Welcome to the Weekly Reads, where I highlight articles that I found on the web and that are focused on career advice, lifestyle, beauty or anything I think would round-up as useful for the young, modern, working woman. So get yourself comfortable, pour a cup of coffee or tea and enjoy this week’s reads!
Let me start by wishing you all a Happy New Year! I hope everyone has had a beautiful celebration and you are starting 2019 on a great note.
I have had a wonderful week. We’ve spent the week in Spain in Santander, celebrating Christmas with my sister – eating good food, staying in and watching Home Alone 1 & 2, playing Charades and really enjoying ourselves. For the weekend and the New Year’s celebration we came back to Berlin. I spent the time studying – there is a lot to catch up with and I have three papers to deliver in less than two weeks – enjoying our cozy home and reflecting a little on the great year that 2018 has been.
Grit. I am sure you are all familiar with Angela Duckworth and her work – her TED talk about grit as well as her book on the same subject (Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance ) and that I have reviewed here. She deconstructed success and uncovered that the most crucial ingredients for success are actually hard work and consistence over sustained periods of time, or what she calls grit. If you are planning for your 2019 goals, you might want to check out her work or this short interview with TechCrunch.
Style your desk. If you feel like starting the year on a stylish note, what better way than by upgrading your work desk and making sure it reflects who you want to be in 2019. Here are 20 stylish desk accessories that you can easily get and will help you set the mood.
Women and leadership. How women are rising in positions of leadership in industries such as defense and security. The rise of female leaders in national security and defense firms in the U.S. is happening. The CIA appointed a woman to lead one of their two major divisions and four out of the five largest defense companies in the private sector are led by women.
Staying engaged at work. Is motivation a reflection of the personality by HBR – employee engagement is one of the most studied areas and most thinking agrees that it is met when employees feel they can achieve something meaningful through their work, feel connected to others and think they work in an environment that is fair, ethical and rewarding, among others. But, a big part of engagement is personality driven; according to a study, almost 50% of engagement variability is driven by personality traits, in particular four: positive affect, proactivity, conscientiousness and extroversion.
Although the authors examined only the impact of personality on engagement — without considering the known contextual influences on it — their results were rather staggering: almost 50% of the variability in engagement could be predicted by people’s personality. In particular four traits: positive affect, proactivity, conscientiousness, and extroversion.
