate for each market, industry and company.  Learn how to incorporate international experience and interests into resumes, cover letters and interview preparation, making your points relevant to the organization. Study or brush up on foreign language skills.

4. Consider working for the U.S. Government, if you’re American, which estimates it will higher more than 200,000 graduating students in the next two years in areas such as FAA, border patrol and CIA.

5. Manage your expectations. Companies may not send you abroad as a transfer with a big package. They might offer you a position as a local hire with wages commensurate with the local economy and living conditions. Whether you choose to accept or decline, do your research and determine the pros and cons.

6. Consider moving to another country without securing a job. Only consider doing so after you’ve done extensive research on the economy, job market, taxes, work visas and more. Make sure you have at least six months of living expenses in case you do not get a job immediately.  Network like crazy before and after you land.  Appreciate the risks you are taking, the potential rewards and manage expectations accordingly.

Today’s leading organizations value international experience and, after a few years in another country, you could return to the U.S. with enhanced and differentiated business skills to catapult you further and faster.

Stacie Nevadomski Berdan is a consultant who specializes in international careers and co-author of the award-winning Get Ahead By Going Abroad: A Woman’s Guide to Fast-Track Career Success.

Women, in particular, need as many negotiation tools as possible, given that we’re still paid less than men for equal work, and don’t have a critical mass―and therefore equal decision-making authority―at the top of companies.  Consider the following strategies the next time you enter a negotiation at work, and remember, real-life practice is the very best preparation for negotiating!

Do Your Homework

Before a negotiation, take the time to organize yourself from an informational standpoint.  Write out why you are negotiating for whatever it is, and the reasons for it. Then begin to assemble any supporting research. The more relevant research you have, the better you will feel about your argument and the more compelling your case will be.

So, if you were going to ask for an assistant, for example, you might do research within your company to see what the standard criteria is for hiring an assistant. How many people does an assistant typically support? How senior does one have to be to have an assistant? What kind of revenue does a department have to produce in order to justify having an assistant?

You can also do benchmarking outside of your company to see how your competitors configure their work units and the employment of assistants. Outside of supporting research, you could think about how an assistant could help your team add or create new value for your organization. Many employers think of value in terms of numbers, so is there a way for you to quantify the value and contributions of what you are negotiating for? Get familiar and well acquainted with this research, as mastering your data will help you be more creative and improvisational on the spot.

Keep Your Cool

It is worth noting that walking into a negotiation without having done preparation or review of the issue at hand can be disastrous, as can spontaneous or emotion-driven negotiations. The better prepared you are in terms of the facts and your demeanor, the more successful you are likely to be. One strategy for keeping your emotions in check is to be prepared, perhaps even over-prepared, for a negotiation from an informational standpoint.

I recommend striving for a composed balance between energized and relaxed. Negotiations can feel confrontational to many women, so filling yourself with positive, empowering messages in advance of the negotiation can do you a major service.  Above all else, decide that you have a place at the negotiation table and a right to ask for what you want. If you become fearful, remind yourself of what prompted you to ask for the negotiation in the first place.

Separate for yourself the person you will be speaking with and the problem you are trying to solve—they are not the same. You can boost yourself up emotionally by dwelling on your strengths and abilities; concentrate on several of your past successes to increase your confidence and optimism. I also encourage you to invite a trusted friend, partner, classmate, mentor, or colleague to role-play the negotiation with you in advance.

Use Strategic Questioning

While you are negotiating, use the technique of asking questions, preferably open-ended questions, which can be very powerful. These questions open up dialogue and can even buy you more time if you need to gather your thoughts. These questions, some examples of which are shown below, help guide and move the conversation along.

• Can you explain how you arrived at that solution?
• How are decisions like these determined?
  Are you willing to negotiate that point?
• What is keeping us from coming to an agreement?
• How could I help you feel more comfortable with this request?
• What is most important to you? Can you explain why?
• How can we move forward?
• How can we best . . . ?
• How can we make this work for both of us?
• Is that the best you can do?
• What is the cost of us not coming to an agreement?

Silence is Your Friend

Silence, though not something we are well accustomed to in American culture, can be one of the greatest negotiation strategies at your disposal. When we are silent, we are not over-promising or under-selling in ways we will later regret, instead we are giving ourselves the precious gift of time and space. Silence affords us the luxury to contemplate our next move during a tricky or emotionally draining negotiation. While it can be tempting to fill in gaps in conversation, it is important to find ways to practice and get comfortable using silence.

