For some people being "busy" can certainly be a sickness, and in some organizations, that sickness can be contagious. By embracing four principles to combat all the busyness in their world, even the busiest of the busy can enjoy a calmer and more productive life, says Joseph Badaracco, professor at Harvard Business School.

Nontraditional career paths are every bit as effective as a typical route from undergrad to graduate school to a career, writes Lauren Easterling, director of trainee services at the Indiana University School of Medicine and a member of the Graduate Career Consortium. Completing an individual development plan helps with the creation of goals, which can in turn illuminate a career path that may otherwise have gone unconsidered, Easterling notes.

Soft skills such as leading a compelling online presentation are becoming more critical, and there are ways to improve virtual presentation skills, says leadership consultant Rick Goodman. It is important to be comfortable using several programs, such as WebEx and Microsoft Teams, and be able to use many of the functions, including chats, polling and Q&A.

The new #HireBlack initiative hopes to help "10,000 Black women get trained, hired, and promoted" by educating companies and HR staff on unconscious bias and humanizing the hiring process, says founder Niani Tolbert. "When you ask is this person a cultural fit, you're basically asking someone if that person reminds them of themselves, which introduces this bias," Tolbert says.

Banks can hire applicants with prior convictions of minor offenses, including theft involving less than $1,000, without getting approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation following a rule change by the agency. Other offenses that have been removed from the restricted list include shoplifting, possession of a fake ID and some drug possession convictions.

The late Rep. John Lewis led with principles and dared to get into "good trouble" when he saw injustice, writes Alaina Love. She offers four values we can practice based on Lewis' life, including "the power of building a coalition of committed people to achieve essential change in the world and possessing the courage required to do so."

Sleep disturbances affect productivity, studies have shown, and better sleep improves memory, knowledge acquisition, and learning, writes Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, a professor of business psychology at University College London and Columbia University. There are clear rewards for improving your sleep patterns, he says, including career accomplishments and increased performance.

Even before the pandemic removed the option of commercial travel for millions of people, a Swedish flight-shaming (aka: flygskam) initiative aimed at reducing carbon emissions was already gaining momentum. Now that lockdowns have reacquainted people with the relaxing feeling of not having to travel for work and the cost-saving convenience of virtual meetings and conferences, the flygskam program might really take flight with a whole new category of devotees.