Weekly Reads – February 20th

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.

The Weekly Reads are perfect for your Monday morning commute or your first coffee break of the week. So get yourself comfortable, pour a cup of coffee – or tea – and enjoy this week’s reads!

What have I been up to this week

We discovered % Arabica in Berlin last weekend, and it truly has one of the best lattes around. If there is a café of theirs around you, make sure to visit.  On another note, spring is almost here, and the sunny, +15 C degrees days are so enjoyable. We had a very relaxing weekend, watched a couple of movies at the cinema (I mean, is there anything better than a cute movie, a lot of popcorn and your significant other?)  and then finished up some grad school paper as well as got in some work related stuff done.

Also, I took Friday off for some self-care and just some extra time off after the past few stressful and long working weeks and it was amazing. I have planned to do this more often – as much as my holiday days allow for, of course – and it’s perfect for catching up with grad school papers and work for the blog. A regular, non-holiday day off every now and then is the perfect thing to do to recharge or get some extra rest in. I can only encourage everyone to do so whenever possible, it really does wonders!

The Weekly Reads

Career goals. At the end of the day, whatever goes on you Personal Development Plan will not define all you should be focusing on. Your career development and goals should always be in your head and every career move that you make should consider them. These career goals are not your standard goals but you should make sure you have them on your list.

The Power of Quiet. I loved listening to this podcast from The Tim Ferris Show which is an interview with Susan Cain, author of Quiet, The Power of Introverts. It is such a great conversation to be part of during your commute to work.

Modesty vs humility. There is a big difference between modesty and humility and Maya Angelou is the one who put it beautifully.

Management. This is one of the best management talks I have seen lately. I watched this as part of my grad school curriculum and while I wasn’t familiar with Gary Hamel before, his talk is really powerful, inspiring and very well delivered. One of the messages that stuck with me is how most management tools used nowadays were all invented in the early 1900s when the focus was on labour productivity and how to make people produce more output (like machines do) and how now, with all changes and focus on purpose and creativity and innovation we are still using the same models to manage.  I can only encourage you to watch it if you are interested on the topic, especially if you are a manager or want to become one!

Servicing. If you like me and many others have worked at a bar, cafe or restaurant during your studies or at some point in your life, you probably know there are a lot of valuable career/business lessons that you can take away from the hospitality industry.

Bad bosses. Have a read through these seven types of bad bosses, and pretty much find out if you are one of them. On the other hand, here is also some guidance on how to be a good boss. Hint: be honest, human and genuinely care for others and their development.

Thank you for reading and I hope you are having great week!