Silence can have an effect on others as well; for one, it tends to make people uncomfortable. It can make your counterpart share information, restate their position, or try to guess what your position is. Each of these attempts to break the silence put you in a more favorable position. The strategy of silence is especially important for women to use since they may be tempted to accommodate their counterpart, fill a conversation void, or not want to seem “difficult” or withholding. The next time you are in a negotiation situation, experiment with being quiet rather than speaking up right away or thanking your counterpart. Silence can give you power, as well as valuable time to process the bargaining conversation. Using silence can feel awkward at first, so I urge you to practice this technique before a negotiation!

Take a Win-Win Approach

Outside of asking powerful questions and using silence well, I recommend that you look for a way for both parties to win. One of the women executives I interviewed on this subject, Roxanne Spillett, President and Chief Executive Officer of Boys and Girls Clubs of America, advised, “…Look for a ‘win-win’ in relationships and negotiations. Every time you think there’s a ‘win-loss’ situation, look for ways to make it mutually beneficial. It is always better to leave something on the table in a negotiation than to walk away with everything. This is a pretty important practice as a leader.” Coming up with creative solutions and concessions can certainly show your willingness to get to common ground in a negotiation.

Use questions to understand your counterpart’s needs, and then reiterate those needs and look for a way they can be met, preferably without your conceding something. If you must concede something, negotiate to get something else back. Since women are adept at reading body language and nonverbal communication, I recommend leveraging that skill to interpret cues such as discomfort or concern.

This is an excerpt from “The Next Generation of Women Leaders: What You Need to Lead but Won’t Learn in Business School,” a new book by Selena Rezvani.  Selena serves as the president of NextGenWomen, LLC, where she works to propel more women into top leadership through one on one coaching, corporate consulting, and training.

The benefits of being a courageous risk taker are many. If you make a mistake, you’ll become wiser. If you succeed, you’ll learn something about your capabilities and potential. Either way, being a risk taker at your job will position you as a leader and an innovator. The key is to learn how to be a smart risk taker. Here are six ways to do it.

Trust your instincts.

Don’t wait for complete certainty on an issue before making a decision; it often arrives too late if it arrives at all. Once you get a good idea, don’t incubate it–act on it and work to make it happen.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

If you’re in a job or doing a project for which you lack experience, have the courage to tough it out and ask for help. If you operate on fear instead–the fear that asking for help will diminish you in the eyes of your boss or coworkers–you’re setting yourself up for a disaster.

Unleash positive energy.

Fear, stress, and uncertainty can be friends, not enemies, as long as you use them as motivators rather than as energy or action blockers. Get used to tolerating these uncomfortable feelings. Remind yourself that progress won’t happen without taking a step forward, into the unknown.

Anticipate and act.

Not making a decision is actually making a negative decision. Think like an athlete, and learn to position yourself where the action is likely to take place.

Learn from failure.

The most important lessons we learn in life are those that result from failure. People are very forgiving as long as you’ve tried to do your best and acted with integrity.

Be realistic.

While wild dreams and outrageous ideas may look good on paper, the working world doesn’t play on paper–it plays on the field of life. When you’re ready to take a risk at work, check it for “reasonableness.” Being viewed as a maverick is good; being seen as reckless or off-the-wall isn’t.

Beth Banks Cohn PhD is a leading expert in change management and leadership development. Roz Usheroff is an internationally recognized communication expert and personal branding executive coach. They are coauthors of the new book, Taking the Leap: Managing Your Career in Turbulent Times…and Beyond (BookSurge Publishing, 2009).

Times are changing, and the way companies measure their success is too. Now in addition to watching financial outcomes, companies are assessing their impact on their physical surroundings and their community as well. When companies pay attention to the people they touch, the environment they impact, and the profits they make, leaders make more sustainable decisions overall. In fact, this way of doing business is causing companies to rethink how they produce their products and provide their services. In the process, the entire company system is becoming stronger.

Although the term triple bottom line may refer to specific reporting requirements, often it is used as shorthand for ventures that are socially responsible, green, and profitable.

Finding Triple Bottom Line Companies

With your desire to work for a sustainable, triple-bottom-line company — one that pays attention not just to profit but also to social and environmental impact — and that matches your career goals, you need a strategy to uncover companies in your area that fit the bill.

However, there aren’t many green/sustainable/triple bottom line company lists out there yet. To find these organizations, you must do your own legwork. To put yourself in the right frame of mind for this project, retire your job seeker persona for now and step into your detective alter ego. During this phase, you must be driven to uncover clues and follow them up to find what you’re looking for.

As you begin this process, create a spreadsheet and enter each potential company name as you find it. Include as much information as you can about each company’s Web site address, location, and type of business.

Let’s consider how to research each company to evaluate whether it’s a good fit for you and your needs.

Surveying media coverage

Media sources are valuable tools as you collect company names for your list. Consider the following sources:

*  Major media sources: If you’re looking for names of cutting-edge companies, look to lists of hot green companies put out by magazines and blogs. Newsweek and Fast Company are two media outlets that come to mind. Use these lists to spot trends, find company names, and take a fascinating look into the future.

* Local media: To find companies in your area, check local media sources to see if they’ve profiled any interesting green businesses or compiled a list of green companies in your area.

*  Niche media: Web sites that cater to a particular demographic group or geographic region may also provide valuable lists of green careers.

*  Press releases: Companies that have just launched, received funding, released a new product, or been included on a top green companies list are bound to distribute press releases to celebrate their achievement. In your favorite search engine, use terms such as “target industry” + “press release” to find relevant press releases.

Following the money

Financial news is also a source of information about green or sustainable companies.

*  Green investor information: Companies that help individual investors make good financial decisions often provide information about the companies that qualify for their green lists. Some financial entities show you stock quotes, whereas others tell you which companies are included in their funds. The Global 100 provides investors with a list of the 100 most sustainable corporations worldwide.

*  Venture capital updates: Where venture capitalists are investing gives you a broad sense of which industries are growing, staying stable, and contracting. If you dig into the blogs that report on companies that are getting new funding or additional rounds of funding, you can then track the company’s progress as they move their product to market.

*  Stimulus fund distributions: Until 2012, various governmental agencies will be awarding grants and distributing money to local governments, state governments, agency projects, and companies. Here is a place to track money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Finding the right lists and directories

Slowly but surely blogs and media sources are publishing lists of the top companies in various fields. When you find a list that matches your targeted industry, celebrate — you’ve just struck a vein of gold! To locate such a list for your industry, try a search using “target industry” + “company list.”

If you haven’t found a targeted list, you may be able to find the kinds of companies you’re looking for on a number of other lists:

*  Green energy/power lists: Several organizations, such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report on companies that are purchasing the most green energy. This is actually a fairly good objective measure of a company’s green mission. Businessweek recently published a list of companies that have reduced their carbon footprint significantly.

*  Green business organizations: Another intriguing way to discover green or socially responsible companies is to identify associations where green businesses are members. Often these organizations, such as the Social Venture Network, include a list of their members on their Web sites.

*  Green business directories: Although some directories are like typical phone directories, where green businesses can purchase a listing, there are other green directories in which companies are screened to ensure that they meet the directory’s standards for sustainability. The Green Pages Directory is a good example.

*  Job boards: Although most people use job boards to find job openings, you can also use green job boards to research green/sustainable companies in a particular profession, industry, or geographic area. Most of the larger green/sustainable job boards include an advanced search function that allows you to filter results according to your criteria. If your profession or field has a job board of its own, check that one out too.

*  Sponsors: Another productive source of business names is to look at who is sponsoring your industry’s conference or your local community’s Earth Day celebration. Any company paying to sponsor an event is either brand new and trying to gain exposure or doing well enough to be able to afford the sponsorship fees.

Excerpt adapted from Green Careers For Dummies® by Carol McClelland, PhD, provided with permission by John Wiley & Sons. Available wherever books are sold.

There’s no issue on the supply-side. New studies show that disability payments are increasing at “an accelerating pace,” with a 51 percent rise in people on Social Security Disability Income over the last decade, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The cause? More and more, it’s unhealthy lifestyles – namely poor diets and not enough exercise. Still, back and joint problems, cancer and heat disease remain among the top reasons for disability. Some companies try the carrot and stick approach to promoting good health.

But because of the high cost of replacing personnel and fewer qualified candidates to fill open positions, companies are investing in accommodation.

Osram Sylvania Inc., a Massachusetts-based lighting manufacturer, is one of the companies the story featured. The Siemens AG unit allowed one of its employees to work part-time from home for the year she fought breast cancer.

“I found the working very therapeutic because it was the one thing that took my mind off cancer,” says Tricia Chambers.

The company is accommodating its sick or disabled employees by offering flexible hours, telecommuting and even new assignments. While such moves are common in urban areas, the majority of employers are on the trailing edge of adopting these policies.

Although it’s progressive to invest in accommodation after an employee has already fallen ill, savvy companies are looking for more ways to support their workers in staying healthy. By implementing policies of accommodation, the company stands a better chance of tapping into talented people who may have otherwise not opted to work there.

Here are some promising resources for job seekers and employers.

As a boss your first instinct is to rattle their cage. But what will that accomplish?

Employers fret about holding onto Gen Y workers who may be less inclined than previous generations to stick around through thick and thin.  Given the cost of recruiting young talent, employers are understandably concerned about return on investment – keeping an employee long enough for them to develop into strong contributors.

Still, loyalty isn’t part of the “deal” any more between employers and employees, so it’s no surprise that, according to a new study by Taleo, an HR software company, 41% of those who are no longer working for their first employer out of college left in less than two years. That doesn’t strike me as an epidemic – a lot of first jobs simply aren’t good fits.

Taleo teamed with Harris Interactive to conduct a survey of 2,045 adults ages 18 and older, a series of questions about their first jobs and first employers.

Three out of five respondents said that their first employer did not provide a clear path for advancement. Of course, the reality is that few employers provide a clear path to anything, much less to the corner office.

Other key findings:

• Describing how their first job made them feel, 13% said they couldn’t wait for Friday to arrive, 10% wanted to quit every day and 8% felt it was a waste of their time
• 19% of 18-34 year olds wanted to quit their first job every day, compared to 3% of those 55 years old and over

There’s no real way of telling from the data whether first jobs are worse than they used to be, or whether employers or employees are primarily to blame for the gap between expectations and experience.

How well do you remember your first job? I wasn’t thrilled and I wasn’t miserable but knew I wanted to move on before the first year was complete. There isn’t always a retention solution for an employer, but money helps a little.

Maybe the survey results will strike you differently. As for me, I can’t wait for Friday to arrive and I love what I do.

One blinding flash of the obvious that is often missed, and that could be extremely pertinent in the age of employee engagement, is “Engagement requires thinking.”  In my experience, many employee engagement approaches are still one-way communication efforts on steroids that fail to tap into the ability of employees to think and act differently.  At a time when study after study confirms that only about 20% of employees are engaged in their current work, it’s hard not to conclude that something’s not working!  Maybe “having a best friend at work” isn’t the determining factor.  Why are so many employees simply checked out at the place where they spend 40% of their waking lives…at work?

Let’s start with a key premise that’s often missed in engagement efforts – that we want to solve problems ourselves.  From Sudoku to mystery novels to crosswords, we all love the challenge of solving a puzzle.  Obviously, we could just turn to the back of the book and get the answer or read the final page.  But what’s engaging about that?  We want the intellectual and emotional experience of finding a sense of achievement in our own thinking.  When people get a chance to solve their own puzzles, they own the result.  And owners think, act, and engage differently from non-owners.  They’re vested, they’re passionate, they won’t take no for an answer, and they’re willing to put in more effort than is required.I once talked to an employee at a large Canadian bank just after she was given her first opportunity in 15 years to actively think about her business.  In an “official” group discussion, she was asked to compare and contrast major marketplace trends and consider competitive threats, industry consolidation, and consumer expectations.  The experience was a real eye-opener for her – and for her leaders.

She told me, “You know, learning and engagement require thinking.  In the past, people have tried to persuade me to do things differently in order to improve the business.  But they never asked me to think about the business.  This is the first time I’ve ever learned anything here – the first time I have really been engaged in solving our problems.  Now that I’ve had a chance to actually think about our business, I’m beginning to change my ideas about how it works and my role in it.”

And it’s not just intellectual – engagement is emotional.  You can’t possibly be engaged if someone else is trying to draw your conclusions for you.  You need the “emotional aha.”  You need to feel like you’re totally in the game by really feeling what the business needs, figuring out how you can help, and realizing why you make a difference.  The woman at the bank felt valued because her company offered her a challenge instead of spoon-feeding her a solution.  That showed her that her leaders believed that she had the ability to think.  And this energized her and created a sense of belonging, pride, ownership, and desire to go the extra mile.

Most organizations attempt to execute their strategies by doing all the thinking for their people – and then trying to persuade them to dedicate their heads, hearts, and hands to bring the strategies to life.  Our 20% engagement statistic should loudly tell us that this doesn’t work!

So to be engaged means that you know what you need to do as well as why you’re doing it.  But if you’re a leader at any level in your organization, how do you get people there?  Abraham Maslow said, “The great tragedy of the human race is the history of people selling themselves short.”

To apply this to business engagement, I’d say, “The great tragedy of the engagement movement is the history of leaders selling their people short.”  By telling employees what the answers are – solving the business puzzles – we are giving them only the answer key and depriving people of the chance to think about truly engaging in the business differently.

Jim Haudan is the CEO and founder of Root Learning.  His new book, The Art of Engagement (McGraw Hill, August 2008), explains how organizations can close the gap between their aspirations and actual, tangible results